Evaluation

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

AS Media Foundation Portfolio: Evaluation Q1 (V2) from Ewan Tough

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

Representation, by definition, is the portrayal of someone or something in a particular way. In my magazine, I represented several things, such as the artist, Tom Bridge, and the genres covered within my magazine.

In my magazine, I used several techniques to represent Tom Bridge, an independent musician. On the front cover of my magazine, Tom is pictured in front of a brick wall surrounded by overgrown bushes. By using this setting, I represented Tom and his music as being very natural through the connotations of these bushes. Graffiti can be seen on the wall, creating the effect that Tom is in a very urban area, representing him as being from a very normal low-income background. Tom is also represented through the use of clothing, hair, and his pose. Tom’s clothing and hair style is very fashionable, and his pose is very strong and open, representing him as confident and ideal, inspiring readers.

I have also used several techniques, such as symbolic codes, to represent the genres discussed within my magazine. For example, my use of white-space has connotations of modernism and freshness, suggesting that the genres in the magazine also have these qualities. I have also used language such as "upcoming" and "five genres you've never listened to", representing these genres as innovative and exciting. In addition to this, I have used a mixture of serif and sans-serif fonts, representing the genres as being timeless.

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

When it comes to publishing a magazine, it is very important to select a distributor suiting the needs of the magazine. This ensures that the magazine reaches the correct audience. For example, if a magazine has a niche market, a distributor would need to be selected which would be able to make the magazine known to this audience and produce enough copies to meet demand, whilst not producing too many copies than the amount which is actually required. In addition to this, if a magazine is going to be published digitally, you would need to select a distributor with knowledge of this market. Failure to pick the correct distributor can result in underwhelming sales figures for the magazine, often leading to the closure of the magazine.

My magazine would be distributed by Bauer Media. I chose this institution for a number of reasons, such as the fact that Bauer Media is a European company which frequently publishes and distributes magazines within the UK, making them suitable for my target demographic of UK residents aged 16 to 25, male or female.

In addition to this, Bauer Media publish a large number of magazines that cater for large demographics, such as Q Magazine, which features a variety of genres and is read by many different demographics. My magazine, Playlist, is similar in style to Q -  it is based around the music magazine genre and focuses on many different sub-genres within this, making it accessible to a large audience.

My magazine would be distributed in a physical print format, but also digitally, using services such as Google Play Newsstand. Many of Bauer Media's publications are distributed this way (using their "digital arm", Bauer XCEL), making them a suitable distributor for my magazines requirements.

Bauer Media do not usually publish magazines for particularly niche markets as these are less profitable than more accessible magazines, making Bauer Media a suitable media institution to publish Playlist.

Google Play's Newsstand  - An example of a digital retailer frequently used for Bauer's publications, such as Empire magazine.

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

Through my research, such as my Audience Survey, I discovered that the audience for my magazine is both male and female UK residents aged 16 to 25. This is a demographic which often uses streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music to listen to music, rather than buying the physical releases (ie: CD, vinyl) or individually buying tracks/albums digitally. 

From my Survey Analysis, I discovered many things about this demographic, such as the fact that a large number of them are students who are either unemployed or have a part-time job. As a result of this, many of them have a relatively low weekly disposable income of less than £50, meaning that subscription services such as Spotify are very appealing to them as it is a cheaper way to listen to music.

My audience listens to music frequently throughout the week and likes to discover new songs and artists. Their favourite genres are indie, alternative, and rock, and they enjoy attending live music events. When it comes to deciding if they want to listen to music, they are not particularly influenced by critical reviews.

In addition to their interest in music, they are also interested in film and television.

Many of these interests are present in my magazine, such as the fact that the magazine is focused on recommending music or introducing unknown artists, rather than critiquing music. Playlists are a key feature within the magazine, creating a link with popular streaming services. In addition to this, the key genres covered in the magazine are indie, alternative and rock.

See the data supporting this information here.

5. How did you attract/address your audience? 

AS Media Foundation Portfolio: Evaluation Q5 from Ewan Tough

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

Hover the cursor over the collection of logos below and then hover the cursor over each of the white dots (with a black outline) to read about the software/tool and how I used it.

