Planning: Rough design of Pages

After researching magazines is then constructed sketch version of my magazine pages, with a basic outline and colour scheme I used the typical codes and conventions and decided against certain theory’s such as the males gaze. this is a basic first step[towards constructing my ,magazine I  know I will change and develop my idea into a final design which will be a lot more professional and appealing to my audience.

FRONT COVER

 

 

CONTENTS PAGE

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

 

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

Preliminary Task

Final Magazine 

Looking back at my preliminary task I can see the difference from my final magazine pages, they have been constructed in much more professional way whereas my first newsletter is at a much lower standard  due to the fact that I had done little research into my target audience when making my primary task I also  didn’t not know the codes and conventions which help to structure a magazine to make it look professional, therefore it does not look as good as the end result where I had done a lot of react; existing text, surveys and focus groups.

 I can now see the impotence of the research and planning process in this project as taking in to account both magazines I can see that by researching into my audiences I gained a lot of information of their like and dislikes, hobbies, dreams and aspiration, this allowed me to construct my magazine to  appeal to them, and therefore entice them to buy my magazine. However as I did little research when constructing my preliminary  task you can tell I have not appealed to my audience therefore they cannot identify my newsletter or feel connected therefore they will not be attracted to buy it.

I have also learnt the importance of code and conventions as I researched existing text I could see what was needed to create a professional and recognizable brand. The way a magazine is coded is extremely important as it reflects the target demographic and if it does not apparel to them they wont feel connected or identify the brand therefore will not buy my product. With my preliminary task I did little research into codes and convention therefore the newsletter is boring and not exciting I have not used any theory’s such as ’uses and gratification, or Maslow’s hierarchy of needs’ therefore it will not attract  my audience.

By not adding theory’s such as; Maslow’s hierarchy  I could not find out my audiences want and desires also their  dreams and aspirations therefore I was not able to appeal to that audience as I did not know what they like. In my preliminary task I did not use Photoshop therefore my newsletter quality of professionalism is at a low slandered compared to my final magazine.

Through the use of extensive research and planning I was able to create a professional magazine as I was able to find out information on my audience and also on how to construct magazine by using theories and codes and conventions

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

In order to research my target audience it was a lot easier to conduct my survey through an online website called QuestionPro, which is an online questionnaire site which allows me to get a varied response from my targeted audience . By using QuestionPro it is a lot my useful and less time consume compared to writing my question out and asking people individually my results would not be as detailed or as varied. I could also use social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter I was able to target my told directly   has a lot of benefits one is that I can reduce audience fragmentation as Facebook can find my specific target audience and ask them. Also with social media site being extremely popular to young people I can get a large response  within my age group and demographic. With the increase of people using smart phone I can take advantage of this and create apps to promotes my magazine also I can use my website to advertise and distribute my magazine.

I used Adobe Photoshop to edit my images, and construct mty pages. However as my images are not in line with the male gaze I have not used a great deal of Photoshop as I did not want my images to be hyper- real. However I have used Photoshop for my front cover images. This was my fist time using  the soft ware, at first it was extremely tricky however I then got used to it.
Front cover image

 As you can see in my first image I used a clone tool, to reduce my models lines under her eyes to make her more appealing on my magazine, I also removed her blemishes and made her skin clear. Although I did not want create hyper-real images I still needed to reduce small blemishes, or frown lines so she would therefore look more appealing on my front cover. As you can see in my second mage I am adding a union jack flag to represent the artists background and achievement for her country. I did this by duplicating the layers and merging the flag on to the image.  I also whitened the eyes using   the dodge tool to create a more sharp look.

As you can see here I change my front cover due to the fact that before there was to much going it looked ‘busy’ therefore this would not attract my audience as they would not feel a connection to my magazine as it would become to confusing I therefore reduced the amount of feature storeys to make it look less ‘busy’. I made ‘Hannah Reid’ the focus point whiting my front cover with a banner going across her name this communicate with my audience  as it tells them that she is featured in my magazine this is a common cod as she is the main artist throughout my magazine .

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

When attracting my audience I used strong images of woman which represented them in a powerful and successful way therefore my audience aspired to be like them, I did not want my audience to aspire to hyper real images to apposed to real images my audience are to intelligent to fanaticise over fake hyper real images of woman been represented in a weak and vulnerable way. I used images of artists that where successful and have achieved a lot in there career therefore my audience will aspire to be as successful as they are. when choosing my images I had in mind Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs as I wanted my audience to aspire and dream to he as successfully as my artists as they would therefore buy my magazine.

