Media Kit

Contents Page Paper Draft

Double Page Spread Paper Draft

Front Cover Paper Draft

Audience Research

Music magazine audience research from crispywlkr

Contents Page

Double Page Spread

Front Cover

Rejected Cover

Details of location, props and models

Location:

For my photoshoots I mainly used the college's studio to give plain backgrounds to my photos. However, I also went to a shop that was being renovated to provide a rustic and tatty background to some of my photos. Plain backgrounds enabled me to more easily cut out the people in the images allowing me to have the things behind the image come through. The tatty background gave a sort of retro feel to photo, which links with the artists and the target audience as they like retro things.

Props:

I didn't use many props for my photographs. The only props I used were a cleaning sign and a bowl to add humour to one of the photos on my cover and a pint of beer on another.

Models:

The models I chose for my music magazine were Danielle London, Nancy Halladay, Josh Walker, Neil Green, Sim Cookson and Liam Brown. These people were chosen as I felt their style was representative of my target audience and would therefore appeal to them.

Looking back at your preliminary task (the college magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Looking back at my college magazine front cover, I can see that I have learnt a lot in the progression to my full product. One aspect that I have improved on is the spacing between cover lines. In my college magazine they are quite spread out and look a bit out of place and very amateur, whereas in my music magazine front cover, I feel as though this has been greatly improved with there being little space between each cover line. I also added some coloured lines in to create a clear divide between two different cover lines without leaving a gap.

I have also improved my typography as the fonts I used for the college magazine didn’t follow any particular theme and didn’t fit in with each other. The fonts on my full product are easier to read and all similar in style or the same.
My main cover image on the college cover was a bit boring and was just taken at a straight on angle, whereas for my main front cover I took the image from quite a high angle, which makes the image more interesting and appealing. I also cut the background of the image out for my full product unlike my college product in order to create a background to fit with the rest of the cover better.

 

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

         I learnt a lot about lighting during this project as I had never used studio lighting before. I learnt the names of each different light and the purpose of each, which then allowed me to visualise how to use these to create effects for my photos. I learnt from using these lights that the correct lighting in a photo is very important and can completely change the feel of an image. For taking the photos I only used a camera, lighting, and a few props. The only props used were to create a jokey feel to a photo and were a cleaning sign and a bowl.

         Before this assignment I had never used a blog, so this has taught me how to use one and I feel that this method of submitting work is very helpful. I like this method because it eliminates the problems that occur if printers stop working, takes a bit of pressure away and makes it feel less taxing and daunting. Using a blog also allows work to stay well organised without worrying about losing pieces of work as they’re all saved online and stored under tabs, which make it easy to access certain areas of work. Another online programme I hadn’t previously used was Prezi. I feel as though this is a good way of analysing products and makes it seem easier although you are still writing the same things. It also allows your analysis to be presented in an organised manner with direct visual links between the writing and what you’re writing about. I had also never used Flickr to analyse anything before. I found this useful but I preferred using Prezi as I feel the presentation with Prezis is better and I find it easier to use. Flickr analysis’s look a bit boring to me and seemed to be more taxing.

         Photoshop was a programme I was familiar with but had only used briefly before doing this project. Throughout this coursework I have learnt a lot about Photoshop and the tools available to use. One tool that I found particularly helpful is the magic wand tool. This allowed me to delete a certain area from a picture by just clicking in the part I wanted to remove. This was very helpful with my masthead as I was able to remove the background from it and make it so that the background of my actual magazine was visible behind and in the middle of the holes in letters. It was also helpful with other titles in the same way.

How did you attract/address your audience?

My magazine's point of sale would be on the shelves in shops such as WH Smiths and other newsagents and supermarkets. This would put the magazine in view for the general public enabling people to find out about it and buy it. My masthead on my magazine is designed to grab the attention of my target audience. I tried to do this by using an Aztec pattern to fill two of the letters because indie style clothes often have some form of pattern on them. It is also designed to attract the intended audience through what it actually says as it is an abbreviated form of indie.

The main cover image for my magazine front cover is designed to catch attention through direct address. The people in this image are looking straight down the camera lens, which gives the impression that they are looking at you. This also creates the effect that they are following you with their eyes wherever you go. The other images on the cover all use this technique as well.

Another way in which I have tried to capture the attention of people is by using a sticker effect. This sticker is a bright colour and has a drop shadow so it stands out and it is advertising a free gift and everyone likes to receive things for free, so this would attract people to my magazine, even people outside of my target audience.

This yellow colour is also used in the strap line, which has also been designed to attract people to my magazine. I used this colour, a chunky font, and capital letters saying win to grab people’s attention. People like competitions as they give them the opportunity to get things they might not otherwise get. I decided to make this competition to receive free tickets to Reading Festival because my target audience enjoy going to festivals and love music so they would want to enter and win this prize. I have used a personal pronoun in this strap line to make it feel more personal to the person looking at the magazine and make them feel almost as though I’m talking directly to them.

I have tried to make the price quite obvious on the front cover as it is quite cheap, which would make people more likely to buy the magazine. I have positioned this price sticker on the left hand side of the cover so that it will still be visible when the magazines are lined up on the shop shelves.

The language used on my double page spread would appeal to my target audience as it uses formal language that my audience would be used to reading due to their age but with the interview, it changes to quite chatty language, which appeals to young people. The people being interviewed are within the target audience age range so the readers will be able to relate to them, as the article uses direct quotations, and they may have things in common, which adds extra appeal.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The demographics for my audience are as follows. The age of the audience for my magazine would range from 14-28. It would be mixed sex but predominantly male and mostly middle class (BC1 C2). This would increase attractiveness to advertisers as the target audience has disposable income to spend on their products. The psychographics include the readers being indie music fans as my magazine focuses on solely indie music. Also, I feel they would shop in places such as Topman and Topshop, which opens up advertising possibilities for such shops. I think the male side of my audience would wear shirts and/or plain, patterned, or printed t-shirts with rolled up jeans. The female side to my audience would also wear shirts and or t-shirts. I believe they would also wear jeans but may also wear skirts, and dresses but mainly denim shorts. My audience would be the sort of people who like to wear trilbies and converse. They would also wear boots and beanies and wear parkas in the colder months. They would like going to festivals and camping there, therefore, camping equipment could be advertised in this magazine, as well as festivals and gigs. I feel that my audience opens up many possibilities for clothing advertising as a lot of shops sell this style of clothes at the moment.

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

I feel as though Bauer would be a suitable company to produce my music magazine. I believe they would be appropriate because I have a fairly large target audience (indie music fans) as from my market research I found that 50% of my sample listens to this sort of music. Bauer produce magazines such as Q and Kerrang and I feel that my magazine would fit in with these. Kerrang has a target audience of rock fans so I would say that this magazine has a similar sized target audience as mine as not everyone likes rock music just as not everyone likes indie music. Q magazine is also targeted at rock fans so would have the same limited audience. Another way in which my target audience is similar is that a lot of indie music could also be considered as light rock and is often labelled as indie rock, so I believe my magazine would fit in nicely with Bauer’s current products. My target audience is teenagers and young adults. These people are likely to discuss things they see and read in magazines, therefore increasing sales and readership. This would then appeal to advertisers as they could get people talking about their products. A disadvantage of using such a big company to publish my magazine is that my magazine would probably be overshadowed by the other products as they have made a name for themselves and are well known. Also, my target audience is very specific, which could cause problems when it comes to the size of my audience but then again, Kerrang’s audience is quite specific as well. Although they have a large catalogue I believe there would be space for another music magazine to target a new audience as they say ‘Our business is built on influential media brands with millions of personal relationships with engaged readers and listeners. Our strategy is to connect audiences with excellent content through our broad multi-touch point brand platforms, wherever and whenever and however they want. Our wide portfolio of influential brands gives us advantages over pure play magazine or radio competitors.’ So my magazine would fit in with these platforms as it is online and in shops. I believe there would be benefits with using a small publishing company as magazines such as Clash are very successful with small companies. It is actually more successful than NME magazine, which is published by IPC media, one of the top publishers in the UK. With a smaller company my magazine wouldn't be overshadowed by other products as it might with companies such as Bauer. The company would be able to focus more on my magazine. However, there are also downsides to using a small company such as advertising. It would be harder to build up a good advertising base because the company wouldn't have the same reputation as the bigger ones and therefore, companies would rather go to them to advertise their products. It would also be harder to get the magazines to supermarket shop shelves, which is where I want my magazine. They would more likely be based in urban areas in smaller shops. I believe that my magazine could be distributed by one of the big companies such as MarketForce and Menzies because, as I said before, it has a target audience just as big as magazines such as Kerrang, which are distributed through big companies.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media products represent male and female indie music fans. It uses unisex colours such as reds and blues and my products imply that this group of people are quite laid back and fun. They suggest this through:

• The main cover image - The facial expressions display this and show a quirky nature.

• The images on the double page spread - The different poses the girls are doing in the photos show their sense of humour.

• The puns for the captions on the contents page - These puns link with the picture or artist in some way and show a sense of humour, suggesting that young people (the target audience for the magazine) have a good sense of humour and don't take themselves too seriously.

I tried to make my products quite laid back but still fairly formal at the same time. Whilst the actual language used is formal the text fonts on the front cover and contents page are mainly sans serif, giving it a more informal, friendly impression, which links in with the audience being laid back.

My magazine represents teenagers in a good light. It does this through the main cover image as it gives the impression that they are friendly, laid back, easy going and fun people. It doesn't suggest the stereotypes are true as teenagers are often labelled as aggressive, thuggish and unpleasant people. This portrays the feeling that they are up for a laugh and don’t take themselves too seriously. My double page spread also suggests this along with them being humble and down to earth, and also caring, which is the opposite to the stereotype.

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

Images showing process of construction (Front Cover)

First Draft of Double Page Spread Article

What’s New?

Prodigal Flare

Prodigal Flare have been named the hottest up and coming band of 2012, their ever growing fan base are helping them to creep up in the UK charts. The band consisting of Danielle London and Nancy Halliday reached No.6 in the UK charts with their debut single, Raw Intentions! Their sudden rise to fame has seen them invited to perform at a number of events including festivals such as Sundown, and Reading where they were one of the favourites from the BBC introducing stage.  With both Danielle and Nancy being only 17 years old, they appear to have a long career ahead of them.

Prodigal Flare only formed around 5 months ago when they met through college. In this short period of time they have had no trouble being noticed by many labels and they have even received attention from Rough Trade, one of the biggest indie record labels in Britain. Danielle London and Nancy Halliday are from different small villages in Norfolk where there are no real opportunities to shine in the music industry but have both striven to succeed and eventually found their break when both met at college and decided to enter competitions and shows as the indie band, Prodigal Flare.

Interview

IND have managed to grab an exclusive interview with the rising stars:

How are you finding your sudden rise to fame?

Danielle: “ It’s really quite odd. Especially for me, coming from a tiny village that doesn’t even have a          shop! Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good odd, I just can’t believe how people have taken to our music.”

Nancy: “I completely agree. I mean, I’ve done performances on my own for years but only to an audience of around 50 people, usually through school productions to be honest, and doing covers. But now we’re getting the chance to perform our own material to thousands of people at festivals!

Nancy, you mentioned performing when you were younger so what inspired both of you to start singing and how old were you?

Nancy: “Well for me it was just my love for music, I’ve always loved listening to music for as long as I can remember so it just seemed the natural path for me to follow. I suppose I actually decided that I wanted to become a singer when I was about 9 or 10 when I started to get opportunities to perform in the school shows.”

Danielle: “I never really had a passion for music when I was younger, that came more recently for me, around 10 or 11 I’d say, but I just used to sing along to songs when out with my friends. I often got comments from my friends about my singing and they used to tell me that I had a good voice and should think of becoming a singer. I enjoyed singing and with this added confidence I realised that music was where I wanted to go with my life. So I’d say I was about 13 when I chose to take up singing.”

We here at IND have been told that your single, ‘Raw Intentions’, was entirely your own work. Is this true? If so, can you tell us the meanings behind the song and the inspiration for it?

Nancy: “Yes, it is true. I began working on the lyrics whilst in high school but had trouble finishing them and coming up with music to go with them. When Danielle and I found out about each other’s aspirations in the music business, I showed her the lyrics I had and we began to work together on finishing them and then managed to come up with the music to fit it as well.”

Danielle: “We just seemed to click and once the lyrics were complete we experimented with my guitar to find the right sort of sound for the music and then it all seemed to flow from there.”

Nancy: “The meaning behind this song is about showing your love before it’s too late. The inspiration came from something that happened in my life. A family member of mine passed away when I was 14 and we were never really very kind to each other whilst she was alive. I started to write this song when she passed away because I did love her and missed her greatly but I never showed my affection and regret that now. So this song is about her and is called ‘Raw Intentions’ because that’s all my good intentions with her will ever be now.”

Who is the artist or group that you would most like to do a collaboration with?

Danielle: “Funnily enough, we discussed this fairly recently. We decided that we would love to collaborate with Arctic Monkeys. We both love their music and think that our style and sound would go well with theirs too.”

What are your plans for the future?

Nancy: “Well we plan to start making our album and have it released by the end of the year and hopefully experience a successful 2013 and then we’ll see where it goes from there.”

Danielle: “Who knows? You might even see us appear at some more gigs and festivals this year.”

Does that mean that we will be seeing you performing at gigs and festivals then?

Danielle: “I don’t know, does it?”

Well, thank you for talking to us. We here at IND wish you all the best with your future and hope this single is the first of many.

Nancy: “Thank you, lets hope so!”

Q Contents Page Analysis

NME Contents Page Analysis

Contents Page Images (unedited)

Double Page Spread Images (unedited)

Front Cover Images (unedited)