Evaluation of media products

By Chris Bossons

ProductsFront Cover

For my front cover, I decided to have one single person to stand out. The image itself was purposely edited to be bright and colourful, and appear unique from the other magazines. As conventional, the barcode was placed in the lower right hand corner. The strip along the bottom was incorporated to match other magazines style, to keep within that genre. I used page rip effect throughout to make the magazine itself look “rough” to appeal to the target market, however, I feel that the effect may have been overused.

ProductsContents

The design on the contents has altered overtime, however, every time it has been altered, it kept the same foundation of design. The ripped paper effect was still used in the design, along with the splash effects, however, these effects have been toned down to make the text readable. (The idea being the front cover has grabbed the audience in with the design, now the contents is more informative.

ProductsDouble Page Spread

For the double page spread, i purposely made the ‘Models’ wear similar uniforms to show that they are all equal within the band. The smart uniform was used to show that they are also more respectful and intelligent than other rock bands.

The media products that I have made can be seen to be far from conventional. It uses aspects from several different magazines that I have previously researched. For example, the masthead I have used takes aspects from both Q magazine and KERRANG magazine. The masthead I used was made with the black and white font/background arrangement, inspired by the KERRANG magazine title, yet it was place in the top left, similar to Q magazine.

The colours my magazine is also seen to be unconventional aswell. The colours I have used are seen to be dark, yet colourful at the same time. However, although the magazine is unconventional, the product has been purposely made to target a gap in the market that has yet to be successfully filled.

Conventions

Social Groups The magazines I had previously researched were

targeted mainly towards teenagers and young adults, in the age range of 14-21. These were people who enjoy the music genre of a “rock” magazine.

The genre I chose for my media products was Rock. I also chose alternative rock, for example, classical rock and 60’s “rock and roll” such as the Beatles. I believe that this genre has a gap in the market. As well as this, I also attempted to combine it with the genre of Indie. These two genres are alternative to the stereotypical teenager.

My media products represents the social group of the alternative teenager. Often, these teenagers are from a variety of different class background. To target this audience, I used a teenager who is also classed in this social group. This will make the cover of the magazine seem more interesting to the target market.

Distribution – MusicMags

The first publisher that may distribute my magazine is MusicMags. They publish the magazine “The Beatles” which means that they would publish other magazines with similar genre, such as my magazine. However, the other magazines they publish seem to be more bland and generic, and my media product would differ from the designs of their other publications.

Distribution – Future publishing

Classic Rock Classic Prog Computer Music Future Music Guitarist Guitar Techniques Metal Hammer Rhythm Total Guitar Guitar Aficionado Guitar World Guitar World Legends Revolver

The Second publisher that may distribute my magazine is Future Publishing. The magazines they publish often use bright, colourful images and are often also edited similar to my product. From the list of magazines, it is safe to say that the genre of magazine this publisher distributes is also alternative, which is similar to my magazine.

Audience From my research, I decided to make my magazine targeted

to a niche section of the market. This audience has been previously stated as the alternative teenager. This target market is often seen as the most uncommon, however, this gap in the market would be beneficial to my magazine, making the competition limited.

I took the majority of my inspiration from KERRANG! Magazine. This is shown in my work with the layout being similar to that of KERRANG! Magazine.

I used darker colours to give a dirtier look, to represent the indie/rock scene of “underground.”

Although my magazines attract both genres, I believe that the magazine will attract more rock music listeners than indie. However, this would have to be proven after selling.

Targeting the audience. I made my magazine target my audience by using

colours that are associated with that genre, which have been proven to work by previous magazines I have researched.

I also targeted my audience by using an image of a character that is also associated with that genre. The picture is clearly shown in the centre, similar the magazines I have researched.

Informal language is used to make the magazine appear friendly to the reader, which also means it is more likely to be targeted to them. The downside of talking informally is that the magazines looks less professional, which may discourage some readers.

Use of technology

While creating my products, using software's such as Macromedia Fireworks, I believe that my skills of using this software have increase. For example, while creating my front cover, I learnt how to use the Alien splat edges filter effectively to create a torn paper effect to use on my product.Another tool I have learnt to use effectively is

the layer styles. This means I can edit objects effectively to alter its appearance depending on the other objects. Such tools have a used include lowering the opacity of an object and altering its blend mode.

Progress from prelim.

Progress from prelim. Looking back at my prelim task, I believe that I have

made a substantial improvement in the time between the prelim and my final product. This is due to a better advancement in software usage, which enabled me to not only produce a higher quality product, but also meant that the time it took to produce a piece was decreased.

Since my prelim task, I have learnt how the structure of a magazine should look like which meant that the layout of my product looks professional.

Since the prelim, I have also learnt the conventions of magazine design. I have also learnt of to make a magazine unconventional in order to attract an alternative audience than the conventional audience.