- The document discusses the process of evaluating and improving a music magazine the author created - When planning the magazine, the author researched conventions like consistent fonts and color schemes throughout, and included features like mastheads, coverlines, and page numbers - Technologies like Photoshop, InDesign, and blogs helped with editing photos, laying out pages, and documenting the process - The author learned about making the cover more conventional with elements like model poses, limited colors, and barcodes to attract their target audience of 15-25 year old music fans

1. EVALUATINGMY MUSICMAGAZINEBy PRIYANTHA

2. 1.In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?When I was creating my own music magazine I thought I should do some research and I found interesting music magazine swith other features. And I found lot of other ideas.When I was planning my magazine I found out that some other issue of a magazines have different colour and used throughout the content, so what I did is I used the same Fonts and colour scheme throughout the magazine. If you see my magazine you should see that my mast head on the front cover, the title on the contents page and the title on the interview double page spread are all Bold.The Cover Masthead – a typical feature of magazines. It is on the top of the page.1. In what way does your media product use, devlop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? The use of coverlines is conventional in magazines , as is the anchoring of the main image with the main coverline.

3. One convention I have used is having cover lines at the top of the page advertise the acts in the magazine, also in my double spread page I used three column grid this is important as it is shows professional and makes the reader easy to follow. And page number as they make it easier to follow the magazine so its easy to know in which page they are.I used a masthead at the top of the magazine so the audience knows the genre of the magazine immediately. I used black ,grey background for my front cover because I thing it matches my genre of the magazine, then I decided to put the model on the background to make the picture stand out.A central image is conventional of a music magazine, itismostly of of a band or solo artist. I included two other pictures for another feature in the magazine. Usually, however, a music magazine will have one than one image other than the central one. I used a barcode in a conventional position with a price and issue date

4. 2.How does your media product represent particular social groups?The social groups represented in my magazine are a range of social groups, because my magazine has an average age range from around 16-25, there are social groups such as college students, younger workers, university students.I think my magazine represent these types of people as it is not a childish magazine, it has appropriate colours, so that it does not look messy, the images I have used are not ones that i did not think about first, I planned them in a way that they looked professional then edited them to make them look more realistic. My images also have good connotations as I used mostly that age ranged models in my pictures so my social groups are able to look at these images. This is a positive representation as there is nothing negative going on in my magazine, it shows what kind of genre i am aiming for throughout my magazine, and i think if someone who was interested in other genres of music, were to pick up my magazine, they would not be thrown off by negative images and connotation inside of my Magazine.

5. 3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?Many magazines like Kerrang NME , are involved in a huge collection of companies including frontline and Kerrang’s publishers Bauer media .These type of companies invest thousands of pounds in their magazines and in new technologies to attract young audienceIPC MEDIAThe another option is IPC Media. Much like Bauer Media, IPC Media is a multinational company that distributes a wide variety of magazines. IPC media will have the funding to successfully distribute my product. The company already has experience in distributing music magazines. IPC Media already distributes NME which is a magazine targeting male fans of rock and alternative music. BAUER MEDIAThe Bauer media group is a large German publishing company based in Hamburg, it was founded in 1875.It produces and distributes many popular magazines including Kerrang and Q. It also has stakes in television and radio, recently completing the purchase of a consumer magazine division and radio station division for of the British company, EMAP.EMAP limited is a British media company, specialising in the production of business to business magazines, and the organisation of events and conferences.

6. 3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?I believe that having a large company publish my magazine as I think it will bring success to the magazine like it did with Kerrang. Even though independent companies are famous for attracting the audience with the word of mouth, I believe using the multi-platform strategies that main companies like Bauer, I believe can attract a large audience. That is why I will publish my magazine with an major company.

7. 4.Who would be the audience for your media product? The audience for my media product would be 15 to 25 year old readers who are interested in music. I attracted them through the images, language and content used. I felt that the connotations of my magazine would be best suited to this particular age range. Also The images are the main part of each page when I kept a neutral colour scheme for the font throughout, which was black and white.

8. 5.How did you attract/address your audience?After doing my research I found that most hip hop magazines used the colour red, so I tried to include red into my magazine as much as possible. The colour red makes my writing on my front cover stand out, because it is a good background colour because the two colours contrast, and also appealing to the audience. I included artists that I know my target audience would like which means they are more likely to buy and read this magazine. Some magazines in my genre look similar to my magazine, but I found that the covers were full of lots of different styles of writing , I didn’t like this so I have used the idea of having my cover lines and strap lines reversed out but have developed it and made it repetitive so that near enough all of the writing is reversed out. My target audience is relatively intelligent therefore I have included a fair amount of writing on my double page spread because I think it would suit the needs of my audience rather than lots of pictures and little writing.

9. 6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? During the creations of my media product i have learnt new things about technologies and they have vastly helped and improved my media product had I been without them. I used a range of different technologies to help me create my magazine including:Digital CameraAdobe Photoshop Adope CS In Design 4Blogger.comDafont.com

10. 6.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?Internet Explorer The internet was really helpful to me during this project, not only during the research section of the project but also through the creation of the blog which allowed me to document the work that I'd done. During the research stage the internet was extremely useful as it allowed me to look into the forms and conventions of magazines and do some basic research about magazines before I went to look at three during my detailed research. Another aspect of the internet that was particularly important to me was the blog. On the blog I was able to document all of my research and show it in a clear and concise way that wouldn't have been achieved or supported by evidence such as pictures if it had been handwritten. The blog was also used to keep a track of the skills and experience .

11. 6.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?I used photo shop and In Design CS4 to edit the photo and turn into a magazine adding my masthead,coverlines strap lines etc.I also used to edit my sceen into JPEG filetype.I also used it to take blemishes and spots away my model so that the skin was clear .

12. 6.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?I have used blogger frequently as i post all of my media work onto it to be marked find it a bit hard to use it but it was alright .Later one i started to put my pictures ,lings etc to help present my coursework

13. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? Preliminary front cover In my preliminary I show lack of knowledge of conventions of magazines. Also I show very little presentational skills as the magazine seems very simple and as though very little effort has been put into making it. This was partly because I had very little Photoshop skills when making it. Very simple font has been used and it is not appropriate for a target audience of students. There is very bad choice of colours as yellow, red and blue do not go well with one another. there are many spaces where there is empty spaces. The magazine front cover is not attractive and eye-catching . This is key when attracting a young target audience

14. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? Final front cover In my final front cover I have shown of some Photoshop skills. Also I think that I have made my front cover very conventional. For example: The main models pose, use of puff, use of few colours, barcode and website. These are some of the conventional aspects of my front cover. In making my magazine I used the Photoshop skills I developed such as making the t-shirt red and adding a earring. I also put quite a bit of effort into finding a font appropriate for my genre. I have also made my magazine a price that most magazines in the same genre all have. This front cover is also attractive as it is red a bright colour and has many superlatives used in it.

15. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?Preliminary contents page This is my preliminary contents page it also is not of a high quality. There are many ways I can criticise this contents page when compared to my actual contents page. First of all it is not informative and does not have enough content. The editorial is not appropriate for the target audience. Also some of the image is cut out, there is only one image and it is the same one used in the front cover. The same colour font is used throughout which is unconventional. Overall, I would say that this whole contents page has very few conventional aspects of a school magazine. Most importantly the magazine does not look professional so it will therefore not be read or purchased by most consumers.

16. overall I believe that I have improved in my ability to communicate with my audience. this has been partly learnt from analysing many different genres of music magazine, this showed me how actual editors target their audience. I learnt that using superlatives, appropriate register, hyperbole and direct mode of address are the most effective ways of communicating with your audience. I have also learnt many presentational devices that help you attract your target audience. E.g. Use of colours, images, cover lines and puffs. My Photoshop skills have developed vastly this is clearly seen in the progression from my preliminary to actual final magazine. I am now able to crop pictures properly, manipulate images and text, remove unwanted images and objects and effects. the composition of my text is now more conventional and accurate, this has helped me target my specific audience more effectively. Lastly, I have learnt a lot about the conventional aspects of every music genre especially The Hip Hop one, as this is my final music magazines genre