My magazine represents different social groups through its coverage of artist Miss M. On the cover, she is portrayed seriously in black and white to represent her struggle to achieve fame. Within the article, she is pictured happily in color to show her success. This represents young women readers and shows Miss M as a strong, independent role model who overcame criticism to pursue her chosen genre. The magazine aims to empower its mainly female readership.

1. In what ways does your
magazine use, develop or
challenge forms and
conventions of real media
products?

2. The
Front
Cover!

3. The
Contents!

4. The Double Page Spread!

5. My magazine uses forms from current media, I have
done this by including basic conventions such as:
These are all the features on the front page which
are very similar to other magazines, I based my
The Masthead
design on different magazines which I researched
in order to plan a design for my own magazine.
One of these magazines was ‘VIBE’ because the
genre of music I wanted to base my magazine
on, was very similar. I have also used similar colour
Cover Lines schemes, and similar text throughout the magazine
to retain ‘House Style’ which is often found in other
magazines. On the front cover I used a lead line
and a lead image that are related to each other
as it is the main article within my magazine. Lead
lines are also used as another way to draw in
readers, I have used coloured boxes around the
Lead Line writing as it gives a more upbeat, exciting look.
Although, because my magazine is a new product,
I have done some things differently and
Cover Image challenged the conventions, I have done this by
using the colour Orange which is not very often
(Medium
found on magazines of this genre because it can
Close Up) be bright. I have also changed the lead image to
black and white as magazines often have coloured
photos.

6. Front Cover Comparison
Here I have used the idea of a
black and white photograph When looking for magazine
which connotes design, I mainly used ideas
seriousness, because the lead from some of these front
line talks about having a covers. As you can see I
challenge. have mixed up many of the
ideas to create my
layout/design.
My overall layout is very similar I used a very similar design for
to this front cover because of my cover lines as Rap Up’s
the positioning on the main because I thought they were
image and the cover lines. It fun and funky. It also helped
also follows a strict colour me because I didn’t want my
scheme much like my magazine to be too serious and
magazine. boring.

7. My magazine uses forms from current media, I have
done this by including basic conventions such as:
Title
These are all the features I believe are
conventional to a magazine. I have kept the
colour scheme of the magazine very well as
it has maintained the house style, I have also
used the same font as the front page and
Feature Stories throughout the contents page. Although, for
the editors not I have used a ‘Script’ font
because this often seen in magazines
because it wants to feel like the editor has
handwritten their message. I have also
included the page numbers and a short
Regulars introduction to the features, because these
are exclusive therefore their importance
needs to be emphasised. I have also placed
the regulars on the other side of the contents
page, but these have less emphasis because
people who often buy the magazine know
they are there anyway.
Editors Note

8. Contents Page Comparison
The colour scheme, I believe is
very similar to the We Love Pop
magazine because of the
bright colours.
My title for my contents I
believe is very similar to the
contents title in rap up. This
shows that I have used current
magazine conventions.
When I was looking at ideas
for a contents page, I have
done the same as I did for
my front cover and used
many different design ideas
from similar magazines to
create a unique design.

9. My magazine uses forms from current media, I have
done this by including basic conventions such as:
These are all the features on my Double Page
Stand first Spread that I believe are conventional to
magazines. I have tried to keep with my house
style by using very similar colours. Although to add
a bit of variety I use light blue for my columns to
make the article stand out on the page. I have also
put a border around the lead image to make it
Pull Quote more fun and upbeat, which goes well with the rest
of the magazine. I have also included a pull
quote, which is very common in magazines and if
the pull quote is interesting enough it will draw the
audience in and they will want to read the entire
article.
Lead Image At the beginning of the article I used a drop cap to
put emphasis on the beginning of the article. To
introduce the article, I used a standfirst which gives
the reader a brief introduction into what the text is
about, it also let’s the reader decide weather or
not they wish to read the article/interview.
Although, I have also made my own features such
as the ‘Did you know’ boxes because this will make
Drop Cap the reader believe they know more about the
person featured. Therefore it’s more personal.

10. Double Page Spread Comparison
My double page spread was
hard to design as not many
of the magazines I analysed
had design features which
stood out for me.
Columns are very conventional
within all magazines, therefore I
decided to use them to create
a more professional look to the
DPS. The colour scheme and
way the page is laid out is
slightly similar to Rap up.

11. How does your
magazine represent
different social
groups?

12. To me the image of my artist is very important and I wanted her to represented in
a way which is appealing for the target audience. On the main page she is in
black and white and looking serious, this links in with her lead line ‘Miss M’s hard
climb to fame’. The black and white is quite a dull, but strong contrast between
the other bright colours on the page, this makes her stand out in a way. Her
serious emotion connotes her as being hard working and serious about her work,
which could make her a decent role model for readers. On her DPS, the picture is
in colour and her expression and pose is much happier, this tells the reader that
something good has happened, and links in with the whole idea of her reaching
her goal after a long fight to get a record deal.
The target audience of my magazine is mainly female, and therefore seeing a
strong independent female featured in the magazine may help them to relate to
her, or look up to her. This tells the audience that women are becoming stronger
within the music industry and in many other areas. It also represents young
women, as my magazine average reader age would be 17 and over, this means
they can relate to the artist because she is of a similar age.

13. How does your magazine represent different social groups?
Here we have the artist
looking pleased as she
has got where she
wanted in her career. This
shows us that she isn’t
scared to celebrate her
success. Which tells the
reader she is
confident, and may lead
to her fans feeling the
same way.
It also represents her as
being a fun loving
The pull quote ‘I was told to change person, instead of just
my genre choice’ shows that she has serious, which is
been through a tough time, and has stereotypical of young
to put up with people criticizing women.
her, and her choices. Although, the
article shows she was strong enough
to overcome these boundaries.

