Image research for our front cover

This slideshow depicts the research that we did before creating images for our front cover.

Image research for our front cover

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Front cover

This is the front cover of our music magazine. I plan to later evaluate this page in the evaluation of my project, as with the rest of my production. However, I shall briefly annotate it now.

The most important thing to discuss here is the use of the house colours for my magazine. The entire magazine is in black, purple and white. We want our magazine to look classy yet femenine, and this explains the use of the colours further; the target audience of our magazine is teenage girls, and the most obvious colour to use here is pink. However, we wanted to bring some sophistication and room for different tastes within a community to our magazine, hence the use of the colour purple.

We initially decided that we wanted the photo on the front of our magazine to be in black and white, with the tie of the model pulled through in purple so as to create some brand identity for our magazine. However, after we thought about this more, we realised that this would not make the image stand out enough. When the audience are deciding which magazine to buy in the shop, there is a 10-20 second considering period, and realistically our magazine would probably be overlooked if there was a simple black and white image on the front.

We wanted the model on our magazine cover to look smart yet edgy; and this therefore explains the costume of the model. He is wearing a smart shirt and tie, with a zipped bomber jacket over the top. We hoped that this would make him look more fresh and cool, as well as making him look younger and more relevant to the music industry today, with similar artists such as Justin Bieber being popular today.

We carefully considered the conventions of covers of music magazines. We imitated the stand out masthead of similar magazine NME, putting the slogan of our magazine 'Music is what life sounds like' underneath it, so as to create some brand identity for the magazine. Our use of coverlines and lures, combined with our idea to have a skyline and line at the bottom of the page in order to show more features within the magazine also shows regular conventions of other magazines. In order to create some originality, we also featured an image of my features page on the cover, so as to make the page more visually interesting - though we did not want too many images on the front cover, as we wanted the main focus to be on the central image - and to inform the reader about the magazine.

Photos for our front cover

This presentation discusses the images taken for the front cover of our music magazine.

Photos for our front cover

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Conventions of a magazine front cover

As a post production process in the creation of the front cover of our music magazine, we first looked at other conventions of the front covers of music magazines. We did this so as to get a feel for not only the conventions used but also the correct terminology for the different conventions, so that we could talk about and think about them when creating our own music magazines. I have annotated two front covers with appropriate labels, as can be seen above.

Flat plan - Front cover

Above is the flat plan for the front cover of my music magazine. I have included some forms and conventions of music magazines, such as a masthead and barcode. I have also developed these conventions; on one magazine that I have seen, there was a small lyric next to the barcode which was written by the artist featured on the front cover. I think this is an original idea, and therefore intend to do it in my own music magazine. On my front cover, I intend to have just one main image which will be the main focus of the page. My image will feature a young male, as I feel that this would appeal more to me as a teenage girl, and therefore am trying to consider what my ideal reader would prefer.

Contents page

This is the contents page of our music magazine. We researched the conventions of other music magazines before creating our own so as to gain inspiration and knowledge about the conventions used. We saw that there are obvious features such as a list of contents, folio and image. However, we also gained inspiration from some unconventional features in some music magazines. For example, we decided to include a band index on our contents page, as well as images of examples of pages in our magazine. We did this because we want our magazine to be as original and informative as possible for the audience; we want our magazine to be unconventional.

In terms of the image on our contents page, we took inspiration from the contents page of another music magazine which we found on the internet when researching for inspiration. This image is also an explanation for the layout of our contents page, as we wanted to fit the text featured around the image as much as possible, and we have done so here.

We edited the image; putting it in black and white and highlighting the model's purple shoes. We wanted to do this in order to create some originality and brand identity for our music magazine; we decided that we wanted to have every photo in our music magazine in black and white with something purple pulled through so as to create individuality for our magazine. By doing this we are conveying our house colours, as well as creating a very classy and glamourous look for our magazine.

Photos for our contents page

Below is a slideshow which I created in order to display the photos which we took for our contents page.