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

Looking back at my college magazine made for my preliminary task, I feel that there is a lot of evidence of my skill development. My cover page for the college magazine was made in Photoshop because I had no experience with InDesign. My image editing skills have definitely improved; the cover image for the college magazine appears to be over-exposed and the background is too variable, making it very difficult to read the cover-lines. 

In the time between the preliminary and main tasks, I have learned about the importance of scale in design, such as making an article title or an image bigger than others around it to emphasize its importance. I did not have this understanding when I created my college magazine cover as the puff is one of the biggest features of the page, but it should have been considerably smaller as it dwarfs everything else, making them look insignificant.

Another skill that I have acquired in the time between the two tasks is altering the leading and tracking of text to make it easier to read. There is no evidence of this in my preliminary task as I did not understand the importance of it, or even how to do it. However, in my main task, this is a skill I used much more often resulting in a much more reader-friendly design.

Preliminary Task (click to enlarge)

Main Task (click to enlarge)

Audience Feedback - Focus Group

Once I had finished my page designs for my magazine, I decided to present them to members of my target audience of males and females aged 16 to 25. The group I presented them to consisted of three males and two females, all aged between 16 and 19, placing them within my target demographic.
As they looked at my designs, I asked them a series of questions:

If you saw the front cover of this magazine in a shop, would it attract your attention?
The focus group commented that they would probably consider purchasing the magazine if they saw it on a magazine rack. One person commented that the use of natural-feeling colours makes the magazine feel refreshing, giving it a unique style. Another member of the group commented that the title of the magazine, "Playlist", would attract their attention because of its links with streaming services such as Spotify. However, one member of the group stated that they thought there should be more cover-lines on the page as there is some empty space that could have been used, but they did conclude that they would probably still be attracted to the cover.

Looking at all three pages/sections, can you tell who the target audience for this magazine is?
One member of the group commented that they thought that the target audience for the magazine was not gender-specific due to the neutral colour scheme, which was my aim during the design process. Another person commented that due to the frequent references to streaming services such as Spotify and the use of a photo of a teenage musician, they thought the audience would probably be "around 18". However, a female member of the group stated that she thought the audience was probably men due to the lack of female musicians referenced. Upon reflection, this is a valid point and this is something that I should have considered, however, everyone else in the group agreed that people don't usually listen to music just because the artist is the same gender as them, so this isn't a large issue.

Looking at all three pages/sections, can you tell which music genres this magazine covers?
Everyone agreed that one of the genres was definitely indie music, with their reasoning including the fact that an acoustic guitar is present in many of the images, and also the locations used for the photos being "very normal", such as a back garden. The group commented that they thought that the magazine wasn't really focused on particular genres, but they agreed that "indie" and "alternative" were probably present frequently throughout the magazine. No one mentioned "rock", which suggests that I could have represented this genre in a more obvious way.

Final Magazine

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Design Development

Front Cover

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Version 1

 Version 2: To match conventions, information about the issue, such as the price and issue number, was added above the masthead. I experimented with moving the bar-code to the centre of the page to create an interesting design.

Version 3: Following peer feedback that the central location of the bar-code could have sexual connotations, it was moved back to its original location. The puff was made smaller and the text was changed to relate to a different feature of the magazine. One of the cover-lines on the left side of the page were removed and the remaining one was expanded to provide more information. The purple windows in the background were digitally altered to make them less distracting and to make the cover-lines easier to read.

Version 4 - Final Version: The strapline was altered and moved to a new location above the masthead and in a font matching the masthead, creating a link between the two. In the original location of the strapline, details of a competition to win a Spotify Premium subscription are now present, drawing in my audience. The cover-line font was changed to make them clearer and extra artists were added to the list. Part of the puff text was changed to become title-case, making it easier to understand, and an outline was added to the puff to make it stand out more and create a visually interesting design.

Contents Page

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 Version 1

Version 2 (Final Version): The "ad-space" section was removed as this is not conventional for this type of magazine. The "connect with Playlist" section was relocated to below the flannel panel, and a new "credits" section was added below it, matching conventions. In the former place of the "connect with Playlist" section, an image relating to an article listed in the "Regulars" section was added.

DPS

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 Version 1

Version 2: The placeholder image was replaced with the final image of Tom Bridge, and a credit was added to the image.  

Version 3: The credit font was changed to a new font matching the rest of the text on the DPS. The green text at the bottom of the body text was altered to reference a continuation of the article on the next page, rather than concluding the article.

