media evaluation

1. Question 1- In what ways does your media
product use develop or challenge forms
and conventions of real media products.
• The music magazine which I have created for my media product uses many of the main
conventions of real media products including mastheads, main images, secondary images,
tag lines, puffs and many more. Each of these conventions serve a purpose in encouraging
and persuading my target audience to purchase and read my magazine as they have been
designed to suit my target audience in particular from the audience research that I carried
out. My music magazine challenges other RnB music magazines as there are not many of
this genre available and those that are tend to be of an online format whereas mine will be
a physical published copy available to purchase in stores. However, when acknowledging
the importance of the media I have included web links for my magazine page as there
would be an online version that viewers could also use. This is advertised throughout my
magazine to maximise publicity and awareness. My magazine develops other forms and
conventions of existing magazines such as the colour schemes of reds, blacks and whites
which I have found is a typical colour scheme for a lot of magazines of this genre. Due to
this, I decided to use this as my own colour scheme as it clearly works well with the
target audience and is professional. However, I decided to incorporate gold into my front
cover and DPS as they featured the same model and I liked the connotations of royalty
and luxury that it reflected. I also found that gold was a very popular colour for RnB
CD’S and music videos when doing research and so thought this would work well.

2. For my front cover I decided to copy the layout of the
RnB magazine on the left. This included the placement
and sizing of the cover lines and positioning of the
masthead and main image. I felt like this layout created
a good balance between text and image and so did not
appear empty or overcrowded. I have also developed
the strapline convention in that I felt it linked well with
my magazine and was a good feature to include as it
makes the magazine appear more authentic. I also
developed the use of the banners at the top and bottom
of the page as it was a common feature of RnB
magazines and allowed me to add artists names and
more information for the reader.
Features that I changed in regards to the existing product was the plain background which I changed to a faded
blend of grey and gold. I used this as somewhat of a colour tie in with the gold from the models cap. I chose this
colour in particular as it connoted success and wealth which I feel my target audience would be interested in.
I chose this cap as the leather from the black cap photographed well appearing expensive and again the gold tied
well with my idea of the gold background. Other elements such as the black and white jacket were chosen because
they linked with the black and white of my cover lines. The dark and light colours contrast well and make the model
appear mysterious which I wanted to create. My model can also be seen wearing a gold ring which was used again
as an indicator of wealth and because it is a stereotypical item of jewelry worn by rap artists and helped to remain
authentic. This pose in particular was used to create a self confident and somewhat egotistical representation of my
model to demonstrate his masculinity. All of these elements help to develop stereotypical conventions of rap
magazines and therefore make my work more authentic and true to the genre.

3. Here is a comparison of my original work alongside my inspirational piece. As you can
see, I copied a lot of conventions from these piece as I felt that it was a great layout for a contents page.
However, I did make a few changes. I decided to use a red, black and white colour scheme as opposed to the
greys and blacks of the inspirational piece. I felt like this was too dark to get across the right feel to my
magazine. I decided on red as it connoted a sense of danger which is stereotypically associated with the
street lifestyle and was also more visually pleasing to look at, in my opinion.
I also changed the angle of the image as I felt a shot from behind created a good tone from the magazine and
gave the model a sense of street status. This jacket was also chosen because the detail on the back
highlighted stereotypical ‘street’ areas of America which links to my genre and is somewhere that this kind
of lifestyle and music is very popular- as seen in many films. The detailing also depicted wealth from the
intricate detailing and also the lion heads connote power and strength that links to the hegemonic
masculinity of my model.
Conventions that I kept were the layout of the title, which I felt was creative and something I hadn’t seen
before. I used this as I think it would attract my target audience. I also liked the use of the large letter behind
the image as somewhat of a background as it made the magazine appear established and professional.
The fonts were another feature that I kept
similar as I liked the variety and consistency
of how they changed depending on what they
indicated, i.e all page numbers were in the
same font and all page titles. I feel like the
fonts were relevant to my genre while being
legible and professional. This layout was a
good choice I believe as it does not appear
over crowded or empty.

