This magazine cover uses bright colors and many images to represent a hybrid genre of jazz and pop music called "Japop". The target audience is young females based on the choice of bright colors and pop-inspired celebrities featured. Distribution partners like RCA Records, which represents both pop and jazz, would be interested in this magazine given its focus on both genres. The layout uses busy, eye-catching design elements typical of pop magazines while also including more sophisticated colors and fonts to represent the jazz influence. Overall, the cover successfully blends conventions of pop and jazz magazines to profile an innovative new music genre for its target youth audience.

1. Music Magazine Evaluation

2. Introduction Moving on from the preliminary task of creating a school magazine, the main task that was required next was to produce a music magazine. The final outcome had to include a front cover, contents page and a double page article. Firstly, I began to research real, professional music magazines to find out the specific codes and conventions that appear in their magazines and also the conventions that appear in a variety of magazines. I found out which conventions are used, why they are used and how they are used to attract a particular audience. Portraying codes and conventions in various ways target different people because of the content, style, layout and colours that have been chosen. For this main task, I worked in a group of four people. Therefore, working in a group meant that we had to make four different magazines independently and our own issue individually. We had to choose a genre to dedicate our magazine to. We chose a combination of two existing music genres which were pop and jazz, so we came up with ‘Japop’-a brand new music genre for the industry. As we chose a mixed hybrid genre, we had to research both genres in depth and then put the ideas and styles together so our magazines would have elements of both, jazz and pop. Many of the elements of our house style were chosen, for popularity by our target audience which were young females from adolescents to their early thirties as jazz is associated with sophistication and maturity. We needed audience feedback so that we had more knowledge on what our specific audience would want to see on the magazine and what content they would like to see inside.

3. Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Before the construction process, I had to research many areas to find the information I needed for my own magazine. This included looking at our chosen music genres-jazz and pop to recognise how they are represented to the audience and what makes people a fan of their music. Within my research, I had to analyse many professional music magazines to understand how they are put together using the codes and conventions in various ways to attract different audiences. On front covers, many codes and conventions are used in all magazines which include the masthead which is usually featured at the top of the magazine cover and is used in all of the issues as part of the house style. There is always a main image on the cover as it is the main part that lures the audience in as it is generally an image of a musician/celebrity. Therefore, many of the musician’s fans would buy it because they enjoy their music or aspire to belike them. Also, on front covers there are other articles advertised that are inside the magazine. This is to attract more people because it shows a variety of articles in short, snappy, exciting words to add mystery so people will wan to read the actual magazine. I noticed, that on music magazines’ contents pages, there is usually an image of the main cover star but in a different pose or with a different background. There are generally more than one image on the page in the majority of magazines. Using more images fills up the spaces and adds more colour as there isn’t as much to add compared to other pages. The contents page is also the beginning for the page numbers which are vital because without the numbers, there wouldn’t be a reason for having contents pages. In many issues, the content is listed similarly like the previous issue. This is because audiences can recognise which magazine the page is from due to the layout and house style. The number of images on the main articles/interviews varies due to the music genre and layout the magazines has. Also, the title is usually based on a quote from the actual article or from the musician’s interview in big, bold fonts to stand out and attract audiences due to the style and the title as it would make people want to read on. The language used is journalistic in the articles although all articles are written in various and certain ways to suit the music genre it is portraying.

4. The mastheads on magazines are generally short and snappy so they are memorable to the audience. I wanted my masthead to be clear but creative. The use of the background shadow adds more colour, therefore makes it more eye catching. Each colour would be different for every issue of the masthead shadow as part of a house style. Many music magazines have slogan that add information to the magazine or make the magazine found like it is he best magazines around to persuade readers to choose that particular magazine. Slogans need to suit the chosen genre so our group added the music genre into the actual slogan. We had to make it short and unforgettable so it would appeal to the target audience. As black stands out, we used it to write the slogan, then put it against a bright colour so it would stand out from the other elements on the front cover. In the majority of music magazines, the main story line title takes up most of the space in the middle section for the page, so I chose to do this for my magazine so it would look realistic and professional. I chose colours that were in our group’s house style, hence the magazine would sustain a particular theme. Barcodes are a vital code and convention which are featured on every magazine that are sold in shops because they reveal useful information about this specific magazine, such as the date, price and the issue number which allows the readers to know whether it is the most recent issue.

