Evaluation Activity 1

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of music magazines)

The genre of my magazine is pop therefore I have used some styles that have been included in other pop themed magazines. The font I used for the masthead suited the style of my magazine; it was called ‘Elephant’ and is bold and eye catching to the reader, it is also slightly similar to some fonts that you see on other pop magazines like ‘Billboard’. It is big and bold however they use different colours in the holes of some of the letters to make the title stand out, I have not done this as I did not like this idea. I have developed my magazine by adding a red colour to make the magazine pop out more and the colour red links in with my cover as the model is wearing a red jumper, this makes all my pages tie together. The ‘M’ in ‘Melody’ was in italic so that it looked like a music note, following the conventions of a music magazine. The name of my magazine fits in well with my style as it makes the reader instantly think about music. I feel that my magazine has challenged some of the conventions as my double page spread isn’t as vibrant or eye-catching as other pop magazines, however my contents page has some features that are similar to pop magazines like Billboard and Q which makes it clear that the theme of my magazine is pop. My models are dressed in a casual outfit which is unconventional for my magazine as it is not similar to other types of pop magazines and their make-up is a subtle look but it should’ve been vibrant for the reader so that they can recognise that my magazine is about pop music. The mise-en-scene in my photos is not like a pop magazine as there is a tedious white background in all of them. This makes my magazine look less like a pop magazine as they don’t look eye-catching or interesting to the reader. I have chosen to use colour in my photographs as this makes them pop more and it fits the style of a pop magazine, one of my models wears a red jumper so I have included this colour throughout my magazine pages which links them together.

I have developed the conventions of a normal pop magazines as the style is quite different and not all of it would be found in a magazine like Billboard or Q. I have challenged the normal look of the model as the make-up is subtler on my magazine. The layout of the cover is simpler with less text however some Billboard magazines don’t have a lot either. This follows Roger Black’s theory; “A cover should be a poster. A single image of a human will sell more copies than multiple images or all type. Always has, always will.” The cover is the most important thing I think on a magazine as it represents the whole magazine and is the first thing my audience will see therefore it needs to be simple and easy to read but also draws the reader in as they could like to read more due to the lack of information. This could be a bad thing however, as the reader might think that the whole magazine is boring so I needed to think carefully when laying out my cover so that it doesn’t look boring but is still simple and catches the readers’ eyes at the same time. The mid shot of the model on my cover introduces the perception of Roger Black, as I had used only one person instead of a group which relates to his idea. I have been researching and looking at other magazines like NME, Billboard and Q and how they’ve laid out their pages. My contents page is quite similar to the style of Billboard’s with the lines separating the pictures from the text. I used the colour red as throughout my magazine the theme is mainly red due to my model wearing a red jumper on my cover page. For my photographs, I have included some mise-en-scene for example my models hold a guitar, however the background is a white, plain colour which makes my magazine look boring so I could’ve been more creative with the mise-en-scene in my photography.

I have challenged Chris Frost’s theory; “Don’t use too many typefaces. Too much variation will end up looking a mess. It’s best to limit yourself to one font, and variations of it.” as for my magazine I have used a variety of fonts with my text to create some style, however, the fonts I have used are quite similar. My masthead and other headlines are in the font ‘Elephant’ and my smaller text that is on my contents and double page spread is ‘Tw Cen MT’. My colour scheme is mainly red therefore under the masthead on the cover and the headlines on my other pages I have underlined most of the word with a red rectangle, this links all my pages together and gives a vibrant feel to my magazine as the red is quite bright, following some of the bright colour schemes in most pop magazines. On my double page spread, within the interview I included a block quote of what my pop star has said. This makes it stand out more and represents how they are and their personality due to how they answer their questions. With just one quote, it encourages the reader to find out what the question was and also find out what else they have to say about becoming a pop star. This section might be good for people aspiring to become pop stars or famous or it could just be good for people that are interested. The genre of my magazine is pop and it is clearly represented throughout my product with the way I have laid it out and the angles of my photographs. 

Evaluation Activity 2

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I have found that one of the many important tasks in creating a magazine is finding the right model and picture to go on the front cover. This is because it is the first thing that my intended audience will see so it has to grab their attention and encourage them to read my magazine. If the image is not good, then the reader would not pick it up to read it as the image on the cover represents what the rest of your magazine will be like. From my audience research and profile I was able to find a suitable audience that would be interested in reading my magazine; my target audience is aged 13-18 and it is mainly focused on women than men, I decided on this by researching some audiences on websites like ‘UK Tribes’ which had a wide variety of social groups that I could target my product to by looking at what most people like and outing them into according groups. I chose this age group as older people are more interested in a unique style of music e.g. indie/ classical. Some of my images are taken with different outfits and models to see which ones would look best on my magazine. I used a mixture of camera shots and considered using a close up for my cover, instead I used a mid-shot and also made the model have eye-contact with the camera so that it feels like they are looking at the reader.

