Coursework Evaluation.

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

My music magazine is A4 sized, the same size as many other music magazines, for example Kerrang:

I have also followed this through with my contents page and for my double page spread I altered the
width and the height turning the A4 in to landscape for my double page spread.

Full Monty magazine. Kerrang magazine.

While creating my double page spread I also had to consider the positioning of the text, this is due to
the centre line where the seam goes so that the pages can turn over. I had to position my
paragraphs so they were the same size and equal distance away from each other and from the
centre line, here is how I did this on photoshop.

I inserted a
shape I
where my duplicat
paragraph ed the
would go a line down
I drew theso
layer
and centre
to of my pagethat all
guide me
ensuring I had the
my
on size, I on so I could
rulings find
columns
thenthe halfway mark, this
were
My magazine also contains a barcode, this will be found on any media product which is being
decreased
then guided me the where
marketed.
the opacity
my text could gosameas I
so I could
cannot write text onto
size the
see what
seam Ias you wouldguidenot
was be able to read theme on
Kerrang magazines barcode.
writing.
story, it also helped
where I
It is important my magazine has a barcode as any magazine being sold even out the spaced
must would
have one, this is so that it can be scanned in stores where they are between each column.
place
the text.
distributed, this prevents them from being stolen as they are censored whilst going through alarms
and it also helps to scan the price through the till and tell what item it is.

My magazine (full monty) barcode.

Another feature I have included which is a convention of a media product is the price, this is import
as consumers will want to check the price before purchasing products and it also helps for
consumers to compare the price with other products. This is usually placed in the corner of a
magazine, however some do advertise their price more, but I have chosen to do mine in the bottom
corner to not make my magazine too fussy and busy so that it is more difficult for consumers to look
at. I have made sure my price is in a visible colour so it can be easily read, and still however sticking
to the colour scheme and in a large enough font for people to read it. From my image you can see
that I have placed my price at the bottom of the page in the right hand corner.

The date of my magazine has also been included, this is placed near the barcode
and price area, by keeping the price and date together it makes it easier for the
consumers to read, rather than trying to look for it on the cover.

Suscribtion:
Front cover, bottom of page. Manytop of page.
Contents page,
magazines have a subscribtion, this promotes the magazine and helps people to buy the magazines
regulary at a lower price, a few magazines give people the option of winning a prize if they suscribe
to the magazine and therefore after research and feedback from my poll I decided that I would
promote a subscription on my contents page and promote that it is at a cheaper price than you
would pay monthly to get one in the shops and that many people wanted cash prizes therefore
every person who suscribes gets entered for a draw of winning £500 in cash. I have also ensured I
have stuck to the British theme for my suscribtion box and stayed to the colour scheme(white, red,
blue, with black writing so that text stands out). I have included a screenshot of the front cover
aswel on my subscription to add more images to make my magazien more busy and interesting and
to show consumers what the subscription is if they are unaware.
Some more feature I have included are taglines, these are important factors of a magazine as they
help sell magazines due to the story lines and contents of what’s inside the magazine. For my
taglines I have related them to music , to promote a music magazine and come up with interesting
stories which would appeal to my target audience ages ranging from 16 to 18 years roughly.

All magazines have a masthead,

this is the magazines signature
feature. The more interesting and
unusual it is then the more it is
likely to be remembered. This
appears on the magazine everytime. You will never see a magazine without a masthead. Here is my
mast head which was positioned at the top left hand side of my front cover as humans read from left
to right, therefore it stands out straight away.

Headlines are always a key selling feature for magazines, therefore it was important for me to
include a headline as it sells the main story usually making it appealing to consumers so that they
will purchase your magazine.

Examples of headlines....

Main images are

also a key feature
of a magazine, you
will never find a
music magazine
being distributed
without a main image, this promotes your magazine by selling a story through images. The main
image is usually the main story included in your music magazine.

Other main images.

Pugs: These advertise certain contents in the magazine, usually competitions and prizes. Sometimes
certain stories. I have used a pug as it promotes my competition prize, therefore it influences people
to buy it if they want to have the chance of winning the prize.

Skylines and banners: These usually appear at the bottom and top of the page on the front cover,
the top on a music magazine usually promotes what artists are included in the magazine whereas
the second can be whatever magazines wish for, in my case I have chosen to use my banner as
revealing gossip and my skyline revealing artists who appear in my magazine. The banner also
includes the price, bar code and date.

Skyline

Banner

Broken down contents: Many contents pages in media magazines, especially music magazines break
down the contents to make it easier to find what you are looking for, for example reviews, regular
news, live events, news.

Here is an example of Q magazine’s broken down text:

Here is an example of my broken down text:

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

The colours I have used appeal to all type of social groups as they are uni sex and do not favour any
type of genre of music, heavy metal and rock magazine use alot of black and red and white, rnb and
hip hop magazines use bright colours which I have featured as do all other genres such a dance, pop.
Dubstep etc.

