Music Magazine EvaluationBy Alex Lillie

Use My media product uses conventions of magazines as I

wanted to make it professional so that readers would recognise straight away what type of magazine this was.

For my masthead I placed it in the top left corner, where you would expect to find a masthead, so that the reader could easily find it and know what magazine it was.

Also my main image follows the conventions of a real media product as the image is large and draws the readers attention straight away because the model is looking straight at the reader. I also used a guitar as a prop in my image as it is instantly recognisable to my target audience when they see this on the front of a magazine.

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

Develop My media product develops some conventions of real

media products as I wanted my magazine to look exclusive and attract my target audience meaning that I had to develop existing media conventions to do this.

I have developed my masthead by adding white lines through the text to make it look like smashed glass which gives the masthead a more rebellious theme which is what the genre is about.

The layout of my contents page also develops conventions of media products as I have made the contents page simple to look at as my target audience are more interested in reading about their favourite bands therefore a simple contents page helps them to do this easily.

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

Challenge My magazine also challenges the conventions of real

media products as I wanted to give the readers some exclusivity when reading the magazine as most other magazines don't have some of these features.

On the double page spread I have put an image behind the text to make the guitar stand out which ties in with the genre of the magazine.

I have also included an image in the double page spread were the model isn’t looking directly into the lenses which is unusual in a magazine however I think that it is a good photo which shows the audience what type of artist this is and therefore ties in with the overall look of the magazine.

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

My media product represents a young audience as it is aimed generally at young people who listen to indie rock. I have managed to achieve this by firstly not putting too much text onto the front cover or contents page of the magazine as younger people won’t want to read a lot of text just to find out where the article on their favourite band is for example.

I have also gone for a simple colour scheme meaning that it is even easier for young people to navigate around the magazine which is what they want as they won’t want to spend time finding what articles they want to read.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Publishing Bauer media would be good for

publishing my magazine as they have estimated that over 22 million adults are reading their magazines every week which means that my music magazine could potentially have millions of weekly readers if I published it with Bauer.

Bauer media also have lots of experience in publishing music magazines as they publish magazines such as Kerrang! and Q Magazine. This means that I can rely on Bauer to do a good job and make sure that my magazine will become as big as some of their others.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

Distribution One way in which I want to distribute my media product will be to

major newsagents and supermarkets such as Tesco, WH Smiths and ASDA. This would mean that my magazine will be where many people look for their favourite magazines and where they would expect to see my music magazine as well as other well known magazines.

I will also distribute my magazine to festival organisers so that people will be able to buy my magazine when they are at a festival or a gig and then if they like reading it they will continue to keep buying it at mainstream stores such as newsagents and supermarkets.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

Audience Profile- David Russell

David listens to indie bands such as the Arctic Monkeys and Biffy Clyro every day on his iPhone. He also listens to the radio whenever he has the chance and also keeps up to date with his favourite bands using social media. He also buys monthly issues of existing indie rock magazines such as Q. In his spare time he also likes to play his guitar and he is also the member of a band at his college. David also likes to go to festivals such as Reading and Leeds.

Who would be the audience for your magazine?

On the previous slide I have done an audience profile for the typical person who would consider buying my indie rock magazine.

The audience always has a keen interest in indie rock news and bands meaning that they would buy my magazine to stay informed about what's happening in the indie rock world and what is happening with their favourite bands.

My target audience would also enjoy going to rock festivals such as Glastonbury and Reading and Leeds. My magazine also offers the audience news on the latest festivals including line ups and also competitions for tickets.

The audience also listens to many different types of bands in the indie rock music genre because they will not buy the magazine just to read one article about a band, they will want to read about many different bands to see what they’re up to as well as their favourite bands.

My target audience will also be the younger generation which will be around 17-25 years old. This is because indie rock listeners are usually of a younger age as the lyrics in the songs relate to the younger generations age.

Who would be the audience for your magazine?

How would you attract/address your audience?- Front Cover

My masthead attracts the target audience because it is big and bold and is where the reader would expect my masthead to be meaning that they know what magazine it is straight away.

My main image also attracts the audience as it is very large meaning that the reader knows what the main article is going to be about. This also links in with the genre as it is a young artist that plays a guitar which fits in with my audience profile.

Also in the left third I have included what bands are inside the magazine meaning that the reader knows immediately if they’re going to read the magazine.

How would you attract/address your audience?- Contents

I have put subheadings in red which follows the house style and creates synergy but it also stands out on the page. I have done this because it directs the reader to look at these subheadings meaning that it is easier for the reader to find what they are looking for in my magazine.

The main image on the page also addresses the audience as the main image is the same person that was on the front cover which fits the audience profile of being young, usually plays an instrument and looks like he doesn’t care. This attracts the audience because they can relate to this image and therefore persuade them to read the article which is related to the photo.

I have also included an editor note which is a short paragraph from the editor telling the audience what my magazine has done since the last issue and a summary of what is inside the magazine.

How would you attract/address your audience?- Double Page Spread

I have included quotes from the text to address my audience as they will want to read on after they read the quote to get the full story on what has happened and also to find out more information about the artist.

I have also included an image behind the text as the audience can relate to it because most of my target audience will be interested in guitars. Also it gives the double page spread a better look as with this image behind the text it doesn’t look as plain and simple. The main image on the page again relates to the audience as the artist is playing a guitar and fits the audience profile. This draws the audiences attention because it is a fairly large image meaning that the audience probably won’t ignore it.

Canon DSLR Camera

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

I learnt how to zoom in and keep focus when taking a photo using the zoom lens on the front of the camera

I also learnt about the different settings the camera has to take different types of shots. E.g. Action setting

I also learnt how to use the flash on the camera for when the lighting in a photo was bad.

I learnt how to use the card reader on the side of the camera which allowed me to get my photos off the camera memory card onto a computer so that I could use the photos that I took for my magazine.

I used the DSLR camera for my college magazine task as a practise where I took quite a lot of photos so that when I came to take photos for my final magazine, I was able to get good resolution shots.

Photoshop

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

I used Photoshop to create my magazine and edit the photos for my magazine.

The main thing that I learnt from using Photoshop is using the Magic Wand tool. This tool allowed my to remove the background from my images so that there was no white box around the edge od my images on my contents and double page spread.

Another tool that I learnt to use was the brightness and other image editing tools. This allowed me to make my photos look better than the original image. For example one of my images was very dark so I used these tools to make the image look a lot lighter than it actually was and therefore made the images look better.

I also used the opacity tool to make the image of the guitar on my double page spread almost look like it is fading away so that I could put text on top of it and you would still be able to read it.

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

Blogger

I used Blogger to post blogs about the work I have been doing in class and homework so that my teachers can see what work I have been doing and where I could improve.

I had never used blogger before I started AS Media so I everything that I have done on Blogger I have learnt since that start of the year.

I have learnt that Blogger is a really good way to hand work in because it is easy to do and can also receive feedback straight away.

SlideShare

I used slideshare to get my PowerPoint presentation on my blog. To do this you have to upload the slideshow to SlideShare and then copy the embedded code into the blogger code page.

I had never used SlideShare before so I had to learn how to use it and how to get my slideshow into my blog.

I have learnt that slideshare is a really good way to get a slideshow onto blogger because it is quick and easy to do.

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

Photography

I think that the main thing that I have learnt is how to take a good photo. When making my college magazine I had no past experience with a DSLR Camera and I didn’t know what any of the bottoms did apart from the shutter button. After my college magazine I learnt what the different buttons and other things did on the camera such as focus and zooming in and out. For example the main image on my college magazine is not in focus at all whereas on the front cover of my final music magazine the image is high resolution and is in focus which makes the magazine look better and also more professional.

I have also taken into consideration the person that was actually in the photo. In my college magazine I didn’t concentrate on who was going to be in the photo I just took one of the study centre which turned out to look quite bad on the front cover of my magazine. I then learnt that having a model on the front cover that the target audience could relate to was very important as it would persuade them to buy and read the magazine.

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

Layout

In my college magazine didn’t really have a layout for it I just put the puffs and the strap lines anywhere on the page which made it look terrible. In my music magazine I followed conventions such as cover lines in the left third and a large masthead at the top of the page. The model is also in the middle of the page in my music magazine whereas the people in my main image in the college magazine are mainly near the top and on the left hand side. The image on the cover of my college magazine also doesn’t cover the whole of the page which makes it look small compared to my music magazine cover which looks a lot better.

On my college magazine my masthead is the same size as it was on the cover which doesn’t follow the contents page conventions of being a little smaller and having contents next to it or below it. Also in my music magazine contents page I have laid the page out so I have an image on the left and then text on the right. This makes it look a lot neater than having a small image on the right and then a puff above and to the left of it like it is in my college magazine.

After doing my college magazine I learnt that the layout of the magazine can make a magazine look so much better and also makes it easier to look at and read.

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

Font/Text

In my college magazine the text on the front cover didn’t stand out from the main image meaning that it was hard to read for the audience. The text was also very small meaning that the reader would struggle to read it whereas on my music magazine the font is bigger and is also easy for the audience to read so they know what is in the magazine.

Also on the front cover of my music magazine I have included 2 different font colours, red and black, which makes the subheadings such as Featured bands stand out. This is good because it draws the readers attention to these subheadings and then they will read what else is underneath that subheading.

Also on my contents page I have put text in two different colours to make the reader look at the important text which is in red such as page numbers and subheadings. This is useful because if the reader wanted to read a news article then they would just look under the news section and then look down the articles instead of hunting through the same bold text to find the same thing.