Evaluation Video

In the video below i have asked 5 people evaluation questions about my finished music magazine Beatz. 

The first question i asked was 'How can you tell the music genre of my magazine?'

I was happy with the awnsers i got from this question as all but one of the interviewees who awnsered straight away identified the fact that my magazine was under the music genre of RnB/ Hip-Hop. It is important for my magazine to look correctly represent its music genre as otherwise i will not be able to successfully attract my target audience, overall i was happy with the awnsers i got and am confident my magazine looks correctky appeals to people interested in its music genre. I was also happy with the way the interviewees identified how some of my design features were diliberetly used relfect the music genre, an example of these features would be; the images i took.

The second question i asked was 'How can you tell the purpose and intention of my magazine?'

I was happy with the awnsers i recieved for this question aswell. The two interviewees were correctly able to see that the first purpose of my magazine was to inform the reader, they identified this mainly through my use of attractive headings which informed the reader of new nwes / gossip. The interviewees were also able to see that another purpose of my magazine was to entertain, they could see this because of things like my mode of address, images and headings.

How did you attract / address your audience?

Targeting audience

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How does your media product represent particular social groups?

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation Question

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User Profile

User Profile of my magazine Beatz;

• Readers aged; 14 - 24 years
• Reader genders will be split equally, 50% male & 50% female. The magazine will be aimed at both equally.
• The readers will have a high interest in music and be especially into RnB / Hip-Hop, they will also know background information on most of the well know artists and role-models related to the genre.
• The readers will be influenced by the overall life of people who represent and control the RnB / Hip-Hop genre. They will follow fashion trends and understand the language and ways the information is put across.
• The readers will enjoy listening to music and reading about their favourite artists.
• The readers will be mostly students and therefore have little disposable income; the money they do spend will be put towards their entertainment and pleasure.
• The readers will have a busy social life, they will be going out a lot and spending a lot of time with their friends,
• A large majority of the readers will live in the UK; however they will still have a lot of knowledge on the trends and goings on in the music industry abroad such as in America.
• Most of my target audience will access music through the internet, using it they can download songs and watch all the latest music videos, they can also keep up to date with what’s going on in the music world with thousands of blogs and sites posting new and exclusive information.
• The target audience will enjoy going places like cinema, restaurants, parks, ice-skating, & there hobbies may be singing, dancing and producing music.
• The advertisements in my magazine will mostly be of events and new releases related to music, however there may be products such as games, make-up and clothing also advertised inside.

Front Cover Analysis

Below i have analysed the front cover of my music magazine 'Beatz'.

Finished Article

Below is the article for my double page spread;

1st Page;

2nd Page;

Using pages to create my double page spread

To create my double page spread i used a software called pages. After a while i got used to the software and then found it easy to use, i liked how simple it was to add different effects to the photos, text and shapes.

The end result of my article was very good, the shadowing and images make the page very creative and proffesional. Below is a screen shop of my article in the software.

In my article i included some features i saw when analysing an article from vibe magazine. Below i have show the vibe example and then my version.

Pages was very useful for letting me easily add little details to my article which helped make it look alot more like a double page spread. The slideshow below shows some of the factors i included;

Conventions

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Finished Conetents Page

This is my finished contents page;

Making the contents page

To create my contents page i decided to use photoshop, i made this decision as i have become very confident in using it and i feel it will result in a good finished contents page. The slide show below shows some of the steps i took whilst making the contents page;

C ontents making

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Magazine Article

I decided that the article i will have on my double page spread will be an interview between the magazine Beatz and the artist Alisha Carter. Below Is The Article;

Q: So Alisha, we can see from your album that you’re very talented, when did you first start singing?

A: Hmm that’s a difficult one, id have to say when i was about 4, singing has always been a major part of mine and my family’s life.

Q: Can any of your family members sing too?

A: Hahaa, all I’m saying is karaoke nights at the Carter house left visitors suffering from mad headaches, but heyy its all about the fun i suppose.

Q: Growing up did you always know that a singer is what you wanted to be?

A: Yeah i suppose, i had a dream and knew if i worked hard and chased it one day everything would work out, and luckily it did

Q: You used to perform at local concerts when you were younger, do you think that prepared you?

A: In some ways yes, and in some ways know, cause theres a big difference between performing in front of a small group of locals and performing in front huge crowds of people, it did help me develop my stage presence though

Q: Coming from a quite life how you adapting to all the recent press attention?

A: Ahh at the moment it’s still a bit overwhelming, but i know at the end of the day if it wasn’t for the press I’d still be back home living with mum & dad.

Q: How did it feel when you first noticed paparazzi following you around?

