2. In what waysdoes your media product
use,develop or challengeforms and
conventionsof realmedia products?
3. Codes & Conventions
• I have ensured I have the basic codes and conventions of a magazine on my magazine. I learnt the codes and
conventions by analysing different music magazines, for example:
http://hannahsweeney96.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/i-analysed-blender-magazine-cover-as.html In general I
have subscribed to the codes and conventions as it is a pop magazine and my research this genre of magazine
do not tend to challenge the conventions by being a bit edgy unlike other magazine such as Kerrang! This may
be because the target audience of these two magazines would be different
Front cover On the bottom left hand corner I have put the barcode
with the web address just above it, this is following the
conventions as the these are usually fairly small and
away from the main features of the front cover. The
dateline is another convention I have also followed. I
would say I have stayed with a very conventional layout
for a magazine, with the main cover star dominating
the page and the cover lines surrounding her, this is an
example of one of the conventional covers I analysed to
help me create my cover.
http://hannahsweeney96.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/lily-allen-
cover-analyasis.html
I decided to do this as when I researched Pop
magazines I noticed most also stayed with the this set
layout.
My main image follows the conventions as it uses direct
eye contact and covers some of the masthead like the
cover I analysed above.
4. Contents
I was influenced mostly by Billboard when making my contents
page, this is a typical Billboard contents page:
Billboard often have the
cover star also featuring on
the contents page, I had
originally planned to also do
this. However when I was
creating the page I realised
including a picture of the
cover star would mean there
was little room for articles. I
knew the main point of
contents pages is to inform
the reader of articles in the
magazine so I decided the
articles were more
important.
The UK top 20 was also
influenced by Billboard
http://hannahsweeney96.blogspo
t.co.uk/2012/09/uk-top-40-
idea.html
It is unusual to have the UK
top 20 on the contents page
of a magazine but I wanted
to have something that is
unique to my magazine as if
it was too much like other
pop magazines people would
not buy it.
I stayed with the house style of the magazine by using the
colour red, black and gold as after doing some research it was
clear that magazines try to create a strong house style so this
suggests it was important for me to ensure I also create a
consistent and recognisable house style.
5. Double page spread
I have subscribed to the conventions of a double page spread
by having one page mainly photos and the having the
interview on the other page. I was influenced by two different
things for my double page spread:
http://hannahsweeney96.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/double-page-spread-idea-
2.html
I continued the house style onto the double page spread
which also follows the codes and conventions.
The interview is very casual and chatty as this is what I
feel would best suit my target audience. I looked at
various interviews in pop magazines to help me when
writing mine, such as “We Heart Pop” and “Billboard”, so
there was not one specific influence for this magazine
Also the B big at the start is a convention of magazine
interviews, this is why I decided to include it in mine.
6. 2. How does your media product represent
particular social groups?
7. RepresentationAs my cover star is a women, my magazine is focused on gender representation. I have
represented women, especially younger women as my cover star is young, as feisty and
independent through pictures and my interview.
My cover star image in particular represents women as being feisty.
This picture has a lot of attitude to it as she is looking directly at the
camera with a slight smirk on her face which suggests she is confident
and is able to hold her own. The hands on the hips also adds to this
representation as this body language is usually linked to someone
with attitude. Also the interview is based on Selena explaining how
she doesn’t follow the crowd and wont be told by her record label
how to behave. This shows that she is an independent women and it
suggests is able to express her point of view, when she doesn’t agree
with some thing.
Beat represents women un-stereotypically for a pop magazine.
Pop magazines usually have pictures of women smiling, they
represent women in a very stereotypical girly way. I decided to go
against this convention as I think the views of women are
changing and more women are becoming strong and
independent and I wanted to convey this through my magazine.
As my target audience are slightly older I believe they will
understand and appreciate this.
8. 3. What kind of media institution might
distribute your media product and why?
9. Bauer Media http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/
One of the first things I did when starting my project was research two major distributers:
http://hannahsweeney96.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/music-magazine-distribution-analysis.html
I realised my distributer has to be a major distributer as it will be a mass market magazine as pop
music has a mass target audience.
I decided to choose Bauer because not only do they
distribute magazines they also broadcast radio stations.
The radio stations they broadcast would appeal to a
similar demographic I am appealing to, for example “Kiss
and “Smash hits” play mainly pop songs.
Although the music magazine they distribute may not be to similar to mine as
“Kerrang!” and “Q” appeal to a different target audience to me, they do have
magazines such as “Heat”, “Closer” and “More”. These magazines would be the
type of magazines my target audience would buy.
10. 4. Who would be the audience for your
media product?
11. Target audience
The target audience for my magazine is both genders between the age of 16-25. My
readers will listen to pop music and will enjoy most of the songs that are currently in the
UK top 40. This link gives a detailed target audience profile:
http://hannahsweeney96.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/ideas-of-target-audience-profile-for-my.html
I have tried to appeal to this target audience by following the answers given from my
target audience questionnaire, as these were suggestions given by the typical people
who would buy my magazine.
After doing some research I noticed in the UK there is not a
pop magazine aimed at an older age group, this told me
there was a gap in the market for this genre. However
Billboard magazine is an American Magazine which you can
subscribe to, my target audience is similar to Billboard so
therefor my readers may subscribe to Billboard magazine.
13. I created a questionnaire which helped me know how to attract
my target audience: http://hannahsweeney96.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/target-
audience-questionnaire.html
Colour
I choose red, black and Gold to be main colour scheme because my target
audience said they like sophisticated colours, which are not too bright. As
my magazine is aimed at both genders these colours are neutral and do
not favour one gender. Also gold has connotations of being of good quality
and award winning which would suggest my magazine is an award winning
magazine.
Articles
I split my articles up into 4 sections so I could have a range
of articles. One section is “every month”, this features
articles that appear on the magazine monthly. This will
attract my target audience as it is something they know will
always be there. For example one of the articles is “events
this month”, the reader will know my magazine will always
inform them of all the pop related events they could attend
this month, this will persuade them to buy magazine to find
the information out. My questionnaire tells me that my
target audience are mostly interested in interviews,
especially those with popular artists. I therefore created a
section just for interviews as I know this is the type of article
that my readers want.
14. Pictures
I have a range of pictures in my magazine to try and appeal to a mass
market. My cover image has a lot of attitude, however the pictures of my
cover star on the double page spread show different sides of her
personality. In some of the pictures she looks happy and fun to be around,
like the one on the right. Showing all the different sides of her personality
means I can appeal to a large target audience.
Also the picture of the male singing on my contents page will appear to my
female audience as he is a young good looking singer who my female
readers will want to read about.
Language/tone
My magazine on a whole is informal and chatty, my interview especially shows this. I wanted to
use language that is informal to create a fun and laid back tone to my magazine. One of the
questions on my questionnaire was “What words come to mind when you think of Pop?” and
one of the frequent answers was fun, these therefore suggests my target audience want a
magazine that is easy to read and entertaining. I feel that my laid back and chatty tone makes
my magazine fun.
Masthead
My magazine is called ‘Beat’ which is short and catchy.
pop songs have a strong beat so it links to the pop genre.
The beat is an important part of a song and can
completely change how a song sounds. My target
audience will are pop fans so they will appreciate the link
to pop.
15. 6. What have you learnt about
technologies from the process of
constructing the product?
16. Technology
The main piece of software I used to create my magazine was
Paint.Net, I also used Publisher to create the interview page.
Paint.Net
Advantages: The main advantage of paint.net is the wide range of effects you can use to
edit your photos. This is a screen shot of my using Paint.Net to edit my front cover image.
Another advantage is the fact you can remove the
background of a picture, this was extremely useful for
me. Also it is fairly easy to understand.
Disadvantages: The main issue with this programme is
that it is time consuming! An issue I had trouble with is
that it uses a lot of memory, which can often make
computers freeze.
Publisher
Advantages: This programme is really easy to use, pretty much anyone could work with it.
It is also easier to edit text then paint.net, on a whole it works well with text. You can also
preview your work which enables you to see how it will look.
Disadvantages: doesn’t work that well with pictures as there aren't many editing
techniques
17. 7. Looking back to your preliminary task, what
do you feel that you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?
18. Looking at the two together I can see I have learnt a lot and have developed my skills.
I think from my preliminary task I realised I need a stronger masthead that differs from
my cover lines. As you can see the mast head on my preliminary task is the same font as
my other cover lines which means it isn't as strong and blends in. However my masthead
on my final piece is a lot stronger and unique, it creates a brand identity.
Also the editing and taking of pictures seems to be something I have learnt. My picture
on my final piece is a lot stronger. I think the body language is a main part of this but also
the editing as darkening the photo means she is the main focus of the page.
19. How successful do you feel your end
product is in fulfilling the task? How well
does it fit the brief?
20. Over all I think My magazine fits the task well as I have created a new magazine that fits the
codes and conventions of a magazine. I think it has a strong house style that could hold its
own against other pop magazines. I researched into all the areas I needed to create my
magazine. I think the research I did was extremely helpful when creating my magazine and
without detailed research I would have found it hard to create the magazine, the double
page spread especially. One of the things that helped me the most was target audience
research and Billboard magazine as they gave me inspiration.
I think the strongest part of my project is my double page spread, as I think it is a strong
idea and I like how the photos show different sides of her personality.
For me the weakest part of my
project is my contents page as
compared to the other pages I
think it is the least authentic
looking when compared to a real
magazine. If I were to re do the
project I would maybe spend more
time selecting fonts for my
contents page as I feel that’s what
let me down.
On a whole my time management
was good and I think my blog will
reflect that. I have defiantly
developed my skills which you can
tell from my preliminary task.
