Evaluation 7- Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I feel I have learnt a great deal since my preliminary task to my final product. After doing the first task I undertook alot of research into the common conventions of a music magazine, analyzing many pages, and realising where I have gone wrong in my first task. I took this on board when making my actual product, and I think I have improved alot because of  this. I have learnt alot about the colour schemes that reflect an indie magazine, and I found that these colours were red,black and white and i Incorporated them into my final product. In my first task, I missed out alot of simple, conventional things, such as web address, price, date and issue number. I also lacked coverlines, and my page was very bland. My image on the front page was stretched and doesnt look as professional as my final front cover.
My contents pages are very different, and I have learnt a very simple and conventional layout from doing my research on contents pages. on my preliminary task, I did include things such as "features" and "regulars" bit did so at a very poor level. I included  only three things under each one, and my pages only went up to 17. However, I learnt from this and discovered that a magazine should have a minimum of 50 pages, and so I went up to  about 90 pages, with 8-9 things underneath each of my features and regulars. My images again on my first contents page were stretched and i didnt take into account the mis-en-scene of the main image. The mis-en-scene of the images were very important to me when making my final product, and so I made sure that each of my photos had a suitable background before taking them.
Overall, I think I have definately improved in my magazine from my preliminary task to my final product in all aspects.  I think I have achieved this from my research, learning about new technologies, and practice.

Evaluation 6- what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

below is a prezi discussing the technology I have used in creating my magazine.
http://prezi.com/dtwmhbw99crs/untitled-prezi/

Evaluation 5-how did you attract /address your audience?

Below i have 3 slideshares on how each of my pages develops and attracts my target audience.

 FRONT COVER - http://www.slideshare.net/georgiehamer/slideshare-2-20362564

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD-http://www.slideshare.net/georgiehamer/slideshare4-20419210

CONTENTS PAGE-http://www.slideshare.net/georgiehamer/slideshare3-20409547

Evaluation 4- who would be the target audience for your media product?

TARGET AUDIENCE.

• Age range is between 16-24. this is the age when music is most inspiring and important to its fans.
• interested in indie/rock bands, will listen to current bands.
• 80% will listen to a wide range of music within the chosen genre.
• 20% will both listen to music and be interested in being involved in the music industry, and the background of their favorite bands.
• 70% will be full time students at either secondary or higher education.
• 30% will have finished or left education.
• 60% female 40 % male.
• Innovators.
• tends to be a musician.
• interested in going to gigs and concerts.

I think that this type of audience has been portrayed well within my magazine through the artists and design. I think the chosen images and models fit my target audience and what they would like, and i have offered a wide range of singers within my contents page from bands to solo singers. I even have a section in my "regulars" for "How to create your own band" which would fit perfectly for the aspiring musicians and those interested in the bands background in my target audience.

evaluation 3- what kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Frontline.

http://prezi.com/zexxcccgbtrm/untitled-prezi/

• Front line  have worked for  Bauer since 2005, by distributing the magazines to the wholesalers.
• it was formed in 1986.
• it sells and distributes over 160 of its partners magazine titles, including 54 of the top 200 best selling titles in the UK.
• sell nearly 8 million copies every week through over 55,000 shops.
• frontline does market research.  
• if Bauer media were to be "volumes" publisher, frontline would be its distributor, therefore I would have the biggest one on the market.

 BAUER.

• I think there is a good space for "volume" in the music industry at the moment, and I think that Bauer would be the perfect institution to publish my magazine as it only has "MOJO" ," KERRANG" and "Q" for main music magazines, and they are mainly mixed genres, apart from "KERRANG" which is of a rock genre, and I think Bauer would benefit from another specific genre music magazine on the market.
• Bauer are the largest publishing company in europe, an average turnover of 1.79 billion euros, and distributing over 282 magazines. 
• Bauer own the UK's best selling music magazine Q, showing its success.

evaluation 2- how does your media product represent different social groups?

I tried a variety of different ways to represent my target social group within my magazine. One of which was my models choice of clothes. This is the unedited version of my front cover image, and I think the fact that ive contrasted her glittery top which represents fun and being young with her heavy leather jacket with fur representing her mysterious side is a great idea because my magazine is mainly aimed at 16-24 year olds.  I think that my target audience could easily relate to her clothes wise, and as a young indie artist i think she represents the generation well, reflecting the style of my target audience. In all of my images of alys, her facial expression is serious, but this is a common convention I found in my research. I think her story of  being found on YouTube and making it big is realistic and could inspire many of my target audience as she of a similar age to them. I feel my target audience could relate to the Mis en scene of the images, pushing them more towards Alys, as in my double page spread image I studied earlier, the graffiti featured in the background is stereo typically associated with some of my target audience's age, which may make them feel more relaxed when reading the magazine.
I think the variety of different images that I used on my contents page represents my target social group well. the long shot of the band jumping in the air shows they are fun and full of energy. The close up of Harri and the bright colours surrounding him suggests hes lively, and is fun, and his imitation "rock star" pose also shows this. 
I created a slideshare (below) to compare my images with different magazines.

http://www.slideshare.net/georgiehamer/slideshare-20344703

evaluation 1- In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge codes and conventions of real media products?

Mis-en-scene of the images.

Images play a major role in the developing of a music magazine, as they are the first thing that visually attracts the audience.  The front cover image is especially important as it is the first image the audience will see, so I chose a model who represented my idea of an indie magazine well. I instructed her to wear the dark lipstick and a black leather jacket, as it contrasts with her bright blonde hair making her stand out even more, and i think this rebel-like look fitted well with the representation of an indie star that i was trying to portray, and fitted well with my colour scheme- red,white and black. Her pose is very conventional, however I edited her out of the original photo and placed her back over the top in order for her to be more clear and to be seen, and I have slightly placed her head over the top of my mast head, another convention that I have noticed in various magazines ive looked at, for example  the image of NME below. Lily Allens head is obscuring part of the "E" like Alys is obscuring part of the "L" and "U" in "VOLUME".

I was happy with my image, as it was clear and conventional, and fit the criteria for my target audience. I edited it to black and white using Adobe photo shop. I wanted to have a background, so I chose to put Alys in front of a tree which wasn't too busy and cluttered, so that my sub headings would be easy to read. The branches on the left hand-side were fairly busy, so i simply outlined my text in black in order for it to be clearly seen.

The image on the left is the one that I used for my double page spread, and I again edited it into black and white to match my colour scheme. I chose this background carefully, against a dirty wall with graffiti, to emphasise my article and the fact that i brought up that Alys was from a working class back ground in London  and this is a stereotypical representation of this. I have edited it to black and white, to link it to my front cover, and she is wearing the same outfit, which all fits in with the idea of a young rebellious indie artist. Her Blonde hair contrasts within the Gray scale  and this makes her stand out even more, especially against her dark clothing. I positioned her this way so she was further to the right, so I could fit my article over the graffiti. Alot of magazine double page spreads ive come across have used a very simple background or none at all, and although mine is fairly simple it could potentially challenge the conventions of a double page spread with the background and the fact she is looking down in the image. I feel that despite the fact my magazine features many of the common conventions found in a typical music magazine, I wanted my magazine to stand out and be unique, so I slightly changed the convention in order to make my magazine slightly different from others, still managing to carry many of the usual codes and conventions. I had portrayed alys as a very normal girl, and so chose an environment in which I could present that, with the average wall and railings with graffiti, making the readers be able to relate to her and find similarities with themselves.

On my contents page,  I used a total of 5 images, 2 of which were Alys. my main image on the contents page was her, and I edited her into black and white again linking it with her double page spread, which I featured as a subsidiary image. I again chose the mis-en-scene for this image carefully, making sure the surroundings and background for all of my images fitted. this time, she is against a dirty wall with railings at the top,which shows again she comes from an average background, and is easily relatable. I did this because I wanted my magazine to be realistic and believable, and found that in some of the magazines that I looked at, people from realistic average backgrounds often had realistic pictures to represent this, another convention I have used within my magazine. My other images were of different thing's I had featured in my contents page, and I tried to do a variety of different edits, styles and shots, including a copy of Alys album, medium close up on "Harri" and a long shot of a band. This is a convention I have noticed a lot in "Q" magazine.  I chose to edit my photos differently in order to create a bit of variety, whilst sticking to the theme of red black and white. My main image of alys was in black and white, and I did this to link and match my front cover image, main contents image and double page spread image together. However, her album cover is in Sepia, and i only slightly edited Harris image to bring out the bright colours in the background, leaving it in colour. choosing the correct people is a key part in the magazine as they need to represent the genre or type of magazine you have created. I chose alys because she represented what I perceived to be a young indie artist well, and her clothes and makeup also were key in choosing her. I had to ensure that Alys looked like a believable average girl who had shot to fame through you tube videos, and I think I pulled this off, and I believe that the Mis en scene helped in this. I chose the poses that I often found in Q magazine, wanting them to appear professional and realistic at the same time, and I believe that I achieved this, mainly due to my choice of person. I think that her image fitted her story perfectly, and i am happy with my choice. In the Copy of Q, they have represented Jessie J in a true way through her image on the front cover, she is seen as fun and quirky, through her pose. Her clothes make her appear ambitious and fun, and that is what I had hoped to achieve in my making of the magazine.

Written Content, font and style.
The written content is one of the main aspects of the magazine so it was important to me that I did it the best I could. I had to ensure I used professional terms in my write up, and I used phrases such as "She is absorbing the attention our team is giving to her" in the introduction to make my magazine believable. The language I used throughout the interview was one I assumed the reader could relate too, making it casual and using some slang, making it informal. I found this slightly more easy to write, because I am within the age group of my target audience, so I am aware of what would and what wouldn't catch my eye. I made sure that I added in all the typical conventions that a double page spread has, such as the drop capital, the introduction before the interview began, information on tours and album release dates, giving her website and twitter at the end of the article and pull quotes. For my contents page and front cover, I made all my headings and sub headings quick and easy to read, something I personally would like. Underneath each subheading, I gave a brief summary of what was going to appear in each article, hoping to intrigue the reader further. I mainly wanted my font to be readable, giving it a lot of thought. I noticed a common convention on magazines was keeping to 2 or 3 fonts and not constantly changing, and this is something I also adopted during the task. I mainly used the fonts "copperplate gold" and "minion pro" as they are easy to read and are clear. I felt that my mast head font it fitted my genre perfectly, and was easy to read, and distinct from the rest of my fonts. I ensured that my mast head, and the majority of my cover-lines were in red, so the reader is aware they are all equally important, as they are the same colour as the masthead. My font size was traditionally a size 10 in my double page spread.

Layout.

The layout is important as this is the first thing the reader sees. I wanted my page to look full, but not overcrowded or untidy. It was also important to me that everything was clear, whereas if it had been cluttered things may have been unreadable. This copy of Q is clear and full, it is evenly distributed across the page, with no area of the cover looking empty, or the other extreme cluttered. I tried to use this idea when making my own cover. Like Lady Gaga, Alys is in the centre of the page, and her name is written across the front of her body, as is "GAGA".  I also have cover lines going around the picture, and I have  banners along the top and bottom. 

My contents page was clearly set out  and it was relatively simple but I noticed this was a common convention in magazines, especially in Q. As you can see, both of these contents pages are similar, and I used this one as a framework to work from. I used the common conventions of a magazine, such as "features" "regulars" and even including a "V review" section, based on "Q review." Again, organisation and making sure everything was easy to read was my main focus, along with making it look professional. The subheadings I used were also helpful in navigating the reader, as if they were looking for something regularly featured in the magazine they could just go to "Regulars." I chose to make my contents page a double page in order to achieve this idea. I included a copy of the double page spread to show the reader what was to come in the magazine, and I noticed this was a common feature on contents' pages in my research.I centred my main image of Alys and made it bigger than the rest of the photos, making it clear to the reader this was my main feature. I used her because she was on my cover, again telling the reader she is my main feature. My other two images are significant, but I made them smaller and situated them at the bottom of the page so it wouldn't interfere with my "features" and "regulars" section, and to highlight that  Alys is my main story. Like in the copy of Q the main image/feature of that issue is on page 44, and we can see this as it is the biggest image on the page, surrounded by subsidiary images which are smaller. I wanted the contents to go from left to right down the sides and as this is naturally how people read i found this made sense. I put my "Q Review" underneath my regulars column, as i thought it fitted well and would flow nicely.  The red on my contents pages signified importance, as the background of the "contents" "features" and "regulars" is all red, making it stand out, and signalling that they are all titles of some form.   

My double page spread is conventionally  set out, with a quote from her interview along the top. I tried making it different, especially with the word "party" by placing it on black squares and angling them, to make my magazine unique. I managed to get all of my text onto one half of the double page spread, something I aimed to achieve as I wanted her image to be as clear as possible. I sectioned off my article, separating it from my image with red lines, a feature often seen in Q magazine, along with many others. A convention I also noticed was an even distribution of text to images, so that also inspired me when designing this page.  I used 2 pull quotes within my text, making them bigger than the rest of the writing so they can be easily distinguished. I didn't want this page to look over crowded or crammed, as it was important to me that the article could clearly be seen as this was the main feature of this page, along with my image. 

here is some brief analysis of each of my pages using prezi.
Front cover- http://prezi.com/pkf86h552mfa/untitled-prezi/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=prezi_landing_related&utm_campaign=prezi_landing_related_owner
double page spread- http://prezi.com/davtmkbbox6x/untitled-prezi/
contents page- http://prezi.com/-bxjew71ak6e/untitled-prezi/