AS Media Hub

Monday, 25 April 2016

Tuesday, 23 February 2016

Homework for Monday 29th Feb: Marvel social media research

Monday, 30 November 2015

Evaluation guide

Your evaluation MUST directly address the following questions, one blog post per question:

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

- Analyse your finished pages- compare to real magazines to demonstrate awareness of how you used conventions of real magazines, or how you challenged them. (You should not be reflecting at all on process here- it's all about the finished product).

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

How does your magazine construct the representations? Analyse the representation of all artists featured in your pages- is it positive? Is it similar to the representation of that social group in real music magazines? (social group could be teenagers, rock stars, folk singers, males/females- whatever is relevant to your magazine).

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

Do quick research into Bauer and Time Inc. UK- the two major publishing institutions in the UK. Which do you think would be best to distribute your magazine? Use the prompts below.

- Research IPC Media and Bauer Publishing Group (see 'institutions research' post). Note the wealth and variety of magazines they publish.- Which of any of the magazines they publish cover, or come close to covering, your target audience?- Now look specifically at the music magazines they publish and how the target audiences vary. Is your target audience similar to any of the publications?- Decide which of the two institutions have a market for your product. You should judge this by the music magazines they currently publish- how would your magazine target a different audience for the company? Why should they invest?

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Explain your target audience- has your audience changed at all over the development of your magazine? For example, the look and style of it might suit an older audience now... Your target audience in your evaluation can be slightly different from the one in your planning- just explain the reasons why.
How did you attract/address your audience?

Refer to how your finished magazine appeals to your identified target audience- fonts, images, layout, colour scheme, mode of address etc.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

- You can talk about your progress with photography, Blogger, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign and PowerPoint and/or any other technology you used. Take screen grabs of yourself using the software to communicate this in an interesting way. ‘Before and after’ photos are a great way to show off what you achieved with the technology.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

- Summarise your skills development from the start of your preliminary task through to now. Put your preliminary task beside your final product- what have you developed? (Understanding of conventions, importance of audience, photography, use of software etc)

What am I marked for?

- Your use of technology to produce your evaluation- video, image, links etc. A words-only evaluation cannot achieve above the top of level 1 (7 marks out of 20).

- Understanding of your audience and how your text appeals to them; how representation is constructed in your pages; what institutions might publish your magazine; magazine conventions used within your finished product; how new media technologies helped you through all stages of your portfolio.

- Ability to refer to the choices you made along the way and their outcome

- Ability to communicate.

Saturday, 28 November 2015

Evaluation question 3: institutions prompts

The majority of the UK’s most popular magazines are published by two companies: Bauer and Time Inc. UK.

In your evaluation, you need to identify which publisher you think would be interested in publishing your magazine and be able to justify your reasons.

1) Research Time Inc. UK and Bauer Publishing Group. Note the wealth and variety of magazines they publish.

2) Which of any of the magazines they publish cover, or come close to covering, your target audience?

3) Now look specifically at the music magazines they publish and how the target audiences vary. Is your target audience similar to any of the publications?

4) Decide which of the two institutions have a market for your product. You should judge this by the music magazines they currently publish- how would your magazine target a different audience for the company? Why should they invest?

Monday, 9 November 2015

Interesting article about magazine fonts...

Feel free to experiment with some of their suggestions!

http://www.indesignskills.com/tutorials/best-magazine-fonts/

Sunday, 8 November 2015

Adobe InDesign basics

Friday, 9 October 2015

Coursework checklist for 'research and planning'

Links to previous years' blogs: 2014, 2015 (group 1) and 2015 (group 2) entry

Must do…	Could also do…
RESEARCH
Research target readership of 3 existing music magazines
Explore the conventions of music magazines, and reflect on the changing function of the music press in the digital age.
Research existing music magazines’ ‘house style’
Analyse existing front covers	Get audience reactions to specific pages and images from magazines of your choice, to reflect on effect of media language.
Analyse existing contents pages
Analyse existing feature articles
Conduct detailed research into what audiences want from a music magazine	Think how you use different types of media to conduct and present this- social media, audio, video, still images, etc.
PLANNING
Initial ideas for your own music magazine	Look at existing music magazines- are there any genres that aren’t currently catered for? Is there a gap in the market for something different?
Specific detailed identification of your readership profile (target audience), including demographics and pyschographics.	Consider your reader’s consumer habits; what kind of products would want to advertise in your magazine?
Plan your magazine’s name and masthead design- analyse your ideas for their effectiveness, and explain your final decision.	Survey your audience with your possible names and mastheads?
Plan your magazine’s ‘house style’	Reflect on inspiration you got from your magazine research
Your main feature artist development	Mood board for your artist.
Plan other artists appearing in your magazine
Plan pages layout – hand drawn sketches
Drafts of article ‘copy’ (words)
Photography planning- main and supporting photography.
Post discarded photographs from your photo shoot
Save draft versions of your pages as you go along, so that you can show the page development and post drafts on your blog.	Get your audience’s feedback on your magazine’s progress, and act on their feedback if necessary.