Evaluation Of ‘Deadlines’ Music

Magazineby Stephanie Alabi

In this evaluation, I will explore how the media products I have created (a music magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread) are effective in satisfying media conventions, whether they appeal to my target audience and I will examine how I have progressed since completing my preliminary task.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge

forms and conventions of real media products?

My own design of my music magazine front cover is conventional as by researching existing music magazine front covers I found that many of them present a list of artists down the side of the front cover to preview the artists that will feature inside the magazine. This is done to let my target audience glimpse at the popular artists that will be within the magazine. Also my front cover uses similar colours that existing magazines do. I was inspired by NME magazine to use the colour scheme

of red, black, white and yellow. My front cover also follows conventions as my main image of my main artist takes up the majority of the space on the front cover. However, my front cover has inverted conventions of Indie Rock magazines as I did not include feature article photographs whereas on many real music magazines, they do.

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

The reason these type of conventions are used is because I thought that if the audience saw them, they would recognise the magazine and connect more to it. Also, conventions are used to draw in the audience to the magazine as they would already be familiar with these conventions. I have decided to challenge conventions of Indie Rock magazines so that my magazine seems unique but also because I thought some of the conventions (such as feature article photographs) would not have suited the style of my magazine front cover, contents page or double page spread.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge

forms and conventions of real media products?

My own music magazine contents page design is conventional as by researching existing music magazine contents pages I realised that they all have a column of topics that are going to be featured in the magazine put into sections. I was inspired by Q magazine to make the layout like this. My contents page also follows conventions as in various music magazines there is a main image that takes up the top half of the contents page. I chose to do this so that the readership can see who

besides the main artist on the front cover features in the magazine. On the other hand, my contents page doesn’t follow conventions of an Indie Rock magazine as in some existing contents pages they include some information under each topic to preview what is going to be in them whereas I have not included this on my contents page.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge

forms and conventions of real media products?My double page spread design is conventional as by

researching existing music magazine articles I have found that they all have a main headline that links to the article. I have included a main headline and this is used to tell my target audience what the double page spread is about. Also the colour scheme of my double page spread was inspired by other Indie Rock magazines such as Q or NME as red, black and white are general to the Indie Rock genre. However, my double page spread challenges Indie conventions as most existing double page spreads have one large main image taking up an entire side of the page whereas my double page

spread has two images and some text taking up one page of the spread. This link is a summary presentation. http://prezi.com/ibogsntigiq3/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My three media pieces create a representation of gender as my magazine is aimed at females and this is shown as the main artist on my front cover and in my double page spread is a girl so my target audience will immediately relate and recognise her. Also in my contents page I included a solo male artist that girls will be drawn to. It creates a representation of race as there are mainly white artists in the Indie Rock genre but my media product uses people of other races as well. Youth is definitely represented in my media products as the costume my main artist on my front cover is wearing can symbolise rebellion and being youthful. Also the pose of the band on my contents page is casual and laid back which could also indicate youth.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I have not supported stereotypes of gender in my media products as a stereotype of females in the music industry is that they are overly-feminine, wear light colours and are weak; on my magazine front cover my main female artist is represented positively as strong as she is wearing darker colours which doesn’t make her seem very feminine. I also have not supported stereotypes of race as on my contents page, there is a white, blonde girl in one of the pictures and instead of the stereotype of her being dumb, she is represented positively as smart as she is wearing glasses. I have created a representation of gender as the target audience of my magazine are female and the mode of address used in my media products targets them specifically. I have created a representation of youth in my media products by using models that look youthful so the target audience can relate to them.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

However, I feel my representation is also not conventional as many Indie Rock artists have a sense of ‘Britishness’ or pride of where they come from which they convey through their costumes or overall presence whereas I have not made this clear in any of my media products. Also I have not intended to represent ‘class’ in either my front cover, contents page or double page spread but you could interpret the costumes of my models as such. As one of my models is wearing a dark trench coat you could assume that he is from middle to high class and my main artist is wearing a leather jacket so you could assume that she is from either working to middle class instead.

This link is a summarising presentation http://prezi.com/w4aa-plci3gl/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

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

After doing some research, I think the media institution that should own and distribute my music magazine is the company IPC Media (Time Inc. UK). I chose this company because I feel that they would be able to deliver my magazine to its target audience. This is because IPC Media is famous for tailoring their brands to a variety of audiences. They have multiple platforms that they use to reach their audiences e.g. print, online, mobile, etc. I think the company would be perfect to own my magazine as they have previous experience owning a successful Indie Rock music magazine (NME) also they would be good to distribute my product as they claim to reach all of the UK with their magazines and over 28 million users with their websites each month.

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

The advantage of IPC Media aiming their product at a wide audience is that they will gain more of an audience being drawn to their products. Also the advantage of them having experience across multi-platforms is that they will be able to distribute my product on these platforms to a variety of their audience. It is good that they already own a successful Indie Rock magazine (NME) because they have knowledge in this area and it will help when distributing my magazine as it will have more of a chance of being successful as they will know how to market my magazine to help it grow. The vision of IPC Media is to bring influential media brands to a wide audience and this is good as it supports my magazine’s values.

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

IPC Media would be suitable for distributing my music magazine to my target audience as they are female and IPC Media are known for having magazine brands that cater to women such as Marie Claire, InStyle and Now. I think they would support my magazines values and the articles that would feature inside the magazine because they make sure that all of their brands are made to accommodate the interests of a variety of audiences. This link is a summarising presentation. http://prezi.com/-q8glhr-uek9/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My target audience for my music magazine are females aged 16 to 22. I decided to aim my product at a different audience to standard Indie Rock music magazines because I thought it would be easier to create a magazine that appeals to females rather than males. They are either in full-time education or have graduated. They love to listen to Indie Rock music and this is why my magazine would be suitable for them. They are very sociable and like to try new things so you would always catch them at the latest indie gig in their city. She likes to explore so you would see her travelling around the UK to see landmarks and cityscapes that she can document with her Nikon Camera for the future. Music is very important to her and she makes it a part of her daily life. My

magazine is suitable for my target audience because it will satisfy their interests and include articles on topics that they would like to read.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

How did you attract/address your audience?

I used colour in my three media pieces to attract the audience because I used red, black, white and yellow and these colours stand out so the magazine would catch my audience’s attention easily. I also used layout techniques to attract my audience as on my music magazine front cover, my model takes up most of the frame and this grabs my audience’s attention. Plus, in my media pieces I used my model’s poses and costume to address my audience as on my contents page in the image of the band they are all using direct address by having eye contact with the camera. This makes it more personal for the readership. In addition to this, the model on my front cover is wearing a leather jacket and my

youthful audience would relate to her style. The mode of address I have used in my magazine attracts my audience as I make sure the language is current so they can relate to it. Also in my contents page, I made sure that the topics would interest my audience and would be things they would want to read.

How did you attract/address your audience?

My magazine will satisfy my reader’s needs as Blumler and Katz identify that people use these forms of media to either gain information, for entertainment, to identify with others, interact with others socially or to escape from daily life. My audience would find my magazine entertaining and they would gain information on and identify with the artists that they like through articles and interviews. My readership may also use the magazine to escape from daily life if they are bored of if they are troubled. Abraham Maslow said that human beings have five key needs and these would be satisfied in my magazine as by reading about successful artist’s they might be motivated to be the best they could be which is self-actualisation. Also they may feel like they belong to a community of people that buy the magazine. I think my reader’s will like and buy my magazine

because they will be interested in the topics featured inside. This link is a summarising presentation. http://prezi.com/dj3gsj6dzhcy/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

How did you attract/address your audience?

Specific parts of my magazine will appeal to elements of my target audience’s interests as they like travelling and going to new places so the ‘gig guide’ featured in my magazine will appeal to them as they can travel to each venue and see the surrounding area. My magazine will satisfy my audience’s needs as they would be able to gain a higher self-esteem if they read an article about a famous Indie Rock artist that they like, they could relate to their experiences and have a higher self-esteem because of it.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of

constructing this product?I have gained many technological skills from doing this project as before beginning this project I had used Adobe Photoshop before but not to this degree. I have never used Photoshop before to create something nor have I used it to manipulate/edit photographs like I have done during this process. Also I learnt how to use the website Prezi to make creative presentations. This was confusing at first but it gradually got easier. Plus I used Slideshare for the first time when constructing this product which will help me in the future when needing to use this form of presentation. Even though I have previous experience in setting up and maintaining a blog as I have done on the website ‘Tumblr’, when doing this project I learnt how to use Blogger and it has helped me improve my blogging skills.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of

constructing this product?I used a canon camera to take the images for my Indie Rock music magazine and I have developed skills on how to take good medium shot and close up shots of my models for the magazine. When using Photoshop, I learnt how to use the ‘magic wand tool’ to make a shadow in one of my images disappear from the shot. I also learnt how to highlight the edges of words on my magazine front cover in a different colour so that they stand out. I used the website ‘Google’ to research previous existing Indie Rock magazines so I would have an idea about how to create my own. When constructing this product, I used Google Drive to save pieces of my work so that I could find them later. The benefits of using these technologies when creating my product is that they make it look more professional and I can improve areas which weren’t perfect. I have improved in my use of technologies such as Prezi and Slideshare as I had never used them before but now I have knowledge on how to use them for future projects.

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

Since looking back at my preliminary task, I feel that it has helped me when creating my final product. This is because, I think that if I had gone into it without doing one previously it would have taken me longer to come up with ideas on how to create my music magazine. By comparing my preliminary task front cover with my final product front cover I feel that my music magazine is visually better and looks more like a real magazine because of the layout of the skyline and the way my main image is placed. I think that the production on my main image was better in my music magazine because I had to manipulate the image so the background was

hidden and I had to use the magic wand tool to cut her out so she would fit on my background. This was different to my school magazine as I didn’t have to manipulate the image because I didn’t know how to, I only had to crop the image and photoshop some blemishes on the model.

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

I think that my main task front cover is better that my preliminary task as I think the font I used on it was more professional and ‘magazine-looking’ as by researching existing music magazines such as Q magazine, I found that the magazines have font types similar to this whereas my preliminary task front cover font was too formal for an actual magazine. My use of Photoshop improved from the preliminary task to the main task as in the preliminary task, I only had to move around the different layers to help create the magazine front cover and make it look presentable whereas in the main task, I learnt how to outline the sell-lines in other colours and how to manipulate shapes to create a better affect as I did in the masthead. I have learnt many skills whilst creating my contents page and double page spread as I have learnt different ways to layout a page and make it look authentic. By doing this project I have learnt many ways to appeal to an audience as once you have found out who your target audience is, and what they like, you can have your magazine cater to their needs and wants.

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

I have learnt how important it is to carry out research and planning when doing a project like this as you gain more knowledge on existing music magazines and how they become successful so you know how to create your magazine as if it was real. Carrying out research and planning did make a difference when doing the final product as I had an idea of what to do and how to create it. It has also helped as I feel I have become more creative as most of the ideas were my own. I think that my main task contents page was better than my preliminary contents page as we didn’t actually make it so it didn’t feel as professional but also because the layout of the column of topics on my main task was done well so my

audience would be able to find what they were looking for easily whereas on my preliminary task contents page, the layout was quite basic and boring. Also the text I drew doesn’t seem to fit the style of the magazine compared to the final products font which does.

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

Nevertheless, I think doing the preliminary task gave me confidence in knowing that I had already created a magazine before starting my final product. I have learnt some skills since completing my preliminary task such as I have learnt a variety of skills on Adobe Photoshop that I didn’t know before, also I have gained knowledge on how magazines should be presented and laid out. Since doing these tasks I have learnt that creating a magazine is quite difficult and requires a lot of time and effort. Plus, I have learnt more about the music magazine industry by looking at various music magazines and websites which will have a

positive impact on me if I return to this field in the future. This link is a summarising presentation. http://prezi.com/i2k_pzlnyy6l/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy