Task 6 Presentation (Slideshare)

Task 6 presentation from jumanayasmeen123

How my case studies of professional music magazines helped me with my ideas and designs:

My case studies helped me as it made me explore what types of design I want to include in my music magazine and how it relates to the genres furthermore, exploring how it relates to the codes and conventions of my chosen genres. It made me think critically about what type of layout I want as when I was doing my case studies, I realised that layout was an important factor. Most of the layouts on the case studies I done was simple and readable so I tried to make my design similar. Another thing that the case studies helped me to think about was the colours, I discovered that most of the case studies that I explored had a three colour scheme (house style) which enabled me to think about what three colours I wanted to run through all my pages of the music magazine I will be creating. Overall, I would say that the case studies were very helpful in helping me with ideas and designs for my music magazine as it made me think about my audience in depth and also codes & conventions in depth.

Audience profile for my music magazine

Understatement is aimed at the bubbly, girly teenagers and young women. Understatement allows readers to explore and gain knowledge on things like beauty, celebrities, music, style etc... It's about being up to date with what's going on in the 'music and fashion world'. It is a multi-national magazine with a foundation of versatility to suit the acquired females taste. Since it is aimed at the younger generation, there is a lot of social media sites involved to keep up to date with what's going on. The 'understatement' is aimed at a target audience of 16-30 year olds of a working class status. It is aimed at people who enjoy listening to R&B and hip-hop music. The audience's liking should be going on concerts, tours, gigs etc... Their dress sense is up to date- modern, trying to 'fit in with the crowd'. Their hobbies are fashion related and music related and also beauty related. They acquire to be like the famous artists out there and feel inspired by them.

Who is my Publisher?

For my music magazine that I will be creating, the publisher I will be using is IPC media.  I chose IPC media because it publishes a lot of music magazines and this will create a sense of familiarity for the audience. It is UK's most leading consumer magazine publisher. They engage with majority of females which relates to my target audience. IPC has more than 60 iconic brands which suggests their versatility and this is what I want my music magazine to be, versatile so that it attracts a lot of the audience which would not usually choose to opt out on buying a R&B and hip-hop magazine. IPC media is across multiple platforms which is another factor in being versatile as you can tell it is quite an international focused brand. Overall, I would say that IPC media is the well-suited brand for my magazine as it relates to a lot of factors I want to include in my music magazine. 

Drafting the questions to use in my DPS.

My Double Page Spread will include an question and answer style interview. The angle it will be is personal and influential questions to not only inspire but find out a bit of background of the artist so that the readers discover the real side of the artist almost feeling a connection with the artist, in terms of feeling like the audience knows the artists in real life.

The questions I am thinking of using are:
Apart from your music life, what is your everyday life like?
How would you describe yourself?
What would you say your most embarrassing moment is?
What inspired you to pursue music as a career?
What advice would you give to a person that would like to pursue music as a career?
Which artists do you like?
What inspired you to pursue a career in this specific music genre?
Are you thinking of going on tour?
What are your music goals?
How do you feel when you see your music in the charts?

The answers to these questions will possibly be:
Apart from your music life, what is your everyday life like?
Well apart from my music life, I would say this it is pretty normal just like any other person. I am currently in college right now studying A-Levels. I get up in the morning then off to college and then I catch up on my soaps just like any other teenager. However, that's when my music life kicks in, which is an absolute dream as I am leading the normal and glamorous life at the same time.

How would you describe yourself?
I would describe myself as shy- I know shocking considering I am a R&B and hip-hop artist. Underneath the stereotype of an R&B and hip-hop artist, I'm just a shy person with a caring personality, that's about it.

What would you say your most embarrassing moment is?
That's a good question considering the fact that I have a lot. I would probably say falling of stage in front of a lot of people- typical artist problems haha.

What inspired you to pursue a music career?
It's the only thing I am good at. Also, I enjoy seeing people enjoying my talent and hope that they are inspired with what I produce.

What advice would you give to a person that would like to pursue music as a career?
Never give up on your talent, no matter what the media has to say about you. Just stay real and do what you love, forget the haters. I would also say that PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE, after all practice makes perfect.

Which artists do you like?
Well there are so many, but to name a few I would say artists like Jessie J and Drake. I just love their music and think that they are inspiring not only in terms of music but in terms of personality wise.

What inspired you to pursue a career in this specific music genre?
I think that R&B and hip-hop are quite popular genre so I knew that my fans will love what I produce. Also, growing up I used to listen to these genres so as you can tell it beings me back to my childhood memories.

Are you thinking of going on tour?
Of course, I would love to! It would be such a great opportunity! It's what I wanted to ever seen I was a child, it would be a dream come true!

What are your music goals?
Going on tour and making my music international. Also, inspiring people to like this genre and give the genre a good stereotype.

How do you feel when you see your music in the charts?
I cannot even explain. It's just amazing knowing that all your hard work finally paid off. I just feel so grateful that people love what I do because I certainly love what I do!

Flat plan of music magazine

A flat plan is an important part of planning a magazine as it shows where all articles and adverts are laid out and in what order. Without a flat plan, the production director and advertisement director find it hard to know what they are going to include in their magazine and where everything will go. Here is my flat plan of my music magazine:

My flat plan links to the contents page as majority of the things included in my flat plan will be on the contents page with images relating to the flat plan contents. There are about six different categories of content in my flat plan which are: Interviews, Adverts, reviews, posters, gigs and quizzes. I added six different categories so that my music magazine's contents is versatile. I would say that my magazine is both text and image based equally. This task helped me as it gives me a clear view of what I would like to add in my magazine and what types of categories I want to add making the whole process more organised and less time consuming. It also allowed me to explore the different categories in different magazines to suit specific genres. My flat plan reflects my musical genre which is R&B and hip-hop as I have included artists that relate to these genres. 

House style sheets

On the 16th of October, I was creating house style sheets for my music magazine. This is what my magazine will look like with a possibility of a few changes if preferred. Here are the house style sheets:

                                                 

Using the studio (Photography)

On the 20th of October, I was taking notes on how to use the studio. Here are the notes:
-White backdrop
-5 to 6ft from backdrop (Model)
-When taking a photograph switch the room light off
-Flasheads (Trinity)
-3 set ups
-Tighten Flasheads when adjusting
-Back of Flasheads (On/Off button, test (dumping the flash)
-Musical Icon ( beeps (taking photos))
-Lowest setting of light is 1.0 (In terms of flash- goes up to 6.0)
-GoDox on top of the flashead (on/off push it across) ( Push it to flash to on it)
-GoDox is the link between the camera and flasheads
-Main/key light
-Fil Light (Knock out the shadow on the side of the face)
-Hair Light/ Separation light (Draws the model from the backdrop so it does not look flat)
-Three to one lighting ratio
-Soft boxes on to of flasheads
-Snoot
-Camera (DSLR) (Nikon D700)
- 2 card memory slot (After doing shoot, download them)
-Back of the camera (look through view finder)
-Shutter black one
-Play button icon (top left) to view the images
-A and S (settings) S=Shutter A=Aperture (back of the head and determines how much to want to focus)
-18 to 105 (lens)
-When it is on A, it is on Automatic
-M is Manual (Doesn't beep)
-Grip molud your hands to hold the camera properly
-Reflectors (Gold circles- Gives a warm tone, glow) (White circles- bounces light back)
- Changing settings (Menu, icons down camera, set picture control)

Magazine proposal

On the 16th of October, I made a magazine proposal for my music magazine that I will be creating, here's what I came up with:

Title of my publication: Understatement. I want to call my music magazine understatement as it is short, simple and fresh. 

 My chosen musical genres (s): R&B and hip-hop, I chose this because these genres are well-known and also very popular.These genre also include intricate music beats.

Content I will include: Interviews, the charts. Artists would be people like Jessie J and so on in terms of their fashion and their biographies. My magazine will be different as my contents will have a variety and versatile topics.

Design features: My magazine’s masthead will be in bold and a simple font, this is because in my task 2 case studies none of the masthead was fancy and the masthead was professional and simple however they did stand out. I will be using a colour scheme which is the three colour scheme which will be colours such as red, black and white, I chose these colours as they are quite formal with a mix of informal and also I think that these colours will look sophisticated. The lettering will be very simple to give my magazine a professional look and to give it a serious style.

Target audience: My target audience will be teenagers and young adults because I will be using young ‘artists’ however the mode of address will be formal with a mix of informal. Formal being the main mode of address. Gender will be females as it would be quite a girly magazine. Social class will be lower/working class as I am going to include artists that worked their way up to make my magazine inspirational. From my research in Task 2, I discovered that the artists included in the magazines worked their way up.

Who might publish my magazine: IPC media, I chose IPC media because it publishes a lot of music magazine and this will create a sense of familiarity for the audience. It is UK's most leading consumer magazine publisher. They engage with majority of females which suits my target audience. 

Magazine newsstand task/ distribution of magazines (Planning)

This shop had a lot of magazines to sell. As you can see there is a variety of magazines on offer. As you can tell that they are all evenly spread out so that everything that needs to be on show is on show and also so that it looks neat. The front of every row is clearly visible and you can see the front cover, this is probably because these are the main important magazines and also maybe are the magazines that will catch the audience's attention. What is weird about this magazine stand is that with most of the magazine you can only see the Masthead and this is weird because back in the olden days, there was a specific rule in which the employers had to use a ruler to measure out specific centimeters from the width and this shows the top bit which is the masthead. Which suggests that the magazines at the front are in fact the most important. 

Distribution methods:

Publishers are the institutions that produce the magazine. Circulation figures help publishers to plan how many issues to produce and distribute.Sale or return, which means that if the newsagent/ supermarket have not sold magazine they can send them back to the distributor. This means that the people selling the magazines do not loose any money. However, this is risky for the distributor as they risk loosing money.Online publishing where you can read articles online though subscription or sometimes even free. Distribution networks are when magazines are taken into lorries to regional distributors, who then move the magazines on to the shops newsstand. The main shops where magazines are sold are supermarkets or newsagent. Freemiums- direct distribution are when magazines are free, they make their revenue from advertising. Subscription-postal/electronic this is when subscribers subscribe to a magazine at a heavily discounted price. Ezines are electronic versions of a magazine, with similar features such as pages that can be turned, adverts, page numbers. These Ezines are usually free. Many magazines now have smartphone or iPad apps with some or all the contents available in the hard copy of the magazine. Electronic brand extension, most magazines extend their brand with an online presence. 

Audience feedback and evaluation- preliminary task/ college magazine (Planning)

 Media Preliminary task evaluation

Photography: Photography was one of my strengths as the pictures I took was clear and bright. I think that I positioned the images very well as in the front cover, the image I used was positioned right in the middle. When I took the front cover picture, I took it against a red wall background which saved me time when I was working on my magazine as I did not have to change the background. I made sure that the photography was the main focus on the magazine as it attracts the audience. However, I think that I didn’t use enough images to follow the conventions of a real professional magazine.

Image manipulation: I did not really need to manipulate my images because they were of a high standard. However, I did have to make the person on the front cover bigger in which I had to be careful to make sure I have not pixelated the image which would not look professional. The contents page image did not have to be manipulated as I wanted to stay the way it was however I had to make the image bigger. However, to improve this I should have manipulated the image so that the magazine looked of a high standard.

Page layout: I think that the page layouts on my college magazine was neat and readable and I made sure I thought about where everything was going to go, the college magazine outlines that I made beforehand was very helpful as I stuck to it. I tried to follow the conventions of a college magazine by having a masthead at the top, date, main coverlines in bigger fonts and the normal coverline in a smaller font to show the importance of each coverline. However, I think that I lacked in the contents as it does not look as neat and professional as it should.

Masthead: I found it hard to find a simple font that looked sophisticated. However, I kept and looking for a font that is simple and bold. I put the Masthead at the top so that it stands out and also I made sure that my front cover image of a student was quite low to ensure that the font of the Masthead does not contrast with the image of the student.

Colours: I used the three colour scheme in my magazine which was red, yellow and orange. I felt that all these colour where bright so that it catches the readers eyes. I stuck to a three colour scheme as most professional magazines have a three colour scheme so that the magazine looks sophisticated and simple.

I think that creating the college magazine helped me become more knowledgeable in using Photoshop and InDesign. I learned how to change the fonts, manipulate the images, and change the colours.

The audience feedback I got for the college magazine was “For improvement, you should consider using a different layout for your contents page and start with the sub-heading "Features" and then move into the detail in the contents page.  For the front cover, you should focus again on the layout and when giving quotes which are going to be in the magazine, state the page number”. I found this audience feedback very useful as if I was to add these improvements, my magazine would look more professional and follow the conventions. Stating the page number is vital as it finishes of the look of a magazine and also yet again follow the conventions of a professional magazine.

