Foundation Portfolio Main Task

The main task that we have been asked to perform is the creation of a new contemporary music magazine. I will need to create a front cover, a contents page and a double page spread, which will include original images, and will follow the conventions of a music magazine. To help develop my ideas and gain a better understanding of a music magazine's conventions, I am going to analyse NME and Kerrang magazine using the LIIAR format. I have chosen these magazines because they both focus on two different genres of music, so appeal to different audiences.


Kerrang Magazine

Language- The language used in Kerrang magazine is similar to that of NME magazine in that it is relevant to the audience. The language is fresh and current, and is informal so that the readers will relate and respond to it, rather than formal language that is hard to understand.

Institution- Kerrang magazine is published by Bauer Consumer Media, which produces around 238 magazines worldwide including other well known titles such as Heat, Take A Break and FHM.

Idealogy- Kerrang magazine focuses on the alternative genre of music, and this is reflected on by the front cover, with the use of dark images. The artists featured on the cover are wearing all black, which reinforces the idea of the magazine focusing on alternative music. The artist are also made to look very pale and ghostly, which again reinforces the same idea.

Audience- Kerrang magazine is aimed at young people probably aged between 14-25 years old, as the music featured is current and modern, which I don't think would appeal to a more mature audience.

Representation- The representation of Kerrang magazine, is a reflection of the type and style of people that read the magazine. The artists and shots of the artists that are featured in the magazine, and on the cover especially, are a often dark, and feature heavy metal and rock artists. The cover stars are usually a prominent band of the time the magazine is being issued, and their style is iconic as it is what the readers will aspire to look like. Also the bands and artists featured are usually of the rock-metal genre of music.

NME Magazine

Language- The language used in NME magazine is rather informal, as it is a young magazine. The language used on the front cover is short and snappy which gives out all the information needed to know, but without using too much text.

Institution- NME magazine is published by IPC Media, which is one of the leading UK consumer magazine publisher. Apart from NME, IPC Media also publishes popular magazines such as Marie Claire, Now and What's On TV. According to their website, "Almost two in every three UK women and over 45% of UK men read an IPC magazine. That's almost 27 million UK adults."

Idealogy- NME magazine aims to report on the current goings on in the music industry, especially with new and upcoming bands.

Audience- NME magazine is aimed at young people aged from 14-24 years old, as the magazine features contemporary music that would not appeal to older readers.

Representation- The artists used on the cover and inside the magazine, are a great reflection of the type of people who will buy the magazine. The artists featured in NME magazine are generally of the indie rock era, so the readers of the magazine will be those that listen to the music, and follow the style of the NME artists. The images used in NME magazine are often natural photographs, such as gig photos, which reflect the artist's often laid-back approach to music and the clothes and style they follow.

Mojo Magazine
Language-

Institution- Mojo magazine is a monthly magazine produced by Bauer Consumer Media in the UK, which produces over 238 other magazine titles worldwide, including other well known titles such as Closer, More, Zoo and Empire magazines.

Idealogy-

Audience- The music featured in Mojo magazine tends to be older and aimed towards older readers. The artists featured are usually classic rock icons such as Syd Barrett featured in this particular cover.

Representation-







Q Magazine

Language-

Institution- Q magazine is a UK monthly magazine, published by Bauer Consumer Media, which produces around 238 titles worldwide, including well known titles such as Bella, TV Quick and Grazia magazine.
Idealogy-

Audience-

Representation-






Rolling Stone Magazine

Language- The language used on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine isn't necessarily more formal than the other magazines that I have researched despite it's sophistication. However, instead of using single words and phrases to describe the activity in the magazine, there is a slightly larger amount of text used, which is affective as it isn't overpowering. The language used is Standard English, so it is easily understandable to all, rather than using slang that some readers may not be able to relate to.

Institution- Rolling Stone is a bi-weekly magazine based in the US. It is produced by Wenner Media LLC which produces other titles such as Men's Journal and US Weekly.

Idealogy- Much unlike the other music magazines that I have researched, Rolling Stone focuses on other subjects than music such as politics and popular culture, and it is not unusual for a popular actor, celebrity or even famous politicians to be featured in the magazine, or on the cover.

Audience- Rolling Stone magazine is much more sophisticated than other music magazines that I have researched, which would make it appealing to older readers, however due to the fact that they include popular and current figures on the cover and featured in the magazine, creates an appeal to younger readers, as they are being shown something that they are interested in, and are more likely to buy the magazine.

Represention- Rolling Stone is seen as being much more sophisticated than the normal music magazine, and this is reinforced with the polished cover including posed cover shots and interesting fonts. As Rolling Stone not only focuses on music, but politics and popular culture as well, the magazine reflects this.

Evaluation of Preliminary Task

In what ways does your Media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My media product follows the conventions of a real product of the same medium as it is presented in the same format of a real magazine. My magazine includes all the stylistic conventions of a magazine, such as a masthead, a main photo, a headline, a barcode, a price, a date and plugs of other stories. This makes my magazine look effective and realistic.

How does your Media product represent particular social groups?
The social group that I have tried to represent in my media product is young students, as it is a college magazine. My idea to make a 'party special' magazine, featuring stories and photos from college nights out was my way of aiming my magazine more at students rather than the teachers and parents involved with the college. I made sure the image that I used portrayed a night out, with my model being dressed up and glamourous. I think this helped portray the right message about my magazine, as the model is happy and smiling. It represents students as being happy and cheerful and having good clean fun rather than the usual stereotype of students getting drunk all the time and causing trouble.

What kind of Media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The institution that would distribute my magazine would be Wyke College itself as it is a magazine designed to give students information about goings on around college and the like. I have included the college's name in my magazine masthead so it is clear by whom the magazine is distributed by.

Who would be the audience for your Media product?
My target audience that I have tried to reach out to through my magazine would be young students studying at the college.

How did you attract/address your audience?
I used a variety of different techniques to make my magazine appeal to my target audience. I tried to use bright colours to make my magazine stand out so it would attract my target audiences eye and make them want to buy and read the product. I tried to use quite an ordinary yet original masthead font so that it would be unique, although would not overpower the main image used on my magazine, which I wanted to emphasize as the main feature of my cover. I only used one image on my magazine front cover, so that it would be the main focus, rather than using a few images and the cover seeming too crowded. I chose a colourful and eye-catching image for my front cover, so it would attract my audience and would make them want to see what the product was all about. I also made sure that the photo was appropriate for my target audience and would reflect the main headline of my magazine. Another very important feature of my magazine is the main headline, which I tried to make as colourful and bold as possible. I made the font rather large so it would stand out on the page, and placed it overlapping the main image so the audience would know that the headline related to the main image. I chose a bright pink font which would connote the party idea and would also stand out against the image I had used as well as the turquoise background I had picked. I used a fairly ordinary font but just made it large so it would stand out. For the rest of the smaller features of my magazine, such as the plug headlines, I used bright and smaller fonts to make the text stand out against the background.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Creating my magazine I have learned a lot about the kind of process that real institutions go through when creating a product like mine. I had to use some fairly new software that I had not had much experience using before, such as Adobe Photoshop, which was an interesting task as it made me able to learn something new, which I would be able to put into use in the future. It was a good practise opportunity, before I completed my main task for my exam, so that when that time came, I was able to use the software needed without much difficulty.

Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I have learnt that it takes so much more work than I had thought to produce something like this, and to a high standard. I went throught the trial and error process a few times and through this I have managed to create a professional looking product that my audience would want to buy.

Finished Product Analysis

This is the finished front cover of my college magazine The Wyke Weekly

















This is the finished contents page of my magazine The Wyke Weekly.

This is the mock-up contents page of my magazine The Wyke Weekly.

Ideas for my magazine

The first thing that I need to decide on before I create my magazine, is what type of magazine I want it to be. I have been given a brief which notes I have to create a college magazine, however how I choose to interpret that is up to me.
I have decided to create a general college magazine, based on everyday goings-on at the college. However, I thought it could be a good idea to produce my magazine as though it is a special issue of a college magazine, which would be interesting and different.

Contents Page Analysation

Secondary Teacher Contents Page
I collected an image of a contents page, as part of the preliminary task requires me to produce a mock up of a contents page for my magazine. I chose to analyse a Secondary Teacher magazine contents page, as it is relevant to the subject of my magazine, and this particular page is eye catching, and different to what i've seen in other magazines.

The main title of this page is "What's inside?". This is in a large font so it stands out from the page, and it tells us exactly what the page is there for, so we can see 'what's inside' the issue. Again, like the masthead of the magazine, the title of this page is slightly covered up by an image, which shows that the contents page, as well as the cover of the magazine, is well known, although together with the images and numbered features of the issue, it is pretty clear what the aim of the page is.

