Evaluation Question 7

Looking back at your pre-lim task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression

 from it to the full product?

From my pre-lim task i set myself targets to make sure the mast head is behind the image because that is common in magazines, to darken the background and create a shadow effect and to manipulate the images more effectively. I believe I achieved these targets because in the double page spread i and to make the main image brighter in order to see it better which was effective and on my front cover i made the image brighter and used the spot healer tool to make most of the spots vanish. In addition i managed to put the image in front of the masthead and covering up some of the 'P' which i think make the magazine look very professional. My time management was very good and if i had to catch up with work i would do so in my own time. I think my strengths were creativity when coming up with content and layouts for the magazine and i really liked the look of my double page spread with the two different shades of grey. in terms of weaknesses i think i could have made my front cover a lot more professional looking. If i were to do this task again, instead of using a plain background with a gradient on, i would add a bit of texture to it to make it look like a wall. In my opinion I think my final product was very successful.

From my pre-lim task i set my self targets to put the mast head behind the main image which i have succeeded in and also to make my background darker to make the writing easier to read which i was also successful in doing on not only my front cover but followed this on my contents page and double page spread. In addition i added a gradient to my front cover and double page spread to create a shadow effect behind my main images which makes it look more professional. Photoshop made this very easy to do by being able to manipulate images very easily and effectively.

Evaluation Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I decided to create a prezi to present the new technologies i used in order to make my final product.

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience by using bright colours on a light grey background to make it stand out and make young adults pick it up. i also attracted them by adding big DJ names like DJ Hazard, Flava D, Preditah and DJ EZ. I chose these big names because my target audience will know exactly who they are because they are the latest DJs to be headlining festivals like Bestival and Creamfeilds and the big club events. I have also attracted my audience by putting on my front cover that the audience can win tickets to a famous abroad drum and bass festival called Innovation in the Sun. This will attract audiences because the tickets are usually very expensive and if my target audience (usually students) will see this they will be intrigued because its a festival that students usually only dream of going to but its too expensive (£230 for a ticket). Another way i attracted audiences was by using a colourful colour scheme of blue and pink for the puffs and main sell line. This would attract audiences because it stands out and makes the text easy to read and it also might remind them of the lights at a club or rave.  My questionnaire played a big role in deciding the colour scheme because the people i asked to take my magazine were people of my target audience who attend raves, festivals and club nights so their answers were important to listen to as these were the type of people I would want to pick up and read my magazine. I used explicit language and informal language (shit) to attract the younger audience because they are likely to use these words as they are of a younger demographic. I attracted mainly men by using plain backgrounds of blacks and greys. I believe that these colours will mainly attract men because females stereotypically like vibrant colours as the background and lots of additional images like heat magazine.

 The fact that my magazine has just one main image and a basic colour scheme on the front cover, i think it will mainly appeal to men to an extent. One thing that females may be attracted by is the colours of pink and blue.
I have targeted students on all pages by using modern fonts for headers and large text, and small body text to make it look professional and mature. I think the fonts that will attract students mainly are the fonts for the main 'BPM' text, the clubland font for 'DJ Ranga' on the front cover, The font for the Contents page header, the large text for 'DJ Ranga' on the double page spread and the quote on the double page spread. All of these fonts are unique and modern looking which will appeal to students because they are part of the generation who are constantly influenced by technology and urban trends. For the double page spread I kept to an urban look by making the main texts reflective to the streets with fonts students may associate with spray painting, and anarchistic acts.
On the contents page I spent a lot of time deciding on other article names and making sure they would captivate students and an audience who are in the category of the unemployed section of the NRS Demographic grid. I mentioned Ibiza which a party hotspot where a lot of students and young adults go to for escapism and to of course go to lots of clubs and listen to the best dance music. I also added articles about festival line ups and 'hottest clubs' which would attract students and dance lovers because this would be present information that would be crucial to know as they are likely to attend.  Another thing that would attract this audience would be the article 'Fashion' and the sub text which includes the words 'ravers and 'reppin'; 'reppin' meaning representing or wearing, which is a common informal word people of this unemployed category would use. This would also catch the eye of people because it will show the latest clothing trends and fashions which clubbers and ravers are always updating and new trends and brands are always coming back into fashion so this article is vital to include because it will keep readers updated.

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The gender I would like to attract most is male but also female to an extent if DJing and house music is their thing. The age I am targeting is 17-25 as the music is very urban and the fashion is also urban. It is also targeted at this age group because they are the people who go clubbing and attend festivals because they have disposable incomes and little responsibilities n terms of money and lifestyle which is why this lifestyle appeals to them.  The music isn't targeted at any specific ethnicity or class. The people my genre of magazine would be targeting mainly would be students at college or university.  I know all of this because I'm interested in this genre of music and attend festivals and raves where this clothing is most popular. These people will be very fond of taking care of their appearance so they will go for haircuts frequently and buy clothes a lot. I know about my target audience because I am one of them who follows the fashion, tends and music but I have also researched Mixmag which is a similar product to be certain that my target audience is right. When doing my research i found this:

As you can see, mixmag reach their target audience on their website by including new technologies for making tech beats. In my contents page I included an image of a vinyl deck to gain interest because i knew that pictures of the technology would appeal to them.






























Next i began to find out a little bit more about the fashion side of things which in the 2 images is being represented. The fashion for this genre is always changing so its important for Mixmag to keep their readers updated with the latest trends and fashions from clothing and trainers to hats and sunglasses.  In addition the colours of clothing that the target audience wear is always black and or white with some colour as you can see from the two images which led me to choose the colour scheme i did: Black, white, pink and blue.

I am mainly targeting male audiences, but MixMag also targets female  by the use of bright pinks and in some cases the use male DJs who females may find attractive to please the female gaze. I have followed this and used pink on my front cover to attract some female as it is stereotypical for girls to like the colour pink and the use of a male DJ. In the first image, the woman is sexualised because she is wearing little clothing which would attract the male gaze and gay gaze.

To attract my audience i used a font that looked similar to the Stussy logo which is a popular brand that ravers, clabbers and festival goers wear. 

I also used bright colours for some of the text on my front cover to attract my target audience. They will be intrigued by this because it will remind them of the colours of lights at a club or a rave. 

The font i used for my main sell line 'DJ Ranga' was picked because of the fact it looked like the font a club would use. It is also very similar to a CD called Clubland which the ravers and clabbers will listen to because sit is the same genre of music.

 The model I have used for my magazine is of the music genre but also have a unique look which is the same as any DJ. In my opinion I have met the conventions of a DJ magazine and is a true example of a DJ magazine. My peers agreed with me and said that if they saw it on the shelf of a shop they would know it is a DJ magazine straight away.

Evaluation Question 3

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

I think that Thrust Ltd would be the institution that would most likely distribute my magazine because they are an independent company who publish DJ Mag which is a similar product to mine. Also they use similar layouts and techniques to my magazine for example, direct address and bright colour schemes. In addition, I think they would distribute my magazine to compete with MixMag because I use similar vocabulary to them with words like 'banging' and explicit language. I also constructed it similar to MixMag by starting off with talking about the focus and talking about his past. I then went on to a question and answer and finished on what the future holds for my main DJ. In my opinion I don't think it would be published in America mainly because of the authenticity of house music in the UK and the rave scene isn't really big in USA. The people who will be most likely to read my product would be young adults so from the age range of 18-25. I also think that the majority of readers will be male although female reader may also be attracted because of the bright colour scheme and the pink writing. Festival and club goers would be highly attracted because of the names on the front cover. I have chosen Thrust over institutions like Bauer Media Group because its an established institution who have distributed magazines like Q and Kerrang which are very mainstream magazines so they may not necessarily confide to my ideologies in my magazine, therefore an independent institution would more likely be interested in publishing my magazine. Thrust is an institution that has been around for 7 years so they know how to distribute a magazine of the dance genre and how to get it to the target audience. I think it would be suitable to sell a small amount of my magazines at local shops but mainly sell them at events like festivals or promotional events where the target audience are likely to be at. Another suggestion, is to sell them at fashionable urban shops like Size? or be available to order on websites like http://basementapproved.com or https://www.thechimpstore.com which are sites that a lot of the target audience look on for news or clothing drops so it would be an effective way of getting my magazine sold there because this audience is very likely to listen to electronic dance music. Having an online edition may also be a good idea because those who miss an issue or don't have the money will be able to read articles on line and on the go. In addition, having an online edition will also allow readers to read anywhere and anytime and allows new posts and articles to be updated and published on the website to keep audiences happy and updated 24/7. Lastly, the capacity of a website is a lot more than a magazine so this will allow us to post a lot more content and news.

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My Star is a friend from college and i wanted him to wear plain black clothing because stars in other DJ magazines wear very basic casual clothing. For the front cover i asked my star to look straight into the camera to give direct address on the front cover resulting in connecting with audiences. I wanted my star to be very arrogant. For the first photo i took i asked him to smile but i didn't believe it would match conventions.

Then i asked my star to have look very serious and look dead into the lens of the camera.

But it still wasn't the look i was looking for. so i asked him again to look even more serious.

 This was the photo i got after these instrusctions  which i was happy with because he comes across as fairly arrogant and serious. I was also very happy with the lighting because it was very clean. The white background would also make it very easy to get rid of and edit the main image.



 For the double page spread i asked my star to look into the distance and laugh with headphones around his neck.  For this shoot i had lots of problems with the lighting.  The two photos below were the first two photos i took and i thought that the lighting was very poor so we changed location to where there was more natural light.

Although the lighting is still fairly dark, i knew that it would be easily changed in photoshop by raising the brightness so i went with this shot for my double page spread

My inspiration for my magazine is the DJ named Ginger Dread. The reason i chose to base my star on Ginger Dread is because i believe his image is very striking because of the colour of his hair but he is also very cool and the music he plays is very similar to the music i listen to. DJ Ranga says in my interview about his experimental sets which Ginger Dread also does. This is a picture of Ginger Dread:

My doesn't quite match stereotypes because the stereotypical DJ would wear brands link nike or adidas but my star is wearing Fred Perry which is very still fairly fashionable. I asked my star to wear this because i wanted him to be like Ginger Dread and be different from all other DJs by characteristic but also in fashion.My star has a unique look which audiences will like because all of the big DJ's dress and look very individual.

Ginger dread doesn't wear any branded clothing so here are some images wearing branded clothing to support my arguement  that DJs wear branded clothing.

In addition, on my contents page, a group of young adults are represented positively in the image of them at a rave. They are all smiling and look relaxed. This would attract audiences because it gives the magazine a light tone and make readers associate the product with fun and happiness. It is fitting stereotypes of teenagers because they are all wearing fashionable clothing and all clearly getting into the music. In addition they are all young looking.

Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge

forms & conventions of real media products?

On my front page I made sure my stat was wearing plain clothing (black and grey). The reason i chose this is because it matches the conventions of a DJ magazine. In addition i used the colour scheme of black, white, blue and pink  which matches the convention because it reflects the atmosphere of an event where DJs perform for example a club with lasers and colourful lights. it also matches the convention because vibrant colours are commonly used by magazine like Mixmag.

 

The font i see for the puffs are very basic and square which i chose because of my research. Other magazines like mixmag and djmag use fonts like this because its simple but stands out clearly. It also reflects the slickness of technology in DJing and producing music. When producing and DJing you have to be very organised which is reflected in the front cover, with a basic colour scheme, tidy puffs and small writing under the puffs. i also used a neon light looking font for the main sell line to make the star look important. In addition, it stands out and gives the cover depth because its on a slant. This also enhances a visual attraction from the audience.


To make the magazine clearly a DJ magazine, i took a photo of a vinyl and placed it at the hole of the the 'P' which would attract people because it conforms the genre conventions. Mixmag also use use the same idea but a lot more subtly in the 'i'. The dot on the i could easily be recognised as a vinyl or a deck.

In addition i used a font which was big and bold which is similar to DJ mag with a black outline. I chose this for BPM because it makes the text stand out more than if the font was thin without an outline. Also, it makes it more eye catching to audiences therefore more likely for them to pick it up.

My front cover conforms DJ magazine conventions because my star doesn't have anything to make him look like a DJ (headphones or decks). Mixmag and DJ Mag usually have their stars wearing their normal attire. i believe that headphones on the front cover looks too cheesy and as you can see from  the two examples of DJ magazines below, they don't have their stars wearing headphones or anything that would associate them with DJing.

The font for 'Win Tickets to Innovation in the Sun' is the least conventional and subverts conventions  because it doesn't follow the generic fonts that a DJ magazine would use. DJ magazines usually use blocky, simple fonts whereas this font isn't either and I chose it because it is similar to the font of the Stussy logo which is a brand clabbers and ravers wear.

My contents page matches conventions because it is black, just like MixMags contents pages (to reflect a nightclub) and has a conventional, distinctive font for the 'Contents'. Just like mix mag I have included additional images to engage the reader and white text. The use of white text was to make the text easy to read on the black background. Lastly, similarly to MixMag, I have included a 'Free Mix' for readers to excite readers. I believe my contents page conforms conventions for the DJ/dance music magazine.

I believe my double page spread matches dance music magazines to an extent because i have followed the background colour from the front cover because its about the star who is also on the front cover. I have also added some different colours shaped behind the text and main image to give the page a modern effect with aspects of retro. Usually double page spreads are a lot more colourful in this genre so my double page subverts common conventions but I chose a limited colour scheme made up of white, black and grey to make the image stand out more add an element of class and sophistication yet contemporary and urban to mirror not only the progression of the culture and fashion but the legendary status of my star 'DJ Ranga'.

Final Task Planning

 This is the initial font i used for 'DJ Ranga' I chose lot because i thought it had an edgy feel to it and looked like street art because of the excess paint look around it. Then some of my peers pointed out that they found it hard to read the text so i changed it to a font called Clubland which i chose because it looked like the lights at a club to spell words. It is also used on the front of the clubland CD. Its also a lot easier to read and goes with the other square like fonts.

I also decided to change the font of the puffs to a font called Jack Frost which i thought fitted the genre a lot better. I also think the way it changes 'A's to triangles is very effective and would attract my target audience because they may relate this to the Palace logo which is a brand that a lot of people from this society wear.