In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My magazine uses many generic conventions which are evident on the front cover, contents and double page article. However, using larger numbers than usual on the contents page challenged the generic conventions of music magazines as they typically appear in the same sized font to the rest of the numbers used on the page. Despite this, the contents page still appeared to look professional. One of the examples of the generic conventions I used for my magazine is the barcode and price on the front cover; this was a convention in many music magazines as well as magazines from other genres. The barcode – initially used for indicating the price and product number allows the magazine to appear more professional. Likewise, I positioned the masthead at the top of the page, justified to the left. Many real magazines position the masthead either like this or in the centre, they could either cover the main image or vice versa, suggesting the magazine is well known. I also used taglines and lures (including competitions) on the cover this not only is a generic conventions in practically all music magazines but also appeals to the target audience. The colours used are also a convention – black, pink, white and yellow. These are the typical found in pop magazines for example, ‘Top of the Pops.’ I used a strapline at the bottom of the page which was a convention in more fashion magazine rather than music ones (i.e. Glamour), however I felt it didn’t make the genre appear different and it was rather eye-catching.
I also separated the text on the contents page into columns often found in magazines contents pages, this made it easier for the reader to navigate around the page and appeared more organised. Another generic convention I used on the contents page was the text organised into categories with subheadings, this also made it straightforward and effortless for the reader to find a specific article. The colours used on the contents page, like many pop magazines, were bright and eye catching; this made it convenient for the target demographics. On the contents page, I chose to do a competition as an ‘Exclusive’ feature, this was a convention found in many magazines, as it suggests the specific article is only for a limited time. It was more often found in ‘competition’ articles. Another convention I followed were the page numbers along with the website at the bottom, which is evidently used to guide the reader.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My magazine is of the music genre ‘Pop,’ and from my research, I realised it is common for pop magazines to be aimed at teenagers specifically females from ages 13 – 18. The design of my magazine would appeal to this particular social group as the colours used are bright and vibrant, it features articles linked to particular artists who are popular amongst this social group and it follows most of the conventions of real music magazines of the ‘Pop’ genre. The magazine, therefore, represents these particular social groups as being lively, social and energetic. Furthermore, the price of the magazine is £4.99 monthly, which is a reasonable price for the target audience. From my research, I discovered that monthly edition magazines price ranges from £3.50 to £5.00. The price represents this particular age group as it girls who buy my magazine will be young and may buy it with there weekly or monthly pocket money or may rely on their parents. The different types of fonts I have used make the magazine appear quirky and trendy hence appealing for the specific audience.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I believe the media institution that would be suitable to distribute my magazine would be D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd as they are well known distributors and also because they publish a magazine called ‘Shout’ which is also aimed at young teenage girls, hence being very similar to my product. This company could distribute my music magazine as they distribute a wide range of magazines aimed at different age groups. Also, my magazine fits in with the description and attributes of the many magazines this company distributes. Furthermore, because they already distribute ‘Shout’ which is a well-known magazine aimed at the same target audience as mine, it could interest them financially to distribute another one to help their company to make a profit. The company could receive more profit and publicity as my magazine is only based on music for music enthusiasts, whereas ‘Shout’ magazine covers a wide range of information such as the latest fashion, celebrity trends and gossip. Music fans may not be interested in all this information and will probably just want to read about music, which implies that my magazine will be suitable for them and will attract in more readers which is good for the company.
Who would be the audience of your media product and how would you attract/address you audience?
The target audience for my music magazine would be teenager from ages 13-18 specifically girls who fall into the social class and demographic statistics of ABC1 when they are older. The audience would initially be interested in modern day popular artists who sing hip-hop or pop genre songs. An example of these artists would be boy bands such as one direction and Union J or Solo artists such as Jessie J or Katy Perry. This is why some of these artists are mentioned in my magazine to attract a specific and possibly wider audience. The target audience may also be interested in celebrity gossip and lifestyle and also fashion, as these are some of the feature article in pop magazines, thus used in my magazine. To attract the audience, I also used lures such as WIN! On the cover which is a bonus for the target audience as they would want to buy the magazine to enter the competition. Likewise, many other features on the cover such as the bright colours, masthead and artists also attract the reader’s attention. Using direct mode of address in some of the taglines also attracts the reader as it makes it more personal yet direct.
What have you learnt about technologies in the process of constructing your media product?
The software I used to construct my magazine is Adobe Photoshop version CS4. As well as learning the basics from constructing my preliminary, I not only discovered the immense tools and effects I could use to make my magazine appear professional but also learnt how to change and alter the images I used in order to make them sharper, brighter and striking. Likewise, I used other software such as word or paint to construct things that I was not able to do on Photoshop such as the competition box used on the double page article. I similarly used the ‘Samsung galaxy s3’ camera and the ‘Nikon Optical zoom’ camera to capture the images I used for my magazine. I discovered that the images were sharper and brighter when I used the ‘Nikon’ camera as it enhanced the image and made it clearer rather than blurry. I also used a Mac to make the magazine as an alternative to a normal PC or laptop, this made it easier for me to navigate around page, open several pages at once and copy and paste images. Whereas on a PC I would not have been able to do this.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I feel, I have learnt a lot more particularly from the preliminary task. I have made a lot of improvements since this task and feel I have particularly improved on using the software’s – Photoshop and capturing better pictures on professional quality cameras. The change is evident in the front covers of both the preliminary task and constructing the music magazine.
Front Covers
There is an obvious contrast between the two front covers I created and I feel I have made a lot of improvements since the preliminary task. For example the main image I used on the school magazine does not use direct eye contact, which was a generic convention in most magazines (possibly all music magazines). However after learning from my mistake and researching many different magazines as well as analysing and deconstructing them I realised how to enhance an image making it look professional and stand out at the same time. I also decided to capture a mid shot and make the main image clearly contrast with the background. Hence, I chose to use a white background on not only the front cover, but also on the contents and double page article as this colour clearly contrasts with the images and text.
On the school magazine, I justified all of the text on the left which was not a generic convention nor did it look visually stunning, the colours – black and white also didn’t stand out as it looked to plain and simple, the main image of the girl holding a book which consisted of multi colours did not link to the colours on the cover at all. The image was not appropriate, as she is not making direct eye contact. Conversely, the banner used at the top looks good as it features a quote. I learnt a lot from this and applied all the knowledge to the music magazine cover. I made the colours more vibrant and used at least four different colours, which evidently worked in making the cover appear visually stunning. I also justified most of the text on the left and right sides of the page, placing the image in the middle. I did not; however justify all of the text as some magazines (not specifically music) had this in common.
I liked the strapline on the school magazine and decided to make one for the music magazine as well, this was not only a common convention but also looked great and attracted a wider audience as it stated a fact on it. The colours I had used were yellow, pink, white and black. I chose to use white as the background colour as it contrasted well with the other colours I had used. I also edited the main image and made the lips brighter and make it similar to the pink I used for the text. I used a pull quote as an alternative to a lure for the feature article for the main image. This, I feel would attract the reader and give them an insight of what the article is linked to.
I learnt how to use layers as well as edits when constructing the school magazine and so applied this knowledge when constructing my music magazine. I did this for both the front cover and contents page. I feel I made vast improvement on the contents page.
Contents
What I found was common in magazine contents pages was that their housestyle ran all the way through from their front cover. I did not apply this on my school magazine however I learnt from this and applied this knowledge to my music magazine. I added one new colour – green. As I felt it would be more appealing since it would not appear exactly the same as the cover. I challenged the generic conventions by using large number in a different colour to the others, this looked more quirky and attractive for the reader. For the preliminary task I used a template of a contents page from an original magazine, this helped me construct the preliminary task – contents page.
What I found was common in magazine contents pages was that their housestyle ran all the way through from their front cover. I did not apply this on my school magazine however I learnt from this and applied this knowledge to my music magazine. I added one new colour – green. As I felt it would be more appealing since it would not appear exactly the same as the cover. I challenged the generic conventions by using large number in a different colour to the others, this looked more quirky and attractive for the reader. For the preliminary task I used a template of a contents page from an original magazine, this helped me construct the preliminary task – contents page.
Double Page article
For the double page article I chose to do a competition and feature it as an ‘Exclusive’ article, I looked at original articles and discovered how they used columns to make it look more structured and organised, I used columns as well as images that stood out because of the vibrant colours as I kept my target audience in mind, this enabled
Summary
Overall, since the preliminary task I feel I have progressed a lot and made immense improvements. This enabled me to grow intellectually and creatively as a media student. Using software such as Photoshop showed me how I could use software to edit or construct a media product. Capturing images on different cameras showed me the different quality photos and how I could position the camera in order to capture the perfect shot. Likewise, I learnt how I could position the text or image on a page to make it appear more eye-catching and look more appealing for the audience. Using different technoligies made me aware of the immense number of techniques and tools I could use. Not only did I research and acknowledge the ways the media industry works but also learnt how the industry targets a specific audience by the conventions used.
