Evaluation

My media product uses many conventions that both develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products. For example the title of my magazine comes from a song name by The Kooks; ‘Ooh La’. This helps reinforce the music theme within my magazine. Another magazine that has done something similar is the Rolling stone magazine. The magazine name itself is a song. My magazine has an indie theme to it and this is reinforced because of the Indie song name used as the title. Another similar convention my product has is the central close up image on the cover. Many magazines use close up images on the cover so immediately without opening the magazine the reader is able to develop a personal relationship with the celebrity which encourages them to become more curious about their life. The anchorage text on my cover also helps with this as it gives away more information on the celebrity and why their facial expression is how it is on the cover. I have used a black and white central image and the text and title on my magazine is in colour. The artist’s lips on my magazine are also in colour. The black and white looks dramatic so the close up image indicates that there is drama in the artist’s life that readers may want to know about. However, it also emphasises more on the coloured elements on my cover and helps them stand out. For example, the artist’s lips are red whereas, the rest of the image is in black and white. This helps us focus on her lips, which could suggest that she has something to talk about in the magazine that may interest us. The title block is also brightly coloured which enables it to stand out from the black and white image. This convention has been used to a minimum by magazines such as ‘Rolling Stone’ and ‘Q’ however; I have used it in great detail for my product which will make my product stand out from other music magazines. I have also used puffs on my magazine cover that inform the reader on the artists that will be in the magazine and the particular topic that will relate to them. This convention is also used in many magazines such as Q, Kerrang!, Rolling Stone and Mojo. Furthermore, I have used a barcode at the bottom of my magazine as well as the issue number, date and price of the magazine in small print. All these aspects are those that are used in other music magazines. Because of them my target market will know that it is a magazine and more specifically a music magazine (due to the usage of a guitar image at the corner of my magazine). However, my magazine does challenge the typical conventions as well. This has been done so although my magazine is recognised as a music magazine, it stands out against the other music magazines. There is no particular colour theme to my magazine. Although the colour combination used attracts certain types of people (16 year olds to adults) there is no on going colour combination used. This goes against a typical convention commonly used by magazines such as ‘Rock sound’ or ‘Kerrang!’. This keeps my magazine more interesting as I am planning to keep the heading the same colour so the next issue will still be recognisable but would look fresh because it will look different each time.

My magazine represents a few social groups, which mainly reflect my target market. Although my magazine is mainstream, in this particular issue, it focuses on representing young females from 16-26 that are going through problems in life. Although, this is not evident enough on the front cover as the artist looks happy in the image and the anchorage text does not imply anything associated with problems. But, my contents page and feature article help represent this because of the quote ‘Suicide is the easy way out, I like challenges’ from the artists interview which suggests the artist will be talking about deep issues such as suicide and her opinions on it. This could represent other females her age. My feature article gives more detail on the artist and how she considered committing suicide because of loneliness and image orientation. These topics are common amongst young British females and having the British artist talk about them and relate to them could not only help them with their problems but also, represent them. In addition to this, my contents page covers topics related to suicide and rehab (which could represent particularly females), band problems amongst male bands (which could represent human relationships amongst males) and new alternative music (which could represent alternative music fans). So, there are representations of a few social groups but, this particular issue focuses on young British females.

According to my research on audiences and institutions I would like Bauer Media to be the institution that would distribute my magazine. The media institution distribute mainstream magazines such as ‘Q’ and ‘Rolling Stone’ and more specific niche ones such as ‘Kerrang!’. My magazine itself is mainstream and the audience vary depending on the issue so it could be distributed by the company. Bauer also distribute 282 magazines in 15 countries including the UK so this will be beneficial as my magazine has a British Indie style to it. My magazine is influenced by magazines such as ‘Q, Rolling Stone and Mojo’ and all three magazines have been distributed by Bauer Media. Bauer is also one of the UK’s biggest publishing groups so if my magazine is distributed by the company it will sell in the UK. The company also own radio stations as well as websites. This makes it more popular as it reaches the target market in many ways. This could also help make individual products more popular as they have been produced by the company. So, if Bauer Media distributes my product my product will not only invite a larger target market to Bauer Media but will also, be recognised easily as it is produced by a famous distributor.

