Note to Moderator

Dear Moderator,

The brief for my AS Media Studies coursework was to create a front cover, contents page and double page spread for a new music magazine. My chosen avenue for the magazine was popular music, including genres like pop, rap and R&B, as this gives my magazine one of the biggest markets to appeal to in the world. Surprisingly, there is a lack of paper magazines that publish about popular music compared to other genres like Rock, so I wanted to create a magazine that can provide all the latest information about the charts and the biggest artists in modern music that can be widely bought in shops.

I have used labels on my blog so you can easily navigate to the posts you are looking for.

Yours Sincerely
George Backhouse
Edgbarrow School

Centre Number: 5111
Candidate Number : 0061

Evaluation Question 7

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

Here is a Google Slides presentation that shows the progression from my preliminary school magazine up to my final draft of the Pulse music magazine. Google slides was chosen as it is a simple and easy to read way to present my work.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zxRX_CONsb_C9bYui4Tp2ZejkHtcx8z00-dXlCzX9QM/edit?usp=sharing

Evaluation Question 6

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

In this section of the evaluation, I will be showing some programs I have used throughout the creation and publishing of my music magazine, why I chose to use them and what I have learnt while using them.

Serif PagePlus x6

The main application that I used in the construction of both my preliminary task and main music magazine was Serif PagePlus x6. This is a very good tool for making publications due to its wide variety of page, picture and text editing tools. Some examples of where these have come in handy for my magazine are for my final masthead, where I used the gradient fill feature, and the glowing around the slogan. I also tried out PagePlus x9, released in November 2015, and it had many helpful features such as mini tutorials. However, in the end I stuck with x6 as I was more used to the layout!

Serif PhotoPlus x6

The second Serif feature I used was PhotoPlus, which is a great photo editing tool that I needed to crop out backgrounds and make minor editing improvements to my images. This program could be accessed straight from PagePlus, which was really helpful in terms of ease-of-use. The use of this application has helped me learn a lot about orienting photos properly and also the importance of taking photos on a neutral background if I want to cut them out, as this was severely annoying and time consuming when I had to manually cut out a person from a busy background.

Microsoft Word

This popular and common text tool was used by me a few times during construction to help orient text the way I wanted it, and also to double check everything was going to fit on the page. 

Evaluation Question 4 (and 5)

Who would the audience be for your product? And how did you attract/address your audience? 

For the fourth and fifth evaluation questions I put them together in a Popplet. This was done as I could create a mind map style that allowed me to easily allow the questions to flow into each other. 

Evaluation Question 3

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

 For this question I am able to refer to the Product Placement section of my coursework, where I analysed what distributor I would like for my music magazine and where the magazine would be sold.

In my Product Placement section, I chose Bauer Media to distribute my magazine as they have a huge portfolio of successful magazines which gives Pulse a solid base to build upon, and also provides multiple opportunities for synergy with many other types of media like radio stations. Specifically, deals could be easily struck with popular stations like Kiss FM, who can help advertise Pulse magazine in return for advertisements in the magazine. However, I have also undertaken some research into alternative distributors who could also be used. One example that I looked at was IPC Media (Time Inc. UK) as they are a UK based distributor who also have popular music magazine NME in their portfolio.

However, their product range is dominated by upmarket and specialised magazines such as Homes and Gardens and Cycling Weekly. This makes it less of a suitable option as Pulse doesn’t really fit with the portfolio that much despite IPC Media having lots of experience in this country. Furthermore, I would want to have a fully functional website to help bridge the gap into the online world and Bauer Media has got a variety of magazines that utilise an online version of their content. 

Overall, I would still look to use Bauer Media as my distributor as they are the largest and highest powered publishing company for music magazines, and I think Pulse would be best supported as part of the Bauer portfolio.

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups? 

Here is a link to a Powtoon showing my response to the second evaluation question. 

https://www.powtoon.com/online-presentation/bJqv6Hj6woK/?mode=movie#/

Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Planning

Here is my planning on how I'm going to tackle the evaluation, as well as what presentation software I will be using. 
Evaluation (20marks) 

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

·         My magazine uses many features of popular music magazines that I have studied such as a big main image, a bold masthead and secondary leads.

