Overall Product Discussion

On a whole, i would consider my product to be fairly conventional when compared with a real music magazine, i followed all the codes and guidelines when creating my product, and used real magazines as a influence. Over time when creating my product, i increased my skills in the different software such as InDesign and Photoshop. If creating a real music magazine, i would possibly consider devoloping or buying a proper font to use of my choice so that it would fit the genre of my magazine, i also wouldve liked to learn how to blend the product to make it look together/flat.

From the feedback i recieved, they all agreed that i had fit the conventions of the magazine, however small things couldve been avoided when appealing to my target audience.

Feedback Evaluation

For a feedback exercise, i asked 3 random people who fit in my target audience range, questions.

questions such as "Who do you think the magazine is aimed at" one response i recieved was "anyone" although this could be a positive response, it could mean my target audience may not be as interested. This meant that i possibly didnt appeal enough to the target audience.

When i asked whether they would buy the product, they replied "no, i dont buy music magazines" this could make the feedback inaccurate because they are not as interested in the magazine, therefore giving false feedback.

Another negitive point about the feedback i recieved is that it was more quantative than qualitive, this meant i could not improve the magazine as much as i had hoped when using the feedback.

Final edited pictures used in magazine

These are the photographs i used throughout my magazine.The reason i used them is because i thought these are the best ones that present them nicely and do not have anything deemed as a distract in the background.

How I manipulated my photos

When considering my main images to go on my magazine, I decided to not manipulate my image, because I thought the original would look too distorted or different. I believe that in some cases, changing the image could ruin the image, especially with a background such as this. However to fit the image to my page, i had to crop my picture.


Uncropped



Cropped

Complete Magazine - making of.

To start my magazine, I firstly must decide on a layout which fits both the main imagine, and most importantly, the masthead and slogan. I had decided to not completely cover my page with the main image as it was not the right size for me to fit, I had to crop the image to make the image fit the page, this was not a problem as nothing important was skipped or not included.



Because I saw that there was a lot of space on top and bottom of my page, and I didn’t think that I would put any highly important information on, I decided to fill it with additional information which the audience may be attracted to.



After I had decided the suitable background of my magazine, I then begun to add text/straplines to my page, I also decided to place the bar code and issue number and information near bottom right of page, this was influenced by other recognized music magazines such as NME and Kerrang!



Because there was limited space left, with not much left to add, I considered enlarging the masthead, however this made it unproportional to the area surrounding. Therefore I added an extra strapline.



To start my contents page, I had a layout from my draft where I would include a picture on the left of the page, I followed the layout and added the title of page at the top. This left room down the side to add the contents listing, and left space underneath for advertising, etc.



I added rectangle text boxes where the content would go, I labelled it to make the audience understand the layout of the magazine easier and where to find what they were looking for.



Because the full contents listing was written, I had an empty space at the bottom, I decided to add a advertising banner and a small page-over recommendation.



Before I entered any of my feature article text, I decided on a layout in where I would place my images and title.



Next I added all the text that fit around the layout of the images, I wanted to change the background colour, however I was not able to come to a answer, therefore I left it clear.

Feature Article

Recent newcomers to the scene of music release their first album, after huge anticipation and wait, the date of release is set in stone. (30th May 2010) As PunKed are huge fans of Immortal, we managed to get to meet them and interview them for you!

PunKed: Hello Nathan, Charlie, how are you coping with such a huge fanbase already?
Nathan: its been tough, but we’ve loved it, its nice being recognized everywhere.
Charlie: Yeah, we never expected so much.
PunKed: Surely you feel hopeful for future performances?
Charlie: Well, yeah we do, we’ve had a huge welcome to the scene by fans and other celebrities which we didnt expect.
PunKed: have you considered another album already?
Nathan: We have, but were not starting yet, we’re just hoping to enjoy what we have at the moment, and give the fans what they want.
Charlie: we’ve had songs we created when we was younger, which we have always loved, we might try and see if the fans like them too.
PunKed: Where are you most looking forward to touring?
Charlie: deffinently looking forward to visiting and performing in our home town (Chelmsford) just because we use to love our small concerts we use to play there.