Photoshoot Images

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ABOVE: The first location where I took my photos was in my back garden. I wanted some photos of Tom in this environment as it would show readers that he comes from a very normal and relatable background. The use of plants in the background puts emphasis on the idea that he is growing as an artist and also has connotations of being "natural", creating a link with independent/acoustic music.

I knew it would be important to include a musical prop in the images to represent the music magazine genre to my readers, so I photographed Tom holding a guitar and also experimented with adding a microphone into the photo. However, myself and several peers agreed that the microphone looks out of place in the image and makes it too busy.

BELOW: I experimented with taking photos of Tom in the same environment as the previous photos but without his guitar. Without the guitar, the music context is removed and the photos could easily belong in a lifestyle magazine, which could cause confusion for readers.

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ABOVE: I tried to continue the idea of Tom being in a relatable environment by photographing him recording music in a living room. However, I decided to not use these photos as they feel out of place when used with the other images of Tom in a outdoor/natural environment.

BELOW: The next location where I photographed Tom was in an alleyway behind a shop in a suburban area. Again, this is a very familiar feeling location, which would help people relate to Tom and his music. I photographed him standing on a pathway with the path visible behind him as it suggests to readers that the article is about the "path" he took to get to where he is in his career.

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ABOVE: For my front cover, I photographed Tom standing in front of a brick wall surrounded by over-grown bushes and graffiti whilst playing the guitar. The use of this location emphasises Tom's suburban upbringing and shows readers that he is relatable for this reason. The greenery in the shot links with his natural and acoustic sound.

BELOW: For my contents page, I wanted to use a small image referring to another article within the magazine. The article I chose was "Gig Reports", so I decided to use an edited, Instagram style photo taken by myself at a Public Service Broadcasting gig (proof). The use of this image style helps to make the magazine accessible to my audience of 16 to 25 year-olds as Instagram is a well-known and frequently used platform for this demographic.

Final Image Choices

From the all of the photos from my shoot, I picked four photos to appear in my final magazine. I chose these images for a number of reasons, such as the fact that they all have a clear link to the genre of my magazine because they all feature musical instruments. In addition to this, all of the photos have a link to my audience; the first three images feature a 17 year-old male, making them relatable to my audience of 16-25 year-old males and females due to his age. The fourth image also has a link to my audience due to the fact that my audience research showed that my readers are interested in live music events and electronic music, both of which are represented in the image.
Another reason for my decision to use these particular images is that they are all visually clear, with no accidental blur present in any of them. This is important as otherwise the images would be viewed as unprofessional and, therefore, unreliable, creating a poor representation of the magazine. This would result in lower sales figures.

DPS Mid-Production Peer Feedback

The state of my DPS at the time the feedback was received.

During the production phase of my final double-page spread, I asked my peers to look at my current progress and answer four questions based on it. These questions were:

1. Is the page design appropriate for the task? Why/why not

2. Does the image used work with the article to create meaning? (Note that the current image is a placeholder, but the real image will be similar in style).

3. Do you think the layout/design of the article works with an article about an independent upcoming artist? Why/why not?

4. Overall, how would you rate this design out of 10 (with 10 being "great" and 0 being "terrible"), what would you give it and why?

Overall, the feedback I received from my peers was incredibly positive. All of them agreed that the page design was appropriate for a music magazine, with several saying that this was a result of the image including a guitar and a musician.

Again, they all agreed that the image used works with the article to create meaning, with some saying that this is because the musician is facing the text, and some repeating that the use of a guitar creates a link with music.

When it came to the third question, "Do you think the layout/design of the article works with an article about an independent upcoming artist?", the feedback was positive once more. One person stated that the quote at the start of the article makes it feel personal, linking to the theme of an independent artist. Another person stated that the use of green in my colour scheme creates a very natural feel for the page, again linking to the theme of an independent artist.

The responses to the final question were incredibly positive, with all responses giving my design a rating of 10, with their reasons being that it feels incredibly polished and links in well with the subject matter.

At the end of the questions, I asked participants for any further comments or criticisms they had in relation to my design. One comment was that the use of an image featuring a man in his 30s makes the design look as if its aimed at males aged 30. This is a valid criticism, so I will need to make sure that my final photo features a younger musician, emphasising that the magazine is aimed at males and females aged 16 to 25.

DPS Interview Final Text

Article Text

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In the ever-growing community of young musicians posting their tracks online, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand out - yet some still manage. Tom Bridge is one of them. With his fanbase rapidly expanding, we decided to interview him to get an insight on his life and his music.

Playlist: So let’s start with a little bit about yourself for any readers that might not know you already. How would you define your music?

Tom: Right okay, so my music is quite hard to define; I suppose it’s quite retro-sounding - I saw a comment a while back where someone said I’m like a mixture of The Beatles and Pulp, with a slight hint of Oasis mixed in there too, so maybe more 90s Britpop than “retro”, I guess!

Playlist: Have you always been musical? What led to you persuing music as a career?

Tom: A lot of people are surprised whenever I say this, but until about three or four years ago, I couldn’t play any instruments had no interest in learning. I was always more of a listener than a player, but I got bored of listening to other people’s music, so I made my own. Simple. I started uploading my creations to YouTube and before I knew it, I had built up quite a following. It was only then that I saw this as a viable option for a career and decided to drop my plans of being an engineer and pursue music.

Playlist: What is your overall process for creating your music? How long does it take?

Tom: It really depends on the song. Sometimes, if I have something on my mind, I’ll just grab my guitar and have a play around until I like what I hear, and then I’ll post it online. For my more polished album tracks, I spent a good year or so trying to nail the sound. When people are paying to listen, there’s a lot more pressure to impress them, so it takes longer.

Playlist: Apart from creating music, what are your other interests? Are there any cross-overs with music?

Tom: I’d definitely consider myself to be a bit of a film buff. When I’m not writing or playing, I’m usually watching some sort of indie film, either at home or in the cinema. There was actually a cross-over between films and my music on my most recent album - the final song on the album is loosely based on Forrest Gump.

Playlist: You just released your first studio album - what’s next for you?

Tom: Currently I’m on a UK tour with a few other musicians and then I’m taking some time off to do a bit of travelling. Once I’m back, I’ll be starting work on a huge project that I can’t talk about quite yet! It’s something new for me and I’m very excited!

Continued on Page 12
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Pre-production - Flat-plans/Mock-ups

Please note that found images have been used within these designs as placeholders.

Front Cover

Front Cover - Flat Plans (Final) from Ewan Tough

Contents Page

Initial Sketch - Contents Page

Flat-plan - Contents Page

I decided that the use of white-space would be very important on my contents page for several reasons. Firstly, it would make the page appealing to look at and appear un-cluttered, making the magazine easy to navigate. In addition to this, it creates a refreshing and modern look for the magazine, linking with the identity of my magazine.
From looking at other contents pages, I noticed that a convention was to divide the page into sections, with each section representing a different article style. For this reason, the folios and articles are separated into "Regulars" and "Features", with the "Features" section being given its own page to symbolize that these articles are much larger. I also noticed from my research that contents pages usually have two columns per-page, allowing for more content to be placed on the page without it appearing to be cluttered.

DPS

Pre-production - DPS Flat-plans (AS Media Studies) from Ewan Tough

Interview Plan

Who - Tom Bridge - Local independent musician.

When - Monday 28th November, 12pm-1pm (followed by photoshoot).

Location - Tom's home (outskirts of Norwich, travel by bus).

Interview Style - Conversational/Question & Answer - Allows for a more personal feeling interview.

Questions -

 1. How would you define your music?

2. Have you always been musical?

3. What led to you pursuing music as a career?

4. What is your overall process for creating your music?

5. Apart from creating music, what are your other interests? Are there any cross-overs with music?

6. You just released your first studio album - what’s next for you?

Press Release

A UNIQUE NEW MUSIC MAGAZINE FOCUSED ON DISCOVERING MUSIC.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

8th November 2016. Bauer Media is proud to announce it's upcoming new music magazine, Playlist, which will be available in print and digitally from January 2016. Playlist's main focus will be to recommend and promote music from upcoming or unsigned artists, usually available to listen to on popular streaming services.

Specifically aimed at males and females aged between 16-25, a demographic for which listening to and discovering new music online is a popular activity, Playlist aims to introduce readers into genres they may not be familiar with by featuring inspiring interviews with upcoming artists, a diverse selection of unique playlists, and details of gigs of festivals that readers may be unaware of.

