Question Two: How does you media product represent particular social groups?

I decided that to capture a particular social group house music lovers I would have to use colours that are identified with clubs and raves. These involved bright colours against bold colours such as black and white which I found out by researching rave images:

I decided upon a bright purple and black gradient which goes from black in the right hand corner to a bright purple in the bottom left had corner. This gave my front cover a rave/party vibe which is associated with DJ/house music.

I took a wide range of images and experienced with different photographs for my front cover and contents page then measured which image looked best for my genre of music.
For my front cover I wanted to use an image that gave attitude and related to my social group. I did this by making my coverstar swear whilst using her DJ equipment and staring straight into the camera. This may cause a connection between the reader and artist.

I used an image of a young adult drinking and smoking at T Festival last year. I decided to use this image in my contents page as it relates to my music genre specific social group. This is due to the fact that most people at raves/parties drink and smoke.

The language that I have used throughout my music magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread, I tried to keep as informal as possible. This is due to the fact that it may appeal to more of a younger audience. As house/DJ music is a manly young music genre (mostly listened to by teenagers and young adults) it makes sense to make my magazine as informal as possible without crossing the line into incomprehensible. This further presents that I have tried to incorporate my targeted social group in all aspects of my magazine.

Question Three: What kind of institutions might distribute your media product and why?
Originally researched magazines distributions: MixMag The editor of MixMag is called Nick Decosemo and is published by Development Hell ltd. Development Hell Ltd also publishes another magazine called The Word which is focused at an older audience. The first issue of MixMag was published by Development Hell Ltd on the 1st February 1983. The sell approximately 21,250 copies a year. Originally researched magazines distributions: DJ Mag DJ Mag is an English magazine, producing one copy a month and is dedicated to electronic dance music. The first issue was in 1991 and since June 2010 it has started to be translated to other language, such as Italian and Portuguese. The magazine is edited by Ben Murphy and has recently started to be distributed by Thrust Publishing. Before that it was distributed by itself under the name of DJ Mag publishing while the magazine was still small and on a low scale.

Other big media distribution industries IPC Media is UK's leading consumer magazine publisher, founded in 1958. IPC Media publishes all different types of magazines across the UK, including music magazines, such as: NME and Uncut.

Bauer Media Group is Europes largest privately owned publishing Group. The Group is a worldwide media empire offering over 300 magazines in 15 countries (including KERRANG and Q), as well as online, TV and radio stations.

I would like Bauer Media Group to distribute my magazine because they currently dont distribute any electro dance/house music magazines, only rock, indie and pop. Also, I think they would have better distribution to read my media product to a mass market rather than a small scale audience. I believe there is a gap in the magazine industry for a popular dance/house magazine as at the moment most popular music magazines consist of other genres. Another reason for picking Bauer media would give my magazine a bigger budget to play with and therefore my magazine would be able to attract more people with incentives: good competition prizes and free giveaways. Also, most magazines published by Bauer (such as Q) have their own radio stations and websites. This would be a great advantage for my magazine as it would mean I would be able to address more possible consumers such as people who are unlikely to buy a music magazine until hearing the magazines radio station.

Question Four: who would the audience be for your media product and why?
I have designed my magazine for the younger generation (teens/young adults). I have presented this clear through my magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread.

I used a coverline that would relate to the younger generation - CREAMFIELDS can you spot yourself? As festivals are mostly attended by a younger generation this coverline would cause young adults to be interested in the content of the magazine. I used an upcoming DJ Annie Ford as this would most appeal to the younger generation as it makes my magazine easy to relate to due to the fact that my coverstar is young. I also made sure to use an upcoming artist as it may cause other small DJs who want to get into the music industry to read my magazine to learn hints and tips on how to rise to fame. I also made my coverstar keep eye contact with the camera and to give the image attitude finger swearing. I did this so that it would give my front cover attitude easily relatable to the younger generation.

When making my magazine I had to take price into consideration due to my magazine being aimed at young adults which may also be students suggesting they may not have a lot of money to spend on magazines. I chose a fair price of 3.50 which I believe is reasonable for the quality of magazine.

When writing my content I tried to use articles that would pull a younger generation. This included things such as the Leeds and T line up. These mostly aim at the younger generation as they are more likely to attend the festivals in the summer when they are off college/university. I also used large names such as David Guetta which most young adults who would want to read a house/DJ music magazine would rave over. I used young artists so that the reader could relate to the artist easily when reading their article.

On my double page spread, as my audience wont necessarily have a career path I wanted to use a successful upcoming artist to inspire young adults to get involved in the music industry. However, for those who just enjoy techno and house music I have given information to where you can listen to the artists music. This mostly consists of YouTube which may be more enticing for a younger audience as internet is part of their everyday life and YouTube can be accessed on a mobile. This also gives the reader an alternative source of information about the artist.

Question Five: How did you attract/address your audience?

