Evaluation question 1
In what ways does you media product use, develop or challenge conventions and forms of real media products?
I feel that my magazine makes use of several codes and conventions that can be seen on existing magazines, however I also feel that certain elements of magazine challenge the format of a real media product.
The house style of my magazine is quite busy with a lot of text and images which wouldn’t really appeal to the older generation as they would find it hard to relate to many of the features advertised. I believe that having a lot to look at on the front page is a good way to attract I my target audience because it gives them a good insight into what’s in the magazine. Furthermore I feel that all the details fit into the house style well and overall look quite appealing.
I have challenged the conventions that magazines like Q and mojo use when positioning their title to the left hand side. I have positioned mine in the middle as it is quite large with a logo in-between the two words. I think this makes the title stand out and would become instantly recognisable for regular readers of the magazine.
I have developed my magazine to an extent in which it is suitable for my target audience. On example of how I have done this is the direct mode of address used for the main image. This will attract the reader’s attention as it looks as though the band is looking directly at the consumer, a typical convention used by many magazines. I have also made appropriate use of the anchorage text which is a beneficial way of letting the reader know what is going to be inside the magazine, hopefully encouraging them to buy.
Common conventions I have incorporated into my magazine are selling lines. These are used by all different kinds of selling magazines to encourage the consumer to buy the product. These are often short and punchy for example on my magazine it could be the competition box or ‘Ten page tributes to the King of pop’.
The title is another feature that can be said to follow traditional codes and conventions of music magazines. It is the largest text on the page and instantly grabs the reader’s attention. On the other hand it also challenges conventions because it does not directly reflect the style of music it is representing in the magazine. I chose to do this because the magazine features bands that challenge typical music codes and conventions.
On the front of the magazine I have included a barcode, date and issue number as these can be found on professional magazines. I have stuck to three main colours pink, white and blue on a black background because too many colours could make the page look tacky.
The contents page further incorporates typical codes and conventions of a music magazine. I have put the images on the left hand side and text on the right like in many other magazines.
On the double page spread I have reiterated codes and conventions form magazine. I have used a quote from the interview as the header on the page.
Question 2
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My music magazine represents different social groups in several ways. To begin with I have used a bright and 'funky' colour scheme which would appeal to the majority of my target audience of younger people. I have further appealed to the appropriate social group by featuring artists that young generations can relate to and who they see as fashion icons. Assumptions can be made about the social group that I have targeted my magazine at through the type of music and articled features in the magazine. Finally the price of my music magazine is £1.99 which I think hints about who would by the magazine. Teenagers are unlikely to buy a magazine that costs £3 or £4 because the majority won't have a large amount of money.
Question 3
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
After undertaking a considerable amount of research I found that the insititution likely to distribute my magazine would be IPC media. I found that this company IPC Media produces over 85 iconic media brands, with their print brands alone reaching almost two thirds of UK women and 44% of UK men – almost 27 million UK adults. Their magazine base consists of some famous well recognised names such as NME, woman, and chat. Another company that would look into publishing my magazine would be Bauer. Bauer already produce magazines such as Q, Kerrang! and mogo. As well as music magazines they also publish a variety of other magazines such as That's life, Zoo and mother an baby. As you can tell from some of the names Bauer produce magazines for lots of different social groups and therefore will be likely to produce my magazine.
Question 4
Who would be the audience for your media products and why?
I decided before constructing my magazine that there was a gap in the market for a music magazine that focuses on unique and different bands that teenagers are interested in. Therefore my magazine is aimed at teenagers and young adults. As you will see form the next questions there are several reason why it would appeal to young adults including the price, colours and content.
Question 5
How did you attract/address your audience
Before starting my magaizne I began thinking of ways to attract my target audience. I created a questionaire which I handed out to a random sample of people to find out what they prefer to see in a magazine. From this I was able to find the most common price choice and other elements such as the colour and what they like to see on the front cover. This is really beneficial because the people who filled in the questionnaire are the people I want to buy my magazine.
The main image on my front cover uses direct mode of address and it is a well recognisable band which will appeal to my target audience. It will appeal to women because they aspire to be like the girls in the band and it will further appeal to men because they also aspire to be like the band and because of the sex appeal of the girls in the band. I have also put a competition box on the front of my magazine which helps to draw my target audience because they want to win the prize. The language I have used for the front page is not colloquial but is simple and short to appeal to the target audience.
Question 6
What have you learnt about technologies through the constructing of your media product?
Before starting my music magazine I knew very little about using Photoshop and now I feel I have developed a wide variety of skills. I particularly used Photoshop to modify different images. The different tools I am now familiar with are the eraser and background eraser tool, image resizing, and airbrushing and different image textures. An example of an image that I altered on Photoshop was the image on my front page for which I had to erase the background and put it onto a black background. I also used the re-sizing tool to help the image fit onto my page correctly. Further more, I created my magazine title using Photoshop which allowed me to layer the text putting different styles of font on top of each other to gain the desired affect. I also learnt how to put content into a blog, something I had never done before. The technology I used throughout the duration of my project definitely helped me to improve my work. Without Photoshop the images in my project would have been of a very poor quality and would not have fitted in with the genre of my magazine.
Question 7
Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the real product ?
Before starting my music magazine I knew very little about using Photoshop and now I feel I have developed a wide variety of skills. I particularly used Photoshop to modify different images. The different tools I am now familiar with are the eraser and background eraser tool, image resizing, and airbrushing and different image textures. An example of an image that I altered on Photoshop was the image on my front page for which I had to erase the background and put it onto a black background. I also used the re-sizing tool to help the image fit onto my page correctly. Further more, I created my magazine title using Photoshop which allowed me to layer the text putting different styles of font on top of each other to gain the desired affect. I also learnt how to put content into a blog, something I had never done before. The technology I used throughout the duration of my project definitely helped me to improve my work. Without Photoshop the images in my project would have been of a very poor quality and would not have fitted in with the genre of my magazine.
When I created my magazine I had no idea how to use Photoshop and only used very basic tools. I feel that when constructing my main magazine I had a better understanding of Photoshop and therefore could use a larger variety of tools overall making the magazine look much more professional. After carrying out some detailed research into music magazines I began to see how they followed typical forms and conventions of media products. This enabled me to transfer this across to my own magazine and also enabled me to see how I could challenge typical codes and conventions to get the best result from my magazine.
When I completed my magazine front cover I set out to get reviews from the others in my class and also people from my target audience. I found that one common problem was the editing of the main image was quite rough. I then went back to Photoshop and neatened up the picture. I then took it back out and gathered more reviews however I found that a lot of people said it did not fit together very well. So I once again drew up a plan of how it could look better and went back to photo shop. I put in a barcode, flipped the image and text so that all the elements stuck together on the page much better. I then asked the same group of people which look they preferred and all of them chose the new and improved front cover.
