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

From constructing my product I have learnt lots about technologies such as editing tools from photoshop.

Firstly I learnt how to use the stoke tool in photoshop. I found this tool to be effective as this allowed by to make my logo more appealing by adding an extra white font around the red text to make my logo more attractive. I learnt to use the tool use must highlight the text and double click on the layer to use the stroke tool. I then chose how much stoke I wanted on the logo.

I learnt most about technologies when constructing my product in my post-production from ADobe Photoshop and Microsoft publisher.

Furthermore I also learnt how to use the shape tool in photoshop which I made use of for the foot of my front page. I used the elliptical tool in order to use a conventional circle shape to advertise products to be won. I also found how to use rectangular shapes as well as line which I learnt how to change the thickness of aswell as adding fills to shapes.

I also learnt how to use vital editing tools in photoshop such as the lassoo tool. This allowed me to to erase the background of the image of my model in order to change the background colour and style which now fits with the the house style of my product. I found the lassoo tools a great amout of accuracy in terms of the parts of the image you want to erase. The images below shows my main image before I used this tool then after as my final product. I found this technology very effective in allowing me to use a convenient setting for my image but still produce a professional front page.

 



 I also learnt technologies from Publisher such as shapes including block arrows. This allowed be to create a shape and then save it as an image to import it into photoshop. I then added a fill into the shape on my front page. This will also be a key technology for future progects as shapes are an important convention in magazines aswell as newspapers and other media products.

Although I learnt most about technologies in the post-production in the actual constructing process I have also learnt about technologies in research and planning from;

• Slideshare/ Microsoft powerpoint
• Kizoa- slideshows
• Bubbl- Mind maps

The image below highlights specific techniques I learnt when creating slideshows in kizoa. I learnt techniques such as dragging images into frames as aswell adding transitions and adding texts to slidwshows. This website was very effective in my planning my product.

I also learnt very similar technologies in slideshare with the only difference of creating a powerpoint first before uploading it to slideshare. The image below shows how I uploaded my powerpoint presentation during research and planning to slideshare which created an effective slideshow for me just by uploading it.

I also learnt key technologies from slideshare such as how to share my slideshare on blogger and even social network sites such as twitter and facebook. I found this very effective when it come to my feedback stages. I learnt to share slideshows you must use the embed code.

 

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

What kind of media institution might distribute my

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After researching similar magazines to mine I found the most suitable institution to distribute my pdocut would be IPC. I found this insitution distibute NME magazine and Uncut which both have a similar target audience to my magazine and also issue editions every week. I also realised NME are possibly the most popular music magazine in the UK therefore IPC would be a good instituion to use to build brand identity for my magazine.

I also found lots of signifcant detail about IPC such as ; IPC Plus works with partners to create new revenue streams through innovative use of IPC's brands and content. The business includes international portfolio of magazines, syndication and brand licensing, the creation of consumer products from IPC's magazines brands. Partners benefit from working with the best brands,  editorial expertise and great content.

I also found that music magazines generally use a price of £2-£3, (NME sells thier magazine for £2.30) in order to make money. However magazines can also make money online by techniques such as putting adverts on sites which I would also consider for my products website. Magzines can slo promote their magzine website by using free competitions and giving away prizes.

5. How did you attract/address your audience.

Throught my front page/ contents page and double page spread I used many features and techniques in order to attract my audience of young, enthusiastic indie fans. I realised that I must focus on my intended audience throughout in order for my product to be commercially successful and also to fit audience expectations. As Stephen Neale stated "Genre is a set of expectations." Therefore as my magazine focuses on indie music I used other existing indie magazines in order to highlight these expectations.

I used many quotes throughout my product like the one above in order to portray an ego from artists which is likely to attract young enthusasistic indie fans who perhaps have aspirations of becoming a rock and roll star themselves. By using bold quotes like this I am attracting my audience to reading my article aswell as buliding relationships as from these quotes my audience will quickly grasp the genre of my magazine making them want to read it weekly.

When creating my product I also realised that my intended audience will be very keen on music festivals. I therefore decided in order to attract this paticular audience I must use a feature from a festival as this is something young, indie fans are very interested in. I did some research on festivals and found the most popular ones for indie/rock music are T in the park and leeds festival which is why I used T in the Park as my review special on my front page.

I also attracted my audience by the use of language and context within my product. I used language such as "Thugs mugs and kids on drugs" as I found young indie lovers are very keen on reading about some sort of controversy or typical rpck and roll incidents. I therefore used this type of language to draw my audience in to reading my magazine.



div style="width:425px" id="__ss_12614647">How I attracted my audience

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

My media product has one main specific target audience which is young enthusiastic indie fans, however it could be said parts of my product also attract a different type of audience such as female rock fans which goes against lots of feminist views. Overall my mdeia product will mainly be aimed at an audience which are very keen on new, upcoming indie bands aswell as bands that have already "made it." I will go on to explore this in much more detail.




Kizoa slideshow: Audience - Slideshow

My media product will also have an audience of young muscians as I used a competition in my double page spread advertising a competition to win a guitar. I also realise that young enthusiastic musicains are much more likely to enter the competition to win a guitar signed by a new up-coming rock and roll artist as an older audience would be more interested in a much more fmous artist's guitar.





My media product will also be aimed for female rock fans. I made sure the mise en scene of my model throughout my product conformed to female rock fans expectations in terms of how artists look. I did this by the use of leather jacket and guitar aswell as the facial expressions exposed. I also used quotes such as "Discipline I don't know the meaning of the word" to portray a rock attitude for my female audience. This supoorts a post-modern view going against feminist views which believe men are portrayed more powerful in the media and woman are portrayed powerless.

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Copy of Audience on Prezi

The audience of my product are also likely to shop at places like Topman as people who listen to Indie music tend to buy their clothes from brands like this. I therefore used a competition to win vouchers for topman to further attract my audience. My audience are also likely to be interested in a drinking culture and high profile brands.

I found NME's reader profile is very specific in terms of targeting there audience. NME even go to the extent to state there audience are influentials when it comes to mobile phones. I also found the stats interesting as NME appears ot have a higher female reading audience than male. I also realised magazines like NME will make money from advertising other brands such as Topman that will reach the specific audience the magazine focuses on. I also found the Median age for the NME audience is 23 which is signifcant in terms of targeting this specific age group wiht images, adverts and language in order to sell the magazine.

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

My media product represents paticular social group such as youth's modern music cluture. Although my product represents young music, Indie fans which is a modern social group, it also shows role reversal within my product as I used a female singer with lots of rock and roll attitude which is normally associated with male artists. I did this to attract a wider audience of females aswell as males.







My main image above (before editing) represents a specific social group of female, rock fans which is perhaps a specialised sort of social group but I found this can bring in to social groups of male rock and roll fans aswell as female. I also found using an attractive female model will draw more of a youth social group in to buying the magazine rather than older music fans who perhaps expect a much more simple model.






My front oage also evidently represents youth's modern music culture of festival goers. As it has become a common fascination with 17-21 year olds to attend festivals which are very popular. This is why I used this paticular feature on my front page to attract this paticular audience. I also found that many festival goer prefer Indie/rock music.




The matshead I produced on my front page also represnts young Indie music fans who have a fascination with new music. I used the word "smash" as a form of downward convergence as I realised using language which suits young music fans will build relationships making it more likely they will read my product.

Please click on the mind map below:

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

When creating my my media product I realised I must use conventions from real music magazines such as a conventional layout schemes although I did perhaps challenge layout conventions for my contents page. However I made sure the layout of my front page and double page spread used conventions from real music magazines such as the style of my logo, fonts, and positioning of seperate images. Stephen Neale stated "Genre is repetition and difference." I used this quote when researching music magazine which focuses on the same genre as my own product.






Kizoa slideshow: bazz - Slideshow





I also used conventions from exisiting products by the use of my main image. I used the image of my singer in the centre of the page as I found this a typical convention of real products as this attracts the audience to the magazine. I also made sure my model was effective in terms of her body language as I found it is a typical convention of real products for the model to display an attitude and ego.






Furthermore I also used conventions by using a quote from the singer to display her attitude and ego even more. I also used her name in bold and a different font colour to the quote to draw my audience in to the main singer. I found these conventions from NME magazine as this concentrates on the same genre of music as my own product.








The slideshow below shows I developed conventions of real music magazines in terms of layout features in my double page spread and contents page.

How i developed conventions of real media products

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I also used and developed conventions by using a subscription advertisement on my contents page. I found this consistently used in real music magazines in order to tie readers into buying the magazine long term. As i also decided my magazine will be a weekly edition I realised this is a effective feature to use on my contents page. However I perhaps developed this convention by using more than two colours in order to make my conetents page more attractive.




Furthermore I used conventions from real music magazines by using competitions throught my product. I found many music magazines display competetions not only for music but for products that realte to the genre of music. This is why I used a competition for TopMan as I realised most of my audience who have an interest in Indie music shop at TopMan. This will create realtionships with my audience and will also make them even more interested in my magazine.

Another feature I used that uses conventions from real media products is the use of shapes on my front page. I used a circular shape by using tools in photoshop and also used a red background with black and white text to fit with the house style of my magazine. I developed conventions as I realised magazines generally used competitions within shapes, I therefore used a similar technique by drawing readers in to more information within the magazine to win a product.




I also perhaps challenged conventions as I used a female model with lots of attitude suibtable for female rock fans. This goes against a conventional feminist view which states men are portrayes as much more powerful than Woman within the media.

Subscription

I decided to use a subscription feature on my contents page as I found this was a typical convention in music magazine as this is effective in tying down readers long-term to buying the magazine which is vital for money making. For this feature I used an extra yellow font colour which goes against the convential three colour scheme in found in magzine, however I realised breaking this convention was suitable in attracting readers to buying my magazine on a weekly basis.