In what way does your media product use,

develop or challenge forms and

conventions of real media products?

Front cover

Throughout my magazine I have tried to include generic conventions. I had learnt

about these conventions during my conventions task which I had completed at the

start of year 12. http://taliagaye.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/blog-post_20.html

I made an analysis of all the codes and conventions

which had been used on the front cover of the

magazine.

After completing this task, I then tried to put these

conventions into context myself. I had used four

magazine templates from existing magazines as a basis

for my work. I then added myself various conventions I

had learnt about such as main cover lines, cover lines,

left thirds etc.

http://taliagaye.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/codes-and-

conventions-of-magazine-task.html

These tasks helped me to quickly gain knowledge into

generic conventions of music magazines but also the

way in which I should apply them when creating my

own magazine.

As a result of the two tasks I had gained a clear understanding into generic

conventions and the layout of a front cover as shown below in my own magazines

front cover.

I took into consideration how each convention

should be typically displayed and followed the

rules of conventions within a music magazine.

I had used the left third rule for my masthead. I

also used a cover line within the left third of my

magazine so that I was following the

conventions.

I also made sure that the main cover line took

over the attention compared to the cover lines.

I decided to merge the URL and date line

together with the masthead to add to the

design of the magazine further giving the cove

more interest into the design.

I had also added other important conventions

such as the barcode and price in a familiar way

on my cover featuring them both together.

Challenges and developmentsSome of the conventions I learnt about a music magazine I had challenged and

added my own ideas so that I achieve my own identity for my magazine.

Unlike most Indie/rock magazines which I had

researched such as NME, Kerrang and Q, I choose

for the front cover of my magazine to be plain. I

found that with the magazines which I made

research into, their front covers often featured more

than one piece of original photography. The front

cover of these magazines commonly had a main

imagine and also photography within cover lines

etc to promote what was inside of the magazine.

Where as with my magazine I has chosen to only

use one piece of original photography challenging

the typical codes and conventions of an Indie/rock

magazine. I did this as I wanted the target

audience to focus on the main cover line which

had relation to my main imagine of my main artist. I

think that for my magazine this worked well for

promoting my main article within the magazine

itself.

Challenges and developments

On the front cover of my magazine, I

have also choose to add my own

identity into the conventions through

the main cover line. I had chosen to

underline and write in Italic font the

artists name. This isn’t something which

is normally used on a magazine cover

and from my research I hadn’t seen it

been used in any of the Indie/rock

magazines I researched either.

This feature in the main cover line gives

a uniqueness about my magazine as

well as providing an emphasis on the

main cover line in relation to the main

image of the artist behind it.

InfluencesThe choice of layout for my magazine came from a number of influences including Q,

NME and Kerrang. I had chosen these magazines for influence as it matched the

genre of music which I had chosen for my own magazine and they helped me to

develop my own ideas of now I wanted my own magazine to look like.

Using the influence of NME’s and Kerrang’s

masthead I came up with how mine was going

to be designed. For both magazines I liked how

the masthead was in white font. I thought that

the colour stood out over both backgrounds of the magazines drawing in the

readers attention. This is exactly what

I wanted for my magazine. I also

liked the fact that NME had a short

masthead on the left hand side of

the magazine. I also took inspiration

from this for my magazine as I

thought it made magazine sound

catchy and it didn’t look too ‘in your

face’. This is a feature I wanted my

magazine to also have.

Influences

Another influence I got from NME was their style of cover lines.

When looking at this NME

magazine, the cover lines

really stood out to me. I

liked how the had

backgrounds which

contrasted well with the

overall colour scheme of

the front cover.

I was influenced by the

way that they designed

their cover lines and

therefore inherited in within

my own work. I purposely

made sure that the colour

scheme of the text with the

background all matchedthe conventions of my magazine so that the colours were consistent and the magazine

stood out.

InfluencesQ magazine

influenced me

into the

positioning of

my cover lines.

I liked the way

the cover lines

were

positioned

Were positioned around the out side of the cover

making the magazine look professional and not taking

too much attention off the main image. I decided to

also only position my cover lines around the outside of

the cover.

I also liked the use of direct address from the cover star

used on the front page. This provides a relationship

between the cover star and the audience.

The backgrounds of both of the magazines are plain

using a single colour. I also did this within my magazine as I thought it gave emphasis to my

cover lines and main cover line as they stood out over the background. I also decided to

do this throughout the whole magazine making it a part of my colour scheme.

