Final Double Page Spread

Final Contents Page

Final Cover

Conclusion

I'm proud of how the final product has turned out.

From the preliminary task to end, there's been a variety of skills which have been picked up and 'Techno Beat' is a suitable magazine for the target audience.  I think the front cover will attract my audience, the main image and layout work well in the final version and follow the codes and conventions of magazine layout.  The fonts and photography suit the genre too.  The contents page and double page spread also follows the codes and conventions well too and by making the adjustments from the initial draft I think they work well and there's overall a professional style.  As part of the final blog posts, I will upload the cover, contents page and double page spread.

Research into Institutions

The first institution I looked at is IPC Media. It's the UK's leading consumer magazine and digital publisher, so digital distribution would be easier, in terms of distributing the magazine across different platforms. It publishes magazines from a variety of different categories, including Lifestyle, Sport & Leisure and Young Men & Music, showing the different audiences it targets. NME is one of the music magazines they own and is quite an iconic brand, growing into a large multi-platform media proposition and proving IPC Media are committed to representing different genres of magazines, making them a good potential publisher for my Techno Beat music magazine. The other music magazine they publish is Uncut, who target retro music fans and a more niche market showing IPC Media represent different tastes.

NME: The design of the cover looks to be aimed at mainstreamers, and targeting people aged 16-24, a suitable example of a magazine that proves IPC might be a good choice.

Uncut's cover stays true to the philosophy of the magazine of keeping knowledgable music fans who grew up on the classic rock of sixties and seventies up to date with music that connects them to this music.

Different publishing houses can be interested in different magazine genres as for example Bauer Media Group operate in 15 countries worldwide and own a wide variety of magazines, making them a dominant force in the publishing industry.  This may make some publishing groups try and distinguish themselves by publishing magazines that range across different genres or specialisms. Bauer Media Group sell around 38 million magazines a week, among these some of the best music publications including Q - a well known music brand.  My aim for Techno Beat is for it to garner a large audience, so Bauer Media Group with it's size and distribution could be ideal..

Some publishing institutions also like to design their own identity, an example being Warners Group Publications who offer specialist publishing services for niche magazines and are a family-run organisation. They make a profit of over £30 million a year and their publishing services extend beyond magazines. Warners Group Publications represent the interests of their target audiences by ranging across genres ranging from Active Outdoor to Building & Construction, helping to support magazines that have a smaller, niche audience. They wouldn't be suitable for Techno Beat as the aim is for it to try and gain a large following. They do have one music magazine in their portfolio - the "Pianist" which teaches people how to play the piano.

Example of a genre that Warner Group Publications publish:

Railway modelling is a very niche genre and this proves Warners Group Publications might not be the most applicable publishing group for Techno Beat.

Pianist is a music magazine, but it teaches people how to play piano, and piano isn't to everyone's taste, so Warners Group Publications wouldn't necessarily be able to market Techno Beat as "Pianist" is the only music magazine they own.

Of the institutions I have looked at both Bauer and IPC would have been suitable choices as they have experience in publishing music magazines but Techno Beat would fill a gap in their portfolio.  A publisher such as Warners Group Publications wouldn't be suited as their specialism is niche markets and not mass market.  They represent interests of the audience in different ways and are interested in different niche genres for different reasons.

Evaluation 7 : From preliminary task to full product - what I have learnt

From the preliminary task to the end of the main task, I have learnt how to use different programs, such as Photoshop and InDesign and how to utilise their various features. There’s been a variety of skills picked up and developed along the way, including understanding tools in Photoshop like Eyedropper which allows you to as an example to copy a colour and drag it onto another layer. InDesign was a new program that I had never used before, so it was a skill in learning how to operate it and has given me a confidence boost in adjusting to new programs.

I have learnt a lot about the different uses of fonts and how they can catch the eye. Framing photographs in the right position was something important which I discerned, as they have to fit within the overall context, work with the text around them and catch the eye of the reader.  

Ensuring Techno Beat’s cover, contents page and double-page spread look professional was necessary, so I did research into covers and contents pages and the outcome was having experience in knowing what the forms and conventions are and using that knowledge to work on my preliminary talk to improve it. An example is the convention for a cover having the model photographed in close up or a head and shoulders shot, and a form is a pug, which are either at the top left and/or right-hand corners and consist of the price, logo, a promotion or a freebie.

Researching different covers, contents pages and double-page spreads gave inspiration and encouraged creativity, as I had inspiration from a variety of sources and music magazines. The double-page spread in particular helped with organisation skills because it was a complex program, and in learning how to use it, encouraged me to be able to organise work and understand all the work that goes into making the final page work. Working from the preliminary task, to the final task helped me to develop independent working patterns.

