My own regional magazine cover

My regional magazine


 I worked on the front cover magazine concept only own, to really grasp the whole regional magazine aspect for my own front cover. as a result to this i was inspired mostly by the 'Local Ealing' regional magazine as there contents layout although simply it had a clear structure that at the same time was good for my target audience. Secondly I then looked at the front cover of other regional magazine such as time out London and local ealing magazines. the similarities from both my regional magazine and the local ealing is that  boy the contents pages are bare and simple example white. This is because I wanted to follow the same conventions of a regional magazine that was simple and lay back but however I could change the background colour so that it would be ore intriguing and interesting for my target audience of young teenagers and young adults. this is because that they like bright and colourful products and my me not following this concept of bright background colours allows me to reflect on the information that is in the regional magazine which is far more appealing and interesting to read. on the other hand i think that the plain background works well with my magazines as the main focus of the interview page is white; to help me with this chose in colour I looked at fashion magazine 'ELLE UK' for inspiration, in my research i fund that they malt had an A4 sized image of there primary focus which in this case was 'Rosie' who is a British model, the other A4 page consisted of a full article about the model and her goals for in the future this was highlighted with a clear background and the titles and subheadings being only three consists colours ion the fashion editorial example red, white, black. this is the same with my own media product as

 I decided to use the same colours seeing as the colour of my images where in black and white so I felt that any other colour who  have contradicted the front cover as the stuck to simple plan colour scheme.                                                               

Evaluation- My Billboard analysis

Billboard

I have decided to make a billiard as we as a group are following the conventions of a fashion distribution publication. The colour pallet scheme in the contents is continuous  to the front cover layout where the title 'Urban London' has  the black and white effect to make the magazine again to appear  more masculine compared with other fashion magazine billboards. also the black and white colour scheme makes the billboard more sophisticated as it is not as brightly coloured , although down the bottom of the billboard  the subheadings appear in white font that contrast nicely with the black and white background and images. the pictures have been neatly been out on the page are lined up  neatly and are straight with a mirror effect of the male model Brandon. Also, the colour help to appear neutral meanings  this could attract a multi-sexual audience which widens the range of possible readers. I may have said that red appears more dramatic but the black helps it to appear simple and classy to our main targeted audience.

The pictures seem more suitable to a male audience as the men would not look dreamily attractive  to a female audience in contrast to Hazel Jones in my regional magazine her posture and facial gestures are playing up to the male gaze to attract the to the article and the magazine. the male model seems to appear laid back and cool, suggesting to the readers that the regional magazine has the same carefree attitudes as the male model on the billboard. This representation of the billboard helps to allow a sneak peek in to the articles seeing as the limited colours and information layer out on the billiard makes the readers want to know more about the London's fashion in are regional based magazine.  the background colour of the billboard does not contradict the image and font but compliments it as it is all done in black and white.

 The Tag line "bring the urban to London'  makes the readers want know what sort of designs are in the magazine and what makes it so different to the other regional based magazines. Also the the tag line appears to be catchy and memorable to our target audience so that it is embedded in to their heads. the catchy feel of the slogan also adds a finishing touch to the regional billboard making it appear professional. the tag line further empathises that the magazine is only regional based in certain parts of London.

 As a grop we took inspiration from Calvin Klein's fashion billboards, this is was a guide to help us achieve the same sophistication and classiness of there posters. in comparison to the fashion label brand we have managed to keep similar  ideas and the simple design element black and white. he font size of this piece is in font 'Lemon and Milk' that reflects the edgy and cool vibe of London's fashion, seeing as we are promoting the fashion in our regional area.

