This is a short video of two classmates that are reviewing my magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread and also commenting on positives and negatives. I filmed the video on an iPhone 4 and uploaded it to YouTube before embedding it in my blog. Some of the most common possible improvements highlighted were that some of the contents was too minimalistic and that I could have used the space more efficiently, which for majority I completely agree with. However i was going for a more simplistic look so some of the features picked up on, were in fact deliberate. The most common positives where about the colour scheme and the fact that it wasn't too cluttered and that it kept a uniform style throughout the sections of the magazine, which is what I was trying to achieve so I'm pleased with this outcome.

Final Products

Updated Front Cover

After further analysing and comparing my music magazine to real music magazines I discovered that my magazine was missing information such as a price, issue number and date. I decided to correct this because I feel that small details help to authenticate my product. I analysed music magazine covers and came to the conclusion that the majority of magazines place information such as the date, issue number and price, next to or around the barcode. I decided to place the date on top of the barcode, seeing as it is often portrayed as the more important piece of information because sometimes it is placed under the masthead. I then added the price down the side of the barcode, followed by "UK" to add establish the magazine's origin and add authenticity.

7. Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task What Do You Feel You Have Learnt In The Progression From It To Full Product?

Looking back at my preliminary task i feel that i have learnt a few subtle yet important techniques and skills. Such as the three colour rule, where the main colour scheme of you magazine should be black, white and one other colour (usually red). I have also learnt that you should use a Sans Serif font for titles and headings, whereas a Serif font is more commonly used in body text and occasionally sub-headings. I also learnt how use text more effectively, for example putting a red box behind white text to create a more eye catching and bold title, which will emphasise whatever it is that its saying.

6. What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

During the process of creating my music magazine I have used a variety of different media technologies, which have assisted me in the production media product. Through using these technologies I have learnt new skills and further enhanced my current skills with each of the media technologies.

Hardware:
I used various different platforms of hardware in the production of my music magazine. The most used item during the process was the computer, seeing as this was used to run the software and assemble my magazine. I used two computers in total which were a Packard Bell ixtreme desktop computer (my home computer) and a dell desktop computer (the school computer), both running Windows 7 operating system. Through using the computer I didn't learn very many new skills, seeing as I use a computer on a regular basis and the tasks weren't too different from normal.

The other main piece of hardware I used was a camera. This was used for taking the photographs that were imported into the various pages of my magazine. For this I used my Apple iPhone 4, and utilised the inbuilt 5 mega-pixel camera for the numerous shots. The camera worked well, however seeing as it was only 5 mega-pixels, when I went to scale it up to fit in my magazine the images started to blur and loose image quality a little bit. During the use of the camera I learnt that the amount of light that enters the lens, will dictate the quality of the image. So seeing as the lens on my camera was small, I would get better quality pictures it brighter environments.

Software:
There was only one main piece of software I used to create my music magazine, with the exception of the Windows Photo Viewer (which I used to view the photographs I took), which was Adobe Photoshop CS5.1. I used this program exclusively to create the designs of the front cover, contents page and double page spread. We had access to Adobe InDesign CS5.5 however, down to personal preference, I chose to stick with Photoshop because I am more familiar with it's features. Despite the fact that I am familiar with how Photoshop works I still learnt a lot of new skills, such as how to create a depth of field through masking as well as how to utilise layers efficiently to create depth to and image.

I also used Microsoft Office Powerpoint 2007, which wasn't used directly in creating the magazine but instead to produce a presentation that explained effective uses of the Liquify filter tool, which I presented to the rest of my media group in an exercise to share knowledge of Photoshop. Even though the presentation was a relatively minor project I still learnt how upload a presentation to internet and embed it on a web page.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience with many features, firstly the title. The title is large and red at the top of the page and contrasts with the background, this will most likely be the first thing a customer would see. Also the title is short and relevant to the magazine and my target audience: "Beats". This refers to the fact that hip-hop is based around a beat, it always starts with a clear defined beat and then arists rap/sing over the top. Next is the main image which is of a teenager wearing clothing that conforms with the hip-hop culture, seeing as the customer is also most likely a follower of this culture becuase of the fact they are interested in the magazine, they are likely to be able to relate to image. Then there are the sub-headings highlighting the content of the magazine. All of the sub-headings are relevant to the music or the culture which will appeal to my target audience and make them want to buy the magazine.

Inside the magazine the text is quite informal, however not to a childish level. This is so the readers still feel they are being adressed as an adult, which is the desire of most young people (my target audience), but also so that is isnt boring or difficult to read.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product

The target audience that my music magazine reaches out to is young adults and teenagers between the ages of 15-25 years old and that are a fan of the hip-hop genre of music. This includes both male and female. They would be followers of the hip-hop culture so that they can take advantage of the other articles that are non-music related however are still connected with the culture of the music, e.g. clothes and lifestyle. They will also be interested in not only the the big names of the business but also up and coming stars, so that they can broaden their interest in different artists and styles of hip-hop.