Getting to know Blogger
Things you can do with Blogger
- Custom/Flexible design.
- You can openly publish your voice.
- You can publish through text, videos, photos, etc.
- Easy to use and edit.
- Microsoft Word elements - spellcheck, adjusting text, automatic saving.
- Others can comment and leave feedback.
- Easy to post on the go through your mobile.
How I think Blogger will be useful for my coursework
- Custom/Flexible design - I think this will be useful in my coursework as the blog allows me to edit and enhance my entries and also fit the design of the page to the correct tab as my blog page will be broken down into different sections.
- You can openly publish your voice and you can publish through text,videos,photos,etc - This will be a key element to my coursework as it gives me the creativity to be able to present my work through the different medias. Being able to openly speak will also be vital when it comes to recording my thoughts.
- Others can leave comments and feedback - I like this idea as I think it will be good to see what others feel about what I am posting and for them to see how my progress is getting on throughout the year. It is also very important that they can leave comments as my teachers and peers can leave constructive feedback which I can read and take on.
- Easy to post on the go through your mobile - This feature links back to the last bullet point as I can edit my blog through the Internet at home or if I have an idea or do further research in my spare time, I can easily access my blog and write them in without having to wait until the next lesson.
Target Audience Analysis This cover is designed to intrigue the young audiences but for this issue it may attract an older male audience as Liam Gallagher is the main image and from previous band history (Frontman of Oasis) an older male may be interested in what Liam has got up to recently. This could be supported by the Cover Line ‘Beady Eye Kick Off’ which suggests he’s doing something new and maybe involved with a new band.
Also it features a ‘Queen’ article with an interview with Roger Taylor and Brian May which again would appeal to an older male audience in their 40’s. For the younger audience it features current artists such as Adele, Noah and the Whale and Beady Eye who are all current bands and in the charts would appeal to the young audience as they may want to find out what these current artists are up to.
The red background of ‘Q’ and the matching red with Liam makes it stand out and would be eye catching as both of the red parts are on the left third and would be noticeable on the news agent’s shelves and would make people stop and read the front cover which could encourage the sale.
Quotes around Liam’s headshot reflect his Oasis past which would get readers interested, such as the conflict with his brother. Other bands/ featured within the magazine also are in block bold capitals to make sure it’s obvious who else is featured in the issue. Like I mentioned earlier the bands featured are young and current, which means it would attract a young audience and probably male due to the colour scheme used with the black, white, red and dark green. The use of imagery is has an impact because it’s a close up head shot which reflects presence and arrogance which is what Liam Gallagher is known for with a clever use of photography with his band mates reflected in the mirrored shades which is again a signature look for Liam. The band members in the glasses also suggest that Liam is the front man as they are reflected in the glasses he’s wearing as the magazine producers probably feel that it’s the image of Liam that will sell, not an image of the whole band.
The stereotypical boys that would be interested in this issue would probably be young males, probably students at college or university, who listen to new/upcoming artists and old British artists, such as The Beatles, Oasis, The Jam, Queen, The Verve and probably keep away from the UK Top 40 and are more likely to listen to NME/Q radio or watch their music channels. They are also probably avid festival goers that attend yearly and quite like seeing local bands round the local pub at the weekend. The only thing that would put students off buying this magazine is the price, as it is a thicker magazine and as students are known for having little money they probably won’t want to spend roughly £3.50 on a magazine.
Essay: To what extent should magazines be held responsible for the social ramifications of the representation they offer?
I have researched 5 popular girl teen magazine covers and have selected the above to compare and contrast to what message they are sending out their target audience. As a younger teenager, I myself had read most of the above but I am now looking at the covers with a more analytical eye and can now read the hidden messages that the publishers have hidden within in their choice of cover, In my essay I will be looking at these covers and identifying the responsibility that these companies hold for the social effects they offer.
olds who enjoy going out partying, not young teens starting from 12.
Also to support the argument above, all 5 magazines also feature a celebrity which are all airbrushed, smothered in too much make-up and self tan, and is saying to young girls, if you don’t have pretty hair, nice clothes, and a tan with a lot of make-up, you’ll never be a celebrity or a cover girl model, which when you are young could be aspiring to be, in which case these magazines are giving the wrong reading out to these girls.
The “Leona Lewis” Sugar cover shows her posed, contracted holding her stomach with her mouth parted open, which to me and probably these readers parents, suggests a sexy feel to the magazine and that it is slightly provocative. To the right of the main image is refers to Leona as “Lad-Mad Leona” followed by “On Justin Chace & hours of kissing” and then to relate the readers to the celebrity, as its obviously cool to kiss boys, “4 STEPS TO SNOG – Welcome to his mouth!” So not only is it telling you about how a celebrity kisses and what she get’s up too, it also in depth has an article to how young girls how they can kiss boys and gives them an introduction to a boy mouth which is extremely inappropriate for this age of the teenage audience, and is suggestive. Kissing could build up young girls confidence which could them lead them to other things, which they may not want to do.
