My Final Product

Magazine Evaluation - Using Prezi

For the Evaluation of my magazine [Defiance!] I chose to use the website, www.prezi.com which is a website that gives you the opportunity to make a PowerPoint, but with a twist. Prezi allows you to have a moving presentation rather than a slide by slide one, it zooms in and out depending on what size you decide to make something, making it interesting and dynamic.

Magazine Evaluation on Prezi

 For the evaluation we had to answer these questions;

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

  My magazine uses similar conventions to other successful magazines such as Kerrang! and Metal Hammer. I stuck to the main conventions such as using 3 main colours, I used Red, Yellow and Black/White. This helped to make my magazine seem more professional as well as keeping it tidy and making it appeal to the audience. I took the idea of using those colours from asking people within the audience that I was aiming the magazine at as well as looking at other magazines. The colours also match the genre of music which helps the magazine to link in with everything and flow a lot better.

My front cover uses other forms and conventions such as teasers, a pull quote, a button and (what I believe to be one of the most important ones) the main image, which will help pull in and attract the targeted audience to the magazine. The layout of the magazine is also quite a conventional layout, including a masthead, of which the image goes over slightly, layered pictures and texts and small teasers which make the magazine interesting.

My magazine flows throughout the Front page, Contents page and Double page spread by linking the images, text and colours all through the magazine. This also makes the magazine seem more professional.

My media represents anyone who is into the metal music genre. The title, images, colours and way it is written all link in with the genre and the social group that my magazine is aimed at.

The title Defiance! represents them by in a way describing how people see them; defying rules, doing what they want and not following other people. The colours link in with the music and a lot of the people who listen or are interested in the music my magazine is about generally wear dark colours or 'dangerous' colours such as red and yellow.

The teasers and double page spread are all written quite casually, using swear words sometimes and language that people between 16-25 would understand and be most comfortable reading. 

For the media institution of which I would choose to hopefully distribute my magazine would be Future. I chose this institution because it tries to link interests between people together, such as gamers, who listen to music etc. They try to get a widely ranged audience and appeal to them all by concentrating on the links between them.

Throughout this whole course I have learnt a lot of new things and used software and programmes to an extent that I haven't before. Internet based software like Prezi, Blogger and Slideshare all of which I have never used before and were really interesting to try out and learn all these new things. Photoshop was obviously the most used and before creating this magazine I had only ever used it a couple of times for messing about, so it was a great experience learning all the new shortcuts and techniques.

In comparison to my Preliminary finals, this final design for my magazine has improved massively and so has my knowledge of conventions and forms. I have also learnt how to address and appeal to the targeted audience a lot more, using colours, layout and how the magazines text is worded.

After I had finalised my magazine I created another survey for my target audience to see if they felt my final designs for my magazine were successful and appealing. I managed to get 10 people to complete my survey and these are the results;

Would my magazine appeal to you?

80% said yes and 20% said no

What attracts you most to my magazine?

Colours 20%

Images 40%

Articles 30%
All of the above 10%

Do you think my magazine would be successful?

90% said yes and 10% said no

Is £2.99 a reasonable price?

100% said yes

The person who didn't think my magazine would be successful told me that they felt this way because the magazine doesn't appeal towards them as well as the fact that they felt there was a few things wrong, however the others that said they felt it would be successful told me that the magazine was well put together and there could have been a few minor alterations but it was perfectly fine otherwise.

Editing Of Pictures

This post is just to show a little bit of information on how I edited my photo's, the different techniques and tools that I have used as well as showing some photo's before and after images.

Manipulating my photographs

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Shot Table

This is the shot table I created for my magazine. I got pretty much every shot almost exactly how I wanted. This was really good as it went well with my magazine and my article (which was aimed mostly at jackson but some of the questions were about the whole band).

Purpose of shot.	Feature of shot.	Type of shot.	Mise-en-Scene.	Equipment needed.	Details of shot.
Front Cover	Band Singer (Jackson).	Long shot.	Casual look, wearing own clothes. Outside with old looking wall behind.	Camera.	Outside, with him just standing there.
Front Cover [Poster Pic]	Band Singer (Jackson).	Mid-Close Shot.	Casual look, wearing own clothes. Dull wall behind him.	Camera.	Outside, with him lighting a cigarette.
Front Cover [Poster Pic]	Georgia.	Mid shot.	In a studio posing.	Camera.	In a studio, brick wall as background.
Contents	Band Singer (Jackson).	Mid shot.	Same casual look as before.	Camera.	Jackson looking to the left (if looking at him).
Contents	Me.	Close up.	Just me in normal clothes.	Camera.	Me normally.
Double Page	Animus Sadist (Whole band).	Long shot.	Animus Sadist ready to go and practice/play a gig.	Camera.	The whole band, staggered but standing next to each other.
Double Page	Band Singer (Jackson)	Mid-Long shot.	Jackson side on with a microphone.	Camera.	Jackson screaming down the microphone. Side on view.
Double Page	Band Singer (Jackson)	Mid-Close up.	Jackson posing a little holding a microphone.	Camera.	Jackson holding the microphone up to the camera.

