Final version

Evaluation

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

Throughout this project I have learnt the necessities of creating a magazine that’s attractive to my target audience. I did this by learning the conventions of a media product. Developing and understanding conventions became an easy skill due to them being easily identifiable. There similarities became an obvious trait when studying contextual examples, which enforced success in creating my own magazine.

Like the majority of ‘Rock’ style front covers; for example ‘Rock Sound’ and ‘Classic Rock’ it was profoundly obvious that there genre was the same. As a result of this it is important I could compare my magazine with these type magazines, that way I knew the magazine was effective. First of all I named my master head ‘FIXATION’ as ‘Rock’ has a rebellious nature which is usually an addictive characteristic people enjoy. With this in mind I wanted to mirror the obsessive interest of Rock through a direct however compelling name. Moving on to colour scheme, I felt that black, white, yellow and blue worked as a nice combination. As well as this it is also a theme used in Rock magazines, as shown below. The various harmonious tones react well together as well as contrast. For example the black and the white are polar opposite meaning they stand out. I used yellow as the promotional colour for my puffs, pugs and buzzwords, this is so it draws attention to the audience. All magazines have a main front cover image. It is evident that Rock magazines have an image of an iconic Rock Star or Rock Band, in my case I used a Rock Star. Like all magazines these figures are dressed in obscure and wild clothing to portray the illusion of a rock aesthetic. I drew on ‘Oskar Niedzialeks’ face with black eyeliner and edited in smoke from his mouth to signify smoking. Cigarettes are another symbol of rebelling and a perfect fit for the Rock Star attitude. As well as imagery, cover lines are imperative in the conventions of a rock magazine, without them the magazine wouldn’t look professional or work efficiently with introducing the audience the magazines content. In addition to this, I included price and a barcode as it’s an important factor of information the audience need to know.

Moreover the conventions of a contents page include a master head, various sub-images and of course cover lines. I avoided challenging the forms of a ‘classic’ magazine through the master head, content layout and numbering, as these are important to keep the same.  Firstly, the master head syncs the front cover as it is positioned at the top of the page. It is also the largest text, ensuring it prominently stands out amongst other pieces of information. Furthermore, I have kept the house-style the same so the entire magazines links creating a continuous scheme, allowing the magazine to not look random but however reaching a professional standard. Like the ‘Rock Sound’ contents below, I decreased the opacity of an oblong shape through an InDesign software, creating a banner with the illusion of a darker effect within the image behind. Moving on, I included page numbers along the cover lines as it is key to link the readers to specific pages so they can flip through to the aspects they are most interested in without profoundly having to search for them. Despite these similarities I did challenge some areas of my contents page. For example, I included a sub-image prompting ‘Sammy Black’s’ new album, unlike the contents shown below. As well as this including social media apps advertising the magazine itself. Lastly, I placed a ‘pug’ in the right hand corner to test the creativity of a standard magazine. In aesthetic terms the placement is on the right hand side as an audience reads from left to right.

As a final point, the conversant conventions of a double page spread consist of a main image and an article. Usually the article is foreshadowed throughout other pages of the magazine. In this case the double page spread displays the article I fundamentally expressed through imagery, cover lines and headlines on the front cover and within the contents page. Depending on the message your magazine is trying to illustrate these articles can come in different forms, whether that is an interview or an event described through a factual format. I decided to write an informal interview exploring the occurrence of a drug shamed rock star. The informality of this topic is presented through creative language and its obscure layout. The informal aesthetic is purposely there to attract my target market. Also, collecting data like questions it is important that they are differentiated from the responses. By adjusting size and using italics I professionally generated an interview that’s clear and pleasing to the eye. Like in the double page spread below columns are not the important element of the double page spread so rather than three columns, like the majority of music magazines, Rock tends to display two with the image as the main focus. Additionally I paralleled the conventions of a rock magazine by including the rock star as a main image and in the secondary images. This way the audience can make correct links and guesses to what and who this interview may be about. Moreover, I defied the conventions of a definitive rock magazine by creating a page number symbol relating to the title itself. The big ‘F’ allows the continuation of the title to run throughout without taking up lots of room. Many ‘Rock’ magazines don’t tend to do this but however does not make it any less effective. As well as this, the colour scheme is also the same, as mentioned before this is to give my magazine a house-style creating a brand and identity for my magazine the profound expression of the rock genre.

How does your media product represent particular social groups? 

When I put together my magazine, I had to make sure that I kept in mind my target audience. My target audience was looking at the Rock theme and made sure I followed this throughout my format research. Rock is very much linked with teenagers, especially the modern day rock which is shown throughout the NME magazine.

The social group was represented through using specific conventions which have been linked specifically with this theme. For example, the colours used within rock magazines are mainly black, with some use of bright neon colours. This adds a contrast of the two colours and helps to draw in the reader to the specific content shown within the magazine. The front cover of my magazine had a catchy masthead, which links with the content and target audience of my magazine. I decided to have a black background, with the masthead title FIXATION. Underneath it was followed with a quote saying that it is the number one, rock magazine. This will help to add to the appeal and link in with my target audience. The black and neon theme is commonly used within this type of genre which is another reason why I decided to use this convention throughout my magazine. For my double page spread, I decided to have an article on an up and coming artist, who had been through life troubles. This would be an appeal to my target audience as some of the readers, would be able to make links with their past mistakes and may be able to relate with these stories. Having a story that they could relate with, will make it more enjoyable for the reader to read. I included one large image, which is a common convention used within other magazines showing the similar style. For example, NME. The story has admitted about drug shame and should help to inspire other readers in that life can be turned around and could give readers an inspiration.

