Media Studies AS: Foundation PortfolioEvaluation of Magazine

By Elisabeth Mullin

Introduction

• My project was to make and design a magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread article.

• I worked on my own throughout my coursework.• All contributions made were made by myself.• All photos used were taken by myself.• The genre of music I am focussing on is pop.

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

As the theme was a music magazine, I decided I wanted to give it a twist by adding another theme (fashion), I did this to make my magazine stand out as there aren’t many magazines that are like this (seen from my research on blog). I also did this in order to reach both genders needs, as music magazines usually relate to males, and fashion magazines tend to relate to women. By mixing the two, enables both genders to be satisfied with my magazine. Once I had this idea, I produced a Questionnaire to see if the audience agreed with the mixed genre magazine type, and it proved to be very popular as I had positive feedback, (seen on blog).Firstly, the genre I picked was ‘pop’ music. I picked this genre because from my research (UK Top 40 and Questionnaire), I found that ‘pop’ was a very popular genre, therefore would appeal to my target audience and help my magazine to sell. As I was basing my magazine on the ‘pop’ genre, I had to include some conventions in order to make my magazine look like a ‘pop’ magazine. I included things like basing the magazine on promoting a girl band (Volume) and using colour schemes that can be related to ‘pop’ music (purples and whites). I also included on the front page and contents page things that related to fashion (Hottest trends) AND music (Line ups for music festivals). It is vital to include elements like this as it allows the audience to be clear on what magazine they are purchasing, and creates cohesion throughout the magazine. Throughout all pages on my magazine they are evidently linked to the ‘pop’ genre, and especially the fashion and music genre. I have included the relevant conventions to making this possible.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I represented celebrities and music stars within my magazine. I have done this by basing my magazine front cover on a girl group (Volume) and included other celebrities in my magazine in order to appeal to my target audience (Rihanna’s tour dates).For my girl group (Volume) I wanted to create the image of a young, genuine ambitious girl group who are ‘said to be the girl group of 2011’. To make my audience believe this and relate to my girl group, I had to include some techniques such as the photographs I used for my magazine. I purposely used a soft lighting in the photo-shoot to ensure that they would be perceived as graceful, elegant and not ‘in your face’. I told the girl group to wear similar outfits, only with different coloured tops to one another. By doing this, demonstrated that they are a group who work together, yet are all different in their own way. From research on my blog, I found that this is a very good device and is used quite a lot. Also, the style of the photos highlighted that they are not ‘trying to hard’; I used a plain background so all the attention was on them, and the way that they are posing demonstrates that they are an easy going, fun and pretty girl group. The text that I used for the girl group was vital in creating a positive image for them, ‘Exclusive Volume’ highlights that they are already a very popular and demanding band therefore my readers will feel privileged to be reading an ‘Exclusive’ interview with them. Additionally, I tried to create a positive image of the girl group compared to what stereotypes we see commonly in the media. From my questionnaire, my target audience were pleased with the way I represented my girl group.

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

I researched many media institutions in order to prove that my magazine has a realistic chance of being made and be distributed and sold. I researched ‘IPC’ which is a very popular media company that produces over 85 media brands. As there are so many media brands they have, this makes the website very reliable and gives me a clear indication as to what I would have to do if I was to actually make a real magazine, and what happens in the industry to get a magazine to be distributed. When on the website, I researched (seen on blog) the two types of genre magazines that I am working with; music (NME) and fashion (LOOK). From researching these magazine, I could see that my magazine would fit perfectly with the magazine industry because as I have two of the genres mixed together, and both magazines are popular, showing no reason as to why my magazine would not be published. My magazine is special and would stand out from other magazines because it is a mixed genre magazine, of music and fashion, and it relates to both genres (men and women). I think that the publisher will think that my magazine would make a profit due to their being a wide audience willing to buy my magazine (seen in Questionnaire on blog). My feedback shows that I have made a successful and professional magazine.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My target audience for my magazine is the age range 16-25. I picked this age range because at that age, people tend to buy magazines as they have more money (pocket money, wages). This is ideal as it will help to sell my magazine; which is what we want. I haven’t really picked a specific ethnicity, however I do think that it would be White/British as people from black/ Caribbean cultures tend to be related to genres like ‘rap’ and ‘R&B’. Additionally, I haven’t really chosen a specific class to base my magazine on, however as the price of my magazine is £1.50, I think all classes can buy my magazine as it not too pricey and is affordable,. As the price is not too expensive, this enable my readers to be loyal buyers of my magazine- which is important as it helps my magazine to be sold every week. The main audience for my magazine is people that are interested in music and fashion; especially ‘pop’ music. However, maybe if I was to create another magazine, I would possibly change the cover artist to another genre in order to meet the needs of other readers/potential readers. I don’t think that my magazine needs a secondary target audience because as I’ve ranged the target age range from 16 and above, then any other people like adults may possibly purchase my magazine as I believe it is sophisticated enough to reach the older age range needs.

How did you attract/address your audience?• The title of my magazine was very important, as it had to link the two genres together. I picked the

name ‘Musique’ which is a mix between ‘Music’ and ‘Boutique’. From my questionnaire on my blog, the title showed to be very popular. Therefore reaching my audiences expectations.

• The main image on the front cover was important, because I had to pick an image that showed the girl group to be glamorous, innocent and nice. Therefore I used a soft lighting for the photo, made them all do the same pose (show them working together as a group) and made sure that they were all smiling in order to draw the readers in and want to read more about them.

• The storylines on the front cover are to draw the reader in and want to read the magazine. I picked popular things like ‘Festival Line ups’ and ‘Rihanna's tour dates’ to reach my target audience. The subheading ‘Fashion, music and so much more’ enables the reader to be told that the magazine is about music AND fashion AND other things are included.

• The layout of the contents page was split into sections to make it easier for the reader to see where things are in the magazine. I used headings like ‘Music’ ‘Fashion’ ‘on the cover’ to allow the reader to find what they want to read. I picked topics that would interest my target audience. I also included another photograph instead of Volume to let the reader know the magazine wasn’t just all about them.

• I picked the title ‘Wild nights with Volume’ for my double page spread to draw the reader in and want to read the article to know what the girl group had been getting up to. I laid the article out so that the writing was on the left hand side, and question and answers were easy to read as questions are in purple writing and answers in black writing. I put the photos on the right hand side to make it separate from the writing and to cause less confusion. I think that the way I have laid it out is appealing to the eye because the purple font grabs your attention, and so do the pictures, and the different colours used within the article also make it more interesting to read and more eye grabbing.

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

Since making this product I have become more involved and advanced at using the computer to do things. Such as creating a blog, making a moodboard, making posts, editing posts, uploading photos, making things into JPEGS and so much more. I have used the internet at a more wider range for research and I have become really good at using ‘Photoshop’ and ‘InDesign’. I have learnt how to edit photos, such as editing the lighting, cropping them etc. This is useful because it all adds up to help make your end product better. Since using the technology, I have been able to adjust and alter things that I have done in order to make them look better. I have used technology to help me get my audience feedback and evaluate my product. I think that this is effective because it is a quick and reliable way of working.

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

Looking back at my preliminary task, I have definitely improved in the way of working with technology. My creativity has increased and the fact that I am more confident with the computers, ‘Photoshop’ and ‘InDesign’ has clearly been shown in my final piece. In my preliminary, there wasn’t much range of techniques or skills, there wasn’t really a colour scheme, the font wasn’t easy to read and the image wasn’t very good. Compared to my final design, where there is a colour scheme evident, use of different fonts and colours, an edited photograph, headline, subheadings, barcode, price and straplines.

Conclusion

Overall I think that my final product is very good and has shown gradual improvement from when I first started. I think that I have worked really hard on all of my work; my blog, research, making process, photo- shoot, editing, article, layout, designing, final product and the evaluation. I think that I made the two mixed genres work well together, I picked a good colour scheme and font as it grabs your attention, I picked a popular music genre, performed a good photo-shoot, wrote a good article, laid and created the magazine well, and finally my end product (with a few alterations) could be seen as a real magazine.

The only weaknesses I think I made during the making of my magazine was that I could have made my preliminary a little bit better and I could have maybe made a few alterations to the contents page.

Overall I am very happy with my end product.

Finished Products