The preliminary cover was far less professional compared to the final task. One example is the coverlines are mainly in the form of a strip but much less organised and everything feels bunched together, plus the typography is too colourful and isn’t so clear to read, in contrast to the final task where the colour scheme’s balanced and there’s more consistency in font. The masthead is okay but not looking too proficient, it doesn’t catch the eye or anchor the page. None of the coverlines appear to anchor the main image, so the mode-of-address isn’t clear.   

The preliminary contents page was more refined than the preliminary cover, but there was still a lot of improving to be made. Some of the typography was sorted out, including the font for the page number, date and masthead in the top and bottom right corners, albeit inconsistent and the green text is hard to read and some of the first lines and sub lines, although its not clear which articles the images relate to. Some of the colour scheme for the text was set out, with the colour purple, but there was still a lot to be done, including having the firstlines in bold and adding boxes around the sub headings ‘Features’ and ‘Regulars’ and to ‘Contents’. I also put vertical and horizontal lines that divided the sections for the final product, making it more professional and before, the background was quite transparent, so the decision was made to add a white background around the ‘Features’, ‘Contents’ and ‘Review’, and the result, made everything look more fluid.    

One of the similarities between the preliminary cover and final task is the issue number, date and price are centred in the top left in the form of a strip and the masthead and coverlines are the same, as well as the puff. There’s a barcode in the bottom-right. Differences are the main image is different, as well as all of the fonts, and with the exception of in the puff and for the web address, the colours for the typography are different.  

Similarities include the same photos are there on the contents, and Hannah’s still dominant, in the centre and framed in relation to the first cover line, and the images are the same and remain the same shot type (medium). The colour of the masthead’s also the same (purple), as well as for the page number and issue date (purple). Some of the information below the headings, the sub lines, is the same, one example is ‘Interview with Hannah: Interview with an upcoming techno star’ and the sub headings ‘Features’ and ‘Regulars’ have been kept.

Differences include the photos of Hannah and Paige have been cropped and positioned against a white background to allow more space for text and vertical and horizontal lines are split around the page, dividing the page into four clear sections and making the contents page easier to follow and before the background was the image of Hannah and it looked quite simple. The banner at the top also anchors the page better. A web address was added below the issue date as I grew to understand the forms and conventions more.

I have added the Techno Beat logo twice around the page, which is better branding for the magazine. The sub heading ‘Review’ has been added again relating to forms and conventions. Originally the images had page numbers, but this changed when a white background was added and it no longer seemed relevant to have page numbers. As well there was a black box added at the top representing more style. The ‘Contents’ and masthead were re-arranged so the masthead came first, and they were positioned next to each other.

Evaluation 6: What I have learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this magazine

Photography: While taking the photographs, I learned a lot about what works with positioning, in terms of how to position models, and about the different effects being able to create through the use of different angles such as close-ups. I also learnt about lighting, for example whilst doing the photo shoot with Hannah and Samantha, it was outdoors and I had to think about where to position them, to take advantage of light as the first few places we tried came out too dark. Another thing I learnt was regarding shutter speed, how to use it effectively as it has an effect on the appearance of moving objects including increasing the background blurring and if a photograph’s taken at a certain speed such as 1/500s, the blur can be removed. 

I picked up about the advantages and use of props, where to place them and what to use, in addition how important the background can be, as it’s needed to need to think about where to place the various elements, and whether certain things should be cropped out of the final image. For example both the swings were originally present, but I decided it would detract from the model, so they were mainly cropped out. I also learned about the advantages to the final image of the models having makeup or not and the different effects this can create.

Skills learned include using Photoshop, using the lasso tool properly, how to select various elements and move them around and the magic wand tool with learning how to select various colours and tones and using it to my advantage, in terms of adjusting the image. I had never used InDesign before so I was pleased with the final result and learnt many skills such as such as the selection tool and eyedropper, which copies attributes including colours that you can apply to other objects and also elements from text, so to make text look similar.

Challenges included learning how to operate the shutter speed of the camera.  I overcame it by learning step-by-step.  Also using InDesign was a challenge as this was a new program that I had no familiarity with and overcame this by asking for assistance and tips from experienced users.  I also found Photoshop a challenge as I had only used it a little before and never to create a complete product, I overcame this challenge by learning how to use all the elements.

I’ve learned a variety of things about technologies. One of these is how to use different programs that I haven’t learnt how to use e.g. InDesign and Blogger. It’s helped give a fuller understanding of what technologies are used in Media, and how to use them effectively.

Regarding other technologies, things learned include how to publish a post in blogging as well and editing the blog, brightening it up and editing the layout and so on. Screen Record, a video/audio recording software has been used for the evaluations and this is the first time I’ve used a programme like this, so it’s been a steep learning curve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fobodIiw5k