·         I have tried to word my article and contents page in a more informal style to help make my magazine feel like a magazine and not like a newspaper.

·         My product has many different sections including interviews and analysis to help it become a magazine with a wide variety to read about.

·         There are links to a website and email in the magazine which fits the code that many magazines are branching out into the virtual arena.

·         I am going to try and use a presentation software like Prezi as it allows me to put up screenshots and then annotate them is a visually appealing way.

How does your media product represent particular social groups? Powtoon

·         I’ve tried to portray my cover star Ozzy-B as intelligent yet has a bit of an attitude and isn’t afraid to speak out. I feel this can represent quite a lot of young people who may come across as cocky or rude but are quite smart.

·         My magazine doesn’t feature anyone that is particularly old which shows how the music genres I mainly am reporting on are mainly run by young people.

·         For this question, I might try Animato or Powtoon as they have a wide variety of characters that I could use to show the social groups represented.

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

·         I will refer to my Product Placement section of the coursework but also reference aspects of my final design that would make Bauer Media a good partner.

·         I will most likely be doing this section in text as there isn’t much scope for adding visual effects.

Who would the audience be for your product? And how did you attract/address your audience? Popplet

·         I mainly wanted to aim for young people as they are most closely associated with the genres on show. I can also reference my questionnaire. I may try to interview some classmates about my magazine but also someone older such as my dad, to get a wider view.

·         I can use a mind mapping tool such as Popplet to easily separate the different demographics who might read Pulse, and how aspects of the magazine appeal to each one.

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

·         I have used PagePlus a lot throughout and used extra features like PhotoPlus for photo editing. Since I have had practice with it from the prelim, I have found lots of extra things I can do such as the blue glow around Ozzy-B in the contents.

·         This may be another section where I will mainly use text but I may test out something like Emaze.

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

·         My final design has a reasonably similar layout to my prelim, but thanks to having more practice I can make the final design look more striking and provide more information as well. I have also got many more effects in my arsenal such as glows and outlines to provide more variety in my images.

·         For the final section, I would like to be able to make a comparison between my prelim and my final design. This may be done most effectively with a commentary. 

Final Draft

Here is my final draft, where I have tried to address the changes suggested from the third draft.

Third Draft

Here is another draft for my music magazine, Some of the updates include; 

Font changed in title and other pages to keep within genre

Changed image on cover to one from contents to better suit codes and conventions

Changed contents image to look more friendly and added blue glow around image

Coloured Reading and Leeds article to make it stand out more 

Changed font sizing and type on Double Page Spread to make it more readable

Altered opacity of text boxes to make text more readable 

Second Draft - Extra Photo

In my second draft I added an extra photo to the front cover;

Second Draft

Here is my second draft for my music magazine, complete with information on the changes I have made. 

Changes to front cover;

• Changed background to black as it looks much more visually striking
• Added image of festival to cover and moved text to other side
• Changed third artist on top to Coldplay to increase diversity 

Changes to contents;

• Top background changed to black for more of a house style
• Coldplay added to contents in line with cover

Changes to double page spread;

• Text completed and questions coloured blue to make page easier to read/fit house style
• Put orange outline on pull quote in line with house style
• Coloured title blue in line with house style
• Made text columns semi-transparent as I think it looks smoother on the page
• Created 'Recored Breaker Ozzy' section to lower page to add diversity and colour

First Draft - Photos

These are the photos that I used for my first draft, before I edited them. 

First Draft

Test Photos

In this post I will be showing the basic photos that I took of my brother, Austin, and how I have looked to incorporate them into my magazine ideas. I have identified which types of photo I thought looked most effective and appealing to my target audience within the design of the magazine by adding in each one and seeing what it looked like.
I took photos in three locations, each with the purpose of either the front cover, contents page and double page spread.

