media evaluation

1. AS Media Evaluation
Lucy Twilley

2. I will create a comparison between my product and
this front cover of popular indiemusic magazine
NME. My product conforms to many of this
magazine’s conventions, and during my research into
indie magazines this one stood out the most.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media products?

3. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media products?
My product is designed
similarly regarding the
artist’s name on the front
page. They are positioned in
the same place; and I have
made the text colour the
same as her lipstick to match
the artist, as NME did
matching the text colour to
the artist's hair. I also put a
small amount of text above
the artist’s name to
introduce it.
Put a list of ‘also inside’ indie artists
at the bottom, conforming to
the convention. This draws in
people who enjoy the genre but do
not necessarily know the artist on
the front cover.
I conformed
to the
convention
of a list of
features
on the left
hand side of
the front
cover.
This is another front cover of
NME magazine and I believe my
product challenges the
conventions in this case.
One way in which my product
challenges conventions of real
media products is the
background colour. Many indie
magazines have coloured
backgrounds or have an image
taking up the entire page
however I feel this puts emphasis and focus
on the main image. However, you can see that the
general colour scheme for indie magazines is red,
white and grey which is a theme on this front
cover and it is maintained throughout my
product. I did not use a bright red which tends to
be used on many magazines of this genre, I used a
darker one to put an individual twist on
my magazine. This colour also matches my model’s
makeup and hair colour and so it ties it all
together. Another way that I challenged the
conventions is the simplicity of the front cover. For
example, the image above includes a lot of text,
boxes and images that take up the entire page and
it looks as if there is a lot going on, whereas my
product has a lot less on the page which I feel
gives it a simpleand tidier look.
The model I chose has a
similar look to the one on
the NME cover. She fits the
‘indie’ stereotype
in terms of her hair, clothes,
makeup and pose. The size
and position of the image
also conform to conventions
of existing magazine front
covers.

4. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media products?
Again, I will create a comparison between my
product and this contents page taken from NME
magazine.

5. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media products?
One convention that I have
conformedto with my contents page
is the heading. I have put the heading in a
banner format at the top with the
magazine name in red and the rest in
white. The red, white and black colour
scheme is popular amongst indie music
magazines.
A way in
which I
conformed to
conventions
was the list of
features on
the contents
page. I have a
very
similar
layout, for
example the
bold headings
in black boxes and red page numbers on
the left hand side. However, a
difference between my product and
the existing one is I only had two bold
headings, whereas the other one has five.
I challengedthe general
convention of the background
colour. On most indie
magazines, the background of
the contents page is an off-
white colour. I left mine white to
maintain a clean, sleek look.
I laid out my features in a similar way to
this existing media product by placing a large
picture relevant to the article in the middle so
it stands out, with a large heading and text
beneath it to summarise the article.
One convention that my product shares with
the existing product is a long list down the
side of the page. I have put the current
album chart on mine which I feel is effective
because it shows knowledgeon the
latest popular music which will appeal to my
target audience, as well as those that don’t
stick fundamentally to the indie genre.

6. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media products?
I feel that my double page spread
challenges the conventions of
existing media products. I made it
very plain and simple looking by
using the graduated grey
background, and the fonts (and
colours) give the page a sleek and
sophisticated look.
The model takes up half the page
and she is the boldest thing on the
page, putting emphasis and
focus on the artist. The text beneath
the title ‘just me an the microphone’
puts emphasis on the simplicity of
the layout.
I mixed up the colour scheme on
this page, using grey, white and light
red. This conforms in a way to the
common colour scheme amongst
existing magazines however I have
put a girly twist on them to put
across the personality of the artist.
This double page spread
taken from NME
magazine is slightly similar
to my product. The existing
product has a girly look to
it, with the artist in a
sophisticated pose, a
simplistic layout and with
similar sophisticated fonts.
Similargirly/sophisticated
font

7. How does your media product represent particular social
groups?
Indie rock artists tend to be British and are shown to be quite
‘normal’. I portrayed my artist this way and you can see this through the
text on my double page spread. For example, she says ‘like – I’m just a
normal girl from Sheffield’. This phrase states clearly where she is from
and a lot of indie music comes from people of this area, for example a
massively popular band Arctic Monkeys. The word ‘like’ shows
informality and it tends to be a phrase widely used amongst young
English people.
The model I chose has many features of an indie
artist. As the term ‘indie’ comes from the word
‘individual’, most artists of this genre have
their own personalised style. Firstly, her quirky hair
colour (auburn and green) shows a sense of
individuality and the style of her hair is long and
flowing.
Her clothes are also representative of indie artists.
Her top states ‘Weird’ with flowers around it, it is
not a common piece of clothing and it shows a
sense of different style and individuality.
I considered general conventions of indie
magazines whilst doing the photo shoot with my
model. I used red makeup and grey clothes and
background to match the colour scheme of
popular indie magazines, and I considered her
poses and angles to match a conventional indie
artist.
I’m some of the images my model is
posing in a playful and non-serious
way. Indie artists tend not to take
themselves too seriously – for
example:
In this image of popular indie artist
Florence Welch, she is shown to be
jumping in happiness and she is
portrayed to be playful and less
serious.

8. What kind of media institution might distribute your product and
why?
I feel that Time Inc. would be a suitable
publisher for my product. They are the
publishers of popular indie magazine
NME, amongst other successful brands
such as Marie Clare. NME is also
published as a website which can be
accessed through many different
means such as tablets and phones, as
well as the NME app. I feel that this
would be a suitable idea for my target
audience as the general age group my
product is aimed at (15 – 22) tend to
spend a lot of time using their
smartphones.
I feel that Bauer Media Group would
also be a suitable publisher for my
product. They publish Q magazine
which is the best selling indie/rock
music magazine from the UK. They
own many successful brands such as
4 Music and Kiss FM, so it is clear
that this company thrives in the
music industry.

9. Who would be the audience for your media product?
AUDIENCE RESEARCH
Before starting the production of my product, I did a lot of
research into audience. I produced a questionnaire in order
to establish a target audience and the results showed
that my magazine should be aimed at:
• Both males and females
• Ages 15 – 22
• Listen to indie, alternative and rock music
• Commonly purchase NME magazine
• Enjoy reading interviews with upcoming artists
The results of my survey
influenced my decision regarding
target audience.
My magazine is designed and suited
for both genders ages 16-20. I have
used formal language, for example by
using no slang or abbreviations, to
ensure that it appeals to a more
mature audience as well as younger
teenagers who might take interest in
the genre.
My reader profile
describes a generic
teenager/young adult
who might enjoy
listening to and reading
about indie music. For
example, they will enjoy
going to local gigs to
discover new
independent music.
I also put together a
‘concept of my
magazine’. Within this I
created a reader profile
AUDIENCE RESEARCH
An example of
somebody
who might
read my
product is my
model. She has
very individual
sense of style,
for example
her floral,
vintage shoes
and green hair.

10. How did you attract/address your audience?
My model’s style and positioning
on the front page is similar to
that of popular indie artist
Florence welch. She has a
sophisticated indie style regarding
her appearance and
music and this is the
impression I was going for with
my model, however I gave her an
individual twist as most indie
artists have. The similarity of my
artist and Florence ensures that
my model attracts my target
audience, as she is widely
recognised and admired on
the indie scene.
I put an ‘also
inside’ list of other
artists at the bottom of
the page in order to
attract my audience. This
list is for those who don’t
know of, or are not fans
of the main artist on the
front cover or the artist’s
featured in the puffs
on the left hand side. It
shows a wider variety of
artists, consequently
attracting a wider
audience.
The front cover of a magazine is what tends to attract and draw in an audience. I feel that my
front cover attracted my target audience in a few ways.
Firstly, the general colour scheme for most indie music magazines is red, white and
grey. I used this but put an twist on it using a burgundy/dark red which makes my product
stand out and gives it some individual style.

11. What have you learned about technologies from the process of
constructing this product?
The technologies I used during the production of my product are the Cannon DSLR camera for the
photo shoot, and Adobe Photoshop to put the magazine together and edit my images. I learned a
lot about how to navigate these technologies.
Being one of the first times I used a high
quality camera, it took some time for me to
get the pictures I wanted. For example, in the
images below I intended to take full length
shots of my model. I did not consider camera
angles, and went away from the white
background. I also took the picture from a
slightly slanted angle.
After considering this, I made sure that
the photos were straight and I did not
stray away from the white background. I
then took full length shots positioning
the camera in this way. I ensured that I
got the whole model in and took the
picture from straight ahead of her.
CANNON DSLR CAMERA

12. What have you learned about technologies from the process of
constructing this product?
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
I learned many Photoshop skills during the
production of my magazine, for example
how to blend text and change the
opacity of it. I changed this title because it
looked too bold and the faded/slightly pink
tone made it look more girly and suited to
the artist.
Initially, for font for my masthead was
Veranda. I liked the style of this,
however I felt that it looked too
common and obvious so I figured out
how to push the text closertogether
which gives the font a less generic look

13. What have you learned about technologies from the process of
constructing this product?
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
I also filled in her lipstick and I feel that
these small adjustments give my
magazine a more professional
look.
I learned how to touch up my model’s face using tools
on Photoshop, for example I made her eyebrows a bit
neater by increasing the opacity of the
brush tool and running it over her eyebrows. I also
brightened her eyes and neatened her makeup.

14. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have
learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Firstly I feel that the
main image on the
front cover of my
main task is taken in a
much more
professional manner.
On my preliminary
task, the image has
very bad lighting
from the windows in
the background. On
my main task, I have
made sure that I kept
neutral lighting which
was right for the style
of my magazine.
I chose a much
more professional
font for my
masthead on my
main product. I
also adjusted the
font slightly to give
it a more
individual look.
On my preliminary
task I have used a
very obvious and
generic font,
giving it a less
professional look.
I learned to fill up blank space on the front cover. On my preliminary task
there is very little going on for example there is an empty space on the left
hand side and this will not attract people to read it. On my main task I
ensured that there was no big empty spaces.
I had a much more structured colour scheme on my main task. I stuck to
the conventional indie red, white and grey which ties my whole product
together. My preliminary task has a lot of colours scattered everywhere
and no structured colour theme which looks scruffy and unprofessional.

15. Overall, I feel that the standardof the products
I produced has improved from the preliminary to
the main task. After my research into audience
and magazines I learned which conventions would
attract my audience, for example the colour
scheme that I stuck to the whole way through. I also
learned various skills on Photoshop which
boosted my performance, as well as an awareness
of camera angles and lighting whilst taking
photos for my products.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have
learnt in the progression from it to the full product?