My media product uses, develops, and challenges conventions of real music magazines. It uses a female artist on the cover to appeal to both genders. The layout mixes elements from Q and Billboard magazines. It challenges conventions by having a box around the long title and using a gradient background. The magazine represents various social groups including teens through fashionable images, people in their 20s through more stylish modeling, and aims to be inclusive of all sexual orientations and genders. It depicts the artists and models as having achieved status and social media influence to appeal to its target audience. The target audience is 15-20 year olds interested in popular music. The magazine would be best distributed by IPC Media, based

1. Evaluation
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Abby Matthews

2. M a ga z i n e

3. In what ways does your media
product use, develop or challenge
form and conventions of real
media products ?
1.

4. usually use a female artist on
the front of their magazine,
because it can appeal both to
men and women and at the
moment women are dominating
the charts
Q
Sticker
advertisement
Quote, isn’t
common for Q
to be on the
front
I mixed elements of Q and
Billboard to create my
title, with the block colour
background, and the long
title across the width of the
page

5. ...
Challenging the
conventions with
a box around the
long title
Gradient
backgroundAlternate
colours
Billboard always contrast
their artists styling and text
colour with the background
They usually have a tri colour
scheme, the text having 2
colours and the background
being one

6. Smaller
square
images
One main larger
image
Page numbers
on the images Line separations
Contents pages, if they
have several artists on,
the magazine includes
male and female artists
Challenging the
conventions by the
magazine name at
the top of the page

7. The basic background of
the image only ever
consists of the colour
within the scheme so
that the artist stands
out predominately
Colour scheme
Large letter
relevant to
artist
Few line
introduction
Colour of
artist name
in imageQuote from
the artist on
the image
magazine commonly
has one main image
covering the whole of a
page, so that the text is all
on one page
Q
Because my image isn’t just
a close up like the Jay-z
edition of Q I used the
most inspiration from the
Rihanna edition. From this I
used the 3 columns as I feel
they look more
professional

8. How does your media product
represent particular social groups
?2.

9. My magazine predominantly represents
older teens, through some of the images,
especially on the contents page. As they
show the same age ‘artists’ and wearing
the style of clothes that would be common
amongst teens. Like the zipped up anorak,
high buttoned shirt and denim jacket.
Representation of
AGE
My magazine can also represent people in
there 20’s as the styling of the main model is
more fashion conscious, wearing more make
up and lace tops. The expression of the model
on the front cover replicates the personality of
the artist that is being impersonated, to show
the expressive and quirky attitude she portrays.

10. Representation of
SEXUALITY
My magazine aims at
no particular sexual
orientation, so can
cater for all as it has
both male and female
artists included.
However, the artists that are mentioned on the
front cover often have a large fan base of certain
orientations.
Justin Timberlake can be seen
to be a bit of a gay icon, with
his tight fitted clothing and
slightly feminine persona, and
having a thin rather than
muscley physique.
Bruno Mars has large
following a female fans
due to his
romantic, emotional
songs, for example
Grenade
The images I chose aren’t provocative which can link
with class as a lot of flesh shown is known to be for

11. Representation of
CLASS
STATUS
&
The artists, the models are
portraying, take pride in
there appearance and care
what members of the public
think of them, I tried to
interpret this into my
images by styling and
grooming the models neatly.
The artists presented would
have most likely built their
career themselves and
aimed to get where they
are, so would have an
achieved status
A social status is craved by
a lot of young
adults/teens so seeing
someone who has
that, will make them think
even more of the career.

12. Representation of
GENDER
My magazine is
unisex, as it includes
both male and female
features, and images.
The genders are represented to
be equally successful, with
The main images, that use the same
model; on the front cover, contents page
and double page spread. Are typical
images that would show femininity
through the hair and make up. Women
are often heard of to be fond of things
that sparkle, and on some of the
images, the artist has sparkle face gems
on.
for an artist currently
making several hits and
having a lot of publicity
recently, and
Because of the referring to the
artist as ‘The’ suggests there is only
one like him, and that he is highly
thought of by recognising he is
making a return

13. What kind of media institution
might distribute your media
product and why ?3.

14. Background information
What they can offer
Speedimpex was founded in 1962 as
the first company to import foreign
publications into the US by air.
The company remains the ‘largest and
most experienced national distributor
of foreign press in America’.
They currently distribute;
1 000+ foreign magazines
80+ international newspapers
Speedimpex claim they can promote
Halcyon at affordable rates and at a very
high standard.
They can tailor their services to meet
the individual distribution requirements
that Halcyon magazine may posses.
However, their headquarters is in New
York. This could lead to there being
miscommunications between the
companies, or delayed action because
of the distance.
They commonly use;
Window displays
Spinner displays

15. Background information
What they can offer
Other magazine brands that distribute
through Bauer include;
KERRANG! Q
MOJO
Bauer Media Group was founded in
1875, and since, has always been
privately owned and managed by the
Bauer Family.
The multinational media company is
headquartered in
Hamburg, Germany, and is Europe’s
largest privately owned publishing group.
Bauer offers 300+ magazines in 15
countries. And the magazine titles
amount to 38 million magazines per
week.
Bauer is experienced with music magazines, and
through their strategy to connect audiences with
excellent content Halcyon will be able to gain
more loyal consumers, that wont want to miss
the next issue.
The main aim would be to build the brand
name by building personal relationships
through the content to engage the readers.
They will want to be able to access the brand
wherever and whenever they want.

16. Background information
IPC Media (International Publishing
Corporation) was founded in 1958,
with its parent company being
‘Time Inc’.
With a large portfolio, each year
they sell 350+ million copies. The
portfolio of websites alone, reaches
25+ million global users per month
With headquarters in London, they are
now the leading a customer magazine
and digital publisher in the UK.
IPC Media would help Halcyon to engage
with as much of the 26 million people
that it currently