Questions you asked, on the next page!

PunKed gave you the chance to ask a question to Immortal, those who won the spot for the question have won a backstage VIP pass to their next tour!

Q: What has been your worst experience so far as a band?
Charlie: of course, like any band, we had a rough start trying to get people to listen to us, some wernt interested, it took its time before people actually realised what we were about.
Nathan: yeah it was hard work, we had good friends who helped us spread the word but it was difficult indeed.

Q: If you will ever do a song with another band or artist, who would you like it to be?
Nathan: i’m a big fan of Enter Shikari and Greenday, i’d love to play a song with them.
Charlie: Yeah i’d agree with Nathan, however i’d love to be with Hayley Williams from Paramore.
Q: where do you expect to be in the next 5 years?
Charlie: hopefully still making records to please our fans, and to really have lived and affected the music industry!
Q: When do you plan to go global if ever?
Nathan: whenever we can really, we just hope to make a good appeal to our fans in the UK for the moment though.

Thanks for joining us Nathan and Charlie!

Immortal
Tour Dates and locations


May

21st - White House, The London
22nd - O2 Academy Birmingham
23rd - Forum, Hatfield
24th - O2 Academy Liverpool
25th - O2 Academy2 Oxford
30th - Rock City Nottingham

June

1st - O2 ABC Glasgow
2nd - Manchester Academy
3rd - The Cresset Peterborough

Next Issue:
A Day to Remeber join us to tell us about their global tour with exclusive information about their latest album!

You could win tickets to follow A Day to Remember around the world with backstage tickets with free
merchandise signed by them all!

How to win:
Send in your question for a Day to Remember to
PunKedcomp@googlemail.com



How i created article.

All the interview was invented, it would of been too time consuming to ask them questions properlly. What i found difficult when inventing the questions was creating a suitable response to the questions i created. Creating a question was easy because it was asking for basic facts and opinions.

Planning for my Photoshoots

In order to take a photograph for my magazine, i had to plan and arrange the photoshoot. This consists of:
Filling in a Model release form -photographers name, model's name, telephone number, email address, model permission.-

Commission Estimate -The client and product name, fees and expenses, Estimated total cost required before shoot commencement-

A risk assesment and Reece Note form completed.

When deciding on the photograph shoot setup, i took into consideration they were from the local area of chelmsford, and the fact they prefered the country side, therefore i decided to locate the photoshoot in the local park near their home. The reason why i chose it was because it would help them relax and "answer" the question more freely.

How did the presentation go

I had to present my presentation infront of an audience and tell them about my ideas of my product, and how i will plan to devolop my magazine. Although it was a different experience to present my ideas, i felt the presentation went ok, because it was quite easy for me as i was able to explain what i had planned to achieve with my magazine.

Creating the Presentation

To show my research, evaluation of the product and general understanding/devolopment features, i created a powerpoint presentation. With an experience in powerpoint, i was able to make a document fairly easily. i talked about the general aim of the magazine, the target audience profile of my product, the price and page length of my full magazine issue, etc. these were all used to present my ideas in front of an audience.



By the end, i had created 21 Slides in my complete presentation.

Press Complaints Commission

In this task, we had to research into the Press Complaints Commission and understand the Editors Code and consider the challenges my product will face. The editors code consists of alot of rules or codes that must be met in order for a product to be allowed. With my magazine, i found that there was alot rules which could cause conflict with my magazine if i did not keep to this code. Such things are:

Accuracy

i) The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures.

3

*Privacy

i) Everyone is entitled to respect for his or her private and family life, home, health and correspondence, including digital communications.

12

Discrimination

i) The press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to an individual's race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or to any physical or mental illness or disability.

ETC.

When considering this about how it will affect my magazine, i found out that i could not change or distort an image or fact, the image or fact must remain accurate and not misrepresent.

Mock Marking

During an exercise, we grouped up and attempted to mark each others work, to understand how: the marking would work; to give each other feedback on there work; and to get feedback from others in case of errors or needed corrections on missing information.

this helped me get information which i needed to make sure my magazine was apealling to the target audience.

Genre's of Rock - Mind Map

Although my Magazine is called PunKed, which is representing Punk music, Music comes under a catagory of rock, which will also be featured in the Magazine and not just Punk music.

PunKed Feature Page Draft - The Making of

The Feature page on my double page spread will include a interview with an upcoming band and a letters from you page. i decided that a basic layout would be suitable because its further in the magazine.



the first page has both text and pictures to keep the page from being too formal, and the second page has a main image space for the band or artist featured, with text for the inteview.

PunKed Contents Page Draft - The Making of

although on the front cover i had rotated the masthead slightly, i decided not to with the contents page, this is because it will allow room for descriptions of the content, etc. also the rotate isnt really needed a second time.

After placing my masthead, i created picture boxes where, this is where some of the featured inside magazine photos would be placed here to give the reader a second more detailed overview of the articles of the magazine.

PunKed Front Cover Draft - The Making of

I created a new document to start my magazine with, then i used a website designing fonts, urbanfonts.com, after looking into the different font styles, this is the one that i thought was most interesting and relevent to the genre. Using the transform tool on Adobe InDesign CS4, i was able to turn the text by 15degrees.

Once i knew where my masthead was going to be, i started to lay out my straplines, the straplines will be different in each textbox, for example, the top right will be details of an exclusive article in this fortnights edition, something quite possibly in the news, or gossip.

After i had my straplines laid out, i then applied my main imagine, i decided to place the image last because it gave me a way to organise the text boxes. a disadvantage of this is that the main image could be covered by a text box, however i will edit the layout in the final making.

My Magazine

Genre: Punk
Target audience: 14-21
Frequency: monthly
Price: £2.80
Pages 70
35% adverts
Adverts: 20
Editorial: 50

Contents Page:

Featured guest interviews 8
Album reviews 6
Top40 Singles 3
Top40 Albums 3
What’s on? 6
Coming up 6
Guide to the spring 12
Your letters 4
Competitions 2
Editor’s page 2

Research

- Not many people consume music magazines
- Sales of specialist magazines are usually around 30000-50000
- Music tastes are generally narrow.
- Illegal music downloading means less money coming into the music industry so there is less money.

Focus Group

Focus Group


Music tastes artists genre what they are listening to now recent tastes what not liked?

No specifics that people listen to, general like for every genre of music with the exception of Classical and country music. Music listened to at the moment is tending to be chart music such as songs in the top 10 but other than this no specific genre or bands.

When asking about favourite bands again there were no specifics just general bands that would usually appear in the charts with a few exceptions for bands that are perhaps not as high profile as the usual chart toppers.

What was the average consummation of music?

We often listen to music to pass the time, at home or when we’re “out and about”, this includes listening to music all the time on an mp3 player or a mobile phone. Laptops are also used as a source of music because of the accessibility to online music such as on Youtube or online radio stations. Also, music is accessible on TV so we can listen to radio stations when at home.

When finding out about new music, it often stems from recommendation from friends; this could be by “word of mouth” or on social networking sites such as Facebook. Often new music is introduced on the radio before being released and also Youtube often has recommended/featured videos which will promote new music.

What do you want to see in a music magazine?

When asking my focus group what they want to see in a music magazine, they wanted to see popular bands or artists that they like, a way of presenting these in a magazine would be through reviews and interviews. My focus group also wanted to find out upcoming dates of tours etc.

Research into other music magazines

Analysis and research of similar music magazines




Front Page: Music Planet
§ Limited to 4 colours: Orange, White, Black, blue.

Contents:
§ Limited to 4 colours.
§ Split into boxes containing possibly a popular story or article. Description of features.
§ List of all features.
§ Only white border, no blank places.

Layout
§ Boxed layout, different information in each box
§ Main image followed by surrounding strap lines and information regarding what is inside the magazine.

Colours
§ Orange, White, Black and blue.

Images
§ Featured band

Language
§ Formal English.