2. My media product can be aimed at a variety of different social groups such as age,
gender and social class.
For age, my product uses mainly older bands with artists in their late 20s which could
aim the magazine at people around that age or maybe a few years younger. In addition to
this, the magazine does not use childish colours, shapes or text that could make younger
people interested in the magazine.
For gender, I would aim the magazine at mainly males as the magazine uses masculine
features and also uses male bands which are a stereotypical image for bands as many of
them are all males.
For social class, I would aim the magazine at working class people. This is because the
magazine doesn’t use modern or posh designs that use different shades of colour. My
magazine has a very basic layout and colour scheme which is easier for everyone and
widens the target population.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
3. I think Bauermedia would distribute my
magazine as the institution helps distribute
similar radio stations and magazines e.g.
magic, Key 103 and Kerrang magazine. The
company is also very music orientated that IPC
media which could help my magazine best suit
the profile. For example, as Bauermedia is
music based and distributes magazines such as
Planet Rock and Kerrang, I think my magazine
would best suit their profile as my magazine is
also music based and uses a similar genre to
these two magazines.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
4. I arranged and created a small group on the social networking site, Facebook, and asked
members to join (all of which were around 16/17 years of age). I then uploaded my finished
products e.g. front cover, contents page and double page spread and asked them to
comment upon the pages.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
5. These comments were taken
from the Facebook page are all
mainly positive feedback. The
highlighted area in the third
comment, has mentioned if my
magazine challenges other covers
e.g. they’ve said it’s different and
that it uses a variety of band
images that stand out. All of these
comments have been helpful to
me as it they’ve given me
potential ideas in how I could
improve the magazine if I was to
do it again e.g. the fifth comment
has helped me come up with a
new font on how I could make the
magazine better for everyone.
If I was to improve the cover, I
would manipulate the main image
a bit more to brighten up and
make I easier for readers and
audiences to see the artist, I
would also change the font as
Hannah suggested.
Front Cover Comments
6. Contents Page Comments
Again, all these comments show
positivity and some ideas for
improvement. For example, the
comments made by Kate has detailed
and specific examples of how I could
improve the magazine such as colour
schemes on different pages to make
the magazine more ‘spontaneous’ as
all the pages use the same colour
scheme which has made the magazine
look quite dark coloured.
If I was to improve the contents
page, I would use a brighter colour
scheme to brighten up the overall
product and to challenge the normal
forms and conventions of real
magazines such as Kerrang who use
one overall colour scheme throughout
the magazine.
7. Double Page Comments
Not many comments were made on
the double page spread. However, the
comments that were made have each
pointed out which aspects of the
double page were good and why. For
example, Nicole’s comments have
stated that the photography on the
pages are professional and helps
create a more realistic view of the
magazine. Whereas Megan’s
comments have stated the magazine
looks professional ad eye-catching for
the reader.
As I have really had negative
feedback or ways in which I could
improve the double page spread, I
wouldn’t change or improve the
pages in anyway.
8. How did you attract/address your audience?
I first used a website called SurveyMonkey which allowed me to create a survey that
allowed different audiences to answer questions relating to music magazines and music in
general. To attract my audiences, I analysed the results from the survey and took the
results to use as a guidance for how I could design my products. As age is a main social
group to aim the magazines at, I used these results
combined with another to see on average, if people
from 16-18 years old read magazines. This shows
that people occasionally read magazines which is
why I aimed my magazine at people around that
age.
9. Gender was also an important social group I had to consider for attracting target audiences.
Therefore, I used the results from the gender question and also the genre question to
decide on what genre was easiest to base my magazine around.
As you can see, more females had answered the
survey and there was a majority of people that
answered ‘rock’ and ‘hip hop’ for he genre
questions. In addition, because the results were
mainly answered by females, I decided to make
my magazine seem more masculine as it could
help widen the population as females are into rock
and occasionally read magazines.
10. I have learnt a variety of skills from developing this product with technologies such as Adobe Photoshop CS6 and
DSLR camera skills.
I’ve learnt different ways to edit images and how to manipulate the images to look better, bolder and more realistic.
This has helped me develop my knowledge of the software which could potentially help in future jobs and other
subjects such as Photography.
I’ve also developed my knowledge in camera skills and learnt to use manual settings on the camera to ensure the
outcome of the photos meet my ideas and expectations. For example, my Canon 1100D camera uses a EF-S 18-55mm
lens which can be hard to focus on specific objects. However, with my developed knowledge of manual settings, I’ve
managed to change the aperture, ISO, shutter speed and white balance of the photo which has helped me capture the
image to my expectation. I used f/3.5, ISO 1600 and a shutter speed of either 1/125 or 1/500 on a white balance of
AWB to ensure that I get the photo I want.
In addition to these skills, I’ve also developed knowledge of online skills and software/sites I can use to present my
work. For example, Monkey Survey has helped me retrieve market research and helped me get ideas on where I can
start building and planning my magazine. Another example is SlideShare which has uploaded PowerPoint’s to the
internet which I can then embed into my Blogger site. This has helped save time uploading the individual slides to my
blog.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
11. Looking back at your preliminary task (college magazine), what do you feel you have
learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
From the preliminary task to my final product, I feel like I have developed my knowledge a lot further about
music, magazines and different ways to present my work.
I’ve learnt a variety of ideas about music and what genres people are into around my age. I learnt this from my
market survey results which had given me inspiration and influence to how I should present, develop and design my
product. For example, I found that using a popular genre and music style was easier to attract audiences to my media
product than using a difficult genre that not many people listen to such as country or classical. Therefore, I feel like I
have learnt about the different genre types and what age groups base their music style around.
For magazine knowledge, I feel like I have learnt how to properly design and layout a magazine that looks realistic. As
my preliminary task didn’t look so realistic and professional, I think that my final product now is more professional and
could be thought of as a real magazine that people could potentially buy. In addition to this, I think I could’ve improved
my preliminary task a lot more now as I’ve developed further knowledge of Photoshop and also my photography skills.
For example, at the start of the coursework I had very little knowledge of how to use Photoshop and what tools helped
create a better, high quality image. Whereas now, I feel like if I had the opportunity to remake my ancillary project, I
could possibly create another realistic magazine that could also be sold. For my photo manipulation skills, I think they
have improved a large amount as I now understand the majority of Photoshop and how to manipulate an image into a
better one that is professional. Some examples my improved knowledge involve using different effects and
filters, adding effects to layer/text properties and layering images and aspects over one another.
I also believe that my photography skills have also improved. At the start of the coursework, I already knew about
photography and different cameras and settings whereas now I feel like I have learnt a lot more on top of that
knowledge I previously had. For example, I’ve learnt about different rules e.g. rule of thirds and also about what makes
a good photo such as depth of field and composition.
