My Magazine.

I am now ready to create my own magazine. I will decide on the genre and target audience.
From my research I have found that all front covers of magazines have the same conventions: masthead, striking photograph/s, plugs and sub headings. Therefore I will include these in my magazine.

I have also discovered that all magazines have ideological colours and images that run throughout the magazine. This helps support the genre and allows the genre to run througout the magazine.
For example.
The image to the right is a snippet taken from music magazine "Metal Hammer". The specialise in reveiwing the latest metal muisc, hense the name Metal Hammer. Their colour scheme is black and white, with a splash of a different dark colour, usually red, purple, blue or green. Another element that runs throughout it is the sarcastic quotes (that some poeple may find funny) like "Goth, shadow sandwitches?" Comments like these are also used throughout and have beacome a sub convention of this specific magazine.

My chosen music genre will be current contemporay music, including rock, jazz, drum and bass, blues, pop and folk.But I will be focusing on new bands that want to make a name for themselves. Each new musician can bring something different to the music industry, but only a few have the chance to become famous and well knwon worldwide. The aim of my magazine will be to give new musicians a voice so they can show their talents and love of music to people it will appeal too. But my target audience will be females, as I belive males still dominate the music industry and its about time women had a fair share. There are currently magazines on the market that are similar to the one I want to create, Neu! Magazine, ONE WAY and Music-Zine. I am now going to analyse two of these magazines, One way and Music-Zine, so i can understand their house-styles, genre, media language, representation, ideology audience and institution.

"Gramaphone magazine"

Fig2. Gramophone - established in 1923 and has grown up alongside the classical music industry. Known as the greatest classical music magazine worldwide.
Genre: The musical genre's represented in this magazine are classical. The stylistic features help us identify the genre.These are the masthead, the colours used and the type of photograph used. Like in this example all the colour are complimentary. The golden/green colour of the ladys dress is reflected in the masthead and the plugs. The typical content of the magazine, written in formal language, is interveiws with famous musicians...
Target audience is middle aged to older people, as they are stereotypically the type of people who would listen to classical music. Also this magazine will be aimed at middle/ upper class, the type of people who attend the theatre/opera. The rich golden colours used on this front page give it an upper class look along with the way the classy looking woman is positioned on the fancy staircase.

I also have a double page spread from this magazine. This page consists of one large photo, and two smaller ones. The text is in 4 colums around the images. This is layed out so the audience can read it easily. I like the pale blue background, it is better then just haveing a plain white background as it makes the text stand out more and fits with the colour scheme.

Research.

To start with, I am going to list the music I like to listen to. This will give me an idea of the type of magazine I will be most comfortable making.
Music/ bands I like...
Santagold, Micheal Jackson, Evanescence, Kings Of Leon, Theory Of A Dead Man, Powerman 5000, Tenacious D, Puddle Of Mudd, House Of Pain, Eminem, Red Hot Chilli Pepers, In Flames, Santana, Jimi Hendrix, No Doubt/ Gwen Stefani, Pink, Missy Elliot, Riannah, Beyonce, Outkast, Kelis.

LIIAR
Language.
The language in a magazine is represented through; photos, text, use of font, plugs, type fonts and the masthead.
Institute.
The institute is the publisher who makes the magazine, they are often referred to as the 'House Style'. Some leading publishers are:

• E-map - a media group that focuses on five main areas: construction, retail, media, automotive and public sector. One of their newspapers includes the Guardian.
• IBC - leading international forum for the electronic media industry, attracting visitors from more that 130 countries. Work with state of the art media technologies, from radio and television broadcasting to digital signage and 3D cinema.
• Future - a special- interest media business, with leading brands in many sectors.They produce 72 magazines each month. These include: Total film, Classic Rock, T3 and official PlayStation Magazine.

Ideology
The ideology is the ideas behind the magazine. Why is it produce, who for? Whats its purpose?
Audience.
Nowadays there are music magazines to suit almost everyone, from very young to old. The target audience can be identified through the use of colour, images and language used. For example, 'Smash Hits' is clearly produced for a younger audience aged 8-12 because of the layout, colours and information presented through the language used. Where as 'Mojo' on the other hand is aimed mostly at middle aged men. This is shown through the language used and people/bands that are represented.
Representationn.

Different magazines represent different social groups. 'The process whereby the media constructs versions of people, places and events in images, words or sounds through media texts to an audience.'

I am now going to do some primary research by asking a range of females aged 16 - 19 a variety of questions which will help with the planning of my magazine.

Next I am going to collect and analyse a wide range of magazines that are already in the market. This will give me idea of what people already like or dislike so I create something different to whats already out there.

Genre: Fig1. Mojo Music Magazine established 1993, know as 'The music magazine you go to when you've grown out of all the others' . (Quote taken from the Mojo website.) This gives the impression that their target audience is middle aged people who still appreciate knowlage good music from the past and the present. It for fills their needs on music l as they probably have families, jobs and busy lives so they no longer go to gigs but still follow their favorite bands. The genre's of music that are represented are classic rock and a bit of modern rock. But nothing too heavy. This is one of the main features of the magazine, as they only cover big, well known bands, whereas magazines such as NME will cover new bands. Typical content of this magazine will include album reviews, interviews with big names and bands and competitions. The title MOJO extends to other medias as it is now a radio station and music channel.
Media language: On this particular front page there are only two different types of font used. Bold serif font is the dominant style used, this is because it is clear and easy to read. There is also some scrawly handwriting used in the background written across the title. The sizes of the fonts vary. But as with most magazines, the masthead and the sub heading are the two biggest so they stand out to the reader. The rest of the plugs which are less important are smaller. The colours used are contrasting colours, white on black. Grey on blue. These colours are also typical of the genre. People who listen to rock are know to wear black clothing. The band on the front are wearing greys and blacks, this links them to the text. The photograph is a medium close up, to show the guys facial expressions. The band The Beatles are known worldwide therefore they want to be represented in their typical chilled out way, with sunglasses on and suits. As the band is ageing they may still want to show a specific attitude to their audience and fans. They are looking chilled and "cool" because of the shades, suits and cigarette's. As it is an all male front cover with dark colours, this will probably stand out to men more than women.
Media language - layout: The four main elements (photo, masthead, sub heading and plugs) on the page are lay ed out so they are aesthetically pleasing to look at.There appears to to two photo's. One is a background image and has been stretched open, then everything else has been layered on top of it. It looks really neat. Everything is set out carefully in its place.
Media language - title: The word MOJO is described as a magical charm or spell, a amulet worn by adherents of voodoo. The magazine isn't about voodoo or magic, but the title can denotate that this magazine will be special, give the audience the best information.

The Main Task

As i have compleated my preliminary task, I can now move onto my main task:

"Produce the front page, contents page and double page spread of a new music magazine"

Must use a minimum of four original images and all my planning, research and eveluation must be presented on the blog.

Evaluation.

Foundation Portfolio Evaluation Of My College Magazine.
'Next Step' is the name of my college magazine. This can be identified as a college magazine because I have used all the basic conventions a real media product has. These conventions are:

• Masthead. All magazines have mastheads, these are there so the audience can identify: what they are reading, the genre and target audience of the magazine. The font I used for my masthead 'Next step' is Juice ICT. It is a new font and looks more appealing to younger people compared to if I used a serif based font. I developed my masthead by adding the images of the footprints instead of just having a plain title. This will interest the reader and they will want to follow the footprints inside the magazine.
• Photo. As my magazine is being produced for college students it felt appropriate to have college students on my front page. This will help the target audience relate to the magazine through the students on the front page. Most magazines i analysed used medium-close ups as the camera angle for the photo. I also used a medium close up for my photo, as i could show the expressions and body language effectively.
• Plugs. Plugs are used to draw the audience in, and give an idea of the kind of things that will be in the magazine. I did this by asking a rhetorical question 'Need help finding a job?' most students will be looking for a job so this will appeal to them.

To make my magazine more appealing towards a wider audience, i have decided to represent diferent social groups. One of the social groups I chose to represent is males and females. If it was an all male cover females would find it harder to relate to, and vise versa. I chose to have a female, mid-close up shot, so we could see her facial expression. Also she has been placed infront of the males, making her a bit more dominant in comparison. The males are further back but have a larger area on the page.

Institute....

I have aimed the audience for my magazine product to be 16-19 year olds. I have chosen this target audience because I have made a college magazine and 16-19 year olds are the age of students which attend college. By carefully selecting the correct images, texts and colours I think I have made my product fit the criteria for young adults.

Attracting the audience Is the biggest issue. You could have the best work in the world but if it is poorly presented it wont impress. By drawing the readers attention into my front page, through the image of the friendly students, and plugs asking them rethorical questions, I will make them feel like they want to buy the product/ read it.

technologies.

Looking back.

For my main task I will be able to use DTP more effectively. Also I will manage my time more effectively when researching and planning. This will ensure I oomplete my main task on time and up to a high standard.

Analysis

Front page.

Below is working progress of my Front page. I started with choosing a font for my title then added the images of footprints to symbolise someone taking their next step in life. I then did my sub-title and the other text on the page. I may edit the colour and size depending on what my photograph turns out like.




















I have now taken my photo and finished editing my front page.
Below is my finished front cover :)

Mock up of Contents page. DTP

To the left is my mock up of the contents page for my magazine.

Large at the top of the page will be the title contents page. This need to be large and in an attractive font so the reader wants to read the contents page and further read whats in the magazine.

On the right hand side of the page, there will be 4 images taken from other images inside the magazine. This will interest the reader into wanting to read about the article.

Finally to the left there is a collum which will include page numbers and infromation about whats inside the magazine.

Drafts for front page.

Here are some drafts for my front page. In the box titled:

-Masthead, it will include the title of the magazine, the date and the issue number of the magazine.

-Text, will include facts of information that will be included in the magazine. Or maybe a sub-title or barline to draw in the reader.

-Photo, will be the medium close up of a student/s from the college.

Ideas

Planning.

Front Page.
Audience.
The target audience for my magazine is going to be College students of both genders aged 16-18, from all backgrounds and races. Also i will have sub audiences. These will be: parents of the college students. These parents will pobably be working class people as Wyke is a college stationed in hull and acceps people from all backgrounds. College teachers/staff. And future college students as they will want to learn about the college before they start. If I can appeal to a wider audience I will for fill the needs of more people, as the aim of my magazine is to inform the target audience of events and provides other information about Wyke College.
About My Magazine.
I have decided to name my magazine Next Step. Then Your Path After College, as a sub-title. The infromation presented in my magazine will be helpfull tips for any student, either enquiring about higher education, jobs or even where the bast place to go for a meal is. It will cover a wide range of topics like music and art, hopefully being more appealing to a wider audience of students.

Conventions.

'There are many different types of magazines. Gardening, fishing, music, fashion, celebrity, cooking, sport, school/college are just a few. How can the audience identify which magazine they are reading? This is determined through conventions, and every media text uses them.
Conventions are specific and predictable signs that are we read and that create expectations in the audience. Summarising all my analysing and research I am now able to identify the conventions in a School/College magazine. From the magazines I analysed, I found that they all have these basic features. Photo, masthead and plugs. But its the way these are linked and presented through colours and layout that determine what the audience think.

As magazines are products which are written and have no sound, they rely on technical and symbolic conventions. Techinical conventions involve: camera angles, tchniques and shots and symbolic ones are clothing/cosumes used and colours.
From all of the magazine i analysed, I can identify the conventions. Firstly, the photo. Each of the photographs where medium close-ups of a student from the institute, school/college. The students where all portrayed as intelligent and bright because of their posture, costumes and the colours used. This in effect portrays a positive image for the college because their students are symbolised as being clever. Also the use of bright, clear colours used also create a friendly atomasphere. I shall take this into consideration when planning my photograph.

Secondly, they must all have large mastheads which are easy to read, big bright and stand out. This is important beacause if the audience need to be able to identify what they are reading.

The third conventions are plugs. These are used to attract the audience by asking them questions for example "Do boys and girls learn differently?" taken from the "Secondary" magazine.

Analysis of magazines.

To the left is an example of a magazine. The audience for this text are college students, school pupils, teachers and parents. Its purpose is to inform members of the college of events and information. This is why the main focus is the photo of the student who is engaged in his work, which appears to be music. Therefore portraying a positive representation of the students of this college.

A main feature of any magazine gives us the distinguishing features so we know what genre it is. Here, on the masthead, the font type serifs adds a touch of class along with the italics writing underneath in clean white. The only other text on the page is the white and coloured text on the bottom left page. This is gives the reader a snippet, explaining whats in the magazine.
The denotation of the page, shows most the attention is drawn to the center of the photo, to the student who is portraying a general positive image of the college. The guys head also appears to be framed as the text surrounds it. The connotation of it shows that the college is trying to promote a good name for itself by showing fancy equipment and a working student. Although this magazine front page is very plain, it does its job and promotes the college, as its the institution. The institution gets to choose what goes on the magazine.

To the right is another college magazine. The audience for this text is students aged 16 to 18 and probably the teachers of the college. The one large medium-close up of a student who is engaged in a science lesson suggests the school is proud of itself. Also the text "Doing science at Beloit" written in white writing links the masthead (title of the college) to the photo of the scientist. To denotate, this give the message to the audience that students who attend this college are smart and intelligent. Also because of the intellectual look on her face, with the glasses and her posture add to the smart effect. This represents a positive image for the college.

The representation of social groups are shown on this front page. One is college students, usually they are known to be lazy, ignorant, not bothered about work. But this image is presenting a student as intelligent and smart because she is doing a science experiment. Another group is females. In the past a stereotypical view of women was that they are lower/ lesser than men, and that they shouldn't aim for good jobs. But in this photo she looks strong because of her posture and smart as she is doing an experiment.

The narrative of this could be a student doing an experiment and she has been caught in a snapshot.
This magazine has taken a more modern approach by using the sans-serif font and big bold lettering for the masthead, one of its distinguishing features. Also the white colour font is effective because lab coats are usually white and its a clean colour. The white masthead stands out against the shadowed background
and its easy to read. The text is framing the person in the photo and centralises her, drawing the audiences attention. Her face and expression is the main focus. Also she is looking up, therefore we look up towards the title. We know the genre is a college/ education magazine. And because the institution is the college they have control of the production process they want a good image.

The media text to the right has been produced to suit a specific audience, teacher's or anyone interested in education. You can tell because the name of the magazine is 'Secondary Teachers' and that the information on it full fills the needs of the audience and is directly aimed at teachers because its related to their job and the information is use full to them.
On this particular front cover there are different issues that are represented. Firstly, the social group teenagers are been represented by a mid shot of two students smartly dressed. They are portrayed as intelligent because of their body language (one writing and one raising their hand to answer a question), happy because of their smiley faces and polite because he has raised his hand. On a whole they are been portrayed positively. Also the way the light is hitting the photo its really bright and crisp, just like the smile on the boys face. Usually in the media, students/younger people are shown as anti-social, binge drinking lazy people. Secondly, racial groups are been represented. Because one of the students is white and one mixed race, this magazine will appeal to more people because that barrier has been broken and although the magazine is a British on, the country has lots of different races in it and are being represented equally to white British people. Thirdly the individuals, boy and girls are been represented on this front cover. The female is on the left with the pink writing. This side will attract a female audience. The right side with the boy and blue writing on it will attract male audiences. Both are been represented on an equal amount of page because males and females are equal.
Narrative. The elements of the text have been arranged into a story. Taken from the images we can imagine what the plot would be. It appears that two students, male and female, are in a classroom, a teacher has asked a question and the male student has responded and the female student is reacting to him answering by staring at him.
The genre of this text can be determined by its distinguishing features. These features are: the title, images used and the way their portrayed, the information on them, the colours used and the layout of the page. They are significant because they help us establish what the magazine is about. In this case, we know the magazine is about school because of the title and the students in tho photo are dressed in a uniform.
The purpose of this magazine is to inform teachers of new techniques for teaching.

Above is the first double page spread of the 'Secondary Teachers' magazine which i have just analysed above. The conventions on this page are typical things you would find on a typical contents page these include: labeled photos, numbers of pages and whats on them, letter from the editor, title.

The green/blue colour from the masthead on the front cover is being used again on this contents page. This links them together and shows they are part of the same magazine.

I like the way the images and text are linked together. I also like the way there are photos on the contents page which are also from inside the magazine. I will take this style into consideration when making my draft contents page.

Research.

LIIAR.

L - Language - subject specific terminology

I - Institution - the production of media texts

I - Ideology - shared system of belifs and values

A - Audience - consumers of the media text

R - Representation - how social groups are represented

Conventions.

Front page.

-Masthead

-Plugs

-Barcode

-Photo

-Headline

-Price

-Date

Contents Page

-Facts about the college

-Photos

-Additional information.

New School/College Magazine.

My preliminary task:

" Prodcuce a front page and mock up of the contents page on DTP"

• produce a front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium-closeup plus text and a masthead.
• produce a mock up of the layout of the contents page, to demonstrate my grasp of DTP.

To be completed by 7th November. Check list:

<>Introduction. Task outline.

<>LIIAR

<>Magazine Analysis

<>"Secondary" Magazine.

<>Conventions.

<>Planning

<>DTP Drafts

<>Contents page mock up.