Conclusion

In conclusion I am very pleased with how final portfolio has turned out. I feel that I planned very carefully each of the design processes and created a magazine which will attract my target audience and represent a specific social group in which they can relate to. I would not do anything differently as I think I have learnt a lot through the different technologies I used and I got my skills to a good standard to create a realistic and competitive music magazine. I found the preliminary task extremely useful as it gave me the best possible insight into what I needed to do in order to achieve high marks. Hopefully I followed the advice given to me correctly and my final product is worth the amount of time and effort I put into creating it, not to mention the stress and technical difficulties that I came across.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents the gothic social group quite evidently. My colour scheme that I used creates a very dark image for the magazine and this plays excellent alongside the threatening images I used. Goths are seen to stereotyped as always dressed in black with lots of chains, dog collars and sometimes makeup which is normal black. Some say they are aggressive and anti social but they claim to be an independent group of people with their own desires in life and do not involve themselves in everyday life of other people. I feel my magazine represents this social group because the magazine itself appears to be quite threatening and I certainly think that the language and topics interest Goths. Also the name of some of the artists mention such as, Cradle of death, do not sound so friendly.

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

From my preliminary contents page to my main task contents page I see a big jump from the level of understanding and research into a music magazine. I feel it is clear that I have researched different music magazines of the same genre and have applied the knowledge in which I gained. I learnt a lot from doing my preliminary task to my main task, not only about Photoshop but through my research. When looking at the current rock music magazines I looked at their content and their images. After studying them I interpreted my own version of what a magazine that I would buy would look like. For my preliminary I didn’t do as much research which I think is evident as it very bland.

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

As you can see this slide demonstrates the difference in appearance, knowledge and understanding between my preliminary task (front page) and my final task. I feel that my biggest weakness was the fact that I didn’t have enough experience with Photoshop for my preliminary. This is shown through the use of text styles and image editing which looks like a poster rather than a magazine. Although my magazine’s front cover for my final task, I personally feel it looks similar to a magazine cover you would find in a shop. This is because my understanding of Photoshop and its tools became more obvious the more I practised. My preliminary task helped me a lot by showing me how I needed to improve my skills in order to make a decent competitive music magazine. From the feedback I received I was able to look for new ideas and paths I could take by achieving my ideal music magazine. I was adamant to insure I created a house style throughout my magazine using the same masthead, fonts and borders throughout. I think my planning worked well in junction with the final product that I created.

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

Before this task I had never visited a blog, or a blog website. I knew they existed but I had never experience writing one. At first I thought I knew everything as I thought it wasn’t hard to work out. At first my posts look bland and plain, but soon after researching other blogs and through my own investigations I managed to find out ways in which to add images to my posts, different sizes and different alignments on the post. Furthermore I was able to find out how to add different sections to my blog profile and how to alter my layout to my specific desire. Also added and images section and website links list. Again I started with no experience on blogging and I have learnt so much about keeping my work organised and in a well laid out profile.

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

Before I started this task I had never used Photoshop and I soon got to grips with it. I started off very timid and didn’t experiment with different tools; instead I just stuck to the basics of what I was taught during my Photoshop tutorial. After practise I did look at other ways to edit images to create different effects. Also I looked for shortcuts in the process as I didn’t want to spend ages and ages cropping something if I could do it in 3 easy steps. The more time I spent working on Photoshop the more I got to grips with its different features. I look on www.youtube.com for tutorials for advanced editing but when it actually came to it, I didn’t need anything from it. I learnt that you didn’t need to be and expert at it or need to use the most advanced techniques to get good quality images because the basics will get you to where you want to. So from no experience what so ever, I can now crop, resize, reshape, filter, add effects to images and text, alter colour, saturation and depth of images and I understand the use of layers. This simple but effect strategies aided me 100%

How did you attract your audience?