5. The centre image is what lures the audience in the most. Main images appear on all magazine front cover-this is to advertise the main story which is frequently of a celebrity/musician. Usually, the main images are from professional photo shoots which is why i had to carry out my own photo shoot to make my images look as though they are good enough to appear in any music magazine and still look realistic. Sub headings are found in the majority of music magazines. They headline other story lines that are involved inside the magazine. Also, they are used to fill up space on the page so it doesn’t look too empty or simple. Advertising other stories attract more people as it adds more assortment which makes the magazine more interesting. I featured music related articles to emphasises what the magazine is about and also, sub headings add more colour which brightens up the entire page. I noticed that bottom strips are displayed in many music magazines, as well as top strips which promote more storylines, regularly an exclusive article or interview. Bottom strips are an element that attract attention from the other codes and conventions on the page as they are against bright backgrounds. I accompanied my bottom strip with an appropriate image as I noticed that most magazines contain more than one image on their front covers. I included the word, ‘Exclusive’ as it grabs the audience’s attention to persuade them to buy it.

6. The titles on the contents pages are similar to all of the previous issues. The titles keep the same theme as the masthead on the front cover. It gives the reader’s notice that they are on the contents page and they get to see the content listings for the magazine. Page numbers are used to issue information for the audience to know what page they are on and also the contents page shows you where to find a certain page. Therefore, page numbers appear in every magazine as it is a vital code and convention. Content listings are commonly separated over the contents page so the listings are not in one big block. Splitting up the listings looks more inventive as it fills out the page, making the page look exciting. The images on contents pages are mainly of the same people from the stories advertised on the cover but in different poses or clothes. Featuring images on the contents page of magazines makes it appear more captivating because there is not as many codes and conventions to add compared to the other pages.

7. The title on articles stand out from other parts and is generally of a quote from the interview. I used a quote for my title as I thought that this specific quote was snappy enough to be the title and also, includes the subject of the actual interview which is to advertise Japop. The language and structure in articles varies as it needs to be suited to the music genre that is advertised so that the article would appeal to their specific, target audience. In my article, i wanted the content and language to sound relatively mature, relaxed and have a fun style t suit the aspects of both, jazz and pop. Some parts of the interviews are in bold and in various colours to split the article up so it isn’t in one boring block which would make the readers uninterested. At the end of most interviews or articles, the musician’s song or album is advertised in some way, even if it is just written. The CD cover shows the audience what to look out for and tries to persuade the audience to go and buy it. There is usually a caption underneath the image to explain what it is about. Even though, song words are not featured in many magazines, we thought that the song words were a good idea to advertise the music artist’s song as this element links with the music aspect. They also engage the audience as it is a unique element and an aspect that can be used by the readers. There is not a certain amount of images that are specifically used in every magazine as it depends on what magazines it is. I decided to just use one main image as there was already a lot o colour that is present on the page. Images are frequently from photo shoots because they can portray specific meanings for what is intended. Page numbers tell the audience what page they are on, so that they have insight to what they are reading by looking at the listings on the contents page.

8. Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups? Social groups are categories of people who have similar interests by the type of music they listen to, their perspective on things and also by their appearance. Examples of social groups include emos, goths, chavs and indie-theses names are based mainly on the music they admire as they take and portray the particular music artist’s music into their own personality and appearance. ‘Diverse’ would not probably attract the social groups listed above as emos and goths listen to rock, heavy metal and indie. These music genres are completely different to the genre my magazine is advertising. This is because jazz and pop have many different characteristics and have completely different vibes and sounds. Therefore, there isn’t a specific social group , although the magazine does target particular psycho dynamics and social economics. In terms of social economics, this magazine would attract classes, E-C1 because ‘Diverse’ is affordable and as it would be sold in many shops, it would be accessible to everyone. However, classes such as A and B probably would not be attracted because of their jobs such as people in managerial and administrative professions-prime ministers, barristers and chief executive officers. This is due to the content in the magazine as he codes and conventions are created to target a certain audience. The psycho dynamics that are targeted are aspirers, as they would want to be like the music artist’s that are featured. Also, followers would be interested due to the music genre and musicians they admire. Although, this magazine could also target non conformists because the music genre is unique and different compared to other magazines. Also, ‘Diverse’ allows the audience to be different and does not create an image for them to follow.

9. Pixie Lott Norah Jones Michael Buble Christina Aguilera Above are images of four well known music artists that are currently making music. These are just some of the artists that fit in with the genre and could be featured in the magazine as they are suitable for the Japop genre. Even though, their music contains only little bits of jazz or little bits of pop, as the chosen music genre is jazz and pop, these are good examples and resources that I used for my research into how they represent their music and as well as how they present their appearance. Pop music contains a rhythmic and a simple traditional structure which appeals to a large range of audience and many different social economic classes as well as almost every psycho dynamic. To make my magazine appeal to my target audience, I had to make sure I took the elements of jazz and pop and incorporated them to also attract certain social classes. I did this by features such as choosing the appropriate images that looked mature and elegant as well as creating a happy vibe and a positive message. Also, as the images looked professional and realistic, these would attract aspirers to be like them. Moreover, if the audience listened to and liked the musician’s music, followers would want to keep up with the latest news. Furthermore, the content of the magazine would target certain audiences, and social classes due to what they are interested in and if they enjoy the pop and jazz hybrid genre of music. The representation of jazz is classy and sophisticated, so I had to choose suitable colours, fonts and layouts that would work. In doing this, it attracts a wider audience form the social economics, due to the maturity which is often linked to an older audience, so more social classes are being targeted as mainly adults have jobs where they are interested in the media and music industry. Also, the main appearance of jazz elegant, smart and often wears dresses or suits but as I had to add the element of pop, I made the appearance more vibrant, less serious and more relatable to the audience.

10. These two magazines both attract certain social classes and psycho dynamics by the use of codes and conventions. The article from Kerrang magazine would target social groups such as emos and rockers because of the music artist featured-it is clear to tell that he is associated with rock because of his moody pose, the serious eye contact, the dark make up and the dark outfit. Both magazines would attract social classes E-C1 because they are affordable but the people who are the target audience would only be interested depending on the music they are interested in. Also, the majority of magazines all lure in psycho dynamics such as aspirers because people are usually wanting to be like the music artist advertised in any magazine as they look up to them as a role model. Also, the musician's fan base would be interested, therefore followers would want to read the magazine depending on the artist that they admire. Many magazines create representations of that certain music genre so that followers can have that image and represent their favourite music genre into their personality and their appearance as the genres have certain elements that make the genre stand out and be clear to what is being presented to other people.

