AS Media Foundation Portfolio Evaluation

By Hannah Woolcott

NME NME is the magazine I have based mine

around. However I have made my magazine less about mainstream acts and more about unsigned acts. I have to based the look of my magazine around NME

However I have changed a few things, I preferred the way their old contents was set out, the new one’s style is a bit too picture based. I have also taken influence from a Q contents page a saw, they have one main picture, however they only use two columns where as I have used three like NME do. So I have used a mix of the two.

The front covers I like the style of the new ones with a less busy style and more colour co-ordinated but the pictures in the old one suit my magazine more. So I have used the colour co-ordination of the new style but the picture style of the old one.

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

media products? My Magazine in some ways uses

the forms of “normal” magazines, the picture for example. The picture on the front cover has my act staring into the camera, with the camera slightly angled up at him to show superiority. NME use this look as you can see

Question 1 carried on- Front Cover Design

I used three colours red, black and white to match the clothes he is wearing and the masthead. NME use these colours frequently.

The back ground of the outline of the fence and the trees was my idea, I was deleting the background and thought leaving the outline of the fence and sky would make the magazine look more urban and represented the act on the front cover. I asked a few other people what they thought and they all agreed it enhanced the feel of the magazine. I haven’t seen other magazines do that before, they have backgrounds but normally it’s a blank background.

The tag lines are ones that go with the feel of the magazine, about live music, festivals and new acts. I have used 6 tag lines and NME normally use between 4-12.

I used three colours red, black and white to match the clothes he is wearing and the masthead. NME use these colours frequently.

The back ground of the outline of the fence and the trees was my idea, I was deleting the background and thought leaving the outline of the fence and sky would make the magazine look more urban and represented the act on the front cover. I asked a few other people what they thought and they all agreed it enhanced the feel of the magazine. I haven’t seen other magazines do that before, they have backgrounds but normally it’s a blank background.

The tag lines are ones that go with the feel of the magazine, about live music, festivals and new acts. I have used 6 tag lines and NME normally use between 4-12.

Contents Layout

For my contents page I have to fused these two designs together using three columns, one big picture taking up two columns and the red and black colour themes.

My contents differs however as its article based, not category based. I preferred the way it looked based around the articles rather then in long lists of categories.

I have decided to include a editors message to made the magazine seem a bit more friendly and chatty.

Challenging ideas is used in my double page spread. I took the idea of the image below but changed it. I used four pictures and framed them rather then placing the text on top of the pictures and having to find a colour that works and is readable. I asked a few members of the public which one they found easier to read and 90% of them said they found my magazine easier to read as white text on a black background hurt their eyes. They also said that the bigger gaps between my words and better font was a lot easier to read as the other magazine is very condensed text. However the black text on a white background is a bit too formal for my magazine, so the way I arranged the text doesn’t conform with normal magazine conventions. The spacing between the columns and the gap around the pull quote doesn’t conform. I didn’t want my magazine to look too formal, I want it to be chatty and open magazine, so I moved the columns and changed them around to get this feel back.

Double Page Spread Design

NME also make their act seem “godlike” and make their readers want to worship them. My magazine makes the act seem friendly and approachable, just makes him out to be a normal person. My article is about getting to know him and photos just show a normal person. That’s where my magazine and NME will differ, mine will be about normal people who are musicians just about to get signed or playing a few gigs, NME is about the big acts.

My magazine is supposed to represent students, however as its supposed to represent them it will more likely attract 14-18 year olds. Magazines made for an older audience will attract younger readers such as the teenage magazine mizz which is about 16/17 year olds however it is read mainly by 13 year olds. Therefore my magazine will have articles addressed to students, such as festival line ups and student nights out, but younger readers will also like to hear about these things, I asked a few 14/15 year olds if they go to gigs and would like to know which gigs are where and when, 85% of them answered yes.

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

It also represents them buy a person their age on the front cover. I asked a group of people and 70% of people felt he was the right age and 30% felt he was too young to represent them. I had trouble choosing my model for this piece as i wanted to represent my audience and I felt that my first model made the magazine too mainstream. This model has the problem that he may look too young, however music artists are getting younger, such as Pixie Lott who is only 16, so I felt his age didn’t matter.

. It will also represent my audience by being a cheaper magazine, normally £2 but introductory offer of £1.50, as my audience is students and college/ school pupils, who will more then likely be on a budget so not willing to spend a lot on a magazine.

IPC media is the producer of NME, it produces over 60 iconic media brands, with print reaching two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men. It is one of the largest printing companies in the UK and their magazines reach their audience in a number of many different ways.

I think they would take “tonic” on as a magazine because it’s a new magazine that would not compete with NME as much as magazines like Q do. It would have a younger audience range, 15- 20 year olds where as NME is 17- 30 year olds.

Also NME is about mainstream acts, where as my magazine is about unsigned and unknown acts.

3)What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

Students so 17-25, however school children will read it as I said before, so it’s more likely to be 15- 20 year olds reading my magazine.

My audience will be on a budget, so the magazine will need to be cheap.

It will have relevant artists, current sounds and all the latest artists in it to keep them up to date. Unsigned and unknown acts.

It will also have a list of the concerts going on in their area that month. And full line ups of festivals. So they have all the information for the nights they want to go out. I asked a group of people my audiences age if they go out to concerts, and 90% of them answered yes and that it would be a great idea to have a list of concerts and nights out in their area.

I have an idea to sell the magazines to colleges and school to stock so that the students can access it at all times, magazines have had this idea before they just haven’t put it to the test yet. So I would test it with my magazine.

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

I attracted my audience by using unknown but up and coming artists that are predicted to become big, a bit like artists in the BBC sound poll each year. The artists that get a bit of a buzz about them will be in my magazine months before they’re famous.

I have the latest gigs listed in the magazine, and club nights too. In the summer festival line ups too.

I have addressed the audience with an informal and chatty approach but influence them with what they think, telling them what artists are good and which gigs to go to.

It will be a cheap magazine being around £2-£2.50 with an introductory price of £1.

5)How will you attract/address your audience?

I learnt how to use Photoshop, and the improvement from my school magazine to my music magazine is a lot. I had never used it before this project and now I feel confident enough to be able to use the basic tools and would happily learn more about it.

I also learnt how to use InDesign but I could not use it for my school magazine, however I did use it for my music magazine and I felt it went really well. School magazine design didn’t upload onto blogger as I had not learnt how to export files yet, but with my music magazine I explored and learnt how to upload and export the files.

I have also learnt how to use blogger.

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

I feel I have learnt how to use Photoshop better to create a product that looks like a real media product not a cheap unprofessional imitation.

I feel I have learnt more about the magazine business and how hard it is to create and break a new magazine as many readers only buy one magazine and are very loyal to their magazines.

I have learnt magazine conventions and that they are not easy to follow, but with a bit of work you can make it work.

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