23rd of December 2013,

23rd of December 2013,

While carrying out all my other work, I am trying to get a start on my masthead for my front cover as after all the research I have carried out I have learnt the masthead is a very important element as it is the main element people remember from a magazine and one of the most eye catching so I need to make it original but I am struggling with original ideas that will match my genre. So far all I have came up with is using a record instead of an O in the word 'modern' for my masthead 'modern dated'

15th of December 2013,

15th of December 2013,

Over the past week I have began my pre-production planning, So far I have planned out the questions I shall ask for my interview  and plan to carry out the interview on the 1st of January. I have left myself plenty of questions so that I have enough body text for my double page spread as it is better to cut out bit of an interview then not have enough answers from an interview. I have uploaded the questions to my blog using Scribd, so you can see the kind of answers I wanted to get from the artists.

Pre-production planning

Interview Introduction and Interview Questions

I will Interview Girl band the Wallflower on 2nd of January 2014.

Articles for Contents Page

Masthead ideas.

I have tried to sketch out many different masthead ideas, using different fonts for each and different ideas, such as smudging the word dated, mucking around with the order of the letters, using a musical note for a T.

However despite trying to make an original masthead I realised I was not very artistic, So have decided i won't use any of these and will instead think of another creative way to present my masthead that doesn't require artistic skills.

Modern Dated press release

Norwich, Norfolk- 27th June 2014, IPC MEDIA shall launch Modern Dated magazine. It will be purchasable by print or online, in shops or by order.

Modern Dated is unlike any other magazine on the market. It's refreshingly new!In this modern day we are constantly seeing recent and popular artists covering classic old songs such as; Ellie Goulding- Our song, Lily Allen- Somewhere only we know, Charlene Soraia- Wherever i will go.

These cover songs constantly prove most popular, yet there is no magazines on cover songs- so there is a clear gap in the market for this original magazine I present to you. It will attract a wide range of audiences by bringing old songs with new artists, the target audience age range will vary, the primary target audience will be teenagers (15-25) wanting to listen to the 'now artists' with a secondary audience of mature adults wanting to listen to songs they will know from decades ago, with a fresh new twist to them.

Modern dated will bring a fresh idea, with people's favourite songs and what music lovers WANT to know about to places such as; Norwich, Yarmouth, Kings Lynn, Thetford and surrounding areas in Norfolk. These are just where we will start our distribution with the rate in which Modern Dated will sell the ultimate goal we will achieve is selling Modern Dated world wide. 

The magazine will include a wide range of interesting features with exclusive interviews, gossip on artists, advice on the best songs and festivals and that's only naming a few. This new original magazine will fill a gap in the market and have a huge audience finally able to find a magazine with all they want on a regular basis.

The magazine keeps up to date with this new active media by having accounts on what our audience voted as websites they use daily, so they can follow us and hear the latest information on Modern Dated. We also offer the option to purchase the magazine online and also as an app downloadable to any android, to suit all preferences and keeping up with the media trends.

Modern Dated aims to inform their audience on upcoming artists, the best festivals, the best albums. After already carrying out a sample magazine it is evident that our audience will cover a wide range of social groups because of the mixed genres cover songs could be.
We will also hold events throughout the year with high profile and upcoming artists to further promote the magazine while building connections with sponsors and advertising companies and also giving MDA's (Modern Dated awards) voted for by our audience, helping promote new artists while intriguing our audience with an interactive magazine.

9th of December 2013,

9th of December 2013,

Throughout the week I have been looking at press releases of magazines I have looked at numerous examples and then began to write my own. It is basically a couple paragraphs promoting your magazine so I included all about what is great about My magazine and put a lot of enthisis on the originality of my idea and how there is no other magazine like this and how they need to fill this gap in the market.

4th of December 2013,

4th of December 2013,

I finally finished my secondary design inspiration. I chose to present this on a new technology I learnt about called Prezi this was surprisingly easy to use compared to other soft wares I have used for the first time, I was able to insert images from my laptop straight to the prezi and it would automatically save my work as it went a long which is very useful. It also presented my secondary design inspiration in a slideshow like way making it look professional.

