Institutions

• What kind of media institution could distribute your media product and why?

Distribution

In Terms of distribution, Pulse magazine will be on sale in shops in Norwich from clothing stores such as Cult, Topshop and River Island to local music stores, gig venues such as NAC and the Waterfront and social spots such as the forum and Starbucks. These are all places that young people in Norwich regularly visit. This distribution method, of putting the magazine on sale near the till of these businesses, is similar to that of Norwich music magazine Outline. The idea behind Pulse is very similar to Outline as both promote gigs and events around Norwich, however Outline focuses more on events for the older generation, leaving a gap in the market for Pulse which focuses on the younger generation. Another method of distribution would be to sell Pulse on the street, similar to The Big Issue, using a street team of young people. By using these distribution methods, rather than distributing from a wholesaler such as WHSmith, Pulse can avoid competition with the high-end glossies and develop its own unique identity. Through this, Pulse takes an anti-consumerist stance and the cost of the magazine is £1, an affordable price for the target market of young people. Pulse is a monthly magazine so as a way of always keeping it fresh and up to date, the magazine will go on sale on the last week of the previous month, e.g. the February issue would go on sale in the last week of January. In addition to this, the website and social networking pages will feature up to date music news, just not as in depth as the magazine.

Brand Expansion

Pulse magazine originates in Norwich but could be expanded to produce sister magazines that focus on other cities such as Bristol, Manchester and Cambridge. The magazine could also expand across other forms of media from a TV channel and Radio station, as established music publication NME includes, to the internet, creating a Pulse website and Myspace, Facebook and Twitter pages as a way of connecting further with the target audience. The February issue of pulse mentions the website http://www.pulsenorwich.co.uk/ on the front cover, contents and double page spread as a way of informing the reader about its existence. In addition to this, the reader is also provided with incentives to visit the website with features such as free downloads, videos and the last music news. To tie in the theme of live music, Pulse could organise its own gigs featuring local bands in Norwich. A similar venture is used by NME who organise an annual “NME tour” featuring new, up and coming bands. To expand this idea further, Pulse could aspire to put on its own music festival on one of the local beaches. TV channel T4 does this with their music festival “T4 on the beach” which is always popular. NME also holds a tent or stage at most festivals in the country. In order to expand the brand, Pulse needs to be able to make a considerable profit, whilst still being cheap enough for young people to afford to buy on a regular basis. This can be achieved through advertising. Although Pulse is, at the moment, relevant to a niche market, the advertising possibilities are vast. Advertisers could include local industries specific to music and entertainment such as music shops, clubs, pubs, cinemas, television, radio- the possibilities are endless. Even establishments with little relevance to music (i.e. clothing stores such as Topshop) could have an incentive to advertise in Pulse if both brands share the same target market of young people.

Finished Product: Front Cover

Finished Product: Contents

Finished Product: Double Page Spread

Comparison

Comparison
Originally uploaded by Phoebe Rees

• Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of contrusting the product?

This image compares the front cover from Pulse magazine, my final piece, with the front cover from Student Shout, a piece of preliminary work, to evaluate what I have learnt and improved upon through the project. The following factors represent what I have learnt in the progression from the preliminary excercise to the final product.

Technology/Software

Creating my music magazine has allowed me to explore into a wide range of technological devices that have enabled me to give the magazine a more unique and proffesional appearance. The most significant piece of software for me, was a website called "Dafont" which allowed me to create diverse headings and logos for my magazine.

Photography

As my photography for Pulse magazine was taken at an event and not staged, it had to undergo a lot of editing work to ensure a proffessional finish. Through this, I beleive I have learnt new skills on software such as photoshop in terms of adjusting and manipulating photography.

Research

To create Pulse magazine, I did a lot of research into the different factors that make up the production of a proffessional magazine, from audience appeal to reworking existing forms and conventions. In addition to this, I've researched into a selection of different writing styles used in music journalism which I found interesting and inspiring in creating my own article. I've also researched into the ways in which magazines attract the consumer in terms of content, advertising and distribution. This I feel, has encouraged me to pay attention to the finer details of the magazine. Through this research, I beleive I have produced a magazine that reflects it's genre and target market in a unique and interesting way.

Target Audience

• How does your media product present different social groups?
• Who would be the target audience for your media product?

Target Audience
Originally uploaded by Phoebe Rees

This image of young people at Reading festival represents the target audience for my music magazine.

How does Pulse magazine represent particular social groups?


Target Market
The target market for Pulse magazine is young people aged 14-25, living in the Norwich area. The magazine, which is specifically driven towards live music, focuses on music events in the Norwich area which young people would take an interest in would be able to access regardless of age or financial restrictions. The audience for modern live music events such as gigs and festivals is largely dominated by young people who create the lively atmosphere that surrounds it, as you can see from the photo here. These people represent the readers of Pulse: they're young, lively and looking for a good time. All of these factors are reflected in the content of Pulse magazine which provides gig guides, reviews and news of up and coming local bands and events that young people can relate to and get involved with.


Demographics/Psychographics/Stereotypes
As Pulse magazine is relevant to a fairly niche market, it doesn't try to subvert conventional stereotypes, however some factors may appeal more to certain social groups. For instance, Pulse magazine mainly covers the indie/rock genre of music which may not appeal to some stereotypical groups such as "goths" or "hoodies". Some of the featured events such as the articles on local bands and venues are also driven towards young people with financial restrictions and may not interest audiences from a wealthier background who can afford to attend gigs at larger venues such as the O2 in London. As for demographics, Pulse only has relevance for people living in Norwich however, brand expansion would allow Pulse to produce sister magazines for other cities in the UK. This way, Pulse appeals to a wider audience whilst still maintaining a unique, niche quality, a trait proven to be successful as the competition within the magazine industry grows in intensity.


Detailed annotation of how Pulse magazine appeals to it's target audience is presented through flickr notes in my final piece.

Photo Edits

• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of contructing the product?

Photo Edits
Originally uploaded by Phoebe Rees

Here, I have shown how I have edited the photos used in my music magazine, Pulse.

1. Frontman for the support band, The Loyal Few.
This photo featured on the contents page so wouldn't need to be edited much as I was using it on a small scale. The mid shot, which featured a single subject allowed me to use the image on a small scale, as there wasn't much intricate detail in the image. I've increased the brightness on the image so it stands out from the page and doesn't make the page, overall, seem too dark.


2. OkGo's frontman, Damian Kulash.
This photo features on a large scale on both the contents and double page spread, becoming a dominating feature of both these pages, so it needed to be of high quality. I have increased the contrast in the image so that the lines and colours are stronger and more defined. I have also increased the brightness a little so the image stands out from the page and induces an overall brighter tone. The blue in this image compliments the colour schemes of both the contents page and double page spread.


3. Waiting outside the Waterfront before the gig.
This photo also featured on the contents page so would be used on a small scale, however, the image was very dark so I've had to increase the brightness a lot to ensure that all detail could be established in the image. This also made the colours in the image stand out more, particularly the blue of the building which complemented the colour scheme of the contents page.


4. OkGo's bassist, Tim Nordwind.
This image featured on my front cover so it needed to be of high quality. I've increased the contrast a little so that the colour and line in the image becomes more defined. After removing the foreground subject from the background, I encountered the problem of the pink lighting which was still showing on the subject so I used the clone stamp tool to remove this. The black on this image worked well to position white text over, and the red complimented the colour scheme of the front cover and is bold and eye-catching.

Reworking the familiar: Contents

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

Reworking the familiar: Contents
Originally uploaded by Phoebe Rees

As a way of working with a broader range of layout methods and creating my own personal layout style, I took inspiration from a different magazine, Drummer, for my contents page.

• The key concept of a contents page is to present the reader with information, therefore, many features of the page are designed for ease of reading. Both magazines do this by splitting the textual information into two sections, features and regulars with are clearly identified with bold headings.
• In the case of a young audience, which Pulse especially targets, information is more effectively perceived through images, which both contents pages make frequent use of. Corresponding page numbers make it easy for the reader to locate information of interest.
• The contents page is a progression from the front cover and must therefore provide a little information about each article as an incentive for the reader to take a look without giving the whole article away. Both magazines do this, in a simple, easy to read, column layout and the main articles of the issue are highlighted with tags saying "cover story", suggesting to the reader that they are features of interest.
• The colour scheme of the contents page presents the house style for the rest of the magazine. For Pulse, I have chosen blue to reflect the sense of luxury and relaxation that comes with reading a magazine. The colour also has an element of freshness which represents young people and new music. The main photograph for the Pulse's contents page corresponds with both the colour scheme and the double page spread. This is also true of Drummers main photo as the black and white doesn't overcomplicate the simple, yet bold colour scheme. The colours used are loud and aggressive which perhaps reflects the sound of drums.
• Both magazines feature a bold heading in their contents page but whereas Drummer has chosen to to use the title of the magazine, in Pulse I have preferred to use the word "contents" so the page develops it's own identity and doesn't become a replica of the front cover. It can also be clearly identified as the contents page. The date and issue number feature on both magazines to indicate the connection between the articles and the time they were relevant.