Front Cover

These is the first pictures I took for my front cover. In the images, I wanted to try and make Austin look like he meant business by holding the guitar over his back nonchalantly, but also look cheeky and not too serious. Overall I liked these pictures, however due to the guitar position the width drastically changes which could be a problem when designing the text colors with the black of the guitar. For the third picture, I tried to counteract this by having him hold the guitar by his side with the other hand in his pocket. This image was my favorite in the end and I will try to use an image similar for my main image, but as more of a mid-shot to fit the codes and conventions of many popular magazines such as Q and Billboard as well as magazines in other genres like FourFourTwo (football)

Contents Page

For the contents page I tried some images with different backgrounds. The first image I took was in the same setting as my cover photos, which was so I can cut it out easily and paste on any background I want, whereas the other two were taken outside. I prefer the inside photo as I feel the mise-en-scene of the latter shots don't fit the genre or feel of the artist particularly. This might end up confusing the audience who read the magazine as they won't be sure about the feel of the article in the double page spread.

Double Page Spread

I took my initial photo ideas for the double page spread outside with Austin sat with an amp and guitar in front of a cracked brick wall. I think this looks good for a double page spread as it can reflect how the artist is urban, and also shows his brand of music by using the guitar and amp as props. Furthermore, the brick texture also makes the page look more unique against the rest of the magazine which helps improve the appeal of the article. He is sat looking away from the camera in all the pictures as I wanted him to look as if he is daydreaming almost, however I think I should have tried out some direct address images to see if it made the page stand out more as the reader turned the page.

Construction progress

25th February
Today I began to construct my first draft by drafting my title font and backgrounds. After double checking what colours to use I have created the top of my first draft ready to take some demo photos at the weekend,

26th February

In this lesson I started to draft my other features on the cover such as the headline and secondary leads, using my magazines I analysed for inspiration. 

27th February

Over the weekend I took some test photos at home using my phone so I can get an idea of what sort of image to go for, as well as aspects such as lighting and background. When I take the final photos I can start finishing my front cover.

29th February

I started to draft my contents page today as well as collate the test images I took over the weekend. I also asked some of my classmates, who fall within my target audience, whether they liked the magazine look so far or not. I was pleased to hear that the responses were very positive. 

1st March

Today, I managed to finish a very rough draft of my front cover using my test images as placeholders. I was able to see which of my images looked the best so far and which ones I should look to retake in top quality. 

3rd March

In this lesson I carried on tinkering around with my front cover as well as making a start on my contents and double page spread layouts. I have begun to put together my test photos post including what the images are and some examples of what they looked like in my draft.

4th March

Today I was able to carry on with my contents page.

6th March

Uploaded my test photos.

7th March

I carried on with the contents page and prepared to take photos. 

8th March

I finished the contents page design as well as beginning to come up with the pull quotes and text boxes for the double page spread. 

10th March

I managed to upload my photos to use in the magazine and edit them using Cutout Studio. I then put them into my cover, contents and double page spread.

11th March (1st Draft Deadline)

I made so more additions to my double page spread such as the title and small pieces of text as a sample, as well as minor fixes to the layout of the cover/contents page. I then uploaded images of the 1st draft. 

14th March

After getting some feedback, I changed some of the colours on the double page spread to help my magazine have more of a house style. I also tried out some different fonts on the contents page.

15th March

I received some more teacher feedback that showed me that the styling of my magazine was a little off in terms of genre identity. To try and rectify this, I changed some of the artists in the magazine to add a wider variety of genres and looked at changing some of the fonts and colours to make the magazine appealing to a wider audience. 

17th March

Today I began to start doing the text for my double page spread and also made some extra features to the page like this: 

18th March

I managed to finish the double page spread and began to make updates on the contents and front cover.

Dolby

Well done George- some reflective comments here and through planning. Don't forget that audience feedback and initial profiling is crucial as a process so get feedback as often as you can on your drafting and ideas from your intended audience to make sure you are fulfilling the brief. As discussed, start getting some images.

Initial Ideas- Contents and Double Page Spread

 Next, I made a mock contents page to give me an idea of what I wanted the page to look like. I wanted to draw emphasis on the main articles by having an image of the artist on them to back up the name and information on display. The main article would feature a full shot of the person without a box around them to make them the standalone main feature of the contents page. One problem with using the cover star as the main thing on the contents page is that the reader might get tired of seeing the same person on every page, so I might put a different article as the large photo. I think that making sure the contents page has many different elements is very important to keep readers interested in finding what they want to look at.

