Evaluation Seven - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

The front cover on the left is my preliminary task and to the right is my final piece for my music magazine. 

In my preliminary task, the title was very plain and didn't stand out so if it was on a news stand it wouldn't attract the target audience because they probably wouldn't be able to see it. On the other hand, I do think the background colour works well with the sell lines placed around the edges as they are visible and not a colour that would have clashed with the background or the colour scheme of the magazine. I think the sell line showing the mission statement could have been clearer as the white text isn't that easy to read when it is on top of both a neutral background and also the red colour of the uniform being worn by the student. Moreover, I think that the text could have been written in a better font because the font used is boring so doesn't draw a reader in. It was Serif font to make the magazine look more formal because of it being a school based magazine although, the text could have been bigger and a slightly more modern font so that it was also noticeable to students as well as teachers and possibly parents.

The preliminary magazine was very conventional and everything so simple so that it fitted with the genre of a school based magazine.

The main image is a clear and good quality mid shot, showing a pupil in the school uniform. I thought this would expand the target audience because as well as teachers buying the magazine, pupils will too because they will see someone their own age on the magazine and know that it is acceptable for them to purchase the magazine too. 

There is a lot space on this front cover that could have been filled but I didn't have that much information to place on my magazine without it looking really over the top and as I wanted it to look professional I decided to leave it like this.

My music magazine front cover was created on Pixlr express and I was able to find out how everything worked on the software before making the front cover as I had a lot more time to complete this than I had done previously with my preliminary task. I think I improved my skills on using different softwares and trying out all the different techniques and edits that I could use before deciding on the one I finally used, which was with the colour merging at the bottom to create a retro effect and the making the background look slightly dated so that the image looked like it had been taken with an old style camera.

I prefer the fonts that I have used in this cover because they stand out a lot more and the colour and size definitely catch the readers attention a lot more than my preliminary task cover. In addition to this, I also find that my main image mid shot seems to fit in better with the background than in my preliminary cover, which looks slightly photo shopped and edited in.

I also had to create a contents page for my preliminary task and I did this on a Word document, which doesn't look good at all! This helped though because by doing this I was able to work out another way of making my contents page for my final piece. However, when it came to making a double page spread, I hadn't created one of these before so, I had to basically start all over again and try to come up with a way of making a spread look like two pages. I decided to just created all three of my final pieces on Pixlr express as I felt this was the best software and made it look very professional. 

To compare these two front covers, I would definitely say my latest one is my best work. This is because it was the last cover I did so I had more time to go through each software and work on exactly how I wanted my cover to look. 

I do think that by doing the preliminary task it made me realise just how much work has to go into constructing a text to a deadline and without having this first task to complete, I think I would have struggled to begin the process of making my music magazine with a positive attitude.

By putting these two images next to each other, it just shows how much progress I have made from the start to the very end and I am very happy about this. I am grateful with how much I've learned by doing this tasks from different softwares to any mistakes that have helped me discover quicker ways of completing tasks and these will definitely be useful for future projects.

Evaluation Six - What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From researching to finalising my magazine, I have used multiple amounts of software.

I went onto Slideshare to view other peoples work that had previously created their own magazines. I tried using it myself but I found it difficult and I didn't think it looked that good when I put images and text together. Also, I didn't like the way the presentations looked and I didn't think they looked very professional so, I didn't want to use them for my own work either. 

I used both a Macbook Pro and an iMac to research and upload my work. This is because they were available at school and my home so it was easy to transfer work from both places. I found them easy to use and the upload time was quite quick and the graphics seemed to make my work look a lot clearer. There was one slight problem when I tried to upload my first draft of the double page spread because I had worked on this on Publisher and the Mac I used at home didn't have this software so, I had to use a Windows laptop that was available to me at home to upload the post when it was needed and this was quite time consuming.

I used Pixlr express to create my final pieces for my magazine and this was very useful as it had lots of different edits to choose from that I could manipulate onto my images to give them a professional look. I didn't want to use any other software as I thoroughly enjoyed using this one as it was really easy to transfer onto my blog. One problem that did occur was when I tried to place the images onto my blog it kept saving as a text document instead of an image so I had to make sure that I wrote jpg at the end of the saved name so that the file would transfer to an image file. This was time consuming but once I had figured out what was going wrong everything worked fairly quickly.

  

I didn't end up using a camera as I found it a lot easier to just use the iPhone instead. I downloaded extra apps such as BeFunky as well as just using the edits readily available on the camera app already installed on the phone to create a clear looking photo for my magazine. The camera on this phone has the same GB as some cameras and the images that were produced were very good quality so I was happy with the result from using this equipment. I always had it with me so, it just made sense to use this instead of using two different types of equipment as I would have had to carry various different equipment and the leads that go with them and these could have easily been misplaced.

