EVALUATION NEVERMIND MAGAZINE

HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

The magazine I have created is not diversely representative. The particular music featured in 'Nevermind' is mainly targeted at young, white people. I believe this is because other races such as black/Asian people have been stereotyped to like music which is cultural to them. For example- the presumption is made that young black people would be interested in urban, hip-hop or rap music; this is because the artists who perform in this genre are generally of the same race/ethnicity and portray the same attitude. This particular social group are also mostly seen as being less affluent with difficult or more uncivilized backgrounds.; this means they are associated with rougher areas of society where the rap music is commonly seen. A lot of the artists also come from these types of backgrounds, allowing this particular type of person to relate and enjoy the music they produce. This contrasts with the class of people that would typically be interested in the alternative genre of music; I believe this type of music would attract a more middle class audience as it is different and would require a level of intelligence to able to stand alone from the crowd . Another thing which supports this point is my audience research; the most popular genre was alternative/indie and most people who conducted the survey were from a higher class background. The bands and artists featured in Nevermind are predominantly white males, which would attract this type of person, because as I mentioned previously, they are able to relate, making their experience of the music they are interested in more fulfilling. As a consequence, young, white males are presented as popular, successful and prosperous; this certainly does not apply to the whole of the population, however, this is the way they are presented in my magazine.

Establishing that it is males prominently males represented in the magazine, shows that there is little gender equality among this genre of music. Women are seriously under-represented, however, this is due to the fact that there are simply not enough popular female artists that I could have included. Apart from the cover, there are few female figures featured. I included a female figure on the cover to make sure that there was at least some female representation and by using it as the cover it makes it more important and symbolises that women are still present in this genre of the music industry. Having less women represented in my magazine suggests that they are less important; this is a typical view in some aspects due to the fact that stereotypes place women as the 'weaker' sex. They are under represented in some careers, especially higher/managerial positions and this is continued in my magazine. This was not done intentionally, it is ultimately because males are the more prominent sex for this type of music.The main category that is represented in my magazine is teenagers; this is because I wanted to display figures that my younger target audience could relate to. The female on the cover of the magazine is challenging the usual stereotypes created about women. Usually in magazines women are made up to satisfy the male gaze by being presented in revealing clothing and having flawless hair and make up. Here, the model is seen to be covered up with her clothing, possibly because of the outside location but mainly to show that females should not be objectified.

In addition to this, the female figure featured is pictured stood still, not doing anything. This fulfills the representation that females are quite passive characters; the idea that women have this passive demeanor comes from the inequality between genders as women are often softly spoken and selfless which can result in them being belittled. This is emphasised by the male characters presented in the magazine as they are all pictured doing something, such as performing. This fulfills the stereotype that men are more active or productive, dynamic and willing to do more things. Another way that I have represented the social group of teenagers is through their style. The individual featured on the double page spread is smoking which is a bad recreational habit associated with young people. The teenage generation are labelled as troublemakers which makes people develop the expectation that youths would involved in these kinds of activities such as smoking, drinking and drugs. The male figure at the top of the contents page has a very individual style with stretchers, tattoos and the personal decoration on his guitar. This continues the stereotypes associated with teenagers as the tattoos give the impression that they are rough and radical by conforming to extreme types of self modification. Tattoos are also quite a modern popular trend which older generations may not be as familiar with, meaning that they may relate them to irrational things such as gang culture or rebellion which are typically linked with the younger generations.

WHAT KNID OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?

I think that Bauer Media Group would be a suitable company to publish my magazine; it is a European based media company, founded in 1875, which manages over 600 magazines, 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations worldwide. They are Europe's largest privately owned publishing group; their main divisions are magazines and radio which shows that they are essentially a very music focused company which fits well with the choice to have them distribute Nevermind as they clearly have experience in this area. They aim to engage with audiences and defeat competitors with highly influential brands.

I believe that Nevermind is so original and unique it could fit in well to become one of these influential brands. It already publishes music magazines such as Q and Kerrang which shows that the company has experience in publishing successful music magazines. They are also publications which relate to the one I have created, incorporating similar music styles. Even though the music genres in the existing magazines are similar, I believe that Nevermind has a wider range and covers more of a variet of music, meaning there is definitely a gap in their company where my magazine would fit

Existing products under Bauer Media Group are extremely successful and popular, for example – Q magazine has a readership of 377,000, while Kerrang holds a healthy 293,000; this proves that Bauer Media support products which are highly respected and lucrative and are able to sustain a loyal and engaged readership. Bauer Media are also a company which uses multiple formats to publish on; this would be a good choice as the company could produce a conglomerate of media surrounding the magazine, including digital and radio formats. This would be an advantage to my brand as the resources and skills available are vast and Bauer Media as an establishment is well known and trusted to create good quality media products.

