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

Before starting this project, I was not very good at editing digitally, but after starting the project I’ve improved a lot. I have had a few problems with my media product especially with the front cover, my photo was not positioned correctly and the text was too close to the edge. I did not know how to reduce the stretched effect but I then cropped the photo so that it would fit.

So I had to use many ranges of programmes to help me, especially Serif Photo plus as I knew how to use it and I had to edit the photos I took to improve them. This was helpful when trying to make the photos stand out and for when I had to sharpen or cut out certain parts of the photo.

The second thing I have learnt in this project is how to use blogger. I have had a Tumblr blog before so this step was easy for me to do. 

The final thing I have learned to do was to use Serif Page Plus. This is software perfect  for making the front cover, double page spread and contents page. It allows you to edit fonts, text and pictures. With this software I made my product. It was quite difficult to use at first because it had many different features but once I learned how make the front cover, making the DPS and contents page was easy. The difficult part of using it was trying to make the paragraphs fit and be in line with each other, without having to be craped together. I was really trying to make use of the spare space so that it is not wasted.

 

 

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The social groups that I want to attract are teenagers and young adults. The audience that my production is targeted at would be working class and perhaps the middle class. I think this because teenagers and students would not necessarily have a big income and students are portrayed as being frugal.

I have represented class within my production through the front cover. The person on my front cover can be seen as working class because of the casual choice of clothes as well as the genre of music this person is associated with. The girl is wearing a hooded sweatshirt that is associated with hip hop and you would not see an upper class person wearing this. The way she is dressed and presented challenges the stereotype that middle class are well presented however. If it was a magazine exclusively for middle and upper class it would probably be something like a classical music magazine. I think this because you do not expect wealthy people listening to mainstream music or genres like hip hop. You can also see the potential target audience through the style of the double page spread. In the photo the girl has her hood up which again stresses the working class stereotype with teenagers and young people in general wearing hoodies.

The age of the people who would view or buy my product would be ages 16-24. The person on the front cover and double page spread is a similar age, the girl is portrayed as being at least 20. Because of this she is more likely to reach out to the audience as you relate to people closest to your age rather than much older or much younger people. My product supports the stereotype that young people are rebellious and like to risk things to get the ideal outcome. As well as the idea they like to party and have fun.

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

My music magazine challenges conventions because it has a unique central image that’s unlike the other music magazine’s I’ve seen and researched. The colours are typically feminine, using font in different shades of pink and purple. This way I can appeal to the female target audience. My magazine also has a barcode like all the magazines this makes it look authentic.

The masthead of my magazine is in conventional place and it is similar to ‘Q’ magazine as it has a pronounced letter on the logo, making the magazine recognisable.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my media product would be young people aged 16-24 and mostly female. This is because of the choice of colours and the genre of my magazine. I kept the front cover feminine using bright and bold colour like pink and purple. I also used a female model because it appeals to young girls and it also relates to them.  

The target audience is more likely to be socially active and people who like to go to music festivals as well as people who listen to music on mobile phones, iPods, computers etc.

 

How did you attract/address your audience?

Firstly, I carried out research into  target audience to see what kind of magazines appeal to my chosen target audience. I had to make sure that the front cover was appealing to my target audience. I formed a questionnaire in order to gain more information about the target audience and more information about what they would like to see in a music magazine.  

I decided that the genre of my music magazine would be hip-hop and pop genre. I chose more than one genre to cover a wider target audience so that more people would potentially buy it. To attract the audience I used a range of colourful and bold fonts to really make people notice it if they would see it in a shop or magazine stand.

The target audience research showed that to appeal to young people I had to use bright colours and bold fonts. The front cover also had a young person on it that would relate to a younger target audience.

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

I think a good media institution that could distribute my media product is Bauer Media. Firstly, because they publish a wide variety of different magazines that range from different target audiences including men, women and teenagers. I think my magazine will challenge but also help become familiar to the distributors of how to target this magazine at the correct audience.
Secondly, one of their magazines 'Kerrang!' is the world's biggest selling weekly music magazine and original multi-platform youth brand for all rock genres, which has also secured an army of dedicated, music loving fans. Furthermore, my magazine could benefit from being distributed by
Bauer as they are known worldwide, allowing them to be able to promote my product well nationally.

Finally, the industry doesn't produce a magazine within the genre of Hip-Hop and Rap, and because
Bauer have been running for a number of years (1875), therefore my magazine would offer them a good direction into the British/American hip-hop and pop market. Which also will give readers a genre that is new and fresh in this institution.

Double Page Spread

Front Cover evaluation

Central Image: I have chose this picture to be the front cover because the way the person posed in it is usual and would stand out. It also links well to the main cover line and has a good face expression that would appeal to my target audience which is mostly female.

Font: I used a mixture of different fonts to again link to the target audience and I wanted my magazine to have a pop theme, I think the font really suits the genre of the music of this magazine which is mainly pop and electric pop.

Colours: I tried to stick with colours that would appeal to females in the age group of 16-24. Pink is strongly associated with girls that is why a lot of the font is in this colour. The purple goes well with the pink so I've decided to have some cove lines in purple so that all the colours work together. The yellow is essentially to make some text stand out from the rest more and it visually looks good with the rest.

Masthead: I kept the positioning of the logo the same as most other music magazines; in the corner. I did this because it stands out, it looks more professional as well as it does not overwhelm the central image or other cover lines.

Slogan: The slogan is short, tasteful and simple. It creates a recognisable brand along with the masthead.

Puff: (Win V fest tickets) I tried to make the puff relatable to the target audience. Young people like to go to music festivals therefore I think this puff would appeal.

Mock up of School Magazine contents

Contents page