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.
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.
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:
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