A: It felt very weird, almost like I’d been picked up and dropped into this new life where everyone knows my name, i guess i gotta make the most of it while it lasts.

Q: So you’ve got your first album out now called ‘Detail’, how would you describe the type of music on it?

A: It’s kinda a mixture between RnB & Hip- Hop, but iv added my own lil twists to some of the songs

Q: Now there are 12 songs on the album, but rumour has it they were picked out of 45 songs you had recorded, is this true?

A: Hahaa yeah its true, i wanted to make sure the album felt right before i released it, & i guess it took a while, this don’t mean the other songs were rubbish tho

Q: Hahaa were sure they are, so you got your first video shoot happening in New York soon, you excited?

A: Extremely excited, i fly out next week and its my first time in NYC so its double the excitement, i booked a day free just so i can go shopping in times square, Hahaa but don’t tell my manager

Typography

Designing My Magazine Front Cover

This slideshop shows how i used photoshop to create the front cover of my music magazine 'Beatz'.

Front page making

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Initial Front Cover;

Finished Front Cover;

Images;

Front Cover Image;

Contents Page Image;

These two photos are taken from a friend who is also making a music magazine, we decided to exchange photos and premote eachothers artists on the contents pages of the magazines. I chose to use her pictures as i feel they fitted in well with my RnB/Hip Hip theme.

Article Images;

Analysing Music Magazine Photos

Below i have analysed some of the photos i will be usineg in my music magazine 'Beatz'.

Front Cover;

This image is a midshot of a teenage girl. The image is taken outdoors and the lighting is all natural, this has made the image look very bright and the colours all stand out very well. The pose of the girl in the photo is very confident, she is showing attitude and looking straight into the cameras lens, these factors will apeal strongly to my target market and the overall look of the model fits in well with the RnB/ Hip-Hop genre of my magazine. The model is placed in the centre of the image, this insures all attention is on her when a reader looks at the image. The background of the image is a brick wall, this makes the photograph look very urban, this again will fit in well with my music genre and help attract my target market. The model in the image is wearing a hooded jumper, this is a connotation as hoodys are assosiated with teenagers (my target market) & also hoodys worn a lot by RnB artists and people who listen to it.

The next 2 images are both quite simular. The images are all taken in the same outdoor setting and the lighting is all natural.  The images are both taken in front of brick walls, this is to make the image look very urban, this will help attract my target audience. The brick wall is also a good background choice as it can be linked to the streets and city, these are connotations that are related to my target audience. In the first photo the model is posing with a phone, this will relate to my target audience as a mobile is an accessory most teenagers have become addicted to their phones and so hopefully the audience will see a simularity between them and the model. In both the images the model is wearing an american style hoodie, this is a connotation of youth today, and my target audience will find it very attractive. The hoodie also adds to my artists over image and 'swagga' which is important in the eyes of my target market.

  

The photo below has been cropped out of one of the previous images. I cropped the picture as now are eyes are drawn straight away to the models face when we look at the photo. This is very effective because the model is making ye contact with the camera and her facial expression gives the impression that the model is very young and vulnrable, this will help target my chisen audience as they may relate to her and be interested in finding more out about her.

   

These images are also very simular as they are shot in the same setting. Both the photos are mid-shots/ long shots of the female model i am using as the artist of the magazine. The pose of the model in the picures is very simular however in the first picture the model is looking into the camera and in the second she is looking away. Out of the two poses i feel the second is more effective, this is because the eye contact between the model and the camera creates a connection when looking at the photograph. The setting of the photos is very urban, the brick wall and fence help create this opinion and the the view behind the fence is covered by a tree which makes the setting slightly mysterious.

The next two phots are shot in a music studio. I chose the studio as a setting as i am making a music magazine and i thought the instruments and tecnology around would connect with the theme. Both the images are shot from the front and the lighting is artificial.
The first image is a close up of the model, she is posing infront of a microphone with headphones on, she is also making eye contact with the camera lens . The headfones and microphone in the image are connotaions that represent music and singing, the pose of the model fits in well with the RnB theme as she is showing confidence and attitude.
The second image is a midshot of the model looking into the microphone, she again is wearing headphones, the props clearly show that the model is a singer whcih helps me show my magazine is a music magazine.

