1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Fundamentally, my final artefacts conform to the general codes and conventions of music magazines. However, there are certain aspects of my products that do not conform to the forms and conventions. For example on my front cover I have tried not to load it with text, so that the reader doesn’t feel over powered by information. In regards to following the conventions of music magazines, I have also limited the amount of imagery on the front cover. I felt the addition of extra imagery would subtract the emphasis from my cover star, considering that she is placed in the centre of the page to ensure all attention is on her. The colour of my cover stars hair was a main concern when creating the front cover; this is because I wanted to make sure that it stood out. Her hair represents her femininity which will attract consumers, also when looking at previously successful magazines features such as hair, eyes and lips have key roles in sexual attraction.
In my product I have used forms and conventions such as anchorage text and puffs on the front cover. When creating the front cover I focused the forms and conventions on a previously successful issue of ‘BLENDER’ magazine, this is because the magazine is of the same genre that I wanted mine to be. And so by following the forms and conventions already laid out in front of me it was easier for me to create the product. In terms of basic layout, my front cover is a replica of other music magazines, in that there is a masthead or a logo at the top of the page, a primary image in the centre and small amounts of information listed across the page.
My contents page on the other hand does almost completely conform to traditional methods shown in other magazines. I felt that experimenting with or changing this formula to much could potentially ruin my contents page, and so I decided not to challenge the forms and conventions on this particular product. When creating this page I looked at a few examples from magazines such as ‘NME’ and ‘Grazia’. Although ‘Grazia’ is not a music magazine, like ‘NME’ it breaks down its articles into sections like cover stories and features which is something I personally like when turning to a contents page.
In addition to this I would say that my double page spread challenges the typical forms and conventions; however there are some aspects that have stayed the same such as having a title block, a primary image and text in columns. It is more the layout that challenges the traditional aspects, and this is because after creating several double page spreads I thought it was best to have the image in the centre. And so by doing this it meant that the rest of the layout would have to be changed around, therefore the text isn’t just on the right hand side like it would be conventionally. I had to place the text all around the image starting on the left because of the left side third rule. I think this layout is successful because it draws attention to the whole article, rather than it just being either the text or the image.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Throughout the creation of my media products I had to consider which particular elements of society I was aiming my products at, by doing this it would ensure that my product would be appealing to this type of consumer. Generally, my product is aimed at the aspiring and experiencing sections of society, this is because it is evident that they are the consumers with the most free time and disposable income.
My media product represents these particular social groups because of the style of content located in the magazine, for example I have used a model that is of a young age that looks strong willed and outgoing. Also the font styles I have used represent a younger and possibly adolescent social group, this can also be seen in the double page spread because the article has been written from a young person’s point of view.
I chose to aim my product at this section of society because it is during this stage of your life when you are most open minded and essentially care free, meaning that these consumers would have more time to interact with my product.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media products and why?
In order to ensure that my media product could be distributed effectively, and correctly, I had to research into media institutions as you can see on my research page. After carrying out the research, I discovered that IPC Media, who already produce over sixty iconic media brands, would be a suitable company to distribute my media products.
The most major reason for choosing IPC Media is that they are already one of the most successful media producers in the UK, with print alone reaching two thirds of UK women and forty two percent of UK men. I had originally wanted to use the BBC as my distributor; this is because they are a globally established distributor with a great reputation for professionalism. However after some thought I realised that the BBC would not be interested in my magazine, purely because of the themes it contains which are against the BBC’s traditional values.
4. Who would be the audience of your media product?
Generally, my media product would be aimed at a typically younger and adolescent audience. I have chosen to aim my product at this audience primarily because at a younger age you are introduced to new music and new concepts. This can be because of the friendship group you are in or because arguably at this age you are most open-minded. It has also been proven that consumers in this age bracket have the most time and most disposable income in society, this is because they generally don’t have to pay bills or pay for a family life style.
A key feature of this audience group is diversity, this is because again at this age you are open-minded and generally listen to a variety of music genres. Also at this point in life you start to align yourself to groups that share the same beliefs and values, and then you become interested in work related to that. For example it is common for those who are members of a band to socialise with other musicians and take a heavier interest on music.
By aiming my product at this group it will ensure that my magazine achieves the best possible audience, so that there is a high level of sales and is generates an interest in this genre that goes beyond the magazine.
5.How did you attract/address your audience?
In terms of how I attracted my audience, I made sure that when creating my product I stuck to the core themes of the pop/RnB genres. But I also made sure I did this without being to clichéd or actually be patronising towards the audience.
Assessment of my final products will show that I used key themes associated with the pop/RnB genre, such as the use of light and bright colours, block lettering as well as the editing effects and camera angles used in my images. Generally I had to make sure I attracted the audience effectively without trying too hard, by this I mean making sure I didn’t add to many bright colours or big blocks of text everywhere, otherwise I would create a very unattractive product.
Image placement is definitely the area I feel I have used effectively, this is because I haven’t just used any old picture and placed it anywhere on the page. When setting up the shots I thought hard about the pose I wanted my model to be in, and how I was going to take the shot considering the types of shots and angles. When looking back at my products I believe that I have placed the images in the right areas, for example on the front cover the model looks like she has been photographed in a studio. Whereas on the double page spread the primary image is a close up of her in a location shot, where she is holding a pose that fits in with the themes of the genre I wanted to convey in my product.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Overall, I have learnt a considerable amount about technologies during the creation process of my front cover, contents page and double page spread. Initially I had a basic concept of how to use programmes such as Microsoft publisher, but I had no previous reason to use technologies such as Serif Page Plus X3 and photoshop which I have used a great deal when making my products. By the end of this project though, I feel I have a much stronger and advanced knowledge of both programmes and can create effective manipulated images and designs.
The most important thing I feel I have learnt in this process is the effect of colour’s, throughout the creation process I changed the colours of text a countless number of times. This is because I have learnt that colourization can convey a very strong message in a product, and it can completely change the way in which a consumer would view my product. For example if I chose to have a baby pink background on my front cover, many consumers would assume that my magazine was for girls and so males wouldn’t even bother looking. The colours can also change the tone of the magazine and the altogether seriousness of the magazine; therefore I made sure that I experimented with many colour schemes before choosing my final one.
The second most important thing I feel I have learnt in this process is how to edit and manipulate images, this is because I did a great deal of this when deciding which images would be best appropriate. When I took the photographs of my model, the main issue I had with the image for the front cover was the background. Originally the model had a wooden bench behind her, this is clearly not what was required on the front page so I had to get rid of it. By using photoshop I was able to cut out the model freely from the background using a tool called the ‘magnetic lasso tool’, this then enabled me to place her onto a background of my choice quite easily.
To conclude I feel that I have learnt a good amount skills on these technologies from creating my products, and consequently this has helped me to create what I consider to be a professional product.
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I can honestly say that I feel my final product is a massive improvement on the foundations laid by my preliminary task. If you asses my preliminary task you will notice that there is a very poor attraction method which uses a multi-coloured pallet, and also the layout is exceptionally basic. It can be argued that multicoloured covers with a simple layout can be effective, but this is only when they are used in the correct and effective way. But I simply placed the colours, images and text onto the page , not taking into consideration the effect that they might have on the appeal of the cover itself.
After completing my preliminary task I came back to it and made my own personal evaluation on it, I mainly looked for places where I know I went majorly wrong. This is because when in the creation process of my final products, I could rectify these problems and make sure I didn’t make the same mistakes again.
However, despite this, I still had a few problems in the first few stages of creating the front cover, as I felt it did not look professional or of any high standard. I simply lacked any ability to implement the right colours that would emphasise my pop/RnB theme to the audience, and so I looked at my preliminary task again and asked others what they thought would be best for me to do. Stereotypically the pop/RnB genre has colour connotations of red, black and white, however from looking at magazines such as ‘BLENDER’, pink can also be included in this list. This is something I failed to grasp when I first started creating my final products and I didn’t really have any real colour scheme going, this took a considerable amount of time to rectify.
When creating the preliminary task I had some concerns about the imagery, this is because I failed to create any good shots of a model and most of my shots look like quickly taken photographs. Therefore my preliminary task was left with an unprofessional feel to it, something that I definitely didn’t want to happen to my final product. Thankfully I was able to rectify this problem in my creation process because I did get some successful images that I have used, and I believe they emphasise my theme effectively. Something that will hopefully be attractive to consumers making my final product a success rather than an eye sore.