4. Conventions that I have developed in my
production also include the large masthead that
stands out on the page. I developed this
convention as it instantly allows the reader to
understand what the article as about and draws
attention to it. I also developed the convention of
a large main image as I feel that it creates a good
balance between image and text which is likely to
be more appealing to my target audience. I also
liked the idea of a faded background when
researching existing products and so I decided to
develop this but chose to use gold rather than grey
like the existing product. I further developed the
use of conventional columns although I
experimented with fragmented columns but
changed this due to peer feedback. The costume
that my model wears in this page is the same as
the front cover. I decided to do this as it links the
two pages together, especially with the main
colour of both pages being gold. This was so that
this page can easily be identified as the main
selling point of the magazine. This pose was used
to demonstrate a confident and laid back attitude
from my model. The fact he has his hands in his
pockets connotes that he is confident with himself
which is something a lot of men hope to achieve.

5. Question 2- How do your media products
represent particular social groups?
• Given that the majority of my target audience are males around 18-
25, it is likely that the social grade of this reader ship will range from
C2-E as a lot of them are still of a young age and so will not be in
top occupation positions in their careers yet. Or could still be in
education such as college or university in which case they would fall
into social grade E. The advertisements and images that I have used
throughout my magazine tend to portray this social group as laid
back with a sporting nature. the costume of my model and the props
that he is using and the graffiti background of some of the images
help to connote this idea of my target audience. For example, the
basket ball prop that is visible in some of my secondary images
portrays the athletic nature of the social group and the graffiti walls
in the background, along with the costume of my model indicate the
stereotypical raw nature of my target audience.

6. My media product also represents the beliefs and values of my model. These include the typical masculine traits of strength
and somewhat violence. This is a stereotypical feature of males, in particular those that live a “street lifestyle”. In many films
it is common to see strength as something that males compete for to gain status, i.e in Fight Club. My readers may be
interested in my artist as his physical appearance clearly demonstrates bodily strength and is something that the readers may
aspire to have as it is a valued trait. His stance and serious facial expression demonstrates self confidence and somewhat of
an ego which is common of image representations within this genre. This is done so that the readers look up to the models
and aspire to be like them. This idealism is created when they accept that this is the ideal man and they are more likely to
read because they want to identify themselves with this masculinity. The model is also looking slightly down at the camera,
just off eye level. This creates an idea of superiority and status which I wanted to be connoted from my model so that my
target audience would aspire to be like him. This direct mode allows the reader to engage more with the magazine on a
personal level and is used so that they are more likely to buy or read the product. The mid shot of my model allows the
audience to see he is physically strong and in good shape. This was used to link to my target audience feedback which
showed that a lot of my target audience were interested in keeping fit. I used this model in particular as he was slightly older
than my target audience so was more likely that they would be able to look up to him but also relate as he demonstrates the
same interests and is also still young. I also used a male as I wanted to develop the stereotypical conventions that showed
that males were more common in RnB or rap magazines and also because the majority of my audience were male. My
products also highlight the value of music which is something that my readers would be interested in, given it is a music
genre magazine. This is important in this rap genre in particular as it is how a lot of people make their money and so is
highly important in their life.

7. Question 3 - What type of media institution my
distribute your media product and why?
• Bauer, a magazine institution which distributes other products such as Mojo and Kerrang. Bauer is
currently Europe’s largest and most successful privately owned publishing group. The company
publishes over 300 magazines in 15 countries. The existing magazine which I have researched, VIBE,
is currently distributed by intermediate partners which is private equity. They distribute their
magazine through their online page which allows their target audience to browse through some of the
articles contained in the magazine. It is also distributed in other areas ranging from local shops to
supermarkets and has been done this way since it was first produced by Quincy Jones in 1993.
Although vibe Is distributed by intermediate partners, I feel like Bauer would be a better choice for
my own magazine because it would be more likely to help my magazine reach mass media scales
rather than a small scale audience like a lot of existing RnB magazines.
• I believe that there is a gap in the market for my magazine of my chosen RnB genre because there are
not many existing products of its kind that are actual magazines rather than online articles.
• So because BAUER is a very successful distributing company they would have a bigger budget to use
on expenses to make my magazine the best it could possibly be to attract more readers, e.g. more
freebies and better features.
• To distribute my magazine I would have them sold in local shops and supermarkets so that they
would be easily available to my target audience. I would also advertise through social media to
maximise publicity and awareness given that a lot of my target audience have access to the internet.
• Other institutions that would be available would be companies such as Future. A company that has
been ranked the sixth largest media corporation in the UK and published over 180 magazines in a
variety of fields. The reason for this institution not being as suitable is for the fact that it does not
specialise in music magazines but focuses more on gaming and software.

8. Question 4-Who would be the audience for
your media product?
• When starting to put together ideas for my magazine I created a survey which I
would ask a sample of people in my proposed audience of males and females aged
18-25 relevant questions to get an idea of their interests in RnB/rap. First of all I had
to distinguish whether the people in my sample liked this genre and so this was my
question otherwise following answers would have been irrelevant. I continued to ask
questions about their hobbies, interests, likes and dislikes which was really helpful
in allowing me to understand the personalities of my target audience. From my
results I was able to create a reader profile of all of the things that related to my
target audience which I would incorporate where possible into my magazine. I found
that the best target group for my magazine would be males aged 18-25.
I also then created an audience profile which consisted
of a structured interview with a target audience
member which was posted on my blog. The interview
allowed me to ask more questions to get a good
understanding of my audience and also confirmed that
they would buy and be interested in my magazine.

9. Here is an audience profile that I have created by asking a member of my target
audience survey about their individual likes and dislikes to help me get a better
understanding of my audience. I also carried this out to find out whether he
would actually be interested in and buy my product.
NAME: Josef Blythe
AGE:18
SEX: Male
MAIN INTERESTS: listening to music, playing sports and socialising
PREFERRED MUSIC: rap/hip hop
HOW DO YOU SPEND YOUR TIME?: mostly in college or at work, but
plays a lot of sport at weekends and evenings, including gym and rugby
WHAT ARE YOU LIKELY TO SPEND YOUR MONEY ON? Sports/gym
equipment, apple downloads like music and apps, clothes and monthly
magazine subscriptions
WHAT SORT OF LIFESTYLE DO YOU HAVE?: quite an energetic lifestyle,
try to get a good balance of socialising and work but a lot of my hobbies are
fast paced kind of sports so I am always on the go
WHERE DO YOU LIKE TO SHOP?: Topman, JD, quite a lot of sports shops
FAVOURITE TV PROGRAMMES: family guy, match of the day
WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN OR BUY MY PRODUCT?: Yes I
would. It isn’t a genre that has a lot of available magazines and so is quite
unique with its own specific target audience. It would be good for people like
me who have a love of fitness and music.

10. Question 5- How did you attract and
address your audience.
• To attract and address my audience I used my results from my
survey and reader profile to incorporate their likes and
interests into my magazine so that the magazine would feel
more relatable to them. For example, my target audience
survey indicated that the majority of my audience attended
gigs several times a year and so a puff on my front cover is
about lucky readers being able to win tickets for an Eminem
gig. To make my magazine stand out to my target audience
more than other existing RnB magazines I made sure that my
product had its own brand identity.
• This included the contrast between the dark and light colours
throughout the magazine, particularly on my front cover. This
is because this is the page that the audience see first and will
associate with the magazine. The unique selling point of my
magazine also helped to attract my audience, this was the
exclusives that were mentioned on my contents page as my
target audience survey indicated that my readers like to see
exclusive images and interviews.

11. The image that I have used as my main background image
was also an aim to attract and address my audiences as
when researching male target audience magazines such as
Men’s Health, a lot of the front covers demonstrated a
masculine and confident stance. Other images throughout
my magazine also reflected this kind of masculinity in an
aim to attract my target audience. None of my images had
any background settings as all images were cut around to
highlight the model. This limited the amount of mis-en-
scene that could be created as there were limited props and
lighting able to be seen. However the colours and costume
that I used for my model, e.g caps and baggy clothes,
helped to create this feel of street life within the mis-en-
scene as they were typical clothing of the RnB and rap
genre which would appeal to my audience. This was
further used as a page in regards to fashion that was
mentioned on my contents page as my reader profile
survey indicated that they were interested in clothing.

12. The fonts that I used on my front cover were all bold and used
solid colours. This was an attempt to attract my target audience as
research shows males are more likely to relate to “harder” texts
and colours, i.e the bold red and black that I have used. I included
these within the front cover as it was the first page that my
viewers would see and so would need to be appealing to my
audience from the off set.
However, the font of my contents page differed so that it was also
appealing to my secondary female target audience. The fonts of
my contents page showed “softer” fonts in cursive that are
considered more feminine and so would help appeal to female
readers.
In regards to the language that I used throughout my magazine, I
first researched existing magazines to get an idea of the writing
style that appeals to my audience. For example, page headings
such as ‘Rags to Riches’ are relevant in this genre as it refers to
how living on the streets has became living in luxury for the
artists. It would also appeal to my audience as they may aspire to
do the same one day. The language is informal in an attempt to
create a strong reader-writer bond so that the readers feel
comfortable and like they can relate to the magazine. This was a
common feature that I found of existing products.

13. The colour main colour scheme that I used for my magazine was red, black and
white. However, the colour gold was also used in both my front cover and DPS as I
felt like it connoted success and luxury that would appeal to my target audience who
may aspire to have this lifestyle. The reds and blacks were chosen as they connoted
mystery and danger that was typical of RnB and rap magazine genres. This allowed
my to know that these colours were successful in attracting an audience as they were
common colour schemes of existing products.

14. Question 6-What have you learnt about
technologies through the process of
constructing this product?• While constructing my magazine I have learnt new skills on Photoshop that I was unfamiliar with in
the past such as blending options and different textures you could apply to text and layers. This
included the gradient tool that I used on my front cover to create the gold-grey fade and reflected a
scale of success. I also experimented with the opacity tool when creating my water colour
background ‘B’. I made this feature less opaque so that it was not too bold and did not over power the
page.
• I also learned about different lighting options that you could add to images to create different effects
which I experimented with in my own images, e.g. the back lighting I used which helped to create the
mysterious tone to my secondary images.
• Another new topic which I learned about were the different shot angles that an image could be taken
from to portray levels of power and dominance in an image. This was used in my sub images on my
double page spread in which the camera was positioned at a low angle to portray authority and status
of the model.
• Other devices and softwares which I used to create my blog were Dafont- a website that allowed be to
browse a selection of creative fonts relevant to my Rap/RnB genre and download to the computer to
use in my magazine. Blogger- a program that allowed me to post all of my updates onto the internet
and keep up to date on time management. Imac- the hardware that allowed me to use all of the
programs such as Photoshop. A Canon camera- the equipment that I took my images with for good
quality. Prezi- an online program allowing me to make more media rich presentations in a fun and
interactive. Slideshare- a presentation software site that helped me embed powerpoint slides onto my
blog instead of block texts. Soundcloud- a audio software that allowed me to create voice recordings
to make my post more media rich.

15. Question 7- Looking back at your preliminary
task, what do you feel you have learned in the
progression from it to the full product.
• Looking back at my preliminary task I feel like my product has improved in many ways such as
improving the professionalism of my work from researching existing conventions of magazines and
how real products use them successfully. This has helped my work look more like an established
product as it has demonstrated the use of popular conventions.
• Another progression that I have made is the quality and content of my images making sure they are
relevant and interesting to my audience.
• Overall, my skills on programs such as Photoshop have been allowed to develop through
experimenting more and gaining a better understanding of the tools which has allowed my work to
progress. For example, how to create effects on text unlike the word art that I had used within my
preliminary task. How to remove backgrounds from images and cut around white space to make
images and text over lap. These are all features that I struggled with in my preliminary task but was
able to improve in my finished product.
• I have also learned about how theories such as colour theory and the study of semiotics can help in.
These studies allow me to know what colours are likely to appeal most to my audiences and what
effect I can create from certain images or text.
• Extended research has also allowed me to further understand my target audience and so I can now
successfully add in cover lines and advertisements that I know that they would be interested in which
would help boost sales.