NOTE TO EXAMINER

Dear examiner,

I hope you enjoy reading through my AS coursework blog presenting the journey of researching and planning, making the final product and evaluation of my magazine.

Thank you.

FINAL EVALUATION QUESTION 1

Final Evaluation Question 1

FINAL EVALUATION QUESTION 2

FINAL EVALUATION QUESTION 3

Final Evaluation Question 3 from laurenlcroberts

FINAL EVALUATION QUESTION 4

FINAL EVALUATION QUESTION 5

FINAL EVALUATION QUESTION 6

6.  What have you learnt about technologies form the process of constructing this product?

I used various forms of editing technology/software:

Computer and iMac
While constructing my media product, i often was working on the computers or the iMac's in school during lesson time and study periods. At home i worked on the project using my Windows Laptop, despite my laptop not having all the required software i did what i could after school hours. I preferred working on the task using computers at school as this was a place where i was extremely motivated and had access to all required software and better quality hardware, particularly on the iMacs. I used my free study periods and lesson time effectively, ensuring i was working on the project and getting all the work done.

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended

This is the software used to construct and edit my magazine on the school computers, as i do not have this software at home installed on my laptop. At the start of the project when using Photoshop for the first time working on the preliminary task, i was not a confident user and only knew the basics of how to operate the software. After lots of practice, i developed my skills using this software which allowed me to use it to my advantage and create a good quality final product through editing and attention to detail relating to the design.

                                         

Microsoft Word 2010

I used this software to create the interview which i featured on my double page spread inside the magazine. This enabled me to check for any spelling errors, monitor my word count, structure appropriately and make any necessary alterations before inserting the article into Photoshop where i was creating my double page spread. This ensured my double page spread was professional and avoided any mistakes.

I also used many forms of presentation software during the process of constructing my magazine:

Blogger

I used Blogger frequently throughout the task of constructing my magazine. All stages were 'blogged' to provide evidence of completing and justifying ideas etc. This was how all my work was presented. My blog shows the process from start to finish. Before i was involved in this media course i hadn't previously Blogger, but after using it regularly i became more familiar with its functions and how to use it effectively in presenting my work including research, drafts, feedback, weekly targets, final product and evaluation.

  Animoto

I used this video creator for my 25 word pitch during the early stages of the task as part of my research and to give insight into the direction I aimed to take with my media product. This was an effective way to get the message across and viewers were able to engage with the animations and images which did not require much explanation. Previous to this,

I had never used Animoto, however I found it very easy to use and a good way of presenting work in an appealing and interesting manor.

Flickr

After taking both test shots and a second shoot for the final product images after doing research to gain ideas of what I wanted to achieve, I uploaded some of my favourites
on to Flickr, creating a 'feed' which I embedded into a blog post, allowing others to visit my blog and view these images easily and in high definition.

Scribd

During the research stages involved in the coursework, I used Scribd as a different form of presenting my work; I was able to upload Word, Publisher and PowerPoint documents onto this software and present it in a more professional way than a standard post on Blogger. I researched and analysed pre-existing magazines and posted this onto my blog by using the embed code for this particular document, creating media variety on my blog and different ways of presentation.

SoundCloud

I used this when creating an 'Inspirational Playlist' for my chosen genre of indie and posted it onto my blog through embedding; this is a different way of presenting work using a different form of media, perhaps something more interesting than a standard blog post. I knew how to use this before coming to create this playlist as I already had my own account and used it regularly for streaming music, therefore I was confident in using this and had no issues.

 

For the research involved in the task i used technologies including:

Internet Explorer/ Google Chrome

The internet was essential for my research. This system enabled me to find out about pre-existing magazines, collect images, access various software's (mentioned above), access information throughout the process, developing ideas and finding inspiration from various sources online allowing me to create a good quality final product.

Survey Monkey

I created an online questionnaire using Survey Monkey as I thought it would be useful to gain insight into the pubic and audiences. I asked relevant questions to ensure I gained useful feedback from peers after embedding and posting onto my blog for others to see and proceed to complete  the survey. I had never used this before but found it easy to use and a good way of finding out about your audience quickly and
easily.

Practical hardware used included:

Nikon D30200

This was a camera owned by the media department of my school, I decided to use this rather than my personal camera as it is of better quality and more credible; capturing images in high definition. I used this for all images featured on all pages: cover, contents and double page spread. As this camera was not my own, I had never used it before and was not familiar with all it's functions so during the test shots I was unable to use the camera's specialist features to my advantage- achieving images of a professional, industry standard showing variance of aspects of the mise en scene. I was then more confident when using the camera for a second time in a second shoot with the male model, learning skills and appropriate settings after my first attempt (zoom, angling, flash etc.)

  Artificial Lighting

 I used two soft lighting boxes when photographing the models in the AVS studio at school. This created a perfect level of brightness for the images to ensure the focus was on the model and the image itself rather; without the lighting the image would appear unprofessional and unattractive to the audience as it could be seen as something 'ordinary' and 'boring'. The lighting emphasises expressions and contributes towards achieving a flawless, glossy image.

Tri-pod

This was used to stand the camera on when photographing models during the photography stages, it stabilised the camera and allowed a level position achieving a professional and well balanced looking image. Without this piece of equipment, images may have appeared unprofessional and disorientating for the reader as angles and shots would not be on one level and appear unattractive as a result.

White screen back ground

A professional look was created through the use of this piece of equipment as the screen was placed behind the models, achieving a simplistic look and avoiding the appearance of untidy mise-en-scene shown in the shot. This is regularly used by magazines as it is attractive and ensures the audience's attention is drawn to the important contentions of the magazine such as cover lines, image and masthead. This allowed images to be featured effectively on the page and other aspects of the magazine stand out appealing to the audience and encouraging interest and sales.

FINAL EVALUATION QUESTION 7

Final Evaluation Question 7

DRAFT EVALUATION QUESTION 4

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

The audience for my magazine would be young males and females aged 16-24 who have an interest in new upcoming releases and information surrounding indie genre music. The audience would be passionate about innovative styling and enjoy wearing items which express their personality and interests. As my magazine is aimed at middle/upper class people, I felt the magazine should come at a respectable price of £4.99; my research on the target audience and with the age range, it is expected that the intended reader may not have a large amount of disposable income due to possibly having a part time/starting out job, therefore I did not want to price Original much higher than this and only publishing seasonal issues of the magazine as I felt the target audience would be happy to pay this amount a few times a year for a premium product as It seems fair for the high quality magazine with lots of content, where the price provides good value for money.

The audience I am aiming Original at would be indie/alternative in terms of their style through creative fashion combinations as well as through the indie style music magazine being a topic of interest, something in which is preferred rather than hip-hop genres, etc. There is a clear market for my magazine as pre-existing indie/alternative texts focus widely on already well-established and known artists where as I aimed for Original to largely feature the trending artists of this genre as well as recognition of new/upcoming artists who are starting out and would be potential artists who are 'the ones to watch' in the industry. The audience would enjoy a magazine of this type as many would have the need for exploring new  music and sharing this with other members feeling a sense of achievement and individuality.

Indie is a respected music genre which is becoming increasingly popular, audiences of ranging ethnicity groups and social classes are growing and making the music as successful as ever. Readers would be interested in artists and bands within this specific music genre such as: The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, Koadline, Peace , etc. These are included in the successful and loved artists within the indie genre, many of which i have  mentioned on the cover of Original to create excitement, and allow the audience to gain some insight into what to expect from the magazine.

Due to the nature of the age group, the audience would be passionate about creativity, vintage and innovative designs. These are themes presented through my media product, despite being primarily based on indie style music, I relied on fashion and styling as well as expression and and page layouts to attract the audience to purchasing a copy of the Autumn/Winter 2015 issue of Original and to portry a dominant sense of indie/alternative genre.

As Original is similar to some extent to existing print media texts, such as Clash, Loud and Quiet and Dazed and Confused. I feel i have styled the models on the front cover, contents and double page spread effectively to fit in with the indie/alternative genre of the magazine and readership it will attract. The bold and edgy photography style achieves the intended look eloquently and is very similar to the style of Clash magazine in terms of the contents and double page spread. Whereas the front cover adopts the layout and design of men’s fashion magazine, Fantastic Man which i felt was very stylish in terms of its use of conventions. The front cover is suitably vague in terms of its display of information and insight into the magazine content as all that is given away is the profession of the indie artist featured on the cover page; this would interest my readers in wanting to fidn out more about the content of the magazine and to gain more knowledge on the featured male artist’s relevance of being the main feature of this issue.

DRAFT EVALUATION QUESTION 2

How does your media product represent popular social groups?

Original magazine represents indie/alternative groups. The task was to produce a music magazine which effectively and successfully appeals to an intended audience; I decided to focus on indie/alternative members of the public within a 16-24 age range and aimed to represent these individuals’ interests clearly throughout the product. I created a realistic artist profile for an indie solo artist who I named Jack Wolf and whose image and personality portrayed throughout Original intentionally plays well with the indie genre of music as I needed to appeal to listeners in order to satisfy them and as a result increase potential sales and customer base, etc. Each convention of the magazine is based around aiming to represent an indie style and followers of this genre of music. Styling was a key part of the representation of indie groups. I used UK Tribes and my audience profiles created during the research stage of the task to ensure the styling of my artist (smart, colourful shirt/plain black baggy T-shirt paired with black skinny jeans) and the overall look of the magazine was fitting with preferences of this group to effectively appeal and engage my target audience.

Urban groups are also represented to some extent within Original through the use of creative and edgy aspects of the mise en scene on the image featured on the right sided page of the double page spread. The rough, messy looking outside background setting of the image achieves a bold and edgy appearance of the page overall. The product makes a statement through the use of vintage looking images, fonts and creative page layouts to present drama in an artist format.

Another social group represented within my magazine includes young alts. I identified this group using the UK Tribes website which states this group consists of ‘people who want out of the mainstream music genre and that members share interests for everything alternative.’ I feel this group would enjoy the ‘On Location’ section mentioned on the contents page as my research on young alts shows their interests include festivals and music themed events. As it says members have interest in everything alternative, I feel this has been catered for through my double page spread design due to the artistic play with text alignment, arrangement and page layout. The stylish and the typically unconventional appearance of the page may entice people inside of this group to develop an interest and read the interview as a result.

Indie scene-setters are amongst many social groups I feel I have successfully represented inside Original as they are known for their desire to seek new music, and are willing to explore various forms of media to find it. As the double page spread presents an interview with an artist about his new album approaching its release, this is an example of new music which would interest this social group into purchasing a copy of original to find out more. As the styling of this group is mainly skinny jeans and vintage wear, this is something I kept in line with when deciding on the appropriate styling for my artist, Jack Wolf. In each of the images of the male solo artist, he is captured wearing black skinny jeans and he is also presented wearing a vintage style floral shirt on the front cover, contents and double spread pages within Original.

Creative individuals are also represented by my media product as a result of my use of styling, photography and combination of conventions when designing the pages. This social group unite fashion, art, music and photography; all of which are dominant features of my magazine. They are likely to find colour schemes, images and stylish fonts featured inside Original aesthetically pleasing and effective as a whole product.

My media product clearly represents both male and female individuals aged between 16-24; one of the ways I have ensured this is through my relevant creation of an artist profile, as the male is aged 19 (in the middle of the age range) and therefore is made to be more relatable and engaging for the target audience as a result of being of a similar age. The photography used within my magazine is modern and stylish which helps this product appeal to this age group. The fashion worn by models featured within my magazine appears vintage yet the audience are able to recognise it is not outdated in an unappealing way, many of the readers would also be likely to dress similar to this themselves as it represents a typical indie style. Also, the listing of featured bands/artists on the front cover page contributes towards representing this group effectively as this would be likely to engage and interest those within the target age range due to being bands indie fans are likely to have heard of/listen to regularly.

DRAFT EVALUATION QUESTION 3

What kind of Media Institution might distribute your media product and why?


ifeel the best institution to distribute my magazine would be Bauer Media Group. They already have a large portfolio which is made up of many credible print media brands such as Q and Kerrang magazine; despite these being of a different genre and opposite styles to Original, I feel this provides a gap in the market for a indie/alt style magazine such as my own to become successful through effective distribution by this company. Due to their being no similar products to my magazine being distributed y Bauer currently, I feel this is an advantage as it develops the media range and is not similar to other models of print media, presenting originality and broader ranges. I feel Bauer Media Group would be a good distributer for my magazine and be beneficial through its distribution networks and systems spreading all over Europe, allowing a broader audience than intended as my magazine can be marketed in a range of areas, appealing to wider audiences and potentially attracting them and positively impacting sales. Bauer also own a radio station broadcasting music nationally, showing the group have knowledge of music and genre's which would enable them to have understand and be able to distribute Original effectively despite it being of a genre which differs from the current brands being distributed by them.

As well as Bauer Radio, the group also have a 50% stake in British television; channels are all music related, examples include: 4music, The Box, Smash Hits, etc. This provides further evidence supporting that Bauer have clear expertise within the music industry which would be useful for the company I wish to distribute my product to have knowledge on as they can reflect this in effective, appealing and engaging market campaigns and distribution to stores and customers. This level of expertise would enable me to price Original at £4.99 (a relatively high end price for most monthly music magazines) as they would ensure good quality and high standard distribution in a way that would influence the audience's decisions to purchase.

The extensive media sources which Bauer are largely involved with provide me with the potential to into different markets and broaden my target audience as my media product could develop into a success through the radio station and television advertisements, etc.


Q and Kerrang are the only two print media types being distributed by this group currently. This gives me the opportunity to fill the gap in the market. As there are no indie music magazines being distributed by Bauer Media and in the UK at this time, my genre could be interpreted as one with lots of potential to boost sales as many UK16-24 year olds would have high interest in this genre of music and are likely to be interesting in the magazine and purchase a copy. this is something which has the ability to develop outside of the UK and into other areas of Europe if distributed by this company as it would raise audience awareness, ease of access to the print media and interest potentially. This may create further success for the Bauer media group if Original becomes a recognised, credible and successful brand of magazine. Large readership is generated by the group through the effective circulation worldwide.


I would wish for distribution to be carried out in the original way: displayed and stacked on magazine shelves inside stores, offering the option of postage for customers paying for subscription to the magazine. Also, as technology is becoming increasingly advanced and used by the population on a regular basis, I feel an effective way of distributing the magazine and engaging with customers would be to distribute online as well as designing an Original magazine app downloadable on smartphones for the target audience to use to their advantage and easily access at the touch of a button. The target audience (16-24) may like online distribution as they would be the generation familiar with using these types of modern day technologies and find this method more easily accessible. Related to media consumption of target audience (UK Tribes.)


Product placement within my magazine would be based around my research carried out on the target audience (audience profile and audience research) as well as target audience trends and identification research on UK Tribes. Brands/ fashion labels and artists/bands that feature in my audience research would allow me to gain ideas of what types of products are most appropriate and appealing to the target audience to feature inside Original. For example, information related to The 1975 and/or Metronomy (such as upcoming tour dates or new album releases, etc.) would be suitable to appear inside the magazine as the two example members of my target audience included these indie styled bands as their favourites, interesting and appealing to them as a result of featuring the artists within an issue. Also, clothing brands such as Carhartt and styles including smart button up shirts paired with black skinny jeans, etc. would be relevant and suitable inside my magazine- whether it is worn by a model/ artist or displayed entirely for advertisement purposes as these are classed as indie style and therefore would fit in with the genre and themes. Using unusual and away from mainstream styling and brands would be likely to encourage the target audience to purchase a copy as I found during my research and planning stage of the task that ‘popular’ Is not ‘cool’ in the opinion of my intended audience. Following conventions which would appeal to the target audience would promote the magazine and potentially have a positive impact on sales, leading to success.

DRAFT EVALUATION QUESTION 5

How did you attract and address your audience?

As all models featured within my magazine were intentionally kept within the target audience age range of 16-24, this makes those featured inside Original relevant to my target audience, allowing it to attract and address the intended audience.
In terms of design, I decided on employing a basic and simplistic page design due to the relaxed nature of the indie genre music magazine and to appeal to target audience effectively and seem less overwhelming at the first glance, preventing the audience being put off buying a copy.

The Image/ appearance of my featured artist conforms to the typical indie male artist in industry and would attract fans of the genre to develop an interest.  As Jack Wold is captured on most of the images as looking directly into the camera, this seems more personal and creates an unreal bond with the audience.  As a result of the engaging images, some would feel the need to read on as the product as a whole appears attractive and eye catching.

The female featured on contents page conforms to Marjorie Ferguson’s male gaze theory which is appropriate to the target audience age range as boys within this would be known to have lots of interest in females; despite not having an inappropriate body parts on display in the images featured, the elegance and vintage style of the woman would appear attractive and eye catching on the page.

When displayed on shelves in store, the masthead and image would be the conventions initially noticed by the audience/passers-by and would have a level of importance on attracting the audience. The masthead adopts a simplistic, stylish format through the boldness of the text being black and contrasting with the white background of the cover page. The front cover page is made to appear more professional and attractive as I ensured I remained within the red, white and black colour scheme to tie in with colours incorporated into design of the male’s bright floral shirt. The masthead would be noticeable through its central alignment at the top of the page in bold.
The font used (Tennessee SF in size 88 ) is bold, edgy, and clearly readable which enables strengthened branding and avoids misinterpretation among the audience. As the front cover does not give too much away about the contents of Original magazine, this would interest the audience and encourage them to want to read on as they would want to find out more about the reasoning for use of conventions on cover page. Readers can develop brand recognition the masthead remaining exactly the same in style on every issue published and the magazine itself as stylish, vintage and edgy.
Due to the bold and chunkiness of the font used for the masthead on the front cover of my media product, the print media is made to stand out on store shelves against other magazines and make a statement- attracting the audience’s attention and potentially leading to a seal as a result. Examples of pre-existing magazines mentioned previously (Clash, Dazed and Confused, etc.) have target audiences which overlap with my chosen range; Clash is targeted at 18-35 year olds, I feel this is very broad and while this broad ness does have its advantages (more potential revenue), I do not feel it is a necessary audience for Original as fashion and events are strong and continuous themes linked with the indie genre of music which are more suited to a younger audience. As well as this, audiences aged outside of the target market for Original may have difficulty understanding the creativity and stylishness behind the layout of pages I produced as I have taken a more modern twist on the typical conventions taken in magazines. Therefore in order to understand the ideas behind the design and find it appealing I feel that my younger, smaller age range for the target audience was appropriate and effective for methods of appealing.

I used a series of conventions which the audience would be used to seeing/ attracted to in industry to gain the attention of the intended market. After conducting research on successful pre-existing magazines inside the indie genre of music, I adapted some of the used conventions and made them unique to my media product through altering cover and contents page layouts, font styles, image filters, etc. to gain a professional appearing final product. As the style of the examples I looked at are successful and popular products among indie lovers, I felt this was an appropriate direction to take as there was evidence of audience attraction.

Deciding on an effectively appealing colour scheme was an important aspect of attracting the audience as they are likely to base assumptions and base decisions around the appearance of the product as a whole and therefore impacting their views on what to expect from the quality of the content inside; possibly comparing my magazine to others beside it on the store shelf. Due to this, I ensured I adopted an attractive and contrasting colour scheme (black, white and red) to achieve consistency and the appearance of a professional design on the front cover, contents and double page spread.

Another way I addressed the target audience is through the language used. After researching pre-existing contents pages from Clash and Fader, I gained ideas on how to effectively engage with the reader. This led to my decision to use combinations of formal and informal tones, which the ideal reader would understand and be able to make sense of as a literate and educated member of the public. When constructing the interview to be featured on the double page spread, I considered my target age range, social brackets and themes which intended to be carried throughout my magazine. I opted to use a more informal/ low language register as this suited the style of the interview, and I wanted to present an ‘easy’ read for the audience which they would find appealing as it does not require too much thought. However I also ensured the readers did not feel their intelligence was being insulted as this may deter the audience from wanting to purchase a copy of the magazine through using a basic yet understandable and flowing body of information featured on the double page spread. Due to the informal nature of the interview I felt the informal tone was necessary to engage the audience. I was aware that music magazines used different forms of socialite to communicate effectively with the audience and I feel I achieved this to a good standard within Original. Ensuring syntax and grammar were correct was important as failure to have correct spelling and punctuation in appropriate places inside a published issue would be likely to deter the reader continuing reading the magazine and also giving the brand a bad reputation if many notice mistakes. This would be very unprofessional and it is crucial for the branding of the magazine that mistakes are not made.

In order to attract the audience and ensure my media product was effective and realistic of an industry standard, the styling of models within Original is fitting in with the indie genre throughout the entire product to clearly represent the genre loved by the readers. The smart, bright floral shirt as well as the minimalistic black T-shirt and Skinny jeans worn by male indie artist Jack Wolf, and vintage style paisley printed shirt worn by the female artist referred to as Lucy Needs on the contents page reflects the styling of my indie target audience; indie musicians often adopt a very eccentric, vintage style, or the opposite end of the scale and wear basic, minimalistic fashions.  This is something I wanted to present in my media product to address the genre clearly and use it to attract the audience, making the product seem more relevant and inspirational to them as individuals. I planned outfits and styling of the models featured prior to photographing them to ensure I would achieve a range of effective images suitable to the genre of the magazine and to enable me to successfully present this to the audience through selecting fashion meeting the indie criteria and what would work well on each page. Personalities of the models are clearly presented in my magazine as the innovative styling and expressions captured on my images used present an insight into the model’s characteristics etc. I wanted to maintain consistency, yet have variance to display my skills through my product and create drama, therefore I captured the majority of my images in an artificially lit studio with a white screen behind the model being photographed to make the image seem more attractive and professional in the eyes of the audience through having a blank, neat mise en scene to ensure all focus Is kept on the model. However to allow my product to present a level of variance I included an image of the male cover artist outside by a worn down, weathered door exposing concentrate and creating an urban appearance as a result. This helped me to ensure I kept the attention and interest of the reader on every page through my use of unique and slightly unconventional design seeming attractive to the target audience who have a love for individuality and innovation.

I applied different filters to each of the images featured inside my media product to make them appear more aesthetically pleasing and maintain a consistent look of stylishness. To create flawless, statement images within my magazine I airbrushed each image to remove irritating spots noticeable on the original images, altered the contrast and brightness levels of each image to present a glossy, vintage image and appeal to the audience.

The female model, Lucy Needs, is featured using combined shots to seem more interesting and futuristic- suited to the themes intended to be represented in her article further on in the magazine. This unusual type of image used would interest and appeal to the audience as it ties nicely with the indie genre and contributes towards the vintage look on the page.

I chose to apply a black and white filter to both images featured on the double page spread as tis appears glossy, vintage and stylish- making the page more attractive and grabbing the attention of the reader as a result.

DRAFT EVALUATION QUESTION 1

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

When designing my magazine I looked at a range of indie/alternative existing magazines, such as Loud and Quiet, Dazed and Confused, Clash, etc. for inspiration and to see what was happening in current industry. I took ideas from a combination of these popular and well known magazines which each use, develop and challenge typical conventions themselves,  varying from issue to issue. I chose to adopt a variety of ideas from the pre-existing magazines as they successfully and effectively appealed to the target audience and represented the indie genre clearly and consistently throughout the whole product. Inspiration for the front cover page of my magazine came predominantly from along with the idea of creating something which would stand out on the magazine shelves inside stores through innovative styling but at the same time conforming to the minimalistic style adopted by most magazines within this genre.

CONVENTIONS OF CONTENTS
When producing my final version of the contents page I based the design and layout around successful, pre-existing magazines such as Clash and Fader, yet I decided to develop ideas presented from these magazines and create a more unique approach for the contents display; I used Fader’s idea to feature chunks/blocks of text based on the main features within the magazine as I felt this looked stylish and professional. I also felt that it allow the reader/audience to gain a more detailed insight into the pages and what to expect from the columns displayed. In terms of the layout, again, I used ideas shown in Fader, despite this being a hip-hop, R’n’B genre music magazine I felt that it was still suitable to take and alter conventions from as it appeared stylish and edgy which was something in intended to achieve with my magazine. The straight columns ordering the features appeared neat, minimalistic and professional and ensured the reader was not overwhelmed at a glance of the page, also ensuring that everything on the page was organised and neat. I then adopted a similar style font to that used in Clash. I wanted to achieve the stylish, vintage style appearance of the page overall which I feel adds to the effectiveness of presenting my chosen genre of indie clearly.  I like the edgy feel that the Clash contents page achieves and therefore wanted to create a page which resembled this, which influenced me to use font style ‘Orator’ on Photoshop. As shown in Fader, I sized the titles of the feature pages slightly larger (9) than the text which followed (7) as I feel the title is the main piece of information which would grab the attention of the audience and lead them to developing interest and want to read the section of following text and find the page in the magazine. Fader features a ‘Soundcheck’ and ‘On Location’ area on their contents page inside every issue to ensure maintained consistency; this is something which I decided to use as I feel these subjects would be points of interest to the target audience (16-24) and would be something which would encourage them to buy the issue.

MASTHEAD
Using font ‘Tennessee SF’ to type the masthead ‘Original’ in size 88, I ensured that the front cover would make a statement on the page and garb the attention of the public as they pass by the magazine stands in stores and appears aesthetically pleasing to the target audience, fitting in with the indie genre and overall design of the front cover. The Tennessee SF font type appears vintage and stylish, enabling the front cover to represent the indie genre successfully and effectively.  As well as this I had to ensure the audience were able to clearly read the masthead without having to look too closely to identify the magazine and strengthen branding and recognition; this is something which is also considered with real media products in industry as they need to ensure product recognition to maintain sales, etc. The masthead featured on the front cover is similar to that of Dazed and Confused, Loud and Quiet and Clash music magazines in the sense that the lettering is displayed in a basic font, capitals, bold and thick to ensure it stands out on the page and makes a statement. I feel that by using this convention of real media products I have allowed Original magazine to create a sense of professional branding and the basic style font of the masthead allows the main focus of the audience to be kept on the image and the cover lines which would be the main factors drawing attention to the product and encourage sales through appearing aesthetically pleasing and interesting; as well as this I feel that the cover of each issue of Original should speak for itself and represent the indie genre clearly and effectively, therefore it was important that the masthead did not give much insight into the content of the magazine away, like on many magazines in this industry such as: Loud and Quiet, Dazed and Confused, i-D, etc. I do not feel that the audience should make assumptions about the magazine itself based on just the masthead and its design on the page.  My thoughts when creating the masthead were that I wanted something which would ensure original stood out amongst other magazines on the store shelves through being large and bold, but yet would not overwhelm the page in the eyes of the audience.  I decided on formatting the masthead text as black and bold to allow the colours to contrast with the white background colour of the page and ensure it was clearly readable. Due to being centrally aligned on the page ( a convention taken on many pre-existing magazines such as Clash, Loud and Quiet, Dazed and Confused, etc.) my design appears neat, symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing.

FRONT COVER PAGE LAYOUT AND CONVENTIONS
In terms of the front cover layout, I used many conventions of fashion magazine, Fantastic Man as I found this style effective at portraying a sophisticated, stylish look which I intended to achieve with my front cover. As I felt I was able to change the fashion orientation of the magazine into a suited indie music genre through altering wording etc. I employed conventions of this real media product including: using of image and surrounding borderline of image, bottom central cover line, placement of the barcode and issue date and price,  as well as bottom brief introductory text.
Elaborating on the upper left side of the page barcode placement being a convention used by many real media products, it has been shown to look effective on issues of Indie, Bullet, Clash,  Dazed, etc.

GRAPHOLOGY
I aimed to adopt the minimalistic approach on the front cover as I did not want to overwhelm and deter the audience from purchasing a copy.  I felt that after looking at industry pre-existing texts, a basic simple approach appealed more to the indie target audience and looked more aesthetically pleasing.  Magazines including, Clash, Loud and quiet, i-D and many more have chosen to adopt this minimal approach frequently, therefore showing it is a successful and effective idea. Due to the basic cover layout, as inspired by Fantastic Man, I feel the audience are as a result more able to focus on the important pieces of information displayed on the cover which would be enough to influence the likelihood of a sale. I liked how the layout allows for continuity on every page and can be adapted to suit any specific topic as it is not suggestive and is not too complex to adjust to suit.
The font use predominantly on the front cover page (Orator Std) displaying the band/artist features, profession of artist Jack Wolf and bottom introductory information about the contents, is also featured as the dominant style of text on both the contents and double page spread. The maintained consistency makes the magazine seem well constructed at an industry standard as it fits well together, each page following onto the next with a continuous colour theme throughout, creating a high level of continuity.

On the front cover, the font used stating the name of the featured cover artist is ‘Adobe Devanagari’ which is different to any other fonts featured throughout the magazine; this could be considered as using conventions of that used on Clash and Dazed and Confused as this has been done by the brands multiple times on various issues where the cover line(s) are shown to be formatted in a completely different text. I feel this has allowed the name of the artist to stand out on the cover and is likely to draw the attention of the audience as they pass by due to not entirely fitting in with the rest of the design. Although despite being a different font from others used consistently throughout the magazine, I do not feel this negatively affects the overall look of the magazine as I do not think it appears out of place on the cover; everything works well together, creating the intended image for the overall product representing indie and classic style themes within the magazine. The front cover features black colour filled boxes to allow the band/artist features to stand out effectively; to ensure this was kept consistent and fitting in with the design as a whole, I also applied the use of the black filled box behind the ‘singer’ text item to ensure this text stood out to the audience and after it has grabbed their attention, they would understand the purpose of the magazine (music orientated) and those audience members who were less aware of Jack Wolf as an artist would develop knowledge of his profession to potentially want to purchase a copy of this issue and read more about the featured artist. The boxes add to the dramatic and edgy feel to the product and are a convention I used from real media product, Spin music magazine as I came across the cover featuring Lana Del Rey during the research and planning stages of the task and felt I could interpret this idea and apply it onto the cover of original.

On both the contents page and double page spread I created for the task I made sure of consistency of design and branding through the use of page numbers and the name of the magazine (Original)  placed directly underneath the number; the font size of this remained the same on every page it was featured (size …) as well as font style (….). this was something I took from Dazed and Confused as I liked the professionalism and strengthened branding it creates- the audience is constantly reminded of the brand of the magazine whilst reading as it is displayed centrally at the bottom of every page to avoid distraction away from the content of the magazine. To further the branding and consistency, I formatted the left page of the double page spread in white to ensure the text was clearly visible and contrasting with the black colour from the image.

A variation of high and low language register is used appropriate to engage the target audience who would be literate (as they are interested in print media in the first place) and intellectual as they are fans/listeners of indie music which often has meaning behind the lyrics presenting a narrative and would require thought to understand in many cases- there is usually a need for understanding with this genre of music. This combination of language registers is typical in many magazines of this type as the readers would potentially be put off overly formal context as they would want an ‘easy, interesting read’ at the same time as not insulting their intelligence and flowing nicely throughout.

ARTIST PROFILE/ IMAGE CONVENTIONS
The image featured on the front cover uses conventions of real media products as the close up shot of the artist is something which is commonly employed by most music magazines in industry, such as Clash; this ensures the audience can clearly identify the artist featured on the magazine, strengthening the artist profile in an aim to encourage fans/ target audience to develop and interest as a result and purchase a copy. The use of a close up shot of a solo artist is used by pre-existing magazines in industry including, Loud and quiet, Dazed and Confused, i-D, etc.  My artist, ‘Jack Wolf’, represents the indie genre effectively; I aged the artist at 19 as this is a typical age for an artist in the music industry creating clever and catchy songs to interest and engage the target audience When creating the artist profile I used information and appearance of real indie musicians of present including Jamie T, Artic Monkeys, The 1975 and Tom Odell. In relation to the mise en scene, I chose to keep the styling of the artist on the front cover colourful and eccentric to some extent as the floral shirt is bright and bold, whilst fitting in effectively with the indie/alt genre of music. I based the colour scheme of black, red and white around the colours of the artist’s shirt displaying a level of consistency. I feel that this styling conforms to the stereotypical image of indie artists and indie followers as they are often seen to be wearing smart attire and expressing personality through their choice of clothing. Expressions and stance were very important during the photography stages of the task to set mood, clearly present the indie genre and allow the audience to understand an element of the male’s personality through the images featured within the magazine. I used a variety of shot types across the whole product as the cover displays a close up image of the solo artist, contents page showing two examples of medium close-up images and the double page spread features a mid-shot and long-shot of Jack Wolf to effectively show a level of skill which is something used within all magazines within industry to prevent the magazine looking very similar on each page I intended to create an engaging, appealing and interesting product as a whole.
My choice of a solo artist plays well with the design of the front cover and is something adopted by many magazines within industry including Dazed and Confused and Clash magazine; this may be due to the fact that often more than one person inside a shot has the potential to make the front cover seem overcrowded and unappealing- simplicity is often chosen by magazines in industry to effectively appeal to the audience. All images used within the magazine are conventional for a typical indie music magazine, and based on research conducted on style models inside this genre, such as Clash and Loud and Quiet.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD CONVENTIONS
My main source of inspiration for the design and layout of my double page spread came from King Krule’s feature inside an episode of Clash. I found the unusual structure of the right aligned text interesting and wanted to replicate this idea to achieve a similar look of incredible style and boldness. The page layout in general develops typical conventions combined and presented in many pre-existing text as pages of text are often shown to be in neat columns following a left to right structure; this demonstrates the ways in which I have developed conventions of real media products, although not entirely as the idea was inspired by Clash who are known to be experimental with placement of text, image and space on pages. The font used, Orator Std, is simple and easily readable, yet it helps develop a vintage appearance to the page which further defines the magazine as indie. As I wanted to portray a level of skill within the magazine I decided to feature an image on the double page spread which was taken in an outside environment to create an urban, edgy feel on the page; this idea came from the King Kruel’s double page feature in Clash where the mise en scene presents a rough, urban style outside setting with concrete and fences exposed. However it could be said that the variety of mise en scene shown on images within my magazine develops photography conventions of typical indie music magazines in industry as often the featured artists are captured inside a studio or with some sort of meaningful background, whereas my choice to capture my artist In a rough looking outside area was based around elements of creating drama and adding to the stylishness. I also opted to filter images on this page in black and white as I felt this achieved an edgy and bold appearance and allowed the page to make a statement. The use of monotone colours is used often in many real print media products as the image is made to appear more glossy, vintage and stylish. Styling of the artist for the image featured on the right page of the double spread was largely influenced by research and planning on indie bands: The xx and The 1975 as they adopt a minimalistic style of clothing which I felt was effective as it does not give anything away bout the artist or their style of music and creates a sense of mystery and interest.

The text on the double page spreads reads as an interview of the artist; this is something used in pre-existing texts such as… frequently as it is known to be a point of interest for the audience and a chance for them to gain more knowledge on the artists/celebrities they are interested in. This allows an easy read as artist responses are easy to follow and information is not too complex to consider, encouraging the reader to read the entire interview.