Looking back at your preliminary task (college magazine) what have you learnt in terms of progression from that to the full product?
From the first time we started working on our college magazines i was struggling to use photoshop to create an image that would catch my audiences attention. now i can use photoshop confidently to create a front cover page, contents page and double page spread that my target audience will read and enjoy. I know that i need unique selling points to persuade my reader and not follow the norms of all other magazines but challenge conventions and make my own magazine a statement of new change. I know it takes alot of work and imagination to create a magazine thats worthy to be put on the shelf and  hope i have managed to do this

In what ways does your media product challenge forms and conventions of real magazines?
I have a unique magazine that challenges the way in which people see magazines. For example one of my unique selling points is the incentive thats give in the double page spread. I give my readers a small part of a metal bike that over time builds up into a portable bike that looks good on the shelf. This is me trying to persuade my readers by giving something back to them and hopefully this will work. Many magazines tend to take up most of their front cover pages with news on the main article in the magazine but i have my main article the same size as the rest of the cover lines because this promotes them all and show i have variety in my magazine with lots to read about.

How does your media represent particular social groups?
Because my magazine is specifically targeting the Indy social group it is influencing them and persuading more to buy my magazine. Inside the magazine there is lots to offer my readers with all the latest up to date equipment being advertised there such as new bikes, helmets and skateboards. My magazine shows that skateboarding can be fun and the colours used show that its a wild extreme sport. I tried to make it as fun as possible and look as unique as I could trying to represent that skateboarding is also unique and try and tempt people to take up the sport.

What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why ?
I would hope that because of the Indy genre of my magazine an institution like Q magazine of the industry would help me advertise because they are similar to what my magazine is based around although we have different unique selling points that offer different things to our target audience. If Q magazine did back me I could advertise further and go widespread with my magazine making it international not just national .. I would have more money at my expense which could help me improve my magazine even more.

Who would be the audience for your media product?
Because the genre of my magazine is Indy type i would aim my magazine at the younger generation who are into skateboarding.. biking and create my magazine around their specific likes. I would aim it betwen the ages of 13-19 as it is a bit too old for anybody younger than 13 because of its use of special lexis concerning skateboards.. the jargon used younger children may struggle to read. Its suited for people older who are taking it as a hobby and maybe even wanting to do it professionally.

How did you attract your audience?
one way in which i attracted my audience was the colours i used on the front page of my magazine. These helped to grab my readers attention because when it is on the shelf it is competing with other magazines with similar colours and eyecatching signs. I have used colours like red and blue to stand out and yellow as well. I knew it was going to take more than colours to grab my audiences attention so i had a feature article as my double page spread with an up and coming star 'Sam Calvert' which i aimed at my target audience because the genre of my magazine is aimed at the Indy type.
The main focus image of my front page was a big picture of Sam himself looking down the camera showing his confidence and smiling. This direct addressing from him would hopefully catch the readers attention as well.

Evaluation on Magazine
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
throughout the year i have looked at a variety of magazines and the way they are constructed and advertised. There are lots of ways to create a magazine that is eye catching and can grab the target audiences attention above all others. All magazine producers such as 'Mixmag' or 'NME' all have specific target audiences and this helps them to construct a magazine around them that will suit their likes and dislikes. There are many steps to creating  amagazine such as the editing .... the photography.... featured artists etc.. 
Many magazines are all fighting to be recognized by a variety of audiences.

I have used photoshop to create a magazine that is eye catching and can hopefully grab my target audiences attention when it is on the shelf. To create that though i had to learn to use photoshop firstly and i started with the basics learning how to bring an image of my choice onto the screen and then distort it to make it look different for example the burn tool can make the image seem hazy and create a cool effect. Other ways you can distort your image would be using the crop tool ... smudge tool.. even changing the pixel size can create a cartoony effect!

Another piece of technology ive had to learn is the use of Blogger. This is where ive been posting all the updates of my magazine giving a step by step evaluation on how the process went. I have posted images of a variety of contents pages and front pages analysing them on their specific target audiences and the way in which they have achieved their aims.

This is my final double page spread. As you can see ive added a factfile to my interview giving the reader an insight into the like and dislikes of Sam Calvert. This allows readers to have their own opinion of him. I have images running down the right hand side of the interview that show him being relaxed holding his guitar in ordinary places. I did this because i want my readers to relate to him and know what hes like.

My latest double page spread looks more like a real magazines one. It has a tag line underneath the title of the magazine and the image has been smudged to make the background look hazy like hes in a dream ...which he sorts of thinks he is as hes living the dream he always wanted. on the right hand side of the page we have his interview and its set out in a structured way with the interviewers questions bigger and in blue to show the difference of speakers.

This is my first ideas on how to lay out my double page spread. I want my star of the interview on a page of his own in an image taking up half the page and on the other half i wanted my interview with him to own that side. Once again i have the title at the top of the page catching the readers eye but the main focus image takes over thisd time. I will add a tag line from the interview under the image giving a preview of what is it to be spoken about in the interview.

This is the final contents page for my magazine and is much more structured than my half finished version due to its columns and the way in which the list is spaced out around the image. it looks like there is nothing on the oage really but in fact there are quite a lot of things ive advertised in my magazine. ive added an issue number into the page as well showing it is an on-going magazine which comes out monthly to its target audience. there is a smaller image in the bottom left hand corner adding a bit of variety to the images and you gain an insight into what will be shown on the double page spread.
The blue box is there as an incentive for my readers to buy the magazine in the hope of winnig a prize from inside the mag.

This is my half finished contents page. As you can see the word ' Contents' is set in a stylised way one on top of another at the top left just under the title of the magazine. This draws the readers attention and shows them what is on that page. Around the image i have a list of information concerning what can be read in this weeks edition of the magazine. I needed to add more choice to the final piece and did so. The yellow rectangle boxes highlight what are the top news stories in my magazine and the less important news showing a structure to the contents page which is quite professional.

This is the first attempt at choosing a central image for my contents page to work around. It is this picture that is used in my final piece. I chose this image because i can fit plenty of text around the page advertising what is to be shown in the magazine. I have brought the titile from the front cover as well to show a constant theme.

This is my front cover halfway through when i had finally decided what it was i wanted the front page to look like. You can see i have my title which is the same as the final one and the image is the same as well. I have added more tag lines to show there is more in my magazine than previously and the barcode has been changed around. The black banner at the bottom of the page has less writing in the final one to make it short and dnappy and grab the reader.

This is another magazine front cover i was thinking of using for my magazine. it is bright and eye catching but i think the colours would of made my text hard to read and it looked a little bit like a poster.

This is the front cover for my magazine. My masthead is at the top of the page controlling most of the front cover. It is in bold colours using white with red and blue to stand out against the background and so people can notice it when its on the shelf. The blue and the red are colours that i will use throughout the magazine becoming a constant theme. I have used blue and red for my coverlines as well. My main central image is of my doublepage spread star Sam Calvert. He is holding a guitar and directly addressing the camera with his face so portray the genre of the magazine which is Indie type and to show that he is a confident up and coming star.
I have a price and barcode on the front cover as well which makes it look more proffesional because these are standard on front covers.
The black banner on the bottom of the page draws the attention of my readers because it stand out against the light background.

On the front cover of my magazine. i have used quite bland colours which is probably a negative because it wont be eye-catching enough but it looks well set out. the ain focus is an image of a girl striking a pose with a smile on her face. This connotes that she is having fun and is entertained which is what i want my magazine to do to my readers.

On my contents page i have a main focus image of a girl directly addressing the audience to show confidence. i have a red background which makes my text stand out like my front page. The tag line at the bottom shows that it is the more important thing on the page and draws your attention.

This is the contents page for the Q magazine edition featuring James Blunt. Because this is a special edition there is a main focus image of him featured on the contents page. this automatically engages the reader because they become curious as to what the interview with him will be on. The image holds the whole right hand side of the page whilst the text takes up 50% of the other half. the titles of the topics are in bold to show that they are important and stand out. the smaller text is just a brief preview of what is to be in the magazine and creates enough interest for the reader to read on. The colours are quite neutral creating an Indy effect this is the aim of that specific magazine targeting young Indy rockers and their likes.

For my contents page I used the same colours as my front page to create regularity. this regularity lets me create my own style and identity. I have on my contents page a masthead saying CONTENTS which obviously explains what this page is. Because of the colours on my front page I had to change the colours of my contents as well which conforms with the front page. I have small titles underlined showing the topics that will be covered in my edition with the more important topics in a slightly bigger font and size so these stand out and catch the readers attention.

To show a bit of irregularity and variation I used different fonts from the front cover to change the effect of the magazine and try to show it is a fun entertaining read. hopefully readers will see this in the contents page where there is a wild messed up effect that works and be enticed to carry on reading further and read  the articles.

The magazine has used three different colours that contrast well to create a vivid front page. A black background has been used with the white masthead and white cover-line used to stand out big and bold. The yellow puffs also stand out against the black background. These three regular colours create regularity throughout and creates their own personal identity through this.

Because the magazine is specialized around rap/hip-hop the colours relate quite well because if they used bright colours such as red green or purple I don't think they could have created the same effect. so when they've used black, yellow and white these colours look cool just like Drake who is holding a striking pose with his arms crossed  in a cool manner. This could all be seen as stereotypical or common in that certain genre of music with rap/hip-hop music seen as cool and something that lots of people liked.

• 

this is an example of a front cover from the music magazine VIBE. VIBE has a specific target audience aiming to persuade fans of hip-hop, rap and grime. Their main focus image in this edition is an image of Drake the rapper/ RnB artist who is big in the music industry. This automatically grabs the target audiences attention as they can relate to Drake because of their love for that type of music. VIBE is the masthead on the page in big bold white print behind Drakes head and this helps the reader notice the magazine on the shelf because if the title was put in small print it wouldn't be very noticeable. Around the masthead there are small puffs of snippets of information that are to be shown in the magazine. The text is quite minimal which leaves the image to be the main focus point which is what the magazine is trying to do. UNSTOPPABLE is the cover line for the magazine also in big bold white letters which gives the reader an insight into what's up for reading.

A cover line is a sort of tag line that gives you an insight into what goes on inside the magazine but in a snappy clever way. The cover line is normally short and placed above image to create interest or show that this particular image is important or a big story inside the magazine. They stand out against the other puffs on the page as well because they are big bold and are the other main focus point as well as the main image.

The amount of text on the front page is limited because I want my audience to focus more upon my main image of the girl having fun striking a cool pose. Limiting the text means that the image is focused upon more and other  text such as my cover line in big bold text is also highlighted and shown as important.

For my front cover I used the image of a girl standing in a fashionable pose to try and entice my target audience to buy my magazine. The image is the main focus on my front page as it is the largest image.
Around my main image I have small boxes or (puffs) that give the reader an insight into what will be in my magazine such as interviews, reports and persuasive sentences help to entice the target audience with small incentives inside the magazine to win in small competitions. i have only used the colours grey and black which is not very appealing to my audience so i will be changing these to more vibrant stand out colours such as reds, yellows and blues. These all help for the reader to notice my magazine on the shelf and for the reader to become intrigued upon a first glance.

Anchorage- this is a term that refers to how images are referred to. In magazines, images will be anchored by captions(directly explaining what the pictures depict), by coverlines, or by articles and headlines. Anchoring an image helps give it meaning, as it helps the reader understand the significance.

A MastHead is the title of the magazine and is nearly always seen at the top of the page above the main focus image becuase it is the first place you look on a magazine because it is large and also when they are on a rack in the shops it is the first thing you see because the rest is covered by a different magazine.

i am researching magazine front covers and the different advertising techniques used to sell the magazine and catch the target audiences attention.

i am usiing Vibe magazine as my focus point to look at the different techniques used. Vibe mainly focuses on the music industry targeted at listeners of RnB, Hip-Hop, Rap and Grime. this is quite a specific target audience as it isnt everybodys cup of tea so they have to use advertising techniques that will appeal to their audience.

Vibe is owned by Quincy Jones and also has its own website (VibeLifestyleNetwork) and currently has around 800,000 who buy it when a new release comes out. as well as focusing on the music Vibe also includes news on new releases, interviews with big stars, the latest gossip in the industry and much more....

Vibe is known for its stand-out front covers with big images off sexy women all posing or the latest up and coming rap stars showing their bodies. this is all enhanced with bright colours and bright puffs that really catch your eye.

the image i have used is blurry and out of focus so i will now not be using this one but i will post my new front cover image soon.

Picture for Front Cover

Image for front cover of magazine.

First Post

Hello my name is shaun and im an AS media Studies student.
This is my first introductory blog.
I will be learning how to create a magazine front page, contents page and a double page spread.
I will be posting blogs on my page showing you the steps i take in bringing the magazine together.
Shaun.