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

At the beginning of the project I began with a skills audit which immediately shows some progression from the start. Looking at the answers I put, I can confidently say that I can now say yes to all of the tasks on there as throughout the course of getting to my full product it has been necessary for me to do most of the list, for example make a blog, use indesign and scan which I have used regularly since the beginning.

In the preliminary task I had to make a front cover of a college magazine. Comparing it to my final cover for my pop magazine, the progression in learning how to form a front cover has improved an incredible amount. The college magazine looks very clashed due to the range of colours which don't really link in any way or suite each other, they just look completely random. Also the improvement in the photograph is really clear, as in the college magazine the photograph makes the writing really difficult to read and the outlining of some of the text just doesn't help at all, it just kind of all looks very messy, compared to the pop magazine where the coverlines are done in a more structure manner. In the pop magazine I have also included a range of fonts, which actually work together to create a more interesting look and it helps to separate the text and read easier, whilst the font on the college magazine is pretty much same, and it also looks really unstructured and randomly placed, even though the fonts change in size which could separate it, it just looks oddly put together and very confusing. The front cover of the pop magazine is also far more full, even though it hasn't got that many coverlines compared to the college magazine there is just far more text and images place on and it just looks much more appealing as it works together whilst the college magazine looks really empty on the left side and really unattractive on the right side.

         

The progression of the contents page is also really visible, the college magazine draft looks incredibly plain and poorly designed as it lacks colour therefore looks really bland and boring, and you would expect that because the target audience is at a similar age there would be more colour incorporated, more so than the obnoxiously bright red banner at the bottom of the contents page. In comparison the pop magazine contents page looks really well designed because it has the same angled look throughout the whole thing and the colours are within the same palette therefore even though there is a large range they still work together because they are in the same palette. The pop magazine is also more picture based therefore more visual and suiting to the target audience therefore I think the progression shows the development of my understanding of target audiences as it was much more thought out for the pop magazine. I think it also shows my development in understanding conventions and designs and before it was very random and unconventional to the point where it didn't just challenge usual views, it just looked unattractive. 

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

How did you attract/address your audience?

Who would be the audience for your media product?

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I think my media product is a clear representations of female teenagers, this is shown through the use of colours, the models, fonts and general content of the magazine.

The main model of the front cover is something that immediately establishes teenage girls who are more feminine and into girly things, this come across through the use of clothing, the main model is wearing a floral dress which gives the impression she is very girly as floral patterns are associated with femininity, therefore represents this social group. In addition to this, I think as it is a female model, I think she represents a typical reader and connects with this social group as they can relate, also make up is clearly an element of the model which would also interest this social group as it's an associated hobby, interest and it's popular amongst them. I think also, due to the fact the model is representing a female celebrity, this also represents a female social group, because most gossip and celebrity orientated magazines are targeted at females as it is known for them to enjoy this type of content.

The colours throughout the magazine in my opinion are the most defining of social groups and specify it to femininity. Due to the dominance of shades of pink and purple, which are very stereotypical colours associated with teenage girls, this definitely represents the social group. Often when people think of girls, the first thing that comes to mind is pink, and as purple is such a close shade that compliments and ties in, it is really appropriate for the magazine, another example to support this, is when children are given birth to, pink is the colour given to the girls, whilst blue is given to the boys, so this is what clearly identifies this.

The font throughout the magazine are dominantly sans serif font, this eliminates the association with upper and middle class social groups as well as older generations, as without the fancy feet, it looks far simpler than if it were to appear regularly which would give an appearance of sophistication and class which my media product lacks as I wanted it to appear more fun and bold to represent the younger audiences. In relation to this, the intelligence of the readers is also represented to be not as intellectual due to the simplicity of the text and font. The language throughout the magazine support this, as there are recurring notions towards slang, jokes and abbreviations which fit the teenage audience, as in modern generations it's a popular form of speech and occurs within their everyday giving a clear representation of this social group.

The contents of the magazine also defines the magazines representation of social groups, with constant relation between pop music celebrities, the younger audience is immediately picked up on, but this is further defined with the ideas of fashion which is a common interest between females, as well as a boy craze towards celebrity male crushes, which is something that stereotypically teenage girls craze about due to their changing hormones, therefore from content like that, teenage girls are definitely picked up on. Other contents such as fashion and celebrity stories is also strongly relative to females, as these are often contents that are included in many magazines aimed at females like heat magazine for example, which always advertises content like this, therefore it is really representative of the female group.