11. Q3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? As my magazine is advertising a hybrid genre of jazz and pop, we had to research media institutions that would distribute my magazine. I found out that many institutions promote a wide range of genres and I was fortunate to find two media institutions with the interests my magazine contains. One of these institutions is Blue Note Records which is a jazz record label established in 1939, so my magazine would fit in with this company because many of its features are jazz related and advertise the new genre, Japop which also contains many elements of jazz/ The name, Blue Note Records derives its name from the characteristic, ‘Blue notes’ of jazz and the blues. The company is currently owned by the EMI Group which is another media institution. In 2006, the company was expanded, bringing together a whole variety of EMI owned labels and imprints specializing in the growing market of music for adults. The market of adults relates to the jazz genre and as my target audience is adolescents to females in their early thirties, Blue Note Records could distribute ‘Diverse’ as it includes a range of labels aimed at adults. The label has found good commercial success with the vocalist, Norah Jones-she is an artist who produces many jazz songs and helped to advertise Japop into my magazine by analysing her musical work. The second media institution we found was RCA Records which was originally called ‘The Victor Talking Machine Company’ is one of the labels of Sony Music Entertainment. It is the name is three different co owned record labels. RCA Records represents the pop, rock and country music label. RCA Victors advertises the blues, world, jazz, musicals and other musical genres that do not fit the pop music label. RCA Red Seal is the renowned classical musical label. Therefore, this is a great choice of a media institution as it represents both jazz and pop music, hence RCA Records would want to promote ‘Diverse’. In 2008, RCA became RCA/Jive label group. Also, there are already famous music artist signed to this label who are jazz or pop artists such as Christina Aguilera, Diana Vickers, Natalie Imbruglia and Kesha. As RCA Records are involved with jazz and pop labels, my magazine would interest this institution to sign my music artists such as Royal S, Lucy Arday and Zac Gold because of the type of music they are associated with. There are many media institutions that I researched and could have chosen, however I chose these two because the music genre is Japop and so the institutions had to contain interest in jazz and pop to make them want to distribute my magazine. http://www.rcarecords.com/ http://www.bluenote.com/

12. The colours used are mainly bright and can lure audiences in and add to the pop representation. To fit the jazz element, the colour scheme features more sophisticated and mature colours such as purples, black and deep pinks. The target audience is clear to see on the cover due to the slogan, colour scheme, artists and the main article title. Also, the black background makes the cover appear more mature because of the effect the chosen colours do against it. The target audience for this magazine is young females and adolescents. The is obvious to tell due to the colours as younger audience are more attracted to bright colours. Also, the amount of images make the layout buy, therefore the audience are interested to know what the features are inside the magazine. RCA Records would be interested in distributing this magazine because it is extremely clear that the music it is mainly promoting is pop due to the celebrities featured. The layout is quite busy compared to other magazines such as jazz magazines. As it is busy, it fits in with the element of pop as the codes and conventions are so eye catching straight away, due to the colours and attractive images. As there are a variety of fonts, they appeal to many audiences as some appear more poppy such as the bottom strip writing and the main article title which are more creative and eye catching. On the other hand, the masthead and slogan are more simple in comparison, and appear more elegant, therefore attracting an audience who are interested in jazz. The colours used are outstanding and attract attention immediately. The use of pink, yellow and purple represent pop music as they are fun and portray a positive tone. Using many images would target many different people as they would be lured in to the celebrities on the cover, because they are fans or aspire to be like them. There is a range of music artists so this would target people with different interests in music. The images would attract people at RCA Records and Blue Note Records because of their facial expressions, outfits and poses which all have jazz and pop related features. Hence, these institutions would be interested in the music artists. The images of the music artists are very well known to the target audience. Also, as the majority of the artists featured can be connected with pop music, RCA Records would probably be interested. The layout is considerably tidy and organised compared to other professional magazines that promote just pop music such as Top of the pops and rock magazines such as Kerrang. The layout reveals what music is being advertised because of the codes and conventions, so the two media institutions would be targeted as well as the audience. In many pop music magazines, the fonts are relatively simple but have a bubbly effect to the writing which suits the pop music genre.

13. Q4. Who would be the audience for your media product? Every professional music magazine chooses a specific target audience-age, gender, race and interests, so that they can focus their codes and conventions to appeal to their target . Many magazines have many differences compared to others-this is to attract different people based on the music genre it is advertising, type of content that readers have access to and also, the music artists that are featured will all appeal to many social groups and audiences. Before we started to create our magazines, we decided on what target audience we wanted our issues to appeal to-we finally chose to target young females from adolescents to women in their early thirties because jazz is a genre that is related to maturity and also has sophisticated elements. Therefore, whilst working on constructing the magazine, I had to make sure that all of the codes and conventions I chose to use would target the chosen audience. For example, on my front cover, I used many shades of pinks and purples which are more or less represented and appeal more to females. Also, our target audience has a wide age range which is due to the elements of pop and jazz as they appeal to many different age groups. Considering what my audience would relate to and want to see, every little detail on my magazine needed to hook the audience in and I had to think why it would be suitable and appropriate to use. Many of my original ideas that I first decided to try had to be changed because they did not look effective and would not engage our chosen audience to want to read it, so I made the elements more suitable by either changing the colour, font, image or decide to remove it completely. It is vital to ensure that the magazine would appeal to your chosen audience as otherwise there would not be many people interested in buying the final product. In my research process, i noticed how the different magazines portrayed various music genres and used their codes and conventions and why they would target their audience and particular social groups.

