Thursday, 3 April 2014

Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

This is the skills audit, I completed when we first began our music magazine unit. I have ticked all of the following boxes however, I feel I have drastically developed on these skills. Such as using Indesign, I now know how to set up columns, apply drop capitals which I didn't before. I also know how to use more of the tools on photoshop, I already have access to a Mac so I could already apply all of the skills involving a Mac.




Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Monday, 31 March 2014

Final Copies: Front Cover


Construction: Double Page Spread Final Draft



I have only made one draft of my double page spread, as I haven't changed a lot from my original copy. I have made the sub heading lower, as before the spacing was too crowded I have also stretched across the page. 

I have made the intro font smaller as previously it was too large, I have also added another question to fill the space that was at the bottom of the page. Also, I have added a date of when to buy Ellie Rose's album and a method to contact her via twitter, linking the artist to her fans. I have also added pages numbers and access to the Alternative website. 

The main change I have made to my double page spread is changing my image, I think this image works better than the one I used previously as it takes up a majority of the frame whereas, there was too much grey space before.  

Construction: Contents Page Final Draft

This is the final draft of my contents page. 

 I have now added my images, the first image I have used is from a Coldplay concert I attended, it is relevant as I have included a Coldplay article. 

The second image I have added is and image of a new artist called 'FLO JAM', which is also relevant as I have an 'Upcoming indie artist' page. 

Construction: Contents Page Draft 2


I have now added my 'Features' section, and left space for images. I have picked topics relevant to my magazine and topics that will cater to my target audience. Such as, 'Story of the month' as gossip is a topic some of my target audience where more inclined to read.

The use of columns makes the page look neat and organised, and fills a large majority of the space that I had empty previously, I have also left gaps for my images. 

Construction: Contents Page Draft 1

This is my first draft of my contents page.

 I have kept some of the original features in my contents page. Such as, the mast head which is a black and white split to match my mast head. I have also kept the same style of date, but made it smaller as it was too big previously. Also I have kept the 'On the cover' section. I will also keep my 'Features' section as I think they did work well and the line separating them underneath looked effective. 

I have now added colour coded page numbers in the signature purple to stand look effective, I have also added information to the 'On the cover' section, as previously it looked plain and didn't inspire my audience to read further. 

The next change I have made is adding the 'Every month' category, I have added this as after studying contents pages a majority of the contents pages I have looked at have one, from NME which is presented in this style. 

The final changes I have made is adding columns, making it easy for my audience to navigate key pages in my magazine. I have also added a page number and a website address. 

Construction: Remake Of Front Cover Draft 4

This is the final draft of my  magazine.

 I have added cover lines to the right side now, they too are also in style of an NME magazine I have studied I have used black and white colours for my font to contrast one another, it also works well with my heading which is black and white. 

I have included the same amount of spacing, making my magazine look equal and apply to the rule of thirds. Making my magazine look professional.

Construction: Remake Of Front Cover Draft 3


I have now added the cover line 'World exclusive interview' above the cover line 'Ellie Rose', to lure in readers. I have chosen 'World', as although 'Alternative is based in the UK it is a '.com' product. Further more, 'World' sounds powerful and relates and includes everyone. 

I have added a website address above the barcode, to make the magazine easy to access online, as my research shows there is a strong online music magazine market. I have also highlighted this in blue, as it is the signature colour for key information. My web address also ends in '.com', so it can be accessed easily and has a 'whole world' approach, which I have talked about the the paragraph previous to this. I have highlighted the key words of the cover lines on the left third in black, I have seen this in NME and thought it worked effectively. 

I have also inserted more cover lines amongst the left third, as this is the side most commonly seen when a magazine is displayed. I have included my research results to decide which topics to pick for my cover lines, from responses from my questionnaire. 

The last thing I have included is a plug/puff which I used in my original magazine, I have stuck to the original design but have straightened up the wonky text. My results also showed that my audience are interested in 'freebies' and festivals were a common topic that my audience were also interested in, so I put the two together to combine 'Win festival tickets'; which is why I left this cover line the same. It is also highlighted in blue to as it is key information and will attract the readers attention.  

I have used the same font through out my magazine, as previously I used a variety of fonts and found they didn't work. I have made the fonts appear to look slightly different by using a variety of colours, black, white, purple and blue or, making the text appear bolder. I have also added outlines, to key information to make in contrast the background, I have also added a 'drop shadow' to the heading and an 'outer glow' to the main cover line. I think doing this makes the magazine look more professional and planned, rather than random and messy. 

Construction: Remake Of Front Cover Draft 2

This is my second draft of my front cover, I have now added an issue number, date and price to my magazine in the top left under the heading, making all of these factors clear to my audience, I have also made sure there is clear spacing between the heading and this information.

I have also added cover lines, I have placed the model/music star's name across the page making it stand out to fans and the audience. It is also written in the magazines signature colour, purple I have also used the effect 'outer glow' to make it appear to have a soft, glowing finish. Underneath, is another small cover line, giving an inside into what the 'Ellie Rose' article is about. 

Underneath that there is another cover line starting with 'plus' and a long list of indie bands, which many of my target audience will be familiar with. The effect of the 'plus', works because it makes the audience think they are getting information on all these bands as well as the article on the artist 'Ellie Rose'.  I have incorporated the ideas for my cover lines from a copy of NME I have previously studied.

The final thing I have added is a barcode, which follows the codes and conventions of a professional music magazine.

Construction: Remake Of Front Cover Draft 1

I started the reconstruction of my magazine front cover by changing the main cover image, I felt this image looked more professional than the previous image and doesn't cut the models hand like the previous image did. It also worked better to fill the frame, as the other image would become fuzzy and distorted, instead of clear and crisp.

I have also kept the same mast head effects as before, but made the text spread across the top of the page, which looks more effective.

Construction: Faults

Faults


After assessing the faults in my original magazine front cover, contents and double page spread which was first submitted, I have made some vital changes to help my magazine to reach its full potential and follow the codes and conventions of a professional magazine. Since then, I have improved my research and used research tasks to find out what people really want from an indie music magazine which are shown at the beginning of my blog, which I was majorly lacking before. Also, I have evaluated my original construction copies whilst looking at major, top music magazines and found where I have been going wrong, I am currently working on the construction of my magazine.

Thursday, 27 March 2014

Construction: Original Double Page Spread



This is first copy of my double page spread, like my previous copies of my magazine pages I have re-evaulated my double page spread and have highlighted the issues I have found below. 


Construction: Original Contents Page

This is the original copy of my contents page, since this I have studied contents pages in depth in my research and realised how unconventional this copy looks.

I have also highlighted the faults with this page as well.

Monday, 24 March 2014

Construction: Original Front Cover

Original copy of my music magazine. After studying the magazine I made originally I have noticed some major faults in my design. 

I have highlighted some of the problems I have spotted. 
After looking at these faults in my re-evaluation, I have now made some vital changes to my redraft of my magazine.









Thursday, 20 March 2014

Research & Planning: The Representations Of Individuals In My Genre


Research & Planning: Web Based Research Into Target Audiences

Dance

Dance music is stereotypically associated with an audience 18+, aimed at both males and females. Usually, of a middle class and working class and working class background. It is also associated with drugs such as LSD, Ecstasy, MDMA and many more. 

In the late 80's raves took place with a popular type of music at the time called 'acid house' referring to a type of trance, dance music. The raves were called 'acid parties', acid parties would usually take place in cramped buildings or warehouses with low-lighting. Some accounts claim that 'acid' was a reference to psychedelic drugs like LSD, which has the street name 'acid', which was very popular in the clubbing scene in that time period. 

Dance music today still has the same connotations of drugs and alcohol, which is strongly criticised in the media along with dance festivals like Tomorrowland. The personalities interested in dance music would stereotypically have a standard comprehensive school education, possibly a college education. The target audience would usually wear bright neon colours, the audience would probably still in education or working a full time job with long hours and low pay. The target audience would use the music as an escape from reality, entering their own fantasy world. 


Pop

Pop music is aimed at young audience, usually young females aged ten to late teens. Pop is a abbreviation for 'popular', as a genre pop is usually happy and upbeat often borrowing elements from urban, dance and country. 