Secondary research- design inspiration

28th of November 2013,

28th of November 2013,

For the past week I have been doing secondary design research, I have looked at numerous images, helping me decide what poses I want my artists to pull, what body language I want them to have, what colours I want in the images etc. I done the same for typography I chose different texts and said what I liked about each and what I would want to take from each image.

Editing my blogs labels.

After editing part of my blog I started changing the colours of the headings and realised my labels were not visible so changed the colour of them, making my blog easier to use and find exactly what you want.

22nd of November 2013,

22nd of November 2013,

After realising with the help of my teacher that my blog labels were not visible so it was not easy to find what you wanted I decided to add some colour to them to make them more visible.

PRIMARY RESEARCH- AUDIENCE PROFILE

NME READER PROFILE EXAMPLE

After looking at numerous reader profiles (example of one shown above) I realised the importance of knowing your audience. If you know what your audience wants then you can include it, making your magazine desirable and helping to achieve the main aim of any magazine- to sell and make a profit.

My reader profile

Reader profile for Modern Dated

15th of November 2013,

15th of November 2013,

After finding out from my research what my audience want from a music magazine I was then able to create a audience profile. I looked at other audience profiles such as NME, and showed an example of this on my blog, after looking at this and plenty of research on reader profiles and my own target audience I began gathering images of things that represented my target audience e.g. their favourite brands, clothes they would like, popular artists etc. I then put all these images onto a word document and began writing statistics about my target audience and what they like I even made a fake member of my target audience of what I think they would be like because of the feedback I got from the previous task.

Primary research- help find my target audience

12th of November 2013,

12th of November 2013,

I have finally finished my analysis of my primary research and feel I now have a clear Idea of the kinds of stories my target audience want to see in my music magazine, what artists they want to see and know the genre I now want to do is cover songs, bring old songs popular again by having modern artists perform them. I chose this after seeing how my target audience chose a variety of artists from a variety of decades so cover songs bring together different artists and different decades- they are also proving increasingly popular with many songs in the charts now being cover songs. There is also no other magazines like this so is a clear gap in the market it for it.
I chose to present my results for this in a powerpoint but only bullet point key points and then do an audio description as my previous analysis was all essay and I don't just want essays on my blog.

7th of November 2013

7th of November 2013,

I have finally collected all my results from my primary audience research, from which I have converted the answers into a graph so they are easy to read, I done all this using a technology called survey monkey. I will then analyse these graphs to explain what I have found I have chosen to do this using powerpoint.

1st of November 2013

1st of November 2013,

I began putting together for my questionnaire today, I included a variety of questions from closed ones such as 'what is your age' to open ones 'what music do you listen to' I am doing this questionnaire and then will post it on a popular social network for my target audience such as facebook, to get the correct age sample I want and find out what my target audience would want to see in a magazine. I will then just have to wait for replies. This research will give me a clear incite into exactly what my target audience want to see in a magazine and therefore what I should include because I done a questionnaire for my preliminary task I have a better idea of what questions to include and how to get answers I will not ask for answers this time I will give the option to fill it out on a social network so only those interested in music magazines will fill it out.

25th of October 2013

25th of October 2013,

Today I edited my blog's background to records, instead of random magazines as this is more relevant to the content of my magazine, I done this to make my blog reflect my magazine.

(screen shots taken at a later date due to loss of work)

BEFORE

AFTER

Changing the background on blogger again.

I changed my background on my blog again to something more relevant to the content of my magazines (records) this helps relate my blog and music magazine. Also relating to music where as previously the magazine background was nothing to do with music.

17th of October 2013,

17th of October 2013,

I have finally finished my primary research, although I found this challenging and extremely time consuming I was able to learn a lot about different genres and what elements matched what genre but also key elements that all music magazines have. Key elements they all have include things such as - price, date, barcode and also have them in typical positions such as the masthead should be at the top of the page so it can be seen from a distance on a shelf as their main aim as consumer magazines is to sell. Elements that differ depending on the genre are things such as the typography.

Primary research- magazine analysis

14th of October

14th of October,

I am doing my primary research analysis and I am finding it challenging to include so much about just a front cover, contents and double page spread for 3 different magazines. I chose different genres as at this point I am uncertain of my own genre of my magazine and I feel choosing different genres will help me see not only what is out there but things like what works well on a magazine and how different genres use different typography and different poses with in images. I have also learnt so many more typical elements of magazines I didn't even think about before and key words for them.

What is a music magazine?

A music magazine is a magazine which is completely dedicated to music and the music culture, this could include numerous articles such as interviews, photo shoots, news about music, reviews on songs, artist, albums, concert reviews, upcoming music events to name a few.

Typical elements found in a music magazine:

artwork – the illustrated material that is ready for printing.

ascenders – parts of letters e.g. k, f and d which extend above the average height of other letters in a typeface.

bad break – this is when a word has been hyphenated in a clumsy way to fit into a certain space.

banner – a headline that spreads across the whole of a page, often in a diagonal fashion.

bar code – on a magazine’s cover the black and white serial number which can be read by a computer or app.

bleed (bled off) – where the printed matter extends to the edge of the page.

body copy – the main text.

byline – the name of the writer as it appears with the story.

caption – words that accompany a picture or illustration.

coated paper – paper that has been treated to give it a glossy finish, suitable for high-quality printing.

consumer magazines – publications that provide their readers with information and entertainment in relation to their leisure time.

copy – words written by journalists for publication.

cover lines – words on the cover of a magazine which indicate what articles can be found inside.

cover price – price paid by reader who buys a magazine from a retailer. It is indicated on the cover.

descenders – the parts of letters such as g, p and y which extend below the basic x-height of a letter.

double-page spread (dps) – a story which takes up two facing pages.

drop cap – a capital letter, in a size larger than the body coy type, which is used at the beginning of a story or a section of a

story to enhance the look of a page. It drops down into the text below, which is arranged around it.

End blob or symbol – characteristic symbol used by a magazine to denote the end of a story.

fanzines – amateur magazines produced out of devotion to the topic (such as a rock group or a football club) rather than with a
view to making money.

fit – to cut copy so that it fits an allocated space exactly.

flannel panel – the place where the magazine gives it address and other contact information as well as the list of staff and the
copyright notice.

flatplan – the one-dimensional diagram of a magazine used in planning to show what will appear on which page.

flush – type that is set so that one margin is even, as in ‘flush left’, meaning the left margin is straight while the right one is ragged.

folio – page.

grid – established shape for the design of the pages of a magazine which determines such things as the width of columns and
margins.

gutter – the vertical space between columns or between two pages in the same spread.

headline or heading – words in larger or distinctive type which attract the reader to a story.

house style – the collection of guidelines about English useage and editorial policy established by a publisher for a publication as a way of ensuring consistency.

justified – typeset copy in which both left and right margins are flush, i.e. without indentations.

landscape – describes pictures which are wider than they are deep.

layout – the design for a page.

lead – the main story on a page or in a publication. Also, an idea for a story or a tip-off for one.

masthead – now a common term for the titlepiece or logo of a magazine.

niche market – a relatively small group or sector of potential purchasers of a publication, usually with a shared specialist
interest.

positions – on a magazine refers to the site where particular elements will be placed. Editorial positions are where editorial material is found. Advertisers pay higher rates for certain special positions such as the back page, facing matter, first right-
hand page.

pull-quote – a few words taken from the following text and set in a contrasting type to be used as a visual device to break up the
text as well as an enticement to read the story.

range right – type that is flush or straight on the right-hand side of the column.

readership – the number of readers of a magazine. Distinct from circulation which is the number of copies sold or distributed.

reversed out – type printed in white on a black or on a tinted background.

sans serif – typeface whose letters don’t have serifs.

serif – the small embellishing strokes at the ends of letters in serif typeface.

sidebar – a complementary story or additional material relating to the main text which is placed in a box or a panel at the side.

spot colour – a colour other than black which can be used throughout a publication or on individual pages.

strapline – subsidiary headline that expands on the main headline and runs above it.

typeface - the letters in a given family of type

9th of October

9th of October, 

I have done my research on the simple question of what is a music magazine and have now uploaded it to my blog. I am now moving on to my primary research, where I will look at different music magazines and analyse what makes them a music magazine see what I like about them and what I dislike so I know what to include in my own magazine.

7th of October

7th of October,

Now I have finished a college magazine and began using the software's I will use to make my music magazine i need to first start my research and planning to find out what I must include, the first thing I am researching this week is what is a music magazine?
I have been looking at different music magazines and seeing what makes them look like a music magazine as well as looking up definitions for music magazine.

Changing the background on blogger.

Changing the background on blogger to an image with lots of magazines to relate to my magazine. As well as changing the colour of my writing to red against the black so it is clearer to see. I done this in settings on blogger and selected the different options.

Colllege magazine -What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

What have you learnt about technologies from 

     the process of constructing this product?

Before this task I had never used photoshop before so I found 

it very challenging as it was difficult to get used to all the 

layers on Photoshop. I started of by dragging an image from 

my pictures and dropping it on the page, after this I realised 

the image looked bland and not very interesting so I watched 

online tutorials on how to cut out part of an image and delete 

the background, for this I used the magnetic lasso tool and

had to carefully go around the edge of the image and then 

select ctrl and J to put it on a new layer then hide the previous 

layer I then put a colour in between of a large box in a

different colour (grey).

As well as this I learnt how to insert text and started playing 

around with the fonts to see what looked good. To make the 

masthead stick out I then started to make it 3D to make it eye 

catching and easy to read from far away.

Finally after all this I learnt to save it as a JPEG. So i could 

embed it as an image on my blog.

College magazine- How did you attract/address your audience?

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my target audience by using what I found from my questionnaires. Firstly I used their favourite colour purple as my spot colour, this would instantly attract them as it is most of my target audiences favourite colour so because they like the colour they will unknowingly be drawn to look at my magazine.
Secondly is how I have used all my images as the same age group as my target audience, this make my magazine look more relatable to them. if my audience feel the magazine is relatable to them it feels more personal and makes them more likely to want to buy it. 

Next the image that I chose creates a direct address with the reader by the pose she is pulling, as well as the body language indicating she is stressed out because of things school related but the way she has direct eye contact with the reader which draws the reader in. this is a key element of a front cover image. Finally for the front cover is the use of cover lines and my puff. i draw in the reader with cover lines as on my questionnaire I asked what stories they would most like to see in a college magazine most answered things about sport so one of my main cover lines is about sport. In the puff I used bu words such as 'free' in capital letters so it is clear to see this will draw in the reader as most people love to get things for free and what they could win for free is also something that they said they love doing in their spare time - going to the cinema.

 For my contents page I make them want to read more by the images I have used- the images I used are natural images making them seem more real and relatable to my audience. I also used an image of a boy playing football this will relate to my audiences interest in football. I also used the feedback I got from my questionnaires to make the cover lines, this will draw the reader in as the cover lines are all stories my target audience said they wanted to see.

College magazine- How does your media product represent particular social groups?

How does your media product represent 

particular social groups?

My media product represents the social group of older teenagers 

to young adults who face the typical problems of all teens, 

struggling with college, 6th form, whatever it may be it is a 

huge jump from 16 to whatever you choose to do next. Therefore 

my magazine solution will offer solutions for students and the 

guidance that they need as well as advice it will also contain 

interesting stories. These stories will include, best places to eat as 

it is a consumer magazine so they will like to know what to do in 

their spare time. By using my model on the front who is at their 

age group they will feel easier to relate to her. By the expression 

she is pulling of stress and worry in her face they will feel they can 

relate to her even more because most students do feel these 

stresses and that is where my magazine will relate to these 

students and be the 'solution' to these stresses. I know these are 

the kind of things my audience will want to read about, like what 

universities to go to as I found this my the questionnaire I asked 

them. I also know from my questionnaire that their favourite 

colour is purple so I used splashes of purple as this will drawn in 

my audience and make them want to read my magazine as it is a 

colour they like so they will be instantly attracted to it, also 

matching the colours of the city college logo. By displaying the 

logo in the corner of the page any student of this college will 

instantly know it is aimed at their social group of a student at city 

college and feel the magazine is relatable and personal to them 

making them want to buy the magazine.

