Music Magazine Evaluation
I have created a pop music magazine that is aimed mainly at young people between the ages of 11-16. It is a magazine informing readers of all the latest pop news and reviews in a clear and fun way. My music magazine is called POP. (Click)
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
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Music magazines follow various different codes and conventions. The main ones being, the use of a masthead, kickers and a main image on the cover. Magazine covers also usually follow a “z” shaped layout however these conventions can be challenged in cases. (Click) As you can see Q magazine clearly follows this common layout however Rolling Stones magazine have chosen to use a less conventional layout in order to create a different visual effect with their magazine. They have made the image stand out more by clustering all the text to the other side of the cover. (Click)
For my magazine I used the typical “z” shaped layout, focussing on the masthead, main image and model credit rather than the other kickers. I have done this as my magazine is a pop magazine aimed at the younger generation who will be more interested in seeing images than reading detailed text. I have used three main colours on my cover and throughout my magazine to ensure that the page is not overbearing and messy looking. I have used a decorative font for my masthead so that it stands out and creates a brand for the magazine. I also used another decorative font for the main kicker so that it clearly stands out and can catch the audiences’ eye. I have also added other magazine conventions such as a barcode, a date line and a selling line. I have tried to make the text on the page fairly simple so that the main image really stands out as I believe this is what my target audience will be most interested in. (Click)
I have used this idea of using mainly images to put across information to the reader on my contents page as well. I think that it will attract my target audience of teenagers more because it makes the page look colourful, interesting and busy. My contents page follows the conventions of tables of contents as it has quite a simple and straight forward layout with small amounts of text and grouped images. I have also put all the features into a side bar so that all the text is in one place that is easy and clear to see, rather than writing all over the page which my put off my target audience. (Click)
I have included an editor’s note which is also another convention of contents pages that gives the reader a quick idea of what they can expect from the magazine. (Click)
This double page spread from an issue of Q magazine follows fairly conventional rules such as it including a slug, a drop cap and a caption on the images. As well as a sidebar and a button it also has a “z” shaped eye flow going from the main image of Lady Gaga over to smaller ones, then to the main article and finally back over to more small images of Lady Gaga. (Click)
I have chosen not to use all of the conventions for my double page spread, for example I have not followed a “Z” shaped layout however split the page using one main image of the featured artist on half the page and filling the other half with the main body article. The style of my article is quite light and conversational, I did not want to make my interview too intense as I want it to appeal to young teenagers and it is also an interview to introduce the artist so I felt that it shouldn't be too personal as that people will not yet be interested in the details of the artists life if they are very new. I have created the interview as a way of introducing the artist to people without be too intense and scaring people off. Also by including some leading text it gives the reader a chance to quickly see what the interview is about before reading the whole thing. I think that this is something beneficial to my magazine when considering the target audience are fairly young and may not want to read the whole article so by adding leading text it give them a chance to see what the article is about before they read it. I have placed a pull quote in my article in order to quickly attract attention to my article; I think that this pull quote is appropriate as it reveal something about the featured artist which is the purpose of an interview. I have chosen not to put a by-line at the end of my article as I do not think that this is something that will interest my target audience of teenagers, instead I have added in an anchor informing readers of the release date of the artists album in order to close the interview. I did this as I think that this is something the reader and my target audience will be interested in. I have decided to leave a good amount of white space on my double page spread to prevent the page looking too cluttered and over bearing. I have used a simple colour scheme also so that the page is really focussed on the image as it stands out. (Click)
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
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I have aimed my music magazine at young people between the ages of 11-16 however teenagers older than this may also be interested in this kind of magazine depending on their individual taste in music. The genre of my magazine is popular music; I think that because of this I will interest quite a wide range of people as this is quite a large and well-liked genre. I have chosen this genre based on the research I did which resulted in pop music being voted as the most listened to and therefore it made sense to create a magazine based on the genre in order to appeal to the majority. I think that my magazine will appeal to both the sexes as the featured artist is a young girl which boy’s maybe attracted to and girls may look up to. Although my magazine isn’t aimed at either sex I think that it will appeal more to girls as it is slightly gossipy and feminine and also I believe that girls enjoy pop culture slightly more than boys. So I have kept this in mind whilst creating my magazine. I have decided to use no slang in my magazine and rather prevent my magazine being exclusive. (Click)
Throughout my magazine I feel that I have used quite a neutral colour scheme and have used commonly liked fonts. I did this due to the results of my questionnaires; I carefully followed the responses as I wanted my magazine to appeal to the masses rather than a particular social group as this would fit the genre better because pop music is liked by many different people. Throughout my magazine I have chosen to use images of typical teenagers in order to appeal to my audience; I felt that if I made the images too over the top it may scare off readers as they will not relate to them. I have used mainly light and bright colours in my images in order to create a fun and welcoming atmosphere that links well with the genre of music I based the magazine on. (Click)
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
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IPC Media produces a wide range of magazines aimed at men, mass market women and upmarket woman. They currently do not produce a pop music magazine which means that there is a gap in their market that could be easily filled with my magazine. However I feel that the older audience that they currently cater to will not benefit my magazine production and distribution as much as a production company with a wider audience. (Click)
Natmag reaches woman between the ages of 15-55 and also does not currently produce a pop music magazine. I therefore think that my magazine would be best produced by this company as there is a clear gap for a magazine like mine and I also think that it will fit in well with their other brands as it is aimed at a similar class of people. Some of the magazines seem to be aimed at mothers therefore women who may already buy magazine from the production team may also be tempted to buy my magazine for a younger member of the family circulating my magazine. (Click)
Who would be the audience for your media product?
My audience for my media music magazine is young teenagers between the ages of 11-16. I have chosen this age group as I think that there is a gap in the market for a magazine aimed at them. Although my magazine is aimed at both sexes I think that it will favour girls slightly more. The genre I have based my magazine on in pop, I have chosen this genre due to the responses from my questionnaire in which I found that the majority of people would rather read a pop magazine over any others.
How did you attract/address your audience?
Throughout my magazine I have used mostly indirect speak when addressing the reader and have tried to keep the writing fairly casual and informal in order to help the audience relate to what they are reading. I have also made the main article on my double page spread a interview as I felt that this would be more personal and involve the audience slightly more. This is backed up by my research, in which people said that they would like to see interviews in a music magazine. (Click)
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
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Throughout my project I have monitored my progress through the use of a blog. I created the blog and uploaded each stage of my work to show clearly my thought process. I think this was helpful as it enabled me to look over my progress and see where my work was going. It also helped me to evaluate myself throughout the project. Whilst working on my blog I use various other sites in order to clearly present my work. For example I have used Slideshare for all my presentations so that they can be view on the blog in the way they were intended to be. I have also used the site Issuu.com as it enabled me to put together the pages of my magazine to show how the overall product looks. (Click) As well as the sites I have used to create my blog I also used both word documents and excel documents when researching and planning my magazine. I used Microsoft Word to create mock-ups of each page as it was a quick and easy way to clearly plan out the basic layout of my magazine pages. I was excel when doing my initial research as it helped me to create tables and graphs which could clearly show my results. I felt that both these programmes were highly beneficial when making my magazine as without clear planning it would have been a lot harder for me to get the magazine completed in the correct amount of time and with minimal confusion. (Click)
To create the actual magazine I used Photoshop as this programme has the tools to edit my images as well as create text. Whilst creating my magazine I used a majority of the Photoshop tools in order to make my magazine look professional and appealing to an audience. I used tools such as the clone tool, the eye dropper tool, blurs and filters in order to help my edit my photos and make them appear exactly how I wanted them. As well as image tool I also used resizing, the grid and some shapes in order to help create my overall magazine and ensure the text was placed in the correct areas and matched with the main image and the rest of the page. (Click)
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
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I think that I have made a lot of progress between my preliminary task and my final magazine as I have been able to experiment with using Photoshop and learnt new ICT skills such as how to use the Lasso Tool to crop sections of my images to move or edit. (Click) I have used this technique of lassoing the head and bringing it in front of the masthead on both tasks however it looks more professional and well finished on my final magazine cover. I also was able to make more informed decisions about the layout and overall style of my magazine after completing the preliminary tasks. (Click)
When making my music magazine I made sure to get lots of feedback for people who would potentially be my audience. After getting this feedback I improved my magazine until I was satisfied that it had reached a good standard.
Y12 Evaluation Sophie
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