EVALUATIONMalene Riise AS Media

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

products? A real music magazine normally contains a master headline on top of the page. I have also used this

feature, by placing The Beat on top of my magazine, to make it look more professional.

I have used a wide range of different contents and fonts on my front cover, as they do in real magazines. I have been creative and made this magazine in to my own by for example placing one of the cover lines on my model`s arm. This feature makes it look like the text is a tattoo, which are common within the rock genre.

The use of sharp, black letters emphasises the rock genre. I have also used some caps lock text lines to draw attention to my front cover page.

I have placed the release month and the issue number right under the headline just as a normal music magazine would.

My front cover contains a barcode and the price on the right lower corner to let the audience know how much they`ll have to pay when they get the magazine.

The woman featured is a Norwegian friend of mine and she is called Ane. I chose her because she is a very typical rock person with her looks, style, personality and music taste.

I personally told my model to wear her Paramore t-shirt to both continue the red trend in my magazine and because her posture is inspired by her.

o I have used three colours that is repeated throughout my magazine; red, whiteand black. According to my research, those are the colours a real rock magazine would use.

Front cover page

For my contents page, I have repeated the three colours (red, white and black) that were featured on my front cover.

I decided to make the background of my contents page gradient to make it seem more expensive. The page seemed more boring and empty without it.

You can see a clear link between my front cover and this page, when it comes to the cover lines, because I have repeated them just as a normal magazine would.

I have placed a box with “extras” on the right side of the page. This is to attract readers and to give the magazine the little extra. It also gives the audience a hint of what else the magazine has to feature.

I have used some very modern features in my magazine, for example a QR-code. I also wrote “Scan the barcode, subscribe to our weekly mail and you will get a chance to win one of the classic The Beatles CD's!” to attract rock interested audience. Many real magazines features contests and activities where you can win prices, so I decided to adopt that by adding Twitter, Instagram and Facebook icons to let the magazine go viral.

Contents Page

Double Spread Page

For my double page spread I have featured three different street bands. My article is written on the same order as the pictures are shown, so the first paragraph is about the top picture (King No-One), the next one is about the middle picture and the last one is about the last picture.

I have also used a highlighted quote to draw attention to the article and to let the audience get an idea of what the article is about.

My article begins with a drop cap to draw attention to the introduction of my magazine.

I have also used several different fonts and sizes to get variation on my double page.

To let the audience know who wrote the article, I chose to write my name on the end of it. This also makes the writer seem famous and important.

You can clearly see that the three colours I have chosen to use in my magazine, is repeated on this page to. My pictures are also edited so the red featured in them will be visible.

I have also put on page numbers as a real music magazine would have

The headline I chose to use on my double spread page was a black, bold font with serifs to draw attention. This represents the rock genre and attracts the same social group. I also chose to stretch the font a bit to make it my own.

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

My media product would be distributed by Bauer Media Group. This is because I got much of the inspiration for my magazine from one of their Brands; Q-magazine. They are also the number one actively-purchased music magazine in the UK.

You can see many similarities between my magazine and Q-magazine, for example the colour scheme. I have learned that most rock magazines uses red, white and black as their main colours in the magazine.

Another similarity is that both my front cover model and Q's front cover model sticks out her tongue and touches her head.

I have placed my main cover story on the bottom of my front cover to draw attention. Q also uses this technique.

Both the Q-magazine and my magazine are published monthly to keep the reader interested.

Bauer usually produces brands that is suitable for both genders, so featuring both females and males in photos and using contents that is enjoyable for both genders. This is why my magazine would fit perfectly as one of the Bauer brands.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My music magazine attracts an audience in the age group 13-25 years old. This is because the magazine features very young models. The audience would also contain a wide range of different cultures, because I have used models from Norway, England and Chile.

I am aiming for a rock interested audience, which I have completed by featuring rock bands and artists in my magazine. My choice in fonts and headlines also attracts the rock social group.

My research showed me that most rock music magazines make use of the colours red, white and black, to symbolize the music genre and make the magazine fit with the audiences personality.

