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

These are images showing what Preliminary Task: College Magazine looks like compared to what my Final Task: Music Magazine came out like.

Preliminary Task:

My Final Product:

Here is a video that answers the question:

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

Evaluation: How did you attract/address your audience?

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

The people that I want to draw in for ‘Cometessa’ would be aged between 17 to 24 years old.

It was originally meant specifically for women but the LGBT community also show an interest so perhaps if I had to develop 'Cometessa' further, I would try and make it satisfy a wider audience.

They could potentially be interested in ‘Cometessa’ in both a physical and digital format as they use the Internet regularly to be social or to download music.

They listen to artists that produce music under the genres of pop, rock, indie and metal that they would most likely download from iTunes. 

They are particularly interested in the careers and opinions and attitudes of these artists.

Their favourite colour would most likely be red closely followed by blue.

My intentions were to obviously attract people to buy my magazine but also to expand the market by offering a product that meets the main conventions however with a different portrayal of the artists within it. 

By doing so, I can perhaps change what people value as important when it comes to music artists or satisfy something that has never been explored enough in the past.

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

Media Institutions

Sometimes the audio chooses not work along with the presentation so here is the basic script just so you can see the details of what I am saying.

Bauer Music might distribute my media product because:

• They have an interest in similar magazines that a re popular to their audiences.
• They are more willing to take risks as they have their previous successes to fall back on.

IPC Media could have potential interest because:

• My magazine isn't like any other product that they own making it niche which could make them want to fill the gap that is currently there.
• They might want the female counterpart to their male audience targeted music magazine.
• There are two categories for women that 'Cometessa' could belong to giving more chance of being chosen.

Self-Publishing and Distributing:

• A very big risk and I would need lots of money.
• It would mean that my magazine would be completely under my control without the need for outside influences.

Online:

• It would appeal to my audience in a society built upon technology and internet communications.
• I would need advertising for my own magazine as well as inside it. In today's world, advertising is particularly successful online so I could attract potential advertising clients who's funds would keep 'Cometessa' alive.

Feedback: Focus Group

I gathered a group of potential audience members together in order to give me feedback on what they liked and disliked about my front cover, contents page and double-page spread.

However, some people I wanted to ask the opinion of were not able to attend so I asked them seperately in order to get as much feedback as possible.

I had made adjustments based on what I was told from the Hot Seating Classroom Rotation exercise so the products were looking at a better standard.

Here is a summary of what they said:

Front Cover 

Positive:

- They loved the new red and yellow colours (some had seen 'Cometessa' in the really early stages).

- They liked the colour splash, which I had adjusted before the focus group to be more precise and have a cleaner effect.

- The image used on the front was particularly popular as they really liked the pose she was in.

Negative:

- Move the 'Rebecca' the front to be a little more central.

Contents Page

Positive:

- Once again, the colour choices were a hit with the audience.

- The stories listed seemed interesting and relevant to my market.

- The images were popular as they were 'fun' and nice to look at.

Negative:

- They didn't like the yellow part at the top because it looked empty . Someone suggested a subtle showing of my masthead so I will make the relevant adjustments.

Double-Page Spread

Positive:

- The layout looked fantastic with the R behind the text.

- It looks clean and not cluttered.

Negative:

- The picture side didn't link to the other page with the interview. They suggested coloured lines along the top and bottom and a pull-quote next to the artist in the photo.

- Make the first paragraph introducing the artist larger to stand out more.

I will make the relevant adjustments to make my work the best that it can be!

Here are a few photos of a group of feedbackers: 

I found this to be an effective method of collecting information about who my target audience could be and what they think about my work.

Evaluation: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I have created the music magazine ‘Cometessa’ to represent young women who are interested in the most popular genres of music.

 I wanted to make my product a fair representation that follows some conventions but also breaks others in order to separate it from its competitors in the market and to make it more appealing to my audience.

Here are some of the good examples of representation of women in music by Billboard and some not so good examples by Rolling Stone.

Lady Gaga

Katy Perry

Rihanna

I chose to not represent my artists as sexual objects like many magazines out there do because my research showed that people did not value physical appearance as much as they did the quality of music.

 

I portrayed this by allowing different attitudes to come across from each artist. The pop artist is elegant to look at and gives off a ladylike feel, my metal artist comes across as slouched and carefree, my rock artist was sassy and had an aura of confidence and my indie artist looked intense and lost in thought. 

Each of these impressions and poses were made to represent a different member of my audience depending on what kind of music that they listen to and what their thoughts and opinions are.

I am comfortable that I have achieved the representation that I wanted!

Evaluation: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge formsand conventions of real media products?

Double-Page Spread: Final Draft

Contents: Final Draft

Contents: First Draft

Contents: Artist Photo Manipulation 3

These photos are for the story: Freya's New Album.

I styled her in a chilled out way with subtle colours and is posing in quirky ways to match the conventions of an indie artist. 

I decided to use the first one as it distinctively shows her face and the flower.

Let's manipulate!

I decided that the red didn't work so I used my other house colour; yellow.

I like this manipulation much more.

Double Page Spread: Second Draft

Double-Page Spread: The Interview

Here is my interview for 'Rebecca Harris: Pop's Own Sweetheart'. 

I based my questions based on interviews I had seen previously in other magazines. As she is an established artist, I based the biggest question on her career as my audience said they wanted. I also asked some questions about her views and opinions on things which is what the other audience members wanted to see. 

I used the magazine name instead of 'Interviewer' as it was a trend I saw through all the magazine interviews I researched.

Rebecca Harris has become one of the biggest female pop icons of the 21^st century. She has sold over 10 million albums and has topped the charts in multiple countries around the world. We wanted to know more about this successful woman.

Cometessa: Hello Rebecca.

Rebecca Harris: Hey there!

C: Your career has been going from peak to peak. Do you feel that you have changed over the past few years?

R: I must admit that I am beginning to get used to all the hype around me but I have kept the focus that got me here in the first place. This industry can change people into expecting everything to be done for them but this can lead to work becoming sloppy and that is not what I am paid to do so my full intention for the remainder of my career is to keep working hard and expecting nothing. If I let my art become something selfish that serves no purpose to the world that I live in then I have failed as an artist.

C: Who are your inspirations?

R: My inspirations are all strong women but they inspire me for different reasons. I love Lady Gaga’s style and bravery; I don’t know many people who could brave the harsh words of society in order to make a statement through what you are wearing or what is going on in your music video.  Taylor Swift is a huge inspiration to me as she writes her own music and each song gives you an insight into her head. I think this is good because it builds a strong connection between her and her fans. There is an LA recording artist called Brooke Candy who I think is a great inspiration for women as we as a gender have a tough time escaping the labels society puts upon us. Her music addresses this issue by demoralising those who use these labels and empowers those who are the victims of this cultural blip.

C: How do you feel about Miley Cyrus’ recent behaviour as a fellow female artist?

R: I don’t really care what how many clothes she wants to wear or how many wrecking balls she wants to sit on, that is her choice but I do believe that she owes it to her younger fan base to set a good example. She constantly looks too tired to be out of bed and her figure appears unhealthy. She owes it not only to herself but also to her fans to take some time off. I love her music though, her voice is individual and she deserves all the success she is getting.

C: Ready for a game of ‘This or That’?

R: Go for it!

C: Azealia Banks or Iggy Azalea?

R: Azealia Banks all the way but I love Iggy too.

C: Katy Perry or Rihanna?

R: Rihanna is always evolving. She has gone through so many transformations during her career, which is why she is still at the top of her game. She’d have to win hands down!

C: Theatre or Film?

R: Film simply because I wish I was a Hollywood Icon like Marilyn, Grace and Audrey.

C: Blonde or Brunette?

R: I can’t betray my own hair! Brunette.

C: When was the last time you laughed?

R: When my friend Freya, yes that famous Indie girl, came into the café I was in specifically to steal some of my cake. It was chocolate cake too, so I bought her a piece of her own and we talked about what we have been working on.

C: When was the last time you cried?

R: That was two days ago when I found out I had been nominated for a Grammy award; it has always been a dream of mine so the tears were happy ones.

C: What are you going to do later today?

R: I am going to eat some sweets, listen to music and dance till I am exhausted. Life is a game of either choosing the grey path handed to you or paving a new way; I chose a colourful life.

C: Thank you for coming to see us, good luck for the future!

R: My pleasure.

Contents: Flat Plan

Double Page Spread: First Draft

This is the first draft to just outline what my Double Page Spread should roughly look like. On my flat plan, i said that I wanted to use a full image on one page and put the interview opposite to keep my design looking clean and true to my house style.

Looking at it now, the font needs to change according to my front cover. I will next add the exact interview and ask my focus group what they think.

Contents: Artist Photo Manipulation 2

This was probably the fastest of my photo shoots. I styled my metal artist Jessi in all black clothing, black sunglasses and a pop of red lipstick. The inspiration for this style was Amy Lee (on Mood Board) as this is typical of something she would wear. Because of this, the artist will appeal to my audience as they can instantly she which genre she belongs to and who she is similar to.

The first pose is relaxed and gives off the cool feel that comes with a metal artist. The other pose was to test the extreme stereotype that comes with metal music. 

I decided to use the first image as the genre believes in being original and going against stereotypes.

Here is the manipulation!

Planning the Content for the Contents

For my contents page, I need twenty or more stories to ensure that it has enough material to look realistic and to keep true to convention.

I decided to look further into some contents pages from other music magazines to see what features are commonly used and which are more specific to a particular genre or style. I looked at magazines such as Q, NME and Billboard.

I split my contents into two sections: Regulars and Features. The Regulars would contain the stories I have seen most commonly used in the other magazines. The Features would be the stories that I can be a little more specific and creative with.

What I came up with: