2. In what ways does your media
product use, develop or
challenge forms and
conventions of real media
products?
3. Masthead: The masthead is something
that all magazines have and is something that
stands out on the page and is always very
noticeable. The masthead helps to clarify
which make each magazine is. Although mine
stands out it also fits in with the house style,
similar to NME and Q.
Sell line: The sell line takes up the left side
of the magazines front cover and I have done
mine fairly large. Magazines will normally
have either a large section of the sell line or
just have the sell line large such as my own
Puff: The puff is another stand out feature of the
magazine front cover and will usually be showing
some kind of give away or special offer. The puff I
have done stands out but it also matches with the
colour writing of the artists top.
Pull quote: The pull quote I have gone for is
similar to the most magazines with the artists
name in with largest writing on the page. However
I haven't used a quote like most magazines, I have
used a heading for the theme of the article.
Front cover
4. Main image: This main image is quite a
common image in terms of how magazines have
the artist, with them facing straight on at the
camera with a prop such as a guitar. The picture
is slightly off centre which is not like most
magazine main images. This was to enable to fit
the other conventions around the page.
Banner: The banner is in a style which a lot of
magazines use, towards the bottom so it is not
taking away the attention from the main features
of the magazine and the main artist, but it is still
easily noticeable. The bold black banner helps to
make the content of it stand out and seem
brighter.
Date line/Issue number/Price line/
barcode: Each of these magazine conventions
are in the bottom right of the magazine, almost
out the way. This is what you would find with
the majority of magazines because they may be
key factors for the customer such as the price,
but by having the small and out the way they
will see the features of the magazine first.
Therefore they will get hooked and the price
might not effect them wanting to buy it. Front cover
5. Masthead: The masthead is something
that all magazines have and is something that
stands out on the page and is always very
noticeable. The masthead helps to clarify
which make each magazine is.
Contents title and issue number: The
title of my magazine is something similar and
inspired by the magazine NME, which says
‘THIS WEEK’. I changed it to fit into my house
style and to make it my own. The issue
number I designed to fit in with the title of
the page.
Contents list: The
contents list that I am
doing is one that is
similar to the one that
NME use. The sections
are in bold writing and
boxes with the green
and black theme which
matches the house
style. Contents page
6. Page numbers: There are two types of page
numbers on this, the ones with the images and
the ones on the left third of the page with the
contents list. The ones on the contents list are
similar to ones you see in various magazines such
as NME, where the number is a brighter colour
then the text is in black. The other numbers are
the image ones and these are designed more to
stand out from the others so you can see what
article the images are linked to. This is something
that is different to most magazines.
Images: the first image on this page is the
main image. This image is of the artist who is
featured in the magazine. This is something
that magazines very often do and they will
also link it to the front page of the magazine.
This will be the main article so they make sure
they audience is aware of that by making
various pages have them as the main image.
Two other images I have used or pictures of
other artists. These are also important, that is
the reason they have images on the contents
page, however they aren't as important.
Therefore they do not have images too large
or images that might take attention form the
main image.
7. Doublepage spread
Pull quote: the pull quote is something that I
have picked up on from most other magazines and
is something that nearly always ops up on a
featuring double page spread of an artist. To make
mine different I have linked it with the house style I
have by putting a black background behind the
green text.
Drop cap: the use of a
drop cap is also something I
have been influenced by
from other magazines such
as Q and NME magazine. It
is always found at the start
of a double page spread
and, as I have done, will
often be in the colour of the
magazines house style or
the theme of the double
page spread.
Page number/website:
The page number and web
address are both in small text
in the corners of the page.
The web address is something
that not every magazine uses
but a few do. Therefore it is a
convention that is quite
different to use.
Heading and article: the heading is a large
heading taking up a third of the page with a
smaller sub heading underneath, which is almost
explaining what it is this article is going to be
about. They both stand out and match the house
style. The article is in side by side columns which
all magazines do.
Main image: this takes up a full page
and has only a caption and a pull
quote with it. This is something often
in magazines.
8. How does your media product
represent particular social
groups?
9. Social groups
I initially got a brief idea of the kind of age that the magazines that I was
researching were aiming towards and it seemed to be a high range of ages,
with no real age cap on them. I was mainly researching magazines such as Q
magazine and NME magazine(more so NME). However I set a range of 16
years old to 45 years old for the age gap. This was a lot down to the variation
in bands and artist that were represented in these magazines. In NME they
had bands such as the Arctic monkeys, which could aim at people form the
bottom to the middle of the age range. Then there were bands such as Muse
and Elbow in the same magazine, which are aimed more from the middle of
the age range towards to the top end of it. I also felt like the magazines were
aimed ever so slightly more towards the male gender.
This research enabled me to choose a style theme that would be shown
throughout the magazine and that would appeal to the full range of the target
audience. That I why I went for a green, that is not too bright to
make it seem childish, and a black theme. This was also influenced
by an NME magazine which was also the same target audience.
10. Here you can see two of the magazines that I have used as and indicator of
what age boundaries I should be aiming at. Both of the magazines have two
colours for the house style. The one on the left is just green and white with
plain tops to make up the background for two thirds of the page. The
middle NME magazine is also a two colour theme of dark gold and black
with a plain background behind the band. Both of these have simple colours
and nothing to bright. Showing that it isn't made for younger children. This
is something I have tried to show as well. Apart from the puff, which is
designed to be a little bit brighter and stand out, my front cover is also a
two colour house style with a plain background behind the artist. This is
because I am aiming towards the same target audience.
