Evaluation - Question 2

Construction - Final draft

FRONT COVER

CONTENTS

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

Focus Group research

I created a focus group on Facebook of 20 people, 10 male and 10 female, who were all in my target age range of 16-25. I choose this age range because It would be easier for me to relate to them as I'm the same age. I chose to include an equal number from both genders as I want my magazine to be gender neutral. 

I asked my focus group what magazine name they prefer, and these were the results; 

I'm therefore called  my music magazine 'FORTE', which is a musical term for loud. 

I then asked my focus group what colour scheme to have, and these were the results:

Over half said blue/ purple, so I used  that colour scheme for my final construction.

I also asked my focus group what style of clothing the main model should wear:

Most people said casual and plain, so I chose something that fits into both categories.  

I asked my focus group what masthead colour they preferred out of these:

8 people said purple and 12 said white because it stands out more, so I decided to go with white. 

I asked my focus group what image they preferred  for the double page spread out of these three:

Over half said they prefer the middle image, so this is the one I used in my final construction. 

Music Magazine Mock-up

       

Target Audience Research

Clash

Firstly I looked at clash (which fits into the indie rock genre) and found that the magazine is aimed equally at all genders (52% Male readership), and most (71%) of readers are aged 21-30. Readers are also primarily in the UK, with 43%  from London and the east of England. Clash's target audience are avid tech users with a strong interest in music.

NME
When researching NME I found that the magazine was aimed predominately at males (63% of readers) aged 17-30, the average age being 25. They are passionate about music with a third downloading it and 75% reading about it online at least once a week.

Q
I found that Q's target audience is also largely male, with only 25% of readers being female. This magazine is popular in the UK and appeals to people who want a more sophisticated style rather than teen gossip articles, as the average age of readers is 29.

Codes and Conventions

Preliminary Task

How well does your preliminary task fulfil the brief?

I think my preliminary task mainly fulfils the brief as it includes a photograph of a student in medium close up range. Both the front cover and contents page images I've taken myself and I've used Photoshop to layout text on the pages.

What obstacles did you overcome in order to complete the preliminary task?

The main issue I encountered when doing the preliminary task was that I didn't know how to edit pictures on and generally use Photoshop. I overcame this problem by watching tutorials on YouTube that gave me a better idea of how to use the program.  I wanted to use white text on the contents page but it wouldn't show up on the background image, and I overcame this problem by editing the picture to make it darker so the text stood out more.  I also had people in the background of my front cover photo, so I  blurred the background using the blur tool on  Photoshop to make them less recognisable. However I think I should have thought more about the background before I took the photograph.

What tutorials did you use to help you complete the preliminary task?

I used Photoshop tutorials (listed in the 'tutorials' section of the blog)

How could you have improved the production values of your preliminary task?

I believe I could have  used the Panasonic Lumix camera rather than the camera on my phone to make the pictures better quality, as the picture I've used is a bit grainy. I could also have used more eye catching sell lines that would make people want to read the magazine and make it more interesting. I could have made my magazine cover more unique by having a main theme and arranging the layout around that, e.g. art in the school. I wasn't very experienced with Photoshop when I did this and I think I could have improved the quality of my magazine cover by watching tutorials on how to design a magazine cover. I also could have added a bar code to make the magazine look more professional.

What important lessons have  you learned in preparation for completing the main task?

From doing the preliminary task I've learned how important lighting is in taking pictures. My front cover photo wasn't very clear as it was taken in a badly lit room with only the camera on my phone, so when I do the main task I'll take the picture outside or make sure the light is better. I've also learned that you have to think about the whole mise-en-scene when you take a photo as I didn't think about the background of my front cover photo properly and it looked messy. When I do the main task I'll plan what the background will be beforehand so it fits with the theme of the magazine.