‘FRESH’ Magazine Evaluation

Raja Rouf

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

Throughout the production of my media products I have used real conventions and forms to give myself guidance/direction that I intend to go towards with my own products. However I challenged the article by using a current artist’s album as a topic of the main article, many magazines only review albums vaguely, in my DPS an album has been reviewed and rated in full depth. This gives the audience a clear/detailed insight of the album. The preliminary task really helped me get a clear view on what I really wanted to achieve and create with my final product. Doing three textual analysis’s allowed me to discover and recognise different demographics for different genre magazines, for example Kerrang magazine dresses their front cover models in darker colours unlike the magazine Vibe they use a different route and focus more on the manipulation of photos to create a greater effect.

As I analysed three different magazines to give myself a clearer understanding on a wider scale of magazine genres: Kerrang, Q, RWD. I found that Q magazines are very specific in their colour schemes, for example Q designers will dress the model in clothes that will match or blend well with the colour of font (Cheryl Cole Edition).

After analysing magazines I began to plan the conventions for my media products. My main intention was to attract the audience; I figured this can be done by bold, loud colours/fonts, using various Buzz words, also by using a young an attractive model. From my field research (questionnaires) I collected I came to a conclusion that the audience must first be drawn to the magazine this is the first step to them purchasing the magazine, once being drawn to the magazine they have an incentive to purchase it. For my colour scheme for my front cover I knew which colours would co-ordinate well. As it was a Hip-Hop/RnB/Grime/Bashment genre the colour scheme was fairly flexible, in the end the colour scheme consisted off: Black, white, yellow, red. The background of the front cover was filled with black which allowed the other colours to strongly stand out.

Personally I believe that the images of a front cover are essential, once the correct image is enforced the rest of the cover fits into place. The model for my magazine was chosen carefully **Image Connor* a male model was chosen for the front cover of the magazine, this is because throughout the Hip-Hop/RnB/Grime/Bashment industry males artists dominate. My model is a young handsome multi-ethnic individual (Jamaican and English). Due to his well-recognised fashion sense the female audience will also be highly attracted to the magazine, his posture and attitude towards the camera also reflect his personality/character which is recognised by the audience also In my DPS I have used an attractive female model which will be highly popular with the dominating male audience.

How does your media product represent a particular social group?

Social groups are represented through my media products, this is mainly formed by: genre, images,, fonts, colour schemes. Fresh magazine’s target audience is teenagers from 16 to 19 are who are interested in their music and the meaning of the music they listen to. Fonts and colours are essential because the two elements work together to attract the audience. On the cover of Fresh this has been generated by having a black background which allows colours of fonts stand out, my house colours black, white, yellow and red to co-ordinate well, especially yellow because yellow is very bright which allows buzz words to be bigger and bolder than the other words on the cover.

The fonts used are San Serif which automatically fit in with the demographics (age) of the target audience, San Serif font is recognised by teenagers which will give the reflection that Fresh magazine is modernised; this gives them another incentive to purchase the magazine. A unique part of my front cover would be the Masthead this is because the font used is very bold. The font fits in very well with the genre and the title of the Magazine FRESH, it is not a standard font, the font outlines the letters but does not fill the letter with the font this makes the magazine name very distinctive

As I had to choose an image for my magazine I found it very difficult to choose one image. The image had to reflect character. Finally I chose an image of my male model directly addressing the camera, he was not smiling but he was slightly smirking, the female audience will perceive him as a ‘Cheeky’. His posture is very straight/upright, he is positioned slightly facing the side this pose gives a more 3D effect to his image because you can see the side and the front of his body. Connor (the model) was dressed in colours to blend in slightly with the background, his jacket was shiny black which will stand out against the plain black background, he has his hands in his pockets and also slightly smirking as mentioned before, his actions in the image present him giving ‘Attitude’ towards the camera. Attitude fits in directly with the genre of the magazine, artists within the Hip-Hop/RnB/Grime/Bashment are known for giving out attitude in front of cameras and being cocky,

What kind of Media Institution might distribute your media product and why?

Fresh magazine could be distributed by the institution ‘Inter Media’ who are top sellers of magazines such as Vibe within the UK and United States. Vibe magazine similar to Fresh magazine, the main genre is Hip-Hop and Urban music supporters, this aspect links in with Fresh Magazine, currently Inter Media are selling Vibe magazine and doing very well this proves that Inter Media could also sell Fresh magazine.Inter Media are established in the media industry and have various networks which will guarantee Fresh magazine to be on the top shelf of the High Street shops. These networks creates the opportunity for Fresh to be distributed on a wider scale, this generates brand awareness for Fresh. The more Newsagents, music shops Fresh is presented in the higher chance of Fresh being recognised by the target audience.

Who would be the audience for my media product?

For my media products a target audience needed to be considered. As I considered my genre for my media products I chose my target audience to be: teenagers from 17 to 19 who are interested in the meaning of music. My media products are open to both genders but more towards the Male audience this is because the genre is supported more by the male audience. The audience are mainly into Hip-Hop/RnB/Bashment/Grime music, because the genre reflects that type of music. These genres are very popular, but there is yet to be a magazine that considers all four genres, that is why Fresh magazine has the potential to be very successful in the magazine market.

How did you Address/Attract your audience?

In my media products images were the main method of attracting the audience. If the image was realistic the audience will be interested in the product, which then leads to the layout of the product. For example if the image and the layout look realistic the audience are more attracted which can lead to them purchasing product. On the layout I used cover lines which would overlap the image, this makes the product come across as effective. House colours are another main method of attracting the audience, if the house colours co-ordinate well then the audience will address the product in a positive manor but if the product has been generated by, rash, opposite colours the audience may be put off. The main image gives a instant signal that the product is for mature, urban music fans. In the double page spread an image is placed in the bottom right corner of young female, she is posing with her arms in the air/ stroking her hair, legs wide apart, tight trousers shaping her legs. This type of pose creates a ‘sexy’ mentality. The target audience 16 – 19 are able to understand the image unlike younger teenagers.

On my front cover I used buzz words such as ‘EXCLUSIVE’ to atract the audience, exclusive represents, an item or story published or broadcast by only one source - that item being an interview which will only be reduced by Fresh Magazine. This encourages the audience to purchase the magazine.

The Left Third gives a slight idea to the audience about the main article. I chose to change certain words in a different font and size. All the information was presented in a Red font at the same size, I changed the colour of 3 words to a bold yellow, I also changed these 3 words into a differender bolder font (Impact) and increased the size. The main aim of doing this was for the audience to read a message within the information presented before reading the whole text.

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

 Throughout this process I have learned a lot and developed a lot of skills. I created my products by using Serif Photo Plus and Serif Page Plus. These two software’s were provided by my school, they were available on all school computers. At first I struggled to use the software because I was not familiar with the different types of tools, but over type I increased my knowledge and recognition of the tools and methods of manipulation. There are several editing methods I have learnt, one would be transparency, I am now able to make the background of the image completely transparent. Doing this allows me to put the image on any document and it will blend in with the background. Another skill I have learnt is how to make a standard original photo look more realistic and effective, making the image look brighter and sharper, this can be done by editing the contrast and saturation of the image.

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

Comparing by preliminary task and my final product shows that I have improved my target audience understanding, this is linked to the layout of my final product and also the house colours of the products. The colours used in my preliminary task are very dull and boring but within my final product the colours are bold and attractive. My preliminary task comes across as a low amateur standard piece of work. But over time my final product has shown a drastic difference in creativity and style in comparison to my preliminary task.