Evaluation: Question 7

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

My initial approach to creating a music magazine was lacking in specific qualities which i have developed when creating the final product; simple design, colour scheme, typecast and presentation abillities have been developed as the project progressed, and a much larger understanding on the aspects of a successful music magazine have been observed and taken into account.

The pictures used for the preliminary task were at a sub-standard quality, with little thought, editing and preperation taken into consideration; from my research I decided that for my final product I need to have a more unique and exploitable picture and background, which can be altered in order to help my product development and message.

I have learnt that there are specific qualities to each magazine which make it appealing and popular to the audience, such as a house style, and colour schemes, and have incorporated them into my final product, which will help it seem more geniune and professional, specifically my use of the colours Red, Black and Blue.

From my initial preliminary task, i have learned that it is important to appeal to the audience and adress them through the use of a cover model looking at the camera, as if to the audience, and poses should be natural yet more unique within throughout the magazine.

I found that it is a better idea to take pictures within a well lit room and to edit it into another specified background, as the lighting and poses can be worked on more easily, and the pictures contrast and specific shading can be altered in order to seem more natural with the background, I took my cover model's pictures indoors next to a white plain wall, and my backgrounds while outside in a local forest, and edited them accordingly in order to acheive the best results.

Drafting and creating a concept for my magazine greatly improved my management of time and rate of creation, it also allowed me to try out several different ideas before coming to a conclusive product design, which minimised the need to redraft and recreate my cover, contents and double page spread, and helped prevent problems during creation.

Time management was crucial for this task, my preliminary task was spent more on making an attractive front cover than producing a contents page, and thus didn't contain similar amounts of quality to one another, i decided to spend an equal amount of time on each part of my music magazine, and assure that they were all of similar quality, this also allowed me to make sure that the house style and colour scheme remained similar and in a pattern during its production.

This is an example, the top picture shows a badly pasted image, looking unnatural and peculiar with no interaction with the surrounding elements, it looks badly shaded and unaesthetically pleasing, whereas the bottom image shows a better edited, and more interactive model which works well with surrounding elements in order to provide a more natural and professional look, needed for my final product, but excusable in the context of my initial school magazine.

Evaluation: Question 6

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

I have learnt the usefulness and productivity of using different technological equipment and programs throughout this project, i have learnt how to maximise the usefulness of a camera using equipment such as tripods, and learnt how to increase picture quality and usefulness using specific lighting and backgrounds, and exploiting them within Adobe Photoshop CS3.

Throughout the creation of this product, i have come to appreciate how technologies are used within the media in order to create products of a similar design, and how crucial they are in the editing and creating process of magazine development. Adobe programs being the most helpful of all used, as they helped me to create, design, organise, edit, process, and test my product efficiently and effectively.

My creativity was allowed to be used to its best of abillity, and creative boundaries which could not be acheived by many softwares were put into practice and created through Adobe Photoshop, which had a wide range of useful and experimental editing tools which aided in adding to my imagination and attitude towards designing and producing the magazine.

Blogger helped in the publishing of my product, as it was simple, had good user interface and allowed pictures and text to be created simple and efficiently, with a wide range of tools to personalise and produce it in a more attractive and simplistic way.

Photoshop CS3: Editing software for all my pictures, created the front page, contents page, and double page spread.

Blogger: Efficient way of publishing my work and presenting it effectively for people to see and mark.

MS paint: useful for copying screenshots needed to explain and provide more detailed information on aspects of my work.

Evaluation: Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

I spoke to my audience by appealing to their culture, and their level of mentality, as other magazines of the same genre and style have stated and proven is effective- creating a more mature and less obnoxious concept for the magazine, yet maintaining entertaining language, structure and jokes.

The magazine contents and front cover have many references to popular metal culture, and do not refer to them in a particularly childish or immature way, merely present them with as much information as possible. The line "Metalheads" is used frequently, and other terminology which can be read and acknowledged by the crowd are also used in order to successfully establish who my magazine is adressed too.

The metal fanbase are not just adressed in the text, but also the mise en scene of the picture used, and the models specific looks help to connote the concept of a metal based magazine, the long war trenchcoat, hair as well as the band t-shirt all provide links towards standard metal genre stereotypes, and can therefore be taken in by the intended audience in a much more positive light.

All the bands listed on the front cover are popular examples of bands in the selected genre of music that the magazine is trying to appeal too, and would help in its appeal towards a wide range of musically diverse readers.

Evaluation: Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Market research from other magazines shows that logically and commercially, my magazine should appeal to a mature male audience, as my chosen magazine's genre is that which draws an ageing male audience. The audience I am attempting to appeal too is of an age where large amounts of pictures and childish pictures and text are not in preference, and the written language is of a higher quality than that of other magazines, as well as any linguistic devices, such as jokes and wit. The potential readers of my magazine would be more interested in more mature content than in magazines of a similar genre representation, which i attempt to write in consideration of.

