In what ways does you media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?• My magazine challenges the normal

conventions of marketed magazines such as NME in the sense that I have incorporated more than one genre. NME focuses on the pop/rock genre whereas mine has classical, pop, pop/rock and rock, for those who like to listen to a range of music. Also, most mags are male orientated, whereas mine will be leaning towards the female readers. However, my layout and style of the cover was inspired by NME covers.

• I used the price strip across the corner of the magazine and also the layout of the image and the name of the band across the front inspired my own design.

•The foregrounded image was also developed for my own however my model is a lot less domineering and is more approachable.

With an age range of 16-25 my magazine is focused more on the female reader, however it can be a mixed magazine that men could read. This is similar to Kerrang, they are male orientated but do have a female audience. Through my magazine I wanted to portray independence and individuality, because the age range is a period when most people are still trying to figure out their style, so by having several genres it is encouraging them to be whoever they want to be. Also, my audience is likely to be a more educated class, as it is them that would like the option of reading about classical music. However, bands like Escala were popular to a range of classes, so it is not only limited to highly educated populations.

Classical

Pop/Rock

Pop

Rock

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and

why?• I think IPC would distribute my magazine

because they already distribute NME which inspired my mag and also mine is a female orientated mag with a new and original idea, meaning there is a gap in the market for something like this. They already have a 69% male audience from NME so by distributing Serendipity they would be improving their female percentage and tackling a wider audience.

Who would be the audience for you media product?

• My audience would be 16-25 year old females who are interested in a wide range of music. They may be earning money but are more than likely to still be in education and also want to get new ideas of what to listen to from my mag. The originality of the mag will appeal to music enthusiasts but also simply people who have more than one taste in music.

How did you attract/address your audience?• I used a colour theme of black, white

and purple as I noticed that most magazines use three house colours to tie it all together. Also, the range of colours represent the range of genres in my magazine, therefore appealing to the audience. I also used an extra colour of bright blue as it contrasts with the other colours and links to the contrast of genres.

• I included a mixture of popular artists and my own creations so that there will be a range of acts that will appeal to my audience. Also, the text is very casual and is talking as if to a friend, making the mag more informal and therefore encouraging and leading readers to go against the conventions and listen to a wider range of music without being demanding.

• My mode of address is very feminine because the writing is much more friendly rather than informative, the wider range of music is more likely to appeal to a female than a male and also the model has a softer, more approachable look rather than the sexier models used on men’s magazines. This, along with the models pose, gives it more of a connection to the audience as it is more informal and therefore more engaging.

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

Particularly with technology such as PhotoShop I have developed my abilities from knowing nothing about it to learning about the different tools etc. Although I used Paint shop pro the most and have made the most progress with this I have definitely made a significant improvement to my abilities on Photoshop.

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

• I had no idea how to use Photoshop during the preliminary task so I resulted in using Paint to complete it, therefore this is an improvement in itself. I learnt how to complete a well laid out cover, contents and double page spread without using Paint and by using a variety of tools in Photoshop.

• Also my lack of general knowledge on magazines at the beginning of the year limited the standard of the school magazine, so my music magazine is better because the structure and design is more professional.

COVER

CONTENTS

DPS