The audience for my magazine are both male and females from 16 years to adults. However this varies in each particular issue depending on the topics. In this issue the target audience is narrowed down to British females from 16 years to 26 that listen to rock, Indie in particular. It also targets the male audience at a smaller scale as my magazine covers topics on a male rock band, rap band and a female sex symbol; Britney Spears. This attracts a male audience. Although, my main topic is on a female, this may still attract males as they may want the magazine purely because of the female on the cover. Other magazines such as ‘Rolling Stone’ and ‘Q’ also do this. However, it will attract more females due to content of the feature article. This issue is targeted mainly at females but the stereotype of a magazine targeted at females is slightly subverted. The magazine cover does not talk about the typical issues females associate them selves with such as ‘hair, makeup and fashion’. Instead, it covers more serious heavy topics which could also interest a male audience.

In order to attract my target audience, the title of my product is a song by ‘The Kooks’. The band is British which gives my magazine a British Indie theme. This will immediately attract British Indie fans. The colours used on the title block are blue and red and greyish white which are similar to the colours on the union jack reinforcing the British theme and attracting British audiences. My magazine also uses bright colours such as blue and pink. This enables it to attract both male and females due the use of the traditional colour representations. Throughout my magazine there is no particular use of on going colour combinations. This helps attract a larger target market and doesn’t narrow it down. However, I have used a musical electronic item on the bottom of each page. To differentiate my front cover from the rest of the pages I haven’t used speakers at the bottom of the page and instead I have used an electric guitar. But, both speakers and electric guitars represent modern day music (mainly rock) and this would attract specific fans that may be into modern music or rock. I have used a bold font that is not complete to give my magazine a rough finished. I found this font at www.dafont.com and although it is capitalized for my title block, easy to read, it is not smooth from the edge which gives my magazine an impression of slight rebelliousness. Furthermore, I have used a variety of artists; both male and females which would attract both sexes to my magazine. The use of artists from different genres such as Rap and Hip Hop, Alternative Rock, Pop and Indie give my magazine a multiple genre balance. This invites more music fans. Lastly, the ‘Free Poster!’ give away at my magazine may attract both males and females as the artist is an inspirational female artist for female fans and may be attractive to male fans. This will also help attract my target audience.

I have learnt many things about the technologies from the process of constructing this product. I have mainly used Photoshop and Blogger. Different forms of technology that I am new to. I have learnt many things whilst using Photoshop. I learnt how to highlight particular parts of an image to cut it out as well as using the cloning tool. I also used the blur tool and crop tool which helped me make an image look smoother and resize it. I also used other tools such as the colour picker, the text tool, and the image sharpener. All these tools contributed to the professional look of my magazine.
I have also learnt many thins whilst using blogger. I felt it was important to me, to also focus on the colour scheme of my blog and match it to my magazine theme as it would help reinforce my magazine style through this. I found blogger easy to use and edit with as it has the basic tools such as adding images, adding text, heading space and basic fonts. It was also useful to create polls so I could receive feeback from school mates that are also part of my target audience (16+). The feedback received from the polls helped me pick out a suitable title block style which is one of the most important ways of attracting certain target audiences. So, creating a poll for this was useful. If I could redo this entire task, I would want to use adobe illustrator as I did not use it. Instead, I used the software ‘Paint’ which is not as professional looking as adobe illustrator.

Looking back at my preliminary task, I feel that I have learnt a lot in the build up to my final tasks. I learnt how to edit images to make them attract certain types of people or to create certain atmospheres and moods. For example I took different images in different locations where the mise-en-scene was important as, it would show the audience what type of celebrity she is and what her style is like. The editing of images helped me create a certain mood. For example, black and white images helped make the image look more serious and dramatic. I also learnt that different shots would build up different impressions of the artist. For example an extreme long shot would keep distance from the reader and artist only revealing general information. A high angle would make the artist look more vulnerable and the reader will feel more powerful. In order to keep my magazine mainstream, I looked at other mainstream magazines such as Q and Rolling Stone. I saw that their images used are often in black and white which gave the magazine a dramatic look. I learnt the function of black and white images and how it creates a particular atmosphere. I also learnt that most magazines used capital lettering for the title block and I also used this as from my research I found that it puts emphasis on the magazine name, adds importance and also makes it clear to read, bold and eye catching. I have also learnt that layout conventions are important and the colours of the layout are not as irrelevant as I would have thought. I’ve learnt that each particular colour used in a magazine is not just used for aesthetical purposes but symbolises something whether it is obvious or subliminal. I have mainly learnt that it is important to attract a wider target audience as you can possibly attract because the most important function of the magazine is for it to be interesting and money making. The best way to do this is through presentation (e.g. title blocks, layout, use of images/fonts), and use of artists and topics within the magazine. Another important aspect is the magazines cost. The cheaper the magazine is doesn’t always mean it will make less money because it is better to sell 4 cheap magazines that make £10 than one expensive magazine making only £4.