Final Shot

I chose this shot because I believe it is a strong shot that shows off the models features. Her angle of gaze is towards the camera tempting them to pick up the magazine. I had to crop some of the photo so that her hair band was not in the shot. The red nail varnish stands out and makes the picture pop a little more. This enabled me to use red as one of my conventional colours,

Magazine masthead decisions

http://www.slideboom.com/presentations/1184606/Masthead 

Above is the link to my slideshow on the decisions behind my masthead, how I came to choosing it and what changes I had to make along the way.

Test Shots

Here is a short video of all the test shots I have taken so far. Some I have decided to use in the magazine however I may need to retake some.

Taking test shots has taught me a lot about the kind of pictures I need and how to take them. The contents page pictures from the lift is an example of this. I experimented with the lift as a back ground however even after I cropped the white frames out of the picture I realised that it wasn't going to work, therefore I won't be using those test shots in my magazine

Shot List

These are some of the shots that I am thinking about when doing my test shots.

Magazine Flat Plans

Front Cover

The feedback I received from others from the same age range was mostly positive and they thought that the use of space was good.

 

Contents Page

 

 

Feedback on the contents page was positive and people liked the way it was spaced out. One person commented on the fact that it was very clear and though there is no information on it yet they could tell that it would be easy to read.

 

Double Page Spread

 

 

My feedback group admitted that it was hard to picture the page at the moment but could see where I was going with the layout. They said that I may have to have more text on the page and the picture should be a little bigger so that the model is covering at least 1/3 of the page. They also mentioned the possibility of having a strip of pictures across the top of bottom of the page so that the page makes readers want to read the text as well as appreciating the main picture.





 

Visual Mood Board

Here are some keywords that work as a mind map for the magazine I will be creating in the next few weeks. These words give a small taste for what my magazine will contain. Words such as 'current' feature in the mood board to hint that the magazine will contain current and up to date music and news. Other words such as 'fashion' highlight that the magazine is a special and will contain a flavour of fashion.

Artist Profile

Survey Analysis

I gave my survey to a range of people aging from 16-18 as this is my target age range.

From the results above I can see that the majority of people who took the survey preferred the Pop genre to the others. When talking to friends about why this maybe the case they admitted that pop music embeds a range of genres into its music making it appeal to a wider audience. These results backed up my reasoning behind picking pop as my magazine genre.

Because of my target audience not being of a working age this question helped me understand how much they are willing to pay. From this I can see that people are more willing to pay for a magazine that is between £0-£2. Therefore I will be choosing my price around this option.

Though initially it is the front cover of a magazine that brings your attention to it, it is the content that makes you buy it. Therefore it is important to get this aspect of the magazine right. I must understand fully what my target audience would like to read about in a magazine. From these results I know that I will be focusing most attention on gossip in the music industry as well as fashion in the music industry as mentioned in the comments section of the survey.

 

 

The front cover holds a lot of importance in whether a person will pick up a magazine or not, therefore I need to focus most of my attention on the aspect that drags the customers attention the most. In this case it is the picture on the front that draws them in the most, because of this I will be focusing a lot on the picture quality, mise-en-scence and the model in the picture.

 

 

For real magazine companies this information is vital as they need to know when it is right to bring out a magazine. Should they produce magazines too often consumers may get bored of the magazine and the company could therefore lose a lot of money. On the other hand under producing could mean that they are missing out on sales should consumers want more magazines. From this information I can see that most people in my audience would buy a magazine once every month. This could be linked to their age range and income.

Music videos

I love how Sia makes her music videos so different to any other seen. Some people would understand this song to be one of a heart broken lover but the video presents it as the love between a father and daughter as she tries to save him from the cage (mental illness) he is in. However, we find that she cannot save him.
This is one of my favourite music videos at the moment because of its gracefulness but at the same time it stands out in its own way. I aim to capture this feature in the front cover of my magazine, meaning that I would like it to have the conventions of a magazine but at the same time stand out in its own way.

Magazine contents page- Interview and discussion

Above is my podcast on magazine contents pages. In the podcast we discuss what it is that drags peoples attention to contents pages.

Reader Profile

Above is my reader profile. It illustrates the kind of person who would read my magazine and works as a detailed representation of my target audience.

Music Magazine Focus Group- Qualitative Research

My focus group on music magazines.
This video contains a brief view of what my target audience think about three different magazine covers as well as the prices they would pay for magazines.

I begin by asking them their names and then say which magazines are present.
I then as them what their favorite music genres are. From their answers you can see that there is a wide range of music tastes in the group which tells me that this age range will vary in what music they listen to. I know that Pop music can incorporate all of the music types mentioned and therefore know that pop music is something they could all relate to.

I asked them which features they felt stood out the most on the magazines understand where I should focus most of my attention. Shamoun said that he liked the photography the most. Therefore the photo I use on the front cover must be of a good quality and be eye catching. Both Shehla and Jasleen commented on the use of colour and liked how certain colours were picked from the picture and used as a feature colour on the cover. This is important to note as when I am taking my shots for the front cover I should have a small amount of a colour that stnads out a little e.g. as nail varnish, jewellery, make up or something in the background (mise-en-scene).

Asking them about the price they would pay for the magazines gave me some indication of the price bracket I will be using. As Shamoun mentioned I have to take into consideration that most of my audience will not be of a working age and the price must therefore be affordable for them.

When asked which is their favorite magazine and why Shehla found that she liked 'Billboard' the best as it had an artist she recognised on the front. This allows her to relate to the magazine further tempting her to buy it. This will benefit me when I am deciding who to use on my front cover. Jasleen and Shamoun like 'Q' magazine as the colours used stood out the most. The main colour used was red which I know already is a conventional colour used on magazine covers. This further tempts me to use red on the front cover of my magazine.

Above are the magazines I used in the focus group, 'Q', 'Billboard' and 'Clash'

Music Magazine Survey- Quantitative Research

To move further with the development of my magazine I will need to know more about my audience and what they like. This survey will help me to understand the basics of my audiences buying habits.

Link to survey here:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3GHR8SC

Genre Research- Pop music

The website for Glogster presentation is:
http://edu.glogengine.com/view/ALMI0lS8ZAFuAE6pJcG1:6jgep70402k75ht61054d84

If video is not playing you can view it here...

This is a Glogster I created to present some of the ideas based around Pop music and give me a flavour for what I could include in my magazine. It also presents some of the key conventions used in Pop, I will use this as a template for what my magazine should look like and contain

Research Rationale

At my sixth form I have access to a large group of students aged between 11 and 18. I will be using this group to my advantage by handing out surveys, questionnaires and interviewing them to find out what magazines they like to read and what they would expect from a magazine.
To be able to analyse my data in the most effective way I will be conducting both qualitative and quantitative data. this way I can statistically analyse the data and have opinions and judgments to back up my analysis.

Through my qualitative and quantitative research I will be able to gain a better understanding of which audience is best suited to my choice of genre. This will help me to determine what colours, fonts, pictures and themes I should use in the magazine as well as what it should contain.


For my quantitative research I will will be using survey monkey. This will allow me to statistically analyse my findings and record them in a way that is easy to present. I will leave space for people to express their opinions and this will work as a little qualitative research as well.
My qualitative research will be done through a video of my focus group and an interview in the form of a podcast. The the video i will be asking three people what they like about front covers of magazines and covering a little on the price they would pay for a magazine. The podcast will be in the form of an interview where I will cover more on the content of a magazine. This will allow me to gain a better understanding of what my audience would like to see in a magazine.

The resources I will be using are survey money, the internet (web 2.0), video camera, microphone and pictures of three music magazine covers.