On each of these magazines, there isn’t anything to suggest contraceptives or having safe sex, to which their kissing tips could lead to. This could then lead on to teenage pregnancies, as this young audience hasn’t been told about contraception. So partly these magazines could be blamed for this because they have exposed to young girls kissing which rightly they shouldn’t be doing until they re ready and comfortable but these magazines are pushing them to do. The other side to this argument is that young girls do like to think they re older than they are, which leads them to buy these magazines and issues, which is why without these provocative articles, the magazine wouldn’t sell.
It’s also biased. A lot of girls these days are confused about their sexuality but there’s no advice about how they can get help finding who they are and who they should talk too. Because all these magazines are branding that if you’re attracted to boys you’re “normal” and cool.
Other ‘advice’ these teenage magazines are offering to these young readers is about the opposite sex, boys. Top of the tops magazine’s front page reads “Who’s the FITTEST?” which suggests an article discussing who’s the fittest between two male celebrities and just above that cover line reads “Is she stealing your crush?” This magazine is basically saying to young girls that if they don’t have a ‘crush’ to be stolen, then you can’t have the magazine. It also suggests to me that it’s important for these young girls to have a crush/boyfriend and that it should be something that they focus on. Again it’s addressing these girls as if they’re 16/17 not 12/13.
Not on one of these magazines does it have an educational related article, nothing on how to cope with stress, key tips to revise, how to balance your education with your social life. These are key things for girls aged 14+ and should be focused on more in these popular magazines. But of course education isn’t seen as “cool” which means the article/issue won’t sell if it’s bogged down with tips on education.
Into studying these 5 magazine covers thoroughly, I can conclude that I think the wrong messages are being published to young girls. I think more educational related articles should be imputed more and that they should reduce the amount of “sex factor” they’re putting into these magazines. They should also think about what teenage girls priorities should be like school/college/university, finding the right career, how they can write a good CV, managing money, not boys, make-up and the latest fashion.
Music Magazine: Research and Planning.
Research Task One: Questionnare.
IPC: Case Study
IPC Magazines was created in 1968. The IPC story has taken many fascinating twists and turns in that 150-year period. Beginning in the 1800’s when the first newspapers were brought out.
- The first newspaper launched was The Field in 1853, which within a year became the largest newspaper in Europe. Eight further IPC titles that are still thriving today were launched in the late 1800's. Competitions wee used as a key role in sales promotions for all early IPC titles to lure customers in.
- In the 1900’s there was an opening of three new titles set to become part of IPC Media many years later.
- Woman's Weekly was first launched in November 1911.
- Home & Gardens was introduced after the First World War.
- Woman & Home entered the market in 1926.
- The 1932 launch of Women's Own.
- The first issue of Woman in 1937 cost 2d and was the first full-colour magazine at that price.
- IPC’s women’s weeklies played a key Second World War role. Keeping up the morale of Britain's women and supplying an essential information service on behalf of the Government.
- In 1952 NME was launched as the music era thrived at this time.
- the first TV Times was published in 1955. It’s first issue was in black & white and covered the new commercial stations.
- 1969 saw the birth of a new football weekly called “Shoot” which was to publicise the sport 3 years after England’s World Cup Victory.
- What's on TV enters the scene in 1991. In the face of fierce competition, it goes on to become the UK's best-selling magazine
- In one of the most dramatic arrivals in publishing history, revolutionary lads title Loaded hits the newsstands in 1994.
- NME becomes the first major UK music title to get its own internet site.
- New millennium, new name – IPC Magazines is renamed IPC Media in 2000, a new identity to go hand-in-hand with a strategy based on being a brand-centric business.
- Time Inc. acquires IPC Media for a cool £1.15bn in October 2001 – the biggest magazine deal ever seen in the UK and the biggest transatlantic media deal of our time.
- In Feb 2007 IPC Connect launches LOOK– the UK’s first glossy high street fashion and celebrity style weekly magazine. LOOK is IPC’s biggest ever launch.
IPC would be an appropriate company to launch a new music magazine, as they are a well known and well established company, they have very good resources and a lot of experience and research that can be put effectively unto use to help promote and make a successful new music magazine. They already know what the compettio9n is and what magazines are out there so they can target the right audience for this magazine.
With IPC bring the creator of NME magazine, they would probably go down the same route as far as music genres are concerned due to the fact of the NME magazine being so popular. The only problem with this is that there are now other magazines to rival NME that would rival their new music magazine if it did advertise the same “indie rock” themes.
They would probably feature interviews and cover stories with stars and bands such as Noel/Liam Gallagher, Kasabian, Mumford and Sons, Florence and the Machine, Muse etc. These bands are well known in the alternative chart, and would get students interested and involved which are their target audience and would probably be the target audience for the new music magazine.
Bauer may be an alternative publisher as they are the key owners of FHM, Q, Kerrang and MOJO, which are the definitive competition against NME. With pinching a few people from each music magazine to give their opinion on what a new music magazine should be like, they’d probably come up with a better idea for a new fresh idea than people who have only worked for NME at IPC.
Music Magazine: Research and Planning.