 I made sure that I had a memory stick with me all the time when working on my blog so that if anything was unable to save I was able to quickly place it onto my memory stick or if I hadn't finished work in one place I could put it on my memory stick and take it with me to somewhere else and continue my work exactly the same. It was very small though so I made sure I was extra careful so that I wouldn't lose it!

When I wasn't near a computer, I was able to continue with work on an iPad as it was easy to go onto the Blogger App or Safari and access my blog. This made it easy for when I just had a small blog that I had to upload and I had some spare time to quickly complete it because I didn't have to wait for the computer to load as the iPad was already always on.

I used YouTube to upload music videos of an artist in a blog I did a while ago to show an idea that I had for my magazine. This was useful because I was able to present my work in a different way and this engaged will have engaged my blog audience more. 

I also watched video responses of previous students who had done the same work and this helped when working on my own piece because I was able to see if what I was doing was correct but also so I could try to improve my work based on my peers.

I used Google as my main source of researching and I found many images and information that I was able to use to make my blog even better. Without Google I would have found it difficult to find out even more about things like Media Institutions.

I feel that the technology that I used was very reliable and easy to access most of the time. I realised that you couldn't just use one piece of equipment or software otherwise the magazine would have taken a lot longer to complete and I would never have learned how to use all the different types of software that were available.

Evaluation Five - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The types of media institutions that might distribute my magazine are publishers that have published well known magazines previous to mine. This is because I wanted my magazine to immediately be a success when it is first placed on news stands.
I had researched two publishing houses - Bauer media group and IPC media so that I was aware of which media institutions I could potentially have distribute my own music magazine.
Bauer media group is most famous for publishing 'Q' and Kerrang!' magazines and I had researched both of these magazines before I had decided on a genre for my own music magazine. Although, these were useful, they weren't quite what I wanted my magazine to be like as they were both extremely conventional to the style of the genre.
In my original blog about Media Institutions, I mentioned that I would use either Bauer or IPC media because they produce magazines with similar house styles to the music magazine that I would like to create. However, my view has changed and I did decide to make my magazine more unconventional than the magazines that are produced by both these publishing houses.
In the end, I chose IPC media publishing house because when researching I saw that they had already
published for magazines such as NME, which are a similar genre to my own Indie/Rock so I thought it would be ideal as usual readers of NME will see that the same publishing company had distributed 'Groove', then they are more likely to buy it because they already trust the company.
For people in my target audience that didn't buy NME before were still familiar with it and this means they will become aware of 'Groove' and hopefully because it is slightly different to NME, they will more than likely want to buy it to see whether it represents the genre of music they like professionally and very well. In addition to this, the magazines that are produced by IPC media are not just music magazines but other genres too such as 'Country Life' and 'Now'. All sell really well and this means that my own music magazine would most likely also sell multiple copies as well because IPC media are trusted by those who purchase the magazines. One quote from IPC media says that "As the UK's leading consumer magazine publisher, we engage with 26m UK adults - almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men." This suggests that they have a lot of customers already willing to buy a magazine that they have published, which helped when deciding who to choose as my distributers. Moreover, this means that my target audience won't just be a small amount of UK citizens but nearly half of the population and this means more profit at the end.
I would say my text was aimed more at a Niche audience due more people from the younger generation preferring to listen to music from genres such as Pop and Dance. Although, there is a growing amount of a younger generation who like the Indie/Rock genre so perhaps after the magazine being published for a while, the audience might increase and become a Mass audience. I felt that IPC media published some other Niche audience magazines such as Country Life, as not many people tend to buy this magazine and therefore it is just published a smaller minority of people.
I would like my magazine to be stocked in places like W H Smith because this is where lots of other magazines are sold and so my target audience are more likely to visit this shop because they know magazines are sold there. Plus, I would even like my magazine to be sold in music shops like HMV because music lovers will most definitely shop in these kind of shops regularly so it makes sense to stock my music magazine here because they will be seen by the right people within my target audience. It would also be good to have my magazine available on the internet or even have an App created for it because many people who like listening to music will download songs or look on the internet for new songs so this would be ideal to enable them to view the magazine online as well because that will make it easier for them to read the magazine when they are travelling because it won't be an extra thing to carry.

Evaluation Four - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation Three - How did you attract/address your audience?

Most aspects of this text will help to 'draw a reader in' due to it providing persuasive text throughout. It has bold colours that stand out to make the target audience more aware that it's there when placed beside other music magazines on a news stand. Also, on the double page spread, the artist's answers are in a vivd blue colour so that it's easy to notice and the interviewers text is in white because that shows that it's the magazines questions due to every other text within the magazine being in the colour white. This distinguishes the magazine from any other because readers will remember the white text throughout and know instantly that it's 'Groove' magazine.

Posters
On the front cover in an orange colour, there is text that suggests free posters are inside the magazine. This will definitely increase chances of people buying the magazine because usually people that are interested in music genres such as Indie and Rock have posters on their bedroom walls of their favourite artists from that genre so they will really appreciate free posters. Also, it is written in orange text meaning that it stands out from the usual white text as an add on and this suggests to the readers that the magazine doesn't usually do this, which will make them more likely to purchase the magazine because they think it's just a one off special that there is free posters inside.

Double Page Spread Interview
When I asked my target audience what they wanted to see on a double page spread within a magazine, all of them suggested that they would prefer an interview of an artist more so than anything else and I also thought this was a good idea so that was my final decision on what topic should be based on the double page spread.

Colour Scheme
The colour scheme of neutral colours with bright blues, yellows and other bright colours works well with the genre of the music magazine and this also means the house style stays the same throughout because the colour scheme didn't change dramatically from each page. It makes it different from other magazines as well because these colours aren't usually put together in a magazine, so it will definitely be visible to the target audience.

Slogan
The slogan is a good persuasive text "The UK's most obscure magazine…" because 'obscure' meaning unknown, creates a sense of mystery and this implies that not many people are aware of what the magazine actually has inside, which makes more people want to buy it so they are in that minority that know of the magazine. It is written in black text as well, which includes further mystery because it's dark and with the additional ellipses at the end it leaves the reader wondering why it's so unknown and how they can find out more.

Additional Offers
In a turquoise blue text, there is an advert for guitars being on sale that you can find out about inside the magazine. This is useful because it conveys that the magazine doesn't just give the readers an insight on what the artists of this genre have and use when performing, it also allows the readers an opportunity to be just like their favourite artists by being given the chance to buy equipment like theirs.

Audience Feedback
Libby - "I really like the colour scheme used and the way it's layout fits the genre really well. I think it's clever how there is a minimal amount of text used on the front cover because then that makes me curious about what is inside the magazine. I also like that you get free posters because I love collecting them to put on my wall! Having an interview on a double page spread of an artist is good because I enjoy reading about singers and whether I am similar to them in any way!"

Sylvia - "I think the magazine looks really professional and sophisticated and this makes it look like a real magazine. I'm glad that it has free posters cause I like taking them out to keep and also I like that it has a page inside with information on future tours and gigs because then I can know when to buy tickets and then I am more likely to get them! I like the artist on the front covers style and that makes me want to buy the magazine to read the interview on her so I can get to know more about her."

Evaluation Two - Who Would Be The Audience For Your Media Product?

Evaluation One - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Conventions of existing texts like this Q magazine quite often have the masthead either to the left or in the centre top of the magazine cover with the slogan placed just underneath so that it appears they are meant to go together.
A skyline is often used, which gives extra information about special offers and competitions that are inside the magazine, which is intended to draw in a reader and make them more intrigued into buying the magazine.
Also, they usually have sell lines on the left or right of the cover with information on what is inside the magazine. Sometimes for less empty space, a front cover will have anchorage text relation to the main image so that the target audience have information on what the artist is featured on the magazine for and the magazine has this hoping that they will be more likely to want to buy it.
The main image tends to be placed in the centre of the cover as it is more noticeable here and almost every time it will be of someone who is the main feature of the magazines issue because the magazine knows that the target audience will be intrigued and especially if it's someone who works within that specific genre that the magazine is based upon.
A barcode is usually very small and placed in the bottom corner of the cover because the magazine doesn't want it to be large enough so that it takes up space for text or images that could potentially be the selling point for the reader.
My own masthead on my music magazine is big enough so that it can be seen if the rest of the magazine was covered by another magazine on a news stand. Being white it stands out even more because it is a bright colour and the Sans Serif font used makes it different from all the other magazine style titles. I placed the slogan just below the title as when I researched into other music magazines I noticed they had all done this and  I liked the way it appeared on the page. Unlike magazines that I researched such as Q, I decided to use a different colour for the masthead and the slogan because that way they wouldn't look strange if they were to be placed in different parts of the magazine although I would definitely keep them together in future issues too.
I didn't like the idea of a skyline as I thought it took away notice of the masthead and made the magazine look slightly cheaper than it was meant to be and by having the title stand broadly by itself along with the slogan, I thought it looked professional and classy. Also, I wanted to have minimal amount of information so that it didn't look overcrowded but also so that the target audience had more curiosity as to what was inside and this would make them look and hopefully buy the magazine. Therefore, I included a total of five sell lines that started just underneath the artists head and ended slightly before the bottom of the cover finished. I felt that I included the right amount of information so that the reader knew the basics but had to look inside if they were to find out everything. Moreover, I tried not to make it obvious that I really wanted them to purchase the magazine because this way they wouldn't feel pressured into buying it but also if every other magazine on the shelf was trying to lure the target audience in but then there was one that was just simple, they target audience would be more intrigued in this one magazine because it was bright but didn't have anchorage text with multiple exclammation marks to try and grab the readers attention as an Indie style tends to be laid back and calm and this is what I wanted my magazine to portray.
I chose to place the barcode on the back cover as I felt this was unconventional and meant that the reader had to pick up the magazine in order to check the price, which means they are twice as likely to look inside and want to buy the magazine.
The main image I chose was an artist that fit well with the genre Indie/Rock because of their appearance. I was very happy with the background edit that I chose because it went well with the colours of the artists top and the colours almost look as if they have merged into the background making that colour itself making the background and the artist convey an Indie effect, which looks almost effortless.
Unlike other music magazines, I didn't include any smaller images or snippets of information around the edges of the front cover because I wanted the main focus to be on the artist and the title so that the target audience would be familiar with the house style in future issues and also to attract other readers who aren't familiar with the magazine but are fans of the artist who is being featured.
In my questionnaire that I produced and gave out to some people in my target audience, I asked whether they had any ideas of colours that I could use within my magazine as a house style. The most common suggestions I had were blue, purple, green and red. Black and white were also suggested but I didn't think I would be able to constantly use just two colours within the magazine as I feel the reader would get bored quickly because there would be no burst of colour to make the magazine look interesting and appeal to a modern day young generation. By using different colours I have given it a modern and quirky look so that it does appeal to my target audience of 15-25 year olds, as well as giving it a retro style to also try and appeal to an older generation who enjoyed a similar genre of music when they were young.

