I managed to get some audience feedback questionaires filled in i got a range of people to fill them in too ie: family and friends all different age groups so i received a variety of feedback.
Here is one feedback i received from one of my older audience members....
From this feedback i found i received more constructive criticism than from my others i received.. for example
Q6) The journalism side of the article does that seem professional.... if not what doesnt work? ''was ok but could of been a bit more expressive''
Although i did receive positive feedback too. I also found that my older audience feedback had looked more deeply into the magazine and actually found what i was trying to portray through the use of my mise en scene and colour scheme i used.
This is one of the feedbacks i received from a younger friend....
Q1) What does the title suggest to you?
''exciting and enjoyable''
From this feedback i got positive comments about the professionalism of my magazine and how eye catching it is at first glance.
Overall, i did receive good feedback and some interesting comments along with constructive criticism too. Im glad the things i wanted to portray have stood out to my audience (hence the feedback i was given.) Im pleased with my final product and the comments i was given.
Introduction- I decided on creating a hybrid magazine that dealt with the music and fashion industry. I knew that by doing this it would most certainly increase my audience numbers. I came up with the name 'SHOUT' for my magazine as i thought it portrayed this idea of like gossip central kind of idea and i really liked it. As well with it going with the type of magazine i was going to create too which was like a pop magazine. The artist i created was a replica of Lady Gaga called Madam. She had Gaga's unique style and personality but i obviously adapted it to my own intention.
Q1-in what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
As mentioned the genre of my magazine is pop and to help portray that image ihave used some of the typical elements of a music magazine and some even included in any type of magazine too. For example within my front cover i used sub-headings which we obviously know is a typical element of any magazine as its a way of advertising what the rest of the magazine contains along with using just one image which dominated my front cover. As well from the one image on the front cover we know that that will be the main content of the magazine which is one of the conventions of a music magazine. Examples i used of typical elements within my contents page are just the headings i have used to split my content into sections ie: gossip section, fashion, music section. It was vital to use typical elements within my magazine as its so the magazine would be easily recognised to the audience as its true our audience'sprefer to stick with the familiar.
Going back to conventions of music magazines i did stick to most of them including direct address with the image onmy front cover along with the bright colours i used... pinks, purple and orange: as well as sticking with those three colours throughout. Also to help portray the look of my magazine being professional i included a barcode. I added strap line too as a way of also advertising other things my magazine had to offer.I did break a rule of convention within my contentspage as i used just used one image to cover my page. I am glad i did so as with the layout i used to put my text works effectively with the image. Again to put across the hybridity within my magazine i included i very small image of my front cover also on my contents with a caption of who my artist was styled by... portraying the fashion side of my magazine. ''styled and make-up done my Mac.'' Conventions of music magazines i used in my featured article are snippets of dialogue by the artist dotted around the page. An article i found when researching did really inspire me as a design idea to use for my on article...... see below
I like the play onwords used as the heading along with the coloured text boxes used for speech. So i decided to use this as a guide to the design i was going to create but adapt to my own interpretation.
Q2- how does your media product represent particular social groups?
I wanted my magazine to represent the more edgy and unique popstars
...... girls like ○LA ROUX, FLORENCE AND THE MACHINEand ○LADY GAGA.
I did this by the way i styled my artist and the way i made her come across within my interview. I personally dont think these type of artist fit into any typical stereotype they're just themselves. Thats what i was aiming to create too, i wanted to offer an alternative.. an artist which wouldn't fit into any typical stereotype, so i kind of broke a convention there by doing that. To help represent my artist into the music star social group i thought about what i was going to style my artist in, the stances and poses going to be used for the shoot, gestures and expressions used along with phrases and languages said within the interview aswell as all the music info that was given.. all to fit into this social group.
Audience feedback included
Q3- what kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I first found out about the IPCmedia publishers whilst researching and discovered it produced over 85 iconic media brands within Britain. Also after further research on IPC i found many magazines which where quite similiar to mine except mine had bits of everyones magazines in for example....
*SHOUT (my magazine) had the latest gossip and biggest celebrity news from NOW
*Contained the unique mix of high street fashion also affordable styles and fashion advice of LOOK
*Along with the most exciting new music to hit our ears from NME
I personally think IPC would certainly look at publishing my media product due to the fact it being something new. What makes my magazine different is the fact its just a hybrid magazine containing bit of everything.. music, gossip and fashion. Therefore, with my product containing all these elements it provides a huge boost from the rest because the public have everything they want but in one. Im sure, if published, my magazine would draw in sums of profit with the fact its got lots to offer for itself, more than any other magazine owned by IPC.
Q4- who would be the audience for our media product? Before devising my media product i decided on the range of descriptors i wanted and came to a decision of aiming my magazine at females aged between 16-25. The reason my age is starting quite high is because my magazine would have contained sexual references as part of the gossip side to it. I didnt want to create such a define range of descriptors as by doing that i knew i would be decreasing the variety in audience and that would mean less profit. so i decided to be quite open with my audience also making it diverse for any ethnicity as we know our community is increasing dramatically with a number of different cultures . I do think this is a good audience to target as our community is growing and media is gradually becoming more and more important in our lives, everyone is wanting to know the latest and that is what i wanted to provide. As well as giving them a choice of what they are wanting to read and so thats why i decided on creating a hybrid media product.
feedback will be included
Q5- how did you attract/ address your audience?
