During the planning and production of these media products I have encountered many problems and have also learnt a great deal about magazines and the media in general.
I set out to design and create a rock/metal magazine similar to ‘Kerrang’ or ‘Rock Sound’. This type of magazine is aimed at males around 14 – 24. I believe that my media product follows the conventions of existing music magazines for this genre. For example, the main colours and imagery that I have used throughout my product agree with what I discovered from my research into other rock/metal magazines. This type of magazine usually uses darker colours with an overlay of brighter colours to provide an eye catching page to the readers. Also, I think my front cover is very suitable for this type of magazine, the image is very appropriate as it uses people from the target audience that have that ‘band look’, which is very appealing to the target audience.
The front cover uses many conventional methods of attracting its audience. Along the top there is a black news banner simply stating names of bands featured in the magazine, each name is split up by an interesting red nautical star. The title & logo is set in a black box with a bright yellow outline. This transparency of this box has been enough to allow you to see through it to reveal the rest of the wall behind the models. The logo was originally in the same colour to the title, I decided to change it to a brighter gold that fades into black to make it stand out more and a little more interesting. I think that the picture I have used for the front cover is very appropriate and doesn’t contain any patterns or colours that are too confusing. The main feature that goes across the middle of the picture stands out very well I think and provide a lot of information in just a glance. For this I used the ‘Stencil’ font in a bright red, which I think adds a really effective touch.
The other features below this are displayed in a bright yellow which stands out very well also. These headlines are relevant and use powerful text to make it seem more encouraging by using strong words (e.g. exclusive) and also by using weird quotes (“I used the sound of a dying pig”) to make the reader want to read on. Below the headings for these, there is also additional information to encourage the reader to find out more.
At the bottom of the page there is also an additional new banner which states that it has the first exclusive review for a new album, with the use of red nautical stars again to attract people to read this area.
The contents page lists all the features and bands used very effectively, which is the norm for this type of magazine. This page uses images of people of both genders, which makes it appealing to both sexes. The colours used on this page are generally quite dark with bright yellow and white text overlaying it. This makes it very easy for the audience to read. On the band list, I made it easier to decipher by switching between yellow & white text on each line below. I think some of the text used is very similar to what you would find in existing media products.
The double-page spread follows the usual conventions of rock/metal magazines also. The pictures used are simple pictures of someone being interviewed. These photos are intended to provide the reader with a strong image of this star being in an alternative/punk band. To establish this I added in props such as a new era hat, sunglasses, cigarettes and skate/surf wear. The name ‘Connor Chaos’ is also used to represent him as a punk/skater. The text used for this page is also intended to give over this image. I used ‘Times New Roman’ for the questions and answers throughout the interview on the page as it is easy to read and a very respectable font; I changed the colour of the text for the questions (gold) and answers (white) to make it much easier to follow. For the quotes on this page I used ‘Eras Bold ITC’ in white as it really stands out and catches the reader’s eye. At the top of the page I have placed a box for the title and the logo; I used ‘Broadway’ in white for the title as its relatively bold and fits in with the rest of the page. The logo gives the page a more of an official touch. The background for this double page spread is a checkerboard pattern that was originally going to be black and white; this appeared to be too confusing at a glance though so it was changed to black & grey. In the bottom corner I added in a small advert from the magazine to encourage people to learn more about this ‘band’ and increase their exposure, just like other magazines of this genre tend to do.
I think this media product represents people that like this type of music (social groups such as rockers, metal heads, skaters etc) as the typical stereotype with a little added. There is imagery throughout of older teenagers hanging around in scabby, dirty urban places like skate parks and phone boxes for example. The typical stereotypes for people of these social groups generally are known to have tattoos & piercings and stay out until late at night. Buying this type of magazine is supposed to make them feel as if they belong to this social group, as if they are a part of something.
The main audience for this product would also actually be such social groups as metal heads and skaters. Usually males between fourteen and twenty-four years old.
I think the type of media institution that might distribute my product would be a relatively unknown/underground media group. These are the type of places that usually distribute such magazines as this. The publisher of Rock Sound, ‘Editions Freeway’, is a good example of this. There are also more commercial places like ‘IPC media’ and ‘EMAP media’, but they generally only take on established magazines.
During the designing and production of this product I have learned a lot about the methods of producing magazines. I have mainly discovered most about photography and digital image software. I now realise just how important the mise en scencé and background is in each photograph. I have also learned a lot about digital publishing software and how important it is to have everything pre-set to exactly how you want it. I have also built up a greater understanding of how to use such digital editing software as ‘Jasc Paint Shop Pro’ and ‘Microsoft Publisher’.
When I look back at my preliminary excercise, I realise how much better it could have been if I had the knowledge about this as I do now. For example,the quality of the camera. I used a simple portable camera (Pentax Optio 50) for the preliminary task, whereas, for this I used a digital SLR (Nikon D40) which delivers a much richer, higher quality image in comparison. Also I have realised how much better the pictures will come out after being touched up on digital editing software.
