Research and Planning: Distribution

Major magazine labels distribute their magazines across a huge scale. They will distribute to capitalist shops such as; Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda so that they can target their audience on a wide spread scale. For example, magazines such as Kerrang target ‘wannabe rockers’ with the audience profile of; passionate, musically experienced and loyal. This makes the audience participant seem ‘cool’ by buying the magazine. However, they are merely buying into a huge media conglomerate that covers major music artists, such as Paramore. In contrast to this. Magazines such as Kerrang are on the same distribution company as magazines such as Grazia or Zoo, tacky magazines which are does not fit in with the ‘cool’ image that Kerrang is trying to project.

Independent magazines such as Vice, distribute their magazines on a much smaller scale, to only around 4 shops in Birmingham or London, such as; Urban Outfitters. However, in contrast to magazines such as NME, Vice is free yet makes sure it’s magazine is seen by it’s audience as a difficult token to find, it only distributes in small amounts to make the audience try and find the magazine. Vice target an audience who are very niche, into indie music. Vice says that their audience like to hear about new music before anyone else, like to have fashion before anyone else and like to know about gadgets before anyone else. Therefore, Vice are targeting and audience who like to feel like they are in on a ‘secret’ when getting the magazine, it is a token of their ‘coolness.’ They also say their audience is a “trendsetting metropolitans aged 18-34.” This fits in with them targeting a niche, underground audience. However, there is some scrutiny about the independence of their magazine as they advertise for huge, mainstream companies such as Nike.

Detailed Research into Forms and Conventions

The genre I have decided to research and eventually make into a magazine is jazz for the younger generation. It will be an 'indie' magazine and will be for culteral teenagers who enjoy obscure and unique music. They will be hedonists, 16-19 and possibly a-c on the jicnar scale. They will be people whom enjoy a party and love music, they will probably go to small, intimate gigs instead of clubbing. I will target my audience with the use of odd photo's of my 'artists', incorporating indie music into jazz, for example; a niche saxophone player.

The magazine NME (New Musical Express) target an audience whom presumably are: hedonists, a-c on the Jicnar scale and possibly 16-19. The magazine targets an audience who are into ‘serious’ music such as indie rock, with bands such as The Last Shadow Puppets on the front cover, with strap lines such as ‘Jack White’s new album!.’ The magazine use lettering for the mastheads, strap lines and puffs etc which is bold and in a bright red with a thick, bold, black outline. The colour red can connote sex, anger and danger. Therefore, the audience could be attracted to NME by feeling that the magazine is associated with these connotations.

The bold lettering could also connote that the magazine is audacious, it will feature music it likes and it doesn’t care whether anyone else likes it. The double page spread includes an interview with ‘The Teenager’s’ which gives a carefree, laid back atmosphere to the interview; The Teenagers are photographed on sofa’s laughing and joking. NME’s mode of address assumes that its audience is knowledgeable about music, it does not patronise them. For example, a strap line states ‘Jack White’s shock new video.’ NME assumes that the audience will know who Jack White, of The White Stripes is, they treat their audience with an element of respect. The contents page uses a layout which resembles a messy collage; it packs in as much information about music as possible. This shows that NME is a serious music magazine, the audience will be impressed by the amount of coverage on the music world they have provided.

This is similar to ‘Artrocker’ which targets its audience of cultural teenagers who enjoy music and art, by fusing the two categories. The magazine uses lettering which has a messy, handwritten scrawl which has a sense of culture and artistic influence. They mainly cover unheard of and obscure bands which targets a specific audience; those who enjoy niche music. The front cover uses a simple yet striking grey, white and black and the title ‘artrocker’ looks as though it has been painted via hand. This express’s the magazines vibe; it fuses art and music together. Artrocker also provides a double page spread for an interview of the band. Most of the double page spreads are reviewing bands such as The Flaming Lips. They use a typical large photo as the main feature showing the band in an amateur photo taken at gigs, adding to the magazines raw vibe which it is going for.

The magazine ‘Jazzwise’ contrasts both of the magazines. It is for an older generation, possibly 30-50, traditionalist and a-b on the Jicnar scale. However, the front cover appears to be for a younger, niche audience. It uses a variety of bright, bold colours such as sky blue and mustard yellow. The artist on the cover connotes a niche and obscure style of music. However, the contents page shows men of the older generation playing the saxophone in a smoky jazz bar which may indicate that the magazine need to focus on one audience to target, as the pictures connote older and serious musicians. The double page spreads can connote youth and can also connote music for the older generation, with images of young musicians talking about new albums with bright colouring etc whereas some connote the older generation by discussing tribute bands and reviews of older, underground albums.

Initial Research into Forms and Conventions

For this part of my research, I chose three magazines with different styles of genres; electro, indie and jazz. I then compared the audiences, main contents and brand identity for each of the magazines. I did this to help me understand the different conventions for magazines, the way they put themselves across to a certain audience and how they do this. This will help me to create a new and different style for my magazine which challenges the genre's of mainstream magazines, eg; only a certain type of person can listen to this style of music.

The first magazine I studied was NME magazine. I found that this magazine was very much for the modern day music lover, who loves band such as Owl City or Jersey Boys. They will enjoy unconventional music and are probably hedonistic and on the jicnar scale they would be a/b. I would say the magazine is upmarket as although it likes to project a grungey, individual style they also have a very sleek look and have interviews with upmarket bands such as Babyshambles. The contents of the magazine shows interviews with indie artists such as Jarvis Cocker, Jack Penate and Patrick Wolf. This shows that this magazine is a respectable one for young music lovers, possibly 16-20.

The second magazine was based around electro, technical music; ATM. It represented an audience who were definately hedonist, like to party possibly in clubs while listening to underground electro music such as Alix Perez or Underground and were possibly 16-19. The magazine was a-c on the jicnar scale. They have features on clubbing, fashion and club based festivals in places such as Ibitha. Their audience is definately the happy go lucky, party girl.

The final magazine I looked at was entitled Jazz. Obviously, it was based around Jazz and the cover implicated that it was based around more soul and jazz rather than smooth, blues style jazz. On the jicnar scale I would say the audience of this magazine would be around a-c, it is an upmarket magazine for serious and passionate music lovers who like slightly older, less fashionable music such as Jaar Van Bezeiling. The audience was be traditionalists, possibily 30-40 or possibly 19-30 if they enjoy niche style,vintage music. The contents of the magazine gives information about music,rather than the celebrity performer.

Main task: Magazines

This task is to create a completely new magazine cover, contents page and double page spread to challenge the conventional style 0f magazines, eg: a heavy metal magazine for girls. I will need to create and devise new artists, take relevant photo's of my 'artists' and create an interview with them. To do this I will have to research into different conventions and styles of music magazines to decide which genre I would like to devise. The deadlines for each of the different sections of the magazines are as followed:
- 4th of January: Deadline for the Research and Planning
- 15th of January: Production deadline
- 12th of Febuary: Post production deadline
- 22nd of Febuary: Evaluation

To follow these deadlines, I will need to be organised with my work so that I can create my magazine to the best of my ability.

Targets to improve in future practical work

In future projects I am aiming to use:

• Photoshop - Learn how to have better use of the lassoo tool so that when I cut out pictures they look neater and have an overall professional effect, Manipulate images so they are layered over the top of each other.
• Knowlege - Become more knowlegable when reffering to the Jicnar scale or denotation and connotation.
• Become more preficient when using QwarkExpress because I found this rather confusing to use.

Our final front cover & contents page design

Front cover

Contents Page

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

The new technologies I have used during the construction of this product are:

• SLR camera

This enabled us to take professional looking photo's for our front cover and our contents page. It meant that if we took a photo of a person dancing then it would capture the movement in mid-air. This added to the lively, energetic nature of the magazine. This was a specific effect in which I would not of been able to do with an average style camera. However, I did find some of the functions on the camera slightly confusing and frustrating, for example: How to turn the flash off.

• Adobe Photoshop

This function was really good for editing photos, especially the photo of the model on the front cover. We learnt how to airbrush photo's using the 'spot healing brush' and how to use the 'magic wand' tool in order to cut out the background of photo's. Also, it had an easy way of moving and rotating pictures. However, I found that some of the functions on photoshop were very hard to master - such as the layering orders of the page. I feel that I will be able to master photoshop with consistancy.

• QuarkExpress Passport

This was very good for designing the contents page but I found it very confusing. It was similar to photoshop, yet a lot of the tools were hidden and I found it took a long time to do the smallest action - such as moving a photo. I did however, like the way you could set a picture to the size of a picture box.

• Scanner

We used the scanner to scan in photo's to upload onto our blog. This was very frustrating because the scanner was extremely slow which meant we did not have that much time to continue to edit our contents page and front cover.

• The Internet - dafont.com

This was a really good website which enabled us to find the perfect style font for our magazine cover and contents page. As we needed a house theme, we only needed to find around four different styles of font for each of the conventions although the fonts could not be inserted straight into our photoshop design - which was very frustrating. They had to be opened before the application which meant the computer would sometimes freeze.

Evaluation - How did you attract/address your audience?

We adressed and attracted our audience with the use of layout, colours, font, the model and the tag lines. The layout of the magazine cover and contents page was like a collage. We used photoshop to cut round one picture of a girl doing the splits and positioned it across various other photos we had taken to give a care-free collage feel. The different types of photos we had taken were of students who resembled individualists/hedonists. We wanted models with a unique look and the model on our front cover had a lot of peircings, colours in her hair and a very different sense of fashion. This would appeal to our audience because they would be able to relate to the model.

We took several photos of different models. My favourite is the photo of Jordan Edge. He is propped against a brick wall and laughing joyfully. This would appeal to the audiences' 'live life now' side due to his relaxed expression and carefree stance. Another photo I like is a photo of James Gregory doing a one-armed handstand. I caught the image in motion and it looks like a professional dance move due to that. This also gives the magazine a lively, energetic feel and the dance move makes the reader want to be able to dance.
The font was very scrawly and resembled graffiti slightly. There was an image which represented barbed wire running through the text with I felt added the the significance of the title 'Break' as though the text was 'breaking out'. This connotes a force of rebellion, the dancer can break out of the norm of dancing if they reader the magazine.

Evaluation - Who would be the audience for your media product?

My partner and I decided that our magazine was for lively youths who are inspired by break dance and music of a similar style to break dance, such as hip hop or dance. Therefore, we concluded using the demographic scale that our audience is:

• Male or female - a unisex magazine
• In the social group they belong to - B/C
• It is a college magazine so therefore they are 16-19

In the psycho graphic scale we decided they were:

• Hedonists - 'to play, or enjoy life now'
• Individuals - have their own unique fashion sense and own sense of what they want from life.
• Aspirers - they aspire to dance

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

My magazine resembles a real magazine because of the different conventions my partner and I used. The different conventions we used were:

• A large masthead with the title in bold , quirky writing to grab the audiences' attention
• Several screamers and puffs across the magazine, such as 'the number one dance magazine!'
• A main sell which draws the reader in - a chance to win a trip to meet the number one dance choreographer.
• House colours - bright pinks and greens which fit with our ambition of creating a stylish, youthful dance magazine. The lively colours represent youth and fun.
• A model as the backdrop of the magazine who fits with the style of the cover. She looks very punky, unique and like she does a lot of dancing which fits with the magazine style.
• A subheading with the tagline 'Breaking the mould of dance...' with an elipses to draw the reader into buying the magazine.
• In the contents page, we kept the house theme of vibrant pink and green which represented youth due to their energetic colouring.

Contents page

In this lesson, we looked at different styles of contents pages. I found out that contents pages must have a house style - an ongoing theme throughout the magazines design such as colour scheme and similar styles of font. They appeal to their audience with the use of different sections of the magazines and for example; if it were a magazine in home improvement the audience can look straight to a section for home improvement tips and new buys. This means the audience can know where to look for the information they want. Also, they can target their audience with the use of pictures in a collage theme on the contents page with the theme of the magazine in mind, this could make the audience feel that if they read the magazine they could be like the model in the picture.

The house style is very important. This links with the rest of the magazine and gives an on going theme throughout the magazine. For example; the magazine will need a colour scheme of perhaps blue and green. Therefore, the contents page will look more attractive if there is an ongoing colour scheme of blue and green. This makes the magazine appear more neat and presentable to an audience. Also, the cover and contents page will have similar pictures to each other. They will not necessarily have to have the same models/poses but they could have similar themes to eachother. For example 'source' which is a home improvement magazine had an image of a famous actress in red on the front cover and then red and green styled home pictures in the contents page.

'Kerrang' contents page.

Audience Research

For our magazine idea, we had to categorize our audience into seperate groups so that we know how to target them with our magazine. We split them into groups called psychographics, social values, the jicnars scale, age range and gender.

Social values - Hedonists (to play, or enjoy life now)
Jicnars Scale - B (Intermediate managerial, administrative and professional) C1 (Supervisory, clercical, junior administrative or professional.)
Age range - 16-19
Gender - Male/female

We then had to write 8-10 specific statements about our audience which defines their character, for example 'they buy lard instead ofn butter.' Here is ours:

They enjoy party's, but prefer to be performing on the stage.
They love to dance - but always want to improve.
They wear trendy yet casual clothing but like to wear designer dancing clothes.
They eat healthily but do not have lots of money to spend on food, as they are mainly students.
They party hard but also work hard.
They would go on holiday to Ibiza over a country break.
They enjoy socialising with friends in bars and clubs.
You would catch them spending time in the dance studio instead of relaxing at home.

Five ways I'm going to target my audience:
- Use a young and stylish model
- Use bright and youthful colours
- Use an original font that connotes modern and in vogue appeal
- Include tips and fashion advice that will appeal to a young audience interested in dance
- Include offers that will be useful and desirable to young dancers

Research

Our task during this lesson was to find three similar magazine covers aimed at the same audience in which we are looking to target. We then had to see if there was a similarity across the three covers in terms of; subject matter, the colours used, the fonts used, the types of models they employ, the language used to address/target the audience, the design/layout of the covers and the freebies/offers.

subject matter: They are all based on dance. The first magazine is perhaps based on Latino dancing because of the Spanish model. This magazine seems to be about the publicity and celebrity culture compared to the other two which seem to be based around dance technique rather than the lifestyle which accompanies dance.

the colours used: The first magazine gives the feeling of an upbeat dance mag because of it's bright range of colours and the beach backdrop. This gives a party feeling to the magazine. The secod magazine keeps to simple two colours; light blue, grey and black. The blue descends into a lighter sky blue and the floor is a grey. The writing in the forground of the magazine is black which compliments to models black clothes. The final magazine is also partially colour coordinated; red, orange and browns. All three magazines have very differerent colour schemes.

the fonts used: The first magazine uses sans serif font which adds to it's carefree, party feel of the magazine. The soft curves across the masthead on 'dance spirit' contrast with the sans serif font on the 'dance' magazines which is a lot more anguler, giving them a serious feel to the magazine. Both magazines use a sans serif font however, in different ways.

the types of models they employ: the first magazine uses sex appeal with the model they have used - a young, attractive woman yet she does not appear to be dancing. This adds to the party feel of the magazine and contrasts with the models on the cover of 'dance' magazine; who are all in a mid-flow of dancing.

the language used to address/target the audience: The 'dance' magazines use dance related tag lines such as 'what is wrong with ballet schools?' this contrasts with the 'dance spirit' magazine which is all about the lifestlyes of dance, rather than the dance itself.

the design/layout of the covers: The first magazine uses the beach as the backdrop with the taglines along each side of the magazine whereas the magazine covers on 'dance' have simple backdrops and are soley based around the dancing.

the freebies/offers: On the first magazine there is an offer for a dance music CD. This shows that the magazine is based around the partying lifestyle rather than the dance wheras 'dance' does not offer any freebies which shows it is a proffesional magazine.

Preliminary Analysis

To complete the preliminary analysis we need to use DTP and an image minipulation program to produce the front cover of a new school/college magazine. This should feature a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead. Also, we must produce a DTP mock up of the layout and the contents page to demonstrate out grasp of the program.
As a class, we looked at some examples of last years magazines to help us complete our own. One of the examples we looked at was called 'Mizz Glam'. I could tell it was a magazine because their was a large masthead at the top of the cover, several screamers and a few cover lines. The magazine cover also showed images of famous women with advice on how to apply female make up. The audience was targeted at students from an age of 16-19, possibly an aspirer and on the jicnars scale I would guess they are A/B.

The magazine successfully targets it's audience with the use of the words 'Mizz Glam'. The word 'Mizz' gives a feeling of rebelling yet the sans serif font shows class and sophistication, to add the the glamorous feel of the mag. This makes students feel that the magazine is cool, but also has some degree of sophistication. The use of colours is for a youthful girl; pinks, purples and violet.
The student in the photo of the magazine is holding several college folders which shows she is a student, but also has the opportunity to look glam in college. The magazine appeals to 16-19 year old girls by showing different ways to apply make up and wear clothes to college by the screamers entitled 'The guide to student fashion!' and various images of female celebritys in their clothes on the red carpet. She also includes pictures of non-famous women who look very glamorous without the money of famous people, showing that you can look great without the money of famous people at college.

Media Studies Coursework Introduction

Hello, my name is Milly Morris. This blog is for our magazine section of our coursework so that we can complete our AS course in Media Studies. In our first lesson, we looked at magazine conventions as seen below:

There is also a 'screamer' which is when a sentence on the front cover is displayed to 'scream' out at the reader such as 'Shoes for sale inside!!!!' and always have exclamation mark.

Also, text on the cover can be 'reversed outline' where there is a box is surrounding the text and normally has a different coloured background to contrast with the text.

We then had to alalyse Look magazine from an early september issue. The masthead is in bright orange which stands out against the darker colours of the picture in the background. Also, it is an informal font called 'serif' which makes the magazine seem formal and shows the reader they should take the fashion magazine seriously. There is a picture of a popular singer with the text in bold orange 'Cheryl - the easy diet that keeps me so slim.' The use of the first name and not the surname shows a familiarity with Cheryl Cole and makes the story seem trustworthy. Also, in the picture of Cheryl Cole she looks very pretty and healthy which makes the reader want to trust her and her diet methods. There is a screamer on the right of the page which says 'Autumn's Coolest Buys!' which grabs the readers attention and makes them want to have the Autumns coolest buys, therefore making them want to buy the magazine. There is a picture of Kimberly Walsh, a popular singer next to the sub heading 'Kimberly's hot new picks at new look!' which is also a screamer. Once again, the familiarity of the singer makes the reader trust the magazine and want to read her hot tips.