In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?My music magazine, Apollo, uses different colours, shapes and fonts in my front cover, contents and double page spread. I researched many existing music magazines to help communicate the correct message through the conventions of my magazine. Firstly, I researched many other front covers of existing rock magazines and realised many of the mastheads are simple but bold so I decided to find a suitable font from dafont.com. I looked at many conventions of existing magazines and tried to incorporate those into my own front cover. I tried to make the magazine front cover unique to stand out to the audiences. I found most rock magazines used the colour red yet as I was looking at the conventions of the colour blue and found that rock magazines are usually blue. I found many of my rival magazines were red therefore I wanted to go against this convention, seen as though Apollo is not just rock, I chose blue. I also chose this also because due to my questionnaire results the most popular colours were blue, black and white. I decided to make the font on my front cover bold and easy to read yet it is all in capitals to give off connotations of power. My masthead is placed a little hidden behind the main image to publicize that this is a popular magazine. I used models wearing common clothes so the audience could relate to the models presented in the magazine to then relate to the magazine. The images links to the genre with props, costumes and facial expressions used to communicate the genre to the audience. I also used the same continuous style of typography and colours throughout my magazine to create a house style. My contents page is presented on a double page like a couple of the examples I found like Q magazine whereas magazines like NME use only one page. I preferred to set my contents out this way as it displays more information and doesnt look cramped. I have challenged the conventions by adding lines between the cover lines to make them more sophisticated whereas other magazine other magazines dont usually use this which makes my magazine unique.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?My media product represents social groups in many different conventions including fonts, models, vocabulary, colours and other factors within the magazine. My magazine is an alternative indie rock magazine and is targeted to older teenagers/younger adults. Other music magazines such as MOJO, NME and Q have the same social group therefore I want to fit my magazine to this social group.I decided this social group as the results of my questionnaire stated that the highest scores were from those who fit into this social group best. The colours in my magazine are neutral and may be stereotyped to men, yet the shade and tone of the blue makes it more unisex than male. Most magazines I have looked at use unisex colours and most magazines I looked at are red like NME and Q which is a unisex colour. My typography doesnt exactly have a dedicated stereotype gender. The artists/models used are dressed quite common and dont look intimidating to the reader. In the article in my magazine the artists have used informal and inappropriate language through the magazine, I have done this to establish that this is a magazine for the older audiences. The typography is also bold and capitals stating that the magazine isnt for children as this font appeals to the older audiences as it looks more sophisticated.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?Before creating my magazine I researched which media institution would be best for my magazine, I came across Bauer Media Group which is the institution in charge of magazines like EMPIRE, MOJO, Q and KERRANG!. I looked at mist of these magazines as inspiration, especially Q magazine. NME is published by IPC Media (Times Inc.) NME and Q were the two main magazines I looked at for influences. It is explained that Q specialises in indie, rock and alternative music genres, which is exactly what my magazine associates with, which is the reason I chose this institution to publish my magazine. Again, KERRANG! specialises in rock music. The magazines published by this media institution are very successful and popular within the world and I would like my magazine to have the same amount of popularity and success. I feel the magazines published by Bauer Media Group are very similar to my own yet different in unique ways and think it would be best if a successful, well known institution published my magazine.

Who would be the audience for your media product?Before creating my music magazine I produced a questionnaire to investigate which features would suit the perfect audience best. I got the results back and planned my magazine around those results.I had an equal percentage of both male and female therefore I decided my magazine should be unisex. Most respondents were between 16 21 years of age, therefore my target audience is that age range. My questionnaire also determined what the music genre of my magazine would be and the top picked were indie, rock and alternative. My magazine is monthly as the majority read magazines monthly compared to daily or weekly. I also asked which music artists people most listened to and more popular artists were chose therefore Ive chosen to include well known artists in my magazine. My colour scheme is also what it is as these were the three most popular colours chosen. My magazine is also represented to the working class as its not a stupidly high price and a satisfactory price for a monthly music magazine. I also went onto UK Tribes on the Channel 4 website. This told me all the different Tribes of audiences, I found that the Alternative and Leading edge groups would be the specific audiences for my product. I found that there alternate style fitted best with my magazine and its genre and I have used certain conventions to draw the attention of these readers in.

How did you attract/address your audience?I attracted my audiences with different styles of fonts, colours, models and other conventions within my magazine. I used models wearing the stereotypical clothing of my audiences, I have also used direct address in most photographs to draw the reader in and create a bond with the viewer, and this is also a common convention in many magazines I have researched. I have chosen informal language (some explicit) to make the reader feel a part of the magazine and like theyve known the people inside and are friends with them, I havent used long literate words that may confuse the reader yet Ive played on words and added humour to add fun and excitement into the magazine. I have used this type of language as it makes the reader feel as though they are speaking to a friend or someone close to them and I want them to feel welcomed and comfortable reading my magazine. I have also used informal language as the younger audiences talk like this on a day to day basis and I want to feel as though the magazine was made/written by those of the same age and same social group as the reader. I have mainly used younger models to draw the reader in to make them feel more a part of the magazine. I have used multiple photographs to make the magazine more fun and to make the reader feel like theyre not reading the same thing about the same people. I have also used a variety of photos of the same models in a more comfortable environment, for example, I have used a serious pose for my front cover yet in the contents there is a picture of the same artist but in a more social situation to make the magazine seem less fake and remind the reader that they are real human beings to and just like them.I have chosen to advertise that my magazine have a Twitter, Instagram and YouTube account so the readers can follow/subscribe to the magazine and get the information wherever they are, I have also noticed NME have an Instagram and a Twitter account so their readers can keep up with them.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?When I first started the course I had never heard of blogger before and have been introduced to it and have learnt ways to make the presentation better and my work more accessible. I have used multiple systems to present my work such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Word, Animoto, Prezi, Scribd and SlideShare. These are just a few ways I have created my work and stylised it so it is unique and not the same boring style. I have also used Google Forms for my questionnaire and have developed more skills in Photoshop that I never had before. I have also learnt how to use InDesign and create articles and pages from a magazine. I have used YouTube to access videos and tutorials on how to use these systems and I am very happy I have come across a wide range of resources.I have also used different systems to work on, such as a laptop, desktop computer and an IMac. I enjoyed experiencing these different systems and found that it is easier to access more fonts on iMac than it is on other systems yet I am used to using the other programs on a laptop or desktop. I have also used a Nikon camera to take my photographs for my magazine and am very happy with the outcome as they look more refined and nicer. I have also used Photoshop and Photogramio to edit these photos.

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 learnt how to explore my ideas more and how to make a magazine look a lot more like a professional magazine. Before in my preliminary task of making a school magazine I used block colours and a boring layout but after researching into other magazines more and looking at conventions of successful magazines I have now learnt how to make a successful magazine.I used many different conventions in my preliminary than I did in my final piece. I chose colours that clashed and didnt go well together and I took photographs which werent very good in detail. In conclusion my final magazine was phenomenally better than my preliminary and I missed out many key feature in my preliminary magazine. I am also glad I did a preliminary as I can look back and point out what went wrong and what was successful and what I would change and make better.