Evaluation

Introduction

I designed a new concept magazine, i decided to create a unsigned magazine to highlight how good some unsigned artists are. I worked independently on my piece. I liked my main image for my front cover as i know it breaks the conmventions but, i think it works really well and it works well with the genre i have chosen which was Indie/Rock. I wanted to keep my piece minimalistic as i think magazines that have too much pictures, fonts and colours look unprofessional. I chose the name 'Unsigned' as it's clear and to the point as like say 'NME' which stands for 'New Music Express'. Also, the name stands out on a shelf full over magazines. The artists i created was 'Lizzie Young', she is a singer/song writer with a bit more edge and more experimental. I based her on artists like ADELE, Marina Diamandis, Florence Welch Lily Allen and Santogold.

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My magazine is a unsigned/Indie magazine, which was influenced by magazines such as NME and Kerrang. I tried to follow the conventions in some ways like colour scheme, props and layout. These three things are important to keep as close to the convention as possible as they are the foundations of the magazine genre. This Lilly Allen Spread was a typical magazine piece that
insprired me with my piece, i liked the font for 'Lily Allen takes on the world' as it is like the genre of music itself, mix and match and no particular style. I also like the way she is dressed, in a simplistic manner, as so not to divert your attention away from the face. However, in my article my main image on my front cover breaks the conventions of the genre as my artist does not directly address the camera. Instead, they are are looking down and their whole face cannot be seen. I tried to use the same dress style for my front cover as the Lily Allen front cover. Also, i gave my front cover a more minmalistic house style as i did not want to detract from the main image which i think itself is simple yet effective. I also used only one colour, a dark red. This is breaking the conventions as we see with the NME magazine there is an aray of colours. I also think using a woman on the front cover of the magazine is slightly breaking the conventions as this genre is a male-dominated genre with most of the readers of the magazine also being male. However, even though i broke some conventions, my audience feedback recognised the magazine is a Unsigned/Indie magazine.

Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I think my media product represents both genders aged 14-21, women and men in this genre are put on a equal level. Many artists such as Florence Welch from Florence + The Machine and Marina Diamandis from Marina and the Diamonds are some of the best of their genre and are well respected. So, i have represented females with my cover spread artist a woman and the way i dressed my artist in typical female clothing. However, i also think that i have not shut off my magazine from men as their are other bands and male artists mentioned in my magazine. I think the informality of the interview helps it the magazine relate to the audience. But overall, i feel the magazine represents both genders, i believe my layout and colour scheme does not favour a particular gender.

Q3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?Media

I think the media institutions that would distribute my media piece would be IPC Media or the Bauer Media Group. Between the two of them, they represent NME, Q, Kerrang. I think that these magazines have similar conventiions to mine. I also think that because IPC Media is a British based buisness that it would be interested in my magazine as with any buisness, they would be knowing what's sellable in the present day and as independent has alot of hype around it at the moment in Britain. I also think that the Hamburg based Bauer Media Group would be able to possibly sell the magazines on a international scale. This is the web link to IPC Media: www.ipcmedia.com and this is the web link for Bauer Media Group: http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/

Q4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

My target audience when i made this media piece was: either gender aged 14-21 they can be of any race but the most common audience would be caucasian and the most common gender male. They can be from any Socio-economic Status but the most likely ones are D-B i doubt upper class and unemployed people would buy my magazine. My secondary audience would include anyone over the age of 21 as the 'house' style of the magazine will attract a more mature audience than if i used a vast amount of colours and images. As i believe that my magazine is something different from what is out there at the moment i think that it would be bought by a specific fan of music. My audience feedback was good form both genders, both said they'd buy it but some females said they wouldn't.

Q5. How did you attract/address your audience?

