BY SHANNON ABRAHAM

EVALUATION OF MY MUSIC MAGAZINE

1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF MEDIA

PRODUCTS?

Analysis of a real magazine cover

1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF MEDIA

PRODUCTS?

Through the use of Straplines, I bordered my cover and informed the audience on other things in the magazine; however they are possibly a bit too big.

The use of a barcode kept my magazine realistic as every magazine needs one.

The title of my magazine suggests new artists which challenges it slightly because my magazine is designed to focus majorly on the newer artists on the music scene. However the title is possibly in too small of a font to stand out enough

Mentioning well known artists on the cover linked with the pop scene keeps to magazine conventions. The artist on the cover uses

direct address and therefore makes a connection with the audience . However the image could have been more of a medium shot so that it takes up more room on the cover and the top of her head rests just beneath the title

The fonts I use are similar and do not vary too much, and are in different shades of red. However the fonts are possibly too similar and should have had more variety.

The font and colours used here are used so that the main article stands out from the rest cover and draws in the audiences attention.

1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF MEDIA

PRODUCTS?

Images informing what else in the magazine. This attracts the reader and captures their interest

Use of the magazine name in the corner. This reminds the of the name so that they may buy it again. Provides brand recognition.

Use of sub headings so the reader can find what interests them the most and skip ahead to it.

Editors letter which can be used to inform the reader and tell them about the edition of the magazine Use of page numbers

so that the reader knows where they can find articles that interest them

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

The use of page numbers is always seen in magazines and therefore it looks professional .

An editors letter is not uncommon to be seen in magazines. These are used to inform the reader

I used the name of my magazine at the top of the page which makes it seem professional and it is seen in the majority of magazines; however a few do use a logo for the magazine instead. This provides brand recognition and reminds the reader of the magazine name so that they might remember it and possibly buy it again

The use of images are commonly seen in magazines of any sort to entice the reader further in by showing more of what is in the magazine to interest them.

The separation of what’s on the cover and in the rest of the issue is commonly seen in magazines.

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

Text grabs that get the attention of the reader and draw them in as it is one of the first things the reader will see. They also split the article up so that the text is not all together. They can browse the content of the article without having to read any of it

Concluding by reminding the audience of the featured artists new album and ensuring it is fully promoted

Use of magazine name in the corner which is commonly found in magazines.

The introductory paragraph sets the scene and tone of the article; this is very commonly seen in all feature articles.

Various images of the artist, are always found in magazine articles to split the article up and make it more interactive as well as give audience a connection to the artist

Page number at the bottom of the article. Always found in magazines so the audience can easily find the article

2. How does your Media project represent particular social groups?

This is a picture from a typical pop magazine cover This is the unedited magazine feature

article picture

•The artist on the cover is represented being care free and as a sex symbol. She uses direct address to connect with the audience, and her facial expression suggests mystery and that she has a bit of a wild side. The lighting puts her in an innocent light. The colours that she wears also suggest she has a wild side

•The artist for my magazine is represented as being caring , care free and obviously an animal lover, she is represented this way for a younger audience. She is shown to be a good role model for young people

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

•IPC is a media institution that could produce and distribute my product. They are the leading UK magazine publisher with over 80 magazines including NME, Pick Me Up, Marie Claire, In Style and Woman.

•Approximately 2/3 of women and 44% of men in the UK read IPC magazines which equates to over 26 million readers.Their digital properties include NME.com which is the third commercial music website in the UK.

•IPC produces many diverse magazines and therefore would be ideal to produce my magazine because it doesn't produce many music magazines and as they are the leading magazine producer they would be ideal to produce my magazine as the fact that IPC produces it makes a statement about my magazine.

•Official Website for ICPhttp://www.ipcmedia.com/

This is a cover for NME which is produced and distributed by IPC

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

• Gender – female audience as my magazine is pop and this genre appeals more to females

• Race – any, however most likely Caucasian.• Age – 12-16, as it is more for younger people and

focuses on artists that would strongly appeal to this particular age group.

• Socio-economic Status – appeals to group D and above

Demographic profiling takes into account the lives their audience lead or their social and economic status. The Social and Economic scale split the audience into 6 groups based on their economic status.

 A (upper class) - higher managerial, administrative or professional eg:- surgeon or company director.       B ( middle class) - Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional eg:- teachers, solicitors.                   C1 (lower middle class) - Skilled non manual eg:- sales assistant, shop floor supervisors                                                                                     C2 (skilled working class) - Skilled manual work eg:- plumber, electrician   D (lower working class) - Semi skilled eg:- assembly line workers, cleanersE (subsidence)- Unskilled, pensioners and unemployed

This can be backed up with my audience feedback as out of all the people who answered my questionnaire they all said that it appealed to them. The majority of these were Caucasian females between the ages 12 and 16

Top of the Pops magazine is a music magazine which has a similar target audience to my product. It is distributed by BBC magazines.It targets the audience by featuring well known pop artists such as JLS (who are mentioned on the cover of my magazine) and Rihanna. The “117 star style secrets” article target them as girls aspire to be like their favourite stars, who are positive role models for them. They advertise posters of male “pin ups” to target the female audience. The strapline targets the female audience and the teen audience would be able to relate to it.

Real Magazine Cover aimed at similar audience.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

• My magazine title attracts the audience as it appeals particularly to people who are “music buffs” as it focuses mostly on ‘new’ artists. On my audience questionnaire one person commented: “the title suggests that the magazine focuses on new acts in the media industry and is for a younger audience.”

• The pose of my artist on the cover of my magazine uses direct address. In all of the images I used natural lighting when I took them, which you can see in this unedited image from my feature article.

• I chose to feature an article about JLS on the cover of my magazine because they are a well known pop group on the music scene and are relatively new.

• I also included snippets of information about other articles such as VMA Nominations and Become Next Month’s Guest Editor to capture the readers attention and make them want to buy the magazine.

• On the straplines I mentioned boyband posters which would capture the attention of the female audience as they are “sex symbols” and “pin ups” so it would strongly appeal to younger females

• The editors letter on the contents page doesn’t really give a lot of detail about what is in the magazine but is more about thanking the readers however it does inform them that it is going to be a fantastic issue. It is a convention commonly seen in magazines.

• I chose to feature an article about JLS on the contents page because they are a big pop group and they are relatively new on the music scene. It also focuses on the x factor as well which is popular amongst the younger generation.

• I also featured “Star Goss” on the contents page which would appeal directly to the audience as everyone likes to have insight into the life of the rich and the famous. One person said that “There’s a lot on what is in the magazine and there’s an editors letter which also interests me.”

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

• The feature article contains a few images spread out and text grabs to separate the article out. One person commented that “the feature article seems like a genuine piece of journalism, it is interesting and makes me want to read on”

• I used text grabs to capture the readers attention so that they could browse the content of the article before reading it through entirely. They are there to “mislead” the reader by providing little bits of information which the reader would find interesting but not tell them everything so that they will want to read on.

• I used various images to attract the audience, and encourage them to read on about the artist.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

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

• Whilst doing this project I have learnt how to use Photoshop and InDesign which I had never used before and I feel that my skills have significantly improved. At first I had trouble with my cutting out on Photoshop, and with a few of my images I had to gut them out again, but as I used it more I could see that it steadily improved, and realised that I needed to be a bit more careful and take a bit more time as my first attempts were quite rushed.

• I also use a digital stills camera to take all of the pictures for my project, and I took plenty of photos so that I would have a variety of photos to chose from and I could see which ones fit better with my whole magazine.

• I have used the internet for this project: -• http://www.dafont.com/ - this is where I got some of the fonts I used in my

final product• http://www.google.co.uk/ig?hl=en – I used this site to find barcode images,

the images of other magazine covers similar to my own• https://www.blogger.com/start - naturally I used this site to record all my

research and planning and everything connected to my project

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

This was my preliminary task, and here my cutting out of the images is not very good and possibly too rushed in places, as it was the first time I had ever used Photoshop. Also the fonts here do not vary very much.

This was my final product, and I used more magazine conventions here such as straplines and also used more colour which complement the colours worn by my artist and varying fonts which are quite similar.

• From my preliminary task to my final product I have learnt to use strap lines to provide further information about other articles and content in my magazine, to make it appear more professional and informative to the audience. I used my research into magazine conventions find out about the use of these.

• I learnt to include article names relating to the image/images on the cover which was not clearly used in my preliminary task, and I think that this has helped my work progress to my final product

• I feel that my final product is better because I used a wider variety fonts which significantly shows how I have progressed since the preliminary task, so my final product looks more professional and authentic.

• I have learnt how to use Photoshop which prior to my coursework I had never used before. On my preliminary task the cutting out is not very good; and when compared to my final product it looks a lot better and neater.

• I have also learnt how to use InDesign from doing this project, which I hadn’t used prior to my coursework. My work has progressed a lot from the preliminary task because I have gained knowledge of how to use InDesign such as on my preliminary I did not use a “boarder” to outline the page.

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

Conclusion• Overall I think that my project turned out quite well and I really

enjoyed making it.

• I think that the strengths of my project were the feature article which I feel was well written and in tone with the genre of the magazine and would appeal to the target audience. I also feel that the use of colour kept in tone with my target audience.

• I think that the weaknesses of my project were that the fonts I used were very similar on the cover and at some points my cutting out is not at its best.

• If I could change anything I would have done more research into the fonts for my magazine so that I could have used a wider variety of fonts. I also would have taken that extra little bit of care on my cutting out as at places.