I REMIXED October 2016 remixed.com
1 . HOW REMIXED
USES FORMS AND COVENTIONS OF MAGAZINES
2 . HOW REMIXED REPRESENTS SOCIAL GROUPS
3 . HOW REMIXED
IS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED
4 . HOW REMIXED FOUND ITS TARGET AUDIENCE
5 . HOW REMIXED
APPEALS TO ITS TARGET AUDIENCE
Izzy Martin
6 . HOW REMIXED
evaluation edition
USED NEW TECHNOLOGIES
7. HOW REMIXED IMPROVED THANKS TO ITS JOURNEY
£3,90
R E M I X E ID
OCTOBER 2016 - ISSUE 200
Q.1 In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of . It was very important for me that I addressed both genders, real media products??? as my aim is to appeal to both
My music magazine “Remixed” challenges, uses and develops the codes and conventions of real media products. Whilst planning the genre of my magazine I initially intended to go for a typical, popular music genre such as indie/rock, however my research and planning made me realise how broad this music genre is, therefore I chose a genre which was very personal to me and something that teenagers and young adults will be appealed to, which is dance/house music. This genre is part of the young generation, which is exactly what my core audience is and my magazine reflects the genre in every aspect – starting from the layout, design, colours, content, fonts and most importantly the pictures and how I portray my artists. The most important detail is the actual name of the magazine, this is vital as it’s what will mainly determine the genre of the magazine, therefore I thought that REMIXED would be a perfect name as it ties in with the music genre. My magazine slightly challenges the codes and conventions of media products and in this case my exemplar guide which I used to create my magazine was Billboard magazine, as it’s the one which reflects the chosen music genre the most. This can be seen immediately on the front cover, this page is slightly different from most music magazines as it does not contain as many sell lines and it’s quite plain ; I used this style on an existent billboard magazine, this is because my aim was to create a magazine which looked professional, quite serious and at the same time I wanted my audience to focus on the main artist which features in the magazine, therefore by being plain and having a black background the front cover picture would stand out more to the eyes of the buyers; additionally the picture reflects the music genre as the lightning used differs from traditional lighting creating modern effects which relate to the music genre as well as relating to the colour of the
1
www.remixed.com
header- the picture also creates a direct address to the males and audience as the singer looks straight in the eyes of the females, buyers, which persuades them to buy the magazine. The therefore genre is reflected mainly by the mastheads typography this will apand colour font chosen; the font looks very modern and peal to both fun – the colour used for the font makes the magazine genders. The look fresh and entertaining to read, which is my audience expectation. Alongside with the pink colour of the font, page incudes I used a bright yellow colour to create a contrast between both shades and reflect the house/dance music genre through the colours as they are fairly bright without being too blinding and its what people associate the following colours with the music genre. Lastly the font used for the sell lines is smart and easy to read, making the front cover look professional but not too serious which will persuade the audience to read the rest of the contents. The front cover overall follows the codes and conventions of music magazines as it includes a header, a main image, dateline, barcode with the price indicated, featured stories, cover lines and a heading for the main picture, indicating that she’s the main star of the magazine as the typography varies from the rest of the text on the page. The contents page follows strictly the codes and conventions of a music magazine. Starting from the layout and design, the contents page relates to the front cover as it uses the same exact colours and this shows that the magazine is consistent and will look very professional to the eyes of the audience. The typography reflects the music genre through the pages as it gives out a futuristic, modern feeling which is what the music genre is all about. The page incudes many pictures of which one of the main artist which is the biggest image demonstrating that she will be the main article and the rest represent other artists of similar music genre; one picture is of an actual live performance relating to the music genre. ##remixedmusicmagazine
. It was very important for me that I addressed both genders, as my aim is to appeal to both males and females, therefore this will appeal to both genders. The page incudes the typical contents heading which is part of the conventions of magazines alongside with the page numbers on the pictures as it will help the reader to find the desired article. The page includes e-media which is very important as it enables the magazine to be shared on different social medias and where the reader can listen to the magazines music playlist on the phone app, this is also known as convergence as differed media platforms work together to promote a product. The masthead placed at the centre top of each page is once again a magazine convention which states to the reader what the page is. Lastly the contents page contains a subscription service which most magazines offer. Most of the information and content found on this page was based on a billboard magazine contents page. The first double page spread is a simple eye-catching image of the main artist. The artist is represented as being fun, modern and artistic thanks to the