Reworking the familiar: Double Page Spread

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

Reworking the familiar: Double Page Spread
Originally uploaded by Phoebe Rees

To create the layout for my magazines double page spread, I took inspiration from NME.

• Both magazines adopt a blue colour scheme that invokes feelings of calm and relaxation upon the reader, establishing a sense of entertainment and luxury in reading an article. However, the blue is also a bright colour which suggests that the featured band is fresh and new. The boldness of the colour scheme also appeals to the target audience of young people. In my magazine, Pulse, the blue also complements the colours in the main photograph, bringing the page together.
• Both magazines adopt a similar layout style. An image dominates half of the double page spread, avoiding large blocks of text that a young reader may find daunting to approach. Boxes separate different sections of text which makes information easier to take in and the page more visually pleasing. Pull quotes and inset images also contribute to this.
• In both magazines, the heading is clearly established in a large font that stands out from the page. NME has highlighted it's heading in a box whereas in Pulse, I have used a different, more decorative font for my headings. Upon researching into the different ways in which young people approach magazines, I discovered that many will flick through until a certain article or image grabs their attention rather than reading the magazine cover to cover in chronological order. This is also true of many buyers who will flick through a magazine before purchasing it. A large, bold heading allows the reader to easily identify the double page spread inside the magazine, which as the dominant feature of the front cover, may have induced them to pick up the magazine in the first place.

Reworking the familiar: Front cover

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

Reworking the familiar: Front cover
Originally uploaded by Phoebe Rees

To create the layout for my magazine front cover, I took inspiration from NME.

• Both Pulse and NME adopt a bold red colour scheme which immediately grabs the attention of the buyer. The eye-catching layout of both magazines, reflects the energy conveyed in the music they feature. The bright colours also appeal to the target audience of young people.
• The photo used is both covers is a mid shot in which facial detail can be established. The black clothing worn by the subjects allows text to be placed over the top. In Pulse, the photograph features a guitar to indicate that the artists is performing live, which is the genre of the magazine.
• NME's masthead is bold and recognizable and becomes a logo for the NME brand. I have adopted this technique by creating a Pulse masthead that features a more decorative font than the other text and can be established as the magazines logo.
• Both magazines use boxes and boarders to separate the text, making the page easier to read. Boxes also highlight information of particular interest to the reader, for example, a competition feature.
• The background of NME's front cover is plain white so it can be crammed with text, ensuring that there is little negative space which would make the content of the magazine seem dull. In my magazine, I have also tried to create a interesting form of negative space by using a neutral, graduated colour in my background.
• In both magazines, the main article is established on the front cover through presenting it in a larger font. In NME, the main article is also presented with a quote and the names or the artists which I think is interesting, however, the more detailed front cover image in Pulse didn't allow me to adopt this feature as the front cover would become to cluttered and confusing.

Photos

• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of contructing the product?

Photos
Originally uploaded by Phoebe Rees

These are the photos I used in my music magazine, Pulse. They have not yet been edited.

I took my photos live at a gig so they have not been staged, positioned and don't use any props. For this reason, it's been difficult to take photos with subtible features for the magazine, for example, angle. Despite this, I have tried to include a variety of shots and angles from close up shots that feature a single subject and convey emotion and facial detail, and the wide angled shots such as those of the stage and the venue which show the bigger picture. An advantage of taking photos live at the gig is that they actually show OkGo, the band featured in the double page spread, which contributes to the authenticity of the magazine.

Overview of the DPS

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

Music Magazine Coursework: Pulse- Double Page Spread
Originally uploaded by Phoebe Rees

The double page spread for my music magazine, Pulse which features the band OkGo and includes a gig review and interview. Detailed annotation is included through flickr notes.

Overview: Double Page Spread
As Pulse magazine focuses on live music, it seemed suitable to feature a gig review in my double page spread. I chose the band OkGo because they were mildly established and seemed to have an eccentric outlook on music that I could produce an interesting article on. They also slotted perfectly into the indie/rock genre Pulse magazine covers. My review is first hand, as I attended the bands performance at a local venue. This, I beleive, makes the article unique in a sense that I havn't relied completly on secondary sources for information. The articles mentioned in the contents page too, have relevance to bands and artists soon to be performing in Norwich. Although I tried, I didn't manage to get an interview with the band, however, the questions and answers have been carefully reasearched to try and keep the article as authentic as possible.


