Front Cover Drafts

My first draft:

My second draft:

My third draft:

My Original Images

                               

                                     

My Target Audience Research

I made my survey on a website called survey monkey because it is free and easy to use. It is also easy to send out and people can answer it anonymously. I asked 10 people around the ago of who my magazine is aimed at. I asked them questions like what music genres they like, what they would like to see, how much they would pay, etc. these are the results:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurveys.aspx

Looking back at your preliminary task (the college magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

When looking back at my preliminary task and my finished products I can see a huge difference in the quality of the products.

Before I had started making any of my media products I had already had quite a lot of experience in Photoshop. There wasn't much more I could learn, however my preliminary tasks are nothing compared to my finished products. I spent a lot more time on my finished products and I was able to make them a lot more professional.

The first thing that I changed is the fact that on my preliminary task I didn’t cut out the model at all. As you can see she is still standing against the wall the photo was taken on. This doesn’t look that good, and if you look at a lot of professional magazines most models are standing against a plain coloured background. This is why I chose to cut out my model on my finished product. The easiest option to cut my model out would have been the magic wand too or even the quick selection tool but although my model was just standing against a plain black wall the magic wand tool didn’t work as they're were too many colours surrounding her. The tool I used was the magic eraser tool, as you can zoom in to cut the model out perfectly with it. I then just added her on to a plain white background.

A second thing I changed was the actual appearance of my model. On my preliminary task I didn’t really change my model that much. I changed the brightness contrast, but I didn’t really edit her features. she doesn’t really look that "perfect" compared to the model on my finished product, which is the look on most professional magazines. On my finished product I used the liquify too to change some of my models features such as her face shape and nose. I also used the dodge tool to enhance some of her features like her eyes.  I also changed the contrast, vibrance and curves of the image to make the lighting more flattering. The photo on my preliminary task also looks stretched inwards.

Lastly I also didn’t use that many different fonts and colours  on my preliminary products. on my front cover and contents page I only used a couple of colours, and one type of font. this made it look quite unprofessional and boring. where on my finished products I used lots of different fonts and at least 3 colours which made it look more eye catching. I didn’t want to use too many colours however as I didn’t want to overdo it. the logo on my finished product also looks a lot more professional as I downloaded the font, and used a drop shadow and stroke. it looks like one you might find on a real magazine whereas the one on my preliminary front cover looks very amateur.

Overall I think that my finished products look a lot better, and a lot more professional, compared to my preliminary task, and I have learned a lot about making media products since the preliminary task.

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

When I was making my media products for my Media AS coursework I used a range of different programs. The programs I used were:

Adobe Photoshop CS5

When I was making my media products for my Media AS coursework I used a range of different programs. The programs I used were:

Adobe Photoshop CS5

This is The main program that I used when making my media products. I had used This program a lot at home so I was very skilled in it before using it to make my media products. I already use it a lot in my free time so it was very easy to use when it came to making my coursework. I particularly found it useful when it came to editing my pictures I had taken of my model. I wanted my pictures I used to look very airbrushed as these are the sorts of photos that are on fashion magazines and the kind of magazines that are made. most models on magazines tend to look "perfect" and this was the look I was going for. it was a very useful tool as it enabled me to remove any blemishes easily. it also enabled me to change any features. For example I made my models nose a bit thinner, and changed the shape of her face slightly. I also enhanced a lot of her features like her eyes. It also came in handy when adjusting and creating all the text that went on my front cover, contents page and feature article. I was able to add little details like drop shadows and strokes which made it look more professional. 

Microsoft Word

I used this program when I was analysing my mood boards or magazine pages for my research and planning. I found it useful because it is a very easy program to work with, as it has been around for years and everyone knows how to use it. I recognized that a lot of people used Flickr for the analysing, but I had never used Flickr before and just found Microsoft Word much easier. It was then really easy to post it on to my Blogger. However a disadvantage of this is that every time I wanted to post it on my blog, I had to save it as a PDF, then JPEG as Blogger doesn't recognize word files.

Dafont

When I was creating my coursework I wanted to use a lot of different fonts that Photoshop didn't have. Most of my fonts I used if not all of them were download from dafont. This is a great website for downloading all different sorts of fonts whether its gothic, fancy, hand written or retro. they are also all free so its a very good way of making your media products look professional without paying the extra price. However a disadvantage is that I had to making all my course work at home because you cant download any of these fonts at college. and it doesn't enable you to work with them because of this. Luckily I already have Adobe Photoshop CS6 on my computer at home.