Photos for our contents page

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Contents flat plan

Below is the flat plan for our contents page. We have tried to include various conventions, and are going to have one main image on our page, so that the focal point is obvious. Some of the conventions we have included are pull quotes, anchoring and an editors' note. The house colours of the magazine will be set here, as white, black and purple; we plan for the photo to be in black and white with an item of purple colour accentuated, as a trademark of our magazine, setting brand identity.

The first photo featured is an image of a contents page which we found on the internet, while researching for our own project. We were immediately drawn to this example because of it's simplicity yet edge, and the fact that it looks classy but striking. Therefore, we aim to recreate this shot on our own contents page,adapting it as detailed above.

Ideology of my music magazine

Whose interests does the magazine serve? Who or what does it represent?
The magazine is intended for teenage girls, and so it represents them and their interests, such as celebrity gossip and other insights into celebrities personal lives. I will use my reader profile to consider the content of my magazine properly, so that I can interest my target audience with as much impact as possible.

Who is present and absent in the magazine?
As my magazine is a music magazine, the vast majority of the people featured are going to be music artists, including soloists and band members. I may also include talk of music moguls in my articles, as well as other celebrities when discussing featured artists' personal lives. Apart from these instances, there will be no talk of anyone else in the public eye, such as politicians or actors. I may also include some unsigned artists, but otherwise I will not really feature any other 'everyday' people.

Powerpoint Presentation on my Features Page

Features page

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As part of a peer marking scheme in order to enable us to accept constructive criticism about our features pages, I created a presentation of my features page so as to explain the decisions I made while creating my features page. This can be viewed above.

Photos for my features page

In these photos I wanted to create a believeable setting. Therefore, I used a keyboard and headphones, and by doing this I also depicted that my magazine is categorised in the 'music' genre. I wanted this shot to be natural, and this is why I asked my model to sit at the keyboard and play it; I did not want the photo to look too staged, as a lot of the other photos are. I experimented with using different facial expressions, and decided to use the one in which my model is smiling because I wanted this photo to be more relaxed and show the 'artists' 'fun' side. The lighting in these photos is quite clear, but I put the one that I used into black and white as it made it look more professional.

In this photo I wanted to really create an appropriate set. This is why I used a guitar and amplifier, as well as the headphones used in the previous shot. I wanted this photo to be more of a serious, action shot, perhaps recreating a live performance, and this was why I included the amplifier. By using these props the photo also depicts the type of music that the artist creates. The lighting in this picture is too dark, giving it an unclear quality. I used this photo for my features page, but altered the contrast and put it into black and white so as to make it look clearer.

I wanted these photos to look as though my model was standing around casually. Therefore, I have him standing in a laidback pose against a white background. The lighting in these photos is not very good - particularly the bottom one - and so I did not use either of these photos in my final features page, as I could not alter them in such ways that they could look more professional. Both of the photos have an indirect address to them, which adds to the casual feel of them.

The main focus of these photos is the headphones that my model is wearing. This is why he is sitting against a blank white wall, and the photo is a close up shot. I wanted my photo to focus on the headphones so that it helped to convey my magazine as a music magazine. By using an indirect address, more attention has been brought to the headphones. The lighting in the photos is bright enough to ensure that the image is clear. I did not use any of these photos in my final features page because I found that the background was slightly dull, and I only chose 3 photos in the end. I asked my model to experiment with facial expressions, as I did not really know what sort of mood I wanted the photo to be.

This photo would have been more successful if I had asked my model to keep both feet on the ground, as it looks slightly as though he only has one leg! I asked my model to stand in the far right part of the frame, and to look at the bottom right hand corner, as this created an interesting effect with the majority of the photo being the white background. The focus of this shot is, again, the headphones, so as to once again depict my magazine as a music magazine. The lighting on the photo is perfect, as I did not want this picture to look too bright, seeing as it is a serious one. I did not chose to use this photo in my features page, simply because I thought that the other 3 were better photos in the way that they conveyed more clearly that the magazine is a music magazine.



I took these photos against a brick wall outside, as I wanted to experiment with lighting. These photos are intended to be more casual yet thoughtful, and my model is once again wearing the headphones to show my magazine is a music magazine. I was inspired by some photos I had seen on the internet to create these photos, and a lot of rockstars have famous shots taken of them against a brick wall, so I have tried to mimic these photos. I used the top photo in my features page, as it looks professional and a realistic album photograph.