When making my pop music artist I considered other artists that my audience would want to see and read about, finding out what it is that makes them look appealing to my intended audience. This would be easy as there are a lot of pop magazines with similar styles that I could’ve borrowed, however it would be hard for me to attract an audience if they already have a preferred pop magazine. Billboard is a very popular magazine that is looked at by many people including my intended audience so by comparing and borrowing some ideas for my magazine I would be able to attract to my target market. Looking at my cover photo and a photo from Billboard magazine I can see that there are many similarities but also some differences that could’ve been improved on my magazine to make it look better and attract to my intended audience. The colour of the billboard magazine picture is in black and white whereas mine is in colour with a focus on the colour red. The colour of the text is white and yellow on the Billboard magazine so that it goes with the black background and is easier to read. I also used white text on my cover however the background wasn’t black, I could’ve changed this to make my product look more sophisticated, throughout my audience research I have found that some teenagers like vibrant colours but also a sophisticated look to a magazine.

The fact that I didn’t think about the mise-en-scene in my photography would lower my grade therefore I should’ve done a block colour in the background and cut out the picture to put over it, this would make my picture stand out more and look similar to other pop themed magazines, attracting to my audience more as it is what they’re used to seeing. Both models are making eye contact with the camera which draws in the readers’ attention as they feel like the artist is looking at them which makes my audience want to pick up my product. They are both similar with a relaxed facial expression and not to be overly posed however billboard’s model has positioned her arm in a different way. It took a lot of changes for my contents page to be finished but the final look is quite similar to most pop magazines, however I have added thin rectangles to surround my pictures and separate the text. The colour of my text is black and red due to the white not being seen with the white background. I have incorporated red somehow in all of my pages so that they all link together as one whole product. The language of my contents page and article is mostly informal and written in Standard English. This way every person who reads my magazine will be able to understand what it is saying without struggling to read it with the use of any slang or jargon. 

Evaluation Activity 3

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

There is a large variety of publishing companies that I could choose for my magazine. There are many successful companies like Bauer Media; I have chosen this company to publish my magazine as it in my research I have found that it is worldwide which means more people will read my magazine. Bauer Media owns 570 magazines; including Q, a pop magazine, 300 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations, I picked this institution as it has already published pop themed magazines and it is very successful as it has a turnover of two billion Euros due to its 11,000 employees in 16 countries working hard. I have found that they publish more niche magazines which means that they are aimed at niche audiences. I think this would be good because I feel like my magazine is a niche pop which fits in with other magazines that Bauer has published. I would be publishing my magazine monthly as it has a mid-price of £5 so making it weekly would be quite expensive for my audience. My magazine would be sold in specific news agents/ music stores and can be bought by subscription, similar to Q magazine as my magazine is quite similar. I believe that this company will ensure my magazine will be successful and read by my target audience.

In my research I have found other publishing companies like Prometheus global media. This company has published many pop magazines for example Billboard. This would’ve been good as my magazine is pop and I have followed some conventions and styles from the Billboard magazine however if my product was too similar then my audience would prefer to buy their preferred magazine; Billboard. In my research I have found that this company is quite successful as it owns and operates a number of major entertainment industry trade publications and was made and intended for music professionals such as artists and radio DJs. My product would be sold in a news agents or a supermarket as that is where my chosen audience would prefer to buy their magazines from. This institution would not be good to publish my magazine as their product would be found in consumer bookstores and magazine stands, mostly in cities with a large music industry presence.

I have also researched a publishing company called Immediate Media company. It is an award-winning content and platform company and published the magazine ‘Top of the pops’. This would be good as my magazine follows the conventions of a pop magazine and this institution has already published pop magazines so they will be experienced and know how to market my product. This company is one of the biggest consumer media businesses in the UK and the fourth largest magazine publisher. This would be good for my magazine as it would be so popular with my audience however it could attract the wrong audience or my product will not be bought as this company has published many other magazines that people are used to buying therefore my magazine won’t be as known. They have published many magazines that people will know of therefore they will not be interested in my magazine if they are used to and like the other 74 million magazines they sell every year.

Throughout my research I have found many publishing companies that could be good for my magazines for many reasons. Overall I have decided to go with Bauer media as it is worldwide and means that my magazine will be published in many companies and have a wider range of audience. I have chosen this institution as it has some experience and knowledge in publishing pop magazines which could make my product very successful. My audience is more niche as it is specific and Bauer media aims their products at niche audiences therefore this would be a good publishing company. 