What do I need to improve on?

One of the things I would say I need to improve on is I need to work on finding the right fonts to make the magazine look more professional and also stand out without looking too scattered.

Three key points for development when producing the main task (music magazine):
One of the key points I would say is that I should take a variety of pictures to include in my magazine. The second point I would say, make sure I follow the conventions of a music magazine i.e. add in a certain genre i.e. with the colour. The third point I would say is that I need to make improvements on my contents page by thinking and planning a suitable layout.

Audience feedback

On the 9th of October, I was getting feedback from the people in my class on my college magazine. The comments are written where I uploaded my college magazine in the post below.

Preliminary Task: LSC Magazine

 Today, I was working on my college magazine which I completed today. I had to create a front cover which was I created on Photoshop and a front cover which I created on InDesign. Here are the final pieces:

What I did on the 3rd of October:

Today I was working on the preliminary task which is to create a college front cover and contents page. I completed my front cover on Photoshop.

What I did on the 2nd of October:

On the 2nd of October, I was taking pictures of what I want to include in my college magazine and upload the pictures on the computer.

Audience and institution (Media Press Packs/ Media Kits) UPDATED

I had to look at Media Press Packs for my chosen genre and annotate the Media Press Packs. Here are the annotations:

Vibe Media Kit:

               

The producer of Vibe is Quincey Jones which was launched in 1993. Vibe has subscription (Cross media) on this website: http://www.newsstand.co.uk/555-Urban-Music-Magazines/5313-Subscribe-to-VIBE-Magazine-Subscription.asp where it allows you to order how many vibe magazine you want. From this research, I can tell that Vibe is a magazine which targets loud bubbly personalities and also up to date 'Vibe is for the strong beautiful women of colour in this new century'. Also, vibe is inspired a lot by fashion 'by looking at what' going on in the world and on the runaway'. Furthermore, Vibe is a music magazine that has a strong foundation on inspiring their audience 'VIBE VIXEN gives readers a lens through which they can view our time, and gain knowledge and information about beauty, health, celebrities, music, style, mean, life – that they can trust'. 

NME Media Kit:

Advertising: 

• Group Advertising Director Romano Sidoli (ext 3681)

• PA to Group Advertising Director Kelly Litten (ext 2621)

• Head of Market, Music Titles Andrew Minnis (ext 4252)

• Brand Manager Matthew Chalkley (ext 6722)

• Digital Business Director Chris Dicker (ext 6709)

• Display Ad Manager Stephane Folquet (ext 6724)

• Live & Labels Senior Sales Executive Emma Martin (ext 6705)

• Head Of Project Management Elizabeth Hempshall (ext 6726)

• Director Of Insight Amanda Wigginton (ext 3636)

• Regional Business Development Manager Oliver Scull(01618722152)

• Ad Production Laurie King (ext 6729)

• Classified Sales Manager Laura Andrus (ext 2547)

• Classified Sales Executive Tom Spratt (ext 2611)

• Classified Ad Copy Rosanne Hannaway (ext 2506), Tom Coelho (ext 2672)

• Syndication Manager Lucy Cox (ext 5483)

• Subscriptions Marketing Executive Gemma Burnie (ext 6304)

                                Publishing:                     

Group Production Manager Tom Jennings
Production Controller Lisa Clay

Marketing Assistant Charlotte Treadaway (ext 6779)
International Editions Bianca Foster-Hamilton (ext 5490)
Publisher Ellie Miles (ext 6775)
Publishing Director Jo Smalley
PA to Publishing Director Zoe Roll (ext 6913)

From the NME press pack, I discovered that the media kit is mainly about advertising i.e. advertising rates rather than what type of audience the magazine targets. NME has an online subscription on their website. They also have a new sister site: http://www.nme.in/. There also used to be a NME TV which was their music channel which was closed in 2012 because of replacements. 


Media kits/ press packs help advertisers as it gives an overview of the magazines target audience and also things like prices so that it is easier for the advertiser to know whether or not the magazine is suited to them. The pictures included in media kits/ press packs mainly is a representation of the magazines target audience. 

Research/ case studies of real music magazines (UPDATED)

I had to pick a genre for my music magazine which is R&B and I had to carry out research into magazines of this genre. I chose Vibe and NME. Here are the annotations: