Evaluation

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

My magazine challenges conventions in many ways. The main visible conventions that I have clearly challenged is the positioning of the masthead and limited amount of coverlines.

The masthead is in front of my artist whereas a lot of the time the mast head would go behind the artist to make them the main focal point.

I decided to have only 3 coverlines on my front cover to make the image the main subject of the magazine. In a lot of magazines, minimal coverlines would mean they have a menu list of artists featuring in the magazine but because my main point of my magazine is to be unique I didn’t want to follow conventions too closely.

However, in some aspects I did follow forms and conventions of a magazine. The purpose of the magazine is to inform and entertain and entertain so I wanted to keep to that idea. An example of when I followed conventions and forms is by having an article photo. The main article in my magazine is the interview with the person who is featured on the front of the magazine, this can be found on my double page spread. It’s very important to have this as it is one of the key features which is going to draw readers in because if people see a magazine on the shelf with someone they like on it, they will be more encouraged to buy it.

By law, magazines have to have a barcode on so obviously that is something that I have incorporated into my work and followed as a form and convention.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Another similarity between my magazine and real media products is the placing of the edition/issue number and price. As my magazine is being published weekly, it’s important to list the price.

The font and sizing of fonts on the front cover and throughout the magazine is important, it is ideal to keep text at around about the same size. I have used ‘serif’ because it looks more feminine therefore fitting the theme of my magazine. To draw the reader in I made my coverlines and headings bigger sized texts and it makes them stand out. Some magazines choose to keep the same size headings and coverlines so I am challenging conventions.

The artist’s name and masthead are big and bold to attract readers. By having no puff I am going against conventions.

Representation means to portray a person or group in a certain way, in this case it represents a certain social group.

My magazine is quite feminine, the masthead and coverlines are pink as well as certain parts of the cover image. The connotations of pink are; LOVE, FEMININITY, CARE which fits the theme of my magazine. Of course, this is a stereotypical view of ‘femininity’ (caring, empowering, and passive).

The poses I chose for my model also mirror a stereotypical view of feminine.

The looking over the shoulder with a jacket gives the magazine a 1950s vibe.

3. How did you attract/address your audience?

As my magazine cover image is fairly stereotypical, I felt that people would form an assumption which related to the (Hypodermic theory 1940). This means that people are completely influenced by existing media alone. So, through hot desking I wanted to find out if this was the case or if it was more ‘Uses and gratification’ which means people choose how to interpret a media product. From the hot desking I found that everyone interpreted it the same way; feminine, pop and young adult/teenage audience. This is an example of ‘preferred’ reading by the audience, which is a theory called the reception theory.

Women are perceived in a very different way now and I wanted to show this movement. I did this by having the artist looking towards the camera giving direct gaze as this shows a woman who is empowering and strong.

I also did this by having her name in a big text size as it again, shows her power.

Another way I represented a particular social group is shown through the image; a young girl. This targets the audience of 15 years+ and mainly females as they may feel like they can relate to the artist.

By showing clothes in the slot I am also attracting and representing people who are interested in fashion which is also featured in the content on my magazine, this is mainly shown in my contents page.

The coverlines show pop and alternative music genres so the first thing it does is attract and represent people who love those music genres, it showcases what they like.

I am also making the magazine accessible to people of all classes and status because of the price and weekly issue. As I have included fashion in my content, I have also featured high end and high street fashion so it fits everyone.

The use of colour is really important when attracting an audience, by having a bright and bold text that is against a black, contrasting background I am setting it apart from other magazines on the shelf.

Another way I attracted the audience was through the images and language. The image included direct gaze and the language addressed the reader which attracts them in and gives the magazine a friendly feel. I used language such as ‘yours’ wardrobe essentials reader and rhetorical questions to make them feel involved. Again, this adds to the fun and friendly feel.

4. What kind of media institution (publisher) might distribute your media product and why?

The media institution that might distribute my music magazine is Bauer Media. The reason behind this is that they publish both music and lifestyle/fashion/gossip magazines (to name a few of their current brands; Kerrang, Grazia, Heat, Mojo, Q, Yours) which suits my magazine really well because it’s a combination of both.

The pricing of my magazine fits within the range of prices that Bauer’s published magazines are; Grazia costs £2.00, Kerrang costs £2.20, Q costs £3.99 AND Mojo costs £4.80. My magazine is going to retail at £2.50. By retailing my magazine for £2.50 I am making it affordable for a vast range of people, making it accessible to everyone. The magazines I mentioned are also available online and due to feedback I received, my magazine will be accessible from an app as well which is something that Bauer Media supports as a publishing company.

Another way I attracted the audience was through the images and language. The image included direct gaze and the language addressed the reader which attracts them in and gives the magazine a friendly feel. I used language such as ‘yours’ wardrobe essentials reader and rhetorical questions to make them feel involved. Again, this adds to the fun and friendly feel.

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

I used a range of different technology and software when researching and creating my magazine. This advantaged but also disadvantaged me in different ways.

Being able to use Photoshop and InDesign made it possible for me to bring my ideas to life and create a magazine that actually looks like a professional media product.

Using Photoshop I was able to...

Correct mistakes Photo correction such as

colour and physical appearance using the pinch and blur tool

Cut out backgrounds using the lasso tool and magnetic tool

Experiment with colour Experiment with fonts Use layers to create a

professional product

Using InDesign I was able to…

Set up pages to create a professional looking magazine

Adjust fonts/text Fit images and text

to the pages successfully

Position text and images

Merging objects together

Create articles in the correct layout

Other software that I used:

Issuu; to present my magazine in a way that makes it look professional when uploaded onto my blog

CANON SLR camera; to take pictures for the magazine with PowerPoint; to present my work Hand drawing; for mood board and flat plan designs Scanner; to upload work that I had done by hand Word; I used this a lot to present my work Scribd; to upload word documents to my blog Computer Blogger; what I used to present every piece of work on

The disadvantages of using such an array of technologies and software meant that sometimes there would be problems such as software freezing and issues when saving. One of the biggest problems I had was wanting to do something but not knowing where to find it on the software, for example the first time I wanted to cut out a background. I overcame this by watching YouTube tutorials, that way I was learning as I went through the task with every new thing that I did.

6. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I feel that I have progressed so much since my preliminary task in all aspects. Appearance wise, my finished media product which is the music magazine looks so much more sophisticated and professional than the college magazine that I created in the preliminary task. The main reason behind this I think, is because I have gotten more used to soft wares such as Photoshop and InDesign. For me, the Preliminary task was experimental and I was learning the basics of those softwares whereas now, I took what I learnt then and deepened my knowledge further by watching tutorials and learning step-by-step. I also used a lot of new software such as Issuu and this has allowed me to gain more skills that I could take with me to the next task.

My understanding of representation has also developed massively, because the type of magazine, music, is something that I could really get a hold of when researching. This time around I added a lot more detail into my research through my questionnaire and target audience to really understand it. For my music magazine I learnt a lot about stereotyping when it comes to media and how that can have a positive of negative affect; for example my magazine having pink on it to attract women whereas the college magazine was more general as it was just targeted at college students not individual groups that share certain likes and dislikes.

When creating the music magazine I really experimented with layouts, both following and going against conventions, as this helped me to create a really professional looking magazine but with my own twist on it to make it stand out from all the rest. I really wanted to make a magazine that would of course, attract a certain audience, but I also wanted to put my personal touch on it and create a magazine that I would pick up, buy and read. The college magazine was less personal and more generalised and that’s what I think made me really get into this task.

7. Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my magazine is quite a clear and precise one, the genre and the content of my magazine really zooms in and focuses on this. My target audience for my magazine is; Females between the ages of 16 and 20 who have a particular interest in fashion as well as pop and alternative music. Due

to the price of my magazine I have made it accessible to a range of people but my thought when deciding on the price was that people between the age of 16 and 20 may still be in education and may only have a part time job. I have also included content about concerts and festivals and because of the answers I received from my questionnaire, I see my target audience as people who enjoy going to festivals and concerts.

The colour scheme I used was decided because of my questionnaire, the main colours that my target audience were particularly attracted to was pastel colours, so I have incorporated this into my work.