Tuesday, 23 February 2016
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
After looking back at my previous research for the existing institutions of magazine publications I thought it would be best to choose Condé Nast to publish my magazine. As previously described in the research section, this institution is a mass media company who develop film, television and digital video programming with also the portfolio of fashion journalism. This makes it the first reason to have this as my distributor as they work with different media types who could make this magazine multi-platform which back in my questionnaire results is something 100% of the people answered yes to. In addition to this, having the profile of fashion journalism will give my magazine that extra bit of help and boost as I included fashion as the second big feature of the magazine to of course music. With the portfolio of magazines they have published and the amount of people they have focused on, this would give this publication a mass of advertising primarily focused on those interests within the social group.
Secondly, this institution is generally treated as a type of magazine focused on a distinct social group or interest and as my demographics are centred around this type of genre of music (electronic dance) they fuse together their own interests and social issues. This is a great way to target just one social group as the magazine is centered around the target audience and what they would prefer. The magazines in which they have previously published focus on a variety of interests which is yet another reason in the choice for why this institution is best. These interests include travel, culture, food while also being consistent with the fashion and lifestyle choices.
In relation to the statistics the company attracts more than 164 million consumers across its 20 print and digital media brands so this would give my magazine the step up in selling and having the starting point from the guides of this institution.
Whilst looking back at previous research and finding the information for another mass media company(Bauer media group), I realised that this publication would not be fit for my magazine, as they are too widely spread within many different types of magazines whereas I wanted a magazine publication that focused entirely on a social group and their interests just like Condé Nast does. They have published magazines such as heat and grazia whereas Condé Nast has published magazines such as Teen Vogue and beautyinc, which focuses more on my target audience.
Finally, looking back at my questionnaire results, I discovered that many of the people who took the survey said they would want the magazine distributed within a local newsagent or shop so this helps as many magazines are sold within companies such as WHSmiths, tesco, wilkinsons etc which are the shops which are largely populated within all different areas within the country.
Monday, 22 February 2016
Questionnaire Analysis
My results concluded what ideas and the audiences views are that will help me justify what decisions I make. Question one resulted in 100% of people answering yes to reading an electronic dance magazine which finalises whether I should of continued with the genre or not. The next question was multiple choice due to the person choosing which colours they could think of which would be their top four to capture their eyes on a magazine. The top three were black, red and blue therefore I will make sure I use these colours in my products. 90% of people answered the option monthly while 10% answered weekly as to when they would want the magazine to be published. The leader won and I thought this was best due to the researching I did with other magazines. Next question asked how much people would pay for the magazine, 80% selected £2.00 therefore I would choose this price or maybe even up to £2.50 as the majority selected the highest of the options so maybe they would go higher and plus the magazine would gain more profit. The next question involved a multiple selection for what they would want featured in the magazine. Everyone who took the survey selected music which is good of course because this magazine is a music one. 90% of everyone who answered also selected fashion which is a feature I will incorporate. The other features I might include due to the same percentage of 50% are competitions, food and events. Next question results were 100% for if freebies would encourage people to buy so I would include some sort of promotion or freebie. The majority of people selected a band/singer as the front cover main image and something which I intended on doing to relate back to professional music magazines. The next question also resulted in 100% for whether or not they would want the magazine to be multi-platform and all said yes. 90% of people said yes as to if advertisements be of any interest, due to the results and the chance of gaining more profit by promoting other businesses, it is the right way to go. The final question decided where people would like to see the magazine distributed, mostly everyone said locally in a newsagents so that would be my choice.
Thursday, 18 February 2016
Contact Sheet RESUBMISSION
I have decided I am going to use the following photos for use within my main products. Picture 218, 210 and 1794. The pictures of the model have been succesfully taken at good angles and as I am thinking and planning of my final cover for example, I need to know about positioning of cover lines and the overall layout, as well as ensuring there is a good pose given from the model. The pictures photographed of the band Years and Years are similiar however I like the different colours and the neon glow. I will be using both 1794 and 1795.
Construction Schedule
Having a construction schedule will allow me to organise my time according to the amount of time and work that needs to be done in specific time frames ready for the deadline.
Week 1
In week 1, I intend to start drafting my three products on briefly the layout, the type of size each different feature on the pages will roughly be like and labels to help me remember which element goes where. It doesn't matter if these products are not the same as the finished outcome because these are just starting points that will give me a boost as to where and how I can begin constructing my products. At the end of week 1 is when I start to do my photoshoots (prep) as creating the drafts will not take no longer than 3 hours max.
Week 2
In the beginning of week 2, I plan on finishing my photoshoots. I already have access to some photos I intend to use on the contents page and feature article due to previous experiences and chances of capturing music related photographs ( as I planned in relating it to) for these products. My front cover however will be taken in a studio with lighting and backdrop equipment. During the rest of week 2 will be consisted of beginning to construct my front cover.
Week 3
Within this week is the continuation of constructing the front cover. I will make sure the main image has been edited and positioned along with the masthead and small details such as the issue number and date are fixed into place. This is so I know based from my draft and the image of where its best to place my cover lines.
Week 4
Within this week is the continuation of constructing the front cover which will consist of the final additions and improvements. This will include things like adjusting the cover lines and the colours based on the colur scheme already planned out.
Week 5
In week 5, the beginning to constructing my contents page will be in progress. I will began adding the title, date and images in place based on the draft if I still believe it looks up to the standard ready to add the features and other small additions.
Week 6
In this week, adding the features and positioning small elements for the contents page to make it all come together will be the next steps. With the amount of space avaliable this will give me an objective based on research as well as to how I should write my features ( with a lot of detail or brief explanation) because this will either give me a lot of space or none at all for the last details.
Week 7
Within this week is the continuation of constructing the contents page which will consist of the final additions and improvements such as adding an image copy of the front cover and font sizes. At the end of week 7 for the third lesson will be when I will begin to contruct the feature article.
Week 8
In week 8, the feature article will be in progress and hopefully most of the elements have been added including the image, titles and kicker as this will be the frame for where the main body text will fit in.
Week 9
This week will consist of the feature article contuining on in progress with adding the main body text, drop cap and pull quote.
Week 10
Within the final week will be time spent on the finishing touches for the feature article such as adjusting parts of the text so some parts are bold while others are no and including strokes of colours from my colour scheme to make areas stand out more. The last lesson of the week will be checking over each product to make sure they all make it up to standard that I think is suitable and making only small touches where needed.
Location, Props and Costumes
The location for taking my photographs will be based in a studio as I believe this would become more of a professional outcome as the studio lighting and the backdrops will help and assist me further when editing them in photoshop. Also I do not want to photograph outside because of the uncertainty of light. When researching other magazines I discovered that they are taken in an controlled environment by using lighting and a white background to keep that clean and professional look. Therefore representing this when taking my photos is key.
I am not going to use any props as I don't think they will work within the photos. I want to keep them simple and professional. However I will be taking the photos at different angles to have a variation between each photo and between the different page spreads.
For my shoot, my model will be wearing party type with a slight casual aesthetic style to their clothing. This will be skinny jeans, navy vest top and white blazer. However, as I want most of the photos taken at a profile shot and slightly further out, only the blazer and vest will be seen. I also decided to have these colours as my colour theme for the content on the front cover will contrast the colours in the photo and not be overcasted.
Thursday, 11 February 2016
Progression of Work of the Feature Article RESUBMISSION
Looking back at my draft product, the ratio of how much text there was compared to the image was massively different and it is good to have the content however, the purpose of a feature article is to feature something imporant. When looking at magazines during research I noticed how some would fill a page with a photo or scale it so it spread over the double page which is what I did.
I did not want to leave black space out as I nearly made that mistake with my contents page. The key is to make sure there is not too much or too little of the same elements. I wanted to add another image to fill the space along with text as well as a big title to stand out and link with the colours from the photos being in that neon theme.
This is my final version, I made one last change by adding the bands name and with the box around it, I find it effective and allows the title to stand out better. Linking back to my front cover with some cover lines in white boxes. and have that repitition within my products.
Colour Mood Board RESUBMISSION
For my colour mood board, I created this on photoshop to allow me to choose the different colours and the shade. I wanted to select colours which appealed to my target audience (older teenagers 16+ and perhaps the older generation of those who like the dance music) from both genders. I wanted the colours to be bold and link to the neon colours found in this genre, particularly looking at the colours in my photos of the band, Years and Years. Whilst also researching and looking at different album colours and products related to the electronic dance genre of music, there was a repetition of blues and reds. I thought they would combine well with black which is a colour always found in a magazine. Finally, I also included yellow as it is a bright colour, however I did not want it to be masked by white backgrounds, instead adding elements of the colour in small places making sure it contrasts and stands out. For example, in my feature article I add yellow on top of black. I intend to use a balance of the other free colours which will create bold and exciting products.
Progression of Work of the Contents Page RESUBMISSION
After gaining feedback from the first design, I began to think of content and elements that would fit together with the theme and the purpose for the contents page linking with all the magazine products as a whole.
As mentioned before there was a lot of white space which could have been filled with content that would be necessary and improve the look of the contents page. I began to add in a small feature of the page number, this was a simple error made that was replicated and influenced by professional magazines and will give the consumer guide. I also added another news content piece to add more excitement therefore with more to read it can become unique and above other magazines that don’t have particular news of features. In the initial idea of the magazine being based around music but having other features such as fashion and technology, I connected the idea and made it official by combining it with the news.
This was the final design of the contents page layout. The final corrections and improvements I made was to add final pieces of content which would excite the target audience. This filled empty negative space and has improved the overall look enabling customers to be more attracted to the high amount of content. I also wanted to include the website link for access from a media platform as it was not included on my front cover.
Progression of Work of the Front Cover RESUBMISSION
This was the first design for my front cover, after
producing it and gaining feedback I discovered that important features to
improve the look and content of the front cover would be needed in order to
look more like a magazine. There was a lot of space surrounding the right third
to which the model is positioned. There needed to be gap fillers which would
allow the space to be less of an eye catching area when really the content
should be. Another feature which can be seen in all these images show that the
date and issue number was placed underneath the masthead at a horizontal angle
instead at the left side at a vertical angle, this is just a simple improvement
as the comments suggested that it would look better in that position and not in
the same sector as the masthead.
After gaining feedback, I positioned a puff on the right
where the models shoulder is positioned so it looks like it is sitting on top.
This feature allowed a balance between the space that was situated on the top
right corner where the models head is. The content within the puff also invites
the target audience to more inclined to want to look and hopefully buy the
magazine as it is advertising something extra which according back to the
results of the questionnaire is an element that people love when they are
looking to buy a magazine. By also adding in cover lines and positioning them to fit the curves and angles of the model it has created a more professional look and of course exciting content for consumers.
The next response I got back was to add a main cover line
which is a feature which is always found on any magazine front cover. After also looking into magazines in the real world, I liked how some stood out with a different colour and font, to really capture the audience and focus more on the purpuse of who is on the front cover and why. This is the final outcome of my magazines front cover.
Font Mood Board
For my font mood board, I selected fonts from two websites
supplying various style fonts. I wanted to select fonts which appeal to my
genre of music for the magazine which is electronic dance so I tried to find
fonts which are bold and have other effects which can relate to the style of
the music which is loud and unique because of songs being remixed. I intend my
product to showcase the style of this genre of music with its dominant bold
colours and flare for mixing it up for the younger generation of older
teenagers, perhaps young adults in their 20s. However, the target audience
might be attended for this section of people but only on majority of statistics
that younger people party more for living a young lifestyle; nevertheless the
magazine would be intended to gain profit from all people who are interested in
this genre of music of any age. For the magazines front cover I intend to use
the font ‘kredit’ as I like this style the most and feel it fits well for the
purpose of dominating the front cover and conveying the genre of music as a
bold, striking masthead.
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