• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I belive that my magazine is similiar to a magazine like gq or nme. Its about "music..life..style". A print production company might distribute the magazine, one recognisable to lift it off the ground. due to the toughness of the market place a big company would need to be involved to guarantee a sucsessful print production company. This company would need to have links with the music business to be able to advertise easily ect. a media institution involved in the music buisness already could give the magazine tips on upcoming artists to feature to give them good resources and background knowlege. exclusive and photoshoots will be easier to book with a hand in the music buisness already and the magazine would be able to meet contacts in higher places through this institution. Background resources through institutions such as internet, Tv and newspapers could alsways be a possibility to enhance or even expand the media product, therefore reaching more of an audience by placing it on a broader spectrum to reach out to people.

• How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In my media project i have planned to focus on a particular social group for my magazine, this being pop music lovers. I had to think about the clothes my models would be wearing, the genre of music they represent and the style and layout of the magazine to represent my target aimed social group to attract them to buy it. Firstly my model on the front cover is stylishly dressed, abit eccentric with the oversized gold necklaces and the waistcoat shirt combo which would easily be seen at pop concerts alike. The features listed down the side give off that its a popular music magzine by featuring the top 100 albums you know its a generalized magazine due to its broad spectrum. By calling it one way i aimed it at the younger 14-mid 30's age group as the title sounds fresh and funky giving it a young vibe for the middle class generation. The contents page is filled with pictures of bands and model shot singers giving it that teenage girl vibe which has proved very popular in the music magazine industry.

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of realmedia products?

Throught this project i have kept to the same stylistic principles as that of authentic print production magazines. Through my research i was able to gather the background infomation and principles of the conventions of media texts in order to replicate and personalize into my own ideas and designs. In this project i have used many conventions that can be seen throughout todays media print works. In the Front cover i have used a bold, stand out masthead that is the ideal of all print productions. A strong image is the centerfold of the front cover and is the main attraction of the front page. By using an attractive girl, its eye catching and graps readers attention. I got my model to look at the camera in order to interact with the camera in a sense so that her eyes are cleary visible giving off interaction. The image overlaps the title which is used throughout magazines monthly, a good example of this is FHM as the logo is clearly world renowned and therefore everybody recognises it as FHM just by the little bit of font on show. Ive used different ways to show the main features of the magazine by using circles which FHM also do and + signs to give readers the sense of "WOW theres more" i.e they think theyre getting more for their money. 

In the contents page i had the tile in the top left hand corner, leaving more room to showcase special features onto the page. I used a red and white colourway to produce the title in as i believe it to be the two best striking colours and is used in everyday media marketing such as coca cola as the colours are eye catching and vivid. I cut out a guitair and overlapped the title a little in the corner to give it that quirky vibe and to stopm the page from looking to boxy and simplistic. I found that in most magazines a slogan was produced on the contents page aswell and therefore used a black liner heading underneath to showcase my slogan giving it that proffessional outlook. By doing so this gave me three predominant colours to choose from when designing my contents page, a habit that magazine pages have to keep the page looking professional yet simplistic and attractive. This therefore is the approach i have used in order to create a neat looking page. i have also kept the same font variations evident throughout the page, using the same font for my number pages as my contents title, this gives the page some order. i created boarders for the pictures to go under creating a break up from the white background, this also uses up more space and gives the picture more meaning, something that NME use in their contents page. This effect works well and i kept in conjunction with the colourways that i chose to use. I then boxed out a features column where the main features and others are listed with a short description keeping writing to a minimum therefore placing more focus on the outlook and pictures of the contents page, a general convention for mainstream magazine covers alike.

