In what ways does your media product use; develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My magazine is a Christmas edition and is full of seasonal messages to make readers feel Christmassy. I didn’t want to overpower it with Christmas gimmicks because I thought this could make it look cheap and tacky. With the strap I wanted it to have a seasonal message but also relate to the band. I decided to use words similar to a well known Christmas carol. I did this to the headline on my double page spread as well. I think this is very effective as it’s catchy and with a twist on words which helps to catch the reader’s attention. It is clever play on words which contains a double meaning. One relates to Christmas and one to the band. I wanted my masthead to have a rock feel to it also making sure it maintains the house style. I think I have achieved this by having the masthead in a special shattered font. I decided to put red around the outside to make it stand out and catch the audience’s eye. I wanted to leave the main image clear because I believe it’s an eye catching selling point. If I had covered it up it would have detracted from what I was trying to achieve. This meant I didn’t have much room for main sells and so I decided to just have the one. With this main sell my audience can get an idea of what kind of bands to expect to see and read about inside. I chose to have my lead as the band’s name because after analysis of many of the existing products I realised that this is what they all do. I made sure I put all the important features on the left third as this is what people see when magazines are stacked on the shelves. In the double page spread I decided to put my two pull quotes on the right hand page to even out the two pages. I thought if I put it on the left hand page it would look too crowded alongside the headline. I had two pull quotes because I wanted one quote from each member. This will target all the fans. When I researched other magazines I thought there were too many pictures compared to the amount of text. Therefore I chose to have my insert images together along the middle making it look like the film strip from the photo shoot this tricks the readers into believing there are fewer pictures than there actually are. For the contents page I decided to keep it simple and easy to use. By having the subheading it makes it user friendly and makes it easier for readers to find certain articles. By adding the editor’s letter it gives the readers the feeling that everyone involved in the magazine really cares. It’s a personalized letter from the editor and so the reader has the feeling that it is specially aimed at them giving a personal touch. I have also decided to add a lure so readers feel they are getting something back.
How does your media product represent particular social groups? Representation is the way groups are presented in the media and popular culture, often through stereotypical images that affect our views of gender, race, class, age, and ability. I wanted my artists to be ‘rock chicks’ but who are also very down to earth. This would make the readers feel they can connect and relate with them. My artists are very young and I wanted them to act like any young person would rather than be shaped into a ‘fake’ role model. I wanted them to act their age and not pretend to be perfect for the media. I have shown this in their article by making
them real and honest about everything they say and think, people will either like them or not. I wanted the reader to be able to see that straight away, when reading the article. They are young and like to have fun and the reader will see this from their views and attitudes. I also wanted to show though that the two girls are completely different to each other. One is a hard core party girl and the other is more sensible and mature, even though they are different they work well together. This was shown in the article but also in the pull quotes. One of the pull quotes, Marissa’s, showed her party side whereas the other, Sarah’s, showed us her sensitive, and mature side. The pictures I used also showed a certain side to their personalities. The one on the front cover showed their rock image but in the double page spread I wanted to show their fun, free spirited side. What kind of media institution might distribute your magazine and why? I looked at many existing products I especially liked the style of NME but Kerrang matched my genre, these inspired me when I was designing my magazine. IPC publishes NME, which is one of the biggest publishing agencies, whereas Kerrang is published by Bauer Media Group, which also publishes Q. IPC seems to publish very mainstream magazines whereas Bauer Media Group publishes rock/indie magazines. This makes me think Bauer Media Group would be the best to publish my magazine. By looking on www.abc.org.uk I can see Kerrang has a ‘Total Average Net Circulation per issue’ of 52,272. As well as a publishing agency I could publish it online at www.issuu.com. This would cut down on distribution and printing costs. It would also be possible because of my target audience being in the age range 1624. Considering all the possibilities I have decided to publish it online with www.issuu.com but also publish a few with Bauer Media Groups selling them in relevant music stores. This will ensure I reach as many of my target audience as possible. Who would be the audience for your Music Magazine? My magazine is aimed at 1624 year olds. They like going to gigs and live events, but maybe not to see the mainstream bands but rather the indie/rock gigs. They would be interested in fashion but they would have their own individual style and creations, rather than following everyone else. They would add their own edge and personality to it. They are interested in their image and their own individuality. A lot of my readers would own an IPod or MP3 and spend a lot of their money on music. My readers would also think it is worth paying a little extra to get good quality but because a lot of my readers would be students they know what is worth paying extra for and what isn’t. My readers would be up for doing anything at least once. They live life to the full and don’t really worry too much about what could happen in the future. They live life for now and worry about what could happen when it does. I wanted my magazine to attract both males and females because I noticed that a lot of the magazines were very male orientated.
How did you attract/address your audience? When I looked at magazines I noticed most are male targeted and don’t appeal to females. Therefore I have tried to create a magazine in which both genders would be interested and would like to read. I have really tried to attract my audience by the images used, making them fun and quirky rather than posed which we see in most magazines. This would draw the reader’s attention to the magazine and make it stand out from the others. I asked my target audience to comment on the magazine and asked if they would buy it. A large percentage of people I asked said they would buy it but they advised me that because most are students they think it should be a bit cheaper. They liked the idea though that they would be able to access it online. They also said they liked the style that the article was written in as the language and content was suitable for their age range. What have you learnt about using Photoshop CS3 and digital cameras during this project?
When I started using Photoshop I wasn’t sure how to use it to make my work the best that it could be but during the coursework I have really developed my skills. I learnt how to add effects to the text to make it stand out and catch the reader’s attention. I now know how to make it more appealing to the audience’s eye. As well as Photoshop I have developed my camera techniques for example good lighting and angles. All these skills make my images look more professional and helps convey the hidden message. All this helps to sell the magazine and attract the audience’s attention. These skills are very important to have and help extensively.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? I learnt a great deal from the preliminary task, which helped when doing the final product. I learnt how important it is when choosing the layout of the front cover as this is what sells the magazine. It is the first thing people see when walking past the shelves so it has to be really good to stand out and the layout has to be just right. The whole image has to be unique and has to have something different to make it appeal to the buyer. As well as this I have learnt, from doing both, the importance of deadlines. If I were to do it again I would make sure I left myself enough time to make sure the cover is exactly as I want it to be and not leave it so that I don’t have enough time to make adjustments where necessary.