25/11/11 - music magazine task

Today I am going to be looking at different music magazine genres, hopefully by the end of today i will have presented a range of magzine genres

Music Magzine

My task for today is to visit a  range of music magazine websites . This will give me a good indication of different genres or the music, target audiences and reader profiles.

Evaluation

In media I was ask to produce a school magazine, using at least 2 Original medium shot photographs and also using Adobe Photoshop CS4. We were asked to choose a target audience, a colour scheme, name of the magazine and a theme. Firstly I selected a target audience which were year 11’s , I came to this decision because I believed that I could relate with them directly as I had once been in year 11 before also because I felt that I had plenty of ideas to perform when creating my magazine. I straight away knew that it would be unfair to personally decide the options we were given to make, this is why I prepared a questionnaire, asking a range of questions which were then tallied and final. I handed out my questionnaire to 15 year 11 girls, all around Beaverwood School. Noticing that Beaverwood is a girl’s school, it allowed me to come to a decision that the gender of my target audience will be girls.

Before starting my magazine, I decided to do my own research on different types of magazines. I knew that my target audience were going to be girls so I based my research on Girl magazines. I looked at Girls Life, Justine, Fly and BackToSchool. This entire magazine research gave me a clear idea of how to lay out my magazine. In particular; I felt that the Justine magazine presented an outstanding representation of a magazine layout. I thought this was so superb I decided replicate it, except the fact that I made my magazine cover less busy, as it was a school magazine not a gossip magazine.

Similarly I also replicated some ideas I found in my research, such as the texts used. For example in my ‘Girls life research one of the titles were ‘Balance HW’ this was also used on my magazine front cover because it is effective and appealing. It gives my audience a sense of hope and an answer to balancing their homework.

All that was left for me to achieve was to, select a model which can be used for my front cover image. Unfortunately the year 11’s that I came in contact with did not have any interests in taking a photograph for me to use as my front cover. Approximately I asked 8 different girls to grant me their permission to take a photograph of them and they all said ‘no’. This made me come to a decision to use another girl in another year. My front cover model was selected by Funmi who spotted a girl in year 10 who enjoyed posing for the camera. She gave me permission to take several photographs of her. I was very pleased with her, personally because she was very photogenic.

I was contented with my photographs taken because they were edgy, fun yet also appropriate for a school magazine. I wasn’t very pleased with my camera quality because I used my Blackberry phone to capture the pictures. Next time I will be more equip for the task to ensure I obtain a good quality photograph.

Evidently in my magazine cover, my chosen colour scheme was pink. This wasn’t shocking, as it is a girl’s school, and the stereotypical colour for girls is the colour pink.  I believe that I have tried my hardest to illustrate pink as much I could throughout my entire magazine including the contents page; unfortunately what I found difficult was using the same shade of pink throughout my entire magazine. To an extent there were similar shades of pink in the front cover and the contents page. Differently, the colour used as my contents page background slightly clashed with the colour pink that was used in the front cover. This was the downside on the similarity of the colour pink that was used in my magazine. Unfortunately I had said that I was going to try and include gold and black as they were the second best voted colours, from the feedback from my questionnaire. I did not include gold and black because I felt that the colours clashed and it had no relation to my magazine sub titles either.

The theme that was chosen was exams, unfortunately I didn’t really portray the sense of exams in my photographs because I found it challenging, because my front cover had o be a medium shot. This was overcome by the text I used in the front cover for example ’10 exam tips’ I felt this will be a good way to represent my theme

The font of the title in my magazine was ‘Bush Script Std’ this was because it was quite a fancy writing, which appeals to the majority of girls, secondly it was pink which strongly related to girls.

The masthead of my magazine included ‘Year 11’,on the front cover I felt that this was a simple yet an effective feature, it enforced the message that my magazine was exclusively for them, and not for the rest of the school, giving the Year 11’s a sense of importance and ownership.

I also created a brand identity which connoted the school I was creating the magazine for. This meant that the Year 11’s could be familiar with the magazine and will be able to associate with it.

Lastly the price of my magazine was ‘1.50’ because it is affordable for most social classes, more importantly the working class, which is one of the common classes in the London; this is backed up by the official statistics.

Unfortunately, my contents page was created in Microsoft word, this was because I was heading for the deadline of my school magazine, and I had no choice but to create it on my home computer. I had no access to Adobe Photoshop CS4, which meant there was no way I could have created my contents page on Adobe. Next time I will ensure that I have full access to the chosen workshop that I am, supposed to be using in my media project.

Lastly I was asked to create a blog, where I could update my decisions and explain my decisions; I managed to create a blog online. Unfortunately I had problems with accessing the internet at home. If I had waited every single day to update my blog when by only using the school computers (because it had internet access) I would have been extremely behind to meet my deadlines. Fortunately Mrs James granted my whole class an extra week to make sure our whole assignment was in order. This gave me the chance to transfer all my work onto my blog. So now fortunately I am now on track and have fully updated my blog.

