Wednesday, 19 January 2011

Evaluation - Institutions

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I would want my magazine to be published through a large publishing company, such as Conde Nast. My magazine, although it is a music magazine (and music magazines are normally the less conventional/classy magazines), is still full of culture and elegance and thus would sit comfortably within Conde Nast's stable of classy publications. This way, my magazine would get credibility by association and synergy via being advertised in Conde Nast's other brands such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. Although Conde Nast does already publish a few fashion magazines (Vogue, Glamour, Teen Vogue, etc), my magazine would be different because it also focuses on the music industry as well as throwing in a bit of culture and it would therefore target a slightly different audience. And Conde Nast don't yet have a magazine that mixes both fashion and music, so it would then expand their market as they would be appealing to a new audience.
Having a large company such as Conde Nast publishing Circus would ensure greater distribution and therefore sales. Conde Nast has distribution agreements with outlets in the UK and internationally - for example, you can pick up a copy of Vogue everywhere from WHSmiths to Tesco. And, the more places there are selling my magazine, the more likelihood of sales. Also, being sold in shops like WHSmiths adds to the credibility of the magazine and is where my audience would typically shop.
However, although Conde Nast may be able publish and distribute my magazine, there is obviously a price to pay for this. I would probably lose a lot of the editorial control of the magazine and also the profit, if there was any. Magazines make money form the cover price and advertising and Conde Nast would find it easier to secure advertising for Circus than I would because of their position in the publishing world. A lot of advertisers would be attracted to my magazine and I imagine in would be full of fashion/music ad's that would target my audience. Designers create really interesting advertisements in an attempt to sell as many products as possible, so if anything it would create added interest to my magazine and make it a little more unique (Just like the Louis Vutitton advertisement shown here... this is something I would actually quite like to appear in my magazine, because its so creative and artistic and its added interest to my magazine that 'Circus' wouldn't of had to work on.. but Louis Vuitton would have, all my magazine would do is print it).
Also, I chose Conde Nast because it produces its magazines over different media platforms which is known as convergence and synergy. I know, that when reading Vogue it talks about it's iPad app which appeals to a modern audience. So, (on my contents page), I mention that there is also an iPhone app of my magazine and this is another reason why I need a publishing company that can make this work. I chose to do this as I thought it would give me more readers and expand to a larger audience because it makes my magazine almost ALWAYS accessible, whether its the app or the magazine itself. Also, in order to create an iPhone app, my magazine would have to work with Apple, and iTunes, which increases awareness of the brand.

Friday, 14 January 2011

Evaluation - Representation

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

When designing my magazine, I had to think about the social groups and what kind of people I would aim my magazine at (this being rated on the socio-economic scale as well). Because i made a hybrid genre magazine, full of fashion, music & culture - my magazine would be aimed at people who think of themselves as fashionistas, people who always want to keep up to date with the trends and whats/whos cool, and aspirers.

When doing my article, i wanted to choose someone i could write about who was known for both music, and fashion - And sticking to my idea of the weird and wonderful (the name 'Circus' being insipired by this) I could think of no one better than Lady Gaga.