14. The colour scheme of red, white and black are seen as sophisticated colours which attract older audiences. Black and white are colours that suggest maturity so the use of red adds the colour to the magazine which brightens it up. The list of other musicians would attract many different people as the list has a variety from various genres such as pop, rock and indie. Audience would want to read it because it has something for everyone. The image I chose would attract a younger audience such as adolescents because of the way they look as they appear younger tan many artists around now that are featured on music magazine front covers. The slogan, ‘Japoppin for the very first time’ would captivate fans of jazz and pop as these are the genres that this particular magazine has chosen to base its contents on. The basis of my colour scheme is different shades of purples and pinks which would target females as these colours are associated as feminine colours. The image of icon, Madonna would appeal to her fan base which would mainly be an older audience as she has been in the music industry for a very long time. The sub headings on the front cover advertise all music related articles which are promoted in box outs in pinks, therefore targeting females. Also, the bottom strip reveals another story and the word, ‘Exclusive’ appeals to audiences even more because it only appears in this magazine, hence readers would be interested to read the content. The main article title is bigger than the rest of the sub headings to advertise the main image. ‘Madonna’ is in very bold writing that is clear and noticeable from afar so that aspirers and fans of Madonna would definitely want to read the article. The slogan would target a wide range of people as no specific music genre is being advertised. Therefore, all social groups and many different ages would probably be interested in reading this magazine. The main article title is the only piece of writing that isn’t in a box out, consequently it stands out from the rest. The word, ‘Debut’ might interest the audience even more as it suggests that it is new and people would be curious to read it. Choosing black as a background can be targeted to rock or indie fans or as black is a mature colour that any colour can go against so this could mean that many people would find the magazine appealing.

15. Q5. How did you attract/address your audience? Front cover By using magazine codes and conventions, I had to make them appeal to our specific audience so I had to construct these conventions to captivate young females to want to read my magazine. The masthead on the cover is creative and unique because of the background shadow used. By choosing a deep shade of purple, this appeals to my audience and also adds to the concept of jazz. The font which is ‘Elegance’ is quite artistic, yet simple and this was chosen to show the pop side of the magazine as it advertises two music genres, therefore fans of both, jazz and pop would hopefully be interested in ‘Diverse’. The slogan, ‘Japoppin for the very first time’ attracts people who are into jazz pr pop or both and as the music genres are included in the slogan, this makes it clear ho the magazine is trying to target. The use of the pink background is part of the pop element as it is girlie and fun. The writing in black adds to the maturity aspect of jazz. The slogan stands out from far away because of the box out that is used. The centre image is of a duet and the fact that the musicians are looking directly into the camera attracts attention to the audience as it captures interest. The use of choosing young musicians would appeal to younger people as they can relate to the image. On the other hand, they look mature and sophisticated because of the jazz element which would engage young female adults. Also, the use of the prop emphasises the concept of the music magazine by using microphones, this could attract singing fans as well as music fans. The other mage adds more variety and supports the bottom strip advertising the exclusive article. The musician, Royal S portrays a happy and fun vibe which many people would relate to. The gesture she is doing with her hands relates to her stag name which is memorable. Her outfits also fits in with the Japop genre-the dress is mature which could be worn in jazz songs and her pink patterned tights are related to pop as they make the outfit more fun. The different fonts would appeal to more people as some are more creative than others. All of the fonts are clear to read so it is easy to read for the audience. The use of productive but simple fonts would attract many audiences as they stand out from afar. It is the use of colour that targets specific audience. On this magazine, as out audience is young females from adolescents to young adults, I used feminine colours such as lilac and pink but also made them illuminated and females would be attracted to this code and convention. The sub headings are all of the same subject which is about music. There are interactive features such as quizzes to see if you can make it in the Japop industry. The audience would want to find out especially is they want to make music as their career choice. The sub headings also advertise competitions which are a fun aspects. People who are interested in the exclusive prize would definitely be attracted to this article. Also, the fact that they are in different coloured box outs make it clear to who the target audience is. In this case, the colours are pink and red which are bright and females would be attracted to this element.

