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

Intro- I created my magazine cover, contents and DPS to fit the style of exiting electronic dance music (EDM) magazines so that I could be sure that my layout would be liked because I know that people buy existing magazines and they are bought because they are appealing to the customer.

Layout front cover- I put my title in the top left of my front cover, barcode in the bottom with issued number and price. I also varied from normal tradition of magazines by putting a QR code at the bottom as well which is a like a barcode, but smart phones can scan it to open up a website related to the product that the code is on (this can supply extra information to readers which are highly interested in the magazine). I tried to keep the amount on text on the cover to a minimum which conforms to other EDM magazine traditions. At the bottom also I have a short review to raise the magazines profile and to increase customer confidence in the product to make them more likely to buy it.

I kept the text on the front to a minimum to keep with styling of other EMD magazines such as SPIN (as can be seen above)

Picture- the theme of my magazine was ‘anyone can be an artist’ so I took a picture of my friend at a mixing tray and took it at low focus on my friend so she couldn’t be made out very well. This gives my target audience the idea that it could be them in the picture just as much as my friend.

Magazine Name- I chose the name DrOp because other EDM magazine covers have terms which relate to the music genre it is about. Typically in EDM music, the beat would build up faster and faster, stop, and then a heavy bass would take over. This is called a drop and it is one of the main elements which EDM has.

Font- I chose a bold/standing out font for the text throughout my work to make everything easily readable and to suit the style of the people who would read the magazine. On my title for the front cover, I made the font sleek and curved to express the

Layout contents- I laid my contents page out in categories much like most other magazines do. Within the categories, I put the main articles in numerical order so that each page could be located easier. I also put in some featuring pictures within the magazine to add colour to it. I put the pictures as a collage to not make it uniform and to make it look more casual which would suit the market that would buy my magazine. An example of this can be seen in the image to the right

For the background of my contents page, I went on an internet program and put different effects together to create the blue lighting and glow. I feel that this adds depth to the page and makes it look better and colourful.

Layout DPS- For my DPS the background was taken as a landscape specifically to fit the double pages. I chose a mixing board without any people in the picture to get a different style picture with more focus and a person wouldn’t fit well, whereas the mixing board fits very well. The main part on the board fits in the middle with parts which don’t look as good around the sides which I have covered in black boxes which fit the colour scheme and help make contrast against the white text. With the Q&A, I laid the questions out separately in different sides of the border on the page. This helps to make it more readable and less daunting to the reader who doesn’t want long paragraphs of text. The text was made white to stand out from the darker colours in the picture and I used the same font as the contents page to keep the magazine consistent in style.

•How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine represents listeners of EDM which mainly consists of ages from 13-30 and both male and female genders. In my magazine I have tried to represent both these genders by having as many females featuring as males in pictures and articles. It is difficult however as my magazines social group mainly consists of males but the nature of my target audience means I must represent both.

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

My magazine would be distributed in most supermarkets and shops such as WHSmiths and new agents. This would be across England in places that are between B and D in the social economic group and people who are too young to be employed too.

•Who would be the audience for your media product?

My audience would be people who listen to EDM rather than a particular age, gender, race or religion. As mentioned above, people who listen to dubstep are typically males between 13 and 30 years old. There are females too however.

•How did you attract/address your audience?

On my front cover, I attracted my audience with a large title and bold colours. This would attract the attention of my target audience and then if there are any new potential readers then the review at the bottom would hopefully convince them to give the magazine a trial.

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

While creating my magazine cover, contents and DPS, I have learned how to use the basics of Photoshop and Indesign in order to edit images and create pictures.

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

I have learned a more about how to take good pictures and that you must plan a picture before taking it and I have found out that there is allot more planning involved in making my work then I thought. Each part must be thought about carefully in order to make it sell to people.