The contents pages that I had researched before creating my own were NME and Q and I thought these two showed two very different ways that I could have as my own. The NME contents I felt was a little too crowded and if I was to buy that magazine myself, I wouldn't want to spend my time reading through it all. I think that it is slightly overcrowded and extra information thats included such as the band index would have been better on the last page of the magazine so that once the reader had finished looking through the magazine, they could then search for anyone that was in the magazine.
I particularly liked the layout of the Q contents page because they had placed an artist as the main feature of the page with a simple numbered information column to the left of the page. I decided to base my own contents page on this and have a different artist to the one on the front of the magazine.
I wanted to title the contents page so that my magazine had a title for each new section. I thought this made the magazine look unconventional compared to other music magazines. In addition to this, the white text over the main image creates a good effect because it is a basic colour over multiple colours and by using white, the artist in the background are still easily recognisable to the reader. I used a different font to the font I used on the front cover because I didn't like the front cover font over this image as it was difficult to read. The Sand Serif font I did use looks stylish as well as professional and makes the magazine look quite expensive, which is what I was hoping for. Furthermore, I also included a smaller print font in the bottom right corner, which just gives a snippet of detail to the reader where the background image was taken and this will hopefully make them more intrigued as to whether there are any more photos like this further into the magazine.

For my double page spread, I had researched and found this double page spread of Taylor Momsen, which I thought looked very Rock style and this made my final decision of having a girl as the main artist for my own music magazine. This is because usually it's typically a boy that's in an Indie/Rock magazine because most girls like the perform Pop genre songs and as I wanted my magazine to be quite unconventional I decided that it would suit my magazine quite well to have a girl artist as the most featured. I wanted to carry on with the idea of having the artist as the background and not on a separate page from the text so I did slightly alter my magazine differently to this NME double page spread. When researching, I found that a lot of magazines such as Q, had three columns on their double page spreads apart from this NME one, which I actually preferred because it didn't make the page look too crowded due to less columns used. I decided that I wanted to use two columns but space them out even more so that I looked more like a story than an article and also to place the text on both sides of the double page spread. Moreover, I used the same text font for the title of this page as I did for the contents to show the house style that was throughout. By having blue text, not only was it suggested by someone from my target audience but it also stood out from the rest of the text on the page and this was useful because the blue text was what the artist had said and not what they were asked by the interviewer and by making their answers more visible than the rest of the text, it would hopefully make the reader want to read the whole article because they are interested in what an artist who works within the genre of music that they like have say.
The background colour is a neutral colour so that the text is easier to read and by blurring out the artist, although they are still recognisable as they have the same appearance as the front cover due to the colours they are wearing and this is why I didn't want them to change outfits for each section they featured in. I thought that the colours throughout the magazine were similar with the main background colour being a neutral colour with different coloured effects over the top to make the retro look more prominent and this implies the style Indie/Rock genre very well.