Double Page Spread Developement and Final

This PowerPoint is showing the different stages of development during the creation of my Magazine [Defiance!] Double Page Spread.The presentation describes what changes I have made at each stage and why, as well as why I chose certain conventions.

Double Page Spread Development

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Comparison of my Contents to my Preliminary

This post shows how I have developed my photoshop skills as well as making my contents page look more conventional and appealing towards my audience.

As you can see my Preliminary contents page was pretty dull and boring. It has little information about the contents of the magazine and doesnt have very god form. The pictures are plain and dont have much that relates them to the article on the contents and front page. The columns and numbers are also different widths and sizes making it look unproffesional.


Whereas my final piece has become a lot more conventional and formed. It looks more like a real magazine, with the colours matching the genre of the magazine as well as the pictures linking in with the relevant articles. There isnt any big blank spaces on this contents either so it doesnt look like there is anything missing. The columns have been made to all be the same size, with clear changes in the text to show the difference between headings, subheadings and descriptions.

Contents Page Developement and Final

This PowerPoint is showing the different stages of development during the creation of my Magazine [Defiance!]Contents Page The presentation describes what changes I have made at each stage and why, as well as why I chose certain conventions.

Contents page development

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Comparison of My Front Cover to my Preliminary

This post is to show how I have developed in both PhotoShop skills as well as creating stories to go on a magazine.


Preliminary Task                                                           Final AS Task

Comparing these two Front Covers shows that I have improved my understanding of magazines and conventions and that I have taken into account what makes a magazine successful. The Preliminary task looks plain and quite boring compared to my final front cover and it shows a lack of computer enhancements. It also doesn't have many enticing plugs or a very distinct masthead. Whereas my final shows these a lot more.

Front Page Development and Final

This PowerPoint is showing the different stages of development during the creation of my Magazine [Defiance!] Front Cover. The presentation describes what changes I have made at each stage and why, as well as why I chose certain conventions.

Front cover development

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Double Page Spread Interview

Double Page Spread Interview!

Pull Quote:

 “The insane guitar work, crazy drums and speed just make the hairs on my neck stand up.”

Stand first:

Animus Sadist, the latest breakout in heavy metal. Defiance talks to their lead singer Jackson Packer about how they plan to live it large as well as how they are making their mark on music.

Main Interview:

“I’m obsessed. We all are!” Jackson exclaims about his own as well as the bands love for music and thrashing out in their spare time. He continues to tell us about how he enjoys what he does, “ It’s the first thing I ever felt I was good at, I gave up ever being able to make money to do it [he laughed to himself at this] I left school at 15 just so I had more time to practice.” He goes on to tell us about how he has always wanted to be in a band since he was about 12 and how his band mates (one of which is his younger brother) have the same aspirations.

 Whilst on the topic we couldn’t but help ourselves ask about relations in the band. “Well me and Jonas are brothers and so we’re super tight, then there is our other band member, James who is like a brother to me. [He smiles, as if reminiscing on past events] We get along f*cking amazingly but yeah, we have our disagreements on riffs and what sounds good.”

However much we loved talking about Jackson and relationships within Animus Sadist, we wanted to get onto the music of Animus Sadist and the inspiration behind it, so we asked Jackson about who decides what goes in and who gets the final decision as well as how they know that a track has been finished.

 He replied straight away with a huge grin on his face, “We know when a track has been finished because someone will have rolled a joint.” He continued to answer the rest of the question in a less enthusiastic manner: “James has final say over what goes on the record as he’s lead guitar. Lyrically, I put whatever I like in and tweak a few bits so its supertight. As for the drums, Jonas does whatever sounds cool. As for inspiration, I can’t resist the grooves and whole feel of the music, it just clicks yes in my head. The insane guitar work, crazy drums and speed just makes the hairs on my neck stand up.”

So just out of curiosity, whats the best part about being in this band and do you think you will make it big like Suicide Silence and As Blood runs Black, who both are inspirations to you from what I have heard. “ Well yeah, they are major inspirations to me, I grew up listening to them and still do. Everyone in our band is very talented and dedicated to become as big as they are. It is our dream to after all.”

We had to wrap the interview up so we asked the big question; are you bringing an album out soon? “We are doing the odd gig here and there trying to make a bit of money as well as trying to get recognised. So hopefully we will soon, if the right opportunity passes us”

We thanked Jackson for taking the time to have an interview with us, [He grins] “ Safe Bro, Anything to show that this band is about the music and not like any of the shitty bands that do it for the money.”

Interview Questions!

These are the question I asked Jackson, the singer of the band, for my double page spread interview.

What has inspired you guys to play the music you do?

When did you know or decide you wanted to be in a band?

Do you all get along with each other, or are there fights over decisions?

Do you enjoy what you do?

How do you know when you've finished a track? Do you all have to like it for it to be complete?

Is it a great experience playing gigs?

Is one of you the more authoritised figure or do you all play an equal part?

What made you decide to get the tattoos Jackson?

Why did you get tattoos (to other band members)?

What do you do in your free time?

What is it like up on stage playing gigs?

How often do you play live shows?

Do you think that you could become huge given the right opportunities?

Have any of you suffered from drug use?

Whats the best part about being a band?

A taster of the music genre my magazine is based on!

Music This post is looking at a few bands in the same genre as what I am aiming my magazine at. Here are a few videos of them (including one from the band I will be interviewing).

Stone Sour - Digital

Slipknot - Duality

Sonic Syndicate - Burn this City

A little look at the band - Animus Sadist, Who I will be interviewing and photographing. This isn't a proper video yet as they are in the process of making it.

Flat Plan Evaluation!

Front Page

The front page will have a lot of similar conventions to that of 'Kerrang!'s' front cover, this is because it is a similar style of music and is also a very successful magazine so its layout has obviously worked. My magazine will have the selling line at the top above the masthead - this will be red/yellow writing with a black background. The Masthead and name of the magazine itself will be a black background with white writing inset into it (made to look like its been dented into the masthead rather than just being plain and flat). The text of the magazine title will be the same as/similar to the blog title font (which I cant actually read what the name of it is, so will be as similar to it as possible).

Ill have a button on the front page that will be placed slightly over the masthead (as well as the image if it has too) which will entice the audience by advertising free posters within the magazine. This will have white writing with a big red 5 (the number of posters) and a blue background so that it sticks out of the magazine enough to catch someones eye and pull them in. However it wont be too big so that it doesn't become too outstanding and take interest from the rest of the magazine and just pulls the viewer in.

The image will be placed centrally on the cover (the whole band standing together, lead singer in front with other members behind) black background or smokey background. The band members will all wear whatever they want as this shows that they don't follow mainstream conventions of dressing a certain way for their band.

Band name will be in a clear font (similar to: Copperplate Gothic Bold [However this may change as I may use the same font the band chose for their name] - same as the rest of the writing on the page) with writing above/below it saying: A look into the lives of ANIMUS SADIST newest upcoming metal band.

Ill use a Pull Quote - taken from the double page spread on the band, to entice the readers into wanting to read the article which will make them more likely to buy the magazine.

The Bar Code will be in the bottom right hand corner, so that it is out of the way of the main image and everything else on the page. Keeping it in the corner will make it less noticeable and wont make the magazine look so messy. The price of my magazine is going to be around £2-£2:99 as this was the most voted for price from the market research I carried out.

Contents Page

The contents page is also influenced by 'Kerrang!' magazine as it works very well and is very easy to follow and understand. The top third of the page will be taken up by an image of the band in position as if they were playing a gig. This will be there as it is the main cover story that the readers will want to see if they picked up the magazine for the band interview. Overlaid onto this picture in the top left will be 'Contents, issue number and cover date' and in the top right the magazine name. In the bottom right of the image the bands name and the page the interview is on will be put over the image.

The left side of the page will have a picture of the editor and a letter saying thanks for buying the magazine and giving you an insight into what it was like to create the first issue.

In the middle of the page there will be an image, showing a gig guide, which is the second biggest article in the magazine (this has the page number in the bottom right). Under this there is the rest of the contents in 2 columns and to the right of this there is small images of the 'free posters' and what page they are on.

The font on this page will be the same as what is on the front page, so that it follows things on and keeps it clear and easy to read without the page looking messy. This will be the same for the colour scheme too as if I changed the colours from the cover to the contents the magazine will look a bit strange and confusing.

The contents will have subheadings to make things clearer as well as the page numbers. This will help readers to go straight to the area they wish to read about first or go straight to a certain article from the magazine.

Double Page Spread

The double page spread will again have the same fonts and colour scheme as the contents page and the front cover, so that the magazine flows and looks professional and clean. This will also help with people buying the magazine because it wont look cheap, messy and unprofessional.

The spread will have an image going across both pages, this will make the article flow. At the top of the spread there will be a pull quote from the interview, this will go across both pages so it shows they are linked. The main part of the article will do the same thing but at the bottom of the page - this will be in columns so that it makes it easy and quick to read. The standfirst will be in the middle of the pull quote and main article, keeping on the right page.

________________________________________________________________________


My magazine follows many styles and techniques from 'Kerrang!' magazine however I have made my own changes and put my own ideas in so that is not the same. My contents  and double page spread will be linked using the article, images and the colour scheme of the magazine will flow through all three.

Change in Blog Colour and Background!

I have changed the colour of my blog because I felt that my previous colour scheme (of Red, Green, Black and Purple) looked a bit too Christmas like. This doesn't really go with the music genre I have chosen either, so I looked round at other magazines to see how they related the colour scheme to their genre of music. I then looked at magazines such as 'Kerrang' and 'Metal Hammer' to see what colour schemes they have used. This led to me changing the background from purple (which is seen as a more feminine colour) to blue, as well as changing the green to yellow and keeping the red. These colours match the music genre I have chosen a lot better, as they have worked well in magazines already out there and after asking a few peoples opinions this colour scheme was chosen to be the best.

Blog/Magazine Name!

I came up with the Magazine/Blog name just by looking at other magazines names and seeing how they related to the music genre they were targeting. Some of them seem to have no relevance to it at all whereas others do relate in some way to the music its based on. A good example of a magazine name that is related to the  music is 'Metal Hammer' as this magazine targets Metal music and the music can be seen as industrial/related to building works as its a large amount of noise.

The name for my magazine relates to the music because many people that listen to this genre of music dont like to follow main conventions and are seen as a more outcast group. Therefore defying mainstream music and its followers.

Summary of Magazine Analysis'

From analysing the music magazines, I have found that Kerrang!'s layout and conventions are much better suited for the audience that I am aiming for and that NME is a bit strange for what I wish to do in my magazine. The NME magazine has tried to break many conventions with its contents page and this would only work if the magazine is already successful or if it is executed very well and professionally.


Analysing the magazines has helped to show me different ways of attracting an audience to buy what they have to offer, using many different techniques and interesting layouts/styles/fonts/images etc. This will help me to decide what I am going to do with my magazine to help me attract my audience and make people want to buy my magazine.

Overall this task has helped me to see what design would be best to take away and use some of its conventions in my magazine.

Contents Page Analysis

This post is for the analysis for both 'Kerrang!' and 'NME' magazines contents pages. This is to help me to see what conventions would be best to use whilst creating the contents page for my magazine. Both magazines have very different views/ways of going about their contents page.

(Below: Kerrang! Contents Page)

(Below: NME Contents Page)

After analysing both magazines contents pages, I have found that Kerrang!'s contents page is a better and more suited style for the type of magazine I wish to create. However the NME one is a very interesting layout but is only possible to commit too due to the popularity of the magazine, as it is hard to follow, and for a new magazine that is just starting out this would probably not be the best way to attract an audience.

Double Page Spread Analysis

This post is for my Double Page Spread analysis of both magazines; Kerrrang! and NME. This task of analysing different magazines double page spreads will help me to design how my article for my magazine will be set out and what conventios I will be using. Also it is an effective way of seeing how different magazines link the articles throughout thier front page and the rest of teh magazine, or even if they do at all.

(Below: Kerrang! Double Page Spread)

(Below: NME Double Page Spread)



Front Cover Analysis

To get an idea of the main features and attractions to a magazine front cover, I looked at two magazines; 'Kerrang' and 'NME'. From these two examples, I will start to base my ideas of what my magazine will look like, using their success within the music genre as they obviously are doing well.

(Below: Kerrang! Magazine analysis)

  

(Below: NME Magazine Analysis)

From these two examples of magazine front covers, I have learnt that to create a successful, attractive and appealing cover for a magazine, it needs to have a set colour scheme which works well and to not look like paint splattered all over the place. I have also learnt that the page shouldn't be too cluttered but have enough on the front to make it look interesting and full of great articles/posters and to appeal to the reader. The plugs and buttons are a useful way of adding in extra enticements for the audience to see and help persuade them to buy the magazine.

