Evaluation Question 7

Evaluation question 6 – What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From the process of constructing my product my technological skills have improved drastically, especially in the software I have never used before. The technologies I have used are:

I used Blogger for recording my development from producing a school magazine front cover all the way to these evaluation questions. This way of recording my process in constructing this product has never been used be myself before, as I have never blogged. When using Blogger I have been able to easily record my idea while using different tools like photos, videos, prezi posts and powerpoint presentations. Blogger has been useful for writing these evaluation questions, as I have been able to go back and easily look at my drafts, etc to see my thought process and the way I have produced the product.

For the majority of this process I have used Adobe InDesign to create the preliminary task all the way to my final tasks with the music magazine pages. When I began using InDesign I found it a nightmare to use but with demonstrations and trial and error I slowly began to find it easier to use when it came to the construction of this product. By using InDesign I also found it useful for using experimental designs and becoming more creative in the production process.

With Adobe Photoshop I had no experience with this before (The same with InDesign) but was actually simple to use. After a couple of demonstrations and again, trial and error I was able to successfully remove backgrounds from pictures and experiment with the filter tools it offered. The process of using Photoshop was time consuming but did enhance my images and specifically the image for my front cover. By using a white background on the pictures it quickened the process of removing the background.

I was already familiar with Prezi but in the construction of the product my use in it improved greatly. Prezi was specifically useful in showing my research into real life music magazines like Q, NME and Kerrang!

 

During the process I was introduced to many more different pieces of hardware and software to create my pages for my music magazine. Examples of these are using a camera and how to properly utilise the best angles and how props can help improve an image greatly.

Using slideshare also allowed me to put powerpoint presentations on my blog without any hastle whatsoever.  

Evaluation question 5 – How did you attract and address your audience?

When designing my product I adopted a similar design to Q and Kerrang! magazine as they had a very similar target audience to my own. The layout and colour scheme of the magazines are distinctive and catch the eye of the reader, Due to this I wanted to do the same and adopted a similar colour style to Q. The mode of address of Kerrang! is informal which allows the reader to feel more relaxed when reading while remaining very informative.

The colour, image and featured artists attract the readers and therefore will purchase the product. With the splash being red it immediately gains the readers attention as well as the red and blue colour for the sell lines. With the splash I increased the length and width and ensured it was the largest piece of writing on the page to attract as many people as possible. A pull quote has also been used to peak the readers interest and ensure they buy the product. By using a pug, I’ve included a prize that a reader can win, which will encourage the reader to buy the magazine. 

I also used the fashion of the  modern rock  look and adapted it thought my magazine pages 

With the content page I made sure that I displayed the main artists covered in the issue of the magazine and also an article which can encourage fan interaction as this is the first page the reader will se when opening the magazine.

To appeal to my audience I ensured the artists inside appealed to the target audience which will therefore attract a larger circulation. In the images used I used a similar fashion to that I used on my front cover (like the main band, “rock chick” look and the indie band). This can help my audience feel closer to the bands and buy the magazine due to sharing a similar sense of fashion.

By mentioning a major festival and include a chance to win tickets to the said festival it can attract audiences to read about the festival to see if they want to win the tickets.

In my double page spread I used an informal mode of address to keep the audience from feeling like a stranger when reading and also used slang to ensure the sense of familiarity stays. With the band being the same age as those in my target audience the band can feel more relatable to the reader.

By using the term “exclusive” I have given the reader the idea they won’t see an article like this with the band ever again, which encourages the reader to buy the magazine for the specific content. The band has the same sense of fashion as all of the other images within the magazine demonstrating how specific my audiences clothing choices are while making the magazine feel more comfortable to them. 

Evaluation Question 4 – Who would be the audience for your media product?

Evaluation Question 4 - who would be the audience for your media product? from Et_phonehome97

Evaluation Question 3 – What kind of media institution might distribute your product & why?

If my music magazine was going to be published, I would need to think about who would do the most efficient job and maximise the circulation and who would distribute it to my target audience.

The company that is best suited for this is Bauer Media Group. Bauer was founded in 1875 and has continuously grown into a multinational conglomerate. They publish over 200 magazines, which shows Bauer can distribute many magazines and would be able to publish mine. It also shows that they dominate the magazine marketplace. 

Bauer own many well known names like Q and Kerrang! as well as the film magazine Empire. These magazines have quite a bit of prestige so my own product would have its appeal drastically improve.

With Bauer being a multi-platform brand, they own many TV and radio stations which is crucial for gaining a wider audience and with the internet playing a crucial part of the modern world technophiles (mainly young adults) would be interested in online content.

The institution I would like to distribute my product is Frontline. Frontline is the major distributor in Europe so therefore it would be ideal for Frontline to distribute my product.

Frontline are a major business partner for Bauer as they distribute the majority of their magazines. The involvement of Frontline would be of major importance when it comes to distribution.

Evaluation Question 2 – How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation question 2 – how does your media product represent particular social groups? from Et_phonehome97

Evaluation Question 1 – In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My media product mainly conforms to the forms and conventions of real media products.

My front cover for music magazines challenges the forms and conventions of real media products by having the main image cut onto the side of the page, which real life media products do not do. However, my front cover and the other pages use a designated colour scheme (Red, white, black and occasionally blue), which is what real media products use.

The masthead “Unplugged” can be seen as a generalised title but has a strong association with music due to the idea of the bands interviewed have ‘unplugged’ their instruments to join the journalist. With the masthead I wanted a simple design but at the same time I wanted it to stand out. To do this I chose a font, which will grab audiences attention and a black and white colouring as these colours contrast against one another creating a masthead which catches the eye of anyone looking at it, which is also what other media corporations have.

The slogan “sounds of a generation” gives the audience the idea that the music discussed inside the magazine is important to the rock scene encouraging people to buy it. 

The header and footer on my magazine were chosen to appeal to the target audience by allowing me to be more specific to my chosen genre. The header allowed me to include more bands that would appear inside my magazine while my footer would encourage people to buy the magazine as it says “The greatest rock magazine of 2015”.

The sell lines on my front cover are consitant with conventional colours by being red and blue. The artists included on my sell lines are all genre specific so it would fit with the overall feel of the magazine.

The splash is useful as the colour, font and size all create an eye catching splash to attract audiences.

The pug, which is featured on my front cover, is conventional as it offers a prize, which would be liked by my target audience.

My contents page uses forms and conventions of real media products as the features and monthly articles on the left hand side with a small caption to give more insight into the article. The review section on my contents page also uses conventions of real media products as it covers a variety of different topics like music albums, tours, etc. The review section also develops the forms and conventions as the music magazine industry is branching out to review aspects of the media like films and technology. My contents page also uses subsidiary images to help the page look more appealing to readers, which are what real media products do.  The images also show clothing, which is worn by the youth of today so they are more identifiable to these young audiences. My front cover and contents page were both influenced by Q due to the colour scheme implemented. The page numbers are also easily found on the page due to industry code. The page numbers also have the masthead next to them (similar to Q) to help keep the image of the masthead in the reader’s head.  The inclusion of social media links can help appeal to the younger readers due to them being the main age group on social media.

The artists included in the features shows the reader that the magazine does solely focuses on the rock and indie genre. The mode of address in the contents page is informal as it allows the reader feel more comfortable when reading and can encourage them to continue buying the magazine.  

When looking at my double page spread it develops the forms and conventions of real media products by having a theme that accurately represents the article in question. The double page spread uses columns to make the article itself appear more formal and professional which is a convention of real life media products. The style of writing also uses the forms and conventions of real life media products. Kerrang influenced my double page spread! with the informal attitude Kerrang! uses with their interviews. The black and white image used for the article also helps with the black and white theme going on within the design of the double-paged spread. The individual designs Kerrang! do for their double page spreads while keeping the magazines identity intact inspired me to do the same with my own double page spread. The headline of my article was A/M/B/E/R the same as the band so the reader will remember the name but had a just as interesting sub heading to ensure the reader’s interest is still peaked. The words “exclusive” were added to help give the idea the product is important and artists are willing to give exclusive interviews. Q inspired this exclusive idea as they do the same with their media products.

To ensure I stayed to the conventions of the industry I included an opening paragraph to give the reader a quick understanding of who the band were. The red and white writing on a black background helped the text stand out more and kept the reader interested in the design since it has not been done often while I was conducting my research. The style also reflects the rock/Indie feel and also would look interesting to my target audience.

The pull quote chosen helps the reader get a better understanding of the band at just a glance. By using two red lines help the pull quote stand out and entices the reader. At the start of the article I followed the industry code again by using a drop cap at the start of the first paragraph as it makes the article look more visually appealing.