The document summarizes what the author learned from creating a preliminary magazine that could be improved for their final pop music magazine product. Specifically, the author learned that for a pop music magazine to appeal to its target teenage audience it needs bright colors, original fonts, a cluttered but content-rich format, informal language, prominent images on the cover and throughout, and elements like banners and frames that relate to web/social media and retro styles enjoyed by teenagers. The author analyzed their preliminary draft and made changes like adding more colorful and varied photos, torn paper elements, and filling empty spaces to create a final magazine that better matches the conventions and interests of their target market.

1. What I have learnt from my
preliminary task for my final product
Colour- I have learnt that colour I key for when you are trying to convey a message or
to address the audience especially if you are doing a pop magazine. For my
preliminary task I used dull and dark colours which portrays the magazine as boring
and not very interesting which would not be very useful if my pop magazine had the
same message because the target audience would want to read the magazine to have
fun. Also I have found if you use dark colours it is very difficult for the magazine to
stand out which is bad because of the target audience I want my magazine to be
unique and be the centre of attention like the celebrities on the front.
Font- For my preliminary task I have used default fonts from Microsoft Publisher; this
did not work very well because it made the magazine look boring, unoriginal and
unprofessional which is the worst qualities for a pop music magazine. So for my final
magazine I looked at multiple font websites so that I could find original fonts so that
my pop music magazine looked professional but more importantly is looked more
attractive and entertaining which made it more aimed towards my target market.

2. What I have learnt from my
preliminary task for my final product
Form- I have based my final product on magazines like We love pop and Top of the
pops which meant that I had a cluttered format; but what I have learnt from my
preliminary magazine is that if you try to have a cluttered format without the right
amount of writing it looks very basic and too childish. So what I have taken from my
preliminary task is that I need to have more images and text so that there is enough
content there so that it looks like something a mid-teenager would read rather than a
child, this helped me to aim my magazine at my target market easily.
Language- What I have found from my research of magazines in all genres is that they
differ in the language that they use so that their magazine is aimed at their target
market; for instance if a magazine such as economist would use very formal language
and a pop music magazine such as We lover pop would use informal and chatty
language. This is because their target audiences are very different, so if I wanted to
aim my magazine at young teenagers I would have use the correct form of language
which was informal and chatty.

3. What I have learnt from my
preliminary task for my final product
Form- I have also found that without a main image on the front cover of the magazine
makes it look bare and unappealing which is not what I would want for my pop music
magazine because it would not go with the typical form of a pop magazine and my
target audience would not like this because they read the magazine for the
enjoyment. Also if I have my main image on my cover as a pop star it would also
empathise the fact that they are a role model which would go with the stereotype of a
pop star and also how pop stars are represented as they are famous and are always in
the public eye.

4. What I have learnt from my
preliminary task for my final product
I also did a draft version of my magazine which I found helpful to analyse so that I
could improve it dramatically.
I found that my double-page spread was bare and not much on it, this was because
there are only two images on it and it is mainly text, which doesn’t follow the correct
format and style of a pop magazine. This meant that I had to change it dramatically so
that it followed the form of a pop magazine more closely. To do this I added a more
colourful and larger image on the left page, the image was more close to the pop
genre because I took inspiration from The Beatles and made a “pop” art type image
that included 4 of the same image but I changed the colour of them so that they are
similar to pop art and The Beatles so that it is aimed towards my target audience more
closely. I also added torn pieces of paper to the interview heading and also a pull
quote added in the middle of the page following the conventions of a magazine. The
torn pieces of paper were added to make the main text stand out because the
audiences eyes are drawn towards these, but also it relates to my target audience of
which tend to make notes on paper and rip them out in a similar fashion.

5. What I have learnt from my
preliminary task for my final product
I also found that the banner at the bottom of the page was also blank because it only
included the page number and nothing else making it seem too simplistic and not
relating to my target audience in anyway. Therefore I copied the front cover banner
which had social media links and a website link because my target audience is
attracted to social interaction and Web 2.0 therefore these make the rest of my
magazine match my target audiences needs more closely.
On my front cover there is a large central image of a person, this is good because it
follows the conventions of a magazine but not of a pop music magazine. This is
because the photo is not professional taken and doesn’t automatically state music,
therefore I retook all my photos so that they are of a higher quality but also I included
a guitar as a prop so that the audience looks at my magazine and they instantly know
it’s a music magazine.

6. What I have learnt from my
preliminary task for my final product
On my contents page I have repeated the same image twice and they aren’t different
in any way which is bad because it doesn’t look professional enough but also it isn’t
creative therefore it is not relating to my audience in anyway. Therefore when I retook
my photo shoot I made sure that I had a clear difference in the images that I took so
that they are all different. I also replaced the frame with polaroid frames, this is to give
the photos a more retro feel, this is because with my target audience you can always
find old fashions coming back therefore retro relates directly back to my target
audience and it will attract them.
Also there is a blank space in the top right hand corner of the page, this is not good
because it does not follow the conventions of a pop music magazine therefore I learnt
that I had to fill the space with something. I decided to repeat the masthead of the
magazine but made it small so it fit the gap, this follows the conventions of a magazine
and it also adds more colour and attractiveness to my contents page.