For the second part of my photshoot i decided to take some action shots of my artist rehearsing. I used a dance studio as the setting as i thought it would connect with the story in my article and show that the artist Alisha Carter is rehearsing for her tour. I decided that for this group of photos i would need 3 more models who will pose as backing dancers for my artist. The images worked well as its clear that the girls are practasing a routine that is connected to music. The poses of the models also suggests that the genre of the music is RnB / Hip-Hop, this is down to the attitude they are showing. All the photos were taken in the same room and the lighting is artificial. The slideshow below is of the photos i took;

Photo presentation

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Planning my photoshoot

Before going ahead with my photo shoot i decided to make a plan, this will hopefull improve the quality of the pictures and help them relate more to my magazine. Below is the chart i made to plan my decisions;

Comparing Mastheads

After deciding on my masthead design i decided to compare it with another masthead taken from VIBE magazine. I chose to compare it with VIBE as we share a simular target audience and are magazines are based on the same theme; RnB & Hip-Hop.

My Magazines Masthead;

VIBE mgazines masthead;

Simularaties;

• Both mastheads have big bold fonts of a simualar size
• The both have plain backgrounds which can be changes depending on the colour of the header.
• Both the mastheads are in capital letters, this makes it seem as though the magazine is shouting their name at the reader
• Both the mastheads are strong unisex colours, however they are slightly more masculin colours, this fits in with the RnB theme of the magazines and so is appropriate.
• Both the mastheadsa are of a simular size, this size is perfect for attracting attention withought taking over the whole of the front page of the magazine.

Differences;

•  The colours used in VIBE magazines masthead are a lot darker then the colours i have used in my mast head, this is a good thing as i think the darker colours target males alot more then woman. My colours are better as they are softer but still eye-catching, and the colours will appeal to both genders more.
• The typography used in my masthead is alot more unique and interesting then the plain font used in VIBE's masthead.

Mastheads

These are the 3 mastheads i designed for my music magazine, i will be picking one of them to be my final design and use it as my magazine masthead. I have decided to call my magazine Beatz.

Masthead design 1:
I liked this masthead for a lot of reasons. Firstly its well suited to the the RnB genre my music magazine will be based on, this is down to its graffitti type text. The text of the masthead is very 3D, the letters look as though they are coming out from the background, this is good as it makes the masthead interesting and different from other music magazine mastheads. I decided to make the colour of this masthead red, this is because red is a very balanced colour, males and females have equal levels of association with the colour. Also red is very bright, this means the masthead will be eye catching and grab peoples attention, this is good for etablishing a good brand image. A problem i can see with this masthead is that some of the letters are different and some people may struggle to understand what the masthead says, this is down to the graffitti stye, however my target audience will most likely understand what its saying and find the typography very apealing.

Masthead Design 2:

The font i used to make this masthead is very different to the text used in my first design. This text is very modern, i think this goes well with the music side of the magazine as alot of todays music is very modern and done using technology. I also like this text as i feel it is very bold and clear to to read, this makes it easy for my target audience to identify the masthead. I decided to edit the text and make it look textured, this was good as it no other music magazine mastheads are textured, however i dont think the textured text is that suitable for the music magazine and i dont think my target market would like it that much. The colours used in this masthead are all shades of blue, i chose blue as its a very popular colour in the RnB music genre. The dark blue is very boyish but the light blue outline softens it and makes it more apealing to females, this is usefull as i am trying to aim my magazine at both genders.

Masthead Design 3: In this masthead i used the same font as the previous design, this was because i wanted to develop the design and improve it so it would appeal more to my target audience. I started by changing the colour scheme to grey and purple, i like these colours as they complement each other well and would go well as my music magazines overall colour scheme. Also the colours appeal equally to males and females, this will help me reach my target audience. On this masthead i decided to not to make the text 3D or texturized, this was because my market research showed me the simplicity of the mastheads from already existing music magazines, so i decided that i would keep my masthead simple using the idea 'less is more' as inspiration. I think the simplicity of the text worked well as the masthead is clean, bold and eye catching, this will make it easy for my target audience to identify my magazine and recognize it as a good music magazine.

I have decided that i will use my 3rd design as the masthead for my music magazine. This is because i feel its a development of the previous designs. Also i feel it is the design that would appeal most to my target audience.

Connotations That Connect With My Target Audience

Connotations; refer to the associations that are connected to a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to the word. The connotative meanings of a word exist together with the denotative meanings.
There are several connotations that connect with my target audience. Some of these things can also be seen as stereotypical, below i have looked at a few connotations relate to RnB / Hip-Hop music and my music magazine.

Software

To design and create my magazine i will be using lots of different specialised software.
Below i have shown some of the softwares;

Photoshop

Photoshop is a design software, its famour for being one of the best but also most complecated of its type. 
After using photoshop to complete my prelim task i am now very confident using it and have decided that i will also use photoshop to create the front cover and contents page of my music magazine. I have decided not to create my article using this software as i think photoshop is better for producing things made up of mostly images and big headings, a word processing software would be more suited.