Evaluation Activity 4

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

The main audience for my magazine would be 45% male and 55% female. The reason why my magazine focuses on women more than men is because it men are more likely to listen to heavy metal bands and most of the fans to pop stars like, Shawn Mendes are female. My audience would need to be interested in the genre of pop and to enjoy reading articles about the latest music and fashion in depth. I will not make all of my magazine for females as them my audience with decrease and there will be less chance of selling my magazine. My audience needs to be interested in pop music and the most recent trends for example, fashion. This audience is very competitive as most magazines aim to attract to this type of audience it will also be hard as there are many pop themed magazines that people might prefer over mine. When designing my magazine, I considered all of my research and planning so that my magazine fit the interest of my intended audience. The design of my magazine is quite simple with some ideas added in that I got from other pop magazines, this may attract my audience as it is similar to other pop magazine that they might like. I have decided to make my magazine cost £5 as it is an affordable price for teenagers who for example may not have a lot of money which means they are still able to buy my magazine.

I have chosen this target audience because I think that the age range of 13-18 is around about when children are most interested in music and when they discover their own personal taste. At around the age of being a teenager people are more likely to change their taste in music by looking at what other people like or to get inspiration. People would also what to experience all the different types of music out there and once they have found their type of music they will begin to want to know about it so they will buy magazines. I think that my age range is more likely to be interested in pop music and older people will be more interested in things like indie music. I decided to cap my intended audience at 18 as that is when people are more interested in indie music or rock as they are more mature and interested with unique styles of music. My music magazine will contain information and pictures of pop artists which is what my audience would like to see as the age range I have targeted my product to will be more interested in pop as it is more popular than any other genre of music. The pictures in my magazine would have monochrome colours to match the smart and sophisticated style of the magazine, my models would be mainly women as they are more likely to read this type of magazine. The fashion will consist of casual wear, e.g. Jeans, Hoodies/jumpers, mesh tops etc. Bands and artists that I found to be most featured in this style of magazines are Drake, Ed Sheeran, Little Mix, Fifth Harmony etc. These will be featured in my magazine as they are very popular with my chosen audience.

With my audience research I used the website Musicmachinery.com and it helped me decide on the gender that my product would lean towards the most. “Exploring Gender Differences in Listening- Do men listen to different music than women do? Anecdotally, we can think of lots of examples that point to yes – it seems like more of One Direction’s fans are female, while more heavy metal fans are male." This allowed me to specifically choose the gender that my magazine will be mostly aimed at, I made the decision to aim it 55% towards female as they are more likely to read my magazine because most fans of pop stars like Ed Sheeran are female.

Audience Profile:

Name: Sarah Jeffreys

Gender: Female

Age: 16

Hobbies and interests:  Sports, Using the Internet, animals and music

Favourite music artists:  Drake, Arctic Monkeys, Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes, Oh Wonder

Favourite clothes shops: Gap, Next, New look and Accessorize

Favourite Magazines: Top of the pops, NME and Billboard

Sarah Jeffreys can be a good example for my target audience as she does listen to some pop music which would be good as the genre of my magazine is pop so she might read my magazine as she is interested in some pop music artists which my magazine features. She also enjoys reading some pop magazines although NME does provide information about Indie music as well as pop which means Sarah is able to like two types of music so I could incorporate some other genres in my magazine with the main theme of pop. This could increase my target audience to some people that enjoy reading about other genres of music but it could cost more for my audience which may be harder for them to buy making my magazine have a lower profit as some teenagers cant afford it. Therefore I will be pricing my magazine at £5 and making it monthly so that ym audience will be able to afford it. Sarah wouldn’t be a perfect example of my target audience as the shops that she goes to to buy her clothes does not provide the style that some pop artists wear. The shops she goes to does not include a pop theme which will not be good as my magazine involves all pop fashion. But my magazine could persuade her to change where she shops if she reads and enjoys my magazine. 

Evaluation Activity 5

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

The main way in which I have attracted to my audience is mostly through the front cover as it is the things that catches their attention first. I used a strong image in the centre of the page with minimal writing so that nothing would get lost and it wouldn’t be too crowded. The front cover of the magazine I think is the most important as it represents what the whole magazine will be like and if my audience is interested in the cover then they will want to read more as the rest of the magazine will be similar in style and context.

I used informal language in my magazine which allows my magazine to be read by a wider audience, it also prevents it from sounding boring with formal language which means that my audience might not like reading. As my audience is 13-18, I have considered my language and how I have written my article and other text in my contents and cover so that my audience are interested in reading more. A formal language in my magazine would be preferred for an older audience as younger children might not be able to understand some of the words and may find it boring which means that my magazine will not sell. The language is of a specific lexical field of music which is what my readers would expect in my magazine and therefore would uphold the readers’ attention and want to carry on.

At first I had the idea of putting the masthead on the side of the magazine. This would give my magazine a certain style that is unique and my audience might like, I then changed my mind and centred it at the top as it can be quite hard to read and I wanted my cover to look simple and not too complicated to read. It also means that people are able to read it if it was stack up with other magazines as it is in the top, I made the ‘M’ in italic so that it looked like a music note that my title and magazine would stand out. The font I have used is quite similar to other pop magazines which could make my magazine more popular as people would think my magazine is of good quality like other magazines like Billboard and Q. I have used ‘Elephant’ for my masthead and other headlines, it is big and bold and will stand out to the reader and grab their attention when on the shelf. I used the same font for the headlines for my contents page and page spread to maintain consistency throughout my magazine. My double page spread font is not ‘Elephant’ but ‘TW Cen MT’, this is quite similar so that both the fonts didn’t contrast against each other. The font is quite small so that I could fit a lot of information on the article that my audience would enjoy reading.

The information that I have included in my magazine was from my research and questionnaire, investigating what people would like to see and the features that a conventional magazine would have. From my questionnaire I found that most of the people that gave me feedback would prefer to have an interview in a pop magazine therefore I included a question answer article on my page spread so that my audience would be attracted to it as they would want to find out the artist’s answers. On my contents page I included things like festival details and top 10 hits on the music charts. This would attract to my audience as they would be interested to find out which festivals to go to and my magazine would give them the opportunity to win tickets. All of the context that I have included in my magazine will attract to my audience as I have included the feedback I was given in my magazine.

My model and chosen images are very similar in the style of clothing which is a causal style that is suited to my audience, the make-up is subtle and natural which could be good as it doesn’t create a fake look for my magazine however it could’ve been a bit more exciting as it is a pop magazine which normally involves vibrant make-up. My cover should attract to my audience as it is of a woman who fits with my target audience as most of my magazine is aimed at women. This is because most pop star fans are female. In the cover the model is looking straight at the camera which means that the audience is addressed personally as it looks like the model is looking at them.

I followed the conventions of a pop magazine and the feedback I was given with the layout of my magazine. I would want my magazine to catch my audience’s attention meaning I had to follow the conventions of a pop magazine as then they would want to reads it as they would think it would be of good quality. If I didn’t do this and made my magazine black and white with no bright colours, then my audience would not be interested in reading my product and I would not make any sells. The monochrome colours would be more for an Indie magazine but the genre if my magazine is pop therefore I have included the bright colour red in all of my pages. My cover page is very minimalistic which follows the theory of Roger Black, he thinks that cover pages should be like posters and not too clustered therefore I have included little text on my cover. This also makes it easier for my audience to read. My contents page is laid out in a way that looks similar to the Billboard magazine but it is not the same. I have separated columns and pictures with rectangles which adds some creativity to my magazine and makes it more interesting for my audience to look at and read. The double page spread has a picture on the left which is what my readers to see first as they read from left to right, the models in the picture are the artists that are in the article on the right. This way, the reader would be able to see who it is in the article however I haven’t included a picture of the reporter but I have put her name at the top to inform my reader. My article is set out in three columns making it easier to read and looks like less writing so they will want to read it as if it was longer then my reader might get bored and not finish it which I don’t want. I have included a pull quote in the middle of my article which will be the first thing they see as it is big and bold, this way my audience will want to find out what question this was an answer to. I made sure that the colours I incorporated in my magazine were not too bright therefore I only included one bright colour throughout my magazine. My model is wearing a red jumper and I have put some text on the cover in red and have included this throughout my whole product.

I think that I have attracted my audience successfully throughout my magazine as I have followed the conventions of a normal pop magazine. This way my reader would recognise the style and want to read my magazine as they are interested in pop magazine and mine is clearly pop themed. I have included feedback from my questionnaire which has allowed me to attract to my audience more, I have also looked back at my audience profile research and have incorporated some things that they might like, therefore other people their age would also like my product and want to buy it. As well as including positive feedback I have improved my magazine as some feedback was negative and therefore I needed to change it so my magazine would attract to my audience a lot more. Some things in my magazine would not be found in a conventional magazine therefore I have challenged the style and make it more unique. I hope this will interest my audience as it is different and will add some creativity to my magazine, making them like it more.

Evaluation Activity 6

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

Camera: I have used a variety of technologies in the construction of my final magazine. The main thing I used was a camera for the photographs of my magazine; I used a      Nikon D3200 camera that was provided at school, when taking the photographs for my draft magazine I felt like it provided good focus on my pictures and they turned out really well; making my magazine look very high quality so I used it for my final magazine as well. Using this camera, I have developed skills which include using the flash to create a lighter image, finding the right angle and camera shot so that my magazine looks sophisticated with the photos as they are of good quality. I did have the opportunity to use my camera at home however I did not have the time and were unable to meet with my model outside of school. By using my magazine, I could’ve produced better photos as I knew how to work my camera and knew how to edit photos and use different options for a better effect on my photographs.

Lighting: The lighting that was provided in the white room made my pictures look flawless and effective with the use of soft box lighting to avoid shadows which would made my images look unprofessional and of not a good quality. I experimented on turning off all of the light and using the flash on the camera, focusing on the model but it didn’t turn out as good as the pictures with the lights on so I didn’t use these images. The lighting for my preliminary was not as good as my final design as I was new to taking professional pictures and didn’t know how to change them and what looked good. With practice and a lot of time, I have now discovered new techniques to make my photos in my final product look proficient and of good quality. Throughout using lighting, I have discovered that this is really important in talking the right photos that look really good, I haven’t yet experimented with natural lighting but I felt that this wouldn’t be good for my magazine as other pop magazines did not include natural light, they were taken inside with key lighting.

Photoshop: Another technology I used is a very important part of creating and editing my magazine called Photoshop. It allowed me to edit and manipulate my images for example making some colours stand out more than others. I also used it to remove certain areas that are not needed and cut out some of the picture so that it can fit on the A4 size of my cover. I didn’t have a lot of experience using Photoshop before I started to design my magazine and have learned a lot in the process of designing my final product. I have learned how to edit images to make some colours stand out, how to crop images and to use a paintbrush to remove stray hairs. Without this I would not have been able to create my magazine in an efficient way. On a few photos I have also used the remove background tool on Microsoft word which has allowed me to insert pictures without the background so that I could manipulate them in a way that looks good on my magazine. I have found that these types of programmes are crucial in the editing and creating of a product and if you don’t know how to use them then your product will not look as good or efficient. Throughout this process I have learnt a lot in using all these different techniques and tools on programmes like Photoshop, I feel that I have created my magazine in a creative, unique way that is of a good quality by using this programme.

I have been using the pc computers at school to produce my product; I have also been able to do my coursework when needed with my Mac computer at home. Throughout this task I have been using an online programme called Blogger, I used this to download all my coursework on so that my teachers are able to see my progress and mark it. I have used a lot of other programmes like PowerPoint and Microsoft word, these have enables me to lay out come of my coursework in a certain way, with these I have uploaded them on Blogger. I think that this is a more effective way of laying out my coursework as it was difficult to just put it on blogger as some of the text would be a different font when I published it and the photos would not align or go where I want them to. To make my coursework look neater I used programmes like Slideshare and Scribd, these enabled me to organise my coursework and lay it out in a neat and creative way. I then saved them as a PDF or copied the URL link and uploaded my work onto Blogger. This has expanded my knowledge on different websites and programmes as I have experimented on them and figured out a way to lay out different work in a different way so that when I uploaded them all on blogger they did not look boring. 

Evaluation Activity 7

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

Looking back at my preliminary task I can see that through the process of making my magazine I have developed many skills, which has made my final design much better. The quality of my images are not as good as I didn’t have much experience whereas for my final, I practiced a lot to make sure that I had the best photos for my product. Since completing the final magazine a have learnt how to use Photoshop and have a much greater knowledge. I needed a good knowledge of how to use Photoshop to create a professional looking magazine. The quality of my preliminary was very poor as the text was not aligned and their placing did not look like a high quality magazine. The amount I had written was very little which means that I have improved on my knowledge of what is included in a magazine. After my preliminary I was able to get some feedback from my teachers and peers which was very constructive and has helped me know what I can do to improve my magazine a large amount. When designing my preliminary I had a lack of knowledge of how to use Photoshop and how to lay out each page. When comparing my preliminary and final piece there is a clear difference as I have improved it a lot to make my product look of a high quality that my audience will want to read.

I can see massive improvements with my preliminary and final product with not only the layout but also with the camerawork and the quality of the lighting and angles in my photos. I first have notice a huge difference in the lighting of my photos. In my preliminary they are very dark which means I have not used the lighting properly and can create a gloomy effect on my magazine. My audience would not want to see pictures with no colour as this is not what you would expect in a pop magazine. The grey background was not good in my preliminary as although it brings out my pictures and is similar to some other pop magazine covers, it is the wrong colour or mise-en-scene for my magazine. The photos also were of bad quality as the model is not making any eye contact with the camera which doesn’t attract to my audience. The font I have used is quite childish and not professional. It is not what you would expect to see in a pop magazine as it has no relation to music whereas in my final, the ‘M’ in my cover is in italic and looks like a musical note so it is clear that my magazine is related to pop.

