Magaizines on Display (Market Research)

As my final piece of market research I went to a local shop and took a picture of the area in which the magazines are displayed:

From this I noticed that the magazines all consist of a main image of a model ands this is a feature which makes all of the front covers stand out. For example the top row 'Elle' magaizne as well as the 'good food' magazine stands out as the main image is large and eye catching. The colours on the front cover also do not blend in with the other colours surrounding the main image which also helps make the image stand out more.
Another feature that stands out to me from these magazines is the price. The cheeper magazines displayed large graphics which included the prices for example the 'whats on Tv' magazine' has a £1 on it. This grabs the attention of the reader because it is in a star which is filled in a bright colour as well as beign a cheap magazine.
I found that there were not many music magazines instead there were different genres of magazines for example food, TV, sport and gossip.
I aim to use the conventions present in these magazines for example the colour schemes, the font style as well as the way they are positioned, to influence my production work.

Artist research (Market Research)

Here I researched 4 well known pop artists which include Justin Bieber, Katy perry, Lady Gaga and Jessie J. I researched into who they are and how they brand themselves. From this I was able to make links with the artsist's style and the genre of pop music as well as how they appeal to their target audience.

Exploring artists from anosha butt

Research of Genre (Market Research)

Here I created a video about my research revolving around the pop music genre including popular artists ranging from the 50s to the 2000s. 

Here is one of my favourite music videos, Sparks by Hillary Duff who is another pop music artist.  I found that this video is a very good example as a representation of the genre of pop music as it uses the common conventions. The music video comes across as a very energetic and vibrant video. I found that the colour scheme was mainly pink, purple and blue which are vibrant colours which appeal to the target audience. The singer Hillary Duff is also dressed in a very trendy way with the colour of hair being dyed a shade of blue. Her makeup is also bold an vibrant which matches the whole theme of the music video

I aim to use examples such as these to dress my model for my magazine front cover in which she will look like a pop music artist. I will also aim to be using some vibrant colours as the colour scheme in my magazine. 

Here is a video which summarises the top pop music released in the year 2015. From this, the iconic pop musicians are very apparent for example Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and the famous Madonna.  It represents the pop genre perfectly as it defines conventions such as bright colours and the use of a variety of different bright lights. It gives a sense of excitement and creates an upbeat atmosphere which engages the viewer.

Top of the Pops magazine deconstruction (Market Research)

Here is a prezi on my magazine deconstruction on two front covers from Top of the Pops.

Research Rationale

I have decided to choose the genre of my music magazine to be pop. The target group I will have access to will be teenagers between the ages of 14-19 whilst my target audience is 14-18 and due to them attending the same sixth form as me as well as having access to the lower school, I will be able to use this to my advantage by being able to conduct research. Whilst undertaking audience research I will be able to use the students in my focus groups as well as giving them surveys and questionnaires to complete. From this I will be able to get feedback from the target audience I am aiming at, thus being able to gain useful information on how to structure and to help influence ideas for my own magazine.

I aim to undertake market research through the means of deconstructing two magazine covers of the same genre of music which will allow me to pin point the successful conventions used in the magazine. This will allow me to create a magazine that is appealing for my target audience.  I will also conduct more in depth research of the genre of music magazine I aim to create as it will be helpful to have background knowledge. I would also like to go to a shop which sells music magazines and take a picture of the magazine section to allow me to identify which magazines stand out to me the most, why they do so and then implement it into the creation of my own magazine.

I will use a variety of research techniques which will include qualitative research for example recording my focus group. From this I will also be able to get more in depth responses due to the use of open style questions. I will also be using quantitative research for example through the use of questionnaires and surveys through the means of Survey Monkey.

The resources I aim to use for the research are web 2.0 to carry out my market research as well as uploading my focus group video to YouTube. I will need to use survey monkey to get responses to my questionnaires, I also found that by using this instead of paper questionnaires, it becomes easier for people to complete.  I will also need access to three different magazine covers of the same genre to be able to use and discuss in my focus group. 

Magazine Typography (Market Research)

Here I constructed an image moodboard on the different fonts used in mastheads of music magazines. I was able to visualise the different font styles better through the moodboard as I included different mastheads from a variety of magazines. It has allowed me to see the general way in which magazines like to present their mastheads and logos and so has given me a few ideas for my magazine. 
From this I noticed that the font style is very important for the genre of the magazine to be apparant. For example the use of the masthead for 'Kerrang' has an edge to it and is seen as a rough looking font which suits the rock genre. 
Another example is of 'Top of the Pops' and it is obvious that the genre of that magazine is pop through certain conventions. The colours blue and white are bright eye catching colours which are predominantly used in the genre of pop. The use of the stars also appeals to a more younger audience as well as the target audience of pop music lovers. 
I also noticed that the R&B mastheads/ logos use the colours of black red and white which is a common convention used within the genre which could signify the fact that it is a R&B magazine.
Another important aspect featured here is the use of bold and capitalised letters. Through the use of this the mastheads become much more eye catching and appealing to the audience as well as standing out on the page and giving the magazine character and so I aim to use these styles to influencemy magazine font styles

Initial Ideas

I made a video talking about the brief as well as discussing my initial thoughts and ideas

PRELIM TASK:Audience Feeback

PRELIM TASK:Final Front Cover and Contents Page

Here is my front cover and contents page of my college magazine:

The way in which both the cover and contents page work together and are coherent is through the colour scheme which is red, black and white and is shown on both pages. 

I used the same fonts for both the cover and contents page. I used the Varsity font for both the title 'contents' and the masthead as well as using the font for parts of the cover lines and the numbers on the cover page. I then used sprocket BT for the text font as well. 

Another convention I used for both the cover and contents page is the use of graphics. I used the same graphics to include something both eye catching to the reader as well  something coherent on both pages.

PRELIM TASK:Construction of my contents page

PRELIM TASK:Front cover changes

From feedback that I had received from both teachers and students, I had made the following changes to my front cover:

PRELIM TASK:Front cover

This is the front cover for my magazine

PRELIM TASK:Photograph Manipulation

Photograph manipulation from Anosha Butt

PRELIM TASK:Construction of my front cover

PRELIM TASK:Final shots

Here are the final shots I took for the front cover and contents page of my college magazine:

PRELIM TASK:Font ideas

I searched for fonts that would reflect the theme and genre of my magazine and I narrowed it down to these three fonts. I found that they stood out from the rest in the sense that the font style was a classic school font.

 

I decided to choose this font and adding the colour red to it as I believe it fits the brief and looks bold, clean and fresh. It’s a font style that is very clear to read and will attract the target audience I am aiming at. This is due to the fact that it relates back to the font being correlated to a college magazine thus making it suitable for this particular audience.

 

PRELIM TASK:Flat Plan

PRELIM TASK:My Shot List

PRELIM TASK:Reader Profile

Hi, my name is Jessica and I am a 16 year old student moving onto to sixth form this September. The subjects I am planning on studying are media studies, Art, English Literature and ICT. The reason as to why I have chosen these subjects is because I enjoy creative subjects which allow me to express myself. My most favourite subject would be English Literature due to my passion of reading and writing. Although I enjoy all my subjects my least favourite would be ICT. My hobbies involve reading books, swimming and listening to music. My favourite genre of music is pop, I love listening to the latest hits on the radio. My main worries would be trying to fit into a new environment as well as strugglig to balance my social life with my work. I also have a concern of time management and so I hope to recieve some help on eradicating this issue.   

PRELIM TASK: Magazine Deconstruction

Here I deconstructed a magazine cover.

PRELIM TASK:

Hello and welcome to my AS media Blog, here I will post all of my year 12 media work so I hope you enjoy!

The brief for our first project is to create the front cover and contents page of a college magazine. I have been taking into consideration the target audience of my college magazine which will be students moving from GCSE to A level. The jump at this level is truly a difficult one to embrace and the magazine will revolve around providing advice on how to overcome the difficulties. Considering the target audience and the genre of the magazine I have a few initial ideas of what to name the magazine. At the moment the title I am considering is 'Reach' as it relates to students reaching their goals when they come to college or sixth form.

I hope to expand on my ideas during this project and create a successful final product.