Pages;

 Pages is a word processing and design software. Its easy to produce interesting articles, word documents and presentations using the software. I will use pages to create the double page spread of my magazine and present my article. I decided to use pages as i can easy manipulate the text changing the collum sizes, font and shapes made.

Mood Board

The picture below is of the mood board i made, the mood board shows objects, people and brand logos that my target market use on a daily bases.

Music Magazine Flat Plans

These are my music magazine flat-plans;

Front Page;

Contents Page;

Double Page Spread;

In the slideshow below i have explained the decisions i made in planning the layout of my music magazine;

Beatz flatplans

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Spider Diagram

After deciding that the genre of my music my magasine will be focusing on is RnB / Hip-Hop i decided to brainstorm ideas focusing on the following things; the purpose/ intentions, genre, & target audience of my magazine.

Prelim Task Analysis

Front Page;

Contents Page;

Below is a slideshow of my prelim task analysis;

Prelim task analysis

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Prelium Task Photos

Below are some of the photos i took for my school arts magazine.

Front Cover Image;

This is the front cover of my school arts magazine. The image is a photograph of 2 girls playing the guitar. The photograph is a full body shot that uses natural lighting shining through the window. Before i use it as my front cover image i will edit and crop the picture, this will hopefully bring all focus to the gilrs and make the image more interesting.

Contents Page image;

This is the image i will use as the background for my contents page. The image is a midshot of 2 girls playing a clapping game. The image is taken outside and therefore the lighting is natural from the sun. The image is very positive as both the gilrs in the image are smiling and having fun, this will help attract my target audience. Before using this image im my magazine i will crop it and increase the contrast.

Fofto fing

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Prelium Task Flatplans

For my prelium task i am going to make the front page and contents page of a school magazine. The magazine will be based on the school Acland Burghley and the theme will be arts. There are several types of art; dance, music and crafts are the main ones which will feature in my magazine. The target audience of my magazine will be the students of Acland Burghley school, so people aged between 12-18 years, however the parents of the students and teachers may also be interested in my magazine.

The slideshow below explains the decisions i made making the flatplans of my music magazines;

Prelim flatplan

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Analysing Articles

Before writting up the article for my music magazine i decided to analyse 2 interviews taken from VIBE & XXL magazine. Check out the slideshow below which shows my analysis;

Article analysis

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Magazine Language & Mode Of Adress

The language and mode of address used in the music press differs greatly due to the target audiences of the different magazines.
Below i have looked at the language and mode of addres of TOTP & VIBE.

Top of the pops magazine;

• The language used is very informal, this is perfect for their target audience who would fing formal writting boring and unclear.
• Lots of hyperbole is used to emphasize topics and excite the young readers.
• The mode of address is very friendly, the reader feels as if the magazine is talking to them as a friend
• The mode of address is very positive,  this is because the target audience is very young and so they must keep thing happy and exciting.
• Lots of slang words / abbreviations are used, the target audiece understand these and will be attracted to this
• The mode of address is very imature, this is clearly to attract and amuse their young target audience.

VIBE Magazine;

• The language used in vibe is very informal, this suits their target market
• Lots of slang words are used, vibes target market will be familia with these words and understand it very easy.
• The magazine is talking directly to the reader, this makes it more personal and the reader will feel as though the magazine is talking to them
• The mode of address is very friendly but also quite serious, this is good for the target audience
• The mode of addres is quite humorous, this is important as it will entertain the reader and attract the target audience.

Analysing A Photo Of An RnB Artist

The Photograph below is of Beyonce Knowles;

Beyonce Knowels is famous worldwide for her music, her songs all fit into the RnB / Hip Hop genre. Beyonce is recognise as a very powerful and confident woman , because of this she has become the role-model of many girls and some boys who look up to her and aspire to be like her.
The photograph above of Beyonce is taken proffessionally, the set up of the photograph is set up and she is posing. The image is a mid-shot / close up of the singer, the background of the image has been blurred, this emphasizes Beyonce and are attention is directly drawn to her. Although the background has been abstracted we can still tell she is outdoors in a very natural area.
Beyonce is posed in a very confident way, she has her hand on her hip facing forward, this shows that she has attitude and is confident, this makes the image look very fierce. One of the most powerfull aspects of the photograph is the eye contact between beyonce and the camera, Beyonce is looking straight down the lens. This has a good effect as the audience of the image get the impression that she is staring into their eyes, this helps them feel connected to her.
The facial expression of Beyonce is very warm and interesting, viewers of the image will want to know more as she is also showing little emotion, this works well with the eye contact as you feel a strong connection with her and also feel as if you know her.