EVALUATION OF MUSIC MAGAZINE

Mary de Leca

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge

forms and conventions of real media products?

I used a few conventional methods when creating my music magazine in order to attract the readers. I used a masthead in my front cover in order to attract the readers to the magazine with the funky font and bright yet friendly colour.

I also included a selling line underneath the magazine which is to mainly target my audience and show what my magazine is about.

Within my front cover I also ensured that my main image stands out above everything else. According to my research, majority of people are first attracted to the main image of a magazine cover. As my front cover models are the main article, I wanted them to be the first thing that catches the reader’s eye.

I also put a few cover lines on my cover. However, I didn’t put that much and I didn’t make it stand out so much as I wanted my main image to grab most of the attention.I also used a puff in the first cover line by using the word “exclusive”. I did this to engage with the audience.

I also included another puff on to my front cover which is purely to show the price of the magazine and to make it stand out. Most people like to see the price of an item before purchasing.

One of the conventions that I have included on my front cover is a barcode to give it a more professional look.

On my contents page I added some small images that have something to do with the contents of the magazine. I added the images so that my contents page would look more detailed and not to plain. I also added it so that it could show that my magazine is not solely about the new and upcoming artists.

Below I made the contents of what page the new and upcoming artists feature would be to show that it’s the main article.

On my double page spread, I used the same colour as my masthead and made the title bold and bigger than the rest of the font on the page. This was done to show the readers what the article will be about and attract the audience to my article.

For the text of the article I used a different font than the title. I did this so that the article can be easier to read. However, through my research this font was also one of the favourites. I picked this font because it looks youthful and funky. Which will in turn attract young teenagers to reading it.

When I took my photos of my models for this double page spread I took a photo of each of them against a wall because I wanted each of them to be on each page so that it looks like they are reciprocating against each other. I also used an image in the page which is shown behind the text. I water marked the images in order for it to look almost transparent. I did this so that the article wouldn’t look so plain and it also allowed me to include more images of the artists.

In both pages I used 1 pull out quote on each page. This was done to attract the audience and get them hooked on the article and make them wonder why that quote was said. I got the inspiration for this through magazines that I, myself, has read. And for me, it does intrigue me and get my attention.

I also included a footer on the bottom of the page saying what is on the next page in order to keep the reader engaged with the magazine. I also added page number on the bottom right corner of each page to make it more reader friendly.

How does you media product represent particular social

groups?

My magazine is mainly aimed at female teenagers who are into RnB music and who also likes to keep up with the latest celebrity gossip and the new tunes that are making hits on the charts.

By creating my magazine to represent my target audience I made the colour scheme of my magazine purple, white and black for the front cover. Then I used other feminine colours to intrigue my target audience and so that my whole magazine is not just one colour.

I chose to use young teenage girls as my new and upcoming artists in order to relate to my target audience. To also show that you can also get success at a young age.

The poses in which my models are posing in show that they are young and confident and also giving off open body language, which gives out a positive message to the young female readers of my magazine.

In my cover lines and contents topics I made sure to relate a lot of the topics to celebrities and the RnB music scene so that it would

appeal to my target audience.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media

product and why?

One of the inspirations I got for creating my magazine came from Top of The Pops magazine. The BBC help with the distribution of that magazine. Therefore I think they would be interested in distributing my magazine as it has a similar target audience than Top of The Pops. So they would know that it will sell because of the success of Top of The Pops magazine.

Another distributer that may also be interesting in distributing my magazine would be the team of Vibe magazine. Vibe magazine was founded by Quincy Jones and also in partnership with Time Inc. I think they would be interested in distributing my magazine because Vibe magazine is about the RnB and Hip-Hop scene.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

In my opinion, I think the audience for my music magazine would be young female teenagers who are into the RnB music scene as well as keeping up with their favourite celebrities. I think females would be more interested in this magazine than males because boys are not usually interested in hearing the latest gossip about the celebrities. Girls are mainly the ones that take more interest on what celebrities do and their life styles.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted the audience of my music magazine by keeping a consistent colour scheme going on through out my magazine layout. I also used images in my magazine to keep the audience engaged with my magazine and not to make it seem dull and boring. In my front cover I managed to make my main image stand out by using a medium close up shot of the two models.

I also used a light yet effective colour for the main titles and headings in order to grab the reader’s eye and let them know what they’re reading. I also did this so that all the text is not the same colour. If the whole magazine’s font was the same colour, it would not look as appealing if it had different colours.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have learnt a lot through this whole process. I have realised how important it is do research on other magazines in order to get ideas. I also learnt that it is also important to get out there and do research to find out what the public would like so that you could fill in the gap of giving the public what they want. Another thing I have learnt that it’s not as easy as it looks to create a magazine. There’s a lot of things to keep in mind such as the colours that you’re using, the images that are used, the way the conventions are used to attract the audience. Making all of that work together was a mission but also fun to do. Editing the images was also part of my task. Editing the images is very important because you need to edit the images in a way that it looks presentable and not scruffy or messy.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you

feel you have learnt in the progression from it to a full

product?

Looking back on my preliminary task, I think have improved a lot in using photo manipulation programs. By creating and editing my images I have been able to learn and use new skills that I didn’t know how to use before. I have learnt how to combine the colours in my colour scheme that I have used to make it look more appealing.Knowing all I know now, I would have created a better preliminary task. Doing this magazine has taught me a lot and has made me open up my creative side which I enjoyed.