EVALUATION

By Eleanor Waring

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
The media product that I created used a various
amount of conventions that are seen in real media
products. One of the main conventions used in the
music magazine was the use of a masthead. When I
carried out research, I discovered that music
magazines, such as Q, NME and Billboard, always
feature a large masthead at the top of the front
cover and the masthead is the logo of the magazine.
It usually stands out from the page, in very large,
bold and colourful fonts, in order to attract the
audiences attention. I followed this convention as I
included a masthead at the top of the front cover of
my magazine. It was placed in the middle of the top
half of the front cover and it was Rockwell Extra Bold
font, which is bold, large and it stands out from
average fonts, which would attract the audience's
attention and making them aware of what the
magazine is called. Another reason why the
masthead may need to stand out on the front cover
is because it makes the magazine easily
recognisable to its audience because for every issue
of the magazine the masthead will always be the
same as its the logo. The colour of the masthead
was black so that it contrasted well on the light
background of the front cover, this would enable the
audience to easily read and recognise the masthead
just like other mastheads in other existing music
magazines.

I went on to develop this convention as I not only

created a masthead that was like the logo of the
magazine, but I also created a logo that went with the
masthead. I did this because there werent many
magazines in the industry that have a logo as well as
a recognisable masthead, so I thought that doing this
could put my magazine to an advantage as this would
be unique about it and would make it different to
others out there and therefore make it stand out
more. The logo I created was just a simple triangle
that appeared to look like a play symbol and it was
placed behind the masthead. I chose this shape to be
the logo as it symbolises the play button that
features on iphones, radios, tvs, etc, when playing an
video or song. Therefore this logo is associated with
music and it hints to the audience that this magazine
has a music context. I included the logo on the
contents page and double page spread as it would be
iconic to the magazine and as a result remind the
reader what magazine they are reading.

Some magazine mastheads are

related to the context of the
magazine. For example NME stands
for New Musical Express. And
mixmag relates to dance music as
the masthead gives the idea of DJs
mixing music. So I also used this
convention and named my magazine
Rhythmix as every piece of music
has a certain rhythm, so therefore
this masthead would suggest to the
audience that the magazine is a
music magazine.

Pull quotes was another convention that appears in

existing media products like my own. I used this
convention and presented it on the double page
spread. The purpose of pull quotes persuade the
audience to read the magazine as the quotes stand
out on the page as they are much bigger and in a
different colour from the main text, because of this
the pull quotes are usually read before the main text.
They give the reader hints of what the article is
about. The pull quotes are usually intriguing so it
would make the reader want to read on to find out
what the quote is about. Below are the two pull
quotes I used in my media product.

I made the first pull quote deliberately intriguing so it would

make the audience read the article. The pull quote is a
snippet of what the interviewed artists said. This quote
would make the demographic read the main article because
they would want to find out who the artist is on about, who
the he is that is mentioned in the quote. The second pull
quote my make the reader want to read on as the audience
will want to know how the artists of the band became the
bestest of friends and what has made them so close
friends.

Another convention that I used was the colour scheme of the magazine. Many
magazines I looked at in my research used a colour scheme that consisted of only a
few colours. This was because the less colours used makes the magazine look more
organised as there arent loads of different clashing colours on one page. It also
makes the magazine look more expensive it creates the less is more look. A colour
scheme only consisting of a few colours doesnt make the magazine look plain and
boring, instead it makes the magazine look more stylish and structured

For example the magazine Mixmag used a different colour scheme for every issue.
However the colour scheme only consists of a few colours, as seen in the images
above, making the magazine look more structured and organised as everything fits
together well. I used this convention as the colour scheme in my magazine was
dark red, black and white. I chose these colours as they were mature and unisex
colours so it was fitting for the type of audience I was attracting. I decided that
unlike Mixmag I wanted the same colour scheme for every issue of the Rhythmix
magazine, this would enable the magazine colours to become iconic to the brand
and well recognisable to the audience. I used this colour scheme throughout the
magazine to remind the reader of what magazine they are reading as they would
recognise the iconic colours of Rhythmix.

Puff
Magazines sometimes use a puff
as the unique selling point of a
magazine. This convention is
usually presented at the top of
the front cover in a banner style
and it emphasises the
importance of the magazine in
the market. It persuades the
audience to purchase the
magazine as they may want to
experience how good the
magazine is as it claims to be
UKs favourite music magazine.

