Magazine Evaluation

In what way does your media use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real life media products
The main image is the most dominating on my cover, following the typical conventions of music magazines. The image captures the attitude and confidence of my artist. The use of cover lines and kickers also follows the standard code for music magazines. Using the first third of my cover to display other content in the production, again following conventions as this left third is the one which stands out when the magazine Is on the shelf, persuading the audience to buy the magazine. The use of plugs attracts attention as they are bright colourful icons which draw the eye. They contain USPs which can convince the audience to buy the magazine for the competitions/giveaways.

Masthead of my magazine, I have used the font Vladimir Script, the affect is that it is a swayed, font almost as though it was handwritten. This creates a sophisticated image which is what I intended. This challenges conventions, as some magazine chose to use a logo. I have featured a menu strip across the foot of my production. The strip contains musicians who will fall into the genre of the music scene that my magazine taps into. This will persuade my target audience as they will be influenced to buying the magazine if their favourite artists are featured. Standard conventions are all present on my cover, as I have used a barcode, issue number and publication date. However, the position of my issue and publication date are in a slightly unorthodox place. In the middle of the right third.

Again following standard conventions I have used feature shots on my contents page. Using images of artists to promote awareness and interest in their articles in the magazine. The use of a quote gives a taster of what to expect from the article, it is a humorous statement and therefore can generate interest. References to the magazines social networking sites, as my target audience will be technologically-savvy, the opportunity to follow the magazine via others mediums and advertise the magazine to their friends by these feeds. This is a convention used by other magazines. I have adopted a busy style for the magazine, whilst obtaining the clean cut approach.

Rule of thirds

Rule of thirds
Rule of thirds is a standard convention followed by most magazines, as it enables you to manage and control the use of pace on the front over of a magazine creating the desired effect. The left third traditionally contains the kickers and coverlines, as this third is the one that is displayed when the magazine is on a stores shelf. The upper third contains the masthead and sometimes a menustrip, shown in my example of Vibe. It can also contain the production information such as issue date, price, etc. The middle third is usually where the main cover image is most prominent, in the centre of the page. This is a good area for the picture to be displayed as it allows to decorate the anchorage around it.

How does your media product represent particular social groups

My media product represent the target audience, young adults/teenagers. Using all of the codes and conventions expected from a music publication. The cover image used reflects female teenagers as confident and attractive. Providing a role model to others. The juxtaposition created by the innocent woman in front of an industrial looking structure represents that she has overcome some difficulty. I edited the image to make it black and white using the greyscale gradient. The connotations of this are style and authenticity. The retro vibe from the images suggests sophistication and power.

The artist on my double page spread is of a teenage woman. She is sat on a park bench, with the sun in the background creating a positive aura from the image. Broadcasting teenagers in a good light is unconventional as teenagers are typically represented in a negative light in the media. Therefore the target audience will enjoy the fact that they are displayed here in a positive way. The colour scheme of pink and white connotes innocence and purity. All providing positive denotations of the artist and the social group.

What kind of media institution might distrubute your media product and why?
After much research I have decided that I would choose Dennis Publishing I have chosen Dennis Production because it is one of the worlds largest independent publishers. They will have lots of money to promote my magazine which is one of the main reason I have selected them. It is a fast growing company and I think my media product would fit in with their current selection of magazines, especially because they do not have anything that is relatively similarly to my Production. This would allow Dennis Publishing to branch out into new territory and expand their range of magazines. Because it is such a big company they will have a large influence to help push my magazine forward. I would like my magazine to be a well known brand. This will attract a larger audience therefore bigger named celebrities would like to appear in the magazine, and this will attract more of an audience. If Dennis Publishing were to publish my magazine it would be in competition with other magazines and publishers such as NME magazine with IPC Media. Dennis publishing and its staff have won many awards and achievements. Dennis Publishing awarded a gold Government Quality Mark for their recession busting Workplace Giving scheme, and many others. I think that Dennis Publications would help my magazine production expand into a bigger publication, they are also more web-based which will allow my magazine to expand even more.

Who would the audience be for your media product?

Before I created my media product I did lots of research into audiences and social groups. I then ran a questionnaire into what type of music different audiences are interested in. I then decided to aim my magazine at teenagers as they appear to be the group which have the most active support of the industry. This group make up the largest percentage of music festival goers. The two stand out genres that interest them the most were Pop and indie rock, the two mainstream genres. The audience for my magazine are active teenagers/young adults. Generally students who occupy a part time job, lead an active lifestyle with an outgoing social life in which they discuss music and attend music events with their friends.

How did you attract/address your audience

Through the use of Mise en scene I hope to have attracted my audience. My house style and use of my black/white/yellow colour scheme. The use of a greyscale gradient on the cover creates a classic, sophisticated vibe which aims to attract my audience as the magazine is seen as a cool thing to own. The use of yellow on the cover is to draw the eye and attention of people, as it contrasts with black. Through the use of images I have sold a lifestyle choice to the audience, through the confidence of the images, a figure the audience can aspire to who will idolise the celebrity culture and try to embrace it and impose it on their own lifes. By purchasing the magazine they hope to attain some of the glamour associated with the modern day celebrity. By using images that represent everyday life such as this one (left) I can sell the celebrity lifestyle in a focus that my audience can relate too, by bringing it to their level it feels more achievable and representative of them.

What have you learnt about technology from the process of contrsucting this product
The programme I have used to create my production is Adobe InDesign. After having some problems early on in with the software in production I finally grasped how to use all of its functions and advantages effectively to create my product to create a professional looking magazine. I learnt how to use the programme and that you need patience when using new software whilst still learning how to use it. For example I was able to add stroke to text to create font that looks like text that appears on professional magazines. I also used Photoshop to edit images, such as the cloning tool to edit over blemished on the pictures, to erasing backgrounds so I can insert an image into my magazine without having unnecessary backgrounds. Blogger was something I had never used before, but I learnt how to use and navigate around the site quickly as it is easy to set up and use. The dashboard interface is simple to use and is set up in an easy way. I was able to upload lots of multimedia onto my blog such as powerpoint presentations, youtube videos, glogster posters, jpegs, prezzi presentations. Other skills that I have developed are my photography skills. I learnt simply through using the camera and experimenting with the different types of shots, angles and lighting effects. I also learnt how to use the modes on the camera, such as the macro effect to improve the clarity on the smaller images.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
For my preliminary task I created a magazine for student at my college, this helped me understand the basic layout of a magazine and realise that font sizes are important on the cover. I learned the basics of photoshop such as how to cut out images and stroking on text to make it stand out. I learnt that the use of Mise en Scene is crucial when designing a magazine. I tried to include all the basic conventions of creating a magazine such as masthead, cover lines and date. I was able to learn about how to stage and host a photoshoot and what makes a good photoshoot and how to get a good quality image to use for a magazine The photoshoot for the preliminary task was staged in front of a white/grey background which transpired to bw difficult to cut out on photoshop. Especially when wearing similar coloured clothing. I discovered how important costume is.

My contents page for my preliminary production was very basic. I used continuity by using the two rectangles to create an easy place to position my text, this is because of the photography which was poorly planned as it was very difficult to work with, which I learnt from and used in my final production piece. For my finished production pieces photography I considered the use of clothing, which is something I learnt from as in my preliminary task I did not plan clothing or props.. In my production piece contents I created a much more complex contents page representative of a professional magazine. I studied magazines and learnt that they often have descriptions of the page under the page number, therefore I included this in my contents, something I didnt do in my preliminary.