There are four main images that are used in this cover. The most dominant one, in my opinion is the photograph of the school students. It shows students taking part in a p.e lesson of some sort, which promotes healthy enviroments for children to learn in, as they are getting lots of exercise. The image shows both male and female students, which shows how schools and society today is not dominated by one gender. There are also different racial backgrounds depicted in the image, which promotes the multi-cultural society that we live in.
Another image that is shown on the page is a cartoon of a keyboard, with christmas baubles behind it, which connotes a christmas article to do with music. The image is large, and eye-catching, because usually in contents pages, you tend to see photographs rather than cartoon images. I also think the image is effective, because it doesn't give too much away, which I think would make the reader want to read on more.
The next most dominant image is a group of cartoon school buildings. I think the image that is trying to be portrayed here is that schools are friendly and welcoming enviroments, which I think is made apparent with the use of amusing, smiling cartoon characters. Again, the image doesn't give too much away, which I think is effective here again, as it makes the reader want to read on and find out what the article behind the image is.
The last image that is shown on the page is a cartoon apple, with the words "Health Special" written within it. The image is green, which goes with the apple idea, and also gives the impression of healthy living, as green is associated with good health. The cartoon apple is smiling, to give the impression that healthy eating and living is a good thing, and a happy thing. The words "Health Special" written within the image tell the reader what the image is there to mean, and because the image is placed in the top corner of the page, the image acts almost as a logo for the page.

Textual Analysis of Secondary Teacher's Magazine

Secondary Teacher Magazine

Secondary Teachers magazine is a magazine aimed at secondary school teachers, in which it details the goings on in secondary school curriculums and news involving the particular subject.

This particular issue that I am analysing features a double cover, which when open, is an ajoining picture. The pictures that are featured in this issue are of two school students and are both medium close-ups as they are from the waist up. The pictures are of a male and female student which suggests that society and education nowadays is equal for both genders. Also the two students are both of different races which suggests that we live in a multi-cultural society.

This particular cover for Secondary Teacher Magazine, is double spread cover, with the images on the front and back covers of the magazines. The masthead of the magazine is slighty covered, by the image of the male student, which shows that the magazine is well known and even when the masthead is covered, people still know the magazine. On both sides of the cover, the headlines and straplines that are displayed are the same. The main headline, "Do boys and girls learn differently?" is in the biggest font shown for headlines, and on the male student's cover, the font is in blue, and pink for the female students cover.

At the top, the same information is displayed, as the covers of the magazine are meant to be read either way. The covers are colourful and bright, so as to catch the audiences eye, and make them want to buy the magazine.

The pictures of the students are medium close-ups so we are seeing a lot of detail within the images. The two students are in school uniform, and are sat at desks, which tells us what kind of person they are. There desks are covered with books and papers, so it looks as though they are hard working, which is how students are perceived to be.

Textual Analysis of Three Magazines Aimed at 16-19 Year Olds

Textual Analysis of LOOK magazine

LOOK magazine is a celebrity gossip and fashion magazine that is aimed at young women in society today.

The title in the case of this particular issue, is pink, which refers to the fact that the magazine is aimed at women, and the choice of the word 'LOOK' as the magazine's masthead connotes that it is about fashion and beauty. The masthead is large and bright which makes it stand out from the page, so in effect, it grabs the reader's attention and makes them look at it and hopefully buy it. Above the masthead is a kind of strapline for the magazine. It reads 'Glossy High Street Fashion Weekly' which definitely gives the message to the audience about the magazine's genre.

The magazine keeps up the feminine and girly feel within the cover, by the pink layout, which I think attracts feminine women to read this magazine. Also in-keeping with the fashion theme, the font cover features many pictures of female celebrities, and appropriate straplines underneath, such as 'all the glam dresses!' and pictures of different clothes featured in the magazine, again with straplines underneath detailing what the pictures are about, for example 'the £15 office shoe that all the celebs want!'. I think this attracts readers in a certain way because if they see a dress or a pair of shoes on the front cover that they would be interested in buying, then they are more likely to buy the magazine and look for more garments to buy.

The magazine features a medium close-up shot of a celebrity (in this case, Jennifer Aniston), with the main headline 'The Hottest Celebrity News!'. This helps convey to the reader the fact that the magazine is also a celebrity gossip magazine. Again, the fact that the magazine features different celebrities each time, will attract readers, as if there is an a celebrity they like, or a particularly interesting celebrity on the front cover, then they will be more likely to buy the magazine and read on.

Textual Analysis of NME Magazine

NME magazine is an alternative music magazine aimed at young people in society.

