Evaluation- question 7

Evaluation- question 6

Evaluation- question 5

Evaluation- question 4

Evaluation- question 3

During my research period, one media institution that I looked at was 'Plastic Media'. This company distribution 'Indie' magazine- a product which focuses on a broad range of topics, including music, fashion, film and theater. This is the type of institution that I would want to distribute my product. I think this because Indie magazine takes quite a minimalistic approach to the media market. My product follows a similar style to Indie magazine, but has potential to appeal to a wider audience due to the more busy, conventional approach it takes in appearance. Institutions never want to take on a product exactly like what they already have- that would never make them enough money. However, differing the products slightly brings potential for a wider audience with varying genders, ages, styles and tastes.

Evaluation- question 2

Evaluation question 1

My product follows many conventions of a real media product. Many of these conventions have been used on the various pages. For example, my front cover consists of many features typical for a magazine; a masthead, a central image, coverlines, headlines and straplines. However in some ways my front cover does challenge the conventions of products in this genre. Many magazines I looked at during my reasearch that fitted into the indie/alternative genre kept  minimalistic approach to the front cover's design. I decided to try and make my product more appealing to to a wider audience by making my appearance busier, so there would be more to look at (since there seems to be a gap in the market of this genre for this.)
My contents page and double page spread are very much conventional to the style I was hoping to achieve. I included just one image on my contents page, and copied the masthead to create continuity, very much like a lot of magazines I've researched do.
My double page spread took a more minimalistic approach, as in current products. I had one central image which bled across both pages, a headline, a pull quote, and the text, all of which played by conventions. The text was laid out in a way which also played by conventions- 4 columns running along the bottom of page. I decided to lay it out like this because I found that pages that don't fight to grab attention seem to have more success in gaining readership.
Finally, I decided to also keep conventions such as a consistent house style of 3 colours for my pallet, and around 6 different fonts of various sizes. I didn't want to overwhelm the person viewing my magazine by forcing too wide a variety for my house style, as that can put them off reading the magazine. Also, the genre that this magazine represents tends to be quite simplistic, which needs to be reflected.

Double page spread complete

Contents page complete

Front cover completed

Editing the double page spread

Once again, I began by blocking out my pages- where I wanted my image to go, where the pull quote should go, and the area that I wanted my text to take up. I then continued by filling in the remaining aspects and conventions of a double page spread, including the image and text.

Creating my contents page

 I began by blocking in where the conventional features would go, then continued to fill in the text, making sure it was relevant to my genre.

I then began to fill out the page by adding in other conventional features for a magazine contents page of my selected genre.

Making my front cover

 First I blocked out where I wanted my text and conventional features to appear on the page.

 I began filling in the relevant text.

 I played around with adding features conventional to a magazine to see if they worked for my genre of magazine.

I finally settled on this format for my cover.

Editing my images: Front cover

In order for my images to fit the house style of my magazine, they needed to follow a certain colour pallet; Black, white and red. To ensure this, I took some of the photographs from my shoot, and tried my hand at editing them in photoshop. I converted the images into black and white, then created a new layer on each in which I selected the red highlights of the photos and brought them forward. I also corrected blemishes, and used the burn tool to enhance the shadows.

Front cover photoshoot

For my front cover's central image, I set my model up against a plain wall, in an attempt to mimic ahome studio effect. I tried out various poses for the model. Here are a few of the results;

Preparing for the photo shoot: Possible locations

It would be ideal to set my photo shoot in two different locations. One location I am quite keen to shoot at, most likely for the double page spread and the contents page is in a forest. The ideal time to do the shoot would be in the early evening- that way I can get some good shots lighted by the sunset. This quality added to the photos could possibly hold the artistic quality that I want in my magazine.

Another location I'm quite keen on is a slightly more urban scenery. Taking pictures up against a wall in a busy part of town could work well. I would be keen to use this idea to take candid/naturalistic photos of various models. For example, I could set up the idea that a group of people who are talking naturally are taking a break from band rehearsals, simply by placing some instruments and notebooks around them.

The one other location I would like to use for my photo shoot is a set up temporary home studio. Through doing my research of other magazines in this area of the market, I have found that almost all of them use a lone model standing against a (usually) white background for their central image on the front cover. 

Preparing for my photoshoot: Costumes and props

 For my photoshoot, I want to use clothes that reflect the indie scene. This typically consists of things like plaid shirts, skinny jeans, beanie hats etc. For this reason, these are the items of clothing I opted for in the photoshoot for the central image of my front cover.
I also chose to include my guitar as a prop, as this is a music magazine. Since I've chosen to use the idea of other indie magazines and use a mid close up shot, I made sure that you could at least still see the fret board of the guitar to give more connotations of what type of magazine it is.

Designing my Masthead

For this design idea, I tried to play on the idea of using a read, black and white colour scheme. Although this colour usage complies with my required colour scheme, I feel that when combined in this way, the red and the black connote too much of an angry, violent tone for the magazine. In order to connote a more calm, friendly, welcoming atmosphere for the magazine I think that using just one colour would be the direction to go in, as opposed to this.

         This idea for a masthead is something that I much prefer for my magazine's style. The white colour would stand out above the central image that would be taking up the majority of the page. It's a colour connotes a calm vibe for the magazine, representing the genre, magazine and followers of each as more friendly, calm people.

This is another rather simplistic idea. The simplicity connotes that the genre as a whole that is covered is stripped back to a minimum, compared to genres like pop, techno etc. Because of the colouring, it would also stand out above the central image well.

Preparing for the photo shoot: Potential models

Emily:

She is 16, and so right at the start of my target audience range. I see her regularly which would make arranging the photo shoot no problem at all, and she can carry the indie style required for my magazine's genre. She represents the target audience, and despite her age looks old enough to let the older readers continue relating and not be put off by a childish image anchored to the magazine's name. She also plays multiple instruments, meaning not only could she be the model, but she could easily provide an interview for the article.

Callan:

He is also 16, and is another person who I could easily arrange a photo shoot with. He has a keen interest in this genre of music and represents the stereotypical image associated with this genre of music., which would make costumes an easy task. He also plays multiple instruments which could lead to him being the focus of my double page spread article.

Shannon:

She is 19, and so she represents the average age of the readers- right in the middle of the target range. I see her daily, so preparing a shoot would be no trouble. When dressed and made up in the type of clothing and make up typical of the type of person reading the magazine, she does have the certain indie look about her, meaning she represents the audience not only in age, but in image too.

Preparing for the photoshoot: shots and angles

One element that I need to focus on and perfect to ensure a successful magazine is the photography used. I intend to find a model who will fit the stereotypical look that represents the genre of the magazine. I will then set up a photo shoot with said model that reflects the general mood of the genre- deep and artsy. During this shoot I intend to experiment with many different camera shots and angles, for example; mid close ups, medium shots, long shots, extreme long shots, and very low angle shots.