Front cover

Contents page

Feature article

Construction schedule

Week 1- Started to write the feature article, decided on title of the magazine, drafted layout of cover and contents page.

Week 2- Constructed masthead, typed article into Photoshop, created cover lines for the front cover.

Week 3- Completed photo shoot, uploaded pictures to the feature article, updated contents page.

Week 4 - Uploaded and edited picture for front cover and contents page, changed layout of feature article

Week 5-  made small changes to all products, added information to contents page.

Week 6- Finished drafts of all products, decided to make changes to all products

Week 7- completed second photo shoot, uploaded and edited photos, created contact sheet.

Week 8-  Updated masthead, changed layout of contents page, added masthead to all products.

Week 9- changed layout of feature article, added subscription box to contents

Week 10- Wrote editors note on contents page, changed layout of front cover

Week 11- made small last minute changes to improve the look of my products and uploaded them to my blog

Masthead comparison

The top masthead was the original one for my magazine. After looking at the first drafts of my products. I realised that my masthead looked quite plain and didn't stand out in the way that I wanted it to. I felt that if this was on the magazine stand then it wouldn't stand out enough for my target audience to be attracted to it. The first thing that I did was experiment with colours, to see what colour looked the best for the M. I decided on a dark more plum purple, compared to the lighter violet, as I believed that this would attract my target audience, and stand out more. The next thing that I did was italicize the M. By doing this I felt that this created a house style and that it would be more prominent in the magazine stand. I believe that this also makes it look more feminine, attracting my target audience. The last thing I did was apply a drop shadow. This insures that the masthead can be seen on any coloured background. It also makes the masthead look a lot more professional. With the drop shadow, it lifts the masthead off of the page, making it look more 3D and helping it to stand out.

Contents page comparison

The first draft of my contents page was quite basic. After stepping back and looking at this product I noticed that it looked very basic and everything was the same colour. I also noticed that the picture wasn't very good quality. I completed another photo shoot where the pictures were much better quality. I also learnt how to make text look more 3D by using the stroke tool and applying a drop shadow.  I also wanted to carry the brand identity onto the contents, page, so I decided to place the Masthead at the top of the page, rather than the word contents.
I felt as thought the cover stories needed to stand out more. I was looking at examples of contents pages and decided that it looked quite effective having them on the picture.
I think that with these small changes my contents page looks a lot more professional and as though it would attract my target audience.

Information on magazine publishers

Bauer media
Bauer media is a magazine publisher, based in Germany.  They manage over 600 magazines. Some of these include, Kerrang and Q. They also manage a wide range of other media platforms, like radio and television stations. This would be a good publisher to publish my magazine with, as they have a good reputation and they would be able to help to get my magazine on the market, and would help with the sales, as they know how to advertise and what does and doesn’t work well with a magazine. They also have experience with other music magazines so would be able to guide me.
Hearst 

Hearst co-operation is a magazine publisher based in New York. They produce 15 daily and 36 weekly newspapers, as well as more than 300 magazines. Some of these include, Company, Elle and Cosmopolitan.  They mainly focus on magazines for women and are a very large company. I think they would be a good company to publish with, as they a very large and would help me to publish my magazine, with a high standard; however they don’t publish any music magazine titles, so they wouldn’t be as experienced to help me with my magazine, as Bauer would be.

Self publishing

I have decided that I probably wouldn’t self-publish my magazine, due to the fact that it is very hard to become successful. Many self-published magazines have a very short shelf life and rarely make it to four years. 

Looking back at your preliminary task (the college magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

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

I have learnt about many different things in the process of making my products. For example, I used lights, when taking my pictures, as I felt that this gave a more professional and studio look to the pictures, I believe this gives a higher end look to the magazine, helping to attract my target audience, of teenagers in the A-C social classes.

I used survey monkey in order to create a questionnaire that I could use to ask what my target audience would like to see in my magazine, using survey monkey meant that it was easier to get people to answer my survey, as I could email them the link to people who I would like to answer it. This meant that I could get results quicker, as I didn’t have to go around and ask questions. It also meant that the people I asked could do the questionnaire in their own time.  However, it did mean that any misunderstandings couldn’t be sorted out straight away, and this may have led to unanswered questions. Also with me being there I couldn’t monitor the questions being answered and may have been answered incorrectly.

I used a more professional camera (Sony nex 5n) when I took my photos. Compared to the point and shoot camera that i used on my preliminary task. This meant that I had better quality images for my magazine; this also helped to give a more professional feel to the look of the magazine.

I used Prezzi to complete a part of my evaluation. This made it is easy to compare my magazine with other magazines, and in a more professional way. This was also less time consuming, as I was able to complete it online. 

How did you attract/address your audience?

The target audience for my magazine would be the typical 16-19 year old teenager. This is represented by the genre of music that my magazine is based on. Also the main image used on my front represents the audience as she is aged in the age bracket, this will help to attract my target audience, as they will relate to the person on the front cover.

 The topics used in my magazine are more likely to be targeted towards a younger audience, for example the festival guide and the behind the scenes. Also the topics talked about in the feature article relate to the age group targeted.

The colours and font used throughout the magazine are also targeted towards a younger, female audience. For example the italicized M, gives a more feminine feel to the magazine, as well as the use of deep plum and light violet purples.

The language used in the feature article is also targeted towards a younger audience as the reference to social media is something that teenagers are interested in.

If my magazine was on the magazine stand in a shop, the first thing that the audience will be attracted to, would be the bold Masthead at the top of the page, by having the M stand out against the rest of the word Melody, this helps it to stand out to the audience, this also creates a house style, and if only the M can be seen from the magazine stand, then it will be easily recognisable. The deep purple colour will help to attract the female audience. On the main the cover the model, is in direct mode, this will help to attract the audience, as it will seem as though she is looking directly at them, making them relate or feel involved, this may encourage them to but the magazine. The main cover line will also help to attract the audience; this is because the bold font allows it to easily be seen and helps it to stand out against the other cover lines. The quotes used, above the name, also helps to attract people buy the magazine, as they will want to read about it. The other cover lines will help to attract my target audience as they are based around things that my target are interested in, for example, the completion to win the HMV vouchers, as they will be interested in winning them. Also the exclusive interview, with an artist who is very popular with teens at the minute, will attract them as they will want to read about them. These are situated in the left third of the magazine so they will be able to be seen in the magazine stand.  

The unique selling point of my magazine is that is a pop music magazine, but it is aimed at the older teens, whereas most pop magazines are aimed at the younger teenager. I think that this will help to attract my audience as there aren’t many magazines like this.

I used a questionnaire to determine what my audience would like to see in a pop music magazine. I kept referring to this whilst I was making m product. Because of this I believe that my magazine will attract my target audience, as I have included contents that they would like. 

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why

Bauer media is a magazine publisher, based in Germany.  They manage over 600 magazines. Some of these include, Kerrang and Q. I believe that Bauer media would be the best major company to go withy, compared to others, as they have a good reputation and they would be able to help to get my magazine on the market, and would help with the sales, as they know how to advertise and what does and doesn’t work well with a magazine. They also have experience with other music magazines so would be able to guide me in the best ways to publish my magazine. Bauer media publish a variety of different magazines, some of which are targeted towards my target audience, or have similar target audiences.   However, the problem with publishing with a bigger company is that they may try to change my magazine too much, as they would have control of printing and publishing. They could control the advertising and some of the article contents. There may also be competition between my magazine and the other music magazines which Bauer media publish, or because they publish other music magazines they may be less likely to publish my magazine.

I wouldn’t want to self-publish my magazine. This due to the fact that it is incredibly hard to make the magazine successful. Figure show that seven out of ten titles don’t go further than four years. This shows that it can be difficult to make a magazine successful, when it has been self-published.

Hearst co-operation is a magazine publisher based in New York. They produce 51 newspapers and over 300 magazines. These include Cosmopolitan, Company and Elle. This would be a good company to publish my magazine with, as they have many magazines based around my target audience. This means that they will know what works best when it comes to my target audience. Also being a big company this could mean that they would be able to publish my magazine at a high standard.   However, they do not publish any music magazine titles. This means that they will be inexperienced in this area of magazines, which may mean that my magazine wouldn’t become successful. I also have the problem with having less control over what is being advertised in my magazine and what articles are being added or taken away, due to it being such a big firm. This could mean that the magazine would lose all of its originality.  

Who would be the audience for your media product

Above is a picture, of what a typical member of my target audience would look like. They would be the typical 'girly' girl and aged between 16 and 19. 

Demographics;
Gender: Female
Age: 16-19
Class: ABC1 ranking
Psycho-graphics;
Shopping habits: they would mainly shop in places that are at the higher end of the high street for example; Topshop, New look, River island, Zara, Asos and next. They would wear very fashionable clothes. They would also shop at places like Boots and Superdrug  and possibly Benefit and Urban decay, to purchase their make-up, as they may be heavily into makeup. 
Music taste; They would enjoy pop music the most and would regularly check the top charts. 

