2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? I have used a unique title to imitate the ones used by well known music magazines. By giving the word ‘Justify’ a drop shadow and slightly tilting it anti-clockwise it adds to the aesthetics for the front cover of the magazine. By arranging the text in different boxes to fit around the face of the figure, it allows the viewer to connect with the figure more. This is also seen in typical features of a music magazine. I tried to keep the front cover relatively simple to create a larger impact with the features displayed. This would therefore draw the viewer in to observe the magazine and entice them to buy the issue. Photographs of different appearances are featured in order to give a variation and hence make the front cover more aesthetically pleasing. I used a barcode and a price to give the magazine a verisimilitude. This would give the magazine an accurate representation of a typical magazine. By adding offers and freebies within the magazine, it will give the magazine a realistic theme and therefore present the magazine as more attractive.
3. I decided to challenge the typical features of a music magazine by using a darker colour theme, while keeping the magazine aesthetically pleasing and therefore attractive. I also used one figure on the front cover to promote the issue, which also goes against the majority of music magazines as they would usually picture a band on the front cover of the magazine. By keeping a strong eye contact with the figure it allows me to create a connection between the audience and the magazine which will attract the reader to view it.
4. How does your media product represent particular social groups? I have created my music magazine to be aimed at youthful society who enjoy listening to a variety of rock music. This gives the magazine a wider audience, and by including youthful models within the magazine it makes the pictures more appealing to the age range being targeted. The fashion chosen to represent the models creates a stereotype of emo/alternative to reinforce the genre of music that has been chosen. This makes the figures used more aesthetically enticing for audience who are interested in the rock culture. The bands that I have used to promote the magazine vary between a youthful age group (We are Titans) and famous rock stars (30 seconds to Mars). This makes the magazine appealing to a wider age range using different ages to promote the magazine. On the contents page I have included information about; a guide for gigs, guitar riffs and latest recommendations. This therefore gives the magazine an association with the rock genre by allowing the audience to experience more about the genre.
5. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product kind and why? I could use Bauer Media to distribute my magazine. Bauer operate in fifteen countries World wide, including the UK. This means that I would be able to distribute my magazine across Great Britain and possibly other countries as well. Bauer distribute Kerrang! and Q magazine, proving successful in media distribution, but also specializing in music promotion. Due to Kerrang! being almost identical in genre this could potentially cause rivalry between the two music magazines.
6. Who would be the audience for your media product? I decided to aim my magazine at a youthful age range, although exceptions can be made. The magazine is purely for fans of the rock genre, promoting a rock-filled lifestyle through gig information and guitar riffs to learn. The fashion displayed within the magazine also helps to promote the rock genre through the typical emo appearance, which promotes a modern form of rock. The instruments shown within the music magazine are all linked to a typical rock band and therefore create a verisimilitude for the magazine.
7. How did you attract/address your audience? In order to attract my audience I used a variety of photographs, including both male and female models in order to be appealing to both sexes. I edited the photographs to make them seem more aesthetically pleasing in order to draw the audience in and enjoy the magazine. For my front cover and contents page the use of photographs to attract viewers is strong as they dominate most of the page. With the front cover I used short sentences of text in order to give an insight to what the magazine contains. This allows the reader to be enticed into thinking about what lies within the magazine without being put off by large amounts of text. The contents page includes more text than the front cover, but still keeps the sentences simple. This allows the reader to skim through the contents of the magazine to find what would interest them. With my double page spread I focused more on the model layout in the photograph and the typography. I tried to keep the text to seem like a real conversation, focusing on language used and terminology. I have included quotes from the interviewee that are separate from the columns, as this would firstly attract the reader and encourage them to read on. The audience always look for extra detail, such as this, and therefore would be more attracted to the article.
8. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? I have learnt many new skills in how to edit photographs, mainly in Adobe Photoshop, and how to use different fonts in order to appeal to different social groups. I learnt how to use different techniques of manipulation in order to achieve several effects, e.g. making a person appear as if the are performing on stage. In photography itself I have learnt how to present a figure across to an audience through: eye contact, positioning and camera shot. I have also learnt how to layout the typography and to include correct terminology within the text in order to become more appealing to an audience. Another skill that I have learnt is how to use Blogger and how to manage a blog, as I have never had the reason to create a blog before but now I know how important they are in modern society I will be able to produce more.
9. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? I feel that my preliminary task was hard going at the time and I failed to use the blog effectively, but while making my music magazine I feel that I have developed those skills and have produced an effective blog. The skills required in photograph taking and editing have greatened since I first started, as I has never used Adobe Photoshop before and therefore was unfamiliar with it. The layout of my magazines have changed immensely in how they effectively present the product. I felt that I struggled with the preliminary task but then afterwards, due to researching magazine layouts in more depth, I felt that I could design my music magazine with much greater ease.
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11. Conclusion Overall I feel that I have developed a number of new skills that will be very helpful when working with editing and graphic design in the future. I have enjoyed completing the task and looking back through my blog I feel pleased with the final outcome of my product.