One of the first things the audience will see when looking at my magazine is the title
.It stands out a mile off and fully catches your ateention and along with portraying the idea of a fun, gosssipy but edgy magazine. As this was said within my audience feedback also. The image i choose to use as my front image is a total eye catcher. The pose using her facial expressions is adventerous, not the original and typical style of poses you see in most magazines. For my magazine to address my audience in an adventerous but yet fun way i decided for my sub-headings and the language used within my cover to include lots of play in words and short snappy phrases which leave you questioning things, wanting to find out more. For example>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The use of mise-en-scene also helps address to my intended audience with the playful images captured in the snow and with tree's. Although my images are fun they also have a mature side as i had to create this with me wanting my audience to be more of the older teenagers. The use of language within my contents page definitely address's to my audience as i have offered a variety helping widen the range. Although i have still tried sticking to the language i used to be more mature and exciting..
I tried to do this by including thing like sex tips and latest sex positions and which this obviously only suitable for readers at the age of 16 or over which was exactly my audience range. The way in which i set out my contents page too was interested and ,i thought, was visually effect for my audience to read as i had witty headings like .....''CONTENTS.......what's happening?!?!"and " FASHIONISTA'S look here"for each different section and also provided my audience with the familiar. To maintain the audiences focus throughout my magazine i decided for my heading on my article to be a play on word.....
My title gave out this idea my artist totally loved herself, basically just a show off, but ''SHOWOFF!" wasnt just something she was it was also the name of her latest album which was what her interview with SHOUT was all about. I decided to use three different images but all the same style and giving off the look as though they where taken in a profession studio. Although then to make my article more edgy and portray the uniqueness my artist has i edited the image twice over to make them different colours changing them to one being green and the other red.
The content and language of my article itself is very different from any other as theres words in there that no one has probably ever heard of before, this even gets mentioned within my audience feedback. The reason for this is because of my artist and how differnet she is... she's one on her own, no other is like her. MADAM does/says things that nobody else will. With my magazine involving these types of features makes it stand out from any other magazine, catching the eye of a whole wider audience as its something fresh and new.
Q6- What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? Before even beginning to think of devising my product i learnt about http://www.blogger.com/and this is where we firstly began posting our idea's about the genre and style of magazine we was going to create along with what it would include. This is where we also posted all our research for our magazine and created a record of my idea's. This also let me embed video's .... i decided to post lady gaga - bad romance as i came to a conclusion she was the style of artist i wanted to re-create. Here is me using blogger and creating new posts...
Then i found out abouthttp://www.dafont.com/. We used this site to download more interesting and visually effective fonts.
When it finally came to devising my product i used a software called photoshop, this was in need for me to be able to cut out my images from my oringinal shots. This worked well as i ended up using one of my cutout images as my photo for my front cover. We also used photshop to edit our images too. I found this software a little difficult to use but was worth it all in the end as it made my images look weel and professional.
This is the symbol for photoshop
The software we actually used to create our magazine was called Indesign. This allowed us to place our images and set our pages out any way in which we wanted to. I enjoyed using this software, it was easy and fun to use.
This is the symbol for Indesign
All our work was produced on the imacs!!!!
Q7-Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product
Looking back at my preliminary task........ i can tell how much more my final product looks much more proffesional than this one. The layout and editing of my preliminary task is just boring theres nothing that stands out and says WOW! Even the type of shot i used is wrong as my title SMC is over the top my image: i should have left room over her head when actually taking the shot. The elements i included are dull. There's a huge step up from my prelim to my actual final product, for sure. There's a contrast in the quality of shots between the two products as my real magazine looks more professional, you can tell just by the lighting of the images used - as here its a bit dismal and dark. The contrast in language also used says a lot too its more interesting. I do think thought that my preliminary task appeals to be open to both male and female due to the colour scheme as theres a variety of colours used. Although i do know that doenst tend to happen in the real media publishing industry as they just tend to limit them selves to two or three effective colours. I definitley think my work has improved due to me being more capable and knowing how to use the technology along with having more of an image i was wanting to create.
I have finally finished my photo shoot and decided on the shots im going to use throughout my magazine. I used different locations both indoors and outdoors, consisting of on a firld with trees, lent on a car, in a room protraying as if it is a studio and also a setee. The pictures i have chosen to use i think are the strongest images out of the bunch and therefore will make it easier to catch my audience's attention. For my front cover i have decided to use the image below.
I have chosen this shot as i personally think it relates well to the name of my magazine 'SHOUT' due to her facial expression. For my contents page i have decided to use a shot which is very powerful and in your face. The clothing she is wearing totally sums up her personality and type of magazine, as its different and unique. (image soon to be added.)
I was thinking of also adding other images to my contents page but i decided not to as they will take away the effect of this original image i have chosen.
Images im adding to my feature article are below (soon to be added) ive decided to use a variety of images to this article to show variation of my use of shots and to cover her style.
With at nearly every image i am planning on changing the colour contrast and brightness with them to make them more effective.
