Evaluation

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

My media product uses and has developed upon existing music magazines that cater to a niche market that use similar print magazine conventions. The genre of my music magazine is Guitar and Bass, so I tried to recreate a bold main image on the front cover to both hook my target audience and reflect on the genre of my magazine. I wanted an image which challenged the traditional stereotypes of guitarists and that linked back to the feature article of my double page spread. I wanted my image to jump out at my target audience to create a strong lure, and to look bold and completely different from other specialist guitar magazines. I also needed to consider the juxtaposition of the people in my image, their clothes, and the background. I think that my final image captures my aspirations for my music magazine. The people in my main image are dressed casually, and are playing on the game 'Guitar Heroes', which is the article featured on my double page spread, and also hints at the typeface of my magazine at the same time. They are also stood at an angle to the camera, so the audience's eye is drawn along them. This was necessary because they do not have eye contact with the audience, but are looking in front of them instead. I superimposed them onto the background of a stage lit with green light to give the impression that they are performing and are looking at their audience. The green lights of the background link to the girls t-shirt in the main image, which makes it look more realistic and helps to maintain a sense of verisimilitude.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My New Music Magazine represents a social group of 16-24 year olds, and who typically fall into the socio economic group of DE, which categorizes students, people who have just left university and don’t have a very large income and the unemployed. My magazine is also fairly inexpensive compared to others, so it falls within my target audience’s price range. My target audience are young and want to be kept up to speed with all of the latest information and technology that is available to them.

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

Many different types of media institutions would distribute my product such as supermarkets like Tesco, Asda, and newsagents like WHSmiths and Spar. They would sell my magazine because there is a gap in the niche market for a specialist guitar and bass magazine, which is different from all of the others, is aimed at young people, and challenges the normal conventions for print media.

Who would be the audience of your media product?

My music magazine caters to a wide spread age profile, but its main target audience is young guitarists aged 16-24 who want to be kept in the loop with new techniques, gossip and technology.

How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract my audience I used a hook in the form of my main image. My brand identity is bold, stands out from the background, and is a direct link to the masthead and name of my magazine. The font I have used is bold, colourful, links to the article of my double page spread, and is stylish and modern. My masthead is easily recognisable and will stand out when put on the shelf with other guitar magazines. The name and the logo is a strong typeface for the genre of my magazine. I have repeated the logo, which is taken from part of the masthead and is easily recognisable, on the top outer corners of all of the pages in my magazine. I have also used the same colour schemes, with the main theme of black, throughout my magazine to create a stronger sense of continuity. The captions under the pictures on the contents page would normally be used to anchor meaning, but here I have simply used them to give a page number, which the audience will then have to locate and read if they want to fully understand the meaning of the pictures. This helps to create a sense of enigma, and makes the audience want to read more. For the mode of address I have tried to use the same sort of language as my target audience would use on a daily basis, and the tone of the language I have used helps to create a bond with my target audience. I have used controversial details and cover lines to entice my audience into picking up my magazine. The strap line which I have placed above my masthead doesn’t carry a quotation, but instead gives information about an online version of the magazine, which also helps to connect with my target audience through the use of new technology. I have tried to strategically place gutter space around the front cover and the contents page of my magazine so that the audience does not feel too overwhelmed by the combination of the bright colours and all the information. This is in contrast to my double page spread, where I have filled most of the gutter space with pictures taken from the photo shoot for the article. So that this doesn’t look too crowded I have arranged the juxtaposition of the pictures so that they are at a canted angle to the text and each other. I think that this reflects the liveliness and everyday rush that my target audience feels in their everyday lives on a regular basis. The bright colours that I have used tempt the audience to take another look at the magazine and pick it up.

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

Throughout this project I have discovered both my weaknesses and my strengths in the world of print media. My weaknesses have been in having very little prior knowledge to the software and technology, such as the imacs and the programs like Photoshop, which we were required to use in order to obtain the most professional looking results. Since then, however, I have become much more confident with the technology and the processes which I needed to go through to create a professional looking magazine. During the task I have had a clear idea in my mind of my target audience, and have enjoyed creating a magazine to suit their purposes. With the help of constructive criticism from my peers and target audience and by altering my media product accordingly, I am confident that I have managed to produce a new music magazine which meets the need of my target audience comfortably. Though the final piece is somewhat different to my initial idea, as I was originally intending to write a double page spread article about a new musical brother and sister act, I am pleased with the eventual outcome.

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

The preliminary task was to create a front cover and a contents page for a school magazine, and my partner and I eventually decided to challenge the normal conventions of a school magazine by targeting it at the teachers of a school, rather than the students. Though we enjoyed the task, there were several elements which we found difficult and struggled with. Looking back, I believe that the preliminary task has helped me to better understand the traditional conventions and inner workings of creating a successful piece of print media in today’s society. The task taught me how to use the software that we needed to use more confidently, and it also helped me to prepare for the main task ahead. I have tried to take into account all of the constructive criticism that we received for the preliminary task and transfer that knowledge across to when I was creating my new music magazine. Since the preliminary task, I think I have improved and much better understand the conventions and processes involved in print media. I now also understand the importance of the target audience, and that using the correct techniques to appeal to them is crucial to a successful piece of print media.

In future I think I will need to become more familiar with the software used and spend less time on my market research and more on completing the task, getting constructive criticism for it, and altering it so that it’s the best it can be.