When constructing my magazine front cover I need to attract my audience otherwise they would not want to bye my magazine, I did this by adding additional free gig tickets which had to be acceded by going on to our website this creates synergy as  am promoting my website and also the bands creating a mutually beneficial relationship also I gave my reader more chances to win prices by going on to are social media site on Facebook creating exchange as my readers will comment and update status. I also added in free gift such as posters and headphone to attract my reader to by the magazine.

As I have encouraged my audience too visit other media platform sites such as Facebook and Twitter I have prevented audience fragmentation and ai am also creating exchange as my audience will comment, statuses updates and view my blogs therefore they are advertising my magazine and creating more attention towards it.

I addressed my audience by adding feature storeys that fit my target demographic I got this information from my audience profile. By adding in exciting stories that would grab there attention such as ‘Oasis Reunion?’ this would excite my audience  as that is a big revealing story it make them want to bye my magazine to find out the latest .

I have put another web address for my magazines online website on my front page of my magazine to allow my reader to identify with my brand. By adding the union jack in the background of my magazine it shows that my artists is British  therefore my target demographic identify with my magazine and feel connected  towards it and the artists, therefore I am addressing my reader.


I interpreted the uses and gratification theory when trying to attract my audience as I entertained my audience with buzz words such as ‘ exclusive’  to excite them.  This also creates socal interraction as the word exslucive suggest that there is a secrete within my magazine which will entice my reader as the willl want to find out more





i also attracted my audience by using lots of images on my contents page and exciting story's to make them want to read on, such as exciting festival gossip and headlines at Reading and Leeds. Hannah Reid is featuring from my front cover and continuing to feature in my contents page this familiarises my audience this attractthem as the will be excited to find out more.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Throughout the research and planning process I was unsure on what gender to target my magazine at  I always new I was going to chooses a demographic between 17-21 however I was unsure at what gender to target my magazine. To help me come to a decision I created a question online called QuestionPro and asked my target demographic certain questions to help come to a conclusion at what gender I was going to target my audience at.

I came to the decision that I was going to target my magazine at young females aged between 7-21 who are into Indie music I decide to do this due to the fact that magazine like NME and Q are pronominally aimed at men therefore I seen a gape in the market for females who come under the same mode of address as the NME but feel like there is know magazine targeted for them. From the results from my questionnaire I could create a Audience Profile this includes my targeted audiences likes and dislikes, hobbies and what they are in to. Also there dreams and aspirations which allowed me to have knowledge of there demographic helping  me to create the right mode of address for my magazine.

 

My audience profile contests of information about my target audience as well as images of their interest such as fashion, music and festivals. As you can see my magazine is predominantly aimed at females with the fashion aspect on my audience profile however it still fits my mode of address with bands like Oasis, and Pink Floyd therefore not making it to girly. Also the clothes are rebellious clothing such as the Dms which where worn in the punk era therefore creating a since of youth and rebellion running through my magazine . As my target audience are aged  between 17-21 most of whom are still in a from of education which means they are poor student my magazine cannot be to expensive. Therefore I am pricing it around £2  I think that this is a reasonable price and most of my audience will be able to afford it. I also found out my audiences dreams and aspirations; they want to succeed  in life and be successful and they aspire musical or fashionably I can therefore convey theses dreams throughout my magazine therefore my audience will want to buy my magazine as they will closer to their dreams. I also found that within my magazine I should interpret strength and power through either images or the written text, when representing woman as my audience can aspire to be like them rather than representing woman in a weak way and in line with the male gaze.

My audience profile represents music, as that is a main factor of my magazine the music will not be mainstream as my demographic are not mainstreamers however the magazine will also feature some stories on fashion and festivals. Which fits my mode of address as I am appealing to a female audience.

3. What kind of media institution will distribute your media product?

For my magazine to become successful I will need to distribute my magazine to the right media distribution companies as this will determine, my magazines popularity and sale. I will use a multiplatform approach to distribute my magazine as I can promote my magazine through different distribution platforms these include; digitals technology such as social media, apps and a website I can also use old media such as distribution companies these include the Uks  two major publishing houses:
EMAP (East Midland Allied Press) and IPC (International Publishing Corporation). I can also use self publishers and independent publishing houses. Both the IPC and EMAP  are renowned for specialising in mainstream magazines as well as aiming niche audience these magazines include; The NME, Cosmopolitan and InStyle.