Writing style is a convention used in the media

product I created. My magazine is presented as a
more professional magazine for young people,
however I chose to have a writing style that was
fun and not too serious because then the
magazine wouldnt be created too formal for the
audience it is targeting. My media product used a
chatty, informal language, using words like
gossip, that would symbolise how young people
usually speak. Therefore this would help relate and
speak to them on their level, making the media
product more likely to be bought by its audience.

A freebie was another convention I used in my

media product. Freebies are used in magazines
as a unique selling point as it makes a magazine
stand out from others as its offering more than
the other magazines. It makes the audience feel
as though they are getting more for their money,
so magazines often use this convention to
increase the popularity of the magazine. I
presented the discount on a circle that
emphasised the discount on the page as it was
the only text on the front cover which was
written on circle. The Reading Leeds was
written in the iconic logo of the Leeds Festival,
this would make the audience of Leeds Festival
and the audience of the magazine both would
recognise that the magazine was offering
discount off the tickets of the popular festival.
Also the logo of the festival was written in the
iconic colours of Rhythmix, which suggested to
the audience that there was a connection
between the festival and the magazine.
I developed and challenged this convention as
there are few magazines that offer discount off
popular festivals. Magazines such as Mixmag
often offer freebies of exclusive CDs or albums,
for example in the image to the left shows a CD
that has come free with an issue of Mixmag.
Therefore the way I have challenged this
convention may advantage my media product as
it is offering a different type of freebie or
discount usually seen in similar media products.

Finally, fonts are an important convention I used in my media product. I developed

this convention as there was thee main fonts featured in the media product I created,
whereas there are usually one or two main fonts that feature in a magazine. The
three fonts I used were Rockwell Extra Bold, Rockwell and Orator STD.
Rockwell Extra Bold was used for the main masthead of the magazine. This is
because it is bold and it stands out from the other fonts that were used, which is
effective as the masthead needs to be one of the first things the audience looks at
because the magazine brand wants the audience to become familiar with the
magazine so that the audience will buy the magazine again in the future. Therefore I
think this font is ideal as it stand out and is memorable because of its bold style. Also
the style of the font is a little informal, which attracts the audience as they are young
adults and will not want to be reading a magazine that is too serious. The magazine
needs to be fun and I think this font suggests that the magazine is slightly informal
to match the audience. I used Rockwell Extra Bold for the text that featured on the
double page spread which outlined the questions which the interviewer had asked.
This was because it was the iconic masthead font and not only reminded the reader
that is was Rhythmix that was interviewing the artists but it also made the structure
of the interview look more organised and easy for the audience to follow. The
Rockwell Extra Bold contrasted well with the Rockwell font that the main text was
because the two fonts are from the same family.
It was decided that the font for the main body of text was Rockwell, this is because it
is similar to the masthead font but not bold. This makes the magazine look organised
and gives the layout a good structure which contributes to the professional, stylish
look of the magazine. This font is good for main bodies of text because it is simple
and easy to read, this will make big chunks of text look less crowded with words
which will prevent the magazine from looking cheap as the text looks like it has
something important to say as it is in a more formal newspaper style.
I decided to use Orator STD for text that is saying something exclusive. This featured
on all of the pages and it is a slightly different type of font from the others used.
Therefore it stands out and is an effective choice of font to use for exclusive texts.
Although this font is different to the other fonts used, it contrasts well with them so it
doesnt make the magazine look over crowded with different fonts.

Rockwell
Extra
Bold

Rockwell

HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT PARTICULAR

SOCIAL GROUPS?
Gender
The gender that is most featured in my magazine are females. On the front cover the main feature photo is of a girl band and there isnt any
mention of a male artist in the text that is on the front cover. Also on the contents page there is only one mention of a male artist and there is
an image of the male artist. This suggests that the magazine I created features more females in than males therefore this could be seen as
females are the most important gender in this media product. This doesnt match back to the original makeup of the audience because based
on my survey findings I recorded that the gender of the audience was an almost equal split between males and females, with slightly more
males within the audience. Therefore targeting an almost equal split of males and females I should have included more male artists featured
in my magazine so it wouldnt be as female orientated. Also in Mixmags media pack it claimed that the audience of their magazine consisted
of 72% of males and 28% of females. This is another piece of evidence that suggests males are more likely to buy a music magazine and as a
result I should have incorporated this into my media product more effectively.

The one and

only image of
a male in the
final product.

This is the
reader profile
of Mixmag

The typical stereotypes that exist around females are that they are the object for men and are created for the pleasure of the male viewer. Also magazines mostly
feature about how to be a women. Men are normally represented as the subject instead of the object. However my media product has challenged these views as the
main feature article is about a successful girl band, this isnt supporting the stereotypical view of women as this girl group is the main subject of the magazine and
they have worked for their success without a man within the group, this contradicts the stereotype that women are just the object. Also the main image on the double
page spread is of the girl band laughing and not of them posing in a way that sexualises them and would be deliberately appealing to them men. This also goes
against the view that women in the media are presented for the male viewer. Another way my media product isnt supporting the stereotypes is because there is very
few male artists mentioned within the magazine. This suggests that men arent the stereotypical main subject in this magazine.

These are all media products are magazines that present the ideal women and this is done to show women how to be more of a women. Also the images on these
magazine are sexualising the women as they are posed in a serious, sexual way. This could be for the male gaze. You can see the contrast between these three
existing magazines to the magazine I produced.
However, despite all of this, the women in the magazine are still represented very stereotypically. They may not be posing in a way that sexualises them, but they are
wearing clothes that could be seen as revealing and would attract the males attention as the females, mainly the female who is in the middle of the front cover, are
wearing clothes that would indeed sexualise them and make them eye candy for the male readers. Therefore because of the choice of clothing, this may have
portrayed the women in my media product as still the object and not the subject. Also the image on the front cover represents the females in the magazine in a
stereotypical way as they are posing with their hands covering their ears, eyes and mouth. This choice of posing infers that the females are innocent and again this is
a stereotype that the media uses to represent women because the males see this as attractive and want women to be innocent. For example in films the females are
often the innocent, vulnerable ones that need the man to save them. Also the small image that is featured on the first page of the double page spread represents the
females as being innocent as it infers they have a secret that they arent allowed to tell. Another way in which my media product has represented the females in a
stereotypical way is because of the way the females have been expressing their emotion. For example the images give off a sense of friendship between the females
featured in the image. This is stereotypical as females in the media normally express their emotions more than men and value friendship with fellow people. Another
convention that suggests the females are expressing their emotions is in the text when they are saying how glad they are to have met each other.

Age
The general age range of the people featured in my magazine are young adults aging from late teens to late twenties. This age
range also reflects the age of the demographic. I featured people in the magazine to be around the same age range of the audience
as they might be more familiar with them as artists and will be able to relate and connect more with them. The typical stereotypes
that are based around young people is quite negative as they are portrayed as trouble makers. Again my music product contradicts
this as it presents the young people in the magazine as successful ad inspirational, who have achieved a lot. This could give the
young audience of my magazine inspiration to also b successful within their lives and it also gives them reassurance that not
everywhere in the media sees young people as bad, antisocial people. Also young people are known for having fun and the time of
their lives, my media product supports this stereotype as it features the main artists in the magazine as having fun and enjoying
themselves as are laughing and smiling in the images an they are presented happy with themselves and their lives in the interview.

Artists such as
Adele and
Rihanna were
mentioned, these
artists are slightly
older than the
magazine
audience but they
are very popular
with the young
audience.

The artificial artists I made up in my media

product represent the age of the audience I
targeted

Class
Throughout the magazine there is only one social class that is featured in it, which is upper class. This is because all of the people featured
in my magazine are successful artists and have a higher paid, important, job. This is slightly reflected in the audience too as the magazine
is a monthly, more expensive, magazine, therefore mostly young people who come middle class background will be about the afford to
buy this magazine every month. Also the magazine is presented in a more professional manner, therefore it is more likely going to appeal
to people who are more educated and are more likely going to have higher paid jobs in the future. However the social class isnt reflected
in the style of music featured in this magazine because it is based around chart music, which is enjoyed by all different social classes. My
media product mostly supports the stereotypical view that the upper class have a very high income and that they are intelligent and use
this to get successful careers. Moreover it challenges the idea that higher class individuals are snobby. This is because the people featured
in my magazine are of upper classes, however they dont come across snobby, they come across genuine and have likeable personalities.
The magazine could still be suitable for the lower classes as someone from a lower class could still be ambitious and like the style of the
magazine. Also the magazine isnt based at a unaffordable price, it could still be purchased by the lower classes if they were interested in
it.
Ethnicity
The ethnicity of the characters that are featured in the images within the magazine are primarily white British females, this is because I
am looking to maximise UK sales by targeting the majority ethnic group. However some artists that are mentioned in the magazine are
from other countries, such as America and have a black origin. Although my magazine is marketed towards British teenagers, it could still
be classed as a multicultural media product as there is lots of ethnic backgrounds in the UK.
Rihanna, Jay - z and Beyonce are all artists
mentioned in my magazine that have
different ethnic backgrounds that arent
from the UK. This could support that my
media product is multicultural.

WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?

One of the UKs major media institutions would distribute my magazine. This is because
they have had huge success and are therefore highly experienced in marketing and
advertising media products to the suitable audience. There are many different media
institutions such as Sky, BBC, Bauer Media Group, Immediate Media Company and Time
Inc Uk. These are all media institutions that produce a range of different magazines.
Media institutions are established, profit based, organisations or companies that
produce, advertise and distribute a range of different forms of media products.
When I conducted my market research, I discovered that Bauer Media Group is the
media distributer of magazine successes such as Mojo and Q. This is why I decided that
the media institution that would distribute my media product would be Bauer. Q
magazine is a similar music magazine to the media product I created as it focuses on
modern music and it is a monthly magazine that is presented professionally. This is
very similar to my media product and because of this it could make it hard for the
institution Bauer to publish a similar magazine to what it already publishes. However Q
magazine is aimed for a slightly more mature, older audience than I aimed my media
product for. Therefore it could mean that Bauer could publish the media product I
created as it would be aimed for a different audience compared to Q magazine.

Bauer Media Group is a European media institution and it has a portfolio of over
600 magazines, 400 digital products, and 50 radio and TV productions. Bauer
originates back to1953 with the launch of Angling Times and the acquisition in
1956 of Motor Cycle News. Bauer Media group is Europes largest privately owned
publishing Group. The magazines that are in their portfolio arent based around
one subject. There are a various amount of different themed magazines, from
cooking, car and music magazines, to the typical gossip magazines that are
focused on lifestyle and celebrities. My media product fits into this range as it is a
music magazine.
My magazine could be extended into other media areas. For example Kerrang has
a number of different media areas as there is a radio station and music channel on
the television as well as there being a magazine for kerrang. I would like to extend
my media product to having a music channel as well as a magazine. This is
because often young people watch the music channels that are on the television,
therefore this would help attract the audience of my media product as the brand
would become more heard of and recognised by young people. Famous festivals
such as Glastonbury Festival could be played live on the music channel, this would
increase the awareness of the magazine and music channel brand as Glastonbury
is a massive festival that is very popular. Therefore lots of people would tune into
the channel to watch the festival. The majority of viewers would be young people,
which also is targeting the audience. Another benefit of having a music channel is
that it could feature free advertisements for the magazine. Also the both forms of
media could benefit each other. For example a competition could be conducted in
the magazine and the music channel could announce the winner.

WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

The audience for my final media product is very similar to

the audience I had originally planned to target, but there
has been a few changes made to the audience of the
product. The final product is aimed at older
teenagers/young adults as planned. However, as I was
creating my product it became clear that the product was
targeting the older teenagers rather than the younger
adults and females rather than males, due to the choice of
artists I created to feature in the double page spread and
of the language used in the magazine. Despite this, the
media product would still be suitable for a young adult to
purchase and read. Moreover the magazine might have
been feminised more than it had been planned to,
therefore the product may not be as suitable for a male as
it is for a female.

The audience for my final product are aged between 16-19, this was originally decided
because this was the most common age of people that took part in the survey I conducted.
Therefore this suggested to me that people within this age range were most interested in
music magazines than any other age, as that was the most common age that had an
interest in taking part in a music magazine survey. Another reason why I created a magazine
that targeted young adults was because, I would be able create this magazine better than
another magazine that targeted another age range because I am within this age range too,
so I know what would appeal me as part of this audience. My product targets a younger
demographic for many reasons. One reason why is because of the language used in the
product. Unlike a more serious magazine that targets an older audience, Rhythmix has a
chatty, fun, informal style of language, which will attract the younger audience as they use
this type of language themselves. This would make them relate and connect to the
magazine as it speaks in the same way as the younger generation. Also having an informal
language suggests that the magazine is targeting younger people as they are less serious
and want to read more fun magazines. This could make the magazine more suitable for the
16, 17, 18 year old of the audience. This is because the magazine could be viewed as too
informal for someone any older than these ages because they may want to read a more
mature, formal magazine. Another reason why the audience would be aged between 16-19
is because the artists featured in the magazine are of similar age or are slightly older. This
infers that the audience would be young as the young artists would be sharing their
problems, style, experiences, etc, so the audience often want to read about artists their own
age so they can relate to what the artists are saying or doing in the magazine. This would
make the audience connect with the artist and the media product. The masthead font is also
in an informal style as it has a bubble writing style to it, which also would be suitable for
younger people as, again, it makes the magazine seem for a more informal, less serious
audience.

16-19
audience
age range

Informal,
chatty
language

The colour scheme and layout of the

magazine is quite simple, but is effective
as it look well structured, smart and
stylish. This also reflects on what the
audience is like. The audience could be
quite stylish and prefer to buy magazines
that dont have the common cheap
theme. This could suggest the class of the
audience as the magazine was priced
quite high. For the majority of the
audience, their social class will be
determined by what sort of job their
parents have. Therefore, in order to afford
the magazine every month the audience
may come from an ABC1 background.
However young adults that dont have an
ABC1 profile could still read the magazine.
Also the audience may not be from an
ABC1 background, but they may be very
ambitious so the professional, stylish
theme of the magazine may attract them.
Colour scheme

The media product I created has a feminine touch to it. This is due to the amount of female
artists that featured in the magazine. There was a lot more female artists mentioned
compared to male artists mentioned. This created a girly atmosphere to the magazine. Also
the language of the magazine had a gossip theme to it, in the same way women gossip with
each other. Therefore females would understand and enjoy the magazine more than males
would. This differed from the original planned audience. In the survey I conducted there was
almost an equal split between the males and females that were interested enough to
complete a survey on music magazines. In fact there was slightly more males that seemed
to be interested in music magazines than girls.

Emotional and
feminised
language
Gossip
theme

Original
audience
male to
female
ratio

The audience for the media product I created would most likely be a trendy young adult aged between 16-18 who
enjoys attending festivals and concerts in their spare time. This is because I found out when conducting my audio
interviews that the audience enjoyed attending and spending their money on tickets for festivals and concerts.
Another hobby of the audience would be listening to music in their spare time, this was also discovered when
conducting the audio interviews. All of the interviewees said they enjoyed listening to music to help them match or
lighten their mood. The audiences interests would be chart music and chart artists. this was a popular choice of music
in the survey I created. The audience would dress smart, casual, stylish and look after themselves well, keeping
themselves in a good form. This is because the magazine is also presented in this way, so the magazine actually
reflects the way the audiences style is. The audience would want to buy a magazine that is stylish, like themselves
and is also casual at the same time.

Chart
music was
voted the
second
most
popular
type of
music

Reader Profile
Average age of
reader: 18
In education: 87%
ABC1 profile: 13%
Readership: 1.5
The
readership of the magazine is
million
1.5 million, this makes the
magazine very popular and
successful as it has a massive
audience.

This pie chart shows the

different percentages of the
female and male readers of my
magazine. Based on my survey,
there was an almost equal split
of males and females that took
part in the survey, however
there was slightly more boys
that took part, this suggests to
me that males are more
interested in music magazines
as slightly more males took
part in the survey that was
about music magazines.

The most the most common age out of

the people that took part in my survey
was between 16-19. This suggests to me
that when I create my magazine I will be
aiming to target aged 16-19 year olds
rather than older adults. This is because
this age range was the most interested in
taking part in my survey that was about
music magazines. So the average age
between 18-19 is 18. As this magazine is
aimed at older teenagers, most of the
audience will still be in full time
education and therefore wont have a
ABC1 profile as they are students. This
explains why 87% of the demographic is
in education and only 13% have an ABC1
profile. However the audience of this
magazine will have big aspirations for
their future careers, so one day they may
have an ABC1 profile.

Gender

52%
48%

The Typical Reader

Sarah is a typical reader for the magazine Rhythmix. She is 18

years old and is in her final year of college in her home city, Leeds.
Music is one of the most important things in her life, it has been
there for her throughout all different stages of growing up; The
difficult times, the times in which she needs to be motivated and
the most enjoyable of times.
Sarah loves attending as many festivals, gigs and concerts as she
can afford to go to, she loves the amazing atmosphere music
creates. Sarah is desperate for all of her friends to attend these
different music events with her because she thinks music is the
best foundation for making the strongest friendships and the most
memorable of memories.
Sarah still lives with her parents in Leeds. Both her parents have
high paid jobs and they help her out with the costs of different
music events. Technology advances Sarahs love for music as she
is able to have an iPhone which she listens to music on. She pays
for her music downloads with her wages from her part time job.
Sarah also saved her money up to buy some wireless speakers she
can also play loud music when she is home alone. Sarah is the one
out of all her friends to bring her speakers to the house parties she
attends and she monitors the music all night.
Sarah is thinking about taking the subject music at degree level, so
it will enable her love for music to be a full time career in the
future. Whether it will be a worldwide DJ or a well known radio
presenter. Music is her life.

Girl

Boy

HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS

YOUR AUDIENCE?
Masthead
The masthead was used to attract the audience. The masthead was
in the font Rockwell Extra Bold. This is a font that is very bold and
unmissable, it suggests that its got something important to say and
the masthead is one of the most important thing on a magazine.
Also because the font is quite curved and thick this infers that the
music magazine is informal and not so serious. This would resemble
the audience as young people arent normally formal, instead they
are normally having fun and dont take life to seriously. Therefore
the style of the mast head is attracting the audience as it suggest
the magazine is fun and for a younger demographic.
The masthead of the magazine is called Rhythmix. I think this
name sounds creative and also informal. This will tell the audience
that the magazine isnt boring as it has a unique masthead and
again the magazine will not be presented as a formal magazine.
This will attract the audience to purchase the media product. The
word Rhythmix also symbolises DJs creating a mix for a song,
which targeting young people as DJ remixes are popular among that
age group.

Masthead

Colours and Layout

The colours used in the media product are mainly black, white and dark red. The layout is simple but effective. This attracts the audience as this makes
the magazine look stylish and may be viewed by the audience as cool. Also these colours are quite mature colours, which will also persuade the
audience to purchase the product as many young people want to be seen and spoke to as an adult and this magazine respects that and treats the young
adults as adults and not children. The colours arent stereotypically associated with any gender, they are unisex colours. This will attract both genders
of the audience.
The choice of colours purposely dont make the magazine look cheap or tacky. This will appeal to the more ambitious, stylish young people who are
looking to purchase a more expensive magazine.

Photographs
The photographs used in my media product is one of the main ways I have used to
attract the audience of my magazine. For example, on the front cover the young girls
are imitating a popular pose that is known from the emojis (text symbols) used by
lots of young people who have a phone. This is attracting the audience as most young
people will recognise this pose and instantly know that the girls are imitating the
monkey emoji's on the iPhone. The audience may find this humorous and also may feel
connected with the artists on the front cover as they are imitating the text symbols
that are used by teenagers everyday.
Another way the photographs attract the audience is because the main images used
on the double page spread is candid and relaxed as it shows the artists laughing and
posing in a more informal way, using the peace and rock symbols. This attracts the
audience as it will suggest to them that the artists are genuine and also of a young
age, they also seem to be laughing and having fun. This could all make the audience
relate with the featured artists and then are more likely to purchase the product as the
artists seem to connect with them as they both act in similar ways. Also the featured
artists are of a girl band that creates chart music. Chart music is popular among young
people and therefore they may recognise the artists as they enjoy listening to their
music. So this may attract the audience and make them purchase the product as they
might want to find out more about
the band.
Discount
The discount on the Leeds Festival tickets attracts the audience
as the festival is very popular among young people, so this
would be a great use of the Unique Selling Point as the audience
would be persuaded to buy the magazine so they can get
discount off tickets for the Leeds Festival. This discount makes
the audience feel as though they are getting more for their
money. The Reading Leeds was written in the iconic logo of the
Leeds Festival, this would make the audience of Leeds Festival
and the audience of the magazine both would recognise that the
magazine was offering discount off the tickets of the popular
festival. Offering Leeds Festival tickets would be suitable as all of
the acts that attend are modern artists and some consisting of
chart music artists.

Peace and
rock
symbols

Price
The price of the magazine is 3.99. This targets the audience as the magazine is targeting more
ambitious, higher educated young people, whose parents are likely to have an ABC1 profile so they are
going to be able to afford 3.99 a month. However the price of the magazine isnt so high that it is
unaffordable to people from lower classes. Therefore someone who is ambitions but isnt from an ABC1
profiled family can still afford the magazine once and a while.
Cover Lines
The cover lines featured on the front cover of the magazine attracts the audience as all the artists
mentioned are all char music artists, which is suitable for the magazine as it bases around modern
music. Also the artists featured such as Rihanna are massive icons in the music industry and are
highly respected and admired. Therefore these cover lines will attract the audience because, with this
example, Rihanna is an attractive young women who would be sexually admired by men and may be
seen as inspirational by females, so the young males might purchase this product because they find
her attractive and want to look at the images of her that will be inside of the magazine. The females
may purchase the product as they might want to copy her style or relate to her because even though
Rihanna is slightly older than the audience of this magazine she is still young and may / may have
experience similar things to young girls aged 16-19 year olds.

Addressing
Language
My media product speaks to its audience in an informal way. This because the language is very chatty and resembles how young people speak to each other.
Ive used this approach because it makes the magazine more understandable to its audience as this language is how most young people speak in everyday
life, therefore they will interpret the language better if its informal than formal. The audience wouldnt expect the magazine to be formal as it is a music
magazine aiming to entertain the demographic. For example, on the contents page it reads Black Fridays reveal all their secrets, gossip and plans for
2016, this statement is trying to persuade the audience to read the article and this is done in an informal way as it includes the words secrets and gossip.
These words are usually associated with young people, especially young females, as they stereotypically enjoy telling secrets and gossiping.

Images
The images within the magazine are all positive images that have a feel good
factor to them and this is designed to portray the magazine content. For example,
the images have been taken in a bright, expensive looking, studio and this
suggests that the magazine has a positive vibe to it. This also infers that the
magazine is professional and it is addressing an audience that is also professional
and of a higher class. The images of the artists on the double page spread are
candid and relaxed rather than serious and posing. This suggests to the audience
that artists are genuine, because they are having fun and laughing, they not like
the false celebrities that are sometimes featured in magazine. It also suggests that
the artists are young and carefree, like most young adults seem to act like. The
artists in the images are wearing casual clothes rather than expensive designer
clothes. This tells the audience that the magazine reflects reality more than
fantasy. This may make the audience feel connected to the artists as it creates the
idea that the artists are normal young people rather than snobby celebrities, so
they are relating to the audience rather than inspiring the audience.

The image I used in my double

page spread is very different from
this example of a more serious
image on a double page spread.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF

CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?
I have learnt a huge amount about the technologies from constructing my product and I have
progress gradually from the first preliminary task to the final products and evaluation. I have
used all different types of software to help bring my planning, research. Products and
evaluation to come together. Throughout the whole of the coursework I used the software
Slideshare and Sribd so that I could embed the PowerPoints and word documents onto my
blog.
Research
The first piece of software I used was in design and Photoshop, this was for the preliminary
task and I created a blog that I could present all my work on. The next few bits of software I
used were PowerPoint, this was for conducting the Market Research and the Textual Analysis.
I used Survey Monkey to help me create a survey about music magazines, then I presented
my findings on a PowerPoint. Next, I interviewed two students and I edited the interviews on
Adobe Premier Pro. However when I came to export the files in order to put them on my blog
there was an error with the software, so instead I had to put my interviews on to Sound Cloud
and attach a link from my blog. However, I couldnt edit my interviews on sound cloud, so
they had to be left unedited. Moving on, I used Microsoft Word to evaluate my three
interviews. The third interview was typed up and it was placed on this document too.
Planning
I used PowerPoint to present The Pitch. Then I used Photoshop to create a contacts sheet and
I wrote about the images on a Microsoft Word document. I used In Design to create the flat
plan for my magazine.
Production
For my final product, I created the front cover and the contents page on Photoshop and then I
used In Design to create the double page spread.
Evaluation
Then I finally used PowerPoint to create the evaluation.
I used two different pieces of hardware. I used a computer for most of the stages in
construction this product and I used a audio recorder to conduct the interviews for my
magazine.

I have learnt a lot of things about the blog I had to

present my work on. When I first started my coursework,
I had never used a blog before. I gradually learnt how to
create a blog and post an individual post of every stage
of the coursework to make my work look organised and
professional. I also learnt how to embed links on the
posts, such as the Slideshare and Scribd links and I also
learnt how to export my In Design and Photoshop
documents to a JPEG file and put them onto my blog.
Another thing I learnt to do with my blog, was to change
the layout and the design of the blog, in order to make
my blog look more appealing and it would present my
work in the best possible way.

I had never made a survey before, so in order to create the

survey I had to learn a few things. For example, I learnt how to
create all ten questions that the audience had to answer. I
discovered how to look at each question and see the different
answers the audience had put down. This was presented in a
graph, so I screenshotted these so I could analyse them in the
Survey Analysis.

When I had to present my interviews, I started using

Adobe Premier Pro. I learnt how to run my interviews one
after another. I also learnt how to edit them, by cutting out
all the unwanted bits of the interviews. I also edited them
by making the audio interviews have more of a visual
aspect to them as I made a title appear just before each
interview was about to play. However, due to the technical
difficulties, I had to use Sound Cloud to present my
interviews on instead. A positive of this is that I learnt
about more software that could be used instead of Adobe
Premier Pro. I leant how to upload audio files onto Sound
Cloud and embed the files onto my blog.

In Design and Photoshop were the pieces of software that I learnt most about. This was because I had never used
them before and I needed to make my front cover, contents page and double page spread to the best of my abilities.
Also I had to create other documents on these pieces of software, such as the flatplans and contacts sheet. I think this
helped me as I gradually became more familiar with the software.
One thing I learnt from using these software packages is that they are extremely clever and I only needed to use a
small amount of the tools available to make my final product look impressive. Some of the tools I used to make my
products was touching, resize, brighten. measure and cutting. I also learnt how to resize parts of text to make them
I made the
bolder and stand out more from the rest of the text.
The three
columns
were
created with
the column
feature in In
Design.

20% slightly
larger and
bolder than the
rest of the font,
in order to
catch the
demographics'
attention.

Another thing I learnt was how to insert columns onto an In Design document so it enabled me to see the finished
product while I was making it. I was able to format and develop the magazine page and the column feature assisted
me in this area as it presented the double page spread like a realistic magazine page.
I felt as though, these packages made me more creative as I could test / trial certain ideas and edit things the way I
wanted them to look. It made me able to perfect the product, making it look effective and like a real media product.

PRELIMINARY TASK

FINAL PRODUCT

LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE
PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?
Activitie
s

Technologies

Skills

Lessons

Photogra
phs

Using a
camera and
Studio.

Composition
and angels.

The first photograph which I used for my preliminary task was badly lit and
it didnt have any relevance to the college magazine. Also the image was
poorly planned as it was taken off an iPhone, which made the quality of the
photograph bad. It was a boring close up medium shot, however the
images used in the final product has a various amount of angels and a
different range of shots. In comparison the photographs featured in my
final product had good lighting and were edited effectively. Also the
photographs had been planned and the artists featured in them were made
to pose in certain ways to intrigue and capture the audiences attention, so
these images werent boring and they had relevance to the content within
the magazine. I learnt how to cut certain things out of the image in order to
improve the images by making them look more professional and removing
any unwanted background.

Planning

Powerpoint,
Photoshop, In
Design and
Microsoft
Word.

Organisation
and
investigation
.

I have learnt the about the importance of planning. I didnt carry out any
planning on my first task, however in preparation for my final product I
created a pitch, contacts sheet, evaluation of contacts sheet and flat plan.
All these pieces of work enabled me to be more organised when creating
my final product. This had a positive effect as the final product looked
professional as it had been thoroughly planned through.

Activiti
es

Technologies

Skills

Lessons

Layout

Photoshop and In
Design.

Planning,
organisation
, IT skills.

In the preliminary task the layout of the front cover was very basic as it had one image and a small
amount of writing. This made the preliminary magazine look boring and plain. Also the first contents
page I created included columns but had no text and no images. It just identified where the images
and text would be. However in my final product I learnt how to successfully product a magazine that
had an efficient layout, which made the product look organised and structured. I did this by making
all of the different pieces of texts in the right fonts. I made sure that the images had all the same
levels of lighting. I learnt the importance of accurately sizing the work to the page so the
measurements were all the same. By the end of my coursework, I had learnt how to structure my
double page spread by putting the quotes, logos, mastheads, page titles, main images and smaller
images, main text and page numbers all in the suitable places.

Formatting

Photoshop and In
Design.

Creativity

My college magazine that I first created had a bad format as it looked plain and unrealistic and
included certain features that made it look tacky and cheap. For example I made the text on the
front page have a bold, black outline. By the time I made my final product, I had learnt that
magazines dont usually outline text very bold and black as it can make magazines look tacky and
cheap. Also in my first magazine I had made the fonts all the same, I later learned that magazines
usually use a few different fonts for different purposes, so I incorporated this into my final product.
Another thing I learnt not to do in my final product was to put the price in the same sixe as the
cover lines as it might put the audience off buying the product. I had made this mistake in the
preliminary task. The final think I learnt about the formatting was to use a colour scheme of at least
three colours that complimented each other.

Research

Powerpoint,
Survey Monkey,
Adobe Premier Pro,
Sound Cloud and
Microsoft Word

When producing the preliminary magazine I had carried out no research, this reflected onto the
mock magazines as they looked poor, as I didnt have any advanced knowledge on how magazines
were presented and how they targeted their audience. However once I had come to create my final
product I had learnt that research had a major role in making my media product. In preparation for
my final product, I conducted number of research such as;
Market Research- This showed me how other music magazines in the industry marketed their
products
Textual analysis- This enabled me to see the importance of all of the conventions that make up a
magazine and how they target different audiences.
Survey, Survey analysis, interviews and interview evaluations Enabled me to discover what the
audience of my media product would by and what would attract them to a magazine.