Evaluation 5 Prezi

Evaluation 4 Podcast

Evaluation 3 Presentation

Evaluation 3 presentation from RhyaCeri

Evaluation 2 Prezi

Evaluation 1

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

Masthead

In order for a magazine to stand out on the shelf amongst other magazine it must have an eye-catching masthead. For my masthead I decided to challenge the convention of having a masthead across the top of the magazine and usually being one word. I decided to do this so I could have a larger image on my front cover and also to make my magazine stand out against others. Similar to magazines such as ‘Q’ and ‘NME’ they position their masthead in the top left hand corner of the magazine and usually double up as a logo for the company. Here is my masthead, as you can see it is quite similar to ‘Q’ in that its positioned in the top left corner and has a solid colour background. Also here is Kerrang!’s masthead, as you can see I have challenged their convention in putting a masthead, which spreads across the top of the magazine. I wanted my masthead to be bold and be different which reflects the genre and will relate to my target audience. I chose a solid colour background because it is vibrant and stands out against the dark colour of the back of the magazine. As this is a new media product I wanted the masthead to be readable and clear from a distance and not be covered by an image, like most mastheads are, when the magazine becomes more established it would be possible to try ideas like partially covering the masthead.

Front Cover Layout

One way I followed the conventions of a real music magazine was the layout of my cover. The image I had taken was a medium close up shot with the model looking directly into the camera, which makes the audience feel like he’s looking at them. I also included the Issue number and how much the magazine costs which is a regular convention of most music magazines. I also included buzz words on my magazine such as Exclusive and Plus which draws the readers attention and makes it seem like they are getting extra value for their money, most magazines use this to entice more people to buy their magazine. I also used banners which most magazine’s use to attract the readers attention to certain stories and articles, much like I have done, I want the readers to see that we have an exclusive story on Jason Smith and this will attract fans of Jason Smith to buy this magazine specifically for the content on him.  I have also included a bar code on my front cover, which is a regular convention of music magazines. In addition I have also filled the front cover with bands and artists similar to the cover artist and others to attract the most potential audience for this magazine. By including other artists this widens the market for the magazine and gives the reader more choice. I also chose to include bands of a similar genre to the cover artist as this reflects the target audience of the magazine and in return reflects their likes and dislikes.

Contents Page Layout

I also followed the conventions on my contents page. As you can see I have included the word contents to give an overview of the page the reader is one and I have included my masthead, from the front cover, along side to keep reminded the reader of the magazine. I have also included the issue number and date on the contents page, again to remind the reader. As you can see I have clear titles of all the areas the magazine has articles in, including News and Features, which are conventions on most magazines. When deciding on the articles I was going to include in my magazine I decided to use all the cover artists and give a brief one line on what the article is about and what page number it is on. Here I also included another picture of Jason Smith along with the page number the double page spread is on so readers can go directly to it. Including all the page numbers and artists’ give the readers clear direction to read the magazine in and direct themselves. In addition I have included a Subscribe Now! Feature, which allows the user to subscribe to the magazine for a lower price than if they were buying the magazine every week. This is to attract the target audience more as the magazine isn’t that expensive and isn’t that cheap so this allows the people with less disposable income to be able to afford the magazine. I have also included social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr, this makes it so you can have the magazine on a multiple of platforms not just a physical magazine. I have also added a welcome paragraph, which isn’t a convention on most magazines but is included on Kerrang! And is used to welcome the reader to the magazine and give them an overview of what is in the magazine and which articles to look out for, I used this as it gives the reader something little to read about the magazine before they find an article they want to read.

Double Page Spread Layout

There were also several conventions I used on my double page spread. As you can see I have used paragraphs, which are set out into three columns and are justified. This is a regular convention on most music magazine double page spreads as it looks professional and organises the page.  I also have a footer on my double page spread, which similar to the contents page and front cover has the logo of the magazine, this is to keep telling the reader this is VM magazine.  Also on the banner I have added the buzzword exclusive. This is to tell the reader that this is an exclusive article and they are getting something that not everyone has, this is highlighted in red text as it stands out and matches the colour scheme.  The double page spread also has a page number on the left hand page. This is to correspond with the contents page and so that readers know which page they are on. This is a generic convention on most magazines, as they want the reader to know exactly which article is on which page. I also developed a convention of having a pull quote from the article spreading across both pages. This is sometimes used on magazines to attract the readers’ attention if they were flicking through the pages and initially grabs the audience’s attention. This is similar to Kerrang magazine. They use a pull quote on the double page spread to give an overview, shown here.

 

Social Networking Icons

Here are two social networking site logo's that i am planning on using on my contents page. This shows what different platforms you can see the magazine on and it opens it up into a larger audience. This is to match my target audience as young adults often spend their time on social networking sites and this gives them a new way to view the magazine and the brand.

Contents and Double Page Spread Changes

I decided to change the image on my contents page and transfer it to the double page spread. I did this because overall the image felt more suitable for the larger spread and lifted the page making it brighter and more appealing. Using one of the images i used from my second photoshoot i decided a black and white image would be best to match the tones on the contents page. The model in the image is wearing a motorcycle t-shirt which matches the rock image i was going for and he's holding a guitar which shows its a musician. 

Photoshoot 2

For this photo shoot i decided to use an older model in the photographs to appeal for the older audience for my magazine, rather than the young cover model. This creates a contrast of representing both older and younger audiences for one product.

Evaluation 2 Draft

Evaluation 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product has a similar social group to those of Classic Rock or Kerrang!

The content of my magazine is fairly similar to Kerrang! Magazine as it includes features, news and live topics which are the main subtitles on Kerrang!s contents page. The double page spread articles are also very similar as they are in interview format, as most double page spreads are.

The images of my magazine are also used to represent particular social groups. For example, im my front cover you can see the model is wearing a suit, has well groomed hair and is of young-adult age, which is there to represent my target audience. The image I used on the contents page also represents a particular social group. 

The model is older, and I edited the image so it is black and white. This represents an older social group.

Here you can see an example of Classic Rock magazine, which features MUSE’s Matt Bellamy as their cover artist. 

 As you can see he is also wearing a suit jacket and is looking directly at the camera. His hair is well groomed and he has a stern look on his face, similar to that of my cover. The model has a quite serious look on his face and isn’t smiling; this represents the more rocky side of the magazine and represents my target audience. This image represents a young adolescent male, the same as my target audience. The models hair was also the type of style that is usually associated with alternative/indie/rock artists and therefore my magazine represents their social group. The costume on the cover also represents a specific social group, the model is wearing a suit, waistcoat and bow tie, and this type of clothing is usually associated with wealthier demographics and often shows how much money a person has. This represents the price of my magazine, as I don’t want the price to be too high for the lower consumers of my magazine nor do I want it to be too low end so that the higher demographics are lost.

Overall I think that my magazine is able to represent the social group through its general style. The dark grey/black background and the red on the front cover represent the rock side of the magazine; these colours are typically used on rock magazines such as Kerrang! Also the green and white on the front cover represent a more indie audience. All these colours make up my house style and represent my chosen target audience, as these are colours that would appeal to them and tempt them to buy the magazine. 

Evaluation 4 Draft

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for my music magazine would be both males and females, but primarily males. This is because i used a male model on each page which would interest them and darker colours which stand out against the white, although these both attract male and females i would say my audience is primarily males. The age of my target audience would be between 17-24 years old, so late teens to mid-twenties. For this kind of magazine, indie/rock, i wanted to attract the people who are most interested in that genre which would be 17-24 year olds who have a part time job whilst still in higher education or have just started their career. This is why i made my magazine price £2.70, which isn’t very expensive considering other magazines and isn’t cheap so the audience are getting value for their money and don’t want to waste their earnings on something not worth it, so it’s ideal for my target audience. To consider an audience for my magazine i had to consider their music taste, as it is a music magazine. My target audience love indie, rock and alternative music and they enjoy going to gigs, to appeal to my audience i have chosen bands such as Arctic Monkeys, Mallory Knox and Kings of Leon who fit into those categories and attract the readers. They also enjoy going to gigs around the country and want to know where the best festivals are, this is why i have included a ‘Review’ section in my magazine followed with a ‘Festival Guide’ which tells you the best acts to see in Reading and Leeds festival this year. The house style of my magazine is black, white and green. I chose these colours to appeal to my target audience, i chose black because it is a dark colour which would attract the rockier audience and also the white to contrast this and make it stand out. The reason i chose green rather than a typical red as the tertiary house colour was because red is very common, it is on most magazines such as ‘Q’, ‘NME’ and ‘Kerrang!’ and i wanted my magazine to stand out against them which is why i chose green. I also decided on that colour because red instantly says Rock when its with Black and i didn’t want listeners of solely indie or alternative music to be put off buying the magazine because they think it is aimed at rock listeners primarily.