Beginning research

Beginning of the research consisted of finding examples of magazine covers and analyzing them: 


The first set of magazine front covers I found were a collection from the magazine ‘INDIE.’ From my research, I found that it is an independent magazine which combines Music and Fashion. This style of magazine has really captured my interest and I would like to develop some of my ideas from these magazines. I believe a reason why these covers are so effective is because most of the models are shot from the shoulders up which makes their face and eyes the main image. I believe through eyes, a photo can capture feelings and passion. Part of a models job is to sell a photograph using their eyes and therefore,  it is important in a lot of cases to have the model looking at the camera. 

Something i noticed about these magazines is that there is not a lot on the front cover in terms of text and other images. I think this is quite affective as it makes the reader want to look inside to see what can be found. The title is extremely capturing as it illustrates what is in the magazine and addresses the target audience directly.

I know that one of the most important things that I need to work on is coming up with my own, catchy title. As my research develops, I hope that I will come up with an idea for my magazine. I want to make it catchy and relate to my own style. 
Looking at all the covers shown in the INDIE collection, I have decided that I would like a female for my front cover as I believe I can relate to them more and use my own fashion styles to dress them. For one of my ideas, I will photograph my model from the shoulders up like those magazines so to try and capture a story through the models eyes.

For my research, I wanted to look at something different from the INDIE selection of magazines. This is what I found. I believe this photo of John Mayer is very affective as the reader is able to see a typical rock star through this photo. Instead of having photos of the face and top half of the body like the previous research, this photo displays the models whole body and an instrument. I think this is affective as the reader is able to see his body language and he can tell a story through this. I see this model as quite sensual as well as moody and mysterious which I think creates a certain appeal to the audience.

The text on this magazine is quite plain yet clear. There is not a lot on but some of the main words are put in bold so they stand out to the reader. Rolling stones use the technique of having famous models which allows public interest for the magazine. The colour scheme on the page is black and white. Although this an be effective I find it quite dull as there is a lot of writing and therefore I want my cover to display a little more colour.

Looking at the rolling stones cover, I decided on a photograph idea that I am going to try. I am going to try and express a sensual, mysterious feel through my model like shown here. I would like a white background to ensure that the model is clearly the main focus of the cover and it will make my text on the magazine clearer and easier to read. In contrast to this magazine, my model will be female. I will also be promoting a different type of music. Instead of Rock, i will be advertising Indie music and therefore, my model needs to portray the correct image.

The next magazine cover i found is shown here on the left. The thing that drew my attention towards this was the model on the front and her style. To me, she is promoting indie styled clothing which i think is important for the indie magazine. I want to make sure I try out lots of different styles of clothes in order to eventually capture a perfect image of what I want. The colours on the magazine are quite girly and bold. This makes the magazine one that would stand out on the shelf to its readers. Unlike the previous magazine, this conveys rather happy, lively image of a new coming artist. Instead of promoting moody and rather dramatic music it comes across as a feel good magazine that young teenage girls  would likely be the target audience. 
BLURT magazine caught my attention quite a lot as i felt i would personally read it. I love the image that the model is projecting and hope to reveal a similar image within my magazine. The colour scheme for this magazine is different to my other research as it focuses on girly and unique colours like pink and blue. Although i would like to experiment with these colours, i need to ensure my magazine maintains a look of professionalism. I will experiment with these ideas in hope to create a professional yet capturing magazine cover.

NME is a well known magazine that revolves around whats new in the music world and what is up and coming. This magazine I picked from their selection is shown on the right. Like the previous magazine, this cover looks into an upcoming album or artist. The colour scheme on this page is red and white writing with a background photo. I believe this album looks quite busy which is like a lot of music magazines. The boldness of the writing hints to us that it is a music magazine. The colours are harsh and stand out to the reader to draw attention. This is effective for any magazine as it is important that the writing stands out to the reader and interests them. I do not like the yellow and brown colours on this magazine as I think they are rather dull and repulsive colours. I do not think they would successfully draw in readers and did not find the magazine in general as capturing as the previous. 
As I found the imaging and colour of the actual photograph used rather dull and unappealing, I want to ensure I use nice colours in my magazine in order to make readers attracted to it just by first look. However, from this magazine I may take the idea of a lot of writing depending on my photograph. Although I do not want too much writing, I want to be able to display what is inside my magazine so that it will appeal to the reader.

The last magazine of my beginning research is shown here. This is the magazine cover that most stood out to me as I believe it promotes the 'Indie' image exactly. The model on the front Florence is a singer I directly relate to Indie music and her style of music and fashion is something that I am extremely interested in. Although the colour scheme is not particularly interesting, I think the model is what stands out most from this cover proving that it is essential that I find the right model for my look. The hair of the model I believe is very effective as it makes her facial features stand out. Again, I notice the bold yet clear writing. This gives me the idea that I need to ensure my title is bold and clear in order to adopt the style of a music magazine in general.
This magazine, selected as my favorite, displays the exact image I want to capture. 


In my 'extra photo research', i need to do the following: 

• Ensure each photo displays a female model.
• Find photos that use props in the photo 
• Find photos with the models hair emphasized like the photo above
• Find different styles of photos such as from the shoulders up and long shots
• Find photos that illustrate the 'Indie' style 

Introduction to the music magazine

This is the introduction to my music magazine! After completing the preliminary task of the school magazine, I am excited and eager to start the main task! I found the preliminary rather demanding and did not enjoy it as much as I hoped. However, for my music magazine I am more intrigued and believe it will be a lot enjoyable for me as it is something I am extremely interested in. I have always had a love and an interest for music so I believe this task will give me a chance to explore what I know and apply it to my media studies.

Especially in the recent years, indie styled music has been my favourite and I have always enjoyed listening to it. This is why I decided to hopefully develop and create an indie styled magazine. In the next post, you will see my beginning research on the project. I want to explore the magazine market and gain ideas that I can use. From the beginning of this project, I want to decide on my main model. I am hoping that my research into music magazines will give me an insight into what I want my photographs to look like and what kind of model I need to choose. This will allow me to choose my model and begin photographing

The next stage

Now i have finished my preliminary task its time to start the main one!

Evaluation - School Magazine

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge the forms and conventions of real media?
At the beginning of the project, we did research on various school magazine covers and contents pages. This research meant that i was able to use real media in my work as i got ideas and developed them from it. I found many different ideas and examples on the Internet which in turn, helped me to finalise my decision of basing my magazine around art.
The front cover of my magazine includes a large, bold heading and subtitles written in red font. Here, i use conventions and forms of real media as i got all my ideas from real life magazines. Red is known as a bold colour and is regularly used in magazines to make story lines stand out. Although some parts of my colour scheme go well, i think i could next time improve and need to think carefully about which colours go well together.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
From looking into my research, i decided that i wanted to base my magazine around art and different artists. Having this idea in mind meant that i could base my photographs and contents page around art. My main aim was to attract art students to the school i am representing. I believe i successfully did this as my title and photograph were based around art.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The kind of media institution that i would distribute my media product would be in a school and independent institution. I want to attract my target audience which is students and to do this, my media needs to be distributed and placed in relevant, specific areas. As well as in the school, the magazine could be distributed to local companies and other local schools. This would promote the school and also promote artistic values.

Who are the audience of your media product?
The audience of my media product is students or young people who are interested in art. I could also address my magazine to parents or the local community as it would promote the school. The more interest the magazine brings to the school the better.

How did it attract/address your audience?
The first thing i tried to do to address my audience was think about my models very carefully. Every model i used was under the age of 18. This was because i wanted to promote the fact that my magazine was a school magazine. Young students in the photographs will ensure that readers know this.
Next thing i thought about was colours and titles. I wanted to use friendly, warm colours so that the school would come off as more appealing. The title also promotes the fact that i am addressing artists. The subtitles attract the audience as i used them to show what is inside the magazine. This, i would hope, would fascinate more readers and make them want to know more.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Throughout the process of making the school magazine, i was able to learn and develop skills in using different technologies. One thing i learnt was how to successfully use a camera in order to take appealing and relevant photographs. I learnt that within my next project it may be best to shoot my models outside so that i could use more natural light. When i got my photographs, i was taught how to use photo shop and indesign. Both of these programs allowed me to develop my photographs and add text to my magazine. Without the two programs i would not have been able to finish my product.

Contents page

My last task on this project is to create my contents page. I did this using InDesign and it is shown above. Instead of using the same models that were on the front cover, I decided to use two more models in order to make my contents page more interesting. I tried to relate all the pages to art as the magazine is called 'artist magazine'. I believe i did this sucessfully however, I am happy with my presentation. I feel like this piece of work is not good enough and i am rather disapointed with how it turned out. For my next project, I want to be able to create a better piece of work that will look better and more professional.

Front Cover

As you can see, I decided to use the photo of the two models. The photo shown as the background below is the one I thought would go best with my fonts and theme in the magazine. I designed the magzine cover in 'indesign' and was able to use it to add what will be on the magazine. The task after my front cover will be to complete my contents page. I have decided that I will photograph a footballer and a local artist for this.

The Second Photos

Now that my font development is finished, its time to finalize the background photo. Looking at the photographs of Jessica and thinking carefully about what i wanted from my front cover, i decided to photograph two models instead of one to make it look more like a school environment and add a friendly feel to the magazine. The new photos i took are shown here. 

These photos i thought were the best out of my collection. The next stage of development will be to see if they correspond well with the magazine title. I will look at this development using photo shop.