The student created a magazine called "IND" for their final project. They aimed to represent the indie music genre by modeling their magazine after "NME", using similar formatting, layouts, and conventions. Through the process, the student learned new skills with software like Photoshop and WordPress. They also improved their photography, research, and time management abilities. Looking back, the student felt their preliminary magazine lacked polish, but they were pleased with the confidence and industry knowledge shown in their final product.
2. )In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media
products?
My magazine uses typical forms and conventions by using certain themes, layouts and typical technical codes.
This is a comparison between my
magazine ‘IND’ and ‘NME’. ‘NME’ was my
main style model which I style my
magazine similarly to. I made sure the
Masthead stood out and was bold, I
positioned the masthead at the top left
like NME. I also made a colour scheme
after deciding to have my masthead
black and blue, I then continued to use
this colour on the front page and
throughout the magazine such as the
content page and the double page
spread, which you can see on NME they
used red and white. I also positioned my
coverlines down the right side of the
cover which is very similar to NME. I also
used typical conventions of a magazine
on the front cover such as including the
barcode, date and price.
The barcode is used in shops for selling. I also include a plug which is what NME also used,
These are reasons for the reader to read/buy the magazine. By using words such as ‘Exclusive’ it makes the reader feel
involved in the magazine. For the photograph on the front cover I took a photo of a band member wearing typical ‘indie’
clothes, and made sure he made direct eye contact with the camera, which is what most magazines I have researched
Do. The font I used for the title was called ‘SKY FALL’
3. Similar features for content page:
- Font size and layout: I used little subheadings and then had a
Contents and Double Page Spread explanation of what the story is about for example I would
have ‘JENNIFER PINCHBECK’ and then underneath in smaller
font would show its an interview, which is similar to what Q
Magazine did.
- Where it says ‘IND CONTENTS’ I put the text in a banner
along the top which is what Q Magazine did, and used the
same colour as the masthead on the front cover.
- I also included the issue number, the date and the URL
address in the banner part where it says ‘IND CONTENTS’
which is what Q Magazine also did.
- I included another small like banner to say ‘Features’ of the
magazine which is also what Q Magazine did on this content
page.
- I used little banners on the photographs to include captions.
Double Page Spread similar features to NME:
- I made the name of the band stand out by having it
highlighted in the house colour of the magazine which is
blue, which is what NME also did, and also had it slightly
overlapping on to the photograph.
- The main image on the double
page spread I made it so it came over
the centre of the pages so it made the
text look less.
- Used blue throughout the double
page spread.
- Caption on the photograph with a
small like banner on the back of it, to
make the text stand out.
- Typical Convention- using page
numbers.
4. Photography on Pages.
I used many technical codes which were similar to many magazines
that I had research over all. By using similar camera angles, mise-
en-scene, layout (Style,Colour Scheme etc.) For my front cover I felt
using the main singer of a band was important as I noticed in my
research most front covers only included one main band member
which was normally the singer, such as Q and NME. The image I
used for the front cover was a midshot with the model looking
directly into the camera as shown to the left, for mise-en-scene I
just used a plain background to make editing easy and then gives
me more colours that I would be able to use. For costume I dressed
him in casual black clothes which had a indie rock look.
For my content and double page spread I used these 3
images, the 2 on the left are the ones I used for the
content page and the one on the right was one I used on
the double page spread. I used 2 images on the content
page so that there was more imagery as in my audience
research people answered they would rather see more
imagery than text in a magazine.
For the double page spread I used a large mid shot of the whole band. I made the image
come slightly over the centre of the page. For this image I again got the models to look
directly into the camera. For the costume I had them wearing casual stereotypical
indie/rock clothes such as denim and shirts or just plain tshirts.
5. 2) How does your media product represent particular social groups how do you represent them?
I represent the ‘indie’ genre of the magazine with the choice of style and models used. My magazine is
dominated by white middle class males, In my magazine research indie/rock genre magazines stereotypically
use white British male. The indie genre is usually middle class so I showed this in the magazine. I represented
the gender of male by only using male models, by only using males it shows masculinity in the
magazine, which this is shown in what the models are wearing, they’re tattoo's, they’re piercings and also the
colour scheme I used in the text.
piercings
I used a blue and black colour scheme in my magazine which are
masculine colours.
