Evaluation

Question 1.

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

• During the research stage of designing my product I looked at various different magazines to see what the conventions are. I looked at a few different genres of magazine to pick up different ideas and conventions. Nearly all of the hip hop, pop, rock magazines all looked the same with the standard cover lines down the left hand side with the masthead at the top of the page and they all looked generally the same, but when I started to research drum and bass magazines they started to challenge the usual forms and conventions and they looked a lot different than the other magazines. The cover lines were put in different places, for example along the bottom of the page on their side and the masthead was found down the side of the page. I took these conventions on board as I started to design my drum and bass magazine.

When I was designing my front cover I started to try and put these forms and conventions in to practice. Withy my cover lines I tried to put them across the bottom of my page because I noticed it was a convention of some other drum and bass magazines, but when I tried to do this I found it made the page look too complicated and the cover lines were too hard to read so I didn’t do that. I used a strong mid shot image which was a convention of a drum and bass magazine and also the masthead ‘BEAT’ was used because it is a short harp word which represents drum and bass music which is also a convention of a magazine. Another convention of a drum and bass magazine was having quite an untidy, random front cover as it represents drum and bass music, I challenged this convention by making my page very neat and tidy, and more mainstream, I did this as I wanted my magazine to be mainstream and as well known as other branded magazines.

• Comparing my magazine to a professional product there are a lot of similarities. The image is very similar as it is a strong image of one person making eye contacts with the audience. The cover lines are also similar as I have some down both sides of the page and words that I want to stand out are in bold and some are different colours. The masthead of the two magazines are very similar as they are both bold, short, sharp words at the top of the page. Some of the differences are that I have a logo on the corner of my page unlike the professional product. I also have an online banner at the bottom of my page to present online status and I have a selling line underneath my masthead. Other similarities would be each of the pages have a strict colour theme that it has stuck to and they both have white/grey backgrounds so the other colour stand out more and jump off the page. The font styles are also similar as they are plain bold, easy to read fonts.

• Comparing my contents page to a professional contents page. The similarities are that both products have almost a full length image on the left hand side of the page with the text down the right hand side. Another similarity is that on both products it states what is on the certain page, and then underneath it says a little something about what will be on that page. The background to both pages are white so the text and images stand out. Both pages also have a colour them of black white and red. The differences of the two pages are, my product has its logo in the top left of the page and it also has a banner across the bottom of the page telling the reader to subscribe. Also in my image to model isn’t making full eye contact with the audience, he is looking up at the contents, whereas the professional product has the model looking right out to the audience.

When comparing my final double paged spread design to a professional product there are a lot of similarities. Both products have the main image on the left hand side of the page and have all of the text down the right hand side. On both products the text for the interview is written in columns, as this is a typical convention of a double paged spread. Both products are showing an interview and I have used the same technique as the professional product in splitting up the question from the answer, both products have used different coloured text for the question and the answer. The images aren’t really very similar but both are making eye contact and engaging the audience. My product and the official product both have a blown up quote and they also both have the text written slightly sideways to make it seem more casual and ‘cool’.

Question 2.

• How does your media product represent particular social groups?

• The product I have constructed has only really represented one particular social group as it is aimed at a very acquired taste of music. Drum and bass music is an up and coming genre of music so there are only very little social groups that will listen to it, which is why I have tried to make my magazine slightly more mainstream so it can involve more social groups taking an interest in the product. The people being represented in my magazine is mainly men, although some females will take to it, aged between 15 and 26, middle class people. I have constructed my magazine to represent these sort of people by using clothing, a stereotypical DJ will always be wearing a New Era cap, so I have made the model of my photo shoot wear a New Era cap, they will also be wearing hoodies usually branded with Adidas so my model is wearing an Adidas hoody to represent DJs. In my main image the model has some big headphones round his neck, this is also very typical of Drum and Bass music producers. I have also used a lot of colloquial language in my magazine to show a strong mode of address so the readers find the magazine to represent themselves and find it easier to read.

Question 3.

