Double Page Spread

Contents Page

Front cover

Evaluation Question 7 (Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from that to your full project?)

Here we have my Finnished product and my preliminary task. I feel my final product is much better than the preliminary in quite a few ways. The main differance I can see is the cutting out of my model. In the preliminary you can see the edge of the picture where it was cut out of the background, and is really of quite poor quality. I am actually very proud of the cutting out on display in my Final front cover. You can't see the edge of my model and it looks very professional. I also think the background is a huge step up from before, as the blue of the preliminary is totally the wrong colour for a magazine colour and doesn't make the magazine very attractive. The brick effect background looks very urban and I think it would really both fit in, and stand out on the shelves.

The contenets page in my preliminary task was very basic, as I spent so much time doing the cover. It was obsurdly basic, with a faded blue background and and some made up articles that I put on. That was it. Dull and boring. What's more, the light blue background clashed with the white writing meaning it was hardly readable.My finished product is a million times better! The background is the brick-street theme running throughout the entire magazine. There are red boxes atop the background containing all of the next. This makes sure the text stands out from the multicoloured background. There are pictures to show what is going on in the rest of the magazine, and to give a preview of what the other articles will be. I feel this makes the magazine look more attractive overall.

EVALUATION QUESTION 6 (What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?)

In the making of my product i learned a lot of new things about the technology I was using and I have found a lot more new and useful websites that I will be able to utilize in the future. Firstly I used a Mac Computer, (but I was not able to get my own picture of it) which was an entirely new experience for me altogether. It took me ages to get used to where everything was and how it worked, but after a few weeks I started to get used to it. I quite like using the Mac now, but I do prefer a good old windows PC. I wanted to take my pictures outside so I had to use my own Canon 450D, which I very much like. I didn't really learn anything new in the process of taking the pictures.I used a memory card and a memory stick to transfer and move my pictures and data around, as they are a quick and easy way of moving files. I used the Power point to plan out a lot of my work. It is a program I have used since I was 5 and I am very used to the software. I used Photoshop to actually make the magazine, and considering I had never used the mac version and had limited knowledge of the program before. I have learned a lot about what you can do with the features of Photoshop and how they can be implemented to improve a magazine. Finally, I used DaFont to get some fonts that I could use for my magazine, and I used YouTube to showcase some of the music my magazine would be representing.

EVALUATION QUESTION 5 (How did you attract/adress your audiance?)

I have made a presentation on the website "prezi" as I felt this would be the best way to show my work.
http://prezi.com/nde1eocqib24/front-cover/

EVALUATION QUESTION 4 (Who would be the target audiance for your media product?)

The above video is my friend Josh, answering a few questions about himself and his interests, to give an example of my target audience. Off camera Josh also said that he liked the cover and contents page of my magazine, and that the articles in the contents page could lead him to purchase my magazine. He also said that he liked the colours used in the text as he thought they stood out and caught his eye well.

EVALUATION QUESTION 3 (What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?)

My magazine is aimed at young adults, and caters to the Hip-Hop and Rap genre. After doing some research, I have found that a magazine called XXL uses the same genres that my magazine uses. XXL is published by Harris Publications, who are based in New York in America, and have been around since 1971 Harris Publications cover a huge number of magazines and have published five different music magazines. I realise that this is an American magazine, however they've recently started selling in the UK which would make my magazine the forefront of a P.R drive to get people interested in the company and it's magazines. I feel a more established American publisher would be drawn to my magazine more than most British companies, even maybe extending into the british market in order to sell my product. There have been two Rap/Hip-Hop magazines, two rock/metal magazines and an Electronic music magazine.This shows that the company is capable of producing
 a large range of magazine of many different genres. This would put my mind at ease when coming up with new ideas and concepts. Mainstream magazines are distributed in a number of ways. They can be sold on shop floors, given out at concerts, or even sold on the street. They can come in online form, whether that be free or paid, and they can also even be found in app form on tablets or smart phones. A good example of an online magazine in the Hip-Hop genre is http://www.hiphopdx.com/. I think if my magazine was to be published I would like it to be distributed at some gigs for a cut price, before later being sold like a normal magazine in shops. This will ensure that people will at least see my magazine, and if they like it eventually they will be able to go and buy it in shops. Hopefully the magazine will have improved through the feedback we will hopefully receive from these early issues.

EVALUATION QUESTION 2 (How does your media product represent particular social groups?)

The Models are both looking to the side in the pictures, and neither of the two is looking at the camera. Both shots are close ups, and are not at a straight angle. My photograph is angled below the model looking up, and although the camera is still below Macklemore's head, it is a much more acute angle. This makes my model look more imposing and bigger, whilst also making Macklemore look quite arrogant.  The models have both got a slightly ‘cheeky’ expression, with Macklemore looking slightly more serious than Josh who looks content.  The background of the images are different, with my image looking being shot against a brick wall to give off a ‘street’ vibe, compared to a more wide open setting for the left picture. Josh is wearing a hat, which goes along with urban culture at the moment, and the other model has a large quiff with shaved hair on the sides of his head. This is part of the general fashion right now and is designed to appeal to a wider audiance than my magazine.  Josh is typical of the teenage urban group, with the typical urban fashion and setting. He is typical of the British teenager. The other model shows off a more professional and expensive look. He is wearing a fur coat which is typically associated with the upper class. If you did not know the context of the picture, you would assume he was of an upper class background, contrasting the working class look of my shot.

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

Here, we can see the title of the magazine 'GRM" and the model ( or at least his head!) that I used on my front cover.
The GRM refers to 'Grime' music, a subgenre of Hip/Hop that is very popular in this country and is 'grown' in this country, so I thought this would be a solid base to find a title. I think it makes the magazine sound more gritty and rough whist still sounding professional.
The model is wearing a hat known as a snapback, which is very popular in modern pop culture, this is to help bring in the people who feel that they need a role model who is up to date with pop culture, therefore entertaining a wider audience of people at same time.

This image, seen on the contents page sums up the general idea of the magazine, gritty generally dark and quite brooding actually, whilst still being something that is relatable to the wider audience. The Mise en scene of this picture is a dark street being lit up by a single streetlamp in the middle of shot. This helps me connote

message of the magazine across, no matter how bad life gets sometimes, there is always light at  the end of the tunnel, and that music can help us reach these lights and get through the journey of life.

This is an example of some of the written content that can be found in my magazine. This is from my contents page, ans shows some made up artlicles that I made up to make the page look more realistic, and also some other features, such as competitons, quizzes amd a fanmail page, where people could send in whatever they liked, and we could post this in the magazine. This way, our readers will be able to not only voice their opinion, but actually be able to shape the magazine by offering suggestions and ways to improve. I think this puts our magazine at an advantage.