Pop magazines are mostly associated with teenagers and females, therefore mine is really relevant to fit these conventions, however it does contrast slightly with heavier and more obnoxious views of these conventions which actually narrow the different social groups which could relate to the magazine. I didn't really break any stereotypical views or representations of social groups which all narrows the variety but defines the target audience. The dominance of stereotypical views on these social groups really support ideas associated with them, for example the colour of pink, which is used frequently throughout the magazine design supports this stereotype.

I think when all of these different elements that represent similar social groups work together and combine throughout the magazine, the media product definitely become a more defined representation as there is so much in common between the representation of social groups within the fonts, colours, models and contents, I would say the most reoccuring social groups are females and teenagers/young people, therefore in general the main representation is teenage girls.

In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I think one way that my magazine challenges the conventions of pop magazines aimed at teenagers is that I didn't heavily edit the photograph, I left it quite natural as I only got rid of one blemish which was really obnoxious and becoming a focal point which I didn't want and I also brightened it only slightly to emphasise the colours, other than that I think that the main model displays a celebrity that is far more normal looking which helps the target audience relate more and connect to that character. It similar however in terms of the model due to the fact I am displaying a pop music artist which is a convention of pop magazines front covers therefore I use this instead of challenging it.

I think throughout my magazine I used conventions more than challenging or developing because I wanted to make the magazine look really obvious to the target audience and I wanted it to really fit in with a pop music magazine as I didn't want it to sway towards just being a teenage magazine.

The concept of an interview is a very conventional thing to apply to a double page spread and especially with the design elements I have put on with the '5 facts' and pictures, definitely uses the concept of an interview as this is really common within real media products on the market today.

Example :

Creation of Double Page Spread

First Draft For Double Page Spread

This is the first draft of my double page spread, I began with a large title with the name of the celebrity as I think the audiences main focus would be revolved around who is featured as their first impression rather than what the content is, I also made it a sans serif font as I didn't want it to seem like a serious and sophisticated article as this wouldn't fit the article or suite the target audience. I also then pulled a quote out which I had planned to put into my article as I think that will also help with ease to understand the article and, I also made it quite a personal quote that more relates to gossip as I think this will be of interest to my target audience. I put a background behind the text so that it was easier to read and due to the photograph in the background having a heavy background on it, that would make the text really difficult to read therefore I think it's necessary to have on there. The photograph that I used for the background is a very large photograph which represents the celebrity featured, this fits a convention of double page spreads that are interviews as it often pictures a really large photograph on one side.

Second Draft For Double Page Spread

I changed the font of the title of the page to something larger that flowed into the next page so that it seemed more interlinked, I also preferred this font style as it is more spaced out and wider as I felt the previous one was too narrow. I then added my article, but here it isn't edited at all and is the default font therefore doesn't suite the page at all in my opinion.

 

Third Draft of Double Page Spread

I mainly changed the article text next so that it looked better, I added another photograph to the article as this also fit a convention, as often there is a second picture added, I also think that it fills up the space and fits well as it is relative to the article. I changed the article font to a sans serif font as it suited the other fonts I used better, and then I seperated the text in terms of questions and answers so that the questions were in bold and the answers were far lighter, I wanted to do this so that it was easier to read and flowed a little bit better as it could have made the audience confused before.

Fourth Draft of Double Page Spread

I further defined the questions and answers but this time I did it by colour as I feel as it is even more obvious and also suited the rest of the page as pinks and purples were used throughout to represent the stereotypical target audience. I also then added page numbers to fit the conventions of a double page spread and I also felt this was incredibly necessary as pages should be numbered. I felt as if there was a blank space in the top right that was too large so I added an interesting add on which gave the audience a chance to get to know the artist better as I felt this would be an interest to them. I also made the photographs subject larger by cropping the photograph so even less blank space was seen.

Final Outcome of Double Page Spread

I was really happy with the results of my left page so all I did was proof read and make minor text edits so that it was fool proof with no mistakes within it. My main concern was with the right page, before hand I felt that it lacked factors that pulled the '5 facts' out therefore it looked really flat and didn't look right as it looked like a random fill that was forced onto the page, therefore I made it fit the housestyle more with the colours but I kept the element of 5 facts as it is something that is really commonly designed on magazines and I thought fit the page well. I made it look more within the page by designing the element similarly to the opposing box and adding more design elements to the text so it didn't lack personality and look flat.

Creation of the Contents Page

This is my first draft for my contents page, I decided to have a lot more bright and contrasting colours so it looked more fun and creative as this is a page with less restrictions in terms of colour as I don't have to really base it around a certain photograph. I decided to keep with the purple and pink colours because I wanted the colour scheme to flow through the magazine and represent the target audience which purple and pink definitely do, however it is slightly different from the cover photo because I have far brighter colours as I wanted a kind of colour blocking look to it. I then began with the general layout having a larger photograph that represents my main article as this will be the main part of the magazine that encourages readers. I also then began adding summaries for the articles to fit the conventions of a contents page. I experimented with angles to have a less structurally designed page that doesn't fulfil the usual straightness, I think this makes the page look a lot more creative however and I like that.

I then progressed to finish all the article summaries and page numbers, I kept the text black so it didn't clash to much with the block colours and is easy to read. I decided on sans serif font for a more less sophisticated look as sophisticated isn't really what comes across from the target audience, more so fun! I also messed around with fonts and the style of font, therefore within them are bold texts and italic texts for a more exciting look rather than plain text with no body.
I also thickened the lines to 'pop' more and add more really visible colours.









After this I added a few more photographs that I've taken so that the audience have a preview of the articles, and as it is a younger audience that perhaps doesn't want to read ALL the text, this will help entice them as they have more visual previews of the articles which they may want to read, I tried picking photographs that had a celebrity look and were relative to the articles, for example I took a picture of a Victoria's Secret bag to represent a competition that I had summarised. The addition of photographs also fits into the conventions of a contents page as they more often than not include more than one image and are very visual. I then made a start on an editors message, which I included a photograph of the 'editor' of the magazine. I also got rid of one of the blocks of colour to see if I preferred it or not.

I finally finished the editors message and wrote it in a conventional way directing the readers and informing them about changed within the magazine as well as regular information. To add to the final additions I put numbers on the photographs to represent the page numbers and helped relate them to the worded summaries so that it had more relation and flow. I also decided to add back the block of colour in the background again yet I did change the colour slightly to add to the block colouring however I didn't make it too obnoxious. I also changed the purple colour in the background too to be slightly brighter and then I had finished my alterations and had an outcome that I was happy with.

This is the final outcome for my contents page. I edited out a picture because I felt like the left side was incredibly crowded and lacked free space as it had a lot of pictures within the small space and the gap between the editors comment and the pictures needed to be larger. I also moved around the backing colour blocks for a more freestyle look. The last edit I did was on the page numbers as I realised the magazine lacked pages therefore I added many more.

Creation of the Front Page

This is the progression of the making of my front cover for a pop magazine.

This was the beginning of the creation of my magazine front cover. I chose a font called 'Bauhaus 93' as I wanted a sans serif font because I thought it would fit my target audience better as it is more commonly associated with younger years as it is a far simpler font and doesn't look sophisticated therefore well fitting to my target population. I began by making it a purple colour which I had picked up from the dress that my main model was wearing as I thought purples and pinks would work well as a font colour as it is representative to the gender and age group that I am aiming my magazine towards as these are common colours associated with young teenage girls therefore I feel as if by choosing colours from this palette it will be more appropriate and  would attract the audience more.





I ended up changing the masthead of my magazine, I chose to put it all in capitals because I feel that it looks better with the font, and I also used a different colour to shadow the masthead and make it more vibrant and colourful. Again, for the masthead I selected a different colour from the outfit that was more pink toned and made that the colour of the font, I wanted something more pink toned because it is the most associated colour with my target audience and I wanted it to be obvious who it was aimed for, I kept the original colour for the shadow of the text and I also kept the original font as I was happy with it. I like the two toned masthead as I feel that it then will tie in other text I use within the same colour palette. I also created a main coverline to cover a lot of the front page as I wanted something that would really attract my audience therefore I created the idea of an interview which would be with my main model who represents someone who is famous within the pop industry and is relevant to my target audience as they idolise these kinds of artists.