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

• The sort of institution that would distribute my product would be ‘specialist mags’. This is because there aren’t that many magazines out there that are of the same genre as mine, so I would need to find a specialist magazine distributer to want to take on my magazine. The benefit of them taking on my magazine would be that it would wider the range of genres they have and my magazine is aimed very well at a certain target audience. Also as there aren’t may magazines out there of my genre it would bring people to that institution in search of the specific magazine. My product is similar to the other drum and bass magazines out there but it is different in the way that it is going more mainstream this is a good thing as it is trying to pull in a wider variety of audience instead of just the small audience that already read drum and bass magazines. The reputation of ‘specialist mags’ is very good and reliable as it has had hardly any complaints since the institution started, this is good as if it has a good reputation then more people would use it to buy their magazines so more people would be able to see and purchase my magazine. The product I have created is more niche but is on the verge of becoming a mainstream product. My magazine will be generally advertised in the shops and maybe in shop windows, it will also be advertised a lot on the internet as that is where a lot of people spend their time. My product will mainly be distributed via the internet. They can subscribe to my product online and receive the magazine through post each week. As more and more people are using the internet and with the emergence of web 2.0 I think the internet would be the best way to purchase my product along side selling it in shops.

A short comic strip on the stages of creating the magazine

Question 4.

• Who would be the audience for your media product?

• To find out the who would be the audience for my magazine one of the things I did was a questionnaire. In my questionnaire I included questions like, how old are you? Gender? What kind of music do you listen to already? Do you like Drum and Bass music? The answers to these questions helped me work out who the audience would be for my magazine. I calculated the answers to the questionnaire I presented the results as a pie chart on to my blog. The information that I received from the questionnaire was that the people who were more likely to read my magazine were males aged between 16-24, this helped me decide who my magazine would be aimed at. I also created a customer profile which is also on my blog that stereotypes the typical person who would read my magazine, I did this by using information from my questionnaire. On the next slide I have created a mind map of what I thought about when deciding upon the audience for my magazine.

This could be the sort of person that would pick up and

read my magazine.

Question 5.

• How did I attract/address my audience?

Comparing flat plan to front coverWhen looking back at my initial flat plan ideas they’re very similar to my final products. I kept the idea of having a product logo on the top left corner of the page with a big bold masthead to the right of it taking up the top of the page. I also kept the idea of having a selling line but I changed the positioning of it slightly.

I kept the idea of having the main image taking up the majority of the page as it is important to have a good strong image to lure in the audience. I slightly changed the my idea of cover lines as instead of just having them down the left hand side of the page I put some down the right because I think it balances the page out better. Another difference is that I included a banner along the bottom of the page. I did this because I think it is important to have an online presence on your magazine because it is the most popular and easiest way to get more information about the product. I also thought the black banner across the bottom balanced the page nicely and finished it off well. I also kept the idea of the barcode and price in the bottom right of the page as that is a regular convention of a magazine cover.

Comparing flat plan to contents When comparing my flat plan of my contents to my final page it is similar in almost every way. Again I have kept the idea of having the magazine logo in the top left corner of the page. I have the main image down the left hand side of the page but it doesn’t take up the whole page like my flat plan said it would.

All of my contents are down the right hand side which my flat plan said it would so I have kept the same. I have kept the same colour scheme I was planning to use all the way through, red, white and black. Something I have changed is that I have included another online presence as they are very important to have on big pages.

Comparing flat plan to DPS

When comparing my flat plan to my double pages spread it is almost completely different than my initial ideas. I haven’t got the logo in the top left of the screen, instead I have used them as bullet points for my questions in the interview. I have a big title across the two pages linking them together with my main image on the left side of the page instead of the middle. Most of the text is on the right hand side of the page instead of it being all around the image. I have a blown up quote and a factfile of the DJ on the left hand side of the page to get rid of some of the black space and to balance out the page better. The main reason why my page is so different to my initial ideas is because if the image was in the centre of the page like I planned then the models face would have a crease through it and that wouldn’t like right.

Similarities between my product and a professional product of the same genre.

both products have a light background

Both products have big bold cover lines using back and red a lot.

Both products have a short, bold, standout masthead

both products have large main images that are central to the page with good, strong eye contact.

Both models are doing something with their arms that makes them look cool or ‘hard’, representing DJ/RAP

both products have a selling line that lures in DJs

Similarities between my product and a professional product.

Both products have a very similar image of the model standing to the left of the contents

Both products have a light, white background.

Both products have a black, white and red colour theme

Both products have the coverlines down the right hand side of the page written in black writing.

Similarities between my product and a professional product

Both products have big bold diagonal writing

Both products have their model making eye contact with the audience

Both products have a blown up quote

Both products have the text written on the right hand side of the page

Questionnaire with target audience.I have created an animation of the questionnaire that took place with

my target audience about the magazine I had created.

•http://goanimate.com/videos/0p0xExRVi6_k/1 - Ellie

•http://goanimate.com/videos/06e-GLH0-rHQ/1 - Harry

•http://goanimate.com/videos/007Y6KFlfH0w/1 - Charlie

Question 6.

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

The piece of technology that I have used the most during the process of creating my magazine is the macbook. Before I started creating my magazine I had never used a macbook before or knew why it was used for magazine designing and other similar things. But now I have created my magazine I know so much more about macbooks and how they’re so useful. I have learned the quickest and easiest ways to get around a macbook and how to do complicated designing procedures. I also learned a lot about photoshop and again how it is used to create and design magazine pages. Like the macbook, I had never used photoshop before I didn’t know anything about it. But I now have the ability to edit pictures to exactly how I want them to look and create all different pages using different kinds of fonts, images, textures and layers. I know exactly what steps to go through when creating pages on photoshop and how it can be used when designing products.

Another very important piece of technology used when creating a magazine is the camera. The images are a very important part of a magazine, especially on the front cover as you want a good strong image so a good camera is very important. During the process of constructing my magazine I have learned a lot about cameras. I have learned about all the different settings there are to it to make sure you get the right image. I have also learned a lot about the composition of images, like where the model should be in the shot if it is going on a contents page, or where the model should be for a front cover shot and things like that. I have also learned about the rule of thirds when taking a picture. So I have learned a lot about the technical features of a camera and I think my technical ability with one has improved a lot. I have also learned how pictures and cameras are so vital when creating a magazine.

There were many different websites that I used to present things on my blog to make it look more interesting and different. I have print screened some of the sites I have used. The one that I have used the most is slideshare. This is a quick and easy way to present powerpoints on to your blog so it is easy to see for your viewers. It means that all of the powerpoint is in one place so it looks neat and tidy. Another website I used was www.bubbl.us. This is a mind map creation website. I found this helpful to present all of my ideas in a neat and tidy mind map so I could present them on to my blog. I also used Pixton, which is a website where you can create your own comic strip. I thought this was a good way to present the different stages of your ideas in a different a fun way. I have learned that it is important to vary the way you present things on to your blog as it could get boring if everything looks the same and you want people to spend as much time as they can on your blog as it is all promoting your music magazine.

Question 7.

• Looking back at your prelim task- what do you feel you have learned from the progression from it to the full product?

Looking back at my prelim task I think my skills and knowledge on magazine designing has improved a lot. My knowledge of understanding the conventions of a magazine has improved which has helped me when designing my magazine. The masthead of my final product (the one on the right) is a lot bolder and stands out much more than the prelim task. Although my prelim task does have a selling line, I realised it was a strong convention of most magazines, so I made it bolder to stand out.

After doing some research I realised that having a magazine logo was a convention of a magazine so I created one to make my page look more professional. I think that the image on my final product is a lot stronger and more effective than the one on the prelim task as the eye contact is much stronger and I believe that the composition of the image is better. The coverlines have also improved as they are small and hard to read on the prelim task cover but after researching conventions I saw that big bold, easy to read coverlines were on every big branded magazine so I made sure I included big bold coverlines to my product, I also used a much wider variation of fonts with my coverlines as most magazines have about 4 different fonts on their front cover. When researching conventions of a magazine I also found out that having an online presence is on all magazines, even though I already had an online presence on my prelim task I made sure that I made it stand out more and made it easier to read and notice on my final product.