By: Charlotte Unwin

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

My magazine front cover uses conventions of real media products such as the date, masthead, splash, issue number, price, barcode, pug, website

address, images and quotes. These are all needed to give information to the reader and also to involve the reader in the magazine and catch the reader’s eye. I think conventional products are needed on every magazine so that it sells and is recognised. The colours used throughout my magazine I think

are very conventional as I have used black and white which I think is quite a common colour scheme, I then decided this colour scheme will be to dull

and maybe to conventional so I needed another colour to make the magazine stand out more. I choose purple this then made the magazine

more appealing to the eye. I also used a website on my front cover I thought this was a good idea as it could be more recognisable and also make the

magazine more popular. There is not much information on my front cover as I wanted the image to sell the magazine, there is some information of what in the magazine but I thought using to much writing might bore the reader.

The image used on the front of my magazine is quite different from my researched music magazines. I found that most music magazines were

bright and vibrant, I decided that I wanted my magazine to be different in this way as I was looking for a more elegant magazine, therefore I think my image has conventional features but for the genre of my magazine I think it

is also unconventional. Inspiration

The contents page also uses conventions of real media. I think my contents page is conventional in the way it has been layed out such as where the

image is positioned and how the writing is presented. There is also a picture of the front cover on my contents page which is also conventional as

a lot of other magazines do this. I have also advertised on my contents page by writing,

‘jewellery from next’, above the front cover image. Also, I have used a little note on my contents page which I think would interest the reader and entice them. I have tried to keep my contents page as

simple as possible so it is clear to read but there is still conventions on there what are needed to sell the music magazine. When writing about pages in the magazine I wrote LOOP on the font I used for the masthead I think this looks quite professional as other magazines do this. Overall, I think my

contents page is very conventional and has all the information needed for a successful contents page.

Inspiration

I think my double page spread is very conventional, the way it has been positioned

over the two pages shows the pages are together. During my research I have found

that most double page spreads have a story, music magazines mostly have a gig or a

tour, something that gets the reader involved with what the magazine is all about. My double page spread has a questions and

answer section, I think this makes the reader more aware of the person in the magazine and maybe interesting for the

reader. The image I have used is conventional as the way there is a direct eye contact between the image and the reader draws the audience into the magazine. I

have also used a quote on the double page spread which will maybe give the reader a

hint of what the questions maybe about, the quotation marks around the quote have

been made quote large, I found this while researching and thought it looked more eye-

catching. I have used different colours for the question and answers section so the

reader can see clearly.  

Inspiration

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I think the magazine is targeted at one particular audience as the features used on the magazine will not amuse

all. The image on my front cover is quite unconventional as in most ‘POP’ magazines the images are quite lively

and bright, whereas mine is darker colours and the image looks quite professional, the girl in the image

isn’t looking direct into the camera, therefore the reader cannot be drawn in by her eyes I think this is one

unconventional item on the front cover of my magazine. Also, I think the contents page image is quite

unconventional as during my research I found that most contents pages do not use an image for there

background and mostly have images running down the side of the page or presented like a film strip. I thought

using a background for the contents page gives a clearer idea of what the whole magazine will be based

on and also brings something different to the magazine. I used a black and white image so the writing could still be seen; this then made the contents page look more

elegant and professional. I think the main target audience for my music magazine would be girls/women

that are interested in what is going on in the ‘POP’ world and want to find out some music gossip.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

My magazine will be sold in shops; I have decided to price my music magazine at £3.00, I think this is a

reasonable price for the magazine as it is quite elegant and professional and I think people will be willing to pay this price for the magazine if they are

interested in 'POP' music and celebrities. The price of the magazine also refers back to the target market. I aimed my magazine at a more upper class audience,

so I think this would be an accurate price range. Initially, I was going to price my magazine around

£1.50 - £2.00 but then when I thought about who my target audience was aimed at I thought that it was best

to higher my price for the magazine as if the target audience is more upper class then the price shouldn’t be such an issue for a higher class audience. The age

range was aiming between 15-20 years, I think this price is reasonable to this target market. There are also 50 pages in the magazine which also reflects

back to the price of the magazine as they are getting quite a lot for the price £3.00. 

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The media products used in my magazine are referring to a more mature teenager ageing between 15-20 years. The magazine is targeted at girls/women; this is shown clearly by the girl on the front cover. The images used show a more elegant and professional ‘POP’ magazine. Although my music magazine

is quite different to others, I think the way it has been presented is very conventional as I used a black and white font as I think this looks professional, I also added purple to my colour scheme, I think this then gives the

magazine more of a lively look and referred better to a 'POP' magazine than just black and white as this could be quite boring. I think the reader of the magazine would be a girl

interested in 'POP' and is inspired to be like a 'POP princess'. I think the magazine offers a lot of variety as your not only

finding out about what’s going on in the music business there is a lot of different celebrities involved. I think the images used are very girly so a younger audience could also be attracted to the magazine but I would target my ‘POP’

magazine at 15-20 year olds.

How did you attract/address your audience

Attracting the audience is a very important part of producing the magazine as it needs to be eye-catching and appealing to the audience. I think the main attraction to my magazine would be

the main image. By using a main image this then gives the reader something to focus on and be attracted to. During my research I discovered that using an image that had a direct

eye contact draws the reader into the magazine, baring this in mind, I went for an image that drew the reader into the

magazine by eye contact but in a different way. The girl in my image is focusing on the inside of the magazine and a quote

that is on the front cover of my magazine, I think the audience will wonder why she is focusing on this particular feature and it will entice people. Also, I think the layout of my magazine isn’t to busy and shows quite a professional ‘POP’ magazine. I also

think the elegance of the magazine, such as the colour scheme that people that are interested in fame and music will instantly be attracted to the magazine as it shows a different

side to 'POP' music.

Direct eye contact

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? By being given this brief ‘produce a music magazine’ I have had to

do a lot editing, such as cropping pictures, removing objects out the images using effects such as black and white. This has

given me a better understanding of the different programs and have helped me produce my work to a better quality. Having to use fireworks has given me a wider knowledge of the program

and I have learnt different editing skills. Also, Photoshop is another program I had to use. Mostly, I had to use this program to remove things from my images, I am now confident with using

the program and found it quite enjoyable to use. There is also slideshare which I had to use to upload presentations to my blogger, I now find this easy to use. Lastly, Blogger was the

main program I used as everything had to be shown on here so I was using this website frequently, at first I didn’t know a lot

about blogger or how to access the website and how to use it, I now think blogger is really easy to use and have a wider knowledge how to access different blogs to look at other

students blogs to leave feedback on their work.

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

During the time I had to produce my music magazine I have developed a better knowledge of what are needed to produce a music magazine. At the beginning of my media course we had to produce a school magazine for our starter, by doing this it gave us an insight of what producing a magazine would be like and what is needed to produce a successful magazine. I think I have produced a

better magazine by learning different programs before starting the music magazine. After producing my magazine I have learnt what conventional and unconventional magazines are and I now know

what a conventional magazine has to consist of and what is needed to sell the magazine successfully. All the conventions for a magazine are needed to help the reader purchase the

magazine and also attract the audience. I have learnt different technology skills such as using Photoshop, fireworks and blogger, which I have used to develop my image and present my work. Researching different magazine and what different features they use has also helped me produce

my work and give me a better understanding. Also, getting feedback of my work from other students has helped me improve my work and have a better knowledge on producing a music magazine.