Boy bands and girl bands are becoming increasing popular  young girls such as, One Direction and Little Mix. And solo artists like Justin Bieber, who are idolized by a young audience. The target audience will still be in education usually school or college, the music will be care free and reflect the lifestyle that the children lead. However, sometimes it can touch on sensitive issues and life lessons. Their clothing would be related to something they had possibly see on TV or a slogan top and jeans, usually quite random and unorganized. Their personality would be hyper and excitable and would have a juvenile outlook on life. They cannot finically look after themselves and would have to rely on an adult to provide for them. 


Country 

Country music is stereotypically associated with a much older target audience however, artists like Taylor Swift have taken country music and given them a modern spin. Country is aimed at males and females aged 16+, the majority of the country audience would be
middle class and have from a tight knit family or community.  

Their educational background could be from comprehensive school or a private school, most likely from a religious background. Their style of clothing would be fitting to the style of music, jeans, a check shirt, cowboy hat and boots. 

Their personality would be happy and relaxed, and they would come from a fairly wealthy background would high aspirations for life. 

Rock

Rock music is a very male genre, it does attract a female audience but is mainly aimed at males, usually around age 16+. The stereotypical rock music fan would come from a working class background and they would be interested in music, possibly create their own music and be in a band, socializing and music gigs. 

They would have a standard comprehensive school education, their style of clothing would
be usually be dull colours like black, grey, red and green, which are colours associated with the rock industry. They would stereotypically wear may be fitted like skinny jeans and a baggy vest top with a denim or leather jacket, they may also be in further education such as college or an apprenticeship or be in full time work. 





Indie

Indie music is a style of music created independently, usually away from major record labels. 'Indie', is an abbreviation of independent. However, recently indie music has been creeping into some major labels due to the popularity of the music from bands such as Arctic Monkeys. Indie music is aimed at young males and females aged 16+, usually a working class background helping them relate to the idea of being 'independent' and
working for your dream. 

The target audience would usually be in further education such as college or university, and have interests in music, art, photography and socialising. They would most probably have a part time job, providing them with some extra money to keep them relying on an adult. 

They would wear dull colours and usually jeans and t-shirts with images or band names, or quirky clothing that can purposely be miss matched. The target audience would have a positive outlook on life, and aspire to have more than a working class job entering the creative job sector in one of their interests. 

Wednesday, 19 March 2014

Research & Planning: Into Sales




Here is a pie chart I have created showing the sales of 5 music magazines I have chosen, from December 2012 to December 2013. Rolling stone magazine is the most popular music magazine, selling 1,464,934 copies worldwide. NME had the least amount of copies sold according to my statistics selling 19,491 copies total; I decided to research further into why NME was failing so drastically.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-26180038

The link above is an article from the BBC about a dip in NME's sales, falling below 20,000 copies a week in 2013 according to ABC. 

NME have stated although their print copies are dropping, their website access is on the rise with 1.4 million users accessing the site per week. The magazine have said they are not in danger of closing, and they have actually seen 49% rise in advertising revenue in the last 12 months. The magazine also says "For some people, print is still very important. For other people they're interested in engaging with the brand online or via social media. And we're serving those audiences in all those ways."


Research & Planning: Other Examples Of Double Page Spreads


Research & Planning: Annotated Examples Double Page Spread



This article is of Nicki Minaj taken from NME, which is also a rock music magazine. Nicki Minaj appeals to a working class background as she originally came from nothing and built herself to the top, inspiring working class people that their aspirations can become real with hard work. She aims her music at young females 16+.

The main colours of the article are pink, black which are contrasting colours which could symbolize Nicki’s background to where she is now. Pink is also a feminine colour and symbolizes sexuality whereas, black is a connotation for power and authority, which reinforces the idea of Nicki Minaj being a powerful individual. Pink could also relate to her new album, which is called ‘Pink Friday’ and her fans would be familiar and identify with this.
She is wearing an animal print costume, which could suggest she has a wild animalistic personality. 

The main image is also covering the heading, which is her name written in a bold sans serif font, the boldness of the text may reflect her personality. This also shows she is well known people will instantly be able to identify who she is. The text has also been made to fit around her giving her an important status. The headings to the article questions have also been written like commandments giving her a God like status. It also uses page numbers, drop capitals sub headings, and pull quotes following the codes and conventions of a music magazine.