Production: Final product

Evaluation Question 1:

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

Click here for a blog post examining forms and conventions that I have taken inspiration from:

Steve Neale: Representation of genre

The forms and conventions of a magazine product goes towards how the audience interpret what the genre is. My magazine is pop which can easily be identified through the bright colour palette and relaxed lexicon of words. The forms and conventions are really good in terms of making the product look as professional and effective as possible.

Evaluation Question 2:

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Click here for the research into Sub-cultues

One of the groups I have chosen is socio economic group E. Meaning that they do not have the amount of income to support extensive expenditure. This statement is supported in the pie chart below when I discovered that only 3 out of 25 people within the sample group have a part-time job.

Evaluation Question 3:

What Media institution would distribute your product and why? 

The distribution company that I have looked into greater depth with is TimeInc.UK. In the presentation that I have embedded below, there are evident reasons for why I believe that this would be the best option for my media product.

However...as times are becoming more and more modern, tablets are becoming a very prominent way to distribute a media product. It is easy to access fir the majority as well as being very quick and easy to do.

What kind of media institution might distribute your from Ella Chapman

Evaluation Question 4:

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Click here for a link to my focus group information


Click here for a link to some audience feedback

After conducting questionnaires to my focus group I have decided on the age group that my media product would mainly appeal to would be 11-16 year olds. As well as this, I used social media to ask my questions, which is demonstrated by the snapchat to the left.

I have targeted the product at the younger end of the teenagers due to the overall house style and actual content inside the magazine that I have produced. I found this task suited me very well due the fact that when I was younger I was a frequent consumer of popular Pop magazines, meaning I am familiar with the lexicon of words and style of writing that would be well understood by the target audience. Using catchy well known phrases 'Hot Top 40' engages with their common interests as well as maintaining the brand identity throughout. The specific gender I would consider my product to be aimed towards would in fact be females, which I also found easy to create for due to being a female teenager who is a lover of pop music myself. Always having the target audience in mind has meant that I have ensured all of the content listed on the contents page is very orientated to their wants and needs. The technique of interaction with the audience is key, not only through the language but the opportunities and incentives that lure the audience in to purchase the magazine in the first place. I have placed the majority of these on the front cover as this is the only thing that will be studied before purchasing in a shop. This involving free V Fest tickets, merch competitions and also a quiz. The layout should be more eye catching than the other competition to result in the sales being high.

Why not an older target audience?I have chosen to aim my product at a younger audience due to the bright graphology and genre that I have decided to focus on. This is a physical magazine that you would buy from the shop, and also be encouraged to collect all of the issues as a loyal consumer, and from my own knowledge it is more common for the older audience brackets to use digital technology to consume media products. This is due to them being able to subscribe to magazine companies and also are more likely to read more advanced content such as a newspaper, where as when teenagers are younger they tend to spend their money on products that they have easy access to and also are allowed to consume. 

Why specifically aim the product at females?

I carried out a questionnaire with a sample of both 20 females and 20 males and asked them the question: 'IS POP YOUR MOST PREFERRED GENRE OF MUSIC?'

The findings are presented in the bar chart below which evidently shows that 18 of the girls that I asked stated that 'pop' was their most preferred genre, compared to only 11 of the boys. 

Evaluation Question 5:

5. How did you attract/address your audience?


Click here for my double page spread production


The double page spread content played a huge part...

The reason for this is due to the fact that this specific article is labelled as the 'featuring article' of the magazine. This therefore meaning that it is heavily promoted over the front cover and contents page in my media product. I chose to base my topic on festival fashion tips as it links in well with both the psychographic and demographic target audience's. Festivals are something that many teenagers enjoy going to, so providing some advice on what they can wear is a bonus to purchasing this specific issue. Finally, I have also based my incentives that I have on offer around my featuring article due to having the chance to win 'V FEST' tickets. 

The main ways in which this process was carried out being:

1. Lexicon of words
2. Competitions
3. Intertextuality
4. Social media
5. The price
6. Focus group
7. The 'Features and Regulars'
8. House style

Evaluation Question 6:

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

The main technologies I have spoken about being:

InDesign
Apple Photo
The Sony camera
PhotoShop
DaFont
Google Forms
Office 365

How hard would it have been if these technologies were not available to me?

