Megan Stafford evaluates her media magazine project. She discusses how her magazine uses conventions of real magazines such as including a barcode and price on the cover. While her magazine follows conventions like using exclamation points and poses on the cover, she challenges conventions by using bright colors instead of dark ones typically seen. She represents rock music fans and aims her magazine at teenagers aged 14-19. She learned skills like using Photoshop and InDesign to construct her magazine pages and cover.

1. Evaluation Megan Stafford

2. 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? This is the barcode this convention appears on all magazine covers. My magazine uses this convention to look authentic. Above this I have placed the price which is at ‘£2.99’. A fairly cheap price and it is noticeable. I have placed it in the bottom right hand corner as this is the place where it looked the most appropriate and it helps to make it look more authentic. Similar to my magazine cover this one also has a barcode in the bottom right hand corner. Both of theses titles have exclamation marks, this is so it shouts out to the reader. I have used this purposely as it fits in with the conventions of a rock magazine. But I have challenged the conventions of a rock magazine by using a bright colour instead of dark colours, which usually associated with rock magazines Although the people on the covers are posing in different ways to each other they are both typical poses that appear on rock magazine covers. Looking down and moody, straight-faced and looking straight forward into the camera are typical poses on rock music magazine covers. The clothing of the actor is typical of that genre, this reinforces the conventions of a rock magazine. Both of these covers have placed photos on the front, this is to advertise posters that are on the inside. We have both overlapped the pictures to make it seem more thrown together and fit in with the ‘rock look’. Both of these covers have footers, this one lists specific bands that are in the rest of the magazine and mine lists vaguely what is in the rest of the magazine. I have done this so the cover was not crowded.

3. Similar to my magazine contents page this one has a letter from the editor, this has been included to give the reader an insight as to who is behind putting together the magazine. This helps the reader feel more involved and gives it a personal touch. An image is also included above the writing so it doesn’t remain anonymous and the reader feels more united. This reinforces the conventions of a rock music magazine as they tend to have letters from the editor. The page numbers are listed down the side, this is for neatness. I have challenged the conventions of a rock music magazine here as page listings in rock music magazines tend to be messy, cramped and crazy (as shown in Kerrang! on the right). I have chosen to do it this way instead for a better look. My title here has an exclamation to make it seem as though it is shouting out to you and ‘in your face’. This reinforces the loud stereotype of those who listen to rock music. I have used a brightly coloured font so that it contrasts against the dark background, many rock magazines do this. This is because they stick to the stereotype of darkness usually associated with rock music, but they also a brightly coloured font to contrast. Kerrang! has also done this. Here Kerrang! doesn’t use an exclamation mark, they do this because they don’t want to make the title scream out to the reader, they want it there subtly so the main focus is on the picture at the top. But they have used a yellow font so it is noticeable. At the bottom here I have included a telephone number where you are able to contact the people advertised above. This makes the reader feel more connected to the magazine and feel more involved. It also gives the reader a reason to buy the magazine week after week.

4. This main image takes up all of the page. This is to draw more attention to the band and this image shows their playful side. A main image that takes up a whole page is typical of a music magazine. This pull quote has been used to emphasize this particular part of the interview. The particular words used “I just love dancing and screaming” makes the interview sound more fun. The headline here is in a font that suggests that is it has been spray painted. This suggests rebellion and playfulness. This reinforces the convention of a rock magazine as they always use interesting font. This subheading here is written in red font with a black background box. This is so it stands out against the darkness, but the bands name ‘Rolo Tomassi’ is in white font for extra emphasis. As the title is also white their band name sticks out a lot. This much copy is unusual for a rock music magazine. The interview is quite long and the copy is not broken up into small, easy-to-read sections, which is usual for a rock magazine.

5. Similar to Kerrang!’s double page spread I have used a main image that takes up a whole page. This is so that there is not too much and adds more colour. The image can also be used as a poster. This reinforces the convention of a rock music magazine as they tend to use a full image on a whole page. In Kerrang!’s case they used it to show how playful the band is, but in my case I used it to show serious this interview is. The font I have used here isn’t typical of a rock music magazine. It doesn’t show rebellion, but something a little more serious because of the topic of the article. But I have used an exclamation mark which shouts out to the reader and does reinforce the conventions of a music magazine. I have used a more positive image of the actor in the article for a contrast against the image used on the page to the right. This is to contrast the good times against the bad, this adds more emotion to the article. The actor here is dressed in dark clothing, which is typical of rock music. This again reinforces the conventions of a rock magazine as they are mainly dressed in dark clothing.

