Final evaluation

How did you attract/address your audience?

Front cover

I attracted my audience by making the front cover appeal to both men and women which was my specification. I did this by making certain parts on the front cover appeal to different genders. Firstly the model is male, this will attract my male audience because they will see a male on the front cover and instantly address it as a magazine for men. However it also attracts my female audience because it has sex appeal. Also it appeals to both sexes by the use of mise en scene. Although the background is blue and blue is stereotypically a male colour I have made it a light blue. This makes it a little bit more feminine but also keeping that male theme.

I address my audience of the youth by using modern fonts and picture effects. If an elder person were to pick up and read my product they would feel that it was not meant for them. I did this by the content of my product. Only younger people would of heard of Ed Sheeran and the like of. Also the pictures on the front cover are that of a young person. This is the easiest way someone you view my product and make a evaluation of the target audience. If I had an older person on the front cover it would appeal to the elder generation not the younger one which I’m aiming for.

Contents page

Again I had to attract both genders, this is why I have gone with the black and white colour theme. This is because these colours appeals to both sexes it doesn’t outcast one. Both males and females can read this contents page and not feel that it isn’t aimed at them. Double page spread

It’s the same with the double page spread. The simple black and white theme appeals to both men and women. The colour scheme is very unisex as it doesn’t appeal to either gender more than the other.

I had to address and attract a certain type of life style. Each magazine has a audience with a certain lifestyle. The lifestyle of the audience of my magazine is young, indie, fresh type of people. To address and attract them I made the model wear the same type of fashion as my audience would. I also used colours which represent this type of lifestyle. By this I mean, a rock band would use dark colours as this is stereotypically a rock colour. For my magazine I have used light simple colours to attract my audience because they are very slick looking and simple. I also address this lifestyle by the content. This type of lifestyle are well educated as so I wrote my article in a articulate way.

Who would be the audience of your product?

After conducting research into target audiences of magazine I discovered that many audiences out there for music magazines from classical to rock. I concluded that my audience should be young teenagers and young adults, both male and female and the gender of the magazine would be indie/current as this is the area of music in which I know the most about and feel the most comfortable representing because I myself am young.  My audience also has money this is. This meant that I had to do certain things to attract this type of audience, firstly it had to contain artists/genres suitable to this age range. This meant I could not have opera singers in my magazine because it would not suit my new found audience.

I then conducted my own market research using survey monkey to gain an idea of who my target audience were. From the results I was able to see that my target audience was indeed what I originally planned for.

I then constructed a rate card for my magazine and its audience here it is...

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My product represents young males, young women, the wealthy, the artists, indie, popular, middle class and the fashionable.

My product represents young males; it does this by the features of the content. It represents young males because it portrays all of their interests. This is because not only does it feature the indie bands and artists it also contains rappers and grimme artists which wont speak to females as much as males. This means that the males feel that they have their own part of the magazine that is specific to them. I did this by the simplistic design and having a male on the front cover. Having a male on the front cover appeals to males because they will look at it and associate it with a male magazine. However the male on the front will also represents young females because they will be attracted to it by sex appeal.

My product represents young females by the use of colours and the simplicity of the theme. My product is very much unisex however there are certain features at represent either sexes.

My product represents social group in a positive way. It is light and cheerful there is no bad language on the cover or bad colours. It is a very cautions magazine as it is not there to cause upset and debate.

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

Use

Over the course of research and planning I have learnt the different forms and conventions that music magazines use. As a result of looking at different magazine I began to develop an idea of what forms and conventions my magazine will follow.

Firstly from doing my research and planning I learnt and later used the positioning of the brand name. I learnt that the brand name is not the most important piece of information to go on the front cover, cover images and quotes take centre stage on the front cover. This is why you will see that I place my brand name in the top left of my cover with part of my cover image in front of it. This is because when magazines are on a shelf the only part of the magazine visible to the buyer is the top half of the magazine, so naturally this is where all the eye catching and important information goes. So I have used this in my magazine to follow forms and conventions set by other competing magazines.

Double page spread layout

A lot of music magazine use a hole page of the double page spread for an image of the artist or band. I liked this idea and in order to fit in and follow forms and conventions I took it upon myself to develop my magazine around this idea and as you can see from my finished product that is what I did...

I also used the form and convention of having a picture on the left and article on the right. Many music magazines use this so this is why I choose to follow them.

Double page spread

Drop caps- I used these in the same way all magazines use them. I use them to attract readers to the first word of the article or paragraph. It is also used to alert readers to the start of a paragraph.

Attractive titles- I used these like many other magazine to attract readers and draw their attention to my magazine and article.

I also followed forms and conventions by the used of quotes in the middle of my article. This makes my magazine look more professional.

Contents page

I have used the forms and conventions set out already by many other magazines. My contents page is very similar to all the other music magazines out there so it doesn’t really push the boundaries. However it doesn’t need too, its only a contents pages it is to meant to be different and cause controversy.

Develop

I developed the idea of having one full side of the double page as a image of my model. I did this by using the background of the photos as a background for my article on the opposite page.

I also developed the idea of a clash between a music magazine and a fashion magazine. Before music magazines were music based and all the clothes and props were music based. However with my magazine, I have gone for a simple and slick effect. This magazine minus the article would not look out of place in an fashion magazine or any other magazine for that matter. 

Front cover

I developed the idea of a simplistic front cover. Before music magazines had many features and pieces of information on them. In recent times they are becoming more toned down. However I have taken a step further and going for the philosophy that less is more and the less I have on my front cover the more powerful my photo and text will become.

Challenge

I challenged the forms and conventions by  using the with the cartoon effect on my pictures of my model on the front cover and double page spread. This effect is not widely used in music magazines and is more common in cartoons and the gaming magazines. Although it challenges forms and conventions it adds something unique to my magazine in the hope readers will be interested by in and pick it up. However this in its self is one way it does conform to the forms and conventions as it has a unique selling point in hope to separate it's self from the competition.

Front cover

My front cover challenged forms and conventions because it is totally unique. It is simplistic and sophisticated. This goes against the norm of having big texts and images shouting out to the viewer.

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

Looking back I feel that my skills using the technologies I have learnt to use have become better.

For example if we look back to some of the first photos I took and edited to my final photos in my product there is a big change. The photos that I have now look so more professional. Before my photos were complete the norm. They could easily be mistaken for a photo which a child had taken. Now they look grown up and had a purpose and you get a sense that the photo had been planned not just on the spur of the moment.

Before

After

These improvements are all down to trial and error over the course of my research and planning tasks. Especially those tasks, which required me to take photos for my double page, contents and front, cover pages.

Also the way in which present my information has improved drastically. Before all I was used to be a Microsoft word presentation, however I had to adapt fast during my research and planning to get the desired and professional look of my magazine here now. Using keynote was the first step towards advancing my skills. Keynote helped my break out of the routine of just using word and PowerPoint to present my view.

 I have also learnt the ways in which magazines address their audience. Most music magazines use the same techniques to attract and address their audiences. I to had to learn how to do this in order to address and attract my audience.

I also learnt all about typography, I looked and researched different magazine at their use of typography.  I then developed my own fonts and colours for my own magazine.

Technologies

Mac

From constructing this product I have learnt how to use an apple Mac computer. Before I had not used one,I had to learn quickly but they are a really easy piece of technology to use. They have a very friendly interface everything is very modern. After a while a got the hang of the computer and could easily navigate my way around it. I have also learnt new ways to improve my presentation of my work as there are many programs out there that aid the presentation of information.

Photoshop

Photoshop is a great tool to use on the Mac. You can edit photos in a range of ways. For example in my magazine I have used photoshop to crop out the background so I can focus on the important parts of the image. As result on my double page spread I have been able to use a different colourful background to display my image on to make it stand out more. From doing this I have learnt what features makes a photo stand out. By using a professional program to edit my images I have been able to create a much more realistic looking magazine that reflects those magazine you see in shops. On my double page and front cover I used a cartoon effect on my model. I did this using photoshop, I had to learn how to change effects to my selected image.

Pages

Again pages is an program on the Mac. It especially is apples version of Microsoft’s PowerPoint but aids the person who is abit more artistic and wants their presentation to be less formal. From using this technology I have learnt that I don’t have to present my information in the conventional way. I can use more colours and images. I have also learnt that more interesting presentations help keep the attention of the person viewing it and they are more likely to take in the information due to them having more interest.

Online programs

I have used many of these whilst making my product. One of the main would be Blogger. I have used this on a daily basis and i have learnt that it is a great way to communicate with people, this e or friends or family. This was not the only online program I used, I also have a bit on experimentation with Prezi. From Prezi I have learnt that the more interactive presentations are the more likely readers are going to read it with a full attention span. It would be a great idea to use Prezi in schools to keep pupils keen.

From using these online programs I have learnt how to share my creations. Like I said earlier I use Blogger regularly, so I have had to learn how to allow people to see my creations on my blog. I did this by using an embed code. This allowed me to copy and paste it straight to my blog where it is public.

Digital Cameras

In the process of making this magazine I have learnt how to use a digital camera. For the photo shoot for my double page spread and front cover I had to learn how to set up a photo shoot and learn to use all the equipment necessary in order to get the quality that will make my magazine look professional.

I had to learn how to focus the camera, use a tripod, lighting using two flashes and shutter speed.