11. What kind of media
institutions might distribute
your product and why?
12. A publisher which I think would be likely to
distribute the magazine that I have created
would be IPC media, a company owned by
Time Inc. the first reason as to why they
may distribute the magazine that I have
created is because it was similar to NME
magazine but it always has content for the
full range of ages from 16 to 45. Whereas
the magazine NME does aim at a lot the
target audience range, it is often more
towards one end of the spectrum than the
other.
The next reason is that because the
magazine is similar to the magazine NME
IPC would not want to have competition up
against one of their leading magazines,
they’d rather have it along side it. Also IPC
wouldn’t have to change any marketing
strategies when distributing the magazine as
the audience are they same as NME.
13. Who would be the audience for
your media product?
14. To start of the audience for the magazine that I have created will need to have a key
interest in a rock/alternative style of music as that is the genre that is discussed and
talked represented by this magazine. The target audience will also be the more mature
people of the age group. This is partly because of the alternative style music that the
magazine talks about, and it is also because of the sophisticated design and theme
throughout the magazine. Another reason as to why the audience will need to be
reasonably mature is because of the fact that there are some fairly ‘wordy’ articles in
this magazine, rather than just loads of pictures with captions like some magazines do.
Them magazine, though it is aimed at both genders, it is slightly sided towards males.
This is shown by the colour scheme of quite bland colours and nothing that is bright or
that massively stands out on the pages. Whereas in most magazines aimed towards
women they will have bright and vibrant colours such as red, yellow or pink. Another
reason as to why it is aimed at males is because of the artists and bands chosen. They
are male artists or bands that, although females do listen to bands such as the Arctic
Monkeys, have a male majority audience.
My target audience also has a wide age range going all the way from the age of 16 t 45
years old. This is possible because of the wide range of bands and artists who aim at
slightly different ages but all relate to the same style of alternative music. There are
bands such as the Arctic Monkeys who cover the range of 16 to the late 20’s. then there
are bands such as Elbow and Muse who can reach out to an audience from the ages of
around 25 to 45 years old. However the bands are also liked by ages out of their
particular range because of people liking all bands in this genre of music. Overall I think
that the target audience that I am going for is a very spread range and is a fairly mass
market audience. Although it is sided slightly towards males, the age range is reasonably
big at 16 – 45 years old.
16. I have kept a simple but sophisticated theme
to the magazine with a two colour house style
throughout. The green colour theme used
means that it is style an attractive magazine to
the younger end of the age range meaning
that 16-19 year olds want think the magazine
is boring and aimed towards older men.
However it also isn't so bright that it becomes
of putting to the other end of the age range.
Also I have listed various artists and bands in
the magazine, whether it is on the front cover
or contents page. This means that both the
younger and older members of the target
audience can feel like the magazine is aimed
towards the and that they find it appealing.
I have put a very large pull quote and name of
the featured artist on the front of the
magazine. This has been designed in a way
that it will grab the attention f the reader, but
I have avoided using an bright colours that
may be found unappealing to the target
audience. Also then simplistic colour scheme
helps to attract to higher end of the target
audience as it gives it a ore sophisticated look.
17. How have you learnt about
technologies from the process
of constructing this product?
18. Photoshop
Photoshop is the main technologies that I have
learnt how to use to a good standard and
improved my skills on whilst making this
magazine. I have learnt how to edit pictures,
shapes and texts in order to get the best
outcome for my magazine as possible. The
pictures on the top right are the first example of
me using Photoshop skills to change small
details in the magazine in order to improve the
overall look. I changed the Puff on the front
cover. I was just a standard circle shape and it
looked unprofessional, so I decided to use the
effects and giver it a drop shadow as shown in
the middle of the three images. This also gave
the Puff a somewhat 3-D look about it.
Another feature of Photoshop that helped me
when making my magazine was linking layers.
This was something I used a lot and it was very
helpful. I used it on the masthead on each
page. I linked the layers of the three letters
enabling me to be able to move them
simultaneously across the page. It also mean I
was able to change the overall width and height
of the three letters at the same time.
19. Prezi and slide share
Prezi and slide share are two
more technologies that I used
in order in the process of
making this magazine. These
two technologies helped me to
show the progress and
research o have down up onto
my blog.
These both allowed me to
easily put on what needed to
be uploaded whilst giving the
forms of media a variation, one
being a PowerPoint and one
being a Prezi.
20. Looking back at your
preliminary task, what do you
feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full
product?
24. What I learnt from making
these magazines
The first thing that I have learnt from making these magazines is
the conventions of a magazine and the best way to present
them. When I was making the college magazine I was not 100%
on all of a magazines different conventions and did not include all
of them onto the magazine. However when I first started making
the draft of my music magazine I started to get a clear
understanding of the different conventions and made sure that I
would include them onto the magazine. Examples of me not
including a convention on the college magazine are the
date/issue/price lines. These are something that every magazine
has on them and is a key necessity for a magazine. However, as
shown in the picture to the right, I did include these onto my
music magazine.
I have also learnt how to use programs such as Photoshop and
how to use it to a good standard. With the first magazine I did I
made it in publisher as I did not understand Photoshop. However
through making a mock magazine and having a first attempt at
the real music magazine I managed to use it well and understand
how to edit pictures, shapes and texts to get the best outcome of
the magazine that I was creating.
