Revisiting my college magazine

Along with my music magazine, I have also revisited my college magazine.

After analysing my magazine, I had come to the conclusion that it didnt look much like a magazine at all and that the things on my magazine didnt quite look like it would attract my target audience of university students.

I completly redesigned the layout using strong bold colours such as black, red, yellow and white so that the magazine would stand out and hopefully attract customers.

I decided to get rid of my University Hoodies front cover spread and replaced it with a peice about freshers week as this attracts more students.

Overall I feel my magazine now connotates my genre and target audience rather than before.

evaluation questions

In what ways does your print product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real print products?
My final product develops conventions of real print products as it is a product which is already available on the market and it is appealing to a smaller part of the market. My age range is from the 18 year olds to around 30 as these are the current people who enjoy to go out and listen to this type of music. I chose to name my magazine ‘federation’ as it feels as if the magazine and the music is an important industry. I thought this was a good meaning for the name of the magazine as it fills the readers mind with information, feelings and thoughts of music and music is also and inspiration to a lot of people. The reason for my choice of photograph on the front cover of my magazine is I feel it is a natural photograph of people having fun and enjoying the music. I chose to stick to a simple colour scheme for my front cover using just black, pink and white writing because it matches my blurred photograph with the dominating colours being black white and pink. If my music magazine was to be sold in a retailer I think that it would stand out on the shelf and wouldn’t blend in with all of the other music magazines as it deals with a specialist type of music and looks more unique compared to others.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product represents males and females aged around 18 – 30. It shows music interests and special features such as promotional offers. This attracts the studenty type of people who go out and because they are students they are trying to save as much money as possible and by promoting these offers on the front page this may attract them more to the magazine.

What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?
A media institution which may distribute my product is IPC media. IPC Media is one of the United Kingdom's leading consumer magazine and digital publishers, with a large portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year. IPC media is also the publisher of NME magazine and I think that my magazine would sell well with NME magazine as its like a similar music magazine just with a different genre. Publishers also have competition from other markets, if IPC media published my music magazine then they would be appealing to a market which other publishers are not appealing to.

Who would be the audience for your media product?
As I said above the audience for my music magazine would be student typoes aged around 18-30 interested in dance music. The audience which I am appealing to is only a small percentage of the music magazine market however I think if this magazine was on sale it would be very popular as the music genre is quite unique compared to mass produced magazines such as NME and Q.

How did you attract or address your audience?
I attracted my audience buy creating a magazine for them which isn’t already readily available on the market, I feel that music magazines such as NME and Q are aimed at a more of a market where just targets bands and people aspiring to be in a band. This dance genre is very popular amongst most young people and I decided to choose it to be different compared to the magazines already out there.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Since starting the media course I have learnt to use media products such as photoshop and cameras. At the beginning of the media course I wasn’t confident in using programs like Photoshop however as the year has gone on and as I have learnt more creating the preliminary task and the main task I now feel more confident in using programs such as photo shop to help me to create a magazine. I have also used technologies like digital cameras when creating the photograph for both the preliminary task and the main task.

Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I feel my media skills have improved and my knowledge of media marketing, knowledge of camera skills and photoshop skills and I feel this had produced to an effect into my work and has made it a good piece of work.

Final front cover

This is my final front page of my magazine called Federation.

The masthead of my magazine is done in bold black rounded lettering with white specks on it. I decided to to it like this so it connotates with the dark nights and bright lights of clubs.

Underneith this I have done a plug of other things in the magazine, both of these have free or chances of winning something. I decided to do this because it is a technique used by magazine industries to draw people to buy the magazine.

My background image is one I had taken on a night out from a high view onto the dance floor. Because my picture got blurred and the light quality was dark, the entire picture came out with a pink glow to it. I had decided to blur this more on photoshop to create the look of the night being busy and full of life. I had decided to use this as a background picture as I felt it tied in with my best of 2008 theme that everyone has been involved in the decision making of the best of 2008, making the reader feel involved and that they have a say.

My main Best of 08 text has been filled in with a image that I have taken of CDs. By putting this image in the text this shows the variety involved in the chart and that lots of thought has been taken into account. Also underneith, I have a plug linking in with the chart and my double page spread listing what the chart also includes. This draws the reader in and makes them want to buy the magazine to read whats inside.

I also have a plug done on the right hand side of my magazine done on a white background to show that it doesnt link in with the best of o8 feature. On this I have used an image of the Hed kandi logo and CD that I have cut the background out of on photoshop. This is so the background of the images are not included and the photos look more proffesional and something that would be featured in a magzine.

Double page spread

My final double page spread is based on a double page spread from NME that I had analysed.

I have decided to use one of the pages filled with a picture from a night out which is full of bright colours. The colours mainly used are pink and black and I have decided to link it in with the text.

My two pages are linked together with two long black rectangles making the letter T. I have then carried on this with my text 'THE BEST OF 2008'. I decided to put this on a slope and then put the text underneath on a slope on the apposite way. This makes the text on the page look more interesting compared to it being flat and straight.

My article is enclosed in a pink box with black and pink lines intertwining with each other. Again I think this looks more interesting compared to the text being normal and it makes the text stand out more. Next to this I have used a similar image to the contents page of CD's stacked upon eachother, with the winner coming out ontop. This shows that because this CD is the chosen one of the chart, it is higher and better then the other choices.

Contents page

This is the final edit of my contents page.

I have decided to keep the page looking full and busy to create the effect of the magazine looking full.

The masthead is the same font as the front page and I have decided to use the same font to carry on the theme of the magazine, linking the two so they carry on.

My background picture is an original image that I have taken myself of Cd's. I decided to use that because it links in with the musical theme of the magazine and the genre of CD's I have taken the photo of are Dance, the same as the magazine. The colours are also bright and loud and remind me of bright lights from bars and clubs, this also links in with the genre of the magazine.

I also have two other original images on my page. The first is also of CD's all stacked up on top of each other. This links in with the Best of 08 chart that my double page spread on, and this shows that the CDs/music choices have a hierarchy and that one always come out on top.

My other original image is one from a recent night out and I have decided to use this for my New Year gallery for the magazine. This shows that regular people who enjoy the music and the nights out are included and involved in the magazine.

My contents list is separated into different categories such as features and interviews. This shows that the magazine has a variety within its genre and has different aspects to the magazine. I have also used subheadings under my images to tie them in with some of the features of the magazine and not make them look like they don't link in.

Final front cover

I have decided to change the masthead font into a more rounded font as it was easier to edit and produce into my magazine compared to the other logo. This logo is still bold and black with the white splattered effect but it is more rounder and closer to the other letters. This looks more then a masthead compared to the other one.

My inspiration came from the leading dance magazine 'mix mag'. I took note of their pink and white effective lettering which tied in with their main picture. My main picture is one that I took on a recent night out. My camera however did not take the photo in full focus but did create a blurred lighting effect. I emphasised this on photoshop using the blur and smudge tool. To tie in with the pink lettering, I added colour lighting in a hot pink which matched the shade of the lettering. This creates a link between the picture and the text so the audience know that they are related. I used a bolder and larger lettering for the word YOU to show that the magazine is aimed at the audience, prehaps making them feel more able to buy it.

I also used a picture of a CD of Hed Kandi which I also edited in photoshop, erasing the background and editing it into my front cover. I used this to show further that my magazine is a dance music orientated one by using a well known dance institute on the cover.

I also placed two smaller plugs below the masthead, both matching the text in pink and white colouring. My plugs where about winning tickets and free entry to two main dance events, which could influence more dance music fans into buying the magazine.

Magazine name

I have decided to give my magazine the name 'Federation' I have decided to call them this after not being able to come up with a decent name myself, so I decided to base it round the club event Federation. This shows my magazine already has a target audience of 18-30 and is already well known on the dance music circuit.

I have chosen this style of logo because I feel it is suited to a masthead for a dance magazine due to its bold lettering. The white specks on it also suggest lighting being lit on each letter just like my magazine I analysed.