For these photos, I used the same background and scenery. I placed my model on a stage, against a black background, as she is wearing light coloured clothes and I wanted her to stand out. I experimented with a variety of camera angles, but kept most of the distances the same because I wanted to feature the same amount of my model. I ended up using the photo taken from the high angle, as I thought it looked interesting and flattering. It also gave my model an inferior look, whereas some of the photos taken from the floor (low angle) made the model look authoritative. However, by directly addressing the audience, the high angled photo also made my model look authoratitive, and this was why I used it in my features page. The lighting in these photos is too dark, so I edited them, making them brighter and airbrushing my model's face to give her a flawless, cover-girl, glamourous look, like the popstar she portrays.

The original idea that I had for my features page was to have a Christmas feature. I have kept this theme throughout my magazine, headlining my main article 'Winter-oducing Simi'. This explains the Christmas tree in these photos. In the bottom photo, I used a window to take the photo through, in order to convey my model (Simi) decorating a Christmas tree. Neither of these photos really work, as the background is plain white and when I tried to edit in photos of Christmas objects such as presents, the photos looked unprofessional and unrealistic. This is why neither of these photos ended up on my features page.

I wanted a close up, direct photo for my features page, and so I took this one. I tried to incorporate the Christmas tree, but because this photo is against a black background and the tree is quite dark, the efforts are unsuccesful. By having the model's hand up to her head, the photo looks very staged and almost uncomfortable, and the lighting is once again too dark. These factors compelled me not to use this photo for my final features page.

This is the edited version of one of the photos that I used on my features page. I cut out the background and brightened it as well, and the effect of this is that the photograph looks much more glamourous and professional. Though the background is now white, and the model's tops are white, this does not have much of an effect, as my model's hair is so dark, and also the hood of her fleece stands out. I wanted to create a different looking, staged look on this shot, and this has made my photo look much more professional. I airbrushed my model, and this has made her look more glamourous, depicting the type of 'artist' she is portraying.

These photos were taken with a folk artist in mind. This was why I used outside to take the pictures, and included trees in them as well. I wanted the artist to be a little bit like Jason Mraz, and this is why I asked my model to wear very casual clothing. I took the photos outside in the dark as I wanted them to contrast with the other photos that I had taken, which were outside. I used the second photo down, and this has been made brighter, though it is still obvious that the photo is taken in the dark. I made the photo brighter, and asked my model to sing, so that it portrayed a concert scene, as I have not really taken any live action shots for my features page.

Mindmap - Contents of Features Page

I have created a small mindmap of what I intend to include of my features page for my music magazine. By doing this I have organised my ideas and now have a clear idea of what will be included.

Features page analysis

As a research process for the creation of my music magazine, I looked at other features pages and looked at the conventions used, as well  as the mode of address. This particular magazine is Kerrang!, specialising in rock and metal music. My annotations can be seen below.

Images
The images are spontaneous, and mainly performcance shots. This is because the readers of the magazine are interested in the fundamental foundations of the artists - music- and wish to see them in their 'natural' environments.
The images are often low angled shots, and this gives the artists a sense of superiority, authority and general importance.
The images aim to also create the atmosphere of the scene. There is a shot of the crowd, displaying the chaos of the venue and therefore reliving the event. The shot of the audience also shows how important fan support is, not only to the band, but also to the magazine.
The images are randomly scattered around the page, depicting the chaos of the gig as well as the kind of music the band makes.
The images have a white border, looking almost like a polaroid picture, again bringing a very natural and spontaneous feel, as well as creating an almost nostalgic atmosphere.
The main image has a yellow spotlight which continues to the next photo. The position of the man's hand also draws the eyeline to the other shots, cleverly drawing the reader's attention to the other pehotos.