The magazine also has the potential to serve as a launch-pad for new artists by promoting their music to the masses. One key aspect of this publication is its focus on positivity; the magazine will not feature gossip or any sort of criticism of the music featured, setting this magazine apart from many others available.

A print copy of the magazine will cost just £3.50 from a variety of popular retailers, featuring over 100 pages crammed with fresh new sounds, interviews, competitions, as well as a small section covering over forms of media, such as films and television. Our research has also shown an interest in digital distribution, so a discounted digital version of the magazine will be available for £2.99 from popular app stores.

Photoshoot Plan

Location: Various outdoor locations in a suburban area, including: an alleyway, a back garden, and an over-grown looking car park.

When: Monday 28^th November, 1:30pm-3:00pm (to allow for dry weather and natural light).

Who: Tom Bridge, a local independent artist, aged 17. He is the subject of my DPS.

Clothing: A trendy outfit – grey skinny jeans and a white t-shirt with a checked shirt on top.

Props Required: Acoustic guitar (provided by Tom), RODE Microphone (provided by myself).

Camera required: High-quality Cannon DSLR camera with manual focus to create depth.

Pre-production - Masthead Designs

Design 1

For this design, I adjusted the tracking of each individual letter of "Playlist"to make it slightly touching any characters beside it. This creates an eye-catching yet simple design, but if I were to use it, I would need to conduct research to see how quickly my audience is able to read what is written as it could be difficult to read.

I experimented with a variety of colour combinations to see if the masthead would still be effective and not look out of place. This is important as the magazine would usually feature a different image on the cover of each issue, so the colour of the masthead may have to be altered to still be visible to readers and not clash with the cover image.

Design 2

This variation of the masthead takes inspiration from the logo for "Q" magazine. It would be placed in the top/left third of the page, allowing for more space for design features such as cover-lines and puffs. The triangle in the square resembles a play-button, creating a link with music, however, this symbol is more frequently associated with online video content, such as YouTube videos, which could create confusion.

Design 3

This design takes inspiration from Design 1, but this time I used a different font, "Lemon Milk", and removed the tracking between the letters. This font appears to be more modern than the font I used in Design 1, however, it is thinner and therefore less eye-catching. The slimmer design of the font would also make it difficult for the masthead to stand out to potential readers when placed on a magazine rack. In addition to this, the font is very similar to the font used for the masthead of Empire magazine, which could cause confusion and also not make the magazine stand out to potential readers.

Pre-production - Magazine Content

Explanation
I referred back to my magazine analysis, audience research, and some of my own knowledge of magazine conventions to decide what articles should be featured in my magazine, and how many pages they should take up. My audience research showed a large interest in interviews with upcoming artists, so I decided to include eleven double-page spreads (in total) dedicated to this topic, plus a further three dedicated to existing well-known artists. Lists are also a key feature that my audience are interested in seeing in my magazine, so I have included several articles relating to this theme, including an eight-page (4 DPS) feature called "10 Playlists to Star 2017", and another eight-page (4 DPS) article called "5 Genres You've Never Listened To". In the "regulars" section, I included several smaller articles relating to this topic, such as a monthly playlist, and a "reader recommendations" section, encouraging reader interaction with the magazine.
My research also showed an interest in the idea of having a small section dedicated to upcoming film and TV releases, so I have included two double-page spreads, one for film and one for television. I decided that including more pages on this topic would not be suitable for my magazine as music is my main focus point.

I dedicated 15 pages to paid advertorial space, allowing the magazine to have further income to keep the magazine running. My research online showed that full-page advertisements in popular magazines can cost around £17,000 in publications such as GQ magazine (source), however GQ is an established magazine, whereas Playlist is not, so charges would have to be considerably lower in order to attract the attention of companies.

My magazine will cost £3.50 for a print issue and £2.99 for a digital issue (available through services such as Google Play). From looking at similar existing products, I found that these prices are fairly common; a print copy of Q Magazine retails for £3.50, and my research on Google Play's Newsstand showed me that £2.99 is the average price for monthly magazines, with some being sold for more/less. For a 105-page magazine featuring a large number of articles and recommendations, £3.50 and £2.99 are prices that offer value for money, and my audience research shows that a wide majority of my audience have enough disposable income to buy my product.