Research Task One: Questionnare.
My first research task was to conduct a questionnaire and distribute it to my target audience, 16-24, to get a general overview of how they feel about today’s magazines. Below is a list of my questions:
Q1 - Do you buy magazines?
Q2 - How often do you buy magazines?
Q3 - How much would you spend on a magazine?
Q4 - What genre of magazine do you read?
Q5 - What makes you pick up a magazine?
Q6 - What's the maximum you would pay for a magazine?
Q7 - What colour do you prefer the most?
Q8 - In Britain, what era stands out to you as the most influential in music?
Q9 - Tick which artists you have heard of.
To collect my results I posted them in a table to show clearly what had been identified as the answers.
Research Task Two: What makes a good Main Image?
I am researching in what it takes to get a good main image and attract people to pick up your product and make it stand out from the other magazines on that shelf. The one thing that stands out to me when I see a magazine is the image. If there isn’t a good image in the front me, I simply brush past them and won’t even pick up and look to see who or what’s on the front of that magazine.
To make my front page and main image the best it can be I have carried out research of what I need to do to ensure a good quality photograph is on my front cover. Below is a detailed plan of what I need to ensure is happening in my photo:
1. To ensure there is a clear centre of interest. In my photo I need the viewer to be able to immediately identify what my magazine is about. In my case I will have photographed a new up-coming act who’s trying to break into the music industry. I want the audience to pick up my magazine and be interested in this stranger on the front cover. I will also be having a colour scheme which will be enriched within and throughout my front cover and need to dominate this from the viewer’s first impression and intake.
2. Choosing the right photo. Once the photo is taken I will consider the points below and choose a photo which:
o Immediately catches my eye and holds it the longest.
o Has a definite image and suggest attention to that image.
o Making sure the background, lighting, focus, don’t take away anything from the image.
3. Ensuring the image is composed well. In a strong photo, there should be a sense of overall organization. To do this I will have to ensure the following:
o A controlled background. A non-distracting background is a compositional tool to help bring attention to the subject of the photo.
o Control the background You can control the background by moving Checking positions or moving the subject to avoid background distractions or to add effect to blur the background.
o To keep it simple. The fewer the elements in a photo, the stronger the statement the image makes. Simplicity also helps prevent the viewer's eye from being distracted.
o Is there a sense of order and balance in the image that’s easy on the eye and easy to perceive.
4. Ensuring I have a creative approach to my photo shoot. In more specific terms, the best creative images through my eyes and perspective. Ensuring the photo is interesting and fresh, and not too abstract.
This research has helped me develop a deeper undersdtandng in what I need to think about when it comes to my Main Image and how to capture that most important cover photo and what will make it stand out. I have thought out steps that I can follow to ensure my plan goes in to place and now feel happy and comforatable to go ahead and start thinking about my image and its components.
Research Task 3: Detailed Analysis on different music genres. (Powerpoint)
I am researching in what it takes to get a good main image and attract people to pick up your product and make it stand out from the other magazines on that shelf. The one thing that stands out to me when I see a magazine is the image. If there isn’t a good image in the front me, I simply brush past them and won’t even pick up and look to see who or what’s on the front of that magazine.
To make my front page and main image the best it can be I have carried out research of what I need to do to ensure a good quality photograph is on my front cover. Below is a detailed plan of what I need to ensure is happening in my photo:
1. To ensure there is a clear centre of interest. In my photo I need the viewer to be able to immediately identify what my magazine is about. In my case I will have photographed a new up-coming act who’s trying to break into the music industry. I want the audience to pick up my magazine and be interested in this stranger on the front cover. I will also be having a colour scheme which will be enriched within and throughout my front cover and need to dominate this from the viewer’s first impression and intake.
2. Choosing the right photo. Once the photo is taken I will consider the points below and choose a photo which:
o Immediately catches my eye and holds it the longest.
o Has a definite image and suggest attention to that image.
o Making sure the background, lighting, focus, don’t take away anything from the image.
3. Ensuring the image is composed well. In a strong photo, there should be a sense of overall organization. To do this I will have to ensure the following:
o A controlled background. A non-distracting background is a compositional tool to help bring attention to the subject of the photo.
o Control the background You can control the background by moving Checking positions or moving the subject to avoid background distractions or to add effect to blur the background.
o To keep it simple. The fewer the elements in a photo, the stronger the statement the image makes. Simplicity also helps prevent the viewer's eye from being distracted.
o Is there a sense of order and balance in the image that’s easy on the eye and easy to perceive.
4. Ensuring I have a creative approach to my photo shoot. In more specific terms, the best creative images through my eyes and perspective. Ensuring the photo is interesting and fresh, and not too abstract.
This research has helped me develop a deeper undersdtandng in what I need to think about when it comes to my Main Image and how to capture that most important cover photo and what will make it stand out. I have thought out steps that I can follow to ensure my plan goes in to place and now feel happy and comforatable to go ahead and start thinking about my image and its components.
Research Task 3: Detailed Analysis on different music genres. (Powerpoint)
