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

The Preliminary Task

The preliminary task of the production was to create a school magazine front cover. This allowed me to become familiar with the technologies and conventions of layout and design.

You can see some similarities between my preliminary task and my main task, like the slogan for both magazines are tilted over the masthead to give it a stamped on look. Also the subsidiary images are titled.

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

Technological Aspects of the Production

When producing my magazine, I used a variety of different technologies. When constructing the first draft of my article, I used Adobe In-design which is desktop publishing software used to organize layouts.

To manipulate my images, such as removing a background using a clipping path and feathering an image I used Paintshop Pro.

Also, I did a lot of research on the internet to acquire an understanding of the conventions of music magazines.

I used a camera to capture my images, and I had to think about composition, setting and angle of the image. The setting in particular was important, as although I removed the background from the majority of my images, it was important to have a blank setting to make the process easier. For the images I didn’t remove the background I had to reflect the artist’s identity, as well as pleasing the aesthetics.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Attracting The Audience

The way in which a magazine speaks to the reader is essential when appealing to an audience. When choosing my featured band I considered the like-ability of the band. I chose to have both males and females in my band because it appeals to both genders. I chose to present the band as a “welsh rock band from a small town in south wales” which makes them much more appealing to the audience as it is very rare for a band to make it big if they are from a small town or village.

The layout is key when attracting an audience as it provides an important role of attracting and addressing the target audience. By creating a non-cluttered layout I can attract the reader to my magazine easily. Without clutter it makes the reader able to read it easier. The placing of the title of the magazine ‘Overdrive’ is put in the conventional place in the top left corner because we read from left to right so it is the first thing someone would read.

When addressing the audience the language used needs to reflect on the targeted audience. Making the reader feel involved is important. At the end of my article, it says, “And who can blame them?” This is a rhetorical question that gets the reader to think about it themselves. Advertisement is also important. On the front cover it says “Free CD inside” which sways the reader into buying the magazine as it offers the reader more than just a magazine.

Magazines create a bond of trust with its reader. As my front cover says “inside their most successful year” it creates the idea that the magazine has formed a close relationship with the band as ‘Overdrive’ have gone inside ‘Heads & Tails' year. Therefore the content can be trusted and the audience would begin to trust further content within the publication.

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

The Audience Profile

‘Overdrive’ aims to target a male and female audience (65% male, 35% female), who are generally around the age 16-28 with an average age of 20 (68% still studying). They are very active music purchasers who like to download and buy CD’s (92% of readers buy their music from major music chain HMV). The ‘Overdrive’ audience don’t just love listening to music, they also love going to live concerts and festivals (91% say they go to gigs regularly). The audience don’t really care as long the music is loud, to them “simple is best”.

There was an evaluation of my product through an audience survey, in which I was able to see different opinions and could establish a more specific target audience through the feedback. The audience feedback suggested that my magazine would appeal to 16-28 year olds, which is the audience age group I set out to target.

Conventional Reader Profiles

Therefore, generally music magazines target a male audience. The feedback from the evaluation of my product suggests that my magazine would appeal to both male and female audiences, but overall the reader profile would be predominately male. Therefore the ‘Overdrive’ brand conforms to the code of conventions of the music magazine industries target audience.

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

The Magazine Industry

The distributor of a magazine is responsible for maximising magazine sales in the most cost-effective way. They have to understand the audience in order to develop effective strategies for driving category sales.

I have researcher a distributor called Frontline Ltd. Frontline distribute over 180 of their partner’s magazine titles, including 70 of the top 200 best selling titles in the UK and are the biggest magazine distributor in the country. My magazine would be transferred from the publication to the wholesaler through distribution.

An established band can create a sense of position, belonging and confidence when choosing a magazine. By becoming a brand ‘Overdrive’ would secure a trusted and loyal audience.

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

1.  Representation Of Social Groups

In my images for my magazine I have chosen to use young models which would attract the target audience as some models look older than they are. By including both male and female models I have allowed my magazine to appeal to both genders.

‘Heads & Tails’ are a rock band as it is said in the article which would appeal to a rock audience. However on the contents page it says “Metal band Revolution Deathsquad” which would appeal to a much heavier music based audience, it also says “The new kings of punk” and “Alternative band Stockham” which shows that ‘Overdrive’ cleary has a wide range of music genre which would attract a wider audience.

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

1.  The Front Cover

My front cover generally conforms to the code of conventions of a music magazine as the layout provides a centre stage for the feature article. I decided to use cell lines to inform the reader of other bands that are featured in the magazine, but I didn’t give any information about the article for these bands. I also conformed to the conventions by adding little things like a bar code, the date, the price and the issue number.

I decided that the main image should obscure the masthead because it gives the idea that the magazine is established and the audience would be familiar with it. This effect is conventional to many established music magazines (see pictures)

The main image on my front cover appeals to the target audience as it has both males and females. The two males seem quite serious, appealing to the more mature reader, but the female seems less serious, appealing to the younger, less serious reader. I took a number of photos but decided to use this image because they are close together showing they are a band but the female is at the front, identifying she is the ‘frontwoman’ of the band. Bands with three members often pose this way with the singer at the front (see pictures).

I also manipulated the image using Paint Shop Pro. I removed the background as I wanted their heads to obscure the masthead, to make it follow the code of conventions, without removing it completely from the cover. I also manipulated the subsidiary images because the backgrounds of the images did not fit with the rest of the front cover.

1.  The Contents Page

The function of any contents page is to allow the audience to use the magazine in a non-linear way. This is one of the ways in which a magazine is able to be an active medium. My contents page is based on an established music magazine, as I wanted it to be conventional and easy to use. I chose to take inspiration from the contents page in Kerrang.

As you can see my contents page does not have an image to draw the reader in like most conventional established music magazines because I felt that having an image would only draw the reader’s attention to one article instead of the many articles in this issue of the magazine.

On the left hand side I decided to use a band finder that is very conventional in established music magazines although Kerrang is not one of them.

I have used an image of my double page spread to draw the reader’s attention towards the main article of the magazine which is very conventional in music magazines.

The other subsidiary images on my contents page are images drawing the reader’s attention to the live band reviews. I used images I took myself at live gigs.

For these subsidiary images I did not use Paint Shop Pro like I did for the main image on my front cover, but I did tilt the pictures slightly because I wanted to make the pictures look like they were pinned up on a wall.

1 The Double Page Spread

I improved my first attempt at producing a double page spread by following the colour scheme of the magazine and making the title and the article much clearer. On my first attempt I decided to use the same image that is on my front cover but when I altered the title to make it clearer it blocked the image. Also on my first attempt you couldn’t see the article clearly in places, so I created boxes around the article that followed my colour scheme and now it is much clearer to read. Here you can see the comparison between the two attempts:

First Attempt

Final Attempt

The colour scheme I chose in my final double page spread coincides with the front cover and contents page as the colours yellow, red & black recur throughout my magazine.

The font I used for the title of my double page spread is the same font I used throughout my magazine. As you can see I put the name of the magazine ‘Overdrive’ on every page because it is conventional method in established music magazines, and also I put the website for the magazine on the bottom of the double page spread to show that ‘Overdrive’ magazine is an established multi-platform product, and it is also conventional in music magazines.

The content of my double page spread has question and answer sections and also has an in-depth article about the band’s year. I have created a small introduction that tells the reader some information about the band at the beginning of the article as it is a conventional method in music magazines. I decided to use one main pull quote “We are family now” but I also used pull quotes throughout the article to tell the reader the bands opinion as a fan like myself would like to know the bands thoughts. The title of the double page spread ‘Heads & Tails on their last train home’ I used because they are a welsh rock band like ‘Lostprophets’ who had a single called ‘Last Train Home’.

I used 5 images in my double page spread. I used one main image which takes up the whole page and I used 4 images as a collage on the top of the second page. I tried to make the pictures look like personal photos the band took themselves as I took inspiration from a Kerrang double page spread as you can see below.

New Double Pages

Contents Page

Front Cover

Double Page 2

Double Page 1

First Draft Music Mag

Reader Profile

General Information


Male: 65%
Female: 35%

Average Age: 20

Still Studying: 68%

Active music purchasers, like to download and also buy the CD.
Rather buy CD's than download.

67 CD Albums bought a year
44 CD Singles bought a year

When buying music locally 92% of readers buy from major music chain HMV.

Online Retailers


47% - Amazon
29% - iTunes
20% - Play.com
4% - Other Retailers

97% of readers own iPods
99% of readers own CD Player

97% of readers say music is a big part of their life.

Gigs and Events


91% of readers say they go to gigs regularly
On average 1-2 times a month

When buying magazines readers prefer to buy weekly magazines as it keeps them up to date for all the latest news and music.

Mission Statement

Dilley's new project Overdrive! is a new rock magazine with a twist. Mainly music featured but other genre related topics.

Overdrive! is aimed towards a wide age group ranging from 15 - 30. Overdrive!'s readers are both male and female, and music is their life.

Overdrive! features everything in the music world such as, Band News, Interviews, New Album Releases & Reviews, Live Reviews, Tour Info, and free Posters & Stickers.

Overdrive! will try to keep their readers feel close to their favourite bands and make sure music is always in their life.

Music Fan Profile

Pure-Gigger


Age: 15 - 30

What Do They Wear?


These rockers wear simple clothing like a T-shirt and jeans. Band name on the front of the T with tour dates on the back to show they are rockers, and scruffy trainers with unknown labels. As long as the music is loud these guys don't care! Simple is best.

What Do They Listen To?


These guys and girls will listen to anything from Old School AC/DC to New School Green Day. A huge variation of rock like indie rock such as Paramore & Biffy Clyro to alternative rock bands such as Lostprophets & 30 Seconds To Mars. These guys can even go to Heavy Metal bands such as Slipknot & Bullet For My Valentine. And on a low occasion they look to Fantasy Metal band Dragonforce for a boost of energy!

What Else Do They Do?


When these rockers aren't rocking they are out with their mates. Not on a street corner making trouble but chilling and occasionally doing something stupid. These guys and girls know how to have fun but know when it gets out of control!

Questionaire Results

The most popular Masthead for my magazine was 'Overdrive!' which I think is a good title because it links with loud rock music because it is a effect on a guitar amplifier.

The slogans 'The Louder The Better' and 'Let There Be Rock' both had the same amount of votes. I have decided to use 'The Louder The Better' because it links to the masthead 'Overdrive!' as the effet overdrive on an amp makes it louder.

The main image that had the most votes was either 'Rock Band (live)' or 'Rock Band'. I have chosen to go with 'Male From Band (Live)' because I was given suggestions of guitarests on the cover so I have chosen to use a image with a male singing on stage also playing guitar. I have chosen the live option because it will link with the main story that will be about a band finshing their live tour.

The stories that had the most votes were:

• New Band Album
• Live Review
• Free Posters
• Band Secrets

I have chosen to use all those stories because it covers all stories that other rock magazines cover such as 'Kerrang!'

Questionnaire

1. What year group are you in?

Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Year 11
Year 12
Other (please state)

2. What gender are you?

Male
Female

3. Which masthead do you prefer for a rock magazine?

Overdrive!
Treble
Level 10
Rock Loud
Crank!
Other (Please State)

4. Which slogan do you prefer?

Rock Loud
The Louder The Better
Let There Be Rock
Born To Rock
Other (please state)

5. What attracts you to a magazine?





6. What would you like to see on a rock magazine?





7. What would you want the main image to feature?

Rock Band (Live)
Rock Band
Male From Band (Live)
Male From Band
Female From Band (Live)
Female From Band
Other (please state)

8. What colour scheme would go with a rock magazine?

Black
White
Red
Blue
Green
Other (Please State)

9. Which would you prefer?

A weekly magazine
A monthly magazine

10. What stories should be covered on the front cover?

Live Review
Free Posters
New Band Album
Band Secrets
Backstage Info
Other (please state)

Evaluation Of Front Cover

I think the masthead for my magazine is a appropriate name for King Henry because KHSM is abbreviation of King Henry School Magazine which is exactly what it is. The colour scheme of the masthead is also appropriate because yellow and blue are the school colours. The masthead is a sufficient size as it stands out and is the first thing you see when you look at the cover.

The main image is a appropriate size as it fills the front cover. I think the main image doesn't show the story very clearly but does show three students smiling which shows they're happy, but it doesn't suggest anything about a German exchange. I think the subsidiary images are a appropriate size as they are easy to see and you can see what the pictures are. I think the position of the two subsidiary images are in an appropriate position on the cover. I think one of the subsidiary images shows the story that its representing but one does not.

All three sell lines give a clear indication of the content of the magazine, and the language of the sell lines are very informative. No literary devices have been used. The spelling and punctuation is all accurate except for the second sell line where 'trip' has been spelt wrong as it is spelt 'trp'. Three different fonts have been used and the size of the writing shows it very clearly. The colour of the sell lines are the same as the masthead except the outline is black instead of blue.

I think the layout of the front page is very clear and organised. The front cover is very appealing to the reader because the masthead and colour stand out. I think the design of the page is recognisable as a front cover of a school magazine because it has students on the front cover and has sell lines suggesting its for a school magazine.

I think three aspects of the front page I think are successful are :-

• The main image, how the main story moves down with the image.
• The masthead, how it stands out from the black background.
• The subsidiary image, how it is slanted at the top of the page.

I think three aspects of the front page I would improve are :-

• The main image, it had to be covered at the top because it didn't look good.
• The subsidiary image, it comes of the front cover.
• The spelling mistake on the sell line 'School Trip Info Inside'.

School Magazine