In conclusion, I have made sure that I was constantly comparing my media product to existing content that is already out on the market. That way it allowed me to ensure that the content was suitable and was going to be as successful as it possibly could be. 

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? 

Having researched a range of different distributors, I have decided that the best method to use to distribute my magazine would be IPC media. IPC media distribute online and hand versions of Rock magazines, like NME within the UK since 1958. It has a very large portfolio, which sells over 350 million copies a year. Meaning that my magazine would be accessible to a wide range of my target audience. As shown on their website: www.ipcmedia.com

Overall, this media distrubutor allows me to make sure that my media is being sent worldwide and could be easily accessible. I feel that IPC would be best suited to my magazine as the have previously worked with NME which a very well is known magazine linked to the genre Rock.

How did you attract/address your audience? 

I have created a Pinterest which allowed me to add/pin specific images to a borad. Here I added images which matched with my format research but also showed and addressed who my specific target audience was. I added images such as rock themes, rock/punk fashion, and iconic artists such as David Bowie, Music bands and records and rock attitudes including screaming, rebelling and finally pictures which showed anger. By collecting photographic data, I was easily inspired and it gave me clear idea of what i need to include in my magazine.

Click here to view my Pinterest

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? 

Here I have produced a Prezi which is looking at and evaluating different technologies I used throughout the construction process. The Prezi has allowed me to explore different areas and present them in a aesthetically pleasing way.

Click here to view my Prezi

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? 

I have created a voice recording, including images showing my two magazine covers. I have uploaded this video onto YouTube and can be watched here:

Click here to watch my YouTube video

Assessing and Evaluating Software

Throughout this course I had used a variety of different editing software in order for me to produce a well-executed final version of my magazine. Using Photoshop it allowed me to edit my pictures to match in with my target audience and the format research I had gathered previously. It allowed me to adapt the images and make them more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. 

Adobe InDesign was also another software programme that I used to create a high end magazine final version. I used this programme as I have used this before and feel that with my skills I was able to produce a well finished final version that was able to link in with my theme of Rock.

To ensure my image selection is successful and effective I used Adobe Bridge CS4. This software allows me to create contact sheets, which is a range of thumbnail sketches in an ordered alignment. This format is neat and clear making my decisions a lot more accurate. In addition to this the photos can be easily transferred onto a wide range of software programmes. In this case I used ‘Adobe InDesign CS4’.

Evaluation of my music magazine in link to my target audience

 What message ae you trying to get across?

I hope to display the heart of 70’s punk back in to modern person’s aesthetic. Idealising classic male rock singers and rock bands i.e. Queen and David Bowie inspires youths to re-create their ideology in a way that’s in fashion today.

What makes your magazine attractive to your audience?

Punk is a ‘loud, fast-moving, and an aggressive theme’, and portraying this look in my magazine is key. Using vibrant colours, bold typography and obscure-imagery will connote the wild side of ‘Rock’ attracting most to the audience. For example the magazine ‘Rock My Rock’ uses imagery that’s sub-human like (covering the model in pink, purple, white and black paint), as well as using a bold/ big fonts. The magazine theme is explosive.

Describe your house-style?

A pattern that’s mostly shown in a typical and successful ‘Rock Magazine’ is that there are many bold statements through the expressions of the following; words- blunt, direct and passionate, colour scheme - primarily black, white and grey with a secondary colour, imagery- all different types however strongly linking back to the theme, and lastly font- exciting and out there however structured for body text.

Does your photograph idea summarise your magazine effectively?

To achieve a high standard photograph that sells the magazine and justifies it entirely, I’m going to use my re-search effectively and create a photograph that looks as professional as others in the media today. I will use studio diffused lighting, white or black backdrops, a camera not a phone, I will adjust the elements such as, shutter speed, aperture and ISO, I will also ensure my model is dressed appropriately to the theme and lastly taking into consideration the atmosphere and emotion I would like my model to get across with their facial and body expressions.  

Comparison of conventions

After studying and comparing my final magazine cover, I have tried to follow similar conventions used with this magazine. In addition to this, I also made sure that my magazine met my target audience.

As displayed, "Rock Sound" met the conventions of a rock magazine well. By using bright bold colours my audience is easily drawn in, also, with text not being straight, but at different heights and sizes, it is evident it makes the front cover look exciting and modern.

As you can see from the front cover I had produced, I have tried to also do this. The main image layers over my master head, but is still readable. Moreover, the cover lines included are in a similar location, as well as not giving too much of the narrative away.

Having produced a focus group, I was able to ask a range of individuals what they thought of my music magazine, in compassion to current contextual magazines which is already out there to be viewed. That way I can find out thoughts and opinions of the content and use this information to further develop my own. Lastly, I have attached a voice recording which identifies these comments.