6. 2. How does your magazine represent particular social groups? The clothing of the actor on the front cover is stereotypical, she is wearing a band shirt of one of the bands that are likely to appear in a magazine of this genre. Her hair is swept to the side of her face, this is typical in the appearance of a customer that would buy this magazine. She represents teenagers as she is young, the price of the magazine is set at a fairly low price. This appeals to teenagers as they don’t have as much money as someone who is more mature. My magazine represents a rocker/”emo” sub-culture as my actor on the cover is dressed in clothes that are typical of this sub-culture. Band t-shirts and brightly coloured hair are often associated with this sub-culture, so I have used them on my magazine cover to represent this sub-culture. My magazine cover contains a young, white female. She represents the profile of a typical reader of my magazine. Her social is not really represented here as anyone can dress this way.

7. 3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? Bauer Media Group would be an ideal company to distribute my magazine as they also publish ‘Kerrang!’. My magazine is aimed at the same target audience as ‘Kerrang!’, I have used some of ‘Kerrang!’s conventions, for example it is typical to have a title that has an exclamation mark at the end so I have used this too to make it seem as thought the title is being shouted at you. Future Publishing Plc would also be an ideal publisher for my magazine as they also publish ‘Metal Hammer’ which is a magazine that focuses on rock/metal music which is the same genre I have chosen for my magazine.

8. 4. Who would the audience be for your media product? The age of my target audience would range from around 14-19 years, this is because they are more passionate about music. I have aimed my magazine between these ages, I have used language that would be appropriate for this age range. My magazine is aimed mainly at males, just as Kerrang! is. My magazine appeals to males as it uses dark colours, but I also appeal to girls because I have used a female on the cover. I have aimed my magazine at the white British as they are the main ethnicity that listen to rock music and buy rock magazines. Pyschographic profile: listening to music, going to concerts and hanging out with friends. They dress in darkish clothes and wear t-shirts. My target audience fall into the category of ‘Individuals’, they are highly media-literate, but they also fall into another category, the ‘Fun/atics’, they are aspirational, fun-seeking active young people. That is why I have put posters of young people leaping on the front cover of my magazine to show how active they are.

9. 5. How did you attract your target audience? I have kept to the dark colours that are typically associated with the rock genre, but I have used a brightly coloured font to attract the eye of the consumer. The use of a female on the cover attracts females, she is wearing a band shirt so this attracts those who are fans of this band. The language used on the cover is informal so it appeals more to young people. My actor on the cover is also young so this again appeals to young people. There are few words used on my cover, this is so it isn’t off-putting and crowded, this attracts my target audience as it keeps them engaged. On the left-hand side I have used overlapping images to lure the reader into what is inside the magazine, ‘Kerrang!’ does this as well to give off the same affect and tempt the reader in.

10. 6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? To plan my pages I drew up them up as drafts first, this helped my visualize and put together certain areas of my magazine. To construct my front cover I used Photoshop, this was very effective as I was able to crop my actor out of her original background and place her in front of a new one.

11. 6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? To construct my contents page I used InDesign, this was mostly effective as I could easily navigate my way around it, but it was also ineffective as there were limited coloured fonts to chose from. Although I was able to effectively use the gradient tool for my background. I was also able to effectively use InDesign to construct my double page spread. I could work on both pages simultaneously.

12. 7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? Whilst doing my preliminary task I had no idea how to navigate Photoshop, but since completing my main task I am able to successfully crop actors and props and place them I any position I wish. For example in my preliminary I wanted to cut out the background of my actor but I couldn’t do it, but since then I have developed my skills and on my main task I cropped around my actor successfully. On my preliminary task I placed my barcode on the left hand side of the page where is just floated, but since there I have learnt that I should place it in the bottom right hand corner as this is the place where it is least likely to be crowded. So without knowing the consumer will expect it to be in this corner and look for it on each magazine. Preliminary Task Main Task