Having my product distributed by Bauer Media would mean that it would be represented by a brand that is well known and has great experience in the music magazine industry, which would suggest that my magazine would be distributed with the same level of professionalism, ultimately, making it as successful and as well known as its other publications. They specialise in producing modern products which would fit well with the aims of my magazine as it has a contemporary style, targeting a youthful audience. The vast range of publications Bauer Media has means that more people will be aware of the brand, bringing a larger and varied audience. Overall I think this is the best company for distribution of my magazine due to its experience and previous success in this area as well as its valued brand name.

WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

The main audience my magazine would target does not have a specific gender, however, I believe most readers would be between the ages of 15 and 25. This is because of the modern components that make it relatable to younger audiences; this is reflected in the writing styles, images and content included due to it being sophisticated yet uncomplicated. During my audience research I found that most people who participated were between the ages of 15 and 20. This gave me a baseline to work with to ensure that my magazine would be aimed at the right type of person; the younger generations are generally very open minded and responsive to new things, especially when it concerns something that they're enthusiastic about. Music has become a lot more accessible with the development of technology which now allows people to use things such as Youtube, Spotify or Souncloud to listen to their favourite tracks. Teens and young adults are extremely eager to stay up to date with the recent technology and will always use it to access music on the go; this is an advantage as it keeps music lovers passionate, however, the frequent use of these media platforms online means that the print industry is becoming less popular; because of this I had to think of ways to keep readers interested and specifically make this younger audience want to buy a magazine rather than use a convenient online substitute. When conducting the audience research I also found that there were more female participants, however I believe that the audience for my magazine would be quite equal among genders as the music featured appeals to both. Females are more likely to buy a magazine due to their typical want for materialistic things and males would be likely to buy the magazine as the music featured represents figures that they can relate to.

The audience for my magazine would be middle class; I would compare my magazine to NME as this is the most similar already existing product. NME has an ABC1 readership of 65% - this shows that over half of their readers belong to the upper middle class, middle class and lower middle class. This means that my audience will generally be well educated and reasonably wealthy. This impacts how the magazine is written and set out. The magazine could be written in more complex terms as most would have the capacity to understand and read large interviews for example. Their comfortable monetary situation would also allow them to buy every issue, making the magazine gain more of a loyal readership, as well as more profit. Ultimately the audience for Nevermind will be young and enthusiastic about music as well as multiple other interests with a positive and modern outlook on life.

HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE? I attracted my audience by a range of features in my magazine. The main audience I aimed to attract involves young adults, including teenagers. The images that I have used mainly feature teenage figures which would therefore relate to the audience, meaning that they would be more likely to be interested and purchase the magazine. Using teenagers in the images also represents that the magazine is focused on young and fresh ideas, showing thatthis production is new, unique and something they have never seen before. As well as the modelon the cover being young, she is also looking directly into the camera; this creates a personal con-nection with the reader, making them feel as though they are being targeted so they can engage with the magazine on a more personal level. The locations of the images would also attract theaudience as they are clearly identifiable with youth culture (parks and graffiti areas) which givesthe readers something to look at which they can relate to in their everyday life and somethingthey may be interested in. These run down areas give connotations suggest that the magazine is not pretentious which would also attract the readers as they would feel more comfortablereading the magazine. The style of the magazine is portrayed through the masthead; this is

because it looks distressed and slightly grungy which may be a style that appeals to readers. The simplistic, black, bold lettering which stands out is a good way of attracting the audience as it makes a statement which would intrigue readers.

In the research that I conducted before the production of my magazine I asked what type of things readers would prefer to see in a magazine. The two most popular options were photographs/posters and interviews; I made sure that I included interesting photographs that are colourful and exciting, furthermore, I also used some polaroid photographs which involves another form of photography, giving a new interesting feature as well as contributing to the retro theme.

I have satisfied the readers' demands of wanting interviews by making the main story on my cover an exclusive interview; the tagline featured underneath linked to the magazine is interesting and should intrigue an audience of youth as it includes things they could correspond with. The audience research that I completed also stated that most people would want to see a neat, organised and structured layout; as a result of this, I

have tried to keep the layout of each page clear and well composed by not including too many things which could make it look too busy. This technique in similarly used in NME; this is the magazine that I would compare my production to as it

includes the same type of music, therefore, I tried to use the same style to assure the readers that it is a credible and professional magazine. The most popular genre of music among the responses from

the audience research was indie/alternative. This influenced the whole magazine and what it was based on; it is for this reason that I have ensured that I have included the names of popular artists, such as The Strokes and The Kooks, from this genre to attract and appeal to the widest possible audience.