colours of the background which again flow nicely with the colours used in the design of the magazine. I wanted to create an original full bleed therefore I placed the two pictures together and used a picture which I took of light bulbs to be the margin of the double page spread, this was mainly done to show that she’s the star of the magazine. Lastly the font chosen for the box out text which mentions her name is the same as the font for the name of the magazine, demonstrating that she’s the most important aspect of the magazine, furthermore the colour of the typography is the same as the rest of the magazine once again to keep the design and layout flowing nicely together. The double page spread is followed by two more, here is where the cover story is found. The second dps is designed in the style of Q magazine, this is because I wanted my magazine to include different styles and keep the reader entertained by what they are seeing. The full bleed picture makes the artist look confident making the audience feel
SUBSCRIBE AT WWW.REMIXED.COM/SUBS
inspired by her. The lightning used reflects to the music genre, the colours are edgy and make the reader feel as if they were at a night club or a festival; additionally, the
box-out text is a quote which is mentioned in the cover story this is typical of many magazines and it’s a feature which will persuade the reader to immerse themselves in the article. The second page follows the magazine conventions as the text is written in columns and it’s very easy to comprehend thanks to the chosen text and use of colours. The third double page spread is a continuity of my cover story including others pictures of the main artist and showing different sides to her making her identifiable to my core audience. The text once again follows the conventions as its laid out in columns and not only includes pictures of the singer but also pictures of particular lights which I thought represented her personality and her music genre. The design continues to have the same colours from the previous pages and the typography is also the same as my magazine follows the codes and conventions of music magazine. Lastly all of the pages aside from the front cover and the first double age spread include folio which is very important for the reader so they can find out how to information of the magazine, always keeping in mind the name of the magazine and the issue that they are reading; lastly the important detail is the page number as it’s what enables the reader to find the desired page and article. The last dps is a poster of the main artist, it includes similar pictures edited together in a collage, this is not a typical convention of music magazines however I believe that this feature will make the audience buy the magazine as if they were a fan of the artist they will be appealed to receive a “free” exclusive content which not everyone can get their hands on. Overall I planned my magazine to reflect its music genre through the typography, colour scheme, pictures and text. These elements are very important in order to adhere to a specific genre and keeping it consistent.
Issue 200
OCTOBER 2016
2
R E M I X E ID
OCTOBER 2016 - ISSUE 200
Q.2 How does your media product represent particular social groups? ? REMIXED represents a particular social group and this is vital as its important to understand who is my core audience and how I made the decisions which brought me to create my final product. My magazine represents mainly people who enjoy house and dance music which is the current mainstream music which most teenagers and young adults are appealed to. This genre is also very broad however it enabled me to focus on the right social group which is of people between 15 to 27; this age range provides me with the right ideas and ways to appeal to my audience as I’m part of the age range I will understand what they enjoy, what entertains them and what they expect to discover and read about. My audience will enjoy the artists such as: disclosure, Calvin Harris, Aluna George and many more; they will go to many festivals and concerts, listen daily to music and be familiar with social media. As well as my audience my artists are represented in a very specific way in order to appeal to the core audience and satisfy their expectations. The main singer “Izzy Martin” is represented as being a young solo singer, with the full package as she’s dressed fashionably, good looking, with nice makeup and accompanied by an iconographic element which everyone can relate to which is the electric guitar; she comes across as being talented and fun, someone which female teenagers will look up to and be inspired by whilst on the other hand the male audience will be appealed by her looks as well as her artistic side. Her facial expression varies from serious, to naïve to confident and rebellious, which is exactly how I wanted her to come across someone that will look approachable to the ayes of the readers. This is confirmed by the tone of the article as she sounds kind, happy and determined with her carrier, something that is fairly unusual for a young singer. What enabled me to create this image of her to the audience was also the location
3
www.remixed.com