My cover has clearly changed due to the different font and colours I have used. M y final cover page looked much better than my preliminary. This could be because I have had more practice with Photoshop and have developed skills to make my images and pages better, I have however kept the minimalistic look to my cover. For my contents page, it has drastically changed compared to my preliminary. This is because I have included more text and aligned them in the correct way. I have used a variety of similar fonts instead of just using one. I have also changed the colour scheme in my pages to make them look more bright and look like a pop magazine. My preliminary just included block colours and didn’t look very creative, it wasn’t clear to my audience that it is a pop magazine.

One thing that I cannot compare is my double page spread as I didn’t complete on in my preliminary task. However, I have learnt a lot of skills form when I started my prelim task to when I finished my final product. I have improved on my creativity and the way I have laid out each page, my final product looks more like a pop magazine with the brighter colour scheme; I have included red in each page so that they link to each other and have the vibrant tones that conventional pop magazines have. I feel that my cover page will stand out more on the shelf than my prelim would as it is brighter and the model is making eye contact with the camera. Throughout this process I have learnt a lot of skills with the camera and lighting as the pictures in my cover page are much brighter and the angel of each image looks more sophisticated and professional than my preliminary task.  Overall, I believe the main progression I have made from my prelim task to my final product is I have developed an ability to use various software programmes and different technologies and with all my research, I have understood how a magazine is created and the features and conventions that make magazines appealing to an audience.

Cover page layers

Cover page layers from AbbiDhabi

Contents page layers

Contents page layers from AbbiDhabi

Double page spread layers

Double page spread layers from AbbiDhabi

Test Photgraphs

For my final magazine I took some test shots to experiment with the lighting and the poses that the models will do. I considered my target audience with what the model would wear and what her make up style would be like. The clothes are quite casual and what most teens would wear and her make is quite natural which is uncommon in a pop magazine as it is usually vibrant. Here are a few of my test shots and pictures i used in my final product.

Interview double page spread

How does it feel to be famous, it must be a massive difference?

Some days it seems surreal and we are in this fantasy world, we can’t believe we have come so far. At first this band was more of a hobby, something fun to do. We posted things online and it got so many likes and subscribers, we went viral. It all happened so fast but now we are here and we are loving it all; making music, pleasing our fans. However, it can get quite overwhelming with the paparazzi and as this all happens at once, it can start to become quite hard for us to concentrate on performing well because we are so stressed from everything else. We try to just ignore all the difficulties that come with being famous but sometimes they are tense and can result in us not giving our best in shows and gigs.

How did you two meet? How long did it take to form the band?

We met in college, we were in the same music class and we were sat next to each other, our professor set a project where we had to create a song and then sing it, so as we were next to each other, we got paired up and we chose to do half the song each and after about a year, we had done a few projects together and decided to carry on with it outside of school. We started uploading videos on YouTube and vine and almost immediately we got loads of comments and likes, it took a few weeks of uploading many more videos for us to decide to form a band and for people to recognise us.

Can we expect anything else from you this year? Any gigs or tours?                                        

We have a few gigs; at the O2 arena in London and some in Birmingham and Leeds. We haven’t yet organised any tours for this year but there will definitely be some next year that will hopefully be abroad so places like France, Italy and exotic places like that that we feel our music will be enjoyable to the people. We are currently writing some songs for our next album as we loved making our first album. However, the theme for this next album is quite different, we hope that you will like it as it has unique qualities and a beat that anyone can dance and sing along to.

Did you expect your album to become this popular?                                               

Honestly, no not really, we loved writing it and thought it would be one of those ‘one off’ albums that not a lot of people would like or want to hear more of. We’re really excited to write more music and get back into the recording studio to make music for all of our fans to enoy. Our fame was not predicted and we are very grateful for all of our fans supporting us and making this dream of ours come true.

What inspired you to become musicians?

Well we both have our different idols that inspired us to follow our dreams of becoming musicians. We both found an interest in artists like Rhianna and Shawn Mendes, their music and love of it inspired us to write songs. It also helped that both our families loved music, they encouraged us and gave us the support to make this happen, they booked singing lessons for us both after a few music projects at school as at that time, we found that our voices worked so well together, the lessons helped us develop our own voices and learn how to combine our voices to make it sound even better.

What advice would you give to young people who wish to pursue their dreams in becoming a pop star?

We think it is important to have dream and definitely go for it. Keep practicing and when you get more confident start making yourself known on social media by creating accounts or YouTube by downloading some videos that focus on your music to get your name out there! Try collaborating with other aspiring pop stars, this can get you more fans as you both can share music and their fans will then know you. Find someone with a different style of music to you and make it sound great so that it creates more of a unique style that most people might like. We would also recommend going to some classes to make your voice sound even better, this can also help you develop new skills as you sing. We did this to find out how our voices matched and how to make our harmonies sound really good.

Where do you get your inspiration and ideas for writing your songs?

Most of the time the songs are from an experience that has happened; they tell a story or express a variety of emotions we feel. It can be very hard to come up with the right lyrics that convey the message we want to give to our audience, our first album was a lot of fun to write and so the songs turned out to be fun, happy that is easily danced a long to. Now that we have been recognised for our music we want to give a message to our fans to never give up on your dreams and also many more messages that each of our songs tell through our lyrics in our new album. Our new album contains a variety of music that can be portrayed to be happy and also songs that make fans think about how they are living their lives and what mistakes can easily be made. Some of the lyrics were so easily come up with but it took a while to get the right message across, however some of the lyrics were really hard and we’d get stuck easily. If we ever got stuck on our lyrics we would walk away and do some fun activity like, playing a game of basketball or go to the cinema, these would distract us which made it easier for us to concentrate which made it easier for us to think but it is a lengthy process.

Where do you see yourselves in 5 years? Do you think you will ever split/ take a break?

Hopefully we will still be writing our music because we love it so much. We aim to have written many more songs and albums that maybe some could be in the top 10 hits. It would be amazing if we could do collaborate with other artists and combine our music to create something amazing that our fans will love. To be able to go on tour would just be incredible, to visit other countries and perform on stage to let others hear our music, and maybe in 10 years we would love to go on a world tour and let a variety of people hear our music. It would be upsetting if we did split, but I think that we may go on a break just to find out what it would be like to be a solo and express the music that each other would like to show people by ourselves, the break would not last long as we would never stop singing together.

Draft Evaluation Question 1

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of music magazines)

The genre of my magazine is pop therefore I have used some styles that have been included in other pop themed magazines. The font I used for the masthead suited the style of my magazine; it was called ‘Elephant’ and is bold and eye catching to the reader, it is also slightly similar to some fonts that you see on other pop magazines like ‘Billboard’. It is big and bold however they use different colours in the holes of some of the letters to make the title stand out, I have not done this as I did not like this idea. I have added a red colour to my magazine to make the magazine pop out more and the colour red links in with my cover as the model is wearing a red jumper, this makes all my ages tie together. The ‘M’ in ‘Melody’ was in italic so that it looked like a music note, following the conventions of a music magazine. The name of my magazine fits in well with my style as it makes the reader instantly think about music. I feel that my magazine hasn’t followed some of the conventions as my double page spread isn’t as vibrant as eye-catching as other pop magazines, however my contents page has some features that are similar to pop magazines like Billboard and Q which makes it clear that the theme of my magazine is pop. My models are dressed in a casual outfit which is unconventional for my magazine as it is not similar to other types of pop magazines and their make-up is a subtle look but it should’ve been vibrant for the reader so that they recognise that my magazine is about pop music. The mise-en-scene in my photos is not like a pop magazine as there is a tedious white background in all of them. This makes my magazine look less like a pop magazine as they don’t look eye-catching or interesting to the reader. I have chosen to use colour in my photographs as this makes them pop more and it fits the style of a pop magazine, one of my models wears a red jumper so I have included this colour throughout my magazine pages which links them together.

Draft Evaluation Question 2

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I have found that one of the many important tasks in creating a magazine is finding the right model and picture to go on the front cover. This is because it is the first thing that my intended audience will see so it has to grab their attention and encourage them to read my magazine. If the image is not good, then the reader would not pick it up to read it as the image on the cover represents what the rest of your magazine will be like. From my audience research and profile I was able to find a suitable audience that would be interested in reading my magazine; my target audience is aged 13-18 and it is mainly focused on women than men. I chose this age group as older people are more interested in a unique style of music e.g. indie/ classical. Some of my images are taken with different outfits and models to see which ones would look best on my magazine. I used a mixture of camera shots and considered using a close up for my cover, instead I used a mid-shot and also made the model have eye-contact with the camera so that it feels like they are looking at the reader.