I tried to attract my audience through the style of my magazine. Firstly, the magazine name, 'Unsigned' gets to the point, like NME which stands for 'New Music Express' and stands out and eventhough you cannot see the whole of the name in my audience research everybody who took the questions knew the name of the magazine. I also think the colours used on the front page gives it a minimalistic style and like the image on the front cover, wants to concentrate on the music and not the miscellaneous things like colours. Going back to the image, i think that it contributes but doesn't take away from thr front cover, which is what i wanted. You cannot see the artists face, this is because i wanted her to have some mystery as she is a relatively unknown artist. I think this makes the audience want to buy the magazine as they want to know more about the artist. The guitar gives the audience a clue about her, but it doesn't give anything away. The quotes and sub-headings such as 'Florence cannot spell' makes the reader wonder what this means. Also, having well-known artists such as Drake and Delphic on the bottom of the front cover will make the perspective reader want to know why they are in the magazine. However, my contents page uses bright and bold colours with a balck and white background which makes the colours stand out even more. This will attract the more younger audince to my magazine, and with the background image of the artist jumping in the background makes it seem informal and fun. The way the list is set out allows you to choose easily what you want to read and the headings are tot he point. My double page spread is more like the front page with only the one colour (dark red) and uses black and white images. The title 'Young at Heart' gives the idea of a playful and joyful person and it captures the audiences imagination. The fonts bring this playful feeling again with a touch of class.

Q6. What have you learnt about technology from the process of constructing this product?

I learnt several new things while doing this media piece. I hadn't used Blogger before i did my music product. I learnt how to set up an account and post my progress throughout the process. I am now very comforable with using Blogger where as at the beginning of tthe task i couldn't use Blogger. I also found a website called http://www.dafont.com/ which i used throughout my coursework task to retrieve fonts for my front cover, contents page and spread cover. I used Photoshop to cut out images from their background, such as my front cover. At the beginning i found it hard to use and sometimes frustrating when cutting out images. But i gradually found it easier and found it a big help. With InDesign i found it hard to use at first, i found it hard to use and quite frustrating as their is alot of different thinngs which do different things to the piece of work. But towards the end i found it helpful and easy to use.

Q7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I feel taht i have taken massive steps from when i did my prelim task, The main image on my final piece in comparison to the main image on my prelim task is alot better. The way i hid my artists face, the props and the way she is dressed helps make the character more believable. I also had more time to edit my shots, for example i cut out my main image on Photoshop for my final piece, where as in my prelim task i did not have enough time to edit my picture so i had to have the background in. Also the picture quality in my final piece is more smoother than in my prelim task. My character has more about her than in the character in the prelim task, i had enough time to make her seem more real and likeable than my first one. So, it makes the magazine in general seem more professional. If we were to look at the general layout of the prelim task front cover it looks dull and amateur with no real depth or understanding of where the headings would look best. It's very simplistic. But if we were to look at my final piece, although it is still relatively simple to fit into my 'house-style' i believe it looks more vreative and different. I have taken into account my genre and what would fit in with it. When i think of the genre i think 'messy', 'unknown' 'edgey' and 'now' and i tried to translate that through my final piece where as in my prelim task i felt bound as we were doing a college paper and i couldn't be as creative with it. I learnt in my prelim task that i have to take my time to make it seem more realistic and that the simpler things like fonts and headings make a massive impact on a magazine and make it what it is or is not.

Conclusion
I believe that my magazine doesn't really stick to the conventions as it uses less colour and images than usually used in the Indie/Rock genre. However i believe that i no way does it make it any less of a good piece. I blieve that the lack of time i had due to external factors may have affected the overall product in that i didn't have much time to do it in. I also think my house-style front page is slightly bare but i was tring to keep within the house-style conventions.

Final Feature Article

It’s tradition at this point in a Unsigned cover article to take the piss out of the place we are meeting our cover artist, whether it be a car park in Romford or a little chef somewhere on the M6. But today we are in rather more elegant surroundings. Today we’re sat at a little bistro just on the outskirts of Manchester city centre, Like today’s artist, this bistro is full of small but full of character. Lizzie Young is rapidly making a name for her self, appearing on Jules Holland with Jay-Z and the Foo Fighters and has just finished a 9 month tour with Florence + the Machine; she is defiantly capturing the publics’ imagination. As I sit there sipping the largest brew you can imagine my guest appears from the harsh weather into the bistro looking tired. I asked her how she was, “Shattered, I was playing at the Ruby Lounge last night, didn’t get in till two. I need my sleep”. She orders a very black coffee and we get talking.

I’ve been listening to your music on your MySpace page; it reminds me of Jose Gonzalez / Lady Hawke….

Thanks (at this point a massive smile appears on her face). Basically it’s me and a acoustic guitar, I started writing songs when I was eight when I was at school, God I hated Maths and I’ve just kept writing since then.

Who were your main influences growing up?

Well, I was brought up in the nineties so I was fed on Oasis, the Stone Roses and Morrissey. But the singer that I loved from the very minute I heard her voice was Beth Gibbons from Portishead, her voice is beautiful.

Your rise hasn’t come easily has it?

Nope, but if you want something you’re gonna’ have to work at it aren’t you? Nothing comes for free, except for this piss poor weather. Ask any artist trying to make it mainstream, it’s hard. It involves driving twenty miles to Rochdale on a Thursday night to play in front of seven people and hoping they tell their mates that you were decent. You have to get yourself out there and play every gig you can whether it’s a pub in Bury or a club in Accrington.

But you don’t have to do them anymore?

I know! Thank God! My legs were knees were knocking so much when I played Jules Holland that I swear my whole body was shaking! It’s nice to finally have some acclamation for all the hard work I’ve put in through my life.

So, what was it like supporting Florence + the Machine on tour?

Amazing, I loved every minute of it! We went everywhere! From Shepherds Bush Empire to O2 Academy in Glasgow! I gained so much from that tour, playing in

front of packed houses for 9 months builds up your confidence. At the moment I feel like I could take on the world, I haven’t stopped smiling since I got off that tour.

How did you fill your time while on tour? I’m guessing there was a lot of travelling….

The travelling was a bitch, I have to be honest, I didn’t like it. But I was doing a tour so, it kind of gives it away that there’s be a lot of travelling. I spent most of my time playing scrabble with the rest of the guys on. I have to say Florence cannot spell (breaks out into laughter). My iPod kept me sane through those overnight journeys.

I hear Julian Casablancas asked to on your album…

Yeah, it’s a strange one. I was at the studio and I got a phone call off Julian (Casablancas) saying he’s heard my stuff and he’d love to be on my album. Obviously I snapped up the opportunity of having the Strokes front man on my album. He’s on the song ‘I’d like to be me’. And then I am lucky to have an amazing producer Garret Lee who’s worked with Bloc Party, Kasabian and U2. He’s a fantastic producer I was a shocked when my label got him for me!

You must have been amazed….

I was! I was speechless! He’s such a nice guy and such a professional. Garret (Lee) helped me so much. He has a vast amount of knowledge and experience and that’s why I am so confident about the album.

Can you describe the album for us?

Erm… I can give it a try (she says with a fall full of concentration). I get asked this every interview and I still don’t know what to say. If I was going to relate to anything it’s a bit like Lilly Allens ‘Alright Still’ album or The Streets ‘Original Pirate Material’ album in that they both use social realism. They write about everyday things and make them into song. That’s all that my album has in common with there’s though. Mine’s more lighter, but I still wouldn’t get it for your nan for Christmas.

So, what does the future hold for Lizzie Young?

Well, I’ve got my album coming out early 2010 so I’m hoping that to go somewhere in the charts and I’m releasing my first single in a few weeks called ‘Time Stood Still’ which I hope will do something in the charts. I wish to make many albums, have many number ones and have a long lasting music career basically. I’m not going to lie and say “I’ll just hope for the best” or some crap like that.

Thanks for your time, have a good Christmas! What are you getting?

A number one single and some Thorntons chocolate.

Haha, very nice bye….