Blogger

This is where I posted all of my AS Media coursework. I found it very useful when posting of my work and it was a great way when my teacher came to marking my work. I found it very user friendly, and it is free as well. However a disadvantage of Blogger is that whenever I wanted to post my work I had to covert it to PDF and then JPEG otherwise it wouldn't recognize the file.

How did you attract/address your audience?

The audience I wanted to address on my magazine was Teenage girls aged 16-20 interested in Pop music, Celebrity Gossip, fashion and women's issues such as relationships, health and sex. On my front cover I used very feminine colours such as pink, and yellow. Not only does to appeal to girls but they are very bright colours. it is very eye-catching and would draw them in. I tried to use phrases that sounded young, and informal. if my magazine was formal it might seem old fashioned and aimed at the older generation. I also used a variety of fonts to attract my audience. This made my magazine look more interesting. I tried to choose fonts that would appeal to my audience, for example a lot of the fonts I used looked like they were handwritten, I thought this looked quite quirky and cool and would appeal to teenagers. I also used some bold fonts to highlight the important bits of my magazine.

I think that the titles of my magazine "Bubblegum" would attract my target audience. The name sounds very you and fun and would appeal to people of that age. there would be no point having a name like that if I was aiming my magazine at the older generation because older people don't usually chew gum that much its more of a young persons thing which is why I chose it as it would appeal to teenagers. I did the title in pink as well because this goes along well with the whole theme, and Bubblegum is stereotypically pink. I made the title in a round bubble writing font as this compliments the word bubblegum.

I also would include advertisements in my magazine from popular clothes brands such as New Look, Top shop, Make up brands like Rimmel, Max Factor, L'Oreal and I would also include vouchers for fast food restaurants such as pizza hut, McDonalds and KFC. This would attract my target audience as these are the sorts of brands that would appeal to teenagers. My target audience would not only love music but would love to buy clothes, so adverts in the magazine from popular clothes shops would be very appropriate and keep them wanting to buy the magazine each month.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My target audience for my magazine if very widespread. the people who buy my magazine would not necessarily all be the same. My magazine is based around mainstream music, and lots of different people listen to this genre. however the main sorts of girls who would buy it would probably be very girly. The sorts of music that would be in the magazine would be very pop, like Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Katy Perry, kesha ect.

Another reason they would be girly is because my magazine is also based a lot around fashion. the types of clothes I would have in my magazine would have is types of clothes like Jeans, Dresses, Shorts, T-shirts, Girly Tops. It would also have a wide range of Girly shoes like High heels, stilettos, boots, and converse. Although converse aren't really that girly they are very "in" at the moment and are very mainstream. It would also have a range of pretty jewellery like necklaces and bracelets. Another aspect of my target audience is that they would be the sorts of girls that are interested in celebrities and gossip. this wouldn't be a huge feature in the magazine like, it is in magazines like "hello" and "ok" but it would just add to the whole theme.

My age range for my magazine is around 16-20. I think this is an appropriate age for my magazine because 16 is the age when teenage girls start to really mature, and begin to turn into young women. This would be important because my magazine not only focuses on music but it also based on relationships and women's issues such as sex, health, careers and beauty. If the audience for my magazine was any younger, a lot of what would be in my magazine would be a little inappropriate. It would also be the best age, because this is the age when a lot of teenagers will start to have jobs and consequently will be able to afford the magazine each month, and the clothes included in the magazine. they would also be able to afford buying the music from Itunes or places like HMV.

Clothing: There would a variety of brands of clothing that I would include. they wouldn't be too expensive and some would be more expensive than others.

- New Look

- Debenhams

- Miss Selfridge

- Next

- Pilot

- Topshop

Food: There are a selection of food shops that my target audience would go to. They wouldn't be too fancy as teens their age would probably prefer fast food.

- Pizza Hut

- McDonalds

- KFC

- Burger King

- Subway

Makeup and beauty: I would also include a variety of makeup and beauty brands to sell in my magazine.

- Rimmel

- L'Oreal Paris

- No7

- Maybelline

- Miss Sporty

- Max Factor

- Pantene

- Tressemme

- Elive

- Dove

- Boots

- GHD

- Boss

- Gucci

- Calvin Klein

- Chanel