Skills Audit- Post Production

I used photoshop to manipulate my images and create a magazine, developing it un till i made it the best I could do.

Skills Audit- Digital Technology

I made a magazine on photoshop creating effects and manipulating images, over the process I have become better at using photoshop. I used the internet to research into magazines of a similar criterior to my one, helping me see what the audience of those magazines like to see, in turn helping me with my magazine.

Skills Audit- Real media conventions

I tried to find a usp for a magazine. I researched into diff magazines and tried to think of an idea that hadn't been done, yet would still sell. When looking into magazines I found that there was a lot of rap magazines that were American, I thought that this would be a good concept for London artists too.

Skills Audit- Research and planning

I created surveys for students between 16-18 to find a target audience for my music magazine, once I did that I researched into the kind of magazines that that audience preferred. I then thought of an idea and stuck to it. I researched into possible artists that i knew and would be able to get hold of, whilst thinking of what I would like to ask in a magazine to intrest readers. I planned out all of my magazine before i created it on photoshop, making it as similar as possible yet changing were relevant, particularly after audience feedback.

Skills Audit- Creative Development

My music magazine is the most creative piece of corsework that I created. I came up with an original concept based on my music taste as well as what I would want to buy myself, and what I believe would sell in London, particularly for young teenagers. I believe coming up with ideas and bringing the most out of them was my most creative strength.
When i thought of the idea that I wanted my magazine to be based on, i tried to develop that idea based on research from other magazines and talking to students in my class of the target audience for my mag.

School mag to music mag

 I believe that my school magazine images are strong in terms of the theme I wished to acheive and both of the pictures are consistant with that theme. However overall the colours are not consistant, and the photshop skills seen through this magazine look very unprofessional. The orange writing on my contents page is unclear in places, and the huge arrow on the front cover looks unprofessional and childish. Although I wasn't happy with the outcome of my school magazine, it did teach me some more skills with Adobe Photoshop and made me realise that research into the theme of my next magazine would be crucial.

The overall time I spent on my music magazine was much more than the time I spent on my school magazine, not only with creating a final product on Adobe Photoshop, but also on researching and taking a range of pictures that would give me alot to play with on Photoshop. The overall outcome of my music magazine in comparisson to my school one is that it looks much more consistant and professional.

Learning curve

At the beginning of this task, I was useless at Adobe Photoshop, and had never made a blog. Over the process, I have had lessons in Adobe Photoshop, helping with the progression of my skills in media. I am proud of the magazine I have made, as I didnt know how to make a magazine, let alone make it look professional. I have learnt how to create a magazine that is coherant, and have become confident enough to challenge many of the usual codes and conventions of a music magazine. I have tried to make my blog look less 'wordy' from how it looked to begin with, adding pictures and hyperlinks etc. I had trouble when attempting to upload a video that I had created in order to add to the different techniques, and was very dissapointed that I couldnt upload it after spending a while making it. Nevertheless I have tried my best to make my blog as appealing as possible, yet still with all the relevent information needed.

Audience

I believe that my magazine would appeal to a wide audience, possibly even across the world, yet particularly London and if it were to be published by a successful publisher, like that of 'RESPECT', America too.

My audience is described in my reader profile and the way of which I attempted to attract my audience is seen in my representation of a particular social group.

However in terms of a summary, I have tried to make my magazine appeal to as wider audience as possible without detering from my theme of London rap and up and coming audience. I believe that depending on how well my magazine were to do in the beginning would determin whether it is seen by a wide audience or the particular niche of teenagers living in the UK who are interested in rap. If the publisher produced a well known magazine already, there would be more of a chance to be aknowledged by a wider audience.

Distribution of my magazine

I believe that Musiart, LLC publisher of the magazine 'RESPECT' would be willing to publish my magazine. Although the magazine 'RESPECT' deals mostly with photography, my magazine would appeal to them as it is in the same genre that 'RESPECT' is based on- rap. I believe that if 'RESPECT' wanted to publish a magazine that is similar to theirs yet is based on London culture rather than that of New York, my magazine would be perfect. Check their istitutional info and compare to the reader profile of my magazine.
In terms of advertisement, my magazine would attract interest from designers that are oular in London, Ralph Lauren, Hollister, Lyle and Scott, Nike- to name a few. It would also attract interest from record labels that are based in London, particularly rap, record labels. I also believe shops like HMV that people would go to in order to by the music shown in my magazine would be interested in advertising in my magazine, similar to that of Itunes.
I think that my magazine will help the London rap scene to become more well known in America and vice versa through globalisation, especially if the publisher was known for publishing a well known rap magazine in America like 'RESPECT'. I think that English rap particularly from London, would be brought to the worlds awareness and therefore more money will be produced. I believe that if musiart were to publish my magazine they would gain profits quickly, as they would already have a magazine to help bring about awareness of my new magazine. The publisher would also gain profits from the above advertisements.

How does my music mag represent particular social groups

I have attempted to make my magazine represent a social group that I believe is not very common in the music magazine industry. This social group is that of teenagers living in the UK, focussing mainly on up and coming artists from the UK with particular reference to London and urban life. I have used many of the codes and conventions that you would find on a music magazine that focusses on American rap, yet made it more appealing to a UK audience. I have done this by explicitly adressing the audience, making many references to London, UK, and up and coming artists in the rap and urban music industry. I have put a teenage rapper on the front cover of my magazine in order to hopfully create appeal in other teenagers that aspire to become rappers and break into the scene, creating the idea of a 'UK dream'- the idea that anyone can make it in what they do (in this case rap/urban music) no matter what your background may be.

Although my target audience is mostly male teenagers, aspiring to/admiring artists in the urban industry, further appealed by the attraction to a young pretty girl, even though it is not the main focus. Although the young teenage girl in my front cover isn't the main focus of my front cover, it also puts forward the idea that female teenagers can aspire to become successful artists, further interested by the male rapper on the front cover. I have also put forward the producing side to urban music, displaying a picture of a producer, and an interview with the producer as my feature, appealing to young aspiring producers/beat makers.
I have challenged the conventional representation of rappers on my front cover by making him look down to earth, this is what I wanted to achieve in my front cover before I actually created the front cover on Photoshop (see: http://isaacwoodsasmusicmag.blogspot.com/2011/02/scan-in-draft-sketches-of-front-cover.html )  This attempt to make my rapper look down to earth is helped by the use of a plain background. Many rap magazines also use a low angle camera shot of their rapper in order to make him look powerful and above everyone. Where as my magazine challenges this, using a shot that creates an eye-line match with the audience, creating the idea that he is equal to the audience rather than above them. Nevertheless he still looks confident, like most rappers would do in a photoshoot, I asked him to squint his eyes slightly and stand with a good posture in order to create this effect. The positioning of his fingers connote the idea of peace, as well as challanging the typical 'gunfingers' symbol that many rappers use, creating a sense of irony. I have chosen to take the shot of my rapper from a the side, not only helping with sectioning out my front cover to give more space to work with writing etc. But also what could be interpreted as him not being a confrontational person, unlike how many rappers are connoted. I had chosen what my rapper would wear before this photoshoot, see; http://isaacwoodsasmusicmag.blogspot.com/2011/02/scan-in-draft-sketches-of-front-cover.html
The use of my rappers head covering the 'O' of loud is a technique I have seen in many well known rap magazines such as XXL and although it is risky doing this with a first issue of a magazine, I believe in order to come up against well known magazines, you have to show confidence otherwise nobody will trust that your magazine is just as good if not better.

Evaluation- Codes and conventions

I have used the magazine 'RESPECT' as a model for my magazine throughout this module. And I believe that many of the conventions of 'RESPECT' are seen in my magazine LOUD as well. The simple yet effective look makes for an appealing magazine that seems not to be to 'wordy'. This particular front cover for 'RESPECT' shows an artist smiling, creating the idea of a friendly artist, similar to mine.

Many of the music magazines on sale today, have an image of a person that would attract young people and admirers of that person to buy the magazine. Most music magazines do this through sex appeal, showing an attractive person of the opposite gender, like the one below to entice an audience of mostly teenagers, or, some music magazines have an image of the same gender  as there targeted audience for young teenagers to aspire to be. I have chosen to challenge the usual codes and conventions of a music magazine, through putting an artist as the main focus of my front cover that isn’t well known, he’s an up and coming artist, showing him to be breaking into the scene, hopefully enticing teenagers to buy my magazine as they want to be the first to recognise his talent and tell their friends about. I think that challenging this usual convention of a music magazine will also be helped by the artist being a young one, creating more of a relationship with the reader as they can relate to him, exemplified by the fact that he’s from London which is a clear theme in my magazine, rather than the usual theme of American rap. The theme of London is made clear by the constant reference to London, and images of London landscape on my conents page. I have an attractive girl in a smaller picture, and although it is not the main focus of the front cover, like it would be in most music magazines, it still makes way for a larger audience. The biggest challenge to the codes and conventions of usual music magazines that I have made is that my magazine displays no price. I had thought about displaying the price in the usual way, however, I thought that perhaps, if there was no price, sales may be increased as they would have to ask for the price via the shop scanning the barcode, making them less likely to say no when they are told the price. The magazine wouldn’t be very cheap, which can be off putting, I believe this could help to the magazine being just as enticing despite the price.

Although I have challenged many of the areas of music magazines especially of the rap genre, I still believe that my magazine would sell, as it is different from all the usual music magazines, yet is just as cool, if not, cooler.

feature page

Style sheet

interview questions/plan

Featured artist Monty Joseph. - The finished feature

When did u become interested in producing?

How do you go about making your music available to the public?

What was your worst and best experience of producing?

What inspires you?

Is there anyone who you consider as a musical role model?

What are your career aspirations?

deconstruction of a feature page

This is a feature page from the magazine 'RESPECT', the same magazine that I used for a deconstruction of a front cover. The 4 pictures of the artist 'T.I' have been merged together to create a visual image that is aesthetically pleasing. The use of a simple black and white visual motif, creates writing that stands out and is clear to read. However as this magazine mainly focusses on the images rather that the writing, the writing is particularly small in comparisson to the image. The image has the artist looking directly towards the camera, creating an eyeline match that gives a sense of a relationship with the reader. When I create my feature page for my music magazine, I'm going to try and make the image stand out through the use of a white background and black writing. Although i will make the image cover the whole double page spread, I will make sure that I make the writing take up more of the space, in order to create interest in the writing, rather than just the image.

draft of contents page

I have had feedback about the contents page of my magazine and have been told that the 'BOOGEE' number plate is unclear, and making it clear would make the pun easier to recognise. I have taken this into consideration, and I will see how it looks on Photoshop. Although it may seem unclear, I feel as though I should keep it the way I have shown above, as it makes the contents page aesthetically pleasing, creating an effect that is interesting and less basic.

draft sketches of front cover design

My magazine would cost 3 pounds, however I have chosen not to display the price, check http://isaacwoodsasmusicmag.blogspot.com/2011/04/evaluation-codes-and-conventions.html to find out why.

I have already chosen what my rapper is going to wear, and I have chosen this particular top/jumper as it goes with the colour scheme of my magazine, and reflects a down to earth rapper that is focussed on his work rather that the 'bling' that comes with it.

Institutional info on 'RESPECT'

'RESPECT' is a magazine that isn't exactly your normal 'music magazine'. There is no information on artists new albums and life (in particular detail). However, the magazine has many professional, eye catching photo's throughout the magazine, perhaps underpinned by a quote of the artist, or some slight info. This magazine is for people who aren't attracted by text heavy magazines, but more attracted to the artwork of photographs.

The editor- in- chief of 'RESPECT' is Matthew Schnipper, and the magazine was launched in November 2009 in New York. The magazine is published quaterly by Jonathan J. Rheingold (Musinart, LLC), a social media agency that specializes in conversational marketing. The magazine 'RESPECT' was founded by the former Executive Publisher and co-creator of the magazine XXL (another music magazine that specializes in rap) as well as Antenna, Rides and Revolver magazines as well as Musinart. The magazine costs 24 dollars for a one year subscription.

Reader Profile

When people participated in this survey, a number of problems occured. I gave the survey to 10 males and 10 females, who were aged between 16-17. Most people preferred rap, reggae and RnB and because of this I decided to make my magazine based around an urban London industry, particularly focussed on up and coming artists of rap. One of the reasons I decided to focuss on up and coming artists was because many people chose the title 'Up and Comin'' and 'London's latest'. However the majority (60%) of the people who took part in my survey suggested that 'LOUD' would be a particularly good title for a music magazine, particularly in coherance with the London's rap industry.

In terms of the front cover image, 50% of the people I surveyed sided with a male, posing in a picture. However there was still 30% of people who chose 'female' and a 20% of the people suggested the producer would be good, but added 'not particularly appealing'. Therefore I chose to have a male on my front cover, yet with small images of a girl and of a producer, the producer who would be used for the feature of my magazine, so perhaps put him near a 'puff'- for a cd of different artists he has produced, breaking through into the London industry.

The part of the survey that dealt with price and period of times in which each issue is issued, was particularly mixed. However most people were prepared to pay up to 3 pounds for the magazine, making the free cd that will hopfully come with the magazine will be affordable. Nevertheless if the cd is a problem, it could be a possibility that I change it to 'winning an exclusive cd' or perhaps another exclusive offer, rather than a free one with every issue. My magazine would most probably be a monthly issued magazine as 50% of the people i surveyed suggested this would be the best.

Audience Survey

Music magazine- Survey

How old are you?

Are you male or female?

What music do you like?

Rap         Rnb         Pop        Reggae       Dance        Dnb        Garage        Rock    

What would be better for a music mag for up and coming artists; Picture of,

A producer      or         Artist, if so,     Girl      Boy    or    Group

What title would best connote a magazine for new artists? Circle more than one if u want...

Underground         Up and Coming         Music Master          London’s latest     LOUD   

other? Please state

How often do you read music magazines?

Daily                        Monthly                      Yearly                       other, please state;

How much would you pay for a music magazine?

£1                             £2                          £3                     £4