2. I targeted my media product to an audience comprised
of men and women aged 17-20. I feel that I have
accomplished the aim of attracting both men and
women to my magazine. I have made the main feature
of my magazine a woman, but have dressed her so that
she isn't seen to be demeaning to women as has
previously been observed with Miley Cyrus’ and Janet
Jackson’s covers for Rolling Stones magazine, which I
feel was a little bit revealing. She is dressed in a roll-
neck, which is a popular, stylish choice of clothing; I felt it
was essential to have my magazine’s cover girl looking
fashionable. The use of the roll-neck is countertypical to
the ‘cover girl’ image commonly used today, which are
more revealing than the look I chose. The stylish choice
of clothing, is archetypical of the dress choice of my
female target audience. Throughout my magazine, I
have featured three images of men and two of women
suggesting that although the text inside the article
reflects that of a gossip magazine, the layout and
featured artists inside are very hip, modern and indie
and not biased to one gender. My photographs are
quite different and I wanted to convey the message
that my magazine was quite serious and not just a teen
pop magazine. Almost all of my artists are pulling a
straight face, except my couple who are featured
kissing (which again highlights the quirky elements of my
magazine and wouldn’t necessarily be found in a
magazine such as Q or NME, but may be found in Clash
or Fader) and I feel that they will appeal to single
readers as well as those in a relationship.
3. Ideologies
My female artist on the front cover conforms to Mulveys theory and attracts the male
gaze. Hannah Keenan (Ruby Thomas) is an attractive girl who I think will draw the
male attention to the magazine through her sultry red lips and seductive facial
expressions. Through her wardrobe and styling, she will also appeal to the female
audience; her black roll neck demonstrating a very simplistic style that many women
could follow. I wanted to present Hannah as a powerful woman, due to the type of
shots that I have used such as close ups and extreme close ups. I also wanted to
portray her looking serious, yet seductive, appealing to both men and women and
attracting the male gaze.
4. My
Pluralistic Representation
Media pluralism is a necessary condition for
freedom of speech and contributes to the
development of informed societies where
different voices can be heard. A major threat to
media freedom today is the monopoly
tendencies we see among traditional media
across Europe. I would argue that my magazine
is pluralistic rather than hegemonic because it is
not censored and reports the artists unedited
words creating a magazine based on free
speech.
5. Social Groups
I have targeted the 17-20 age group with
social media reference in my double page
spread. I have displayed this at the bottom
of the page so that the reader feels
encouraged to visit the sites listed, creating
more fans and recognition for my
magazine.
The social groups of my magazine would
include the working/unemployed young
adults, university and sixth form/college
students. This is inline with my target
audience. These social groups will all
partake in the social media forums listed
above.
6. Mise en Scene
She is dressed in a roll-neck which is
a popular, stylish choice of clothing;
so having my magazines cover girl
looking fashionable I felt would
make my magazine have more of a
realistic, professional and expensive
feeling. Her hairstyle was chosen as it
would be easy for readers to and
suggests to the reader that she is
quite down to earth and that an ‘A-
Listers’ style is simply achievable. I
used no props at all which gave my
magazine a very simplistic style
which is in keeping with the overall
look of the reference magazines
(e.g., clash, Indie) I have used. In the
images I have used, I also wanted to
break the stereotypical view of
today’s youths as hooligans who
take drugs, drink and smoke.
7. The layout of my magazine is
structured to be very simplistic
and basic, creating a very
‘indie’ feel. When looking at
magazines such as Indie and
Clash, they have very basic
layouts with few buzzwords and
captions. On my front cover I
have virtually no text; I have my
mast head, sell line, issue date,
name of artist together with a
quotation to entice the reader
to see what she says inside the
magazine. I believe that this
simplistic approach gives my
magazine the unique look that I
was hoping for.
Layout
8. ImagesMy images are very obscure. The
front cover image really expresses
that my magazine is an indie music
magazine and not just a
contemporary pop magazine. It
show half of the artists face which
displays a unique quality, one which I
haven’t seen in a magazine yet. On
my double page spread, the
positioning of my image is very
obscure and is half of her face on a
slant. I was unsure whether or not I
should have put her face on a slant
and so asked my focus group and
they supported my decision. I felt
that it was more indie to have the
image sliced in half and on a slant,
and feel that this contrasts with the
normal magazine and makes mine
look more unique.
9. Colour scheme
The colour scheme of my front
cover was predominantly
black and white but it had a
faded glowing, almost sepia
effect. It distances itself from
the common black and white
or colour enhanced images.
My contents page is quite
different to my front cover, and
really expresses how unique this
magazine is compared to
others. My double page
spread is my favourite image
as it is almost a ghostly effect
as the contrast has been
dramatically altered and
changed and the lips have
been enhanced and made to
seem a lot redder than they
actually are; creating the
effect that this image and the
front cover image aren’t from
the same photo-shoot.