So, i looked into various times when Gaga has appeared in magazines and how she has been represtented. I wanted to stick to the chic, elegant kind of magazine's such as Vogue, so when i found that Gaga had done a feature with Vogue, i thought it would be perfect for me to look at it and take ideas from it on how the photo's had been constructed. Lady Gaga is known for being crazy with her looks, but still keeping her class and dignity - which i think is why so many people admire her. I really thought the Vogue shoot she did was absoloutely beautiful - So i took inspiration from this when taking my images (Very much so when i took the image for my double page spread (The image to the left)). I thought that Gaga's pose was very sexy, I loved the way she had one hand subtly rested on her face, with her small finger rested on her lip and the rest of her fingers running through her hair and messing it up (adding to the sexual feeling of this image). I chose to copy this idea when taking my image (and all of my images - sticking to the theme of elegance and sexy, but yet not crushing any dignity), but instead, i had Vicky using her other hand to big up the other side of her hair - adding more sexual feeling to the feeling as well as interest. The subjective gaze is also sexy - and keeping the eye make up simple, but emphaysising the eyebrows really makes the eyes stand out.
I chose to take my photo from a low angle, but not too low. I thought that if i took my photo from a low angle, then Vicky ('Gaga') would be looking down on the camera - This could be representative of her being a dominant and powerful woman because she is looking down on the camera, this also emphasises her status within the world and how she is 'high up' in both the fashion and music industry.
I have really reinforced the stereotype of my magazine audience in these photos - By having Vicky look beautiful - with stunning hair, makeup and clothes. This follows the typical idea of the woman wanting to be beautiful and being self concious of their looks - and the people in magazines being their muse and who they want to be.
Being a fashion magazine, my magazine would obviously have a pro-comunist stance - because it would be showing loads of different clothes/accessories/shoes and giving a name and price as to where to buy them (so the reader can keep up with the trend - the whole point of a fashion magazine). My magazine would also be quite full of Advertisments - but advertisments that follow the genre of my magazine, so they would be for high end fashion and lifestyle brands (such as Chanel, Gucci, Christian Louboutin, etc)

Thursday, 13 January 2011

Evaluation - Forms and Conventions

1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

A convention in a magazine is something that is thought to be typical of a magazine and how they are put together, which exist to make the magazine easier and more accessable for the audience. Most magazines follow the typical conventions when it comes to the main things, such as the front cover. It is typical for magazines to have an image/images on the front cover, and to have the masthead across the top of the cover, with the other cover lines surrounding the image (but so the image is still clear and seen), It is also typical to have the main coverline the 2nd biggest and boldest thing on the front cover (after the masthead). Although some magazines differ in genre and style, they mainly all follow this typical layout - which is why we call it a layout convention.


Vanessa Hudgens Sugar Magazine August 2009 Cover Photo - United KingdomFor example, both these magazines differ hugely in genre. Kerrang! being a rock/alternative magazine aimed at people who enjoy rock and metal music (any age from 14 to 30), and Sugar being a magazine aimed at young/teenage girls (any age from 8 to 14) which talks about teen celebs, fashion and gossip. However, even though they differ hugely in genre, they still stick to the typical conventions of the magazine industry, by having the masthead clear, and across the top of the page, and one large image in the middle of the page (with smaller ones surrounding it), and the other coverlines surrounding the images.

Wednesday, 12 January 2011

Images for 'Circus' - After Photoshop





Before making my magazine, i wanted to do a small bit of work on all the photo's before i used them in my work - as apose to putting them in my work then photoshopping. The original images worked out beautifully so, I didn't have to do much photoshopping to the pictures, luckilly. And the photo i took of my iPhone, i photoshopped after I had made my front cover, but photoshopping my front cover onto the front of the phone, so i could talk about my magazine's iPhone app in my contents page (Taking my magazine onto different media platforms). All i really did when photoshopping the photo's of Vicky, was skin smoothing her skin and putting a tan tool over it (weakly) so her skin looked like it glowed a little more. I also over-exagerated the colours to make the red in all 3 images stand out. Also, on the 3rd photo down, i used the drag tool to subtly drag her hair outwards a little bit more so it looked bigger and thicker. Also, on the 3rd image, i put a darker colour through her eyebrows so they stood out a little bit more and really over-emphaysised her eyes.
Apart from that, any other photoshop i did i did during the making my of magazine.

Original Images used for 'Circus'




Thursday, 2 December 2010

Photoshop Draft Of My Contents Page

Sticking to the same theme as the others - sticking to neutral tones and colours and keeping it simple and chic to make my magazine flow with an elegant feel.

Photoshop Draft of Double Page Spread

Sticking to the same idea as my cover - Simple and elegant - Will make my magazine flow through as it will all stick to the same idea/colours.