My audience would be a good blend of both male and female because I have featured pictures of both genders in my magazine.

The contents in my magazine is aimed for young adults, by featuring headlines and articles that is suitable for their age group. An example of this is the headline “How to do a drum solo”, which is written because of the young adults hobbies and interests.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine represents young adults of both genders. This is because the younger generation read more magazines than the older generations.

The clothing used on my front cover and my contents page is all planned and handpicked by me. I did this to let the audience get the right impression of my magazine. I have chosen to use black Dr. Martens shoes, a denim shirt, a grey hoodie and a black leather jacket to emphasise the rock feeling. This attracts people that are interested in rock music. So I represent the rock social group by the images I have used.

My magazine does not just represent females, but also males. You can clearly see this on my double spread page where I have used three different pictures of guys. This attracts more of both genders.

The use of the repetitive colours; red, white, attracts both male and females.

My headlines also represents the rock social group, because it shows my audiences interests and hobbies. An example of this is “How to do a drum solo” because teenagers are usually interested in learning new skills and rock interested people are usually interested in drums and other instruments.

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

I knew most of the information and techniques about Photoshop and InDesign from last year, but I have definitely expanded my knowledge in both of the programs.

o I have learned more about how to edit photos in Photoshop, for example how to get rid of pimples and other flaws in the picture.

o I have learned how to highlight one specific colour in a picture. For example, I have highlighted the red in the three pictures I have featured on my double spread page.

o I have learned how to make a drop shadow, as I did for my front cover.

o I have learned how to make a drop cap for my text in InDesign.

o I have learned how to transfer a colour from Photoshop to InDesign

o I have learned how to make different part of a picture blurry. For my double spread page, I made the background in my three pictures blurry, to make the artists be more visible.

How did you attract/address your audience? According to the research I did, most rock magazines uses red, white and

black as their main colours for their magazine.

I used a couple competitions and activities where my audience could win several different prices. This would attract many people.

The composition, mise-én-scene and choice of models are all following the rock genre, this would help to attract the social group within rock.

I chose to use a master head font with black, sharp angular capital letters. This emphasises the rock genre and therefore attract people with a rock interest.

The models I have chosen to use all represents the rock genre with their appearance: - My front cover model, Ane, is wearing a Paramore shirt, which is a rock singer. Ane is also sticking her tongue out of her mouth and touching her head. This is a typical female posture for front cover of rock magazines. I have chosen to place one of the cover lines on Ane's arm to make it look like a tattoo, this attracts the audience I am aiming for. - The two models I have used on my contents page, Marte and Clara, are wearing urban clothing to appear as unisex because judging based on gender is wrong, and my magazine wants to convey that both men and women should have the same rights. Rock music is often connoted with the urban style and my photos will therefore attract people interested in rock. - The three pictures I have used on my double spread page is all featuring only guys. This is to emphasise that both men and women are welcome to read my magazine.

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

product? I feel like I have improved my creativity of the progression from planning to the finish product.

When it comes to the planning, I feel I have learned that planning a key element to a successful product.

I have learned that I have to plan all the stages to achieve the perfect results. This task has taught me some valuable skills within project management.

The beginning of the planning process was probably the hardest, because I did not really know what I was aiming for, but I soon learned that you just have to be creative and make decisions based on what you like and think fits the best.

I have also learned that it will always occur problems or new ideas, so the first draft is usually never as good as the finished product. This shows your progression within creativity.

When we started on taking photos, I learned that it is so much harder to get what you want, if the model won't co-operate with you, and I also noticed that you have to take as many pictures as you can, so you have lots to choose from, because most of them will not turn out as great as expected.

When we first started on doing the research, I felt it was unnecessary, but I soon realized that it was very useful when we made our magazine.

The survey we made turned out to be very useful when it came to creating the magazine, because I got to know what young adults likes to read about and what usually attracts them to a magazine.

When we had to describe our magazine in a powerpoint, I learned to use several different programs such as Slideshare, where you can post for example a powerpoint on your blog.