Finally, I created a mock version of a double page spread; it includes a full page image on the left hand side with pull quote and the writing on the right hand page. The image needs to be striking and fit the vibe of the article by using different colours or props to suit the mood and content. The pull quote and headline will be the most visible pieces of text, as they need to stand out when the reader turns the page. A subtitle is placed below the headline to provide some more information to the reader. The text is organised into two columns to make the page look more attractive and easier to read. Near the bottom of the page I would like to add a seperate image or box which gives some extra or quirky facts that aren't necessarily directly linked into the article. This adds some more variety and colour into the page and makes the magazine a bit more enjoyable to look at.

Initial Ideas- Front Cover

I have created two rough ideas for the cover of my magazine using Microsoft Word's text box and shape features. By doing this, I got a solid idea of what sort of layout I should go for. 

Idea 1;

 For my first idea I wanted to make a simple looking cover with a large mid shot of the cover star taking up most of the page, with a piece of text below to elaborate and entice people into the article. Most of the other information on the page is in the left third, which is because this is what most people's eyes are drawn to when they first glance at the cover of the magazine. Around the masthead of the magazine are a kicker on the right, similar to that of the Q magazine I analysed, as well as a bar at the top displaying the slogan of Pulse. This adds more colour and variety to the front cover which can help entice customers.

Idea 2;  

In this design I chose to place the masthead and headline of the magazine centrally and the main cover image in the left third. I think that this could be effective as someone walking past will see the image first and recognise the cover star, but when they pick up the magazine the Pulse name and headline will really stand out to them. I have also been able to include both a pull quote and a strapline above and below the headline which I think looks really effective. The secondary leads have been placed below the headline so that the eyes are naturally drawn to the other articles after reading about the main one. One way that I can additionally gain interest is by putting the artists featured in the magazine at the top, which can allow people to see their favorite artist is in the issue and make them want to buy Pulse. Finally, I have used a button to provide more information but in a more colourful format, which helps prevent the magazine cover look too static and boring.

Planning - Colours, Names and Fonts

The Prezi presentation below shows three aspects of my planning - the colours I would like to incorporate into the magazine, the name of the magazine, and some font styles to use on the cover and inside.

http://prezi.com/w46-f9rhajzs/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

From this planning I have decided to;

Use a blue, white and black colour scheme, as it looked the best on the colour previews and was more unique than the red color scheme. I have chosen black over grey as the final colour as it will provide a bit more boldness throughout the magazine.

Name my magazine Pulse; this was the name most of the people I asked preferred due to it being snappy and memorable. There is also a good opportunity to use a slogan along the lines of 'staying on the beat of music' as this references the beat of a song as well as the beat of a heart, and the magazine is like a human's pulse. Overall, I really like this name,

Use a combination of different font styles. This is because I would like to keep my music magazine as diverse as possible as I have said earlier on the blog, and I can use different fonts to show the genre or mood of any articles I write. I will be using the Euphemia font mainly though, as it is a good neutral design which is nice to read from

How Research will Inform Planning

 In this section I will be sharing some of the things I have learned from the research I have done, and how the research will influence aspects of the magazine I am planning. 

Questionnaire;

In my questionnaire I was able to find out specifics from a variety of people who were both in and outside of my target market, such as what genres were listened to and read by different ages, and what current magazines are most popular with readers at the moment. It was also very useful to see how many people connect with music on a daily basis, which has encouraged me to go for a trendier magazine that regularly informs the readers about current events in the music industry. Also, by seeing the most popular magazines I have been able to find common aspects that make them successful in their markets through the magazine analysis. Overall, the responses from my questionnaire were extremely influential on what sort of magazine I was going to create in terms of genre and style.

Magazine analysis;

After using the questionnaire to identify what magazines were popular with readers, I analysed both Q and Billboard magazine to see what features they had on their covers, contents pages and double page spreads. The main point I took from the two magazines is that they were both quite similar in style, colour and language despite being in slightly different markets. This will greatly influence how I plan my magazine as I would like to try and emulate that sort of style which has made Q and Billboard favourites in their respective genres. I will also make sure to use the codes, conventions and features of music magazines that I have learnt about in order to keep my design realistic and appealing.