16. Contents page The title that I chose for the contents page is more unique than just writing ‘contents’ as it shows more vocabulary. I kept the title with the same theme as the masthead on the front cover to keep a house style going within the magazine, so the audience could recognise the page anywhere. I decided to use the same font, colour and style as I noticed that the majority of music magazines I researched do this and as I wanted my magazine to look as professional and realistic as possible, I took the idea. I only used two images on my contents page as I did not want it to look so busy and also as I added effects to the chosen images, more pictures wouldn’t have made the page look clear or realistic. The image of Royal S on the left was a good image to use as it is a full body hot that takes up a lot of space and makes the page look more captivating. The use of adding the drop glow to the image stands out more which would therefore lure more people in as it is a creative idea and is used as part of a house style for all of the issues. Also, aspirers and fans would be interested in the article. The bottom right image also contains an artistic element-I added a frame in a lilac colour because it was part of my colour scheme throughout the magazine and the use of it constitutes the page to look more interesting to read. The effects would target more people as they lure the audience in and are noticeable immediately. Splitting up the contents listings added more colour and looked a lot better than just listing them in one block down the side of the page. The layout that I used would target our specific audience because of the chosen colours which are bright pink and lilac. The pink suits the pop element whilst the lilac accompanies the jazz element. Also, the font is simple but bubbly and effective which is more inventive and fun to visualize. The listings are generally all about the same subject which is music although they all advertise and are specifically about Japop. Hence, it is clear to recognise that they would target our specific audience. Also, as there are many interactive articles such as quizzes, competitions and ‘your letter’ article-these all make the readers feel part of the magazine.

17. Double page article During my research of real music magazine, I noticed that a lot of them all featured a quote for the title of their main article. When I finished writing the article, I tried to find a quote that would work for the title and found that ‘Japop is going to be huge’ worked really well. This is because it is advertising the new genre that has entered the music scene, so people would be interested to know more about it by reading the article. As I wanted to stick to my colour scheme, I used a light shade of pink to attract the audience and used a more creative font (Nevada) to add more creativity to the page. Furthermore, I made the title go across the next page as it made the article look more professional and inventive. The song words that appear on the left are part of the magazine’s house style as our group wanted an element that would make our magazine stand out from the rest. I stuck with the same colour as the masthead background shadow on the cover because I believe it looks more realistic by using this theme throughout certain pages . This code and convention would attract the audience because you don’t see this in many magazines and the readers are able to use the. Also, this is another form of advertising Japop music. For my layout of the article, I decided to use one main image that was positioned more than half way across the double page as it looks more professional. It is clear to tell that the mage is portraying music and shows they are a duet so the audience can relate to the musicians and aspire to be like them. As they are new artists, this would make people curious and want to get to know them. The use of levels in the image worked really well as it was placed correctly and in a good space that shows off the image in a good way. I decided to add an effect to the image, which I did on Photoshop using the gradient tool to create a spotlight effect which emphasises that they are well known and promoting their music. The image also makes the page appear more creative and stand out more clearly, therefore this would attract attention straight away. Whilst writing the actual article, I had to keep in mind who the audience is and discover ways that would be interesting to them. The language is fun, positive but also has a mature vibe to it that represents jazz. The content explains about the new genre and promotes their single to make it sound amazing so that the audience will buy it and support them in the future. I used a simple font and used white as you can read it clearly against a black background. Furthermore, to split the article up, I put some questions in bigger, bolder colours to stand out and to make the page look more exciting. The readers would be engaged as these sections would be distinct from the article to make you want to read on. The CD cover is another code and convention that we decided to put in all of the main articles in every issues as a form of advertisement. Also, many magazines advertise the music artist’s music at the end of the article in some way as a way to alert fans to buy their music. The CD cover would lure the audience in, especially when reading the second page as it stands out from the writing. I made the cover using Photoshop and transformed the original image into black and white so it looked elegant and chose bright pink and white colours to add colour for the pop representation. Therefore, both fans of pop and jazz are targeted due to the sue of colour, fonts and the image effects.

18. Q6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? Compared to the preliminary task, this music magazine required to use a lot more technology in the process of constructing the product. As I had to make the magazine as professional and realistic as possible, it was a more challenging task because of the programmes and software I used, although I learnt a lot more about creating the media product. Blogger is just one of the programmes I had to use. I had to post everything onto my blog to show evidence of my progress and what I have been doing. During the research period, I put up many power points and word documents to show what I had learnt. As this is the main task, I wanted to use a variety of programmes and media so I could learn more about the technologies. This included using Slideshare to transform my power points. From this, I had to learn how to create the power points and then upload them onto Blogger using the embed code, which I found relatively easy after the first try. Whilst research the information I needed, I had to use a variety of search engines such as Google and Ask to discover what I was required to get. As well as information, I researched existing music magazines. From this, I realised it can be difficult to find the correct result unless you search using the correct words and to be specific. Another form of technology were professional cameras in my photo shoots. The cameras have many different features on them to get really high quality shots. I learnt more about how to take better shots by using different angles and also using the professional lighting to take a variety of images to give various tones and vibes. As I already knew how to use the cameras and lighting from previous tasks, I was glad that I learnt a lot more about them to improve my images and photography. I only used Photoshop CS3 for a minority of elements for my magazine such as the CD cover where I added and tried out different effects, as ell as editing the images-I discovered that I was quicker at editing the images this time compared to times in the past. I also made the page numbers which was very helpful as I knew how to use the shapes and fonts. The main image on the contents page was also edited-I discovered new effects that I could use and the little details you can change which can make a huge different to the magazine. Another thing I learnt was how to make a spotlight effect using the gradient tool-the image on the double page instantly looked more appealing and effective. As I didn’t make the magazine on Photoshop, every file I created had to be saved a certain way so that I could import it onto Adobe Indesign. As we were required to create the magazine on Indesign, I had a difficult challenge as I had never used this software before. I first decided to find out how to use the basic tools to create elements such as the background, masthead and also the fonts which were the easiest code and convention to create. Then, as I got further in constructing, it was more difficult to use the other tools as did not know what they were for. Learning to create frames was helpful as it filled up my contents page. Overall, I learnt we had to create the magazines on Adobe Indesign because they make them look professional and realistic enough to be sold in shops. This is why many real magazines are often created using this programme as it it s professional, creative software.

19. Q7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? These images are of my final products from my preliminary task (pictures below) and from my main task. It is clear to see the difference in what type of magazines they are and also, I can see the improvements I have made on this recent task for my music magazines. As the school magazine is not sold in shops, it looks less professional compared to real magazines that are sold in shops. Furthermore, using a more creative programme such as Adobe Indesign produces a higher quality finished product to make the magazine look more realistic. Therefore, my music magazine looks a lot more better than my school magazine due to many concepts such as using Photoshop CS3 and how I used the codes and conventions.

20. The school magazine does not contain as many codes and conventions, and looks like existing school magazines as they tend to appear simple and are clear to tell that the product has been made by a student or a teacher from the school. My school magazine uses bright colours and eye catching fonts to make the product look creative and target the student at the school which is the target audience as well as attracting teachers and student’s parents for information. Many school magazines feature a lot of images on the front cover and also, on the contents page which I also did, especially on my double page contents. One similarity between my school magazine and ‘Diverse’ is the use of clear fonts used-all of them are east to read and have a creative effect on many of the writing fonts. Also, the colour schemes are adapted to attract the certain target audience. As the target audience is mainly female students at the school, I used colours such as bright pinks, reds and purples, as they are associated as feminine colours. There isn’t many similarities between ‘Communicate’ and ‘Diverse’ because they are different types of magazines, have various target audiences and were created using two different programmes-in which I found Adobe Indesign was more effective to use as it helped to produce a more professional magazine. From the preliminary task, I learnt a lot more about what the technologies provide you with to create and help develop your product. Moreover, during the construction of my music magazine, from Indesign, I learnt a lot more elements which helped to make my product look realistic. Therefore, I believe that my music magazine looks a lot better than my school magazine due to learning and increasing my knowledge, using a more creative software and my development of creative ideas. Now that I have produced my music magazine, I think that I could improve my school magazine to make it look more professional. I could do this by firstly, using a different colour for the background so it would stand out from the rest of the page. As I now know a better software to use, I would create the school magazine on Indesign to produce a high quality finished product. I could have created the masthead myself to provide more creativity and make the pages look more effective. I would like to try out box outs on the cover as I think that this feature would be more attractive. Furthermore, to make products look more professional, I should have rearranged the images on the cover and contents page as many of the chosen images are cut off somewhere which looks unprofessional and a little bit messy. This has taught me to take many various angle when I am directing photo shoots. It has made me improve my photography skills because my music magazine images are all positioned in good places and add variety with the various angles and poses. Also, on the main image on the front cover of ‘Communicate’, I could have created a spotlight effect where I learnt to do for my images in my music magazine. I prefer the layout on ‘Diverse’ as it makes the magazine look genuine, especially on the double page article, compared to the layout on the school magazine contents page which has a very basic layout. I feel that I have learnt a lot during this task, which is important as it has made me produce a good standard magazine, as I took improvements from my finished product of my preliminary task.

21. Conclusion When I was first told what the main task was, I was excited as I enjoyed creating the preliminary task and this was a good chance to improve my designing skills and learn about new technologies and new skills. I enjoyed researching all of the different music tribes as I felt that it was very informative and helped me with my knowledge of jazz and pop so I could portray how they are represented into my music magazine. I felt that constructing the product was fun and interesting although, it was a challenge as I had to learn a whole new programme and found that Adobe Indesign is a lot different to the previous programmes I have used. One the other hand, I was glad to have used it because I learnt most of the features on it and it made my magazine look a lot more professional and realistic, compared to other software.. Another difficulty was taking the images and then positioning them in a space that would look effective, and often this did not happen, so I had to try out many images to find the right one. Also, finding colours that worked and could be seen clearly was quite a challenge, especially with the main article title on the cover, as it took me a long time to finally choose two colours that were clear to visualize above the outfits on the image. One of the strengths of this task was creating the masthead as its outcome looked very effective unique. Furthermore, another strength is that we got to work in a group, which meant we came up with a lot more ideas and helped each other to make our issues part of the same magazine, ‘Diverse’. Overall, I am pleased with the outcome as I think that it appears professional and would fit in with real magazines on the shelf in shops. Also, I am happy with the way I portrayed the codes and conventions in order to attract our target audience and believe it would interest the audience as it contains elements of both jazz and pop, which was the main concept to include and to represent this new genre. Choosing a hybrid genre was more difficult to portray, however, it made the magazine more unique and original, therefore I got to learn these genres are presented and combined these ideas together to suit the genre of Japop. I found the contents page was the most challenging page to construct as there were not as many features to add, hence I had to find ways to fill up the page and still make it represent Japop and target the certain audience. If I repeated this task again, I would plan out what I want the images to look like and the poses that would work, referring to the flat plan and layout. Also, on the pages I would try to fill up the blank spaces even more, to make it look more filled up and more appealing.