Furthermore I have used the continuous masthead through the magazine as this is my magazines house style and also the colour scheme is quite Goth like. The large image on the right shows the lead guitarist in action. His clothes, body language and facial expression all show the relevance to gothic music. This will certainly attract my readers as it displays and idol in which they can look up to and be like. Also I have a brief interview that is exclusive which will persuade readers to find out about the artist himself and not just what the media have to say about him.

How did you attract your audience?

I have attracted my reader by using bold headlines which have relevance to their interests, such as upcoming events and bands that are featuring in the magazine. The very distinctive masthead will certain grab the reader’s attention and hopefully over time it will be a good brand image, such as Kerrang. The large image on the front cover will certainly be eye catching as this is the lead singer of a very famous gothic band called TNT. The image appears very threatening and of course matches the typical stereotype of an everyday Goth, weird and scary. I have used colour schemes such as black on white and white on black that will create a dark and scary effect. I feel these give more of a gothic feel to it as many Goths dress in black with white accessories. In places I have used the colour red to make key point stand out and for an eye catching effect.

Who would be the target audience for your media product?

My target audience for my magazine would be teenage males who are obviously interested in gothic rock music. My target audience is a teenage boy who is going through a stage of heavy gothic culture. They are trying to be like Marilyn Manson as they are their idol. They are interested in heavy screamo music and very uneducated. They most probably dropped out of school and are smoking, taking drugs and get involved in anti social behaviour. They hate the world and do not believe in God or the Bible. It’s unlikely they have a job so their only source of income would be their parents therefore the magazine is aimed at working class. Also the informal language is used to better communicate with the uneducated reader.

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

In this slide are two media publishers of which I could choose one of them if necessary to write to and ask to publish my magazine. Both firms are different and have key advantages and disadvantages. Bauer media is well established and is internationally recognised. It holds the rights for many of the popular magazines in today’s market, such as Kerrang and ZOO. Also Bauer media publishes Radio and TV channels. Bauer Media is such a large company I feel my magazine may get lost amongst the big competitors.

IPC is a UK only firm that publishes many small magazines. Their main attraction would be NME and NUTS. These are both again very popular magazines that have good circulation. IPC supports more small magazines that Bauer media so this influences me to progress towards them. Also if I was to publish with IPC there is not much competition between the firm for Rock magazines and therefore I may find it easy to get them to agree to publish my magazine.

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

In this slide I am comparing my double page spread and how it uses, develops and challenges the form and conventions of real media products. It does this by the continuation of the house style, the tag line at the top and the white masthead. I have used the same font for the main story as the text on the front page and contents page. Again this will continue the house style throughout the magazine. I have used large tag lines from the text to advertise the special things there are being said. I have used a large image of the artist in which the article is about, this will be a get attraction in which readers will look at and stop to read the story. My text is informal as my target audience will be teenagers and will not be upper class.

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

In this slide I am comparing my contents page to Kerrang’s contents page. Like Kerrang I have a bold headline clearly stating that it is the contents page. One of the challenges I face is that I used text to influence my main story rather than a large image. I have used small images which again have borders around them to continue the house style I created. The headline I used for the main story stands out from other articles which will entice readers to look at it. I have designed my contents page stylistically to compete with magazines in the same genre. I chose subjects such as reviews and albums to cover, as these relate to the important features of a music magazine. I have used attractive subheadings and a well organised layout to create a professional magazine.

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

The way in which my media product challenges the forms and conventions of real media products is by my significant house style. Many magazines such as Kerrang and NME have a noticeable house style. My house style is the white masthead with the black space above that creates room for an attractive tag line. I have put borders round my images to give it a more organised and professional look. Whilst looking at the design to similar magazines I noticed that Kerrang’s front page has a sort of messy look about it yet still remains to look professional. I have aligned my images so they are neat but not too neat as this is a rock magazine so I feel everything has to be a bit wacky.
I have used bold headlines such as “TNT are back” which will grab my readers attention. Also I have “free posters” on the front cover which will subconsciously say to the reader that this magazine is a great buy.

Final Main Task

Final Main Task

1) Front cover
2) Contents page
3) Double page spread