Product Placement;

In my product placement section, I looked at what sort of audience I wanted to target my magazine at, and ways in which I could create and market it to generate the most interest and sales. By finding out my target market, I can start to design my magazine with them in mind; for example I will use many bold, bright colours and large images of artists. I also researched into the major owners and distributors of current music magazines and what other media outlets they owned. By choosing Bauer Media, I can try to design my magazine in a way that compliments the rest of their magazine portfolio. Finally, I have used my research to identify a gap in the UK market that I can fill. To do this, when I design my magazine I must give it a strong brand and company image so that my magazine takes that section of the market and has a strong enough brand and selling point to prevent any competition.   

Product Placement

I would look to market my magazine to young people aged between 16 and 29, because this was the most popular category in my questionnaire, and many people in those categories answered that they liked pop and hip hop music the best. This means that they would be the most likely to purchase my magazine. Because of this, I would look to sell my magazine in local newsagents and supermarkets that are near schools and universities, as that is where a high proportion of my target market are.

In order to appeal to that sort of market, I will need to create stories and articles that would interest people as young as 16. To do this, I would look to have as many interviews or articles about popular artists in and around the charts as they have a lot of influence over young people.

In terms of advertising, I would look to have a few TV adverts as this is a very popular medium used for advertising, and is used by almost all young people. In terms of channels, destinations such as MTV and 4Music would be suitable as they are applicable to music, and during shows like the X-factor on ITV as that is also music related. These are also programmes that my target audience may have an interest in; if they are enjoying the music they see on TV or the radio and are shown an advert for a new music magazine, they may be more encouraged to go out and buy it. 

For my music magazine, I would like Bauer Media group to be my distributor. Bauer Media Group is a European-based media company based in Germany that owns a portfolio of more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations around the world. Because of their size and reputation, I think that Bauer Media Group would be very suited to market a music magazine focused on popular music. They own 4Music as well as many radio stations such as Kiss, who operate in a similar market to what I want to work in. This also adds the opportunity for synergy between types of media which is good for all parties involved.

In my magazine analysis, I mentioned how Billboard was a very popular magazine that also had a large online presence. However, Billboard's magazine is mainly targeted at the USA, while the online version is accessible to anyone worldwide. This provides me with a gap in the UK market for a magazine of Billboard's style that can be sold widely in shops, which could greatly influence sales of my music magazine positively.

Dolby

George, some focused analysis here of magazines. Billboard you state is popular but is it trans-atlantic and commercially successful in England? consider how audiences may vary. How would you define the genre of music in the two magazines you've studied? Do some work on institution and distribution.

Magazine Analysis - Billboard

The second magazine I have chosen to analyse is the most popular choice on my questionnaire, Billboard. Billboard is one of the biggest resources for music at the moment, having both paper and online magazines as well as their own chart system, the Billboard 100. Billboard has been around for over 100 years, originally being used for advertisements, but as music equipment such as jukeboxes became prominent in the 1930's, it became a great way to track popular music.
Billboard is now considered one of the most reputable sources of music industry news, and each magazine features many sections including a chart of the hot songs that week, big artist interviews as well as gossip and trends in the music industry.
Billboard is something I would like to aim to be like when planning my magazine, as I like their simple, bold house style and the wide variety of genres that they cover within each issue. In the issue I am analyzing here, I have looked for common trends in the pages and things I can put into my design to make it more appealing to a target audience like that of Billboard.

Magazine Analysis - Q

For my first piece of analysis, I have chosen to do Q magazine. I chose this magazine because it is a very popular magazine that has been published for almost 30 years, so I knew that Q had features that were making it consistently popular with audiences. It was also one of the most read options on my questionnaire. 

Throughout the magazine, I liked the simple and clear style which made it very easy to read, especially the contents page. This has given me a good idea of how I would like to structure my magazine; clean and bold with few but high quality images. I am also looking to create a magazine in a similar target audience to Q, albeit slightly younger, as I would also like to cover many bases in terms of types of music like Q do, rather than specialize like other magazines in Bauer Media's portfolio like Kerrang!, who have a clear rock style. 

Questionnaire Results and Analysis

Here are the results of my questionnaire. 

For the first question, I asked the respondents how old they were. This was so I could gain an idea of what music different age ranges listened to and what magazines they read. As seen on the chart, over half the people I asked were between 16 to 19, and the next best was 20 to 29 . I wanted to ask many young people as I fall into that category and feel I could make a magazine better if it was targeted to someone of my own age. However, I perhaps should have asked a broader range of people as it won't just be young people buying my magazine. 

The next question was asking how often respondents listened to music. which was asked to give me an idea of just how popular music is. As expected, 60% of respondents listened to music for over 7 hours a week. This question also provides some information later in the questionnaire which gives me more data to help create a good magazine.  

In this question, I have found that 90% of respondents listen to music every day. This represents how music is part of everyday life, and that is something I would like to tap into with my magazine; if I can create a magazine that is up to date with trends and charts such as Billboard, then customers will be able to relate to it as well as come back for more updates.

The fourth question I asked was very important in figuring out what genre and audience to aim my magazine at. As seen on the bar chart, the most popular choices were Pop, with 35% of the vote, followed by Rock and Hip Hop, with 25% each. These are arguably the three most dominating genres in modern music, so I would like to try and appeal to at least two of these genres in my magazine. 91% of the 16 to 19 year olds that I asked chose Pop or Hip Hop as their answer, which means that I will likely aim for Pop and Hip Hop genres due to this being popular in my target market.

The next set of questions I asked involved music magazines themselves, One result that surprised me was that many people had not read music magazines! This means I need to make sure my magazine is well promoted to my target market in order to generate some interest. This also emphasizes the importance of choosing a good distributor for my magazine.

The sixth question |I asked required the respondents to choose their most read genre of magazine on average. The most popular choice was Rock, followed by Pop, This is roughly what I expected as Rock has got many different magazine choices, and the target market of many rock artists are used to buying classic magazines; for example my parents, who have back issues of NME from the 1970's.

The final question I asked was used to determine what magazines specifically are popular today. This was used to help me choose what magazines to analyse in the next section of the coursework. The most popular choice was Billboard, which was selected by eight of the twenty people asked, followed by the rock magazines. All of the people that chose Pop in the question before selected Billboard on this question, which shows me that Billboard is a market leader in the genre and should be analysed. I will also look to analyse Q magazine as it came in a joint second with Kerrang!, but I feel as if my magazine would be more similar to Q in styling.  

Questionnaire

Here are the questions from my questionnaire, which I handed out to 20 people.  

How old are you?

[  ] Under 16 years old

[  ] 16 to 19 years old

[  ] 20 to 29 years old

[  ] 30 to 39 years old

[  ] 40 to 49 years old

[  ] 50 to 59 years old

[  ] 60 to 69 years old

[  ] Over 70 years old

How often have you listened to music in the past week?

[  ] I don’t listen to music

[  ] Under 10 minutes

[  ] 10 minutes – 1 hour

[  ] between 1 to 3 hours

[  ] 3 to 7 hours

[  ] over 7 hours

Do you listen to your music every day?

[  ] yes

[  ] no

What genre music would you say you listened to most?

[  ] Rock

[  ] Hip-hop

[  ] EDM

[  ] Alternative

[  ] Whatever’s popular

[  ] Other (please specify)

How many different music magazines have you read in the past month?

[  ] None

[  ] One or two

[  ] Three or four

[  ] Five to six

[  ] Seven or more

What genre of music magazine would you say you have read the most?

[  ] Rock

[  ] Hip-hop

[  ] EDM

[  ] Alternative

[  ] Whatever’s popular

[  ] Other (please specify)

Please tick the magazines you have read in the past year;

[  ] Q

[  ] NME

[  ] Billboard

[  ] Kerrang!

[  ] Rolling Stone

[  ] Vibe

[  ] Other (please specify)