Mode of address
The photos do not generally show people looking into the camera and therefore portray the band in their natural environment.
The heading of the article is the name of the band featured, therefore clearly showing the reader what to expect from it.
This 'KKKK' rating featured helps to create a brand identity for the magazine, as it is a feature unique to it. The folio in the bottom corners of the page also have this effect, as does the 'Kerrang! Week of Rock' heading in the top right corner.
The singer in the main image is depicting not only the sort of music that the band create, but also the genre of music that the magazine represents. He has a cropped haircut and heavy tattoos, depicting aggression and authorit.
The main article is much more ordered than the rest of the page, using clear photographs, and this shows some professionality.
The sans-serif font shows masculinity, purpose and functionality, again being professional yet also depicting the kind of music featured.

SurveyMonkey response

https://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurvey_ShareResults.aspx?sm=TBctE%2fTvuhen0ANxZXN92gdgHitQWBtPoszE34pF95Kq1tUBhXJcFqFL0VdOi2Kk

This is the response for my survey, created on SurveyMonkey. In this questionnaire, I tried to target specifically those who I wanted to include in my target audience; teenage girls. I tried to include questions which I had not had answered in my previous questionnaire. I have analysed the questions below.

1. 50% of the girls answering my survey stated that their favourite genre of film was Romance, the other half chose Romantic Comedy. This shows that they watch films that are light-hearted or sad; more feminine films such as 'Dear John' and 'Mean Girls'.

2.  The results of this question were fairly varied. 16.7% chose 'Once a week' as their answer to the question 'How often do you watch films?'. 33.3% watch films twice a week, another 33.3% watch them once a month, and 16.7% unspecifically chose 'Other' as their answer. This shows a variety of different personalities, but a fairly frequent amount of film-watching.

3. 66.7% of my target audience have a job, showing that they earn their own money regularly. This is important to me, especially considering a price for my music magazine and ensuring that customers get their value for money.

4. Half of my target audience do not earn any money monthly. The other half earn different amounts; 16.7% earn up to £50, the same amount earn up to £100 and another 16.7% earn more than £200 monthly. This shows that I will need to be careful when pricing my music magazine, and once again will ensure I consider value for money.

5. I asked my target audience where they usually shop for clothes as I hoped that this would help me to identify different personalities and styles within the audience. The majority of my readers shop at New Look; a fairly cheap high street store. Half shop in Topshop, which is slightly more expensive; a third purchase clothes from the cheapest high street store, Primark, and one person regularly buys from River Island. This is important as it shows that most of my readers wear the same sorts of clothes, and so will have similar interests and personalities.

6. Most of my readers spend an average of between £20 and £50 monthly, so this means that they put aside as little as £5 or as much as £12.50 aside each week to allow for clothes. This could show that they buy a new outfit weekly, and so fashion is important to them.

7. Most of the girls taking the survey would prefer to see 'Famous men' inside a music magazine, and this is important as it shows what kind of feature will attract them to a music magazine. Obviously I will not be able to include an original photograph of a famous man in my magazine, but this has helped me to decide that a man should be included in order to appeal the most to my target audience.

8. 50% of my target audience stated that they would be most attracted to a magazine with a woman on the front cover. This has been very useful to me, as it has helped me to decide that a female will be on the cover of my own magazine in order to provide maximum appeal to the audience.

9. 3 colours in my 'Pick your favourite colours' question appeared with 50% of the votes. These were pink, blue and purple, and so I shall be using two of them as the house colours for my music magazine.

10. The responses of this question are evenly balanced, from up to £10 to more than £40 spent monthly on music. This shows again that I will need to carefully consider price and value for money, in order to cater for all of my target audience.

Reader Profile research - Target Audience

As part of my research for my main task in AS Media - creating a music magazine - I have done some research into the target audiences of similar magazines, NME and Uncut. Through ipcadvertising, I have been able to study the reader profiles for these magazines, and this has therefore helped me to establish my own target audience in my music magazine. Links to these profiles are below:

http://www.ipcadvertising.com/resource/hvcjivb3x8p8oqk9bw285ffu.pdf
http://www.ipcadvertising.com/resource/ie8ggqzju8kgqdditq67k9hj.pdf

The reader profiles on these two particular magazines have included statistics about the gender of the majority of the readers, their average income, relationship status, median age and whether or not they are a student. As well as this, the reader profiles give details about how popular the magazine is, and how much it costs to create the magazine. These reader profiles have helped the magazine companies to learn more about their target audience and therefore how to include features which will interest and inspire them.

In order to form a similar 'relationship' with the target audience for my magazine, I have created a reader profile for my magazine, which I have included below.

My magazine's target audience is a teenage girl, and therefore I have included a lot of feminine things on my profile, such as makeup and jewellery. I have also included films that are popular among teenage girls, such as Mean Girls and Twilight, as well as considering popular figures such as Katy Perry and Enrique Iglesias who also interest teenagers.

Music Magazine - Features Page Flat Plan

For our main task in AS Media - a music magazine front cover and double page spread - it is important to consider the basic layout and organisation of original ideas. Therefore, I have used Microsoft Word to create two flat plans showing my first ideas about the layout of my front cover and double page spread in my music magazine, the first of which - my features page - is shown below.

My magazine serves the interests of teenage girls. Therefore I intend my features page to include articles which will interest this audience. For example, though my magazine is a music magazine I intend to include interview questions which ask about relationships, as I know that teenage girls are interested in the love lives of celebrities.

All of the people featured on my features page are going to be from the music industry; all are going to be performers. I am going to think carefully about whether I include new or established artists, and will ask about the preferences of my target audience when making this decision.There will not be any other celebrities in my magazine, as it is strictly music related.

The institution creating the magazine is going to include mainly female employees, and this is going to be conveyed in my music magazine features page as far as possible. For example, during the interview, I will ensure that questions asked include phrasing such as 'here at FML, we are dying to know if you're dating', etc.

I plan for my magazine to be reputable, and therefore the accuracy of the magazine should be very precise. Though the aspects covered are going to be fairly laid-back so as to fit the mode of address for my target audience appropriately, I am going to think carefully about the information I include.

Other people should easily judge that the magazine is created especially for girls, and I intend to make this blatantly obvious through my features page, through the methods expressed above.

My interview is going to feature an artist with a 'rags-to-riches' type story. Therefore, my magazine is going to cover issues such as financial struggle, lack of support and even homelessness. Though my magazine is going to be fairly light-hearted, I want my audience to be able to be inspired by the people featuring in it.

Music magazine questionnaire analysis

After completing and having 15 people answer my questionnaire on music magazines, I then had to analyse my results. This is part of the process which enables me to create relevant material in a music magazine for my target audience. I have analysed my results question-by-question, and this is displayed below. Some people answered more than once on some questions, explaining why not all of the votes add up to 15.

What is your favourite genre of music?

1. Rock                                                                                      3 votes                                      
2. Pop                                                                                        6 votes
3. Hip hop                                                                                  2 votes
4. Dance                                                                                    1 vote
5. Other (please specify)                                                            4 votes

The most popular answer to this question was 'pop music'. At the moment some of the most listened to pop music artists include Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and The Wanted. This shows that, although some more rock-y bands such as Kings of Leon are becoming more and more popular and successful in the mainstream market, pop music is still the genre of music that most people listen to. The types of music specified in the 'Other' category included acoustic and dubstep, an increasingly popular genre descending from garage, and concentrating on syncopated rhythms and emphasis on the bassline.

How do you typically listen to music?

1. iPod/MP3 player                                                                      12 votes
2. CDs                                                                                          1 vote
3. Radio                                                                                        1 vote
4. Internet                                                                                     2 votes
5. Other                                                                                        0 votes

The most popular answer to this question was iPod/MP3 player, by a vast majority. This shows the increasing amount of people owning personal music players, presumably due to their convenience. This survey has shown me that very few people purchase music on CDs any more, most people use downloads in order to listen to music. 

How often do you buy music magazines?

1. Never                                                                                       12 votes
2. 1-2 times a month                                                                      3 votes
3. 3-4 times a month                                                                      0 votes
4. 5-6 times a month                                                                      0 votes
5. Other                                                                                        0 votes

The answers to this question indicate that very few people actually purchase music magazines, let alone on a regular basis. This could be because few people are interested in music to the point that they would spend money reading about certain bands and artists, or because there are no music magazines that cater for their interests.

Approximately how long do you spend listening to music weekly?

1. 1-4 hours                                                                                  1 vote
2. 5-9 hours                                                                                  5 votes
3. 10-12 hours                                                                              5 votes
4. 13 – 15 hours                                                                            2 votes
5. Other                                                                                        2 votes

This section shows that people spend various amounts of time listening to music throughout the week, but most people spend more than 5 hours listening to music per week. This shows that they do no necessarily listen to music at every opportunity, but they do spend a relatively long amount of time listening to it. Some people listened to up to 24 hours worth of music per week, once again showing the variety of different time periods spent listening to music by my target audience.

What is, in your opinion, the most important part of a music magazine?

1. Exclusive interviews with bands/artists                                         7 votes
2. Support for unsigned bands                                                        4 votes
3. Gig reviews                                                                                2 votes
4. Album/single reviews                                                                  3 votes
5. Other                                                                                         1 vote

The majority of people thought that the most important feature in a music magazine is exclusive interviews with bands/artists. This, therefore, will be featured in my music magazine, as it shows that this is what my target audience want to see in a music magazine. Another of the features that people voted as important was support for unsigned bands; therefore I will combine these features by creating an interview with an unsigned band, in order to appeal to my target audience.

How do you usually purchase music?

1. iTunes                                                                                          5 votes
2. CD                                                                                              3 votes
3. Illegal download                                                                           6 votes
4. File share                                                                                     1 vote
5. Other                                                                                           0 vote

The most popular answer in this section was 'Illegal download', closely followed by 'iTunes'. These answers both show that the age of 'hard copies' of music is long gone, and the digital download is now the most common way to listen to and purchase music. The fact that most people in my survey selected 'Illegal download' as their answer shows what is happening in the music industry today; artists are not making much money from their music as people are, in effect, stealing their music by using file sharing and illegal downloading in order to purchase music.

Name your top 3 favourite bands/artists

The most commmon answers to this question were Katy Perry, Eminem and Drake. Katy Perry is a pop artist, and is very popular particularly amongst girls as she is seen as a role model; she also recently released a new album and so is very current. Eminem and Drake are both leading rappers, Eminem being something of a veteran and Drake seen as one of the most exciting up-and-coming artists of the moment. This diversity, amongst other genres such as Indie and Rock, show that mainstream music is the most popular at the moment; readers want to know about and listen to artists featuring in the latest charts, and tend to focus less on unsigned acts.

What was the last song you downloaded?

There were no repeated songs answered in this part of the questionnaire, therefore it is difficult to make a comment, especially seeing as the songs featured were very varied in terms of genre and artist.

What was the last gig/festival you went to?

These answers varied from big summer festivals, mainly Reading - portraying the audience's interest in rock music - to smaller, local gigs, showing that the audience often spend money watching local bands and artists showcasing talent in the area. Both perspectives show that the audience have a passion for music to the point that they are willing to show support not only for large bands but also smaller, unsigned acts, as well as to spend money doing so.

What was the last album you bought?

Very few people answered this question, suggesting that not many people actually purchase entire albums, they tend to buy individual songs. The lack of response could be due to the wording of the question; many people perceived it to mean 'CD', and so the answers that were written were mostly albums released at least 5 years ago, as these were the last CDs that people purchased. Therefore, this shows that none of my target audience really buy CDs anymore, another useful factor to consider when creating my music magazine.


This questionnaire has been very useful to me with regard to my music magazine; it has helped me to get to know more about, and further establish, my target audience, and this will therefore enable me to create a music magazine which will further appeal to them.

Preliminary task - specific questions, evaluation

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

My product uses some forms and conventions of a school magazine. For example, I have included features such as an outline of the year ahead, and a welcome from the headmaster. These often feature in a school magazine. However, I have also tried to challenge these conventions; I have included different articles which may not necessarily be included in a school magazine. For example, I have included two features entitled ‘Names to faces’, in which there are pictures of pupils and staff with their names underneath. I did this because I want my magazine to be informative and interesting, as well as being individual and unlike other school magazines. I hoped that this would give my magazine some kind of brand identity.

How does your media product represent paticular social groups?

My magazine represents new students in a school. I tried to convey this in particular on my front cover,where I have included a picture of a boy being waved off to school by his father, on his first day. I wanted to do this so that the audience would straightaway be able to identify with the magazine. I also tried to do this by including features which I hoped would help new students, by considering what I would have found useful myself as a new student.

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

My magazine is intended to be distributed by a school, as it is for school students. In particular it should be distributed by the Priory School in Hitchin, as the magazine informs students of events, pupils and staff at this specific school.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I tried to attract my audience from the front cover of my magazine. I did this by including a photograph of a boy leaving his house for his first day of school, and being waved off by his father, as I wanted to give the audience something to identify with. I also informed the audience on the front cover of what type of magazine ‘Nouveau’ is. I did this first and foremost by putting the line ‘The Priory School’s magazine just for new students’ on the bottom of the page, as I hoped that this would make it clear to the reader about the type of magazine it is. I also did this more subtly by naming my magazine ‘Nouveau’; this means ‘New’ in French, a language which most school students study. I therefore hoped that some people would recognise the word and it’s meaning, and therefore be interested in my magazine.

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

Through creating this magazine, I have learnt a lot about how to use the PagePlus and PhotoPlus programs. I have learned how to edit photographs, how to create different  coloured backgrounds and how to make different typographic effects. This can be seen on my contents page, where I have faded the word ‘contents’ on the left hand side of my page. This preliminary task has enabled me to experiment with the software available to me, and I will now find it much easier to create my main task; a music magazine. Though this is not to do with the technology that I have used, I have also learnt a lot about the way in which space can be used effectively in a front cover and contents page, another factor which will be useful when creating my main task.

Target audience - NME magazine

As part of our main task for our AS Media, we are going to be creating a music magazine. As part of our research, we looked at different music magazines and studied their target audience.
The magazine that I used was the New Musical Express (NME), and I used the October issue. I had to answer two questions based on a specific article - I chose an article on American artist Darwin Deez - the answers of which are below.

1. How does the double page spread you have looked at use a layout (text and image) to suit it's target audience and style?
The double page spread has been split into two halves horizontally. The top half is a picture of the featured artist - Darwin Deez. The background of the picture is simple and bright blue, so the main focus is on the artist. The colour of the background is not gender specific, yet it is bold and playful, making connotations about the kind of artist that Darwin is. The title of the article is 'Let's Dance', another suggestion that the artist and article is more fun as opposed to serious. The fact that there is half of the page taken up by image makes the article look smaller, and therefore this would suit the target audience- young people- as they may not have the concentration, interest or time to read a really long article.

2. What type of mode of address is used by this magazine to appeal to its target audience? Pick out words and phrases as examples.
The magazine addresses the audience in a friendly and informal way, using words like 'douchebag'; this shows a colloquial tone. This shows that the target audience is supposed to be a young one, who will understand these modern terms. There is reference to circulating YouTube videos ("Being a D*ckhead's Cool"), once again showing the youth of the intended audience. This, combined with reference such as Nirvana and The Prodigy portrays an appeal to young people who listen to recent rock, indie and electronic music.

Preliminary task front cover

The image below shows the front cover page of my preliminary task; a school magazine with target audience of new students at the Priory School in Hitchin. 

I decided to name my magazine 'Nouveau', because it is the French word for 'new'. This therefore is appropriate for my magazine, as it is intended for new students. I also thought that the word 'Nouveau' would appeal to some of my intended audience, as often in school students learn French. It is a relatively basic French word, and therefore pupils will recognise its' meaning and hopefully be interested in it, if only to tell other friends what it means; to show off a little! For those that can define the word, the title of the magazine also gives the function of it, and is therefore informative.

I have used a simple colour scheme, including baby blue and bright red. I thought that these colours complemented each other, and neither are particularly gender specific. This reflects the fact that my magazine is not aimed at any particular gender, and the use of these 'ambiguous' colours will hopefully mean that neither boys nor girls will be uninterested due to the colours used. I decided to use this red colour because it is one of the colours featured on the school crest, and some of the school jumpers. I therefore thought that this would give my magazine some sort of brand identity, as people would recognise that it was aimed at students from the Priory School. I also tried to do this by putting the school crest and name on the bottom of the front cover.

The crests, school name and tagline ("the Priory School's magazine just for new students") all help to give some information about the intention of the magazine. I thought that it was important to include this information on the front cover not only because the magazine itself is new, but also so that any potential readers will know what they are about to read. I hope that, by including this information, more people will want to read the magazine, as they will know what it is about before they pick it up.

I tried to make the front cover 'grab' the reader by including pictures. The pictures that I included are all of school students, and I also tried to be informative with the shots that I used because I wanted readers to know what they were potentially going to read. As I needed to include a medium close-up of a student, I used the main focus of the page as the photo of the boy being waved off to school by his father; I thought new students would be able to identify with this image. I put this picture in the middle of the page so that it was in the readers' eye line, and took hold of their attention. I also included three pictures underneath the main photograph, all set in a working school environment. I put them underneath the main photo as I thought they were less important and eye-catching as the main picture.

I also included a snippet of what to expect in the rest of the magazine on my front page. I picked three of the most contrasting and interesting features from my magazine, and advertised them on the front page. I did this because I wanted to once again inform the reader of what they could see in the rest of the magazine. I positioned this writing on the gate of the main photo, in the blue that the background is in. I put it here and in this colour because it contrasted with the dark colour of the gate, and as a result it stands out from the photograph and will hopefully attract the reader's attention.

Preliminary task contents page

Below is a picture of the contents page which I created for my preliminary task; a school magazine.

I once again included the logo of the magazine, and the school crest, on the top of my page, as a means of creating a brand identity for my magazine. I wanted to make my magazine recognisable, consistent and familiar, especially seeing as the target audience - new students - will probably be feeling rather overwhelmed.

I have kept the colour scheme (baby blue and bright red) the same as the front cover, again in order to give some consistency and a recognisable brand identity for my magazine.

When deciding how to include the contents of my magazine, I knew I wanted to do something original. I also wanted to continue with the theme of a school. Considering these ideas, I came up with the idea of using a cartoon image of a piece of note paper, as I thought that this would be an interesting idea and would be in keeping with a scholarly theme. Coincidentally, the image that I found best suited my page had a red pin attached to it, and this perfectly fitted my house colours. The typography that I used for this part of my contents page was serif, as I wanted to create the effect of handwriting, once again to fit the setting of a school. I used a red font in order to make it stand out on the pale background, as well as to once again fit the house colours.

I labelled my page as a contents page by putting the word 'Contents' down the left hand side of the page. I did this because I already had the logo of the magazine going along the top of the page, and so I did not think it would look particularly effective if I was to have too much of the text in one place. I used the same font to write the word 'Contents' so that the magazine would further establish its' brand identity. However, I put this font in black and faded the last few letters; I did not want too much of the page to look monotonous and, therefore, dull.

Saying this, I wanted to keep the contents page fairly simple, especially seeing as I had the note paper detail as the main focus of the page. Therefore, I did not want to include too many photos as I did not want to distract from the intended focal point. I had one photo which I decided would look good in particular, and this was an effect which I had created using coloured pens to spell out the word 'NEW'. I put two versions of this picture at the bottom of my page, one as a reflection of the other. I thought this created an interesting and playful effect, yet was not too much detail that would distract from the main focus of the page, the contents of the magazine. 

With regard to the actual contents of my magazine, I thought hard about what to include. I myself started as a new student at the Priory last month, and whilst deciding what I should feature I considered what I would have found useful personally. This is why I have included two 'Names to faces' features, because I find it difficult to learn names and would have found it useful to have a literal photo of everyone with their names underneath! This is also why there is an 'Unspoken rules' feature; I still make errors as I have never been told some rules, as they are just permanently in place and everyone knows them, (apart from the new students!). There is an advice column entitled 'Dear Sally', where students can anonymously write in and have their personal questions answered by a counsellor. Finally, I included a pullout diagram of the school, including classroom numbers, because this can obviously help to ensure new students don't get lost on their way to lessons!