I am going to use a major publishing house to distribute my magazine such such as the IPC as they are horizontally and vertically integrated which means they have a lot of power in the distribution industry this company follows Karl Marc’s theory  ‘Power resides with those who have ownership and control of the means of production and distribution' therefore my magazine can benefit from this company as I can use other distribution platform that they may own which will make my product more known therefore increasing the sales. I have also chosen the IPC due to the fact that they distribute the NME who have the same target audience as my magazine therefore the IPC will know how to attract my audience demagogic. Also the NME and my magazine can advertise each other creating synergy as we are both promoting are magazine therefore we will have a  mutually beneficial relationship.


Independent publishing house focus usually on magazine that target a small nice audience the magazines are usually considered boutique as they are high end. Such as the ‘The Church of London’ who publish ‘Little Whit Lies’ these publishing house lacks recourse and money therefore I will not be using as I feel I will not be able to benefit as much as I could from a major publishing house also my audience is to wide and its not niche enough.

Self-publishing is the form of making the magazine yourself and publishing your own work independently an example of this is Sniffin' Glue;  is the name of a monthly punk zine started by Mark Perry in July 1976 and released for about a year it became extremely popular. However they also lack resources which would mean that my magazine would not become popular of advertise therefore this publishing house will not be effective.

I can also distribute my magazine thought digital technology on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter this has a lot of benefits one is that I can reduce audience fragmentation as Facebook can find my specific target audience and advertise  my magazine to them. Also with social media site being extremely popular to young people I can promote it to a large number of people within my age group. With the increase of people using smart phone I can take advantage of this and create apps to promotes my magazine also I can use my website to advertise and distribute my magazine.

The publishing house that I am going to use to publish my magazine is a major publishing house due to the fact that they have a lot of rescores I can take advantage of the multi platform which they own and I can use them to promote and disabuse my magazine there making it a success.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media products represents young teenage groups, my magazine is to info my reader and also entertain them. Throughout my planning and research I wanted to construct a magazine like the NME the social group they targets is white British males aged between 17-25 who are into indie music. However as I researched further I change my decision and  decided to change the whole concept of my magazine. I change the social grope to females aged between 17-21 I did this due to the fact that there was a niche  market as there is know magazine on sale that targets young females who are into indie music.

I went against the  stereotypical teenager, as I believe they are portrayed in a bad light; hoddies, swearing vandalism. Instead I showed them achieving something in their life with new up coming young bands articles.

By the use of Photoshop it create a hyper reality world Air brushing creates a hyper real perception of images. Which enhances the beauty of woman. Therefore young girls aspire too look like someone who has enhanced beauty. This before and after shot of Jessica Alba shows her chest being enhanced and her waste being cut down to make her look slimmer and her shoulders have cut off so they don’t look as masculine this has been done so she look more appealing and sexual for men also so woman can aspire to look like her. This body is not natural and his impossible for woman to look this way however young girls will still aspire to look this way this is a very controversial issue due to the fact that anxious is in creasing within the social groups of young girls. Therefore I have gone against the male gaze and not phtotshopping my female models, I wanted all types of girls to feel they could connect and relate with my female models in my magazine

Marxist feminist flovent psychoanalytic theory  is apart of the male gaze theory it explains how women are  photographed in a way that objectifies and makes them asexual object towards men . Laura Mulvey argued that the spectator (and therefore the camera) is a male and derives visual pleasure from a dominant, voyeuristic perspective. She argued that cinema inevitably puts the spectator in a masculine position, with the figure of the women on a screen as a object of desire. Women are photographed in a way that objectifies them. The frame of the camera cuts the women into parts which identify of represent the subject purely by attractiveness to men for example only showing legs or a woman lips.

In class we did an experiment were trying to discover if girls at a young age (12), where influenced by the ideology that woman are submissive and men are dominant this reinforce the theory of The Male Gaze. We also wanted to see if the year sevens thought the most beautiful woman where the ones that were  in line with the male gaze for example being cut into sexual frames which objectify them and make them look weaker. Also we were trying to find out where the girls would have placed the woman who didn’t follow the male gaze for example not wearing any make-up and not being objectified by being cut out in to shapes. Which therefore makes them look stronger and more dominant. The girls put these pictures of woman in this order, the females with more make up were first or the woman who were shot inline with the male gaze were also first and the females with little or no make up came last.

In are conclusion we found that young girls are influenced by the ideology that women look more beautiful if they are shown as sexual objects and look weak. Therefore society see woman as objects to be desired by men which reinforces the theory of the male gaze. Girls as young as twelve like to see woman as weak and as an object even though they have know knowledge to this. Therefore according to Maslow’s higharcy of needs people aspire to be the hyper version of real people. However  my social group are not girly girls therefore airbrushing my images would not fit my mode of address and I also don’t believe in shooting woman in line with the male gaze as it represents them in a sexually and weak way which is degrading and wrong.