14. What kind of media
intuitions might
distribute your
magazine?

15. I believe my magazine could be distributed by
Bauer media, because they associated with
women's gossip magazines, as my magazine is
mainly gossip, but within music, it would be very
similar.
Bauer media magazines include:
More
Heat
GRAZIA
Pop
They may want to distribute my magazine
because it is also a gossip magazine, but because
it is a music magazine also, they might draw in
even more consumers as they currently don’t sell
any music magazines aimed at women.
I also found the media group IPC, although I
don’t believe my magazine would be
distributed by them as they distribute
magazines such as; Uncut and NME which
are very different from my type of magazine.
Although they also distribute gossip
magazines which are similar to my magazine
type.

16. Who would be the
audience for your
magazine?

17. My target audience is women
aged from 17 and over.
They would be into
fashion, mainstream music
and celebrity gossip.
This is my reader profile
They also love to party and go
out, wear makeup and
dye their hair. Typical girly
girls.
I don’t believe men would buy
or read my magazine as it
is brightly coloured, and
often men read car
magazines or music
magazines such as kerrang
and NME.

18. I think my Double Page Spread would
appeal to my target audeience as it is the
gossip about a famous celebrity, and my
target audience would be into gossip. I
think the ‘Did you Know’ boxes would
appeal to the audience because they
have interesting, small facts about the
artist which people often like to read as
they can find it interesting and makes the
artist seem more real.
The front cover is the most important element
which should attract the audience, as it is the
first thing they see.
I believe the bright colours and the ‘Famous’
face on the front of the magazine would appeal
to my target audience. Also, the cover lines
which are quotes from other famous people
may draw in the audience as they may want to
read more. I believe I could have attracted the
audience more by using a broader range of
colours like more pinks because thy would
attract more women.

19. Survey Responses
I conducted a survey on
www.surveymonkey.com so that I could find
out what people thought about my magazine
and what I could do to improve next time,
overall I only managed to get 14 responses.
Although, some of the responses we’re
detailed enough so that enabled me to
understand what I need to improve.

20. Readership…
The highest amount of
people that reviewed
my magazine were
between the ages of 17
and 20. This is very similar
to the readership I was
aiming my magazine at.
50% of people are male
and the other 50% are
female. Although, this
magazine is mainly
aimed at females. I
believe it is good that
also Males have taken
an interest.

21. Readership…
I also asked what other sort
of magazines people read,
according to my survey the
most popular was the high
end fashion magazine;
Vogue at 44.4%. Which is
good, because on my
reader profile I said people
who read my magazine
are into fashion.

22. Magazine Evaluation…
I found out people
thought my
magazine was fun,
bright, colourful,
interesting and
pretty. I believe this
is a good response,
because I wanted
my magazine to be
eye catching and if
they believe it is
colourful and fun,
then it will be very
eye catching and
interesting to look at.
No negative
responses we’re
given, so I don’t
believe I need to

23. Magazine Evaluation…
I also was interested to know
what peoples favourite page
of the magazine would be. The
result shows that people
thought my Double Page
Spread was the best.
Although, I thought my
contents page was my best
design. This therefore means
next time I should try to improve
the design of my contents.

24. Magazine Evaluation…
To find out what people
thought in more detail, I
asked them to say what
they liked about my
magazine, and gave them
a comment box to type
their response. This has
helped me to understand
what the readership like
about my magazine.
Some responses such as ‘I
think the colour scheme is
spot on’ tells me if I was
going to do this again, I
wouldn’t need to rethink
the colours I used.

25. Magazine Evaluation…
For some helpful criticism I
asked for people to
comment on what they
dislike most about my
magazine. Luckily I
received some helpful,
detailed feedback.
People have commented
on the facial expression of
my lead image on the front
cover as being too serious.
This means I could improve
by having a model with a
happier expression to keep
in style of the rest of the
magazine as it is meant to
be upbeat.

26. Magazine Evaluation…
As well as asking people
what they dislike, I also ask
them to comment what I
could do to improve the
overall look of my
magazine so they would
like it more. Again, I have
gained some good advice.
Such as; You could use
more photos. I agreed with
the comment as I believe
my magazine lacks variety
of photos.

27. What have I learnt
about technologies?

28. Photoshop
I used Photoshop to design and make my magazine. I already had a
good understanding of Photoshop, but I also learnt new things.
I learnt how to use a grid so that I could align all my elements on my
page to make it look more neat. Although, if I wanted something in a
specific place I could press Ctrl whilst moving the object which
makes it ignore the grid and gives me more freedom of choice
about where to put the object.
I made a skills development
Journal to show in depth what I
Have learnt on Photoshop.
http://emmarobinsonmediastudies1.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/skills-development-
journal.html

29. Blog
To upload my work I used a blog so that my work could be
displayed electronically, which made it easier than printing
everything out.
I had never used BlogSpot before so I learnt how to use it. I learnt
how to insert photos into a post, change text, change the
theme of my blog, and the colours on my blog. I found this
useful because I can now upload my work easily.
For my survey questions I made a post which included all y
magazine and a link to my survey monkey which I then posted
on Facebook for people to complete. I did this because the
majority of my ‘Friends’ are the right age for my target
audience.

30. Overall I think my magazine was successful, but I believe there
are areas in which I could improve such as using more photos
and taking more time on the overall layout of the magazine. I
could do this by taking more time on Photoshop, and
concentrate less on the content and more on what people see. I
would also take more time to research other magazines which
would be similar to mine.
Again, I think I have kept the conventions of Professional
magazines by using different elements, and creating my
own, new, unique magazine.