It would have been extremely difficult to create my media product without the rage of technology available. This is due to how easy to use and access a lot of the applications are to use, the overall outcome would have looked nowhere near to the professional standard that it is with the range of technology. 

Technologies from Ella Chapman

Evaluation Question 7:

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

I asked my focus group as I went along to inform me on whether or not they liked a part of my magazine. Above is an example when I wished to find out if my logo was suitable and of a good standard to include.

My overall aim was to base my final product on this specific edition of 'TeenNow' as I think that it really follows the codes and conventions of a really high standard pop magazine. In evaluation, I believe that I did this task very well due the pop genre being really obvious as soon as you look at the front cover of my final product.


When looking back at the preliminary task that I created I feel as though I have come a long way in terms of the quality and overall look of the product created. The main aspect that I have learnt along the way is the forms and conventions of already existing magazines. I was introduced to this through having to analyse Sixth form magazines and how what they have used engages with the audience. Therefore, I have included these aspects in my final product such as: Pull quotes, drop caps, consistent house style, branding, incentives, tag lines, slogans and more. Furthermore, discovering who the specific psychographic would be is a good way to ensure that all of the needs and wants are maintained through each issue.


What changes would I have made if I was to do this task again?

In reflection of my task I would take the time to watch more YouTube videos that display tutorials regarding the different technology platforms. Therefore, I would then be able to widen my skill level even more so that it is ensured that the novel aspect of my product is a good as it can possibly be.

Here are a selection of comparison images that convey how much my ability to create a magazine has expanded since the preliminary task of creating a Sixth Form magazine.

Click on this for a detailed analysis of my Sixth Form magazine:

Research: Audience feedback

We did some audience feedback and the outcome for my product was:

Improvement- Break up the text on the double page spread and move it over slightly so it does not cover the arm of the model.

Positive- There is a really clear sense of brand identity, it is clearly aimed at a younger target audience which you can really tell.

Production:Checking in with my focus group

What is your personal opinion of the new created masthead?

Georgia: 'I think that is looks simple yet still really effective and easy to read. The chosen colors go really well together, and the overlapping of the letters makes it look that little bit more professional. However, you could think about maybe adding a pop of pink as this would link in really well with the genre.'

This is the outcome of the new masthead that I have created when having taken into account what my focus group told me would look best.  It meant having to adapt the whole overall house style of my magazine, but I think it looks a lot more realistic and comparable to a Pop magazine on the market.


What target audience to you think my final overall design applies to?

Penny: I think that your target audience would be from around 11-16 year olds. Based on your house style I would have to say that the magazine is mostly targeted towards girls, as well as the actual content listed on the contents page also linking in well with the gender. 

Production:magazine front cover

Front cover...

I have edited the lighting, brightness and contrast to the main image featuring on the front cover, ensuring it stands out and looks professional enough to support the brand of 'Pop Planet.' 

This is the main basis of my front cover, simply including the masthead. I have already began to figure out a color palette, which is blue to match the top that one of the models is wearing to show a brand identity.  

Now, I have added in the featuring articles that are going to be included within the issue, making sure the more important words are highlighted in a contrasting color. Also, small details such as the date of the issue, price and bar code are all conventions which allow the magazine to be portrayed as professional. 

The next varies changes that I have made is the masthead and position of the blue banner towards the bottom. I used Photoshop to create a new masthead that I felt was more professional and a lot easier to read. By placing a box around the outside of the main text involved with the masthead, it makes it stand out without drawing all of the attention away from the central image. 

                          

Due to the fact that I decided to adapt the masthead, it therefore, means that the color palette has been changed slightly to ensure that the house style and typography is proved to be consistent. 

My focus group said that they think it would look good if I added a pop of pink to the front cover. Therefore, I have changed the house style completely to make it look a lot more like a pop magazine, I gained inspiration from already existing magazines. 

  

Another major adaptation that I have carried out on the front cover of my magazine is making it look a lot more busy with featuring articles, creating more incentives for my target audience to purchase it. I used Photoshop a lot throughout this process, mainly to get rid of the white background around some of the images; meaning the outcome looks a lot more professional.

Production: magazine contents page

I decided to choose this image for my contents page as I really like the colours as well as the direct mode of address from the model. The way she is positioned means that it is then easy to position the content on the page.