of where I took the pictures; in order to make my magazine original and represent my artist as best as possible I took several photos in the studio using a black background and played with the different lightning at the same time- and then I decided to go to Soho in London which is where the interview of the cover story is held and found several unique locations which best represented the artist. The other female artist also makes direct eye contact with the reader and she looks more innocent in compare to the previous singer, her facial expression and body language is very soft and relaxed, she’s dressed fairly casual and gives the impression of being a natural beauty which again my audience will be appealed to as they will mainly be interested about the music, her pictures where taken in a studio with a black background and yellow/orange lights to create a warm feeling so that the audience would find her approachable. The other two males look very different from each other; the first one wearing an all-black outfit with a hood holding a microphone in front of his face so we can barely see his face comes across as being very serious , not someone that is very approachable however an artist which will mainly appeal to a male audience therefore they will perceive him as being a cool artist , someone that they will identify with as his facial expression softens his serious look as his eyes make him come across as a fun individual. The picture was taken in the studio using a black background to follow the mood of the singer as well as the design of the magazine. The last male artist is supposed to be a DJ which makes up a great majority of dance/house artists. As I wanted to make him look very identifiable amongst the majority of my audience the artist was wearing a simple grey hoodie holding some headphones which are again anther iconographic prop which everyone knows of and can instantly understand who he is. ##remixedmusicmagazine
He’s supposed to represent the typical good looking guy which all the girls like, therefore his body language makes him look very comfortable and confident. His pictures were nice again taken in the studio, however this time I used a green background and made used of different coloured lights which gave an original effect to the final outcome.
SUBSCRIBE AT WWW.REMIXED.COM/SUBS
R E M I X E ID
OCTOBER 2016 - ISSUE 200
Q.3
Q.4
What kind of institution might distribute your media product and why??
Who would be the audience for your media product??
My magazine will be distributed by VICE Media LLC a North American digital media and broadcasting company. Originally based in Montreal (Canada), VICE relocated to New York City in 2001; in 2014 Vice Media was subject of a 10% of $200-million-dollar equity investment by the US broadcasting company A%E networks which is a joint venture of
The audience for my media product as discussed previously would be made up of teenagers and young adults, more specifically in the age range of 15-27. This is because I’m part of the age group meaning that I will know what my core audience will expect
media; this is an important aspect as my primary audience will be made up of teenagers and young adults, therefore they will be experts in promoting and targeting the specific age group; Vice focuses on digital media which includes online content, news, web, film and a record label; this is important as it will enable my magazine to be distributed digitally as my aim is to also distribute digital formats of the magazine for online and app use; additionally it looks like they are experts on the social media side which will be vital for the success of my magazine. I chose this distribution company also because it doesn’t distribute any other music magazines, therefore the Walt Disney Company and Hearst they will be more focused and will Corporation; Disney eventually ended up dedicate a lot of time in making my making a second 10% investment in 2015. magazine successful. The company will This company is not part of the 4 that like my magazine as it targets an audience which they already have an experience form the oligopoly such as Billboard or Mojo magazine, I chose this company for with, the magazine is modern and new this exact reason, as not many people will which is how the company represents themselves as and lastly they will be know about it, this will bring a excited to be working with a new product new taste to the which they don’t already own. The world of music company will distribute paper copies of magazines. Vice the magazine once a month for £3,99 and magazine was co-founded by Suroosh an online edition for £2,50 and they will Alvi which ended up expanding primarily receive 40% profit. into youth and young adults digital
5
www.remixed.com
##remixedmusicmagazine
from the magazine and what they will like to read and be entertained from. My aim is to appeal to both genders, however the magazine could be seemed to be aimed more at women due to the colour scheme which I used through the magazine as well as using a female artist to be the main feature of the magazine. I order to appeal equally to both genders I therefore included male artists in my SUBSCRIBE AT WWW.REMIXED.COM/SUBS
contents page and listed articles which the male audience will be interested in. My target audience will be part of middle class up to high social class this is due to the cost of the magazine; my magazine will be slightly expensive and therefore as well as belonging to a family with has a good financial situation, my audience will also have to have a job in order to fully commit to buy the magazine monthly. My target audience are people which love to listen to music and discover new music genres and artists. They regularly read about their favourite artists and music and engage with the music on social media. Due to already being able to afford the magazine monthly they will also have music apps such as Spotify and iMusic which need a subscription as well showing that they spend part of their monthly money only on music. On weekends they will go out to parties, clubs and social events; the audience will be open for music discussions with their friends and family and will have a social media account so that they can share all the contents with other users.
