The document describes an indie/rock music magazine that the author has created. Some key elements included using red and black colors associated with the genre, having a logo that stands out, and including information on various bands. The author tried to appeal to a wider audience by making it a hybrid genre magazine. Feedback indicated the innovations worked as readers recognized it was indie based on the colors, images and layout.

1. The genre of my music magazine is an indie/rock . Some conventions that I have used are using colours such as red and black. This is usually associated with this genre of music. The Logo for my music magazine stands out well. This is because the music magazine that I am producing is supposed to be well bought and easily recognisable to the audience that buy the magazine weekly. The feature article is advertised well which is also used to attract the audience. Typical elements are vital to use as the audience is expecting certain things from a magazine which should not be changed. Some of these include information of many bands. I have used a bar code and also extra information telling the reader what is inside the magazine. It should have a certain range of genre so it appeals to a certain audience and what they are looking for. I think that the innovations that I have made are likely to prove successful because I have tried to make my magazine appeal to a wider audience by making the magazine a hybrid genre. The images stand out well and text varies so it doesn’t look plain and boring. After reading my feedback about my magazine I found that my innovations did work effectively as they all realised that the genre was indie because of the colours, images and the way to magazine was set out.

2. The colour scheme used in the NME magazine is has a wide range of colours and basically sticks to one genre which is indie. The colours that they have used in this cover seem to be bright to stand out to one audience that like the certain genre. My magazine has used a hybrid genre to appeal to a wider audience. The dark theme attracts not only the fans of indie music but the fans of rock music too. A typical element that music magazines must have is a logo of the magazine which is big and stands out well. This is used so the audience can recognise the magazine easily and as a popular magazine. On my magazine the picture of the band member is smoking a cigarette. You wouldn’t see this on an NME magazine as smoking isn’t something that appeals to a younger audience and NME appeals to teenagers. Because the band member is doing this I want the magazine to become a unique magazine which will be appreciated for taking a risk and being something different for the audience

3. How does your media product represent particular social groups? The social group that my media product represents is male music artists. My feature article is based on an indie rock band which consist of four males. The band are the stereotype for the typical indie male. A real musical artist with these representations is Pete Doherty. He defines the young rock star image which most people stereotype the indie males too. The colours that I used on the clothing for my band where shirts but also dark clothing. The layout throughout the magazine had a dark colour scheme which wouldn’t go well with pop music magazine. The costume for the band members was smart casual which is what you would see a band wearing for the genre of music that they are associated with. Although on my contents page one of the band members has a tie on. This isn’t usually what you would see but I wanted the band to look unique to attract more attention from the audience. The actions and activities from the band represent a young rebellious group of males. On the front cover of the magazine one of the band members is smoking a cigarette which is what makes them different and why a certain social group is represented as they don’t care what people think. On another image one of the band members is drinking an alcoholic drink and the legal age at which you can drink is over eighteen which shows the magazine also appeals to a certain age group as young people would not find this attractive.

4. In the feature article of the band the are seen to be different just like the magazine. The band haven't been around that long but have a lot of confidence about them. They talk about how happy they are too be headlining a festival and let the fans know that there new album is going to be just as good. Although they can seem to be arrogant about what the sales of there new album are going to be. The use of lighting in the images of the magazine are bright and mainly consist of the band acting casual and relaxing. This shows the confidence of the band and how successful they are as it is important to have a well known band as the main article to attract the audiences attention. I think my media product represents the dominant mode of a young adults stereotype which consists of drinking and smoking which is usually based with the indie genre. After looking at my results from my audience feedback I have found that the genre of the band is Indie after the actions that they are doing. I have constructed my band to dress similar and behave in a way to be represented like a real indie/rock star.

5. What kind of institution might distribute your media product and why? The NME magazine has a similar style to mine as my magazine also contains the indie genre. Also I think they would be likely to publish my magazine as it looks like a well known magazine and is popular. IPC is a big company and I think the uniqueness of my magazine could attract the company to want to publish it. Because my magazine has a hybrid genre it also appeals to a wider audience. The genre of my magazine is Indie/rock and the other well known magazine which has the genre of rock is Kerrang. Magazines such as NME and Kerrang only appeal to one audience which like that genre of music whilst mine appeals to both. The kind of institution that might distribute my media product will be a company like IPC title. IPC title was publishing NME for 12 years.

6. Who would be the audience for your media product? My media product would be for both males and females as it is mainly people between the age of the 16-25 group who would buy my magazine. The nationality of the people who would by the magazine would probably be from the UK. My magazine just talks about British bands and up and coming bands which people from different countries will have never heard of and probably won’t be very interested. The interests and lifestyle that the fans will have will probably be going to music concerts as a hobby and listening to a lot of music in general. The band offers a chance to win tickets to festivals and isn’t to expensive to buy. The magazine will probably be for the working class audience. This is a good audience target as people this age are the most likely to buy the magazines as they have the most spare income. After looking at my feedback it was all positive and it was all reviewed by the people who would be the target audience of this magazine.

7. How did you attract/address your audience? The audience expects a type of genre. For example if the magazine looked like a pop magazine with bright colours such as pink on the cover and then it turned out to be a heavy metal genre inside the audience wouldn't be please as this is not why they the bought the magazine because this isn't why they where expecting. A type of genre is expected because of the different conventions that the magazine uses. Some of these maybe the ways the artist dresses, colour schemes and actions and activities of the band/artist. The title of my music magazine is alternative. The name alternative automatically makes the audience think that this magazine is unique from all others. The magazine is called alternative because it has more than one genre of music and therefore is alternative to what the audience is used too. The key image on the front cover of my magazine stands out well and attracts an audience who live a certain lifestyle. The mise en scene works well as it looks different to most magazines and may attract the audience. The lighting is dark which automatically ,makes you think of rock music. The pose of the band member is directly looking into the camera which may intrigue the reader as he is a recognisable face which looks interesting. The storylines on the cover of my magazine are short but inform the reader enough to make them want buy the magazine and read on. The colours that I have used on the text also look well with the colour scheme I have used through my magazine.

8. The choice of articles that I have used are famous bands and stories which seem to be exclusive which no other magazine will have. The language style of the captions is a brief detail of what is going to be inside the magazine. On my double page spread the headline is simple. “Alternative meet Supremacy” I wanted to make the magazine an easy read and not to complicated for the audience to read so it doesn’t bore them easily. The structure is simple and easy to read. The Interview is spaced out into boxes so it doesn’t look plain and the images are separated from the text. The language of the article itself is very formal when the interviewer is talking about when he met the band. The interview itself in unstructured and keeps flowing which keeps the audience interested rather than yes and no answers after every question. The images have been shot in a natural setting to give the audience a real view to how the band act on a day to day basis. On the images the band look relaxed and are looking happy. The ideologies about celebrities that my magazine use are they are always happy and having a good time e.g. partying and drinking. .It is appealing for the audience to read as the double page spread stands out well using bright colours for the boxes of the text which will grab the audiences attention.

9. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? I have used technology to research my product. Some of these include using a camera to take the images for my magazine. Photoshop to edit images that I have taken the website www.dafont.com to create my title for my magazine. This has been useful because I now have a better understanding of technologies around me and has helped me if I ever have to make a project like this in the future. Also it has helped me understand the work that is put in when real magazines are made and how they are. I used technology to get an audience feedback and to evaluate my product. This is effective because I can get an non - bias view of people and it is easier to show the audience my work. I have also used programmes such as www.blogger.com InDesign Internet research The advantages of using these technologies are that information is easy to find and the equipment allows many varieties of editing. Although the internet can sometimes give false information and you need to be skilled to use the equipment

10. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the programme from it to the full product? After looking back at my preliminary task I have found that my final product is significantly better. This is because I now have a better understanding of how to use the software and what looks better than when I first started the project. The use of lighting was a lot better in my final project. In the preliminary task the colours where plain and didn’t look effective. The use of blue and yellow didn’t match and didn’t follow a normal convention of a music magazine. The main image wasn't the right size and didn't stand out well. The text colours where blurry and didn't attract the reader. On my new task the image and the text where the right colours and length. On the logo it didn't look efficient and didn't stand out. The text was plain and there was nothing unique about it.