Previously, I did produce a power point which explained in detail each and every choice that was made in the process of producing my magazine cover. But luckily I now have all my data onto my blog. But If I had a chance to do this over again I will ensure that I have full internet access in my home which can enable me to update and share my daily plans and actions in chronological order

Overall I believe that my school magazine was a success, because I achieved successful medium shots which were present in my front cover and contents page. I productively used Adobe Photoshop CS4 to effectively create a school magazine cover, Differently, I used Microsoft Word, and this was because I was unable to access Adobe Photoshop on my home computer.

I am confident that my school magazine front cover is demonstrates my theme e.g. the texts used ’10 exam tips’ This connotes to my audience that it is specifically for students.

I have effectively followed my chosen colour scheme (from questionnaires) which was pink. Unfortunately I did not achieve my goal of using the same shade of pink throughout my entire project

Lastly, I question myself; does my magazine cover as a whole give the impression of a school magazine?

To an extent I believe it does because it sets out a well presented young girl who represents a school girl, which appeals to my target audience. On the other hand physically I do not believe I achieved a professional looking magazine, due to lack of arrangement of the texts and the similarities of colours in the background and the colours of texts chosen. This can all be improved by a well set out plan, which I can follow more effectively to produce a well structured magazine.

My finished contents page

Contents page - anaylis of pictures

Picnik.com Collage

Selecting pictures for my contents page

Contents page plan

contents oage design

Here is my design of my contents page

Contents page design planning

Contents page plan

Contents page research

Contents page / Research

FINAL MAGAZINE COVER

Actual magzine cover - Analysis

Magazine cover dilemas

Magazine cover Dilemas ??

Magazine cover DILEMA

Magazine cover in the making - Adobe Photoshop CS4

Background cover

My front cover planning

Original photographs

Original photographs

Original photographs

Original photographs

My original medium shots

Picnik.com

Picnik.com

Picnik.com

Picnik.com

Picnik.com

Picnik.com

Picnik.com

Editing my brand identity on Picnik.com

Colour scheme

Colour Scheme

•Before making a decision, for colours, I decided to include a range of possible colours that could be used in my magazine, in my questionnaire. I asked 15 year 11’s as they are my target audience to decide which colours they preferred to be used in my magazine and the colours that tallied up the most votes will automatically be used in my magazine. The most voted colour was pink. Which has helped me come to a conclusion that pink is going to be the main colour that is used in my magazine

Colour scheme in spectrum

Brand identity

PLANNING – BRAND IDENTITY

PLANNING – BRAND IDENTITY

•I will be creating a brand identity which will connote the school I will be creating the magazine for. This will mean that the Year 11’s will be familiar with the magazine and will be able to associate with it. The way I will be able to create a brand identity is by taking into consideration the representation I need to portray and what features  will use to appeal to my target audience

Analysis of the results from my questionnaire

Analysis of the results from my Questionnaire

Question one: How often do you purchase a magazine?

For question 1, asked my target audience (year 11’s) how often they purchase magazines in general, to see whether they had an interest in magazines. The majority who answered my questionnaire voted for ‘0-5times a week.’ This was very encouraging and exciting for me to create a magazine. Because it shows that my chosen target group are interested so it motivated me. The feedback I have received from my first question in my questionnaire has no input in the physical magazine, but it means that there is relevancy in my assignment.

Question two: If you had a chance to buy a school magazine will you buy it?

For question two, I asked my target audience, if they had a chance to buy a school magazine will they buy it? The majority of people voted ‘YES’ which was actually very surprising, because I would have thought Year 11’s will be opposed to anything to do with school. This is also motivating as it supports the purposes of my assignment. Similarly to question one, it has no relevance to my physical magazine, it is just to support the purpose of my assignment.

Question three: What themes will you like to see in the ‘BEAVERWOOD’ school magazine?

For question three, I asked my target audience what kind of theme they would like to see in their local school magazine. They had a range of choices to decide from such as ‘Valentines day, summer, Halloween, Christmas and lastly Exams.’ The majority of my target audience, voted for ‘EXAMS,’ which was totally shocking. It showed that Years 11’s are taking their exams seriously and are willing to succeed. Their choices are relevant and academic to school, which will make my magazine appealing to pupils attending Beaverwood School. The feedback I have received has made me come to a decision that my magazine theme will be based on exams. The theme that had the second best votes was ‘Valentines day’ which is understandable because, young teenage girls are now getting introduced to relationships. The Year 11 girls, who voted for Valentines Day, will not be left out so therefore I have decided to include texts on my front cover relating to Valentine’s Day.

Question four: What messages will you like to be included in Beaverwood’s School magazine?

Willingly, I decided that my target audience should be able to vote for as many messages they would like to be included in the magazine, the most voted messages in chronological order were ‘ Complaint page’, ‘Exam techniques’, ‘Jokes’, ‘School gossip’, and ‘Horoscopes’. It was fascinating again to see that an Exam related topic was one of the top voted, which proves that Year 11’s are willing to learn and obtain good GCSE grades. This will help me in the stories that go into my contents page.

