Contents Page - Post Production

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I tried to stick to the minimalism of the front page to continue into the contents page, this makes the magazine more coherent, and it all ties together well. Also, I think that with my contents page being different from other magazine contents pages makes it stand out for all the right reasons, and will seem more intriguing and attractive to my selected target audience. I tired to keep the same pictures from my front page so this would add to the coherency that I wanted. I also had a minimal use of colour in the contents page as this would make it seem sophisticated, and apply and adapt to the lifestyle of the target audience for the music magazine.
I looked at other content pages of music magazines, such as ‘Kerrang!’ which gave me ideas as to how I should lay out my contents page, and what I would need to do to make it easily accessible and understandable. I also looked at colour schemes and picture layout to gain a bit of knowledge on how I should work with my own magazine. From the magazines I looked at I learned that there weren’t a lot of pictures, as to divert from making the contents page too busy, which could possibly make it difficult to understand. In that aspect, I don’t think that I tried to challenge the norms, however I managed to make my content page stand out by using a minimal amount of colour, and choosing a simplistic layout while still sticking to the ‘normal’ contents page layout.

2. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have really developed my skills with using InDesign and Photoshop, and I have become more fluent with its use during the production of my front page and my contents page. I have learned how to use layers properly in InDesign, and how to manipulate my photographs in Photoshop using the colour settings. Also, I think that I have become more used to adapting my skills that I learned from working on my preliminary task to my Music Magazine contents page. This has allowed me to develop my skills, and make my contents page look more professional, and link it to my audience.
I have also made the production easier for myself by creating a mock-up contents page on Microsoft word, and this made it easier for me to adapt this into InDesign, since I was relatively new to its use.

3. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Compared to my preliminary contents page, I think that my Music magazine’s content page is far more interesting and adapted to my readers’ interests. Also, I think that I knew what I was doing, and was more comfortable with using InDesign when working on my contents page for my Music magazine. I also think that I was more experimental and outgoing with my music magazine’s content page because I used a wider range of fonts, a basic colour scheme and varied photographs. I think that this makes my contents page tie in with my front cover more coherently, and it also attracts my target audience. With my preliminary contents page, I didn’t create a mock-up for me to get ideas and inspiration from, but for my music magazine’s contents page the sketch up that I created on Microsoft word enabled me to shorten my production time, which proved effective – instead of wasting time when using InDesign and creating a bad quality contents page.

Contents Page - Production

1. In what ways are you designing your media product to use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I tried to stick to the minimalism of the front page to continue into the contents page, this makes the magazine more coherent, and it all ties together well. Also, I think that with my contents page being different from other magazine contents pages makes it stand out for all the right reasons, and will seem more intriguing and attractive to my selected target audience. I tired to keep the same pictures from my front page so this would add to the coherency that I wanted. I also had a minimal use of colour in the contents page as this would make it seem sophisticated, and apply and adapt to the lifestyle of the target audience for the music magazine.
I looked at other content pages of music magazines, such as ‘Kerrang!’ which gave me ideas as to how I should lay out my contents page, and what I would need to do to make it easily accessible and understandable. I also looked at colour schemes and picture layout to gain a bit of knowledge on how I should work with my own magazine. From the magazines I looked at I learned that there weren’t a lot of pictures, as to divert from making the contents page too busy, which could possibly make it difficult to understand. In that aspect, I don’t think that I tried to challenge the norms, however I managed to make my content page stand out by using a minimal amount of colour, and choosing a simplistic layout while still sticking to the ‘normal’ contents page layout.

2. How are you designing your media product to represent particular social groups?
I tried to make my contents page follow the conventions of my front cover, which were sophistication, minimalism and class, which were how I wanted to represent my chosen genre, and those are the types of individuals I want to target through my magazines. I figured that my target audience would mainly consist of middle class, jazz enjoying females, and I therefore strived to emulate their character and lifestyle through my magazine, so I could get the preferred reading that I wanted. I chose the same collection of pictures as my front page, in order to fully tie together the message that I wanted to convey through my magazine. I wanted women to feel empowered and represented when they read my magazine, and I thought it was very important to have this sense of sensibility and class about my magazine, which is the main ways in which I want to attract readers.

3. How are you attracting/addressing your audience?

Although I tried to engage my audience through visual means such as layout, photography, typography and colour scheme, I also though it was extremely important for the audience to be attracted to the core message of the magazine and I thought that the front page should fuel this attraction through it’s simplicity and it’s allowance for easy navigation through the magazine.