My target audience are likely to buy my magazine, as they would be attracted to the pop music element of the magazine. As this is there most favored music genre. My magazine would stand out compared to others, as it is aimed at the older teenager, as most pop magazines are aimed towards a younger audience. The more classier look to my magazine will help me to attract the ABC1 audience. 

My audience, in away could be seen as a product, as they are being sold to attract advertisers, products and companies that may want to advertise in my magazine. Below are companies and products that may want to advertise in my magazine. 
Companies;
Topshop
River Island
New look
Starbucks
HMV
Vans
Converse
MAC

Products;
I Phones
Mac books
Tablets
Perfume
Make-up
Hair products
Stationary

I chose these companies and products to advertise in my magazine, as I believe that these are products that are highly consumed by my target audience. 
I also believe that my audience may have a job, so that they would have a high disposable income, allowing them to buy the products, and possibly even more high brand products. 

How does your media product represent particular social groups

My media product represents the typical girly teenager, by having a highly photo shopped image on the front of the magazine, this emphasises that most teenage girls take care about how they look. The image of a young female teenager would also help to attract the target audience.  Also the main topic of the feature article is more likely to be found in a teen magazine instead of a magazine aimed at an older audience, as this is something that teenagers are more likely to experience. This will target my audience as it may be something that are currently going through so the article could help them or encourage them that they are not alone.

The content of the magazine is aimed towards the typical teenager, by having articles about things like the top charts and a guide to the festivals and who wore what at the red carpet; this is more likely to be targeted towards the older teenager.

I have left things out of the magazine, for example I haven’t talked about topics that are usually male associated, such as politics and fast cars. I have connoted that they are interested in more of the top charts and festivals and the ‘best dressed celebs’ on the red carpet. I felt that by using this I would attract my target audience, as this is what the majority of them are into this, only a niche sector of my target audience or none of my target audience would be interested in the topics that I chose to leave out.  

The layout of the magazine is quite simple and basic which helps to give a classier feel to the magazine. This is targeted towards the audience in an ABC1 social class.

The image used on the front cover is of mid teenager, dressed in fairly smart clothing, giving the impression that she is in a higher class, targeting the ABC1 audience. 

Location, props and models

Location
I will use a studio setting for my location of my photos, as I believe that this will help to create a more professional look for my magazine. It will hopefully make it look like a more glossy and a more high end magazine, attracting the ABC1 audience.
A studio setting will also give me a plain background, making the model the main focus of my magazine. 

Props
I will use a very minimal amount of props in my photos. I have decided to do this, as it will ensure that the main focus is the model. I will however use stylish clothing, to emphasise the target audience. This may also make the audience relate to the model. 

Model
I will use the same model, throughout the magazine. She will be the main focus of the magazine. The feature article will be based on her and so will the main cover line.

In what ways do your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products

Magazine case study

 Q magazine

This is relevant to my main task as Q magazine is a music magazine which focuses mainly on pop music, which is what my music magazine is going to be about. Q magazine is one of the best selling music magazines.

Publisher

Q magazine is published by Bauer media group. They are based in Europe and are headquartered in Hamburg. Bauer was founded in 1875. They also publish other music magazines, like Mojo, Empire and Kerrang. They produce other sister products like radio and TV.  

Readership

Q’s readership is 377,000. 70% are male and 30% are female. The average age of a Q reader id 32. 70% of Q readers are an ABC1 profile. This shows that Q is an upmarket magazine and that the readership is mostly made up of succeeders or yuppies.

Content

The content of the magazine is a mix of different music content. For example, reviews, current download lists, interviews, coverage of key musical events etc. Q is for serious music listeners and rarely covers anything that isn’t music related.

TV/app/web presence

Q also has an I-pad version of the magazine which shows that they are up to date with technology and they may also be trying to widen their demographic. Q formerly had a TV channel and a radio station. The radio station was closed in mid-2013 after owners Bauer media decided to use the station's bandwidth on various platforms (DAB, Digital TV) to launch Kisstory, a spinoff of their Kiss brand. They still hold an annual Q award ceremony every year, where artists are awarded for their music. A series of Q albums have also been released.

History of the magazine

Q magazine was first published in 1986; it set itself away from other music magazines, by targeting the magazine at older music buyers. The magazine was originally called ‘the modern guide to music and more’ this however soon changed to ‘cue’. In the 200^th edition the name changed again, this time it became Q as this was more prominent on newsstands.

Target audience

The majority of the target audience for Q magazine is male, this is represented in their readership and in the brands that advertise in the magazine. For example a lot of car brands advertise in Q magazine. However there is still a high percentage of female readers, so some unisex brands advertise in Q magazine. These include brands like Vo5 and Chanel. The main target audience is serious music listeners and we can tell this by the content of the magazine. However a small part of the audience, may be succeeders and yuppies, due to Q being a more upmarket magazine.

Brand identity

The brand identity for Q magazine, is the iconic contrast of the white Q on a red background. This can be seen throughout the magazine. For example the masthead can be seen on the contents page and on the bottom of the page near the page numbers. The colour scheme throughout the magazine is mainly white and red. With only a small splash of colour, to make the important information stand out. It is a convention of Q magazine to have the feature article with a white background and a Giant red letter which is the initial of the person’s name. This helps to create a brand identity and carry it through the magazine.

Contact sheet from the photo shoot

Font and colour mood board

This a mood board containing all the colours and fonts that I may use in my magazine. 

Mood board for advertising

This mood board represents all the companies that may advertise in my magazine. These brands are heavily used by my target audience of teenagers.

Q front cover textual analysis

This contents page is taken from Q magazine. The first thing that stands out on the magazine, is the close-up of the artist and is clearly the main focus of the magazine. She is in direct mode, this helps to attract the audience to the magazine, as it feels as though she is looking directly at them. The bold blue of her makeup is used throughout the front cover. For example the lines that break up the cover lines and the colour of the puff. The blue makes her eyes stand out and also draws the eye into her face, and the middle of the magazine. 
The selling line suggests that the magazine holds great music; this may make the audience more likely to buy the magazine, if they are a serious music listener. 
The main cover line, is at the top of the magazine, this goes against the codes and conventions, as it would normally appear at the bottom left hand third. By having the cover line at the top of the page and away from all the other cover lines, it empathizes the quote " I feel so alone " 
The main articles are in bold and stand out from the cover. This shows their importance and that they are the biggest articles, this month. Her name is the biggest, telling the audience who she is. 
The Masthead follows the codes and conventions, by being in the left third. This means that it will stand out in the magazine stand. 
The artist's hair is flowing around her and takes up the majority of the page. It looks like it is framing her face, making it the main focus. The cover lines are based around her hair, as the main focus is her face. The puff is slotted in, where there is a gap in her hair. The lighting is mainly focused on her face and her hands this emphasises that her face is the main focus. 
The cover lines cover a range of topics from business, music and technology, this appeals to a wide target audience. 
The language is very serious and appeals to a more mature audience. 
Most of the font/text is sans serif but subtle uses of of serif fonts draws the readers attention. 

Teen Vogue contents page analysis

This contents page has been taken from the magazine Teen Vogue. The brand identity has been transferred onto the contents page from the front cover. We can tell this by the masthead at the top of the page. It is also at the bottom of the page near the page number.
We can tell this magazine is targeted towards young teenagers, due to the title of the magazine, and the small hearts round the page numbers of the feature articles. The heart also tie in with the the heart on the artist's foot. The page is quite simple, with only a small splash of red. The contrast of the red and white, makes the page numbers stand out and make them seem important. The red also links in with the hearts around the page numbers and the small amount of red on her dress, emphasizing her importance in the magazine. The main article and page numbers, are the boldest, emphasizing there importance.
There is a small grey box at the bottom of the photograph, saying 'get to know the real Taylor Swift'
This will encourage the reader to carry on reading.
The layout of the contents page is in three columns. It is a convention of genre to use the rule of three on a contents page, and can be seen in many magazines, this is because it makes it easier for the reader to read the magazine. The simplistic design of the page suggests that this is classier magazine, compared to other teen orientated magazines, as they are normally full of information. This suggests that the preferred reading is the  ABC1 audience.
The topics and content of the magazine suggest that the target audience is young females, as they are things that young females are interested in, for example the reference to technology and how to get the cover look. It also has things like horoscopes, fall fashion and reference to bloggers. All of which interests young teenagers.
The 'quirky' fonts used target the audience, as they give a more relaxed and laid back feel to the magazine. It is also very common for magazines of this type to use fonts like this.
The boxes at the top and bottom of the page are both tilted, again giving the magazine a more laid back feel.
The language used like, 'your space' and the reference to technology are targeted towards a younger audience, as this interests them.
Overall the preferred reading of this magazine, is a young, female, teenage audience, in the social classes ABC1. We can tell this from the use of language, font, design and content used.