Wednesday, 23 April 2014
Tuesday, 28 January 2014
AS Media - Evaluation
Q7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it being a full product?
From the preliminary task, I have improved on different aspects of my design work in both the front cover but also the contents page. Even though the preliminary task outcome was of a high standard, I have still found ways to learn from and develop from. I have created this slide show to discuss all of the areas I have improved from my preliminary task to my final task. In the slides I will talk about...
From the preliminary task, I have improved on different aspects of my design work in both the front cover but also the contents page. Even though the preliminary task outcome was of a high standard, I have still found ways to learn from and develop from. I have created this slide show to discuss all of the areas I have improved from my preliminary task to my final task. In the slides I will talk about...
- Font
- Font size
- Colour scheme
- Masthead
- Layout
- Details
- Content
- Continuity
AS Media - Evaluation
Q6 - What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing your product?
As well as the different media technologies that I have listed above, I have also used many more in my blog. I have used a variety of technologies in my blog to make it media rich and to also add fun and interest into the blog. The media technologies that I have used have mostly been new to me so I have learnt a lot from the time spent on my blog. The technologies I have used throughout are...
As well as the different media technologies that I have listed above, I have also used many more in my blog. I have used a variety of technologies in my blog to make it media rich and to also add fun and interest into the blog. The media technologies that I have used have mostly been new to me so I have learnt a lot from the time spent on my blog. The technologies I have used throughout are...
- Prezzi
- Slideshare
- Photoshop
- YouTube
- Blogger
- The MatBoard
Another new technology that I have used during the process of my music magazine is an Apple Mac. I used Apple Macs in my classroom and also in the library. I have used apple macs for my work because I needed to use Adobe Photoshop and it was the only device that had it. I had to learn how to use it as I wasn't very familiar with this computer. This computer had many advantages in that it had all of the Adobe software and it was also accessible at all times. It has different controls to a Windows computer so I had to learn these new things to get the most out of this computer.
Some of the tools I used in Photoshop were the type tool, the magic wand tool and the pen tool. The most important tool that I used was the type tool because of the amount of text that I had to put on my final products. The type tool made it easy to shape text to fit around images and it also made it easier to align. I could also enlarge the text without it becoming blurred. The magic wand tool was useful to my work because I didn't use much photography. I scanned in my illustrations and I used the magic wand tool to get rid of the background of the images. The pen tool also got rid of the background and it made a clearer cut.
Some of the tools I used in Photoshop were the type tool, the magic wand tool and the pen tool. The most important tool that I used was the type tool because of the amount of text that I had to put on my final products. The type tool made it easy to shape text to fit around images and it also made it easier to align. I could also enlarge the text without it becoming blurred. The magic wand tool was useful to my work because I didn't use much photography. I scanned in my illustrations and I used the magic wand tool to get rid of the background of the images. The pen tool also got rid of the background and it made a clearer cut.
AS Media - Evaluation
Q5 - How did you attract/address your audience?
To show how I have attracted and addressed my audience, I created a Podcast talking about it. I have mentioned colour, language, social media and the Unique Selling Point of the magazine and how all this affects how the target audience sees the audience. The Podcast is below, click 'Play' to listen.
The audience for my audience is males from the ages of 13 to early 20's. The magazine will have two audiences, the primary and the secondary. The primary audience will be the males of the above age and the secondary will be girls of the same ages. Although the primary audience is the main focus, the secondary audience is just as important, so I needed to appeal to both. As well as the podcast, I have also recorded a small focus group. Below, is the recording I did with some of the people that my magazine would be aimed at. I asked them what they thought of the magazine, who they thought it was aimed at. They gave great answers and they recognised the target audience just by looking at the magazine, this tells me that the magazine would appeal to the audience and that the magazine reflects on the target audience.
Throughout the magazine, I have stuck with the same ways of addressing the audience and attracting them. My audience is young so I have used a cluttered layout with sub images. I have also used a puff at the bottom of the page as this is often found on a magazine aimed at a young audience. The illustration that I have used is looking at the reader, this is directly addressing the audience and attracting them more in the process.
To show how I have attracted and addressed my audience, I created a Podcast talking about it. I have mentioned colour, language, social media and the Unique Selling Point of the magazine and how all this affects how the target audience sees the audience. The Podcast is below, click 'Play' to listen.
The audience for my audience is males from the ages of 13 to early 20's. The magazine will have two audiences, the primary and the secondary. The primary audience will be the males of the above age and the secondary will be girls of the same ages. Although the primary audience is the main focus, the secondary audience is just as important, so I needed to appeal to both. As well as the podcast, I have also recorded a small focus group. Below, is the recording I did with some of the people that my magazine would be aimed at. I asked them what they thought of the magazine, who they thought it was aimed at. They gave great answers and they recognised the target audience just by looking at the magazine, this tells me that the magazine would appeal to the audience and that the magazine reflects on the target audience.
Throughout the magazine, I have stuck with the same ways of addressing the audience and attracting them. My audience is young so I have used a cluttered layout with sub images. I have also used a puff at the bottom of the page as this is often found on a magazine aimed at a young audience. The illustration that I have used is looking at the reader, this is directly addressing the audience and attracting them more in the process.
AS Media - Evaluation
Q4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?
To start with who my target audience is, I first made a questionnaire and asked a variety of people to answer it. This here is my questionnaire that I have carried out in relation to the target audience of my magazine. I have picked questions that will cover all areas of information and it will provide me with the research and information that I need. In my questionnaire, I have included qualitative and quantitative questions that will give me different responses and different variations of answers. Qualitative questions are closed questions and they will give me the hard facts that I need for my target audience research. However, qualitative data will give me lots of different answers because of it being an open question. To carry out my research, I first made the questionnaire using Microsoft Word. I then printed out 15 of them and went around college asking people to fill them in.
The response that I got gave me a rough idea of who I should appeal to. I have posted the results to this questionnaire earlier in the coursework. Although I had a rough idea of who would be buying the magazine, I needed to ask another questionnaire that would highlight a more in depth analysis of who my magazine would be aimed at. I needed to know the specific details for my magazine to truly target the audience and it needed to be precise if I wanted people to be attracted to the magazine. The audience is the most important part because if the magazine doesn't appeal, there won't be a magazine at all. After I had got the results back for both questionnaires, I was ready to make a reader profile. This would be a reference for me to have when I was making my magazine. It acted as something to look back at and then ask myself if it would appeal. Here is the reader profile below.
Key Theories I have considered
Uses and Gratifications Theory is a popular approach to understanding mass communication. The theory places more focus on the consumer, or audience, instead of the actual message itself by asking “what people do with media” rather than “what media does to people” (Katz) . It assumes that members of the audience are not passive but take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives. The theory also holds that audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their needs. The approach suggests that people use the media to fulfil specific gratifications. This theory would then imply that the media compete against other information sources for viewers' gratification. My magazine would be picked up by people out of their own will. They control what magazines they buy based on their own interests. So for my magazine, people would be picking it up for entertainment but for also the illustration on the cover, this being because they too have an interest in art. It has also been suggested that it could be down to personal identity, they see them self in something (Bulmer). This would apply to my magazine with the style of writing or the something being sold in the magazine. Dennis McQuail suggested it could just be for information, like the recent charts or reviews. It may be bought for something to talk about.
To start with who my target audience is, I first made a questionnaire and asked a variety of people to answer it. This here is my questionnaire that I have carried out in relation to the target audience of my magazine. I have picked questions that will cover all areas of information and it will provide me with the research and information that I need. In my questionnaire, I have included qualitative and quantitative questions that will give me different responses and different variations of answers. Qualitative questions are closed questions and they will give me the hard facts that I need for my target audience research. However, qualitative data will give me lots of different answers because of it being an open question. To carry out my research, I first made the questionnaire using Microsoft Word. I then printed out 15 of them and went around college asking people to fill them in.
The response that I got gave me a rough idea of who I should appeal to. I have posted the results to this questionnaire earlier in the coursework. Although I had a rough idea of who would be buying the magazine, I needed to ask another questionnaire that would highlight a more in depth analysis of who my magazine would be aimed at. I needed to know the specific details for my magazine to truly target the audience and it needed to be precise if I wanted people to be attracted to the magazine. The audience is the most important part because if the magazine doesn't appeal, there won't be a magazine at all. After I had got the results back for both questionnaires, I was ready to make a reader profile. This would be a reference for me to have when I was making my magazine. It acted as something to look back at and then ask myself if it would appeal. Here is the reader profile below.
The above image shows a collection and a presentation of all the information that I have collected from the research and planning. This image tells me what the audience like, don't like and it tells me what they buy and how much they spend. The reader profile is also very helpful to a magazine from the advertising perspective. This literally tells me what my audience spends money on, telling me directly what advertisements I should include in my magazine. By having this, I know if my audience are going to take notice to an advertisement or not so it gives me more control and more of an idea of what will/should be going in. Here is a brief summary of what is in the reader profile...
- Gender
- Age
- Work Status
- Social class
- What they enjoy
- What they agree on
- How much they spend on...
Key Theories I have considered
The Two-step flow theory and the Hypodermic Needle model were also considered but weren't as relevant to my magazine. The two-step flow theory asserts that information from the media moves in two distinct stages. First, individuals (opinion leaders) who pay close attention to the mass media and its messages receive the information. Opinion leaders pass on their own interpretations in addition to the actual media content. The term ‘personal influence’ was coined to refer to the process intervening between the media’s direct message and the audience’s ultimate reaction to that message. Opinion leaders are quite influential in getting people to change their attitudes and behaviours and are quite similar to those they influence. This is suggesting that one person influences the opinions on those around them. This theory is more relating to reviews or online critics of the magazine but it wouldn't relate much to a small group of people as they would tend to be more individually opinionated. The hypodermic needle theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by ‘injecting’ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a desired response. The model suggests a powerful and direct flow of information from the sender to the receiver. It suggests that media messages are injected straight into a passive audience which is immediately influenced by the message. This theory doesn't relate to my magazine as it isn't trying to force an opinion and influence the audience in a strong manner. This theory relates more to, for example, Hitler's monopolization of the mass media during World War II to unify the German public behind the Nazi party.
AS Media - Evaluation
Q3 - What kind of media institutions might distribute your
media product and why?
There are many media institutions that I could use to distribute my magazine but there are two main ones that would be best suited for my music magazine. These are Bauer and IPC Media and they are some of the biggest media institutions out there. First, there is Bauer. Bauer Media Group is a multinational media company headquartered in Hamburg, Germany which operates in 16 countries worldwide. Since the company was founded in 1875, it has been privately owned and under management by the Bauer family. It was formerly called Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG, abbreviated to HBV and usually shortened toH. Bauer. Worldwide circulation of Bauer Media Group's magazine titles amounts to 38 million magazines a week.
There are many media institutions that I could use to distribute my magazine but there are two main ones that would be best suited for my music magazine. These are Bauer and IPC Media and they are some of the biggest media institutions out there. First, there is Bauer. Bauer Media Group is a multinational media company headquartered in Hamburg, Germany which operates in 16 countries worldwide. Since the company was founded in 1875, it has been privately owned and under management by the Bauer family. It was formerly called Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG, abbreviated to HBV and usually shortened toH. Bauer. Worldwide circulation of Bauer Media Group's magazine titles amounts to 38 million magazines a week.
Bauer Verlagsgruppe has been managed by four generations of the Bauer family. Originally a small printing house, The Bauer Publishing Group has grown into a worldwide publishing and media company. The Bauer Publishing Group comprises 300 magazines worldwide in 15 countries, as well as TV and radio stations. Bauer started in the UK with the launch of Bella magazine in 1987 and as H Bauer Publishing became Britain's third largest publisher. Bauer further expanded in the UK with the purchase of Emap Consumer Media and Emap Radio in 2008 to become the UK's biggest publishing group. The group acquired Australia's largest magazine publisher, ACP Magazines from private equity firm, CVC in 2012, increasing the company’s value to more than €2 billion. H Bauer brands include women's weekly and TV listings magazines; namely Bella, Take a Break, that's life! TVChoice and Total TVGuide as well as a number of puzzle magazines.
Q started out as a music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. Originally it was to be called Cue (named after the act of cueing a record to play), but the name was changed so that it wouldn't be mistaken for a snooker magazine. Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth felt the music press of the time ignored a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology — from artists such as Paul Simon, Level 42, and Dire Straits. Modeled after Rolling Stone, Q was first published in 1986, setting itself apart from much of the other music press with monthly production and higher standards of photography and printing, with an emphasis on style. Kerrang! is a brand that specialises in Rock Music. It originally began as a magazine and in 2004 Kerrang Radio was launched A Kerrang TV channel also exists and as of 2005, all of its programme content is music videos, the majority of which is open scheduled, for text requests from their playlist.
The other media institution that I could use is IPC Media. IPC are another media institution that are massively popular. IPC distribute other magazines that are simile o my own, this would make me more likely to choose IPC. They distribute Kerrang and NME, both magazines are very similar to my own. The only worries that there may be is that because the magazines are similar, my magazine wouldn't stand out enough, especially with the competition just within IPC. However, my magazine cover uses illustrations which gives it a unique look and would help it stand out.
AS Media - Evaluation
Q2 - How does your media product represent a particular
social group?
This below is a mural that I have created to talk about how my magazine represents my particular social group. It is important for my magazine to represent my audience in a good and respected way because if I don't my main audience won't be attracted and this is often the end of a magazine in the publishing world. In the mural I talk about...
This below is a mural that I have created to talk about how my magazine represents my particular social group. It is important for my magazine to represent my audience in a good and respected way because if I don't my main audience won't be attracted and this is often the end of a magazine in the publishing world. In the mural I talk about...
- Age
- Gender
- Social Class
- Costume and Hair
- Body language
- Race
- Vocation
- Nationality
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