My media product was influenced by magazines like NME and Q. It represents an alternative indie audience interested in blues music. IPC would be a suitable distributor as they support less mainstream brands. The target audience is a younger generation interested in feeling like they discovered new artists. In constructing the product, I learned to use technologies like Photoshop, blogs, and Slideshare effectively. From the preliminary to full product, I progressed in making the magazine cover more professional and real.

1. Evaluation
Alexandra Austin

2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
My media product has been influenced by many other existing products. NME was
a large inspiration as I enjoyed their simplistic house style and their use of different
fonts on the cover which initially gives NME its ‘indie’ styled look. I also took
inspiration from Q magazines contents page where they used one single artist and
made him the focal point of the contents. I did the same thing with my contents
page by using the artist ‘Georgia’ as the focal point and the main image on the
contents page, emphasising her importance in the magazine.

3. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My target audience would be an alternative ‘indie’ audience due to blues music
being less popular within society today. This gives readers a chance to have
their own independent music taste and sway away from mainstream music. I
found through my market research that the younger audience would like to feel
as if they know their favoured artist on a personal level and feel like they were
the ‘first’ to listen to this artist, this is why I based my genre of music around
blues.

4. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I would think that IPC would distribute my product because they seem to
base their company around more unknown brands and less mainstream
brands therefore giving my magazine the right look as it is aimed at a more
alternative audience.

5. Who would be the audience for your media product?
My target audience would normally be aimed at an older audience as blues music is
usually for an older audience, but instead I made the magazine look modern and
exiting for a new audience of a younger generation and entices them to read. From
the survey I took people thought that blues music was their most favoured genre as
it is new and exiting and was ‘a mix between indie and pop’. This is why I used this
genre. The content in my magazine is quite informal which again is on a personal
level and makes the audience feel comfortable. My photograph was taken of a
stylish artist which the audience could relate to or idolize.
FAVOURITE GENRE
INDIE
DANCE
BLUES
RAP
POP

6. How did you attract/address your audience?
I used cool and calm colours on my cover of blues and whites which makes
the audience feel at ease yet attracted. This differs from magazines such as
NME or Q which use reds, so to make my magazine seem even more
alternative I changed the colours. My fonts used on the cover and contents
are stylish and easy to read with furthermore attracts the audience.
BLUES

7. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this
product?
In the process of constructing my product i’ve learnt to use technologies
such as Photoshop, Eblogger and Slideshare with ease. I now can use
different settings on Photoshop and create other products easily and
quickly without help. I can now also set up a blog and use it without
confusion and also upload other documents from Slideshare.

8. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?
I feel I have progressed quite well through the endurance of the task I have had. I
have used many tools on a computer I thought I would never be able to use before.
I’ve also learnt how to make a magazine cover change from tacky which I believe my
ancillary task was, to a cool and potentially real magazine cover. I have learnt a lot
through the course of the task and I am proud of my finished product.