Question five: Which colours will you like to be included in the magazine?

Tallying up the votes it shows that the most wanted colours were ‘Pink’, ‘Gold’, ‘Black’, and ‘green’. This question was quite an open question which made it hard for me to decide which colour/ colours combinations to use after looking at my results. I have concluded that the colours I am going to use are pink; as it had the most votes additionally gold and black. Although I may include extra colours if my front cover looks slightly less vibrant than I want it to look. Looking back on my research I noticed that there were always a range of colours varying from the different titles and sub headings, which is what I intended to replicate. Honestly, I had no intentions of a specific colour but hopefully the chosen colours will prove to be attractive

Question six: How much will you pay for a school magazine?

For question six, I asked my target group how much they will be willing to pay for a school magazine. The majority said 0-50p and 1.20-1.50, which made it even harder for me to come to a set price. Because I currently learn business studies in school, I decided to think like an entrepreneur (a risk taking business person). In order for me to increase my profit range ‘I should choose the highest price my target audience are willing to pay’ so therefore I have come to a conclusion that the price of my magazine will be £1.50. It is affordable for most social classes, more importantly the working class, which is one of the most common classes in the London. This is backed up by the official statistics.

Question seven: What would you like the school magazine to be called?

I am glad that I decided to make this questions closed, because if not, I may have received many different answers that would not have been useful, in terms of drawing to a conclusion in what my magazine name should be called. The most voted title was ‘BeefHerHood.’ I think the chosen title is excellent; it is pronounced like ‘Beaverwood’ but spelt in a completely the opposite way. The word ‘beef’ is the slang used when there is a challenge between two or more people. I felt that this will be good in terms of school, because there is a challenge for the best GCSE grade scores. The term ‘Her’ relates to the fact that Beaverwood is a girl’s school which is already saying that there is a challenge between the girls at Beaverwood. Lastly ‘Hood’ is the slang used for a person’s local area. To conclude the chosen title, it is saying that there is a challenge in your school and your local area for the best GCSE exam grades. This relates perfectly to my chosen theme of ‘Exams

Questionnaire

What have I planned to do?

I have devised and conducted a magazine questionnaire to hand out to 15 year 11 students attending Beaverwood school and of only the female gender in order to establish my target audience. In doing this I will gain an understanding of which aspects of magazines that people like and which aspects they disliked. Therefore, I could address these issues and make a resulting school magazine, thus creating a unique selling point and attracting my target audience.

Planning for questionnaire

PLANNING

Brain storm for questionnaire

My chosen target audience

I have chosen to aim my magazine at girls attending Beaverwood School, in year eleven. They can also be classified as my target audience in this assignment. I have chosen year 11’s as my target audience because I believe that I can relate with them directly as I have been in year 11 before also because I feel that I have plenty of ideas to perform when creating my magazine. Years 11’s are in a fundamental stage in secondary school, as it is their last year and they are preparing for their final GCSE. Therefore the content I will be aiming for within my magazine is to advice. This gave me a brilliant idea of what to include in my magazine, relating to the importance of GCSE’s. Lastly I interact more with Year 11’s than any other part of the year, so therefore this will make it easier for me to decide on who my model is going to be for my front cover.

The photograph on my magazine cover must be of a middle shot of my chosen individual which is going to represent as my model. Secondly I also must include at least two middle shots overall.

So far I am planning to make my theme: preparing for exams (GCSE EXAMS), depending on the results I receive once I have given out my questionnaire. So my theme idea is not stable. I have chosen this theme because years 11’s are about to complete their GCSE’s so it is extremely relevant to their year group. Secondly the theme doesn’t exclude anyone in that specific year group for example; a ‘Halloween theme’ may not be appealing to everybody because some people are opposing to Halloween.

If my completed questionnaires support my chosen theme ‘EXAMS’ it will be very beneficial towards my photographic ideas. On the other hand I am not too sure who, where, how and what I will use for my front cover.

My masthead of my magazine will include ‘Year 11’, this is simple yet an effective feature, as it will enforce the message that my magazine is exclusively for them, and not for the rest of the school, giving the Year 11’s a sense of importance and ownership.

School magazine research

Planning for my school magazine

PLANNING

School magazines

Research on Justine

Research

Research

Research continuation girls life

Research continuation 'Girls Life'

Research girls life

Form, Audience and Purpose:

Form, Audience and Purpose:

  •Form: What tells the audience that it is a magazine e.g. Layout, Title contents etc…

•Audience : Demographics (a part of a population identified as a group) Gender, age, ethnicity and social class

•Purpose: To advise, persuade, Inform or advertising

Gathering all my bullet points, I have now decided to start researching different styles of magazines concentrating on the ‘Form, Audience and Purpose

Ideas to consider before making a school magazine

What to think about when creating a school magazine:
(Also things to ask in a questionnaire)

vTarget audience

vName of magazine

vPrice

vContents

vSections: School? Social life? Health? Competitions? Homework?

vColour Scheme

vTheme: Christmas? Exams? Valentines Day?

vWhat would they like included