Draft evaluation Question 3

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

There is a large variety of publishing companies that I could choose for my magazine. There are many successful companies like Bauer Media; I have chosen this company to publish my magazine as it in my research I have found that it is worldwide which means more people will read my magazine. Bauer Media owns 570 magazines; including Q, a pop magazine, 300 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations, I picked this institution as it has already published pop themed magazines and it is very successful as it has a turnover of two billion Euros due to its 11,000 employees in 16 countries working hard. I have found that they publish more niche magazines which means that they are aimed at niche audiences. I think this would be good because I feel like my magazine is a niche pop which fits in with other magazines that Bauer has published. I would be publishing my magazine monthly as it has a mid-price of £5 so making it weekly would be quite expensive for my audience. My magazine would be sold in specific news agents/ music stores and can be bought by subscription, similar to Q magazine as my magazine is quite similar. I believe that this company will ensure my magazine will be successful and read by my target audience.

Draft Evaluation Question 4

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

The main audience for my magazine would be 45% male and 55% female, this is because most of my magazine will be aimed at females e.g. quizzes, I will not make all of my magazine for females as them my audience with decrease and there will be less chance of selling my magazine. My audience needs to be interested in pop music and the most recent trends for example, fashion. This audience is very competitive as most magazines aim to attract to this type of audience it will also be hard as there are many pop themed magazines that people might prefer over mine. When designing my magazine, I considered all of my research and planning so that my magazine fit the interest of my intended audience. The design of my magazine is quite simple with some ideas added in that I got from other pop magazines, this may attract my audience as it is similar to other pop magazine that they might like. I have decided to make my magazine cost £5 as it is an affordable price for teenagers who for example may not have a lot of money which means they are still able to buy my magazine.

Draft Evaluation Question 5

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

The main way in which I have attracted to my audience is mostly through the front cover as it is the things that catches their attention first. I used a strong image in the centre of the page with minimal writing so that nothing would get lost and it wouldn’t be too crowded or take the attention away from the picture. The front cover of the magazine I think is the most important as it represents what the whole magazine will be like and if my audience is interested in the cover then they will want to read more as the rest of the magazine will be similar in style and context. At first I had the idea of putting the masthead on the side of the magazine. This would give my magazine a certain style that is unique and my audience might like, I then changed my mind and centred it at the top as it can be quite hard to read and I wanted my cover to look simple and not too complicated to read. It also means that people are able to read it if it was stack up with other magazines as it is in the top, I made the ‘M’ in italic so that it looked like a music note that my title and magazine would stand out. My model and chosen images are very similar in the style of clothing which is a causal style which is suited to my audience, the make-up is subtle and natural which could be good as it doesn’t create a fake look for my magazine however it could’ve been a bit more exciting as it is a pop magazine which normally involves vibrant make-up.

Draft Evaluation Question 6

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

I have used a variety of technologies in the construction of my final magazine. The first thing I used was a camera for the photographs of my magazine; I used a Canon camera that was provided at school, when taking the photographs for my draft magazine I felt like it provided good focus on my pictures and they turned out really well; making my magazine look very high quality so I used it for my final magazine as well. The lighting that was provided in the white room made my pictures look flawless and effective with the use of soft box lighting to avoid shadows which would made my images look unprofessional and of not a good quality. I experimented on turning off all of the light and using the flash on the camera, focusing on the model but it didn’t turn out as good as the pictures with the lights on so I didn’t use these images. Another technology I used is a very important part of creating and editing my magazine called Photoshop. It allowed me to edit and manipulate my images for example making some colours stand out more than others. I also used it to remove certain areas that are not needed and cut out some of the picture so that it can fit on the A4 size of my cover. I didn’t have a lot of experience using Photoshop before I started to design my magazine and have learned a lot in the process of designing my final product. I have learned how to edit images to make some colours stand out, how to crop images and to use a paintbrush to remove stray hairs. I have been using the pc computers at school to produce my product; I have also been able to do my coursework when needed with my Mac computer at home. Throughout this task I have been using an online programme called Blogger, I used this to download all my coursework on so that my teachers are able to see my progress and mark it.

Draft Evaluation Question 7

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

Looking back at my preliminary task I can see that through the process of making my magazine I have developed many skills, which has made my final design much better. The quality of my images are not as good as I didn’t have much experience whereas for my final, I practiced a lot to make sure that I had the best photos for my product. Since completing the final magazine a have learnt how to use Photoshop and have a much greater knowledge. I needed a good knowledge of how to use Photoshop to create a professional looking magazine. The quality of my preliminary was very poor as the text was not aligned and their placing did not look like a high quality magazine. The amount I had written was very little which means that I have improved on my knowledge of what is included in a magazine. After my preliminary I was able to get some feedback from my teachers and peers which was very constructive and has helped me know what I can do to improve my magazine a large amount. When designing my preliminary I had a lack of knowledge of how to use Photoshop and how to lay out each page. When comparing my preliminary and final piece there is a clear difference as I have improved it a lot to make my product look of a high quality that my audience will want to read.

Magazine draft