College magazine- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I followed conventions by having my masthead on my front cover displayed at the top of the page. I also followed conventions by having a barcode displayed at the bottom as the main aim of my product is to sell in most shops so would need a barcode. Another element on my front cover is a puff this contains bu words such as 'free' . I have also included cover lines which is another typical element however I didn't use many cover lines so my audience would want to purchase the magazine to see what is inside, this also allowed me to make my coverlines bigger and draw in more attention to them, I also chose a black box for my audience to read it on so it is nice and clear, because my college magazine is so cheap I made the cover price big and yellow to draw attention to the fact it is only £1!, I have also included the logo of my college so that the audience know which college magazine it is this is also a typical element. I challenge other elements such as making my masthead 3D so it sticks out from far away and is easy to read on a shelf grabbing my audiences attention. The camera shot I took was a mid-shot this allowed the reader to focus on her facial expression I chose her facial expression to  look confused and her body language looking stressed by placing her hands on her head like she is going to pull her hair out. I done this to relate to the name of my magazine 'solution' to show students that everyone gets stressed and feel relatable to the model on the front cover. and how my magazine will offer a solution to this.  The colours I used were bright and colours such as purple, blue and grey I chose purple and blue as my spot colours to draw in the readers attention as after my questionnaires I found these were the most popular colours.

Next my contents page, On this I chose to keep a housestyle with purple, to match to my city college logo I also added orange, when putting this against a dark background it stands out. I positioned this on page 3 as this is a typical position for a contents page and placed an advert on page 2. Other conventions I stuck to was dividing my magazine into features, news and reviews with page numbers very large and clear to make it easy for the reader to find exactly what they want as quickly as they want, a typical position for the flannel panel is on the contents page however I kept it here as my flannel panel contains websites to relate to my target audience so I can create a convergence between these networks and my magazines creating a multi-platform magazine key for my younger target audience and allowing me to relate to them.

30th of September

30th of September,

I was exploring further how to use blogger today to make my blog look more original and relate to my content on the blog, for this reason I changed the background to magazines and and make the labels and text all in the colour red against the black background to make them stand out.

making my college magazine

For my college magazine, it was my first time using photoshop I started of my dragging the image to the page on Photoshop and dropping it in I then began cutting out the background of the image using the magnetic lasso tool, then pressing ctrl and j to put this on a new layer  and then hiding the previous layer. After this I painted the background grey and painted the outside of the background a darker grey.

Next I began to add my masthead I made my masthead 3D so that it would be eye catching and stick out when put on a shelf.

I then began to add my 'puff' i selected a unusual shape to make the puff stick out, and selected this in a bright colour, I then added the text with buzz words such as 'free'. I also then began to add more text for my cover lines and put a black box behind it to make it stand out. I also added the city college logo in the top right corner to represent what college magazine it was.

After this I basically repeated the techniques and just added more and more cover lines. I also added typical elements needed for a consumer magazine such as the date, the barcode and the price. Leading to my end product which is this;

For my contents page I also used Photoshop so used the same techniques of inserting images and texts only major difference is I inserted more text and put the text in a grid layout.

25th September 2013

25th September 2013,
I finally finished my front cover and contents page today and uploaded it all to my blog, I tried using bright colours and included a new element I have learnt about a 'puff' to make it look more like a magazine, I tried making the masthead 3D but it still does not look like a real music magazine I think next time i will make the font smaller and include more articles.

My college magazine front cover.

My College magazine contents page.

Inspiration from other college magazines.

I like how the background is blurred so the focus is on her happy face and the use of Old font to assure the writing is clearer and easier to see from a far.

I like how the large background photo is a natural photo and relates to the main story-RESULTS something students would clearly be interested in

I like the layout and flat plan of this magazine as it looks professional and I like how the background image is almost weaved in and out of the text and the heading is slightly covered but it is still clear what it says also using black and white picture makes the pool quotes,  puff with buzz words, top stories and even an image of a recognised and loved object (ipad) that you may assume they are giving away or extra information on.

23rd of September 2013

23rd of September 2013,

Since my last post for weekly blog I have already learnt may more skills this includes making a questionnaire suitable for finding the information I need to make a music magazine, I then signed up for Scribd and learnt how to upload something to Scribd and embed it in my blog so the document can be viewed on my blog as though it was in word. I am also beginning to make my front cover and contents page for my college magazine I have never used Photoshop so this is very challenging, especially getting used to layers, and whats on which layer, at the moment I am just inserting images and text and messing around with background colours and font colours as I just wish to get used to the software as this is only a preliminary task.

Questionnare

Questionarree Media by Kmayne8prc

Thursday 19th September 2013,

Thursday 19th September 2013,

I am writing my first blog post, I have decided to do a weekly blog post to keep be using my blog regularly and inform you of how I have been getting on with tasks including what I found difficult.
I started media on the 2nd of September, since this date I have learnt many skills already, I have learnt how to create a blogger account and I am gradually learning how to use it. One of the first skills i learnt was embedding an advert from Youtube onto my blog after researching about TV adverts and looking up tutorials online on how to upload the video and embed it I learnt this new skill. As the year goes on I hope to further develop more and more skills over time.

Tv advert!

This Television advert was created by an advert agency in America called Wieden and Kennedy. It was created for Old Spice to advertise their new body wash. They attract your attention instantly by having a man in nothing but a towel speaking with a strong, deep, powerful sounding voice; using direct address to intrigue the audience and make them feel involved. The man in the advert even instructs the audience to ‘look at him’, naturally the audience will look at the advert as they wonder why they should look that way. After capturing the audience’s attention the camera begins to zoom in on the man, at this point he lifts the product they are trying to tell and shows the product and its label clearly. This message can be interpreted differently depending on the audience mainly depending on your gender. If you were a woman you would be focusing more on the half-naked man and what he is doing and saying rather than looking at the actual body wash product. Whereas a man watching the advert would most likely focus on the body wash and maybe the effects of the body wash, not being attracted to the man but wanting to be like the man used in the advert. This is why they use a man who seems to have everything, with implications of power, success and ability to give a woman everything she wants- a James Bond character. It is represented that if you buy this body wash you can be like this man who appears to be the ideal, having everything, very masculine, attractive, successful etc. They show high value things, like: diamonds, on a cruise, tickets to something you love, all of these are luxuries implying their product is also a luxury you would WANT to have. The whole adverts message is to advertise and sell the product this is why they constantly zoom in on the label of the product and constantly use the direct address you and talk about what ‘you want’ making the audience think that the advertisers are addressing the product specially to them making it feel more personal so they are more likely to want to buy the product as they think it is ideal for them. They also aim the product at women by saying  ‘hello women’  however the product itself is a male product but by saying hello women widens its audience and creates more clients as women will buy the product also but for their men achieving their end goal which is to sell.

All about me

Hey there! my name is Kayleigh, this is my attempt at a blog as part of my media course,creative is it not?

I am a AS level media student, this is my first time ever, using blogger, though out using it I shall include lots of information on music magazines and plenty of research, skills and production of my own.

What is a magazine?
A magazine is a periodical publication containing a collection of articles, stories, pictures, or other features. 

Magazines are most likely to contain;
 • Collection of photos and information
 • Set interest area/ one subject
 • Print • Colourful, stand out
 • Can be digital or electronic
 • Have different kinds of paper- gloss paper and matt paper

 What a magazine isn't? 
• A magazine consists of events and subjects rather than news… they don’t deal with daily events as they’re published weekly, they may turn a previous event from a few days before but go into a more detailed feature article.

Magazines come in many different genres,(genre is different types of magazines) e.g. music magazines, ‘animal’, sport, hobbies and crafts, fashion. Film, lifestyle magazine, men’s magazines (there is also sub genres within these) Examples of magazines: