Media evaluation.
Kelly Nicholls.
Kelly Nicholls.
For my media task I created a music magazine that consists of a front cover, contents page and double page spread.
In what ways does your media product use, develop
or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
For my front cover I chose to use an image of the artist featured in the interview I created as a background and it also serves as a denotation as to what the main content of the magazine is. Using an image as the background of my magazine is a convention of most institutions and I liked the idea of having the consumer/ target audience drawn to the artist and therefore the magazine, without using huge texts and fonts that would crowd up the whole of the front page. For my music magazine I basically followed the conventions of most institutions, using the mast head/ main logo in the top left hand corner and by also adding a website which most magazines have now.
I believe the contents page of my project is the weakest and unconventional, as most magazines spend an equal amount of time on each part of the magazine. Although I tried to make my contents look professional and although my knowledge of photoshop has improved the ideas I had just didn’t translate onto my design.
My double page spread is more conventional as it has an image of the artist being interviewed (usually a page in size) next to an article usually written in columns with at least one snippet of text larger in font. I followed these conventions as it looked more professional and neater, and is also easier to read.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Most conventional magazines now use the chance to win tickets, which I also chose to do. This also represents my social target audience as most 15-24 year olds don’t have as much disposable income ( students) and are more likely to enter competitions where they can get it for free.
When it comes to my target demographic I believe that I chose the right price as it wasn’t too expensive but also could create potential profit for my institution.
The website I chose to include also represents the younger social groups as they are more than likely to have web access and spend most of their time on the net. This doesn’t exclude any particular social group as there are wide range of people who do use the internet, and therefore could appeal to everyone.
I chose to use a young adult who fit in the category of my target demographic as my artist. I think this appeals to the young audience I am aiming for as they can relate to them and their age group.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I chose IPC media as publisher for my magazine as I believe they are successful and well known brand that provides for different target audiences. They provide institutions such as NME and ‘Chat!’ magazine which show their diversity, and shows their wide range of niche audiences.
My magazine would be supplied in the conventional places to buy magazines, such as newsagents and supermarkets. They would also be a possibility of subscription via the website which is more appropriate for my target audience. This is because most people who are 15-24 own bank accounts and could pay by direct debit.
In my questionnaire I asked ‘Do you believe that my magazine would do well if placed on a shelf in a supermarket or in other channels of distribution?’ and most people who were asked said yes, because of the bold heading. This tells me that if placed on a shelf in a newsagents or a shop then my magazine would be noticeable, even without the bright colours.
Using a masthead or logo on the top left hand side of the page is a normal convention of magazines, due to the fact that when they are stacked amongst others, they are easily recognisable.
Who would be the audience for you media product and why?
Although my house style appears to be quite ambiguous, I believe the theme that I chose to repeat all the way through my magazine connotates the unusual sort of r’n’b/ pop genre that I was trying to represent. I wanted to be more unconventional when it came to the pop genre, so chose more dark colours on my front cover, and used a mix of greys and pinks throughout the piece, which I then changed to black, red and gold as well as white to suit the needs of my target audience. Pop and perhaps R’n’B is more than likely to be represented with quite girly colours such as pinks and reds. This wouldn’t have attracted most of my target audience and I wanted to appeal to both genders. When I conducted my questionnaire I got some fairly good comments, although there was some people who believed that although my magazine was quite dark, the pink and grey theme still appealed more to the female sex. I asked ‘Do you think my magazine represents both genders? If not, why?’ and the most repeated response was no, because of the colour scheme of the contents and double page spread. With this feedback I would definitely change the colour scheme a little, although I still believe that it compliments my theme and genre even though I changed the scheme in the end.
The content of my magazine also suits my target audience as I specifically chose a younger person as my artist.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
To construct my media product I used photoshop and although I improved from my previous preliminary task I still couldn’t get the desired effect that I wanted. I improved on the ability to cut and crop photographs but I still would like to get more of the professional look when constructing things such as the front cover, which is one of the most important things in order to attract your desired audience.
Although I find photoshop difficult to use I know that it’s beneficial to making a professional and clean cut piece, and I do notice the contrast in my previous work since I have learnt more about the programme.
On my college magazine I realised the my use of different fonts, colours and pictures made my piece look messy and untidy, and this magazine I have noticeably improved.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt from it to the full product?
I have learnt more about the conventions of music magazines, and how to incorporate them into my own product. Beforehand, I did not realise that in order to have even a semi- successful music magazine brand you need to appeal to a wider audience, but that also you can provide content for more niche audiences.
On my preliminary tasked I failed to include a price, a barcode and a website, which I realised was a convention and added to my final music magazine piece.
I also learned that most products need to look professional, and the desired effect isn’t always as easy as it looks, especially creating images on photoshop.
Finally, I realised that you don’t have to crowd your front cover with information, that the contents can also be used to supply the features of my magazine.
