Evaluation

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

Before creating my magazine, I did a lot of research into various music magazines and did some analysis on what conventions are used to make the magazine successful and aesthetically pleasing. Some of the conventions I used which occur in real media products are:

Headline: Thinking of the official title for my magazine, I followed the style of all other successful magazines and made sure that it is short, easy to remember and relevant. Some of the title ideas used came from my head, however for some, I decided to research into music keywords in order to get a deeper insight into the music industry and find a good inspiration for the magazine title. In the end, I have used “Allegro” for my headline, as it’s short, easy to pronounce and relates to music with the meaning of ‘quick tempo’.

Stand first/Strapline: This section of the magazine gives a little bit of an insight to what the magazine is about and what characteristics it has; to me it’s like a motto that represents the company. Those are short and usually very positive/enthusiastic to engage readers and make them think good of the magazine. My strapline says: “Turn up the tempo; find out more.” It foreshadows the title and its meaning, but also suggests that readers can find out more information reading the allegro magazine than any other one.

Cover lines: Just like every other magazine, I was not going to miss this convention. The cover lines pull the reader’s interest by giving them an insight into an exciting article, but also shows the audience what the magazine is about based on the type of articles inside the magazine that are displayed as cover lines on the front page. I have used certain techniques to make them stand out even further, such as adding an asterix sign to one of the cover line to emphasize on the importance of the article and to interest the audience.

Pull Quote: I have not only used conventions of a real media product on my front cover, but all throughout the magazine. On my double page spread for example, I have added a pull quote, so when a reader first sees this quote they will hopefully be persuaded into reading the rest of the article and find out what the whole story behind the pull quote is.

Existing magazine:                                                             My magazine

 

 

 

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine targets audience between the age of 16 and 30 and although anyone can read it, it has many features which will be more successful to target the female population. Based on my research, my magazine is mostly suitable for people who listen to pop music, however there will be features of other music genres as I’ve decided before, to not only target a larger population but also give a deeper insight of other music for those who only listen to pop – I believe that it makes my magazine more diverse and appropriate. The photographs and language used in my magazine represents the age group which my audience fall at which is appropriate for their use of the magazine. The use of bright and happy colours (orange and red) assures that the magazine is appealing to teenagers; however the clean and professional layout of my text and images, assures that the older audience also finds the magazine appealing and make the most of the other conventions.

 Furthermore, to make my magazine affordable to the young adults that don’t want to spend a fortune on a magazine, I have set a price at £1.99 that makes the magazine economically friendly. To make this decision I have also used my research and the results to make sure that most of the population in the questionnaire is happy with this decision as they represent my target audience.
 

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

From the research that I did about media institutions, IPC (International Publishing Company) is the best option for my magazine, but my magazine would also suit their standards. The IPC Media is UK’s leading consumer magazine therefore would be very easy to distribute my magazine all over the UK. It would also be very easy to communicate with the institution as their headquarters are based in London, where the making of my magazine would also take place, direct contact would therefore be made in a faster and easier way.

One of the features of the IPC Media that really persuaded me to choose it as my most wanted institution is the fact that they already Publish two well-known music magazines ‘Kerrang’ being a Rock music genre of magazine, and ‘NME’ being a pop/rock genre of music. My magazine being a pop-genre of music, would fall into a similar category as the other published magazines. However, on the other side, because my magazine would target mostly the female population of the audience, yet the two other already existing magazines target mostly men, I would bring something different to the institution which means that it would be successful to a new type of audience.

 

 

Who would be the audience for your media product? And how did you attract/address your audience?

My magazine is made for everyone who wants to read it, however, my main target audience would be a higher ratio of female readers to the ratio of male readers. The age range of my audience mostly falls between 17-30 years of age who are mostly into pop music. The reason why my magazine would be appropriate to an older audience is because all of my photographs are suitable, and the language used in the articles is casual-formal.

One of the techniques that I used to attract my audience is the use of competitions and opportunities inside the magazine. This counts as my unique selling point, and because there are different types of competitions, there is something for everyone, as competitions and such opportunities aren’t usually targeted at a specific audience. Such opportunities attract the audience, leading to a high activity within the magazine increasing the popularity of the magazine.

Another technique used to attract my audience is the direct mode of address used in the picture on the front cover, as this draws the reader inside of the magazine and makes the reader feel the connection between themselves and the model in the photo.

Expanding on the different techniques used to create my magazine, I have used a colour scheme with white, orange and red, with an additional of black for the main writing. A colour scheme helps to address my audience, as they will identify my magazine faster for the colours, which are quite different in the world of publishing, as not many magazines use the combination of orange and red.

 

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

Photoshop was the biggest type of technology which I used to construct my product, and although I have learnt a lot of the basics before doing this task, there were many things left for me to learn through the way of creating my magazine. Some of the new uses of Photoshop that were introduced to me through creating my product and trial and error were:

·     Layering items and text over the top of each other was one of the creative process in photo shop. A good example from my product would be the title on the double page spread. I have tried to make the page really eye catching and do something funky with the text, so I have found that layering text and changing it's opacity crates a fascinating effect.

·        Another obstacle which I have overcome quickly was getting the right size for the contents page and the double page spread. What I ended up doing is when opening up a new document, I selected the international paper, and selected the A3 size, which I after rotated 90 degrees clockwise so that it would take on the size of a regular A4 sized magazine.

Another piece of technology that I used was a digital camera (Canon SX20 IS) which allowed me to take clear and good quality photos. Also having the opportunity to use a photography studio made my pictures look more professional and increase the quality of my magazine.

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

During my journey from my preliminary task to this present task, I feel that my skills have improved vastly and that I have learnt many more techniques that are used in the media publishing industry. I have also taken on board comments and feedback to how I can improve my product; therefore a secondary opinion has been acknowledged by me and used to make this product more professional and of higher quality.

Firstly, I have done deeper research into the type of product that I have created, including the layout, language, photography, colour scheme etc. But I have also done research into media institutions which made me more aware if the competitiveness within the industry and gave me a bigger insight into what I want to do with my product and what my targets are in order to complete it.

Secondly, I took more care into my planning, and actually setting up photo shoots in order to get good quality images that can be a visually good reflection of my articles and sub titles on the contents page.

Some of the additional media conventions used in my magazine which made this product more professional and more successful than my preliminary task are;

·        Stencil font

·        Pull quote

·        Issue number

·        Consistent house style that includes the same colour scheme as well as font size and type.

·        Bay line

·        Drop cap