Issue 200
OCTOBER 2016
6
R E M I X E ID
OCTOBER 2016 - ISSUE 200
Q.5 How did you attract/address your audience?? front cover picture also persuades my audience to buy the magazine as it looks professional and
The main feature that attracts the audience to my magazine is the front cover; this is the most important aspect of the magazine as it determines how successful it would be and if it would be appealing enough to draw my core audience to buy it. My magazine ensures this by having a fun and exciting name as well as the colour font used for it; the determined shade of pink will attract my audience as it’s a very popular colour within the house/dance music genre. The
7
www.remixed.com
original, due to the light gels which reflect the music genre of the main artist. As well as being aesthetically pleasing to the eyes of my audience the magazine engages the audience by including an online version of the magazine which is an easier to read for ones who prefer reading on their phones, tablets and laptops; this feature attracts my core audience as the majority will be students which might not be able to read a paper copy. Social media also involves my audience, the different social media accounts such as: Instagram, twitter, snapchat and Facebook provide a different platform for my audience to gather and read information about new music; additionally, they can also post
using the hashtag remixed magazine which provides to opportunity to win free issues of the magazine for a year or a free shout out on our social media accounts. Remixed is also attractive to the buyer ##remixedmusicmagazine
in terms of the opportunities which it gives; when buying a copy of my magazine the audience could have the chance to win free tickets to concerts, festivals and gigs for them and a friend; this will attract my audience as they would enjoy going to live performances. The Uses and Gratification theory comes in hand in this context as my audience plays and active role in the choice and use of media in their daily lives; it refers to the social needs of my audience and the effects it has on them and it considers what my core audience does with the media which is available to them; therefore, in this case the different digital platforms available for my audience will entertain and educate them. There are other ways in which my magazine was distributed and available to my audience; a music app is available on the app store which includes a curated playlist of all the popular mainstream songs, playlists of the month and other. A website with a login where the audience can access special never seen information and articles and YouTube interviews with the main artist every month.