For the behaviour of the representation the models show a lot of
confidence, being young they come across as very fun, you can see this
in they’re facial expressions by smiling and being confident and also in
the content of the article being an interview you can see they are very
excited about there future plans and just stories they tell you.
I Showed stereotypical conventions to represent genre in this magazine
by the mise-en-scene that I used. The costume I used was fashionable
Tattoo's fashion and had an Indie/Rock look about it.
6. 3)What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?
The publisher I would like to publish my magazine is IPC media. IPC media is known for publishing a very
popular magazine ‘NME’ . This magazine was my mains style model for this project where I gained many ideas
from. Even though that IPC media would already be publishing a similar magazine, they wouldn’t be losing any
money if they published IND as the money would be going straight to the publisher.
However it will create competition between NME and IND.
Also, by going to IPC Media, IPC will already have a good experience working with the indie market, and will be
able to target the right audience. It also has a well established distribution network.
7. 4)Who would be the audience for your media product?
I made this archetypal reader after the
results I got from my survey I showed
items and some text of what my ideal
reader would be interested in. The
audience would be interested in
INDIE/Rock music, My survey had the
top age of 13-18 so I decided 17 was
the best age to aim my magazine
at, which is similar to the age group of
NME magazine. Also the most read
music magazine I got from my survey
was NME, which was why I styled the
magazine in similar style as NME.
Also I based the price on the most
popular voted price on my survey
which was £3-4 so I put it as 3.99 also
People said that they like to see more
imagery rather than text so I tried to
include larger if not more images.
8. 5)How did you attract/address our audience?
I attracted my audience in different ways depending on what was shown on the front
cover. I used buzz words such as ‘Exclusive’ which makes the reader feel involved in the
Magazine also ‘New Issue’ would drag the reader in as its new and will have new stories in
It. Also I used coverlines which showed oppurtunity to win free tickets to a popular band
Which indie/rock fans would be interested in, so people especially interested in that
Certain band would immediately be interested to buy it. Also considering my audience are
Very interested in images which stand out if not more imagery. So the main image
Stands out a lot and the way the model has eye contact to look directly at the reader, also
The model I used suits this as he has a very different style with his piercings and hair style, also his fashion
sense may appeal to some.
And on the content page I used two images to suit the audience who like more imagery. On the double page
spread I used a large image to make the text look less.
The other way I attracted my audience was the colours I used and the font. The font I used on my front cover
was ‘SKYFALL DONE’ and ‘Bebos Neue’ these fonts really stood out and are clear to read and fit in with the bold
picture on the front cover. The use of colour I used as well which was black and blue which are exciting colours
which stand out.
9. 6)What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this project?
Throughout my project I have used various different technologies. Including software and hardware.
The software that I used included Photoshop, Internet, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Dafont, Wordpress.
The hardware I used included A camera which was a Cannon, SD cards, Memory
Sticks, Computer/Laptop,Lighting.
From some of these software/hardware uses I have gained new skills towards the technology during this
project. Photoshop was one that I gained new skills towards, with the special effects I used such as the colour
balance to give that blue effect I had in my magazine. Dafont was a new software to me that I had never used
before, I think this software was very helpful towards my magazine as there was such a huge range of texts that
I could chose from and use in my magazine. I used word just for my style sheet to explore the different colours
that I could use. Wordpress was the blog I used to upload my work on. Wordpress (www.wordpress.com)
was one that I really struggled with as it was a brand new feature for me to use, I found it hard getting all posts
in the right order etc but I have developed a new skill with this blogger.
For the hardware I used a camera which was a cannon with a compatible lens. I used SD cards to transfer and
save images taken from my camera, I used memory sticks to store my word also.
10. 7)Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in
the progression from it to the full product?
• This college magazine was my first attempt at
making a magazine using photoshop. It isn’t
as successful as my final product which was
because I didn’t have a lot of knowledge
about magazine designs and how to
structure/style it to the audiences needs. Also
at this stage in the project my photoshop
skills at constructing a magazine were little
but developed when I was making the final
piece.
11. Full Product:
• This shows my final piece of the magazine, its a lot more confident and shows how much my
skills in photoshop and knowledge of the magazine industry have developed. My
photography skills have also improved from the first magazine I did, I am pleased with the
outcome. If there was anything I would have done differently I would have organised my time
more and planned out things more such as my photography planning. But I have developed
new skills using photoshop and learnt a lot about the magazine industry, I have also gained
new skills in researching.