ContentsThe layout of my magazines contents page was inspired by some aspects of Q

magazine and NME. Then began to draft my contents page using these inspirations.

http://taliagaye.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/magazine-layout-draft.html

The use of images relating on the contents page with page

numbers over them in Q magazine inspired me into using this

in my own magazine. I liked the way they had done this as it

looked different. I also found it a lot more eye catching

seeing familiar artists rather then reading a familiar artistsname on the page.

I also liked the fact that in both

magazines they had used the

colour scheme of white, red and

black which had which I had later

on adapted into my own

magazine.

I found that the variation between

between images, the sizes of them and the text made my

magazine a lot more stimulating and attractive. I also

decided to include the same features within my own

magazine.

Purposely I chose to carry on the colour scheme of

my front cover to my contents of Red, Black and

white. I chose to do this as I noticed that in many

of the Indie/Rock magazines I had researched

their colour schemes were kept consistent. I think

this was important to me as it gave my magazine

an identity and professionalism which I wanted to

be able to stick to.

I also chose to carry on the cover star and story

into my contents page. This enabled my magazine

to have consistency and make it clear that this

was the main article of my magazine.

In the magazines which had influenced me, their

contents pages featured advertisements. This is

what made my magazine slightly unique

compared to my influences.

The use of the magazines name ‘ROIT’ was also

featured on my magazines contents page. This

was inspiration which I had taken from both Q

magazine and NME. I thought that it was

important that the magazines identity was carried

through to the contents page.

Double page spreadMy first influences for my double page spread were NME and Q magazine.

http://taliagaye.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/research-and-planning-of-double-page.html

I planned for my double page spreads to looks similar to these as I liked the layout of the

pictures alongside the text.

I was also inspired by these particular magazines as they were from the same genre music

as I planned my magazine to be. I took inspiration from the way they looked and wanted

to add these ideas eventually into my own magazine.

My main influence was the NME double page

spread.

As with this double page spread I also decided to

use a quote for my main focus of the title for the

article. I thought the way that the text was

presented stood out on the page and

immediately grabbed the audiences attention. I

wanted to be able to created this same effect

within my own magazine.

I was also influenced by the artist which was

featured on the right hand side of the page.

I thought that it fitted in well with the article

on the left hand side and gave a nice

relationship between the title, main artist

and article.

I also decided to keep the colours of red,

white and black consistent throughout the

whole of my magazine. I did this as I thought

that it brought together the front page,

contents page and double page spread

nicely.

How does your media product represent

particular social groups?

My magazine was mainly aimed at teenagers, old and young, who like Indie/rock

music. For me I found that NME and Q magazine helped me into forming this identity

for my own magazine. They also helped me into understanding how to fit this genre of

music into my magazine as well as appealing to the correct target audience.

Cover starThe cover star ‘Aubry Banks’ in her

original photography demonstrates

someone who doesn’t give away a lot

about herself based on her appearance.

She looked very ‘straight faced’ which is

what I wanted to be able to portray for

my cover star. I did this because as a part

of my artists background I explained how

she had been a victim of bullying andhow she always expressed herself through her music. The fact my

artist was shown in such an straight faced way was to portray this

background which she had that from the outside she looked

normal and kept all her problems inside. Music was the way she

got rid of all her problems which is talked about within the

interview.

I thought it was important that I gave this representation as it also

portrayed my typical target market of teenagers.

Teenagers typically are seen as having ‘problems’ within their

lives but keeping them bottled up.

This was the same image I wanted to be able to portray

through my cover star so that my target audience would be

able to relate to the article within my magazine.

Other photos used in my magazine also gave my magazine a

‘cheeky, rebellious, youthful’ trend which comes from theIndie/Rock genre. The two boys represent this trend as they were both captured laughing

which reflects the genre of music as again being ‘mischievous’. Indie/rock is also

represented through the band photo on the stairs. The emotions in all of the artists face

reflects typical teenagers. On the left hand side, the boy pulling a face represents them as

being ‘silly’. The girl in the middle shows a representation of ‘seriousness’ and the boy on

the right looking away being ‘care free’ all representing traits of a teenager but also

representation of the genre of music itself.

What kind of media institution might

distribute your media product and why?

The genre and audience of ROIT magazine is very similar to NME’s and Q magazine

which are major distribution companies. I can see ROIT working well as a major

distributor as it is a fresh type of magazine displaying a lot of new faces. It is also a

similar magazine to both Q and NME, therefore a top seller.

I researched into major distribution companies including Bauer

media.

http://taliagaye.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/planning_13.html

I found that may popular music magazines had been

produced by them. These magazine including Kerrang, Q

magazine and Mojo.