I set out to design and create a rock/metal magazine similar to ‘Kerrang’ or ‘Rock Sound’. This type of magazine is aimed at males around 14 – 24. I believe that my media product follows the conventions of existing music magazines for this genre. For example, the main colours and imagery that I have used throughout my product agree with what I discovered from my research into other rock/metal magazines. This type of magazine usually uses darker colours with an overlay of brighter colours to provide an eye catching page to the readers. Also, I think my front cover is very suitable for this type of magazine, the image is very appropriate as it uses people from the target audience that have that ‘band look’, which is very appealing to the target audience.
The front cover uses many conventional methods of attracting its audience. Along the top there is a black news banner simply stating names of bands featured in the magazine, each name is split up by an interesting red nautical star. The title & logo is set in a black box with a bright yellow outline. This transparency of this box has been enough to allow you to see through it to reveal the rest of the wall behind the models. The logo was originally in the same colour to the title, I decided to change it to a brighter gold that fades into black to make it stand out more and a little more interesting. I think that the picture I have used for the front cover is very appropriate and doesn’t contain any patterns or colours that are too confusing. The main feature that goes across the middle of the picture stands out very well I think and provide a lot of information in just a glance. For this I used the ‘Stencil’ font in a bright red, which I think adds a really effective touch.
The other features below this are displayed in a bright yellow which stands out very well also. These headlines are relevant and use powerful text to make it seem more encouraging by using strong words (e.g. exclusive) and also by using weird quotes (“I used the sound of a dying pig”) to make the reader want to read on. Below the headings for these, there is also additional information to encourage the reader to find out more.
At the bottom of the page there is also an additional new banner which states that it has the first exclusive review for a new album, with the use of red nautical stars again to attract people to read this area.
The contents page lists all the features and bands used very effectively, which is the norm for this type of magazine. This page uses images of people of both genders, which makes it appealing to both sexes. The colours used on this page are generally quite dark with bright yellow and white text overlaying it. This makes it very easy for the audience to read. On the band list, I made it easier to decipher by switching between yellow & white text on each line below. I think some of the text used is very similar to what you would find in existing media products.
The double-page spread follows the usual conventions of rock/metal magazines also. The pictures used are simple pictures of someone being interviewed. These photos are intended to provide the reader with a strong image of this star being in an alternative/punk band. To establish this I added in props such as a new era hat, sunglasses, cigarettes and skate/surf wear. The name ‘Connor Chaos’ is also used to represent him as a punk/skater. The text used for this page is also intended to give over this image. I used ‘Times New Roman’ for the questions and answers throughout the interview on the page as it is easy to read and a very respectable font; I changed the colour of the text for the questions (gold) and answers (white) to make it much easier to follow. For the quotes on this page I used ‘Eras Bold ITC’ in white as it really stands out and catches the reader’s eye. At the top of the page I have placed a box for the title and the logo; I used ‘Broadway’ in white for the title as its relatively bold and fits in with the rest of the page. The logo gives the page a more of an official touch. The background for this double page spread is a checkerboard pattern that was originally going to be black and white; this appeared to be too confusing at a glance though so it was changed to black & grey. In the bottom corner I added in a small advert from the magazine to encourage people to learn more about this ‘band’ and increase their exposure, just like other magazines of this genre tend to do.
I think this media product represents people that like this type of music (social groups such as rockers, metal heads, skaters etc) as the typical stereotype with a little added. There is imagery throughout of older teenagers hanging around in scabby, dirty urban places like skate parks and phone boxes for example. The typical stereotypes for people of these social groups generally are known to have tattoos & piercings and stay out until late at night. Buying this type of magazine is supposed to make them feel as if they belong to this social group, as if they are a part of something.
The main audience for this product would also actually be such social groups as metal heads and skaters. Usually males between fourteen and twenty-four years old.
I think the type of media institution that might distribute my product would be a relatively unknown/underground media group. These are the type of places that usually distribute such magazines as this. The publisher of Rock Sound, ‘Editions Freeway’, is a good example of this. There are also more commercial places like ‘IPC media’ and ‘EMAP media’, but they generally only take on established magazines.
During the designing and production of this product I have learned a lot about the methods of producing magazines. I have mainly discovered most about photography and digital image software. I now realise just how important the mise en scencé and background is in each photograph. I have also learned a lot about digital publishing software and how important it is to have everything pre-set to exactly how you want it. I have also built up a greater understanding of how to use such digital editing software as ‘Jasc Paint Shop Pro’ and ‘Microsoft Publisher’.
When I look back at my preliminary excercise, I realise how much better it could have been if I had the knowledge about this as I do now. For example,the quality of the camera. I used a simple portable camera (Pentax Optio 50) for the preliminary task, whereas, for this I used a digital SLR (Nikon D40) which delivers a much richer, higher quality image in comparison. Also I have realised how much better the pictures will come out after being touched up on digital editing software.
When you look at the front covers, there is a vast improvement:
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Overall, I think my media product addresses and attracts the right audience effectively and allows readers to easily browse through. The imagery and colours displayed throughout are appropriate, the titles and fonts used are relevant and respectable. It also represents its audience correctly and also uses a very suitable colour theme (yellow, white & black) throughout.
