Media Studies EvaluationPoppy Dodgson

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

I started this project by researching and looking at loads of magazine front covers, specifically once I knew the target audience of my own magazine. I have always liked the layout of vogue, so studied that magazine carefully. I also looked at music magazines like Q and NME which helped me enormously by showing me how music magazines worked for different audiences. I decided on an individual, different magazine for a specific audience that want to know about uprising talent, and so whilst using the two magazines on the right to help me to make my magazine, I also did things slightly differently to help appeal to my audience.

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

Title font found on Dafont, I chose this because it is different and stands out. ‘go’ is in a different font because I want the word ‘indie’ to be noticed first. It is black because it stands out against the light background.After a lot of changing round chose this font for the extra information about what is in the magazine because it fits well and reminds me of the target audience.

Date, price and bar code add realism to the magazine- all magazines have them.

Website so if reader is interested they can find out more. Puff- draws

attention to certain information that might make reader want to by mag, purple because fits in well and is eye catching.

Inspiration taken from the above Q magazine, makes audience think they’re getting more for their money so more likely to buy,

Image photographed my me to represent the audience/ gain interest.

‘Hayley and The Contours’ in big bold lettering, emulated vogues style here. Reader immediately knows what the main feature of the article is.

Here are the two magazines that I have emulated/ inspired me during the making of my magazine front cover. I have looked at the writing on both but have emulated the curly large writing of vogue and the ‘free inside!’ part of Q.

Here are the contents pages that I looked at and was influenced by during and before the making of my contents page.

Heading- emulated from teen vogue. Shows name, date etc.

Photograph- links strongly back to the target audience through gender, age demographic, and fashion.

Subscription deal advertised through a puff- green which draws attention to it.

Title- contents- font from dafont, on an angle to make it look different from every other contents page.

Second puff, shows ‘sneak peek’ of what is to come from a main feature in the magazine.

The contents of the magazine has big numbers and smaller text- emulated from teen vogue.

This is a magazine that i found whilst doing research on double page spreads. It has been the main source of inspiration and is definitely my favourite because of the picture, text (the ‘hostage’ style font’ and positioning and general layout of the article.

Title- bold, draws attention to the page, different and interesting.

Quote in bold to add interest and make the reader want to read on.

Article written in chatty, witty, interesting and simple writing to relate to the audience. Asks questions that the audience would want to know. Questions in bold so they stand out.

The image is off to the side, emulating the magazine below. I faded the image out so it looks like the photo is covering the entire double page.

Puff telling audience about next months main feature, so they will want to buy that one

Text at top advertising the website and how to ‘find out more’.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

‘Audience’ is made up of different focuses; age, gender and demographic which then relates to social groups. My magazine’s age is young adults to mid 20’s, the gender is mixed but aimed mainly at women shown through the images and colour schemes used

I have aimed my magazine at the individual, less mainstream market that focuses on independent musicians and artists that are becoming more popular or are ‘up and coming’. Above are the images i used in my magazine. They link strongly to my target audience through the fashion portrayed. I tried to make the photographs represent the people that I want to read my magazine. It is likely that the intended audience will have a strong passion for music, wanting to hear all about new, old and successful artists. The text that covers my magazine is chatty and interesting, reflecting the target readers. I would class my target audience as risk-takers that seek new and exiting things, making them innovators.

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

Whilst researching the magazine and music industry I have been made aware of the decrease in sales. This is why I have made it clear on the front cover of my magazine that there is subscription deal for a years worth of magazines (12) for only £17 which is almost half price. This will make the audience more likely to buy the magazine on a subscription, ensuring our magazine a yearly sale. This deal is available online (website address included on front cover) as well on a slip inside the magazine which you can send via post. Making the subscription digital allows the website to be visited regularly and this website keeps the magazine up to date with the ever changing media world. I would make apps available to buy for the iPhone and Android phones and iPods.

I would want ‘Bauer Media’ to distribute my magazine because I think that my audience would fit in well amongst the other magazines in their range. I do not think that IPC Media would fit with my magazine because they focus on mass market and upmarket women, whereas I have a more specific audience in mind.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My magazine is aimed at young adults- mid twenty year olds. Within my media pack my typical reader is a 22 year old woman who is in a band that’s popular in her hometown. This reader shows that the kind of audience that reads this magazine are passionate about music.

The social background of people who read my magazine are is a musically orientated one. The people are young, fresh and different and are both men and women, although there are more women that read it than men. The magazine is aimed at an audience that fall in to the categories of C1 and B (lower and middle class).

My audience would be aware of the upcoming media technologies which is where apps and deals online come in and relate back to my audience, as previously mentioned.

How did you attract/address the audience?

The demographic of my audience suits the production of my magazine because of many things. The photographs on all 3 pages are ‘indie’ looking, which immediately attracts the intended audience. These pictures also represent the age demographic of my audience, helping to pull people towards wanting to buy my magazine by knowing they will be able to relate to the content. The fonts covering my magazine link together but are all different styles, complete with bold sections to draw the reader to certain aspects of the magazine. The colour scheme ranges between feminine and masculine colours creating an appeal for both genders, making it more likely that the magazine will be bought. The writing style, especially in the double page spread is chatty, witty and interesting which will make the audience want to buy the magazine again. I have used words like ‘Exclusive’ suggesting the feature is only here once, again reinforcing the need to get the issue now.

what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this project?

I have learnt many skills when it comes to the technologies used when producing my magazine. Photoshop has been a great help when making my magazine. I have learnt how to edit photographs to make them look professional and glossy look. I have also learnt how to incorporate text via Photoshop and how to add shapes to create puffs. Google has helped me with my research and has enabled me to find out things that I could not have without it relating to magazines. DaFont has given me a choice of fonts to choose from which have made my magazine look a lot better. I think that these technologies have really helped me and definitely made my final magazine look a lot better.

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

When i first started using Photoshop i did not understand how to use it fully, therefore meaning that my preliminary task shows limited skill. I have since progressed to understand how to use Photoshop and am able to explore a variety of new and interesting ideas because of this. My ability to edit photo’s has become much more skilled and i have learnt how to incorporate fonts properly, as shown in the changes of my front cover (on my blog).

Overall i feel like the comparison between my preliminary task and my full coursework is noticeably different. I have learnt a lot, including how to focus my ideas and target market, making the magazine more realistic.