The double page spread starts off with a large titles again, yet this time i have centered it rather than aligning it to the left. As its a band name i wanted it to create the effect of almost headlining a gig on a music poster. I used a stencil type font to create the title to symbolise stamping their name on the music world, a trait most magazines following by using puns or play on words to symbolise different meanings. I used a black background due to the genre of the music, predominantely being rock music, therefore giving the readers a sense of what they represent. Using red heightens the black and creates a sort of old school punk rock effect vibe which i thought related to the band perfectly. I wrapped the text accordingly around an image i placed in the bottom left hand corner to create a less formal page, i wanted tis image to represent a scruffy look and feel, i placed a white lining around the image to give off the view that it had been glued down to take the page away from its formal state. I stuck with white and red for the text throughout to give a sense of order on the page with the red representing the questions being asked and white the answers. The picture i chose to take up the whole of the other page, magazine features are becoming more like this way as its easier to read and view from a readers point of view. As it splits up the page and therefore doesnt become too cramped and sore on the eyes, this was something i wanted to go for on my contents page but didnt feel it worked for a double page spread. The picture i edited to black and white creating the flag colourful to translate to "the cream of the british crop" therefore recognizing to audiences this is a british band. Also it ties in nicely with the colourways on show therefore blending in well. i feel the blackness of the photo makes it blend in smoothly with the background on the other page a common theme ive found in magazines in the past.

Production of The Main Task

Double page spread

For my double page spread i focussed on a band feature, using one of my brothers friends bands, a well know band called The Dirty Trades in jersey. I wanted to gather natural shots yet not at a big concert, for one this was hard to do and arrange and i felt that it showed the nitty gritty of being in a band. And thats what i would base the article around, up and coming artists and about the hard work and dedication a band would have to put to get into a well-known music magazine. This picture wasnt one that i felt was right for a main picture yet i thought the frontman, Chapman was caught in a good light and you can see his passion for the music and the energy that his putting in to his singing.

i found a really good font called stencil standard which was just the font i had in mind. It gives it a western feel that sort of looks as if its been stamped on. I opted for a black background and went for a red font colour as it gives i a more rock and roll feel to it. The colourways run throughout the page as found in analysing double page spreads for my planning design work. I believe the fancy font that reads "starring" works well in contrast to the purposely bland "Dirty Trades" title. 

Here is the end product masthead i lassooed out a guitair to incorporate it into the title to give it a rock and roll feel. On the page i decided to interview Tyrone Chapman the frontman of the band and terefore used a handwriting font to write starring which looks like a movie type picture. I gave the article feature a sub title .. cream of the british crop to incorporate the bands britisness as its a universal magazine therefore giving americans and those alike an idea of where they come from. 

This photo i think works extremely well i duplicated it on photoshop then adjusted the saturation of it and then using rubber i rubbed over the british flag to reveal the coloured version behind it. this proves powerful in the final piece and really stand out against the black background placed against. Ive created the band to say theyve just broke into the record charts therefore i took the shots at rehersals to give off a real love for the music. This photo incorporates passion for music and for their country.

I also lassooed the same lad who featured on the front of the magazine, Tyrone Chapman who the article focusses on. I tidies up the lassoo job with a combination of magic wand and the rubber tool in order to gain that glue cut out stick on effect that i wanted to set the page out. I incorporated him on the side to wrap the text around polishing the proffesional finish t0 the magazine.

Production of the Main Task

Contents Page

At first i tried a text that would stand out from the norm, having created it and seeing the final outcome i decided not to use it as it didnt work well with a white background and that what i wanted as the background for the contents page. It also didnt fit into context in what i thought its purpose was for. It was too snazzy and didnt work well with my simplistic ideas of a basic contents page. I felt that i should experiment nonetheless through trial and error to see what works best and what doesnt.

For one of the pictures i had i decided to make something different and brand it as an exclusive, something that i often saw when researching into similiar media texts. These types of words are commonly used in mainstream magazines for example, Heat and Ok these are used as puns to gather the audiences attention and that was my intentions for it to attract the audience to a big feature. This breaks things up from looking plain and dull and adds abit of house style to the creativity.

Putting it on a slant allowed me to be able to "brand" the photograph and its feature making it look realistic and adding to the overall house style of the magazine. By overlapping it with the picture and raterizing the layer it was able to fit nicely in the corner to give off a sense it was a big photoshoot exclusive article which i thought worked out to its advantages.

I decided to cut out a friend from a picture using magnetic lasoo and used it on a small scale to place underneath a basic heading titled Summer festival Special as its a relaxed pose and gives off the feeling of being chilled which is what the summer festival season is all about.. relaxing. And as i stated on my front cover, summer edition it was right to get some summer representation in to my piece, and with a feature being listed as festival guides i thought it was fitting. By zooming in i was able to magic wand and blur effectively in order for it to blend in and not appear to sharp on the contents page. 

Here is the final piece .. i used the shape tool and drew a box then rotated it and place two thumbnail images over to mix things up in the way the features where presented. As you can see the exclusive sign works well with the picture that i edited on photoshop .. using the magnetic lasoo tool again to select what i wanted the switched up the gradient of the background and used the lighting effects tool to in effect place a vision of a sun shining. I took inspiration from the gq magazine that i really liked when i researched my media texts .. opting out of the descion in my planning to split the page in half horizontally for pictures and text as it looks better this format blended into one.

Production Of The Main Task

Front Cover

This is the image that i have decided upon for my main image of the front cover. Using one of my friends as a model and using the coinciding schools photography booth this was the end product. I tried to capture many a pose but thought that this stood out as it says attitude and power, something a musical artist nowadays has to obtain to survive. 

Using the magnetic lassoo tool on Adobe Photoshop i was able to select Emily herself out of the photo, therefore leaving me to decide what background i could opt for. I then used magic wand to touch up the fin details around her hair ect to get that perfect model look when finalised.

This it the finished title ive opted for, creating two layers of text by duplicating the writing to add a sort of 3d visual effect. I think it works well with the one going down the side and is small an compact so doesnt need too much room yet could easily stand out.

At this stage i had to raterize the title layer and i applied the magic wand tool so that just the writing stuck out with the blue gradient background that i chose.

I created a seperate font to back up the picture of emily, giving her the artist name of ciara, putting gradient overlay and inner shadow on it gave it a 3d goldy effect that matched well with the jewrellery.

This is the finished product, i used custom shape tool to create the circles and squares adding text over it to mix up how the features of the magazine were displayed. The colours all work well with each other keeping thoughout.

Planning of magazine Production

Here are my plans to design my music magazine publication. with these designs ive used the knowlege that i have gained from researching into similiar media texts and also the preliminary task to aid me with my planning. 

Front Cover

Here i have used my new found infomation on the codes and conventions of a front cover layout and have incorporated some of these ideals into my own designs. As im not know for my art skills i have used photoshop to block out the rough markings for where i want things to be positioned. As always the title takes center stage at the top, i havent decided to go all the way across the page as i feel my title "One Way" would be abit of a stretch and most magazines such as FHM take up roughly the same amount of room as ive drawn out, leaving space for barcodes and price tags in the upper left hand corner. Having a slogan underneath adds to the advertisement of the magazine and i feel there it can be cleary seen due to the attention the title brings. Ive chosen to have my main picture overlapping my title as it shows that the publication is a recognisable brand therefore i would want to incorporate that into my magazine and it gives it some house style quirkiness about it. I opted for a secondary image also to back up a feature that would be advertised alongside the primary picture. I want the text to overlap the image in some parts neccessary so that the main image isnt segregated too much from the rest of the page.

Contents Page

I wanted the contents page to be crammed with information about whats in the magazine. Through my research ive found that most contents pages use this technique to showcase their magazine as being full to the brim with features and articles. The contents title will be cleary mastheaded at the top of the page aligned to the left to give it a sophisticated approach instead of having it bang in the center. Im opting for 5 or so pictures to fill the space down at the bottom with page number references beside them. I want them to be varying in size, width and height so that theyre mixed up yet keeping them in a smart outlook. I decided to split the page into two the top half belonging to the features that are in the magazine this gives it a larger space to clearly state what articles are beneath the pages of the magazine. Although there is a big space to fill im going to use large fonts for the headings of the features and a short summary of what the features about lasting about 2 small lines taking up a 1/4 of the page.

Double Page Spread 

For my double page spread ive decided to opt for something that i didnt see when researching the codes and conventions of an article spread. Ive decided to use the background of the A3 page as an image taken. This image will have to be not too noisy as such to allow for a white font to be cleary visible. This may require adding shadow to images using Adobe Photoshop so that a white text will stand out backed on a black canvas. I also want to apply the feature title over the image aswell so that the image is basically the center stage of the article, therefore it needs to relate to the text well.