SUBSCRIBE AT WWW.REMIXED.COM/SUBS
Issue 200
OCTOBER 2016
8
R E M I X E ID
OCTOBER 2016 - ISSUE 200
Q.6 What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?? During the creation of my magazine I have learned to use many different technologies in order to successfully construct my product. During the process of my product I’ve used a lot of professional equipment this is mainly
during the photoshoot for my magazine, here I used a CANON camera EOS 1300D 55MM DC III LENS, this camera helped me to take the best possible pictures to feature in my magazine, I made use of the camera before, however using it again made me see how many different things you can do with it, for example the different angles and the use of close ups. After taking around 500 pictures in order to choose from the best ones I used Photoshop to edit them; I was not familiar with the software and therefore I had to watch many YouTube tutorials and ask other students how to work with it. Whilst taking the pictures I used light gels to
9
www.remixed.com
give the picture its unique look; each time I used two different colours these would nicely blend in on the model and against the black background making it look professional and unique to the eye of my readers. Whilst taking the pictures I stood on different sized chairs of different heights this changed the angle of the pictures affecting the light gels and the lighting of it, a higher angle looking down to the model made the light gels look more vivid. At the same time, I also laid and kneeled down to the floor making the model feel closer to the picture and this made the lighting warmer. Using Photoshop not only changed some aspects of the image but it also made them more vibrant and vivid, which is exactly how the magazine wants to represent its artists. The main and most important software I used to create the template and the rest of my product is “InDesign” once again another adobe software which enables you to professionally create and design a magazine. I was very familiar with the product as I previously used for the creation of other products, therefore knowing the software allowed me to design at my best the magazine; occasionally I would look at YouTube videos for the creation of certain shapes, this is when I designed the play button on the contents page; this took a ##remixedmusicmagazine
long time as the two shapes had to go nicely together. Nexus font was another software I used, this was for having different designs for the typography of the magazine, I would download the fonts off “dafont” and place it in InDesign. Lastly but most importantly WordPress was one of the most important technologies which I learned to use during this course. This is the website for my blog and here is where I published all of my coursework. WordPress was very new to me at the start, and found it very challenging as I had no idea how to work with it and how to change the different settings. The website enabled me to track all of my progress during the entire length of my course and it allowed me to show my progress and improvement as a media
SUBSCRIBE AT WWW.REMIXED.COM/SUBS
student. The technology I’ve used really was what made a difference to my media product and the most interesting part was learning about the different techniques on Photoshop and InDesign.
Issue 200
OCTOBER 2016
10
REMIXED
OCTOBER 2016 - ISSUE 200
Q.7 Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?? Before creating my final product, I previously worked on my preliminary task, this was when I designed a school magazine, it was my first time designing this type of product and looking back at the preliminary task I can see the huge improvements and changes I made now in my music
magazine. I believe that working on my preliminary task taught me how to plan and design my final product successfully and that without learning the mistakes I made in my preliminary task my magazine wouldn’t have been as successful. The planning for my preliminary task was very different to the planning of my music magazine; I sketched the school magazine not thinking deeply about the important details which is why the magazine turned out to be very simplistic due to not having the knowledge and care for the design process of the magazine. As most people I did know how to use a camera, but not in a professional way, therefore when taking the pictures for my preliminary task I experimented a lot and used different locations to see which one would be more appealing to the eyes; whilst taking the pictures for my music magazine I was very confident and knew what I was doing even thought I was learning at the same time. The pictures I took for my school magazine were left in
11
www.remixed.com
their original format because using software’s such as Photoshop never crossed my mind as I never used it and wasn’t familiar with the technology, which again was another aspect that determined the quality and style of my preliminary task; however, when I finished taking all the pictures for my music magazine I decided to challenge myself and learn about a new technology so that my final product could be successful. I designed the preliminary task in InDesign, a software which I was familiar with, however I needed some time to get used to it and remember the various tools which I needed to use. As mentioned before InDesign is a professional software which successfully produces a professional product therefore this was the same way how I designed my music magazine as I wanted it to be as successful as possible; by working with the software in my preliminary task I confidently managed to use it for the creation of my final product. The quality of the pictures wasn’t as good as the pictures for my music magazine due to using a different camera and not having understanding of lighting. The front cover of the preliminary task didn’t successfully represent the school and the students therefore I had to make sure that I did this in my music magazine as the representation of the artists is vital in order to make the magazine successful and relatable to my audience. Lastly the contents page in the preliminary task was only a single page, this made me think that it wouldn’t’ work for my final product as it wouldn’t give me the right amount of space to include all the information that I wanted to feature, therefore for my final product I used a double page spread to list all of the contents and extra information for my readers. Overall looking back at my preliminary task I feel that I made a lot of progression and improvement which led me to the creation of my final product.
##remixedmusicmagazine
SUBSCRIBE AT WWW.REMIXED.COM/SUBS
Issue 200
OCTOBER 2016
12