The magazine's main feature is the large photograph of the band which takes up most of the page. It is a medium close up shot of the band, which gives the reader a lot to look at. The photo partially covers the masthead of the magazine, which shows that the magazine is well known, and people know the magazine based on a tiny glimpse of the masthead. The photo is covered with the magazine's main headline, 'The Automatic' which tells the reader the name of the band, and also what the main article of the magazine is about. It is in a big, bold and colourful font, which draws the readers attention, as it stands out from the page. The headline is also in an interesting font, and is displayed differently to the other magazines that I have looked at, as it is diagonal across the page, along with the straplines that go with it.

There are a lot of different plugs displayed on this magazine, which run along the top and bottom edges of the magazine. The plugs are clearly worded so that the reader knows what it is talking about, and what is involved in the magazine. Some plugs are accompanied by photographs to compliment them. The background of the plugs is a bright red colour, which stands out against the main headline photo, again catching the eye of the reader and making them want to buy and read the magazine.

Textual Analysis of Teen Vogue Magazine

Teen Vogue is an American fashion magazine, aimed at teenage girls.

I think the masthead of the magazine, "Teen Vogue" sends out an instant message about who the magazine is aimed at, which is obviously teenagers. By reading more in depth to the cover's story headlines and straplines, we can tell that the magazine is aimed at teenage girls. This is also made apparent because of the use of two fashionable celebrities as the backdrop for the magazine.

Through looking at other examples of the magazine's front cover, and from reading it myself in the past, it is made clear to me that the magazine's cover stars are celebrities and idols of around the same age as the magazine's readers. I think Teen Vogue aims to use only inspirational and positive role models on the front cover of the magazine, so as to give the best message possible to it's readers and to give the magazine a positive and healthy reputation. For example, the two girls on this particular cover are smiling, and are dressed appropriately but stylishly and colourful to give a positive message to the readers, but to also engage with the fact that the magazine is based around fashion as it is the daughter magazine of the famous Vogue magazine. It is also made apparent to the readers who the two girls are (Whitney and Lauren from The Hills), by the headline and strapline underneath the photo, "drama queens - WHITNEY & LAUREN RETURN TO THE HILLS". This makes it easier for the audience to know who is on the cover, and for them to make an easier assumption of whether to buy the magazine or not. Teen Vogue also uses well known young celebrities and idols on their covers and in their magazines, because they may be popular at the time, and the public will want to read about them. I think this makes the magazine seem exclusive, because they always have famous celebrities on the cover, so it gives a glamourous feel.

The most important headline is "Back to school style" as it has the biggest font and is in capital letters so it stands out on the page. The straplines to go with the main headline are also displayed across the page, so that more attention is focused on that headline, whereas the other headlines are smaller and only a few words long. The different headlines on the cover are in different colours, such as red, white and black, so that the reader is able to differentiate between the headlines, and so that they all stand out against each other.

Foundation Portfolio Preliminary Task

In this task I have been asked to research a variety of different magazines and explore the conventions of each one in detail. I will use my research to produce the front page and contents page of my own magazine, which will be based on college life, and will be aimed at college students who are of ages 16-19 years old. I will have to come up with an original masthead, layout and headline as well a medium close-up shot of a student that refers to the nature of my magazine and it's headline. This will prepare me for the main task in this course in which I will have to produce a music magazine.
To help me produce this preliminary task, I will use the key key concepts of media, LIIAR (Language, Institution, Idealogy, Audience and Representation).

Language
The magazine that I will produce will be aimed at college students between the ages of 16-19, so the language that I choose to use will have to reflect this. I plan to use language that is not too formal, as it is aimed at young people, but not too informal, in a way that it is hard to understand.

Institution
The institution in this case is Wyke College itself, as that is where the magazine I am creating would be produced if it were made in reality.

Idealogy
This is the values, and shared beliefs behind the magazine. My magazine will focus on college life, so the values of the college (such as equal rights, respect and hard-work) will have to be incorporated into the magazine somehow. The subject on which I choose to base my magazine on (eg. fashion, sport, music, ect) will have to be strongly represented so that the target audience will understand the idealogy behind it.

Audience
The consumers of the particular magazine that I will produce will be students within the college, so of ages between 16-19. This is my target audience, which I will have to keep in mind when producing my magazine so that the final piece is suitable, yet also entertaining.

Representation
The magazine is going to be representing the students and teachers within wyke college, so the pictures, headline and masthead will have to be appropriate, so as to create the best message possible about Wyke College.