The musical preference of those reading my magazine would be that of Metal and its sub-genres, the television preference of the readers would probably be anything "original" or outside of modern popular culture, much like their musical preference. Their shopping patterns would probably revolve around food, backwater metal outlets and merchandise shops in the London area.

The most likely products which my target audience will be in preference of will be band and artist merchandise, and will probably by these from rare metal outlets or the internet.

Evaluation: Question 3

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

Logically, my magazine would be distributed by "Future Publishing" as they are the magazine in which mine is most similar too, in terms of design, genre and subject matter. They also show that they are interested in publishing products of similar design through their record of published magazines.

Although it is not fair to go under the assumption that they would want to endorse a product similar to that they have already, it would be logical to think they would be the best bet for interest and intelligent distribution.

Evaluation: Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine represents certain social groups by the people posing within it, and the references to the culture of the people who I am aiming my magazine at, the most important of these is the cover model for the magazine.

The two images presented share a great deal of aesthetic features. Posture is the primary element resembled in both; the two models both stand with their shoulders cast backwards, which is a trait common in the metal community, as it creates an air of both power and confidence. This pose is especially characteristic of metal vocalists, as it can be used to create harsh vocals which are often a significant musical element.

The arms of both models are folded around the diaphragm, further appealing to the power/confidence traits. Also, the chins of either model are raised, casting a shadow onto the eyes (a significant aesthetic feature in metal photography), and the hair is allowed to partially conceal a substantial amount of the face. The effect of this is to create a sense of mystery and of darkness. The chin of the model featured in my work is raised more so than the other, attempting to exaggerate the pose, reflecting harsher, more ‘metal’, musical style. The expression of either model is blank, bordering on disdain or passive aggressive. Both model sports a T-Shirt of another metal band, characterised by intricate logos and vulgar imagery; displaying support for other bands whilst broadcasting their own taste to the audience.

The angle of the shots is both head on, reflective of the direct nature and bluntness of the metal community. Any attempt to appear more artistic than is strictly necessary is likely to alienate the target audience. Lighting in both is low, distorting the black-dressed model with the background to create an eerie atmosphere. The location of my image is outdoors, whilst the other is inside, so I attempted to lower the brightness of my image to compensate. The magnification of my shot removes any features that make it distinctly outdoors, whilst the other image remains relatively untainted in this regard.

Evaluation: Question 1

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

My media product immediately resembles the magazine "Metal Hammer" as they both have similar layouts and house styles, and are both aimed at a target audience of mature males. Another trait which is common to both is the genre of music that they are representing, and targeting the fans of.

The first and most clear similarity between my front cover and the "Metal Hammer"is the choice of pictures, as they both share many specific qualities. Both pictures have a singular cover model, dominating the page, within a natural, snowy background and a dark colour scheme, with a clear house style. Both models are posing, and are dressed in clothing which would be appropriate for artists of the genre. The mise on scene of the "Metal Hammer" cover is much more effective and higher quality than mine, due to my lack of budget, but i could see that actual media products have sufficient funds to provide no creative barrier.

My Target audience is not of a childish age, and therefore my front cover is lacking in colloquialisms based on inpulsively catching someones eyes, my researched magazines also did this, but added a list of the bands within the magazine as the attractive impulse aspect of the cover, so as to attract so much attention from a variety of audiences.





This is a way of attracting a larger variety of audiences, and magazine, whether they are based on my genre or not- use it to full effectiveness, I have included one aswell. Real media products have shown that using a diverse colour scheme can be pro or counter productive, with my product, i made a lot of my typecast the same, but used colour variation to create a much more pleasing and easier to read end result. My house style is confirmed by the front page, and the colour scheme is dependant on the way the Front cover and contents page work together.

Simple editing tactics used by the professionals I have adopted and incorporated into my final piece, for instance, the way that a person edited into a picture is used to block or go behind the main cover title, in order to look more or less natural.

The strapline to the main title is important in metal magazines, as it sets the scene or setting within the cover picture, Metal Hammer especially uses these to incorporate back stories of minor relevance into bands or artists, I have used it for the same effect.









The person i used for my magazine was important, I chose somebody who could dress and pose appropriately for the magazine front cover and spread, as he would be representing what the people of the genre desire in a band, i thought it appropriate to pick someone with the criterea of long hair, large build, and right for clothing prospects.

My Title font and style was chosen because of the way the text can be exploited, the fact that it can connote the concept of my genre effectively, and has more uses than in just the title, Metal Hammer and Kerrang use this method in order to show off their unique styles.