Reader Profile!

Hey

 

My name is Ryan, I am a 19 year old who is no longer in education and also un-employed. I sit at home a lot playing on the xBox and my computer. I have 3 piercings, all on my bottom lip; two rings and one spike. You wont find me wearing much else than jeans and a band t-shirt, as I don't really like colourful clothes and this way it shows what type of music I like. When I'm at home I listen to my music most of the day, quite loudly, to bands such as; Haste the Day, Destroy the Runner and In Flames.

When I get the chance I like to go to gigs. I enjoy gigs as the music there is very loud and the atmosphere is amazing, which makes the music all the more worth it. I sometimes get carried away with headbanging and moshing though and come out a bit beaten up. I have only been to a few gigs and would like to go to many more.

I don't have much planned for the future, however I would like to be within the profession of piercing and tattooing as it has always been something I have taken a lot of interest in and like the thought of doing. This would be my ideal job as well as I don't do well with sitting down in offices all day doing nothing but computer work and also don't really like the whole labour work thing, as it seems like too much effort.

As I have a lot of time on my hands I like to read music magazines to keep up with what bands are doing and when their new albums (if they are bringing one out) are being released. I enjoy reading about what goes on with different bands, as well as gig reviews because I like to know what bands would be good to go and see live. I find that music magazines are one of the best ways of keeping tabs on the bands that i like other than going around looking at all their websites - Which can become very boring sometimes.

Market Research

For my market research I had to create a questionnaire to find out what people found most appealing in a magazine. This is to help give me an idea of what the main features, price, frequency of production and other key elements that should be put into my magazine. This questionnaire was supposed to go out to my main target audience however i gave some to other people who I'm not specifically targeting to see what their ideas on a good magazine would be. This will help me to decide what would attract more of a wider audience and make my magazine more appealing to 16-25 year olds.
______________________________________________________________________

Questionnaire Results (from 9 questionnaires)


1.       What age group are you in?

10-15  [ 1 person ]                    16-20  [ 7 people ]

21-25  [ 1 person ]                    26 +    [ 0 ]

2.       Do you buy music magazines?

Yes  [ 7 people ]                   No  [ 2 people ]

3.       If so how often?

Daily  [ 0 ]                Weekly  [ 1 people ]          Monthly  [ 5 people ]

Other [ 3 people (never) ]

4.       What magazines do/would you buy (multiple choice)?

Kerrang! [ 5 people ]         Metal Hammer  [ 0 ]

Q            [ 1 person ]         Other [ 4 people (RnB, Rolling Stone ]

5.       What music do you like to listen too (multiple choice)?

Rock   [ 3 people ]                                Metal [ 2 people ]

R&B   [ 3 people ]        `                       Pop     [ 2 people ]

Other [ 2 people (Hip Hop + All) ]

6.       What most attracts you to a music magazine?

| Colours | Images | Text | Graphics | Stories | News | Gigs | Freebies |

        3              5           2            2               6            0         3             1

7.       What would you want to read about in the magazine? 

          Band/Album reviews

          New releases

          Latest Stories

          All the secrets we aren't supposed to know about celebs

          Artists and their music/life

          Gossip

          Celebrities

          The culture of Hip Hop

          Latest Gossip with bands

          Lyrics

8.       Do you think music magazines cost too much?

Yes  [ 5 people ]                   No  [ 4 people ]

9.       What price would you put on a music magazine?

£0-£0.99  [ 1 person ]         £1-£1.99  [ 3 people]         £2-£2.99  [ 5 people ]

£3-£3.99  [ 0 ]         £4-£4.99  [ 0 ]         £5-£10     [ 0 ]

10.   How often would you feel best for magazine to be produced?

Daily  [ 0 ]                Weekly  [ 2 people ]          Monthly  [ 5 people ]

Other [ 1 person (every two weeks) ]

11.   Which version would you prefer:

Printed  [ 8 people ]           or            Online  [ 1 person ]

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 From the results of my research i have found out many things about what is appealing to my targeted age group, such as;

• Most find that a monthly magazine would be better than a weekly one.
• The majority of them would read a magazine like Kerrang! rather than other magazines.
• They are most captivated by a magazines stories and images although other factors still apply.
• Almost all of them prefer a printed version of a magazine compared to an online version if they had the choice.
• I have found that overall magazines are priced quite averagely as some feel they are priced right whereas others feel they are too costly.
• That they feel £2-£2.99 is a fair price for a magazine.

These results will help me to decide how I should go about creating my magazine and what i should include in it to pull my audience into buying my product.