Tuesday 6 May 2014

Evaluation - 7



                Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the
                                               progression from it to the final product?


During the progression of my final product i learned a series of techniques, styles and conventions presented from various different magazines relating to my chosen genre (Jazz).

Front Cover - For my front cover i learned how the background can greatly alter the desired effect of the model therefore it has lead me to experiment with different background colours in order to achieve my desired out come. I found that darker coloured backgrounds are less eye-catching which means in order to use the dark background effectively the foreground i.e (the text, models clothing, shapes) must contrast against the dark background, this will make the magazine standout more to the audience. Most music magazines use white backgrounds, perhaps this is because it stands out a lot when using strong colours such as red (e.g Q magazine) it is also versatile when working with a range of other colours (Not necessarily the house style but the models choice of clothing).

Feedback has been one of the main ways i have learnt and base my improvements on, I have learned to utilise space on the front page varying the size of the sell lines and where they are place around the model, in doing this i also learned how to place the model in the magazine, through the way i crop them out their previous backgrounds and blend them into the new background using photoshop to adjust the contrast and the brightness of the model.

Contents page - For my contents page the main issue i had was making sure the page numbers were consistent and i was using the spaces correctly in order for the page to look well organised and professional. I maintained the consistency of the page numbers by checking over the different pages (mainly the front cover) in addition to this i have to make sure  i use the appropriate images such as using the front cover model, making sure it is the featured article otherwise, it does not support the front covers story. In comparison to the contents page from my preliminary there are signs of great improvement because i managed to develop an house style across all my pages and the colour scheme of my front cover in comparison to the old one has allowed to look more appealing and professional where as the old one looked very rough and did not appear to be from an existing magazine.

In my research and analysis of other magazines i have learned what conventions are present in a typical music magazine in which i have tried to apply to my own magazine by comparing what is present in my magazine and what is present in multiple music magazine (To help validate and distinguish what is classed as a convention)

Double Page spread (DPS) - For my DPS i learned how to manipulate my DPS model to suit the text layer above it in the foreground i did this through analysing various different types of music magazines and going based on my own experience and instinct which lead me to applying a blur effect on some of the areas on the model doing this added a great effect however it was still not perfectly clear. I overcame this by seeking feedback and was advised to add a black transparent shape underlaying the text to make it standout more, this helped make my text look more defined.


Thursday 10 April 2014

Evaluation - Five




                            How did you address/attract your audience?

I attracted my audience by breaking typical conventions of a jazz magazine and reshaping it in a way that was suitable and appealing to a young audience whilst keeping the older audience in mind in order to create a balance in the demographic gap between the ages because jazz magazines are popularised older people therefore it makes younger audiences less likely to gravitate towards this kind of magazine. Furthermore in my research and analysis of media publishers, 'Bauers' there was high demographic in male readers which means i will have to balance out the gender in my magazine to appeal to everyone equally which i believe will help create a wider audience for my magazine.

          I addressed my audience by using these key features:

  • Younger models - First time readers will be able to quickly establish that the magazine is catered towards young people because the models used throughout the magazine are young.
  • Brighter colours - In most jazz magazines the colour of the fonts do not typically stand out as well as brighter colours which causes the magazine to be less eye catching in comparison to more modern and popular music magazines such as 'Q' or 'Vibe'
  • Modern fonts - Help readers distinguish the formality of the magazine most jazz magazines use a formal font with serif which tends not to appeal to a younger audience therefore the use of modern typefaces/fonts help implement more creative designs of fonts as well as attracting younger people to buy the magazine.
  • Young artist/musicians - When referring to existing artist within the magazine it is useful to use artist young people would know or be able to relate to rather than an artist who has been around for a very long time.
  • Partial informal language - Informal language is used to create a relationship with the audience

Rationale behind my magazine





The aim of my music magazine was to create a jazz magazine that challenged many conventions in order to suit a wider audience to create more popularity for the genre as it is mainly dominated by an older audience and appears to require a certain taste that people can only develop through expansive knowledge in music whereas in popular music such as Rap, Pop and RnB people are able to enjoy the music because of it's simplicity and catchy melodies.

I aim to overcome this issue by targeting young people to be the main audience for the magazine which i believe can be accomplished by using younger models, brighter colours, modern fonts and partial informal language. These key features are generally used when trying to capture a young target audience which is evident throughout many other music magazines. I have chosen a young audience because the current demographic trend is more towards an older audience therefore i am trying to create a balance which create a larger audience with more variety in a age and social class. The typically social class of many jazz magazines is predominantly middle class where an older audience is more typically found under these conditions (being a jazz magazine).

Application of feedback