The photography I have taken appeals to both genders, this is because she can seem seductive to
males and therefore teenage boys will be attracted to it as at this age they are in to girls. I t will also
appeal to females as she is a pretty famous music artist who many girls would look up to and aspire
to be. The photos also appeals to teenagers as the clothing. Makeup, pose and even the age of the
girl herself in the photos is the same age of my target audience; this will also appeal to my target
audience as there is a sense of similarities and as she is a new artist out teenagers love to be up to
date in music, therefore this appeals to my audience of 16 to 18 year olds.

The tone I have used in the magazine also appeals to teenagers as I have made my magazine tone,
similar to how teenagers would speak, for example my double page spread where I have ensured
the interview with ‘Valerie Lights’ is not very formal, for example “if Paul McCartney were 40 years
youngers well....”. The language is also appealing to teenagers as I have used certain swear words
such as “bitch”, many music artists can get away with this language in magazines as they come
across ‘reckless’. I have also used the language of how a teenager today would speak for example “I
aint” this is nit formal which appeals to my target audience as it gives them a sense of comfort.

The typography of the magazine if not exactly what an adult would enjoy reading as it is very playful
and un-formal. The different colours and commotion of the magazine also appeal to teenagers
rather than adults. The font is a main feature of what makes the magazine appealing to teenagers as
many adults would not be attracted to that writing as they tend to read more formal magazines,
compared to what a teenager would.

The features and contents inside the magazine are also a very big key points which would attract a
certain social group, if the music artists are a range of genres then the magazine can appeal to many
social groups as they have a lot of variety. I t also appeals to teenagers as they often want to know a
lot of gossip about their role models etc.
Question 3: What kind of institution might distribute your media product and why?

Places such as WHSmiths, tescos, co ops, and many other supermarkets would sell my magazine as
they sell a huge variety of different types of magazines as they are a very big store, therefore as
supermarkets are not fixed on a certain genre of magazine they distribute all different types, even
smaller magazines as so many different types of people shop in these stores they must provide for
all. Places such as news agents would also distribute my magazine as they specialise in selling many
different genre of magazines and again many different types of people shop in newsagents and they
must accommodate everyone. Mail order subscription is another way to distribute my magazine.
However the only place which is less likely to distribute my music magazine is magazine kiosks
outside stations etc which mainly sell newpapers and gossip magazines such as heat. They very
rarely sell music magazines.

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

 
This is Kelly Fowler, she is 17 years old and lives in North london. Her
dress sense is quite unique, not your average plain t-shirt and jeans. She
likes to shop in topshop, h&m and jack wills. She enjoys being around
her friends and going to parties, she is a very easy going and carefree
person. 

     She enjoys watching TV programmes such as channel E4's Skins,

90210, and ITV'S America's next top model and ITV2's secret diary of a
call girl. Kelly listens to a wide range of music, although mainly indie,
house and also some pop and dubstep, she often listens to music via the
radio in which she would listen to either KISS 100, Capital radio or
radio one depending on the time of day. She often listens to her music
through her ipod, the radio and music channels.

The above is my aim for target audience as this reader listens to various
music and from my poll I have had the results of all different music
preferences and all from 16 to 18 years olds, therefore it was clear that
by producing a wider range of music I could sell more copies of my
magazine, I also got inspiration from Q magazine which appears to feature different genres of
music. Because my magazine is diverse it is easier to distribute to 16 to 18 year olds as it
acquires many teenagers needs for music magazines. Kelly Fowler who represents my target
audience also wears diverse clothing, listens to different radio stations and tv programmes
which are all targeted at the younger generation, this was a big influence on making my
magazine diverse. 16 to 18 year olds are possibly the largest amount of people who consume
media products also, which means my magazine should be easily distributed.
Question 5: How did you attract/ address your audience?

The style of my photography attracted my audience as a 17 year old girl is representing my

magazine and ties into the target audience age for my magazine, the clothing is also up to
date which would appeal to teenagers as they were all the new clothing that is introduced.
The bright colours and unique dress sense would also appeal to teenagers as they are very
naive and love all the latest fashion, if they see my model wearing these clothes they will
want to pick it up and read it as she is someone they may aspire and go and buy those clothes.
The language of my magazine also attracts my audience as I have used slang and swear
words which are common words coming out of 16 to 18 years olds mouths today. The articles
are also featuring the latest fashion, latest hit music and interviews, live performance reviews,
young people love music and will be fascinated by the stories of their favourite music artists.
Teenagers love live music as well and majority who are music fans would jump at the chance
to go and see live performances of their favourite artists, therefore by reading about them
gives them the chance to imagine what it would be like and even go and book tickets for the
next gig they play. Interviews where magazines get close and personal with music artists
would appeal to teenagers as they are possibly more star struck than most adults and would
want to read about their way of life. Festivals are also a big attraction to many 16 to 18 years
olds and therefore by featuring reading and leeds lineup and mtvs music festival appeals to
my target audience as it is the type of events they would like to go to. MTV is also very
diverse in music which meets my target audience and Reading and Leeds festival is a diverse
festival with many types of musicians performing over the weekend.

Question 6: What have you about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have used many different technologies during this project such as:

Photoshop, computers, USB sticks, photo memory cards, camera (canon 450d), internet.
 I learnt how to use
different modes on
cameras, and how
megapixels affect the photos, how to use photoshop and how to use the
internet to research and create a blog, I used my USB stick to hold all my work on and my photo
memory card to upload photographs to the computer.

From using photoshop I have now found many different tools with I never knew before this project.

The dodge tool:

The dodge tool enables you to fade certain areas of your
work, whether you want the whole layer faded or just a
certain part of it you can adjust the size of the dodge tool
and the effect.

By moving and
clicking the mouse
over the layer you
can fade by using the
dodge tool.
 By doing across
the whole image it
makes the image
lighter, this
worked well for
my double page
spread as I can
now easily read
the writing over The Magnetic lasso
the top and by tool: I have used this
missing out the tool a lot in my
model she stands
out more as she is
brighter.

coursework as I have cut my images out, so they are away from my background, this means you can
overlap images and place them all around the page.
 By going
around the
image the
magnetic lasso
picks up the
pixels and cuts
them out for
you

Once cut out you can then move the

image anywhere on the page you want or
overlap them.

The magic wand tool: I used the website www.dafont.com to find

my fonts for my music magazine and to insert them into photoshop they had a big white
background, by using the magic wand tool I managed to get rid of the white back ground so my
magazine blended together better.
By clicking the magic wand on the
white back ground it should highlight
itself. You then press the command
button and the x button and this should
disappear.
Burn tool: Although I did not use this in my media product I did experiment with the burnt tool to
make me images darker.

This is opposite to the

dodge tool rather than
making the images lkighter
it makes it darker however I
chose not to continue with
this effect as I felt it was too
dark.
Question 7: Looking back at you preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression form it to the full product?

My preliminary coursework was very basic in comparison to my full product. The colours were not
matched well, the theme did not really stay sustained throughout the contents and front cover. I
was not familiar with the magnetic lasso tool and therefore my images have been cut out very poorly
as I did not feather them, which has improved my final magazine as all images are cut out neatly and
smoothly. The font was very boring and not appealing and looked basic and dull whereas in my final
project I have used a variety of fonts rather than just one. The font also stands out on the pages
whereas my preliminary coursework does not, especially the contents page I have blue on top of
blue. The text is extremely dull, just going straight across the page, no broken down contents
whereas in my Final I have. I have also produced a double page spread which I did not do for my
preliminary task. Another error with my preliminary is my poor attempt to rub out spots on the boys
face as I have just left a huge blob there which looks very unprofessional. As a magazine my
preliminary is extremely dull and has no life to it in comparison to my final project. I have certainly
made progression which I think is clear to see from my preliminary to final. My preliminary does not
contain conventions of real media use such as dates, prices and barcodes, this is very unprofessional
as a magazine and would not be distributed, the style of photography is also very dull, there are no
interesting colours in the photos nor are there any interesting make up and hair, the majority of the
posing is also very stiff and dull. From all of the technologies I had learnt on photoshop really helped
me to improve my final product, my preliminary is dull and plan whereas my final product is busy,
colourful and caotic.

Dull colour, dull

font and not well
aligned.
Dull pug from clip art.

Poor use of magnetic lasso

Bad use of tools on

photoshop and eraser.
Poor and
dull
masthead.

Dull use of text, font, no broken

down contents, no page numbers.
No suscribtion

Limited photographs

Limited use of text.

No subscription

Very plain, not much is

going on.

Front cover is colour schemed.

Eyecatching (masthead, taglines, images, text)
realistic and involves real media conventions.
Tools been used well to crop, cut out, smooth,
blend etc. Skyline and banner include information whereas lack of information in preliminary. More
detail in photography and layout and design also.

A lot is going on here it is not dull and

boring unlike my preliminary, this had broken
down contents, images, page numbers, colour,
subscriptions and a good use of photoshop tools
such as dodge tool. The text stands out the
background is is easy to read, but has a very
interesting font.
 My images on the side have been produced to look like a film strip, this is
very effective as it is very vintage and retro. The dodge tool which was used on the background
image has allowed me to write over the image and it be easy to read. I have enlarged important
quotes which would appeal to readers at first glance encouraging them to read. Page numbers are
also included and who the photographs were taken by which is featured in many double page
spreads. The main story line and quote from my music artist is used as the title, this makes the
audience aware that they are her words and then encouraged them to read more into what the
words mean. I have decided to do an interview as this is the most fun to read and I have involved
humorous questions and answers which would appeal to teenagers. All of my questions are involved
with music so it addresses the genre of magazine.

In comparison with my preliminary coursework I have learnt how to use many tools on photoshop,
who to change contrast and brightness of photos, the main progression I have made is the content
of what goes into a magazine, looking at the differences between my full product which is jammed
packed with vital information for a music magazine whereas my preliminary was very vague and dull.
I t is not as appealing as my full product. I have also learnt about the conventions which go into a
media magazine, positioning of text and how to appeal to my audience.