They were also involved in a range of media such as TV, radio, internet, phones,

magazines etc. However, even though the company was involved in a number of

magazines I didn't’ feel as though it was the right one for my own particular magazine.

The distributor I had chosen instead for my magazine was IPC media -

http://www.ipcmedia.com/

I have chosen them as my distributors based on their

range of magazines which also includes NME, a big

inspiration of my own magazine. They also have a

variety of ways in which to advertise on different

platforms including websites, printing and modern

technology such as mobile phones and tablets.

I think that ROIT magazine will be able to

merge well with this modern company as a

new magazine for young music lovers.

Who would be the audience for your

media product?

My magazine is aimed at teenagers and young adults from

ages of around 16 – 21.

I had created a questionnaire for my target audience to

complete based on the content of my magazine.

http://taliagaye.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/questionnaire-on-

content-of-my-magazine.html

This helped me to find out what my target audience

wanted to see in my magazine so that I knew what it was I

needed to include to make it relevant for my target

audience. I recorded this information and then presented it

in the form of pie graphs.

http://taliagaye.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/female-

questionnaire-analysis-for.html

The result of this helped me to develop my magazine so

that it will suit my target audience. NME also has a similar

target audience as my magazine as their audience ranges

from around teenagers to the age of around 21.

How did you attract/address your

audience?

MastheadI think that the name of my magazine is

very catchy. The name ‘ROIT’ reminds me

of ‘riot’ which references noise and

banging. This is also a similar way of

describing the genre of Indie/Rock music

as it is sometimes very loud and heavy. I

think this is good for my magazine as the name has reference to the genre of music advertised within the magazine and gives

the magazine meaning.

I think that the simplicity of the name also works well for my target audience as it is

easy to remember in teenagers hectic lives.

The use of CAPTIALS within the name and the white font makes the magazine stand

out to the audience.

I think that my choice of colour for the magazines name is also a good feature as it is

easy to work with in terms as making it match the front covers background in future

issues.

The magazine name is catchy but also looks eye catching for the audience because

of the use of fonts and colours I have used.

Colours

From the research I had made into magazines, I had came up with a

colour scheme for my own magazine before beginning to design it.

http://taliagaye.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/planning_22.html

Similarly to NME and Rolling stone magazine, the colours I have

chosen

For my magazine suit my target audience because of their clarity,

Contrasts and uses.

For a Rock magazine, Black provides a dark ‘sinister’ meaning to my

magazine.

White gives a purity as well as a nice base colour.

Red can also be used for text needing special attention plus to give

a sense of romance or even warning.

Cover lines The cover lines are used to draw in further my

audiences attention.

Quotes from artists have been used such as “OUR

FANS ARE AWSOME” to draw in my targets audience

attention to the magazine. I displayed a quote on

the front of the magazine as I knew it would be a

point of interest for the artists fans. It also leaves the

audience interested to what is inside of the

magazine.

I have also gave emphasis to certain words on my

magazine such as ‘Aubry Banks’. I chose to use

italic, bold white font so that out of all the fonts it

stood out on the page. The fact that it was the main

cover line also supported this to be most noticeable

to my audience.

The language I have chosen to use on the

magazine also fits with my target audience being

easy to read and a down to earth tone which is

easy and enjoyable to read.

ImagesMost of the images used throughout the magazine of my

cover star look strong, proud and confident. They can also

relate to the fact that she isn’t giving too much away about

her emotions through her straight facial expressions relating to

her childhood when she was bullied and kept everything

bottled up.

I made sure that my cover star was making eye contact with

the audience in every photo to build a relationship with the

audience. However I also did it to relate to the fact that she is

over her bulling from a child and now releasing her music to

the world.

Other images used in my magazine such as the support artists

I tried to portray them in a cheeky, fun way so that it

appealed to my target audience and in some ways to the

genre of music.

What have you learnt about technologies

from the process of constructing the

product?

During the processes, I used various processes to construct my magazine. These

included paint.net, Microsoft word and page plus. Here are some strengths;

Microsoft Word Page Plus Paint.net Publisher

Very easy and logical to use. Very easy and logical to use.

Easy to use and understand Easy to use and understand.

Can easily add text and pictures onto the documents in whatever font, style and colour you want.

You can add effects and filters to photos instead of having to do it on a different software.

Able to images with effects and tools such as the ‘magic pen’ to erase unwanted background.

Was able to create documents and choose to save as a picture file such as a JPEG.

A lot of flexibility to go back and change fonts, sizes, colour and images.

You can have a layout which puts all of your work from the three pages into one document.

Able to add text and shapes to the document.