Using both a gig review and an interview in my double page spread keeps it fresh and interesting. Short articles mean that the reader doesn't get bored with large sections of text, which may lose the interest of young readers. As the band is only mildly established, a synopsis is included to give the reader the background information they need to fully understand the article and interview. These different sections of the article are separated with boxes to make the page easier to read and less visually confusing.

Addressing the Audience Pulse- Contents

Music Magazine Coursework: Pulse- Contents
Originally uploaded by Phoebe Rees

This is the contents page for my music magazine, Pulse. I have annotated the variouse devices included in this page through flickr notes.

Overview: Contents

The purpose of a contents page is to, quite simply, inform the reader of the magazines content. The layout must be easy to read and understand, as the reader has a lot of information to process on this page. To do this I have split the many body of text into two sections, features and regulars, which are clearly labelled. Images split up these sections so they can easily be seperated from on another and so the text dosn't look as though it's dominating the page, making it overall more visually interesting. Additional information is situated in boxes to distinguish it from the main body of text. Page numbers corresponding to each article are situated both next to the article heading and to the corresponding image, making it easy for the reader to find their desired article in the magazine. Captions indicating which articles appear on the cover of the mgazine, allow the reader to identify the articles they were initially interested in by, through the magazine cover. In addition to it's pleasing layout, the contents page also provides incentives for the reader to look at each particular article through the captions underneath the individual article headings. These captions use buzz words such as "new" and "exclusive" to make the article seem interesting and exciting, encouraging the reader to take a look.

How does the content of the magazine appeal to the target audience?

The target audience for Pulse is young people aged 14-25, living in the Norwich area. The majority of these young people will go out regularly but won’t have the money to frequently attend gigs at large venues such as the O2. Pulse magazine focuses on gigs in the local area that are accessible and of interest to young people and covers a wide range of venues and events around the city from the UEA which tends to feature bigger more established bands, thought to the Waterfront and Norwich Arts Centre which are more intimate venues that often feature new, up-and-coming bands and finally to the “secret” venues such as the Brickmakers, The Marquee and The Birdcage. Largely unheard of, but popular amongst the younger generations, these venues regularly feature gigs from local bands which the readers of Pulse magazine might know from living in Norwich. The February issue of Pulse has two features dedicated to these gigs: “Secret Gig” which informs the reader of the whereabouts of these venues and what makes them so unique and “Fells’ Diary”, a regular feature which follows teen gig promoter Alex Fells as he experiences these gigs and meets the bands that perform them. Through this, the more intimate, lesser known events in Norwich are promoted and become more established within the young generation.

In addition to this, Pulse focuses on the bands established at a national and even international level playing at venues such as the UEA and the Waterfront. As it goes to press near the beginning of the year, the February issue of pulse focuses on bands hotly tipped for success in 2010 such as Ellie Goulding and Delphic. The content of other issues will depend on the season it’s released, for example, a summer issue of Pulse will focus primarily on festivals which are extremely popular with young people, in particular Latitude festival which takes place locally. Alternatively, a December issue could focus on the New Years gigs and events taking place around Norwich.

Addressing the Audience: Pulse- Front Cover

Music Magazine Coursework: Pulse- Front Cover
Originally uploaded by Phoebe Rees

• Who would be the target audience for your media product?
• How did you attract/address your audience?

This is the front cover for my music magazine Pulse. I have included tags on the image to explain why I have incorperated each particular feature.

Overview: Front Cover

The aim of a magazine front cover is to grab the buyers attention and pursuade them to purchase the product. The front cover for my music magazine, Pulse, features eyecatching red text that stands out from the page and will grab the buyers attention. The photograph I have used features a mid shot so that the image dosn't dominate the page, yet the intruiging facial detail of the subject can still be recognised. The headings are large and eyecatching and feature buzz words such as "New" and "Secret" to make the magazine seem intruiging and exciting. Overall I am pleased with my front cover, as I think it provides an interesting, eyecatching exterior to my music magazine.

Magazine Genre: Live Music in Norwich

My music Magazine focuses on live music in my local area, Norwich. The main genre of music covered is indie/rock/guitar bands as these artists generally focus more on performing at live at gigs and festivals more than genres such as pop for instance.

