Simona ViackuteAS Media

Foundation Portfolio

In what ways does your music magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of an existing

magazine?I have analyzed Q magazine, which is one of the most popular music magazines in the media industry. Therefore I used Q as a template for my own magazine because my aim is to attract as many readers as possible.However Q is not much different from any other magazine- its front cover has cover lines, buzz words, central image with direct mode of address and pretty much any other component you would see on a magazine.

Same goes for my contents page- I used other magazine layouts as my template. I have placed the list of contents at the side of the page because this way its easier for the reader to navigate through the text. I used images as visual aids and to also interest the audience.I attempt to stick to my house style as much as possible to keep my magazine consistent all through out. My color scheme is white, red and black and as you can see I have used these colours for my front cover as well as my contents page.

In what ways does your music magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of an existing

magazine?

My contents page also follows the set house style and the space is divided equally for use of pictures and for use of the text. Hence, the layout has a balance between visual and textual information. This allows my magazine to attract audience that likes images and the audience that prefers text .

Furthermore what I have learned from looking at other music magazine sis that the images are somehow linked to the text. Images could be referred to as the mise-en-cscene of the article and they have inter-textual reference to the text. Hence I have planed my photo shoot accordingly to the article. My music artist speaks about her not being able to do anything else because she is so tied up by her passion for music. Therefore in my photograph you can see her being tied up with a microphone’s wire.

How does your music magazine represent particular social groups?

My feature artist for my magazine is a 20 year R&B singer who talks about her life story. In the music industry the most successful R&B artists are generally men, therefore my magazine might challenge the conventional expectations of a R&B performer and also my photographs represent her as strong and powerful. Also in the article she speaks about her having a strong will and going against her parents demands. Hence I am setting a role model for the target audience with the idea of ‘follow your dream’.

What media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The media institution that would distribute my magazine would be Bauer Media because I am targeting a wide range of audience all over the world- teenagers who like R&B. As I have researched this institution I have noticed that it publishes the majority of music magazines, some of which have inspired me the most, like Q magazine.

Who would be the audience for your music magazine?‘Who?’

 The intended audience for my magazine are R&B music fans aging from 16 to 19, who have been brought up in the big city environment and know all about the urban life; urban teenagers as I like to call them. There are many reasons for my choice. Firstly I belong to this group of our society; hence this helps me to understand what is relevant to such population. It helps me to make decisions on choices like price, contents and the genre of music my magazine will be based upon- because I know what I would be willing to pay for a music magazine, and what I would be expecting to see inside it. Furthermore since my survey was completed by college students, the results were only so much relevant if I was making a magazine that targeted that particular age group. Although I have expanded the age range from 16 to 19, I have still used the results as my guide when it came to developing my music magazine.

Who would be the audience for your music magazine?‘Why?’

The results from my survey show that the majority of teenagers would prefer Vibe magazine which is based on R&B and Hip Hop. The second most common choice was Q magazine, which also has a similar music genre as Vibe. Therefore if my target audience is a group of teenagers, it would be clever to choose a genre that would appeal to as many of them as possible; according to the results such  genres of music  would be Hip Hop and R&B.

What have you learned in the progression from the preliminary task to the full product?

The standard and quality of my work has certainly improved since the first attempt of creating a college magazine. I am now aware of different front cover components, I know where is it best to place them. I am aware of the house style and the effective use of cooer.

What have you learned in the progression from the preliminary task to the full product?

The standard and quality of my work has certainly improved since the first attempt of creating a college magazine. I am now aware of different front cover components, I know where is it best to place them. I am aware of the house style and the effective use of color.

My CollyLifefront cover does not have any buzz words and the amount of cover lines is very low. The audience would not be capable of getting an good impression about the contents of the magazine.

It does not make it clear who are the specific target audience for this magazine.

The contents page of CollyLife is not organized well what so ever. The images with the page number on it are scattered al around the page. Also the white text on the light pictures is very difficult to read. All of these errors will make it harder for the reader to navigate through the contents page. Also it does represent a good use of color- the red in the background is too bright and intimidating.

Survey Results

Audience did recognize the genre of my magazine just by looking at the front cover.

Survey Results

None of the people found my central image unsuitable for a music magazine.

Survey Results

The highest votes show that most people considered my cover lines to be easy to read, eye catching and

intriguing.

Survey Results

People liked my color scheme!

Survey Results

My consistant house style succeeded!

Survey Results

Contents page simple to use.

Survey Results

Majority of people found my article interesting.

Survey Results

…and most of them find it suitable for teenagers.

Survey Results

None of the people suggested that my photographs were unprofessional.

Survey Results

13 out of 21 people would consider buying my magazine and 7 others said maybe, leaving only one

person who said No.