SOS Magazine

Evaluat

ionJordan Reid

My media product uses the forms and conventions of other magazines such as NME, especially with the mainImage I have decided to use. IAdjusted the contrast and vibrancy as I noticed from other magazines that unrealistic effects were present.

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

I decided to create a Logo for my magazine as it isa method used typically byother music magazines such as NME magazine.

The tag line at the top of my magazine is used often on other magazine covers.

I have included a price, date of

issue and barcode in order

to maintain a genuine and

realistic looking magazine.

I decided to adopt the method of adding page

numbers to my cover stories as it is a

convention used by most.

I used a picture that I had taken

previously at a gig as I thought that it

would make it more eye catching. Using

more than one image is a

technique used by many other

magazines.

I decided to have a section on my contents page where the editor would talk about the magazine. I have noticed that this is a common feature used in Kerrang magazine, but not NME therefore my magazine is a combination of the two.

I put the date of issue at the top of the page

as this is a feature commonly used in

magazines.

Contents headings are

Always present in magazines in order to make it easier for the

reader to navigate themselves around

the magazine.

Page number and website are essential

conventions when creating a magazine.

The title ‘This Week’ is often used in magazines as a reference to being a contents page. I felt this was also essential.

The band present on the front cover of the magazine is usually a main feature on the contents page so I included a large heading and image to show the main story.

Particularly in NME magazine, short, brief

headings and small amounts of

information are given on the contents page

with page numbers beside them in order to inform the reader

accurately.

The image I used contains the correct body language and clothing to make a convincing magazine.

The heading ‘Feature’ is used weekly in the NME magazine to indicate that this is the feature of the issue.

The title of my double page spread takes up a lot of the page, this is because I noticed that this technique was used in many other magazines. I have used an alliteration in order to make it more interesting.

The image is largeand takes up a lot of the double page spread. This is a popular technique in magazines as it attracts the readers eye. The larger the image, generally, the More important/ the story will be.

There is a short caption which informs the reader of what that page will be about.

The main text is in columns

which is typical of a magazine.

There are also quotes

enlarged and extracted

from the text which is a technique

used in order to attract the

reader’s attention.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

• The targeted audience is teens and young adults and this is made obvious by the colours used, the logo is a metallic, shiny grey colour which represents modernism and youth which would perhaps steer older readers away.

• The images used are very arrogant and in your face which usually only attract younger readers as they perhaps aspireto look like them. • Having new gossip sections in the magazine

usually appear Exciting which would appeal to younger readers more than older ones as older readers seek a relaxing read, which would alter the colours of the magazine, the stories and the fonts.

• The music genres electro and indie aren’t really familiar to older readers which is another reason why my magazine would appeal more to the younger readers.

How did you attract/address your audience?

• I feel that the colours used throughout my magazine played a significant role in helping me attract my targeted audience. For example, the ‘chrome’ effect used on the letters of my logo allowed it to look modern and youthful.

• The fonts appear geometric and modern which I feel gives away the intentional audience of my magazine as they are crowded and busy.

• The fact that my magazine is based upon informing people of the ‘latest news and gossip’ on already existing and new bands would suggest that it is aimed at a young audience who always need to know the latest news.

• I also made a point of putting bands/artists on myfront cover in order to target specific people whomay be interested in those particular bands.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

• The audience of my magazine would be teens and young adults, similar readers of the NME as that is the magazine which I have based my magazine on.

• My magazine focuses specifically on the music genres Electro and Indie so I would also say that my magazine would appeal to people who enjoy the bands which are featured throughout my magazine.

• I decided to add as a feature in my magazine, a dedicated page to GlastonburyFestival which would contain the latestnews on line-up’s and reviews. This wouldenable my magazine to be suitable forfestival goers. People who want to hear who is playing the festival, and see reviewsand images from last years festival if it istheir first time.

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

• Music institutions such as ‘HMV’ and ‘Virgin’ would perhaps distribute my magazine as people entering those stores would be interested in the music genres represented.

• WHSmiths and other similar outlets may also stock my magazine as it is a store which is used by people of all ages which would increase the sales in the magazine.

• Perhaps even websites which sell magazines, maybe specific indie/electro pop websites which distribute magazines of that music genre only.

TIME WARNER(MULTIMEDIA CONGLOMERATE)

OWNED BY

INTERNET RADIOFILM

As Time Warner are a Multi-media conglomerate, my product would receive vast amounts of publicity and due to the money raised by other aspects of the company, such as films and radio stations, there is great reliability in my product as it could be sustained for a long period of time as the money is completely behind it. The magazine NME has been around since 1952 which backs up my theory that my magazine would be reliable.

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

• I developed my skills on Photoshop, particularly with these two toolbars on the screen. I learnt how to extracts parts of an image perfectly or perhaps just erasing the background form an image which helped me a lot. I also learnt how to adjust the effects of images and texts such as ‘stroke’ and ‘drop shadow’ which features massively in my product.

• I also found that I was using Photoshop a lot quicker than before which was because I discovered how to use the layer bar on the right. This saved me a lot of time when constructing my magazine.

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

• Firstly, I feel as though the contrast between the preliminary magazine and my coursework is great. The fonts used in the preliminary make the magazine look unofficial.

• The fonts which I decided to use on my magazine for coursework differ greatly as they are sporadic and differ in every piece of text.

• The image used on the front cover of my magazine has a far better angle and a better appliance of effects which make it look realistic.