This lesson I began to place some of the contents that will be included in my magazine in a transparent box at the side. Furthermore, the masthead is in the font 'prisma' which is the same as the font on the front cover to provide consistency. I downloaded this from 'dafont' which is a website that provides a unique variety of fonts.

I have now begun to experiment with adding different features to my contents page. This involves a smaller image of my front cover to promote the latest issue.

This lesson I wanted to push my skills slightly more so I have created an Instagram post personal to my magazine. I did this on Photoshop by using a template that I got from Google images. It looks professional linking in well with my target audience and is also a good way to interact with them.

This is where I have begun to adapt the house style of my magazine regarding the color palette, adding in slightly brighter shades to match the front cover. 

The final changes I have made is to add more content involved in my magazine, adding in another Instagram post, adding the credits and photography, placing the logo from my front cover in the bottom right hand corner, including a website for a sense of brand identity and finally, there is now a tag line at the top of the page 'The Pop of a new generation.' 

Production:magazine double-page-spread

Double-Page-Spread

This is the image that I have decided to use for my double page spread, I feel that it suits the topic of festivals very well due to the clothing and position of the models. It is more on the subtle side due to the fact that there is not a direct mode of address, which is what I wanted to go for as I want the article to be the main focus to  my audience. 

Next, I began to place the article onto the spread and making sure that you can easily read the font. In the end I decided to go for a font named 'bell-rose' which did not print in capitals so worked really well. 

This lesson I spent the time putting the text into columns, this then means that I am going along with the codes and conventions of already existing magazines. 

I have no begun to experiment with different color palettes on the spread to see which ones work best. I feel as though the green shade links in really well with the idea of nature in the background of the central image. Also meaning that the black typography stands out well within the column. 

This lesson my aim was to include more codes and conventions from other magazines. So this therefore, meant that I have added in a drop cap on the first letter of the article which now looks considerably more professional. 

                                          
This lesson I have added social media logos to engage with my audience, as well as a pop of pink to fit in with the house style that I have created on my front cover. 

The final changes I have made is to add the masthead logo in the bottom right hand corner to ensure that there is a clear branding across the magazine. 

Research-reading the examiners report

After reading the examiner report from last year, it is evident that I need to think about the following changes:

1. Work on the branding of the magazine-including radio station mentions, websites and mentions of the front cover on the contents page
2. Add featuring and regular sections onto my contents page
3. Add my masthead onto each page for a strong branding
4. Add a 'fan zone' to engage with the audience
5. State how often the magazine is issued 
6. Include puns and strap lines to link into the genre and house style of the magazine

Production: inspiration from magazines

This is a screenshot from a Pop magazine named 'CLASSIC POP.' I really liked the look of their masthead as I felt I needed to adapt mine to make it slightly more simple yet still effective in promoting my brand. The box around the edge of the text allows it to stand out more, as well as the contrasting colours they have used in terms of the black and red. Furthermore, I really liked the idea of making use of the inside of the 'O' by either placing text in the middle or even an image that relates to the masthead. 

Therefore, following on from the inspiration that I have found above I decided to adapt my original masthead and make it look a lot more professional. I carried out this process in Photoshop. The original masthead that I created is positioned to the left of the page, I liked the unique style however, I felt as though it could be difficult to read for my target audience, I have kept the font 'Prisma' the same as I feel this links in really well with my genre. As well as this, the letters were difficult to get straight which meant it did not fulfill the professional look I wanted to go for. 

This is an image of a drop-cap. I felt as though this is a really professional and easy aspect to carry out, it it popular across a lot of magazines no matter what the genre is. Therefore, there is a drop-cap included on my double page spread, InDesign made this easy to do and also look really put together. 

This is the front cover that I took most of my inspiration from in terms of how my own front cover looks. I really like the bright colours used as the house style as you can really tell that is is a pop magazine without even reading it. I also like the way the boxes overlap with each other. Furthermore, it is clear that there has been close editing on the boxes, making it look very professional. 

Research: InDesign turorial

This is a tutorial that I have researched on YouTube regarding how to create the transparency effect on my magazine front cover. I found this particular video very helpful as it guides you through step by step, presenting the individual actions on the screen.


Click here for the link to the YouTube video