From conducting research on previous pop magazines I found that they often included some sort of gift or posters within the magazine therefore I created a banner offering some posters, I think this would be good for enticing my target audiences as it is a common thing for this age group to have therefore by offering them posters of their favourite celebrities which they would idolise I think this would encourage them to buy the magazine as they are getting them free within the magazine and often posters can cost quite a large sum of money. With the text and colours within the banner, I kept the same colour palette that I used for the other text and the colours of the dress with pinks and purples of similar tones to keep the target audience obvious.







I then added the coverlines to the cover, for the coverlines I wanted them to be really relevant to my target audience as well as music artists so I included many music artists which I think would intrigue my audience, this is why I included names like Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift, because these are pop icons which are adored by many within my target audience. The colour scheme for this I also tied in with the colour of the main coverline as well as the colour of the banner of the posters, again keeping within the pink and purple colours to be relevant towards my target audience as these are associated colours and I wanted the colours to work together and obviously represent my target audience. I also added a barcode to the below banner as I think it is a really crucial piece for a magazine cover therefore it was necessary to put and I though it looked nicest there.







I then changed the poster photographs to my original photographs which I thought looked like they could be leading and popular pop artists and I also added an issue date as well the price. I decided to put the price in a bubble to stand out and make it appear cheaper so that the target audience is more appealed to buy it. Again, I kept the colours within the same palette to reach to the target audience and so that they tied in well together.

This is the final outcome of my front page, I think that all the colours that run through compliment each other making the cover look really thought out in terms of this.

Flat Plans

FRONT COVER

CONTENTS PAGE

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

Deciding on the Front Cover Photograph

(Top left - Image one, Top right - Image 2, Bottom Centre - Image 3)

There were three photographs which I was considering using for my front cover. I really liked the look of the photographs because I think that the main model looked quite nice which is what drew me to them, after I had to pick out of these three I looked at the composition. I think Image 3 looks much better in terms of the composition for the magazine as there is space on the left for coverlines and on the top for a masthead which are the most important elements, it is also not too busy therefore would be okay to put a lot around it. I think the second image is too centred to have as a cover photograph so it would make it difficult for the coverlines as they would cover her face and also the head goes too high therefore would look silly with a masthead on the forehead, therefore I think this photograph is ruled out due to its composition. The first photograph I think may work too because it isn't too centred, however  I think maybe if I cropped it further allowing it to be more one sided it would look better as at the moment I think a lot of text may cross over her face which would look really bad. I think after analysising the photographs I would have to say Image 3 is far more well suited due to the composition, I also think this is the photograph her posture and facial expression looks best therefore I think I want to use it as my cover photograph.

Initial Ideas

Front Cover

My initial idea for the front cover of my magazine is to have a attractive model that represents a role model in the music industry that my target audience would idolise, making out that she is a big celebrity, I also would like her dressed in something colour that incorporates colours that would help to represent the target audience so that I can tie it in with the text. I want the target audience to be really obvious, therefore I will use dominating colours that represent the gender and age, which will be shades of pink and perhaps purple as these are often dominating in other magazines of this target audience therefore will be well fitting.

Contents Page

For the contents page I want a more colourful page with block colours that are bold and make it look really busy. I also want images to represent the pages and articles as well as to entice my audience and draw them into certain articles. I will also include a list of articles and their pages as this is a convention of contents pages therefore I do want to make it appear like a usual one however just with more exciting colours, I want to list however, more exciting articles which will entice my audience therefore including things such as, upcoming music, artist gossip, competitions and prizes. I also want to include a editors message as this is often a convention of contents pages, which will some up the magazine and give a nice message for all the readers.

Double Page Spread

For my double page spread I am thinking of doing an article in the for of an interview as this is really popular for double page spreads, I want to do an article linking to my main model, perhaps interviewing her and her dishing some dirt or revealing some life issues as I think something along those lines would really interest readers and would be really easy to write about. I also want a large photograph of the main model and would like to link the colours with what she is wearing. I think I will probably include smaller photographs too so that the double page spread looks more busy.