Another way in which I have addressed my audience is through the content and language. The lexis I have used throughout, especially in the double page spread, has more of an informal feel. I did this so that readers could relate and not using formal language creates a more relaxed atmosphere, which was one of my aims when creating the magazine. The language used in the double page spread expresses this clearly as it is an interview where the interviewee answers questions with everyday speech which the audience would be able to relate to. Even though I think the majority of readers would be middle or upper working class, meaning thy would be more intelligent and able to read more complicated and longer articles, I think that informal language is still the most suitable to use as it ensures that everybody will be able to understand. Also, as I mentioned previously, one of my main aims was to create magazine that had a relaxed vibe so making the articles difficult or laborious to read would have gone against this. The ratio between images and text also shows that the magazine is not too serious as the text is not overwhlelming and the photography was important to the readers so I wanted to emphasise this. Overall I think that I have addressed my audience well as I have taken the feedback from the audience research and applied it in my final designs, resulting in a product which features things that people actually want to see such as neat layouts, specific content and a magazine based on indie/alternative music. I have also made sure that the magazine does not look gender specific throughout so that both males and females would be attracted to read it so that it could reach a wider target.

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

Although I wanted to create a unique production, I have followed some of the typical conventions that a magazine would use; for example, I have used the left third of the cover to place most of the information on. The left third is the most important as we are programmed to read from left to right, meaning that this would be the first thing that the audience reads so this area must be crammed with stories and images and have features which will instantly attract the reader. I have also stuck to the usual magazine

conventions when it comes to the masthead. It is placed across the top in the middle of the page in a large, bold font to fill the top strip, which would grab the reader's attention straight away. I took my inspiration for this from Kerrang! as this is the kind of style I wanted to portray to fit the alternative style.Another convention which I followed was my main colour scheme; I chose to use black, white,grey and red which are commonly used colours. This is because the colours compliment eachother and look sleek and professional. Using black and white make it look smart, due to the connotations of power and purity, while the additions of red enhance the look and make it look a lot more interesting due to its connotations of passion and danger. These colours are often seen in NMEand Q magazine which works well for my aims as NME was a magazine that inspired me to create the type of magazine that I did.

Pull quotes are another convention which I included in my magazine; these are important to give a reader a quick insight into what the article will be about and include. Using the most interesting or important parts of the article can grab a reader's attention instantly, therefore, willing them to continue reading.I surrounded my pull quote with text so that it breaks up the text,

making it seem easier to read and also so it is clear it is part of that article. As well as this, a commonly used feature in articles is the drop cap – this means putting the first letter of the article in a larger, different or more elaborate font so that it stands out. I decided to follow this convention as it makes the overall look more professional.

The final cover that I produced is very conventional as the main image is the focus of the page, although it is not central, with the other stories surrounding it. There are a number of coverlines, however, I have used a larger

and different font in comparison to the other text for the splash feature to indicate that this is the main story. The barcode has been incorporated by placing it in the bottom right corner, where every other magazine also places it. The price is on here, however, the barcode is only small so that it does not distract the reader's attention from the cover. In relation to the cover, I think it would be fair to say that it meets many conventions in terms of layout, images and coverlines.

One way in which I have challenged the usual conventions of a magazine is the images that I have used. The typical images used throughout magazines and on the covers are studio shots that have been taken professionally. I wanted to challenge this concept as I thought that keeping natural backgrounds would make the photographs look more interesting and make the magazine more authentic. I think that plain white studio backgrounds can look boring so I wanted to ensure that my magazine would look as though it has some character. The different locations give a realistic feel to the magazine and this would engage readers as they could relate to it more. Keeping the natural background also contributes to the theme of the magazine as the park and graffiti tunnel add to the alternative element. Ultimately, I did this so that the magazine would look realistic and relaxed, not staged or forced, like some studio images can seem.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT TECHNOLOGY?

Throughout the process of creating my magazine I have learned multiple things about different technologies that I had never explored before this production. In the planning stages, the audience research was a key part of what influenced decisions I made for the basis of my magazine. I did this by making a questionnaire on survey monkey; this was a site I had no knowledge of before, but after using it, I realised that it was a useful tool as it allowed me to collect lots of responses in a short amount of time. I posted this survey to social media which also involved the use of technology as people are increasingly using mobile phones to access this. This shows the development of technology and how it has become modernised, which I have had to keep up with to be successful in my project. As well as this, I used Prezi which is a different format of presentation; it allows you to create displays with creative designs which meant that I could make my informative while looking interesting and attractive. This added to the amount of different platforms I had used which let me develop technologies used. I have used many different softwares including miscrosoft word and powerpoint to produce documents and drafts of all the written parts of my coursework. These were really useful because they are simple to use understand, meaning that I could get my work done quickly while using them because I was familiar with all the features through using it many times previously.