For my skyline banner I used my magazines logo LET LOOSE IN THE MUSIC, LOSE YOURELF IN THE DANCE to show my reader straight from the first look that my magazine is a dance music magazine. I used a gradient on the background including the colours bright purple and black. I used this so that my magazine is bright and eye catching for the reader. It also makes my magazine appeal to both genders. The bright colours suggest a party atmosphere which I am trying to express to the reader. I made sure that I included the date, price and issue number of my magazine as this is a legal requirement found on all magazines. I used the gradient tool when creating my masthead (magazine name) DOPE. I used the colours red/orange and green as they are reggae/contrasting colours which ties in with my dance music theme. I made sure that my coverstar was looking directly into the camera. This is so that the coverstar has eye contact with the reader which creating a connection between the artist and the reader. This entices the reader to buy the magazine to learn about the coverstar. I also made sure that I showed the artist using her DJ kit as it straight away makes it clear to the reader that this magazine is for an audience that enjoys dance music. I included an incentive in the bottom left corner of my magazine. I put this in a circular reggae puff with black writing so it would stand out to the audience.

I made sure to include a barcode as it is a legal requirement for all magazines.

I used subheadings such as CREAMFIELDS can you spot yourself? and EXCLUSIVE D. GUETTA interview. By using buzz words such as EXCLUSIVE it draws the reader in and makes them more interested in buying and reading the magazine. By using white text with a black stroke it made my text stand out against the background.

When creating my contents page I wanted to use a similar colour scheme to my front cover. I made sure to make my masthead a reggae green and red while the colours bright and the writing clear and easy to read in either black or white. I used a neutral background colour (grey) so that each colour would stand out nicely and pull the reader into the page wanting to read more. I used the colours red and pink for big names and buzz words which I included in my contents page. I did this so that the audience attention would be caught by the bold and bright lettering making the audience want to read on. I made sure to include page numbers for each article so it would be easy for the reader to locate certain articles they are interested in. I included five main images on my contents page which I edited and changed using Photoshop vibrance, hue and saturation, blending options and opacity. For each subheading I used a different image that related to the heading. Next to TECH I used an image of mixing software on a normal computer and next to the heading DOPE SAYS I used an image of an attractive girl drinking beer as it would be interesting for the reader.

I used the Buzz Word EXCLUSIVE to make the page appealing to the audience. I put this text on the left hand corner of the page as it is the first thing the reader will notice with flicking through the magazine. This will entice the audience to read the article and get to know the artist. I used a kicker to start my article off. The kicker gives information to the reader about the artist, therefore giving the audience an inside view to what the article is about. I made sure my kicker made it appealing to the audience using words such as up and coming

For my double page spread I used an image background. I changed the colour level on the image so that it would make the image look bright and unique to the page. I t also gives colour and contrasts the white main text. I made sure that the artist was looking directly into the camera to create eye contact for the reader. This images, I believe, gives my double page spread a professional look as the edit works well against the surrounding text. I included a pull quote on the right hand corner saying from now Im only going up. This draws in the readers attention. I also made the text white to contrast the green and I used the barcode font from Da Font to give my double page spread a unique feel.

I used the drop cap Q to separate each question. I also used different colour text for when the interviewer was speaking (PINK) and when the artist was speaking (WHITE). This made the interview neatly set out and easy to read for the audience. I used the colours black, white and pink as they all contrast between the green background and stand out. I made sure to use pink as this is a constant colour throughout my magazine.

Question Six: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this project?
Softwares PowerPoint Photoshop Word Quark Apps/Websites: Prezzi Scribd Da Font Slide share Blogger Hardware PC (dell) DSLR Cannon D500 Apple Mac DSLR Cannon D500: I used the cannon D500 DSLR to take all my photos for my whole magazine, including my front cover, contents page, and double page spread. I then edited these photos on software such as Adobe Photoshop, using tools like blur to blend in the edges of the cutting out I did using the pen tool. I also used a liquefied filter to enlarge eyes, and fix hair etc.. I also changed the hue, saturation, vibrance and colour levels by using the adjustment section in my tool bar. Bloat tool Pen Tool

Blur tool QuarkXPress: On quark I was able to develop my writing skills. I did the main body text for both my double page spread and contents page using Quark. I was able to make columns link so that when I had finished one column it would automatically move to the next. Da Font: I used DA Font to install and use different text fonts in which best suited the style of my magazine. I would install these fonts onto my Quark and Photoshop. For my magazine I used the fonts from Da Font Barcode Font and Tiesto. I used these as it gave my magazine a unique twist for the audience. I used Tiesto for my front cover masthead and I used the barcode font for my double page spread quite. Here are the fonts:

Question Seven: Looking back at your Prelim task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
When I had finished my media product, I went back to the Preliminary task which I did at the start of the year to see how I have learnt and improved. When doing the preliminary task I (and the whole class) was unfamiliar with the softwares we were using such as Photoshop and Quark. However, when making our final designs for the media product I feel I had got more familiar to the software's I was going to be using and could use them effectively. Also, time was a large contribution to the success of my designs compared to my prelim task. For my preliminary task we were given limited time to get the work complete while for the final media product designs we were given a longer period of time to complete all our products (including our double page spread and contents page.)
When making my music magazine front cover I developed my understanding of image editing. I used things such as hue and saturation, vibrane and colour levels. This is shown when looking back at my preliminary task as the coverstar is more profound on my music magazine rather than my college. I developed my text skills by learning how to use the blending option to the best of my ability using stroke and drop shadows.