Ciao

Final CoFront Cover

Final Contents Page

Final Double Spread Feature Article

Mock Up Front Cover

My idea is to have one main image and have all the headers around it. I don't not want to clutter my front page with alot of images or colours. I only want my title and the artists name to be coloured, i want it to be a dark red as i think it will stan out best with the black and white and give it a ;house; feel. I do bot mind if you cannnot see my whole title due to the main image as many popular magazines do this such as NME. If we look at the image on the right of a NME front cover you can see that the 'NME' logo is slightly covered, i plan to do the same to mine as i feel it will make the magazine seem more well-known, But that's the only way this NME front cover is similar to mine as mine will be less cluttered and only in black and white except from the title and artists name which will be in red.

Casting Shots

Location Shots

Props and Costume

Costume...

I want my artist to just wear simple clothing, such as a shirt, leggings and dresses. But to use accesories like jewlerry to make her look and feel the part. My artists will be changing costumes throughout the shoot abd will wear a variety of clothes. I want my artist to feel comfortable in the clothes as if she does not then they'll be less confident and i want my artist to feel confident.

Props...

I will use props such as a guitar and the general location of the photoshoot to give the photoshoot some edge. I think my main prop will be the guitar as my artist is a singer.song writer and so i want the guitar to see like an extra limb almost and i want that to be brought through in the phtotshoot. I want some pictures of my artist in a more serious role and some in a more relaxed surrounding so i have a variety of shots which i can use where suitable in my magazine.

Who Would Publish My Magazine?

Representation & Audience

This is a poster for Babyshambles in concert.

It is very minimalistic with only one main image which is a convention of a poster. It's very 'to the point', the heading is the name of the band and the sub-heading is the date of the concert and where the concert is being played. The largest words on the poster is 'Rock City' which is the venue. This is strange to me as i would of advertised the band more than the venue. The image is an action shot and shows the frontman, Pete Doherty singing. I believe my audience would be same as those who would like Babyshambles, as the band are very much like a band i'd have in my magazine.

I think Babyshambles are a typical Indie Rock band in the way they represent themselves in a very 'we don't care' way, they dress, act and perform in a certain way to show this.

My Unique Selling Point (USP)

My unique selling point is that there are no other magazines out there that are mainly based on unsigned bands or artists. The closest thing on the UK market like it is probably NME. I believe my magazine would take some readers of NME as it is all about new music. So i think my magazine, NME and possibly Kerrang would be competing for the same audience.

Questionaire

I created a questionaire to gather some research on my chosen indie/rock genre. I wanted to find out how people now get their music information, by internet, TV or magazine and if a particular genre uses a specific media channel (ie. TV, Radio, Print etc.)

!) How old are you?
13-16 16-18 18+

2) What gender are you?
Male / Female

3) How often in a week do you use the internet?
Once a...
Day
2 days
4 days
6 days

4) Do you buy music magazines?
Yes / No

5) If yes, which genre?
R&B
Indie
Rock
Pop
Bangra
Classical
Dance

6) How often do you buy musci magazines?
Weekly
Fortnightly
Monthly
More than once a month

7) Do you read articles on music websites
Yes / No

8) If yes, how often do you read articles on the website?
Daily
Few times a week
Weekly
Monthly
More than monthly

How do you prefer to read music articles?
Magazines
Websites
Other

Narrative

My music magazine will follow a typical narrative structure as it is popularly used in music magazines and so it will be well received by readers of my article. The typical narrative is easy to understand and recognise. I will use the narrative as and when i need to.

My Moodbaord

I created my mood board to gather some information on different magazines to create some ideas for my magazine. I'd like my text to be bold and stand out but not take away from the images, so i put different styles of writing next to images and see which worked best. I like the idea of using black and white photos and just one main colour on my front cover. Out of the colours i used, i like the deep red writing best. I like the pose of the brunette woman as she seems like she doesn't care about the camera being there or she's acting as if the camera wasn't there. I like the facial expression of the man in the glasses, it's different instead of someone looking at a camera, mouth shut and no facial expression. I want my model to seem like a real person and not rigid unlike the blonde woman. I'd like my facial expressions to tell a story I have used men and women to see which would work best for my magazine and images with and without shadows, I like the image with the shadows as it gives it more realism and edge.

Spread Cover Research

I believe that the double spread will be the hardest of the three parts to execute well as i will have to incorportae alot of text aswell as images.

CONTENTS ONE: I like this double spread but it breaks alot of conventions. Firstly, there's only one image whereas there is usually several pictures dotted around the article. There's no white space which isn't bad as the image fills most of the double page. The text grad is black on white in contrast to the rest of the interview which makes in stand out. Although it is quite long for a text grab. I like the idea of this page, i also would like a main picture that grabs the readers eye, I find the image itself says alot about the artist, it emits class and attention to detail which the artist, Jay-Z has in abbundence. It also makes him seem a refined character. Although this interview is bigger than a double spread interview i found the layout of it interesting.

CONTENTS TWO: I like the image on this page as it contrasts with the white background with Noel Gallagher in a black jacket and the shadows on his face show his age, that as well as the large text grab caption, 'Now i'l tell you a fucking story...' makes him seem a veteran of the music world with alot of atories to tell. The sheer simplicity of the layout is i think executed well, as the text garb is clear but does not take away from the image. I'm guessing that Noel is their to promote something although that isn't always the case, but most of the time it is. My article will be question and answer, unlike these two. It will also be targetted at the Indie/Rock audience.

Contents Page Research

CONTENTS ONE: I found this contents page interesting as the main image covers the whole page and this isn't a convention of a music magazine. I also like how the the colour of the background matches Dave Grohls t-shirt. It's not bright and colourful, so it doesn't follow the conventions of contents pages but it does encourage the reader read on as the main image does that. There's more than one image so you can 'graze' images as on most contenst pages. The main image doesn't directly address the reader and the contenst pages is in sections which is a covention of contents pages,
I think i will only have one image on my contents page, this will break the convention of contents pages but i believe i can make it work.

CONTENTS TWO: I think the images are used really wel on this contents page, they are used in a collage effect around the sub-headings of the contents page. We can also see that all the people in the images directly address the reader. The bands and artists are all dressed in earthy colours as too not distract the readers from the headings, telling us what's in the magazine that issue. The use of space in giving more of it to the images means that the headings look shorter and the page doesn't look 'wordy'. The reader can definately 'graze' the images. The header however isnot at the top of the page, which is breaking the conventions of a contents page. The images are the same size but they are still asthetically appealing, the shadows used in some of the pictures is used well. The colour scheme for the fonts is balck and re which are typical colours for the rock/indie genre.

Front Cover Research

I liked this front cover as the colours used are minimal giving it a house style and the to main image is Alex Turner and Miles Kane standing back to back all in black, it makes them seem close. Miles Kane's facial expression seems like he has just done soething he shouldn't of done. The image also directly addresses the reader which is a typical convention of a music magazine, as weel as the fact that the main image is also the largest which is also a convention of a music magazine. The image is also the bigest advertisement the magazine has. The audience of this magazine is mid-teens to early-twenties, of both genders. The colours are used as so they don't anything away from the main image. The heading of the magazine is slightly hidden behind the head of Alex Turner, this is not a typical convention f music magazines. Only well-known, well known magazines could do this as their heading is well recognised and known. The heading of NME is always in red, and is a distinctive heading. It will also alert regular buyers of the magazine. The sub-heading 'THE LAST OF THE SHADOW PUPPETS' is larger than the rest of the sub-headings as it is the name of the band on the frony cover and so is fiven the most publicity. The rest of the sub-headings do not have images with them but do stand out due to their bright red font is on a a white background. And with words such as 'exclusive' and 'special' makes the reader want to read the articles as the sub-headings give away hardly any information on the articles.

Genre Research

I am doing an indie/unsigned magazine, It is quite a specific genre in that there are not many magazines out there like it. I chose this genre as i feel it is the genre i have the most knowledge about and i am intersted in the genre.

My magazine has to fit into the image of the target audience, for example the editors at Kerrang would use bright pink for their title and Vibe is not likely to have the Cheeky Girls on the front cover. Every magazine has to play to the their target audience and give them what they want or the magazine would not do well. Everything from the name, fonts you use and the colours you use. The music magazine that's most like the magazine i want to make is NME.