In the production process I used different programs to create the different final pieces, for example, I used photoshop for the cover and contents and I used Indesign for the double page spread. I had never used these before so I learnt a lot in the process; these were essential in creating my magazine and I would not have been able to create the magazine without them. Photoshop was an important tool as it allowed me to edit photographs to make them look more professional and appealing with lighting and colours etc, as well as letting me cut and move images into specific places. I learnt that whilst

using photoshop, each layer appears on the right hand side of the screen. This is useful as it allows you to keep track of exactly what is on the page and also makes later editing easier. Moving the layers up or down determines which layers go on top of each other; this was useful as I wanted to overlap some images and this was made easy by simply moving the layers.

an outside location for the cover so the lighting was slightly dull meaning that I had to immitate high key lighting with photoshop.As well as this, I used things such as the blur tool to get rid of any imperfections and make the image look more flawless.The type tool was simple to use; it was easier to use this rather than transfer the text from a different format. The only difficulty I had was with downloading the specific fonts, however, I managed to do this so that I could have more professional texts.

I also used photoshop to edit my original images to make them neater and more professional – for example I used the tools at the top right corner of the screen to adjust the brightness and overall colour of the image; I used

Before starting my coursework I had no experience with blogs so this is another element of technology that I have developed my knowledge of during the process by actually creating the blog and uploading posts. Another way that technology was involved was through Youtube; I had to learn to export and edit videos in Premier then export them and upload to youtube so that they would be accessible to my blog. Additionally, when uploading things to my blog I had to ensure that the format was compatible. This lead to using things such as slideshare so that I could present my work in a way which would be able to be uploaded to my blog. The other main form of technology that I have learnt a lot about is Indesign. This was the program I used to create my final double page spread. This was a form that I had never used before, however I found that it was quite similar to photoshop which made it a little easier to navigate around it. It was useful as it allowed me to create a specific layout and a good structure so that I could get columns for the article and then link these columns together so that the text continued and was fluent.

There are many positives that have come from using technology, as it is quick and allows a more realistic and professional look compared to if it had been done by hand for example. It also allowed me to get my work done faster with advanced tools that give an overall polished look. Without softwares such as photoshop and indesign I would not have been able to complete the production so the use of these, although sometimes difficult and complex, were very important. Overall I think that my development in the use of technology was vital for the production of my magazine and being able to access different forms allowed me to build up a diverse skillset for the future and make the magazine efficiently.

LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

At the beginning of the coursework we had to make a mock of a cover and contents page for a magazine that would be aimed at college students.As you can see, it differs vastly from the final pages that were made because at this point I was very inexperienced with using the technologies so the preliminary task is very simplistic and amateur. The progression from this point to the final productions has included many steps – the first one being market research. Here I had to learn about different magazines, their publishers, target audiences and how they attracted them. This all influenced how I designed my magazine and was helpful when deciding what would work and what wouldn’t.

After this was the textual analysis where I analysed existing magazines' covers, contents pages and double page spreads to identify codes and conventions that would typically be used. This was essential to make sure that the magazine I produced was realistic and actually included things that would make a successful magazine. For example a magazine needs a masthead which is in a bold, unique font that can create a trademark and brand identity.The audience research that I conducted allowed me to learn about different research methods and develop an understanding of what an audience would want to see. The questionnaire that I posted on social media gave me quantitative data which I could then analyse and make decisions based on this. The interviews that I conducted gave me qualitative data that I used to create a reader profile because I took into consideration the interests of real possible readers. This all contributed greatly to the planning of my magazine. Here, I had to plan photographs, locations and models etc which is all documented in my pitch, photography planning and style sheets. This makes a difference from the preliminary task as there was no planning for that which is communicated through how unorganised it appears. I did not completely use my planning as there are some aspects of the photograhy planning that I changed during the process as I came up with improved ideas, although this was still more efficient than using no planning at all. Also, whilst planning the photography I had to consider the background and lighting so that it would look professional, whereas both of these things were given no thought in the preliminary task; the first photos were badly light and the background was bland and uninteresting; I did very little in the editing of this photo mainly because of inexperience so it did not reach its full potential. I changed the brightness of the photograph and enlarged it, whereas the final photos required more editing to ensure they looked professional. The overall production of the final pieces was very different to the preliminary task as it was a lot more complex and required a lot more thought and effort. There were also a lot more stages to go through to get the desired end result. Throughout the process I learnt a lot about planning and producing a magazine; this has lead to a stylish and professional looking magazine which is completely different from the preliminary task which is unskillful and unappealing.