Evaluation - Front cover analysis of my media product

Evaluation Final regional magazinev front cover (Analysis)

 

Evaluation part of Q4-

 This is my media regional magazine front cover, where I have followed some of the codes of conventions of the local Ealing and time out magazine. For example the red bold master head of my front cover is interesting, intriguing as well as eye catching to the reader. Also the red helps to suggest the London feel of Britain, as it resembles the colours of the union jack lag for the United Kingdom. Our target audience is aimed at the social class of C2DE seeing as it a free magazine as we again kept to the conventions of a regional magazine. The main cover of the magazine is of the main feature 'Brandon'. On the other hand the regional magazine price does not have to be high but a resinable price of £1:20 as this is a affordable price to be pay

Selling line

 This regional magazine uses the websites underneath very small so that I wont be so that it doesn’t take away from the master head of the magazine cover. This issue is dated ‘March 2015’ which relates to the bright colours used representing spring. also I used eye catching adjectives sun as 'wonder' as well as the phrase sneak peak to show the reader that this artist is of importance. to focus on the main features I phrase 'sneak peak' in big capital letters in order for me to draw the readers attention to the magazine cover as well as directing them to read one of our once in a life time interviews from inspiriting teenagers that live in the local areas of West London for example Ealing. 

A bright bold title is eye catching as it says ‘Sneak peak’ it may draw you in to what the article is saying. The colour’s used in the subtitle are bright to show the contrast to the white background. The subtitle is all in capitals which shoes that this I s the lead to the story this issue in March as it show the importance over the other articles on the front cover of this regional magazine. Also taking up most of the front cover.

 I have ale added the barcode as but not a price as normally regional and local magazine are free papers and magazine that are posted to your doors in the local area or are in shops and lib rays. the reason it is at the bottom is because I was following some of the simple conventions of a regional and fashion magazine. I put '10 and 5' in capitals to illustrates the facts and fashion styles for the readers to be interested to read all about it.

 The use of plus makes you feel like you are getting more out of your magazine as it appears to be another article in the magazine. It may also suggest that it grabs the reader’s attention as it is at the bottom on the page of the magazine.

Cover lines

  The reason why I used cover lines for my own regional magazine was because I wanted the audience to be able to see what is in the magazine before they read it, this makes them want to read on with the catchy phases and play on words for the readers. The cover line acts as a summary of what the magazine is editors feel are the most enticing features within the magazine.

Master heading:

 The name of the heading is in lard red font, the bright red stands out to the person looking at the front cover. The reader would notice the name as it Is the logo for the magazine. This is also allows the reader to recognize the magazine. The typography of the master heading is Lemon/milk as it is very powerful yet simple the colour is red therefore the target audience are manly Londers in the local areas.

 This regional magazine date is in small font as it is not important as the master head or the strapline for the magazine. However it is still very relevant because it informs you when the magazine is on sale until. The issue number is next to the strapline and is this is important to the reader because the magazine has a lot of previous issue of this magazine already as well as showing that this magazine is popular. It is positioned just below the master heading so you can see it but it is not as important.

Denotation/connation

 The use of the colour dark red suggests power in men and women. The white represents that magazine target audience, as well as it catching the reader’s attraction as it blends in with the cover image n the magazine. As his eyes appear very dark on the front cover so by adding the red bold master heading brightens up the  image so that Brandon appears lighter and much more presentable.

Subject

Brandon McCarthy’s facial expression is very powerful and strong. His body language and medium shot expresses his confidences and ride for the London urban fashion that he is showcasing through his clothing.  The clothing is serious and classic of a mainstream look in London as well as attracting the target audience, as they want to look like him.

The tagline is located at the very top of my magazine. This is very clearer as it allows the font cover to stand out amongst the other examples of my regional magazine. I wanted my master heading to stick out and appear bold and unique to the readers, as this will be the first thing consumers will see before they open the magazine.

Underneath the master heading is the companies website for the regional magazine which is following the conventions of both regional and fashion magazines, so that I can remind the audience that they can visit the online magazine for more information about what to do in London as well as keeping up to date with the fashion here in London.

The master heading is in bold and in red font this suggest that it is targeted at is aimed at a young teenage audience of 16-25 years of age. one of my biggest features in the regional magazine is of 'Brandon MCcarthy' for his interview the reason why it is in red and bold lettering is because I wanted it to be eye catching and easier for the readers to understand that it is an exclusive article to date. this also had the more experimental  with the layout as i only used three colours of which were red, black and white with the added use of punctuation to express our exaggeration if the article features this ranged from explanation marks , question marks and has tags that are a common features of teenagers today. therefore this makes it relatable to my target  audience of C2DE teenagers and young adults.

 This regional magazine uses a wide range of fronts and font sizes which helps to attract the readers t the magazine cover; as it show that the magazine has a variety of different articles inside that are related to London’s fashion week and London culture. It sticks to the same colour scheme of red, white and black but adds to the central point (Title) that is in bold font of Lemon/milk this makes it stand out.

Evaluation- Contents page

Contents evaluation

 These two images are linked to featured articles that are on page 9 to show this I decided to place the image away from easy other so that the page wouldn’t feel clutter and messy as I wanted my contents page to have a structure to the page therefore I followed the conventions of a regional magazine.

 I decided to add a feature were I advertised fashion styles and tips that may interest my main targeted audience who like to keep up with the latest fashion trends and are struggling on what to wear. Therefore I decided to advertise giving away free apps and tips this would instantly get the readers attentions.

 Here I displayed the fill list of what is shown in the magazine overall. As the biggest main features are displayed on the left hand side in a much smaller font  in black and red as I wanted to show of our most important  features in the magazine as it is important for the readers that are interested in the articles are able  what they are interested in reading and what they want to know about a particular article.

 I did not want to overload our contents page  so that  decided to  leave a lot of white space so that I wouldn’t overwhelm my target audience this also helps to draw attention to the main focus of the main featured articles. As I want the readers to look at particular article.

 At the left hand side as well as the right hand side, I have featured most of the main stories. I have displayed this in large titles that are presented in capital letters with red font to highlight the main features. This was separated into four, features, news, fashion and reviews as well as the page numbers being in bold. I displayed the tile of the story in capitals to attract attention; I also added a small description to give the readers a brief idea of what will be featured. Later I displayed the images and texts of simple and dark colour schemes as I fund that the red, white and black complemented each other. There is also a mixture of close ups and long shots to show variety. The biggest font on this page is the word ‘contents’. I wanted this to stand out an decided to put  it in red as it would stand out against the white background. I also used the same front for the front cover’ Urban London’ to show the continuation across the magazine, underneath I also displayed the magazines name and issue number as well as the barcode.

 On the right hand side is a main image of the biggest feature ‘Brandon McCarthy’ the reason for tis is that I want the readers to be interested in the main feature of the magazine as well as wanted them to know how to find the main article. At the left hand side to displayed text that goes across so that it will entice the audience. The word  ‘exclusive’ also shows that this is a once in a life time feature article also by putting the name in bold  and displaying it larger so that I would able to attract the audiences attention.

Target audience profile

Target audience profile


As an added task as a group we decided to work together and come up with what are target audience are going to be and how we were going to target theme to great a vision for the fashion based regional magazine. therefore together we wrote up the same structure and outlook that we both wanted for the magazine front cover as well as the contexts inside of the regional magazine. 
As a group we decided to research the theories for are targeted audience therefore we both worked together on this task to really focus on who are regional magazine would be relatable towards, which in the end we decided to both focus on teenagers together.

Extra analysis on regional magazines front cover

Regional magazines analysis

This regional magazine is a local magazine that is only based in the north, and covers the specific areas in that location. also the cover stories are written on the front cover of the marine in green and white front this gives a nature vibe to the front cover as it suggests that the regional magazines focus is on the nature and environment of there local area. At the right hand side of the regional  magazine it states how the magazine is layout inside and out. for example they tell out there feature cover stories as well as what actives and the benefits of the life in there local area. Therefore the information provided is only valued to people who are living in that area as it would not be useful if this was given to somebody that was living in Ealing or Greenford of the west London areas.

The main image of the regional magazine is of the river beside the town house (castle) this suggests the money and wealth of the local attraction in this local area seeing as it is the primary focus for the readers. this makes the reader intrigued and inane of the image and hat it represents. The colour scheme of this regional magazine it light pastel colour such as green, blue and white. This helps to suggest that the area of the regional paper is surrounded by nature.

The master heading is in big bold front in the colour black that allow it to stand out against the white simple background the colour black also suggests the dominate feel to the regional magazine. The subheading is underneath the master heading in the same front and colour but appears in lower case lettering than the heading being in capital letters. The main image on the regional magazine is of a man and women in a warm embrace in the middle of a traditional building. This shows the culture of the local area this magazine is disturbed to, also adding to this there is not cover lines, pugs or strapline on the magazine that instantly shows that it is a simply magazine. 

However the downfall of this magazine is that the reader is not able to know what features are highlighted in the regional magazine but having said that the regional magazine has a list of topics on the right hand side of the magazine that tells us the things that are in the magazine. Also the list of topics are in different light soft colours , this might indicate that inside of the regional magazine the colour on each page are related to the subject topic.

The three codes for magazines

The three codes

•THECHNICAL CODES- This includes camera techniques, depth of field, lighting and framing

•Symbolic codes- this refers to settings, body language, clothing and colour

•Written codes- this includes the language and the effect it would has on the audience.

•The codes and the conventions determine the response of the viewer and the ay it is perceived. The codes are the equipment that has been used in order to produce the production, whereas the symbolic codes are the ways the production is portrayed and perceived to the reader of the regional magazine.

Questionaire analysis and results

Questionnaire analysis and data results

 This part of the pie chart  show how much people  read magazines that only half of people read it. this could be due to the content of the regional magazines features and because of the different lifestyles that all the teenagers  as they spend most of there time in education, leaving less time to read magazines during the week.
This survey as very helpful when contrasting this magazine, as it has given me a better understanding of what our target audience wanted from a fashion magazine. therefore i hope we can fulfil those needs, making 'Urban London a popular and established magazine. Gender  the results were important to us as we surveyed about 15 people in class.

Age:

83% of our target audience are aged between 16-25 this is massively important as I was able to see what they wanted most from a music magazine. On a whole, this was interviews from artist. As our magazine is aimed at young people, I thought 25 would be a more suitable age to stop my data collection. also when asked where they shopped the results where varied from retailed from a mainstream fashion this gave us inspiration as to what to feature for our own magazines seeing as the style everyone is going for is casual and simple attire. for example , Superdry and Primark are two big retailers in the UK that are the most common places that teenagers shop for clothes. this made is an obvious choice as to how we would dress the model for the regional inspired fashion magazine.

Later, they were asked the question what is there home income, even though it was a personal question it was still a very useful one as the audience i wanted to mainly target was on the working class and students therefore the target audience would not pay such a significant amount of money on magazines.

Gender:

The gender results for this survey show that it was male dominated whereas the women where not. I could of asked more people to do my survey seeing as I only surveyed 12 people thus next time I will improve my research that will give me better and accrue results.

How often do you buy magazines?

This part of the chart shows that only  magazines and a massive significant

 this can be due to the general student lifestyles, as they spend most of their time in education, leaving less time to buy and read magazines during the week.

These results generally show that most of the students do not know much about what is inside of a regional magazine thus this allows me to real find a certain focus and topics that would satisfy my target audience that are again aimed at 16-24 years old. I will include things such as, fashion, beauty and top places to go for young adults. In conclusion to this question that we asked.

Radio advert- codes and conventions

Radio adverts codes and conventions

• A radio advert can range from 15 to 60 seconds but the average is around 30 seconds.
• A radio advert tells you the qualities about the product and where you can get them from.
• Aldo, a radio advert often contains a soundtrack, music bed or a ‘Jingle to make the advert a memorable wit h a voice over on top.
• Often the voice over contains a women voice.

• Contains a slogan of the products i.e Galaxy.
• The language  use will be tailored to demographic. Depending on there target audiences and the selling product.
• Original music is often used in a radio advert. Normally the voiceover will be upbeat and lively in order to attract attention and typically uses an English accent and will very clearly  in RP for audibility.
•  The language use is very persuasive.

My Screenshots of my contact sheets- Photoshoot

 I decided to make a contact sheet to show my progress of my studio shoot for my regional magazine.  by doing this I have progress and I am now able to be focus on particular sections of the photo-shoot so that i can grasp meaning for mown regional magazine.

Evaluation- My analysis on final images

This here is an original photography of Brandon before editing took place. This allowed me to focus on the flaws that are on his face this is a typical convention that is carried out in fashion editorials, editing process. the reason for the changes of the original image was to make the image appear more professional and smooth to my main targeted audience. Also the changes of the image followed by me changing the levels of the contrast bar and the brightness scale of the image seeing as it is to bright. this makes the lighting to harsh on his face therefore by reducing the levels by using the adjustment too bar helped me to convey a clear and smooth image for my regional magazine.

 In the editing process of Brandon’s face I decided to look at him and inspect what I need to do so that he will appear smooth without becoming fake. For example I used image and pressed the adjustment page that then presented me with tools that I could use to make this image appear much better for my magazine cover. I experimented with the brightness and contrast levels of the image just to see what will work well for the image if the model.  At some points I lowered the brightness levels on the models face as the harsh lightening, highlighted the flaws on his face that didn’t appear smooth to the naked eye. So by reducing the levels it helped to make the image appear smoother already as well as the image not appearing so harsh. Another reason why I changed the brightness and the contrast levels to the models face was because of the environment that he was in. to be specific the background of is white therefore it makes the model appear white and ashy in the foreground as the background is already high in colour.

Secondly, I used the smidge, burn and sponge tool to again to edit the appearance of the  models face  the reason why I done this is that the editing process  as this is a typical tool that is used in magazine, so that they can enhance the features of the subjects. I wanted my model to have the alpha male look to help reflect his status, which is often seen in the male or women magazines. To conclude with this outcome, I am very happy with the images as I took a range of photos that could easily be of the front covers of the regional magazines.

      

On the other hand I decided to look at the image more closely, so I decided to change the frequency of the levels of the image such as the image being in colour. I decided to change the current levels of the image so that the picture will appear black and white. The reason why I chose to do this was because I   thought that the black and white image of the model appeared much more professional and clean so I decided to test the coloured image with the black and white one on each front cover to see what outcome appeared better. In the end I came to the agreement that the images of the model in black and white appeared so much better and professional standards for my regional front cover.

All in all, both images to appear more old and mature for my regional magazine as my target audience appear to a audience of teenagers and young adults. I done it this way as I wanted the images to be able to catch the readers attention as well as the image appear intriguing for the target audience.

My mock ups for regional magazine

Examples mock ups for regional front cover

This is the original image of the male model Brandon, and I decided to not use the original concept and decided to change the levels of the colour of the images and to produce it into the black and white image  that is my final outcome of my media product; which is a regional magazine.


These where extra examples of my regional magazine front covers that I decided to see what colour’s would help stand out and make the cover of the magazine the best it could be. However the yellow title page of the magazine ‘Urban’ helped to bring out the front cover image of my male model, as it brighten up the cover line, straplines and the tag lines of on the front cover. On the other hand, the yellow masthead and subheading of the cover magazine takes away from the London feel of the regional magazine that I was trying to convey in my magazine as it is targeted at people who live in London in our local areas.

In this other issue of my regional ‘Urban’ magazine the master heading and subheadings of the front cover are in green, this colour didn’t work for my editorial piece as the colour appeared to be dull, lifeless and took away the concept of my main focus of the male model. The bold letter and font of the text, helps to bring the cover to life, as it is in capitals it is easier for our target audience to see as it is in your face. This works better as it another layout I presented the front cover with a smaller font size for my master head that hinder my media concept as it appeared cheap, brittle and weak that didn’t help make my magazine cover stand out at all. 

Therefore, I decided to change the layout font to a much bigger size in the font ‘Lemon and milk’ which I then duplicated a layer of the master head in the colour black so that I could create a shadow as well as formulating a stronger and professional master head for my regional magazine. All in all this made the outcome of my magazine cover appear much better in size and the quality of my work is better as it is up to a high standards that felts both the fashion and regional magazine elements.