Seeing a band perform live is a unique, exciting experience that gets your pulse racing, hence the name of the magazine, more so than staying at home listening to an album. The indie/rock genre covers all aspects of live music from the large scale venues and events such as the O2 arena or headlining Reading Festival, to the small time bands that play at intimate local venues. No matter how big or small the event, there’s always a unique, lively atmosphere that surrounds live music. More often than not, it’s not just the band but the audience that contributes to this atmosphere, particularly when the gig in question appeals to young people looking for a good time. Typically an indie/rock band consists of a lead vocalist, guitarist, bassist and drummer although artists like to be versatile and incorporate different instruments and vocal styles into their set. The band I have focused on for my double page spread, OkGo are renowned for incorporating diverse elements into their performances. Their gig which I reviewed at a local venue included eccentric features such as confetti, a huge gold drum and a song performed entirely on hand bells. Its features such as these that make live music stand out from anything else in the industry and it will always be popular because of it.

Target Audience: Young People (aged 14-25)

Young people are at the heart of any live music event from intimate local gigs to large scale festivals such as Reading and Lattitude. Whatever the event, young people will always be interested in live music becuase it provides an oppertunity fun fun, excitement and entertainment. Pulse aims to target an audience of young people by featuring new, young, up and coming acts that young people will be interested in reading about.

Preliminary Materials: Image board

Preliminary Materials: Image board
Originally uploaded by Phoebe Rees

Here, I have displayed a selection of images that associate with live music. This is the theme i have chosen to base my music magazine on.

Planning materials

Preliminary Materials: Font Experiments
Originally uploaded by Phoebe Rees

A seletion of possible fonts to use for my music magazine. The fonts I have chosen are quite decorative and eye catching so would be used for a title or heading.

Research

As a preliminary exercise for creating my double page spread article, I researched and annotated a selection of music magazine articles from the website "rocksbackpages". These are the articles I researched:The Verve: Manchester Roadhouse by Paul Moody (NME) : This article applied directly to my double page spread as it features a gig review. The article is fast paced with vivid description, locking on to the audiences interest to make them feel as though they're actually there. A description intro, like the one I have used in my article, transports the audience into the atmosphere of the gig which is an important factor of live music. The use of speech also contributes to this and the article becomes more like a narrative than a piece of informative text. Similies and metaphors are included as a form of diverse description making the article unique. Rhetorical questions pull the reader into the article, encouraging them to form an opinion of their own. The writers opinion is summed up in the conclusion, bringing the article to a close.20 Questions: The La's by Stephen Dalton (NME) : This article, a short interview with quick fire questions, is similar to the sort of thing I wanted to include in my double page spread to complement the gig review as a way of providing the audience with more background information on the band. Again, the article is fast paced, ensuring that the reader dosn't lose interest, and short punchy scentences indicate a hard-hitting, forthright approach. Overall, a lighthearted, joky tone is envoked in the interview due to the witty questions and the sarcastic responses the band gives to them. This makes for lighter reading, than the main body of text which is the interview. The lack of description in the interview creates a contrast in writing styles with the gig review, making the text, overall , more diverse and interesting.I also researched into an album review, "Arctic Monkeys: Whatever they say they are, thats what they are" by Caroline Sullivan (The Guardian) although this type of article didn't apply to my double page spread.For further annotation, follow hyperlinks.Further Research: OkGoTo create my article, I found some background information on the band using their web and myspace pages. This enabled me to bring a contextual element into the article, particularly in the interview and synopsis, providing the audience with practicle, yet interesting, information.

Kate Nash: "Made of Bricks" back cover (my version)

Preliminary Work

Kate Nash: "Made of Bricks" back cover (my version)
Originally uploaded by Phoebe Rees

This is the back cover I have created for Kate Nash's album, "Made of Bricks". It features the song titles from her album.

Kate Nash: "Made of Bricks" front cover (my version)

Preliminary Work

Kate Nash: "Made of Bricks" front cover (my version)
Originally uploaded by Phoebe Rees

This is the front cover I have created for Kate Nash's album, "Made of Bricks".

Student shout: Contents

Preliminary Work

Student shout: Contents
Originally uploaded by Phoebe Rees

This is the contents page for "Student Shout", a magazine I have created for East Norfolk Sixth Form College.

Student Shout

Preliminary Work

Student Shout
Originally uploaded by Phoebe Rees

This is the front cover for "Student Shout", a magazine i have designed for the students of East Norfolk Sixth Form College. It was created as a response to a preliminary task in preperation for my AS media coursework in which i will be designing a music magazine.