Was already familiar with the software so was able to start the task straight away.

Spell check prevents any spelling mistakes and grammar errors.

Allows you to change fonts, colours of text and the sizes

Allows you to change the canvas sizes to make it more realistic to your magazine.

Mistakes I made or changes I wanted to make were easy to go back and edit.

Clear and accurate previews of the document

Has a whole range of tools such as erasing backgrounds from photos and choose background colours etc.

You can add different layers into your work so that it isn’t over crowed.

There was a variation of templates for me to choose from that suited my work.

Allows you to be able to save the document in formats such as a JPEG or PSD file

Even though the software's were good to use they also came with some weaknesses;

Microsoft Word Page Plus Paint.net Publisher

Unable to save

documents as JPEGS or

image formats.

The effects do not

appear as a good

quality on the photo.

When I first starting using it,

it took me a little while to

be able to get the hang of

the software.

Tools that I could use on the

software was very basic

and didn’t always make my

magazine look the way I

wanted it to.

Difficult and had to play

around a lot to be able to

change the text or

placements

Unable to change text

after unselecting a

layer so this made it at

times frustrating

The cut out studio tool was

sometimes frustrating to use

when trying to remove a

background without

effecting the image itself.

I couldn’t use cropping

tools to remove

backgrounds from photos I

used within my work.

Limited choice of brush

effects and choice of

shapes

Sometimes when I would

save the file as a JPEG the

background on my work

wouldn’t show up and it

would be blank.

Each program had its uses in the development of my magazine. Microsoft word

useful to add text to my double page spread, the effects on paint.net were useful

when editing my original photography and Page Plus was very helpful when putting

the whole magazine together at the end.

Drafting and planningDuring the making of my magazine, I took snap shots of the stages of my magazines

development. This enabled me to see how well my magazine was developing as a

whole from start to finish.

http://taliagaye.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/planning_17.html

http://taliagaye.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/research_28.html

http://taliagaye.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/research_5.html

http://taliagaye.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/planning_7.html

http://taliagaye.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/improved-front-page-and-contents-

page.html

http://taliagaye.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/planning_10.html

Before I came to completing my whole magazine, I had to go through a number of

stages. Through researching and comparing similar magazines to my own, my

magazine began to form nicely.

A difficulty I had faced in the process of making my magazine was cropping out the

background from my cover stars photo. To over come this I used the ‘cut out studio’

took on page plus and took time to make sure I didn’t

ruin any details on my photograph.

Photographic choicesBefore taking photographs of my cover

star I researched into the way I wanted

my cover star to look.

http://taliagaye.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11

/solo-artist-research.html

This then gave me a clearer idea into

how I wanted.

Researching into how I wanted my

cover star to look also helped me to get

inspiration into how I wanted my cover

star to look on photographs and in thephoto-shoot.

I think that without this research I

wouldn’t have gained research into how

I wanted my cover star to look. This

made it a lot easier for me when I was

completed my magazine.

BloggerBlogger was a way for me to be able to display

the processes I went through in creating my

magazine. I found that it was also an effective

way for me to be to display my work and also

search what I had done.

I can access my work at any time and very

easily instead of keeping it all within a folder. I

found that blogger was a much easier way to

do this.

The freedom of being able to post, edit and

delete posts is much more efficient compared

to rewriting or erasing written work which I had

completed.

I also found blogger a interesting way to

display my work. I found it a lot more enjoyable

to complete the tasks given compared to how

I think I would have found it if I had to write out

my work and keep it within a folder.

Looking back at your preliminary task,

what do you feel you have learnt in the

progression from it to the full product?

PRELIMINARY TASK MAIN FINAL TASK

In my preliminary task, I don’t think that my cover lines are well structured around the

front page. The layout is very simple however it is severe not leaving a lot of freedom

for the cover lines.

PRELIMINARY TASK MAIN FINAL TASK

I think that for my contents page I have improved massively from my preliminary task

to my main task considering that I also used page plus for both of them. The first

attempt was very dull and boring where as my second attempt is a lot more

interesting using a different layout for my contents information and images.

Overall I am very happy with the way that my magazine has turned out. I think

that I have fulfilled the brief of making a music magazine. Though my research

of music magazines, the help of coming to terms with my target audience and

multiple software's to produce my magazine, I have created a Indie/Rock

magazine with a typical but in some ways unique magazine in its appearance

with its bold style and brand which flows from page to page. I feel that my

strongest page of the magazine is the contents page. This was due to the strong

unique layout of the page along with the images used. I feel that overall my

magazine turned out successful.