2. 1.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media
products?
The magazine I created uses many conventions from a real magazine as I used the magazine ‘NME’ to draw
some ideas and conventions to make my magazine appear more professional and life like.
When making my magazine I followed the usual conventions a music magazine would follow. I kept my
magazine more masculine, and in doing this I used a male model artist on the front, which I edited in black
and white to give a more dominant effect. The magazine I was potentially aspiring to follow was an issue
from the magazine NME. I chose this issue as I felt it could appeal to my target audience and stood out
amongst other magazines.
There are a few features of my magazine that challenge forms and conventions of music magazines. For
example I have used my own photography for my front cover. This I thought would make the cover appear
more realistic.
I think my media product has used a lot of stereotypical conventions, as well challenging some of the typical
conventions.
First, I used usual conventions such as the feature of a strap line at the very top of the front cover to
advertise inside content. Next was an artist shown on the front cover as the main focus of the magazines
attention. This is very common among music magazines, to focus on an artist or band, as the whole concept
of these types of magazines cover new musical talent. Especially texts such as NME which is where I drove
most of my inspiration.
I also seemed to challenge some of the typical conventions by not including things such as freebies, which
seem to be included much more frequently these days, because of the rapid growth of the internet where
people get their information. So this is not included, I want my audience to feel as if, my text contains
trustworthy, and more information than you would get on the internet.
However most of my inspiration was drawn from a number of NME covers, the flamboyancy and the
simplicity is something I have taken and incorporated into my text. The Indie Scene is notable for its unusual
and different dress sense, and this can be reflected with the presentation of the magazine and the artists
included inside.

6. 2) How does your media product represent particular social groups
The social groups represented in my magazine are a range of social groups, because my magazine has an
average age range from around 16-25, there are social groups such as college students, younger workers,
university students.
I think my magazine represents these types of people as it is not a childish magazine, it has a messy but fun
aspect to it, the images I have used are not ones that I did not think about first, I planned them in a way that
they looked professional then edited them to make them look more realistic. My images also have good
connotations as I used mostly that age ranged models in my pictures so my social groups are able to look at
these images and relate them to their selves.
I think my magazine represents a young indie social group which stands out from the ordinary This
particular social group is influenced by the music they listen to and the artists fashion style and content of
music so they reflect of each other.
I wanted my magazine to stand out and look different compared to other magazines, my front cover
represents a particular social group by having a variety of different rock and indie artists spread around it
gives my target audience a chance to see what kind of up coming and older artists are included in the
magazine.

7. 3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I would like to use the IPC media to distribute my magazine, this is because:
-They are a well known media Institution who are reliable
-They are a mainstream brand
-They distribute other great magazines like NME
-They have a well presented web site
IPC Media produces over 60 iconic media brands, with print alone reaching almost two thirds of UK women
and 42% of UK men – almost 26 million UK adults – while our websites collectively reach over 20 million
users every month.
Also, IPC already distributes well known music magazines, this shows they are reliable and have the correct
experience. Along with IPC media, I will get a brand name that customers trust, as they will know that this
distributor produces NME etc. IPC media already distribute 350 million copies of magazines every year in
JUST the UK, so they can be heavily relied upon. I considered Bauer Media as my distributor as it has over
80 media brands and reaches over 19 million people in 15 different countries selling music magazines such
as Q,MOJO and KERRANG!. However, the fact that it sells such an extensive amount of media products,
there will be too much competition in this institution for my magazine as my target audience will be ruled out
by one of their many magazines, therefore this institution was not possible to consider.
Pinpointing exactly how far IPC's roots stretch back into the midst of publishing history is a complicated
business. The International Publishing Corporation Ltd was formed in 1963 following the merger of the UK's
three leading magazine publishers – George Newnes, Odhams Press and Fleetway Publications – who
came together with the Mirror Group to form the International Publishing Corporation (IPC).
I tried to find an institution that specialised in music magazines so that they would know how to distribute and
market my magazine, I tried to do this buy researching other magazines like NME and Q.

8. The main outlet of my magazine would be WH Smiths. This is because they are a reliable shop and they have
shops all over the country, they also sell a wide range of magazines. The only problem that could come up with
selling it there is that they sell so many magazines mine would have to really stand out, but I think that it does
so I don’t feel I have a problem.
I would also have my magazine being sold at HMV seeing as it has stores all over England and it is one of the
biggest selling music brands, I think that this would benefit the reader because it is making the magazine
easier to buy and get too.
Another place that I think is a large market is corner shops in the suburbs of towns and cities, I think this
because my audience is not able to drive and to buy my magazine they would be able to walk to the nearest
corner shop in there village. They may not have as big names as HMV and WH Smiths but they are
convenience for my target audience.
Certain magazine companies offer subscriptions where they send a a monthly/weekly magazine out to the
subscribers address, therefore the media is coming to them.

9. 4) Who would be the audience for your media product?
The concept of audience can be divided into two areas; primary and secondary research. Audience categories
are based upon more than one factor. The use of Graeme Burton’s theory helped me to identify my target
audience.
Graeme Burton has decided that you can either identify an audience in two ways; his Theory identifies the
difference between socially grouped audiences (e.g. grouped by age, gender, race, class, and place in society)
and media grouped audiences (e.g. grouped by their relationship with media, such as computer-game
users, film-goers and so on). I have chosen my target audience to fall in to both categories, with the target
audience being females and males, 18-30, being middle/working class; they would also have a high interest in
music, and also in magazines and maybe could have an occupation to do with a journalistic employment.
Previous to making my magazine, I had created an audience profile which was a brief outline as to who the
audience of my magazine would be. This contained some facts and figures that I had found out about the types
of people that would read my magazine. This gave me an indication as to how to create my magazine, what
the house style would be and the sorts of things I would need in my magazine.
A typical audience member for my magazine would be someone who is interested in a wide variety of different
music and not just the pop music that you hear in the charts; they would be someone who would be interested
in attending music festivals and therefore would want to know about festival and gig line ups. They would
prefer to see artist live, instead of just watching them on the music channels, so therefore they would be more
active.
I had decided that I would aim my magazine at either gender that are in to the rock and indie scene of music. In
particular between the ages of 16-25. This gave me a good indication as to how to create my
magazine, because I had a clear target audience. Therefore, I made the house style of my magazine white red
and black which stands out and is a mix of mainly neutral colours, which works well with the target audience
being males and females.
Another thing that would play a relatively big part in their lives is fashion; they would be quite fashionable and
would have an interest in the latest fashions. These sorts of people would read my magazine because it is
aimed at people who enjoy music and everything concerning it, such as festivals and the fashions of different
artists.

10. 5)How did you attract/address your audience?
It is vital for any magazine to be able to attract and address a relatively large audience or the
agreed target audience, in any case, to be successful. There was a variety of ways that we
attempted to attract and address our audience.
One way we attempted to do this was through the use of questionnaires. We believed that this
would be a successful method of original research for us in order to find out what the majority of
potential viewers actually wanted to read about.
the main feedback that was coming from them was that people, in the majority, would prefer to
read an indie/rock magazine focused on a younger audience about music and fashion.
I thought that it was important when creating my magazine that it had a unique selling
point, which would attract my target audience and differentiate the magazine from other
competitors, therefore meaning that they would buy my magazine. The unique selling point for
my magazine is that it is aimed at both genders of the ages between16-25; therefore I have a
clear target as to who I want to buy my magazine. In my opinion having a unique selling point is
important, especially for a new magazine, because you have to be able to distinguish yourselves
from competitors.
I attracted my audience, of male and female, through the house style of my magazine as it was
red, black and white, these are just some of the colours that would attract my target audience to
my magazine.
I feel my images selected can relate to my target audience. Another aspect of my magazine that
would attract my audience or address them is the double page spread, as I have tried to use
words which would relate to them and words that they would use themselves. Unlike magazines
like classical music, which are quite formal and use sophisticated words in order to attract their
audience, my magazine takes an informal tone, relating to my target audience

11. 6)What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
During the creation of my media product, a music magazine, I have learnt a great deal about
technologies and they have vastly helped and improved my media product, if I had been without
them. During the process of making my product I regularly posted and kept my work up to date on
my blog.
To make my product I used a number of different technologies and programmes to create it all.
Needless to say, I used a computer but below is a list of the technologies I used for the task.
-Digital camera
-Adobe Photoshop
- Macromedia Fireworks
-Internet explorer
-BlogSpot
-Microsoft word
-Microsoft PowerPoint
For example: Photoshop is an image manipulation program that allows me to edit the photos id
taken it was extremely useful in the development of my media product and made possible images
which simply wouldn’t of worked previously.
For example my image on my front cover was originally in colour but I managed to enhance it in to
black and white.
Using all of these programmes has taught me to edit and enhance the images I had taken and to see
the difference in edited and unedited images.
- Below are my preliminary tasks in comparison to my main product..

12. Looking back at your preliminary, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I fell I have learnt how to use lots of different programmes some I have learnt from new and some I have learnt
how to use more than I did before. my skills in Photoshop have significantly improved.
Looking back at my preliminary task, and looking at my current magazine, it is clear that my media skills have
progressed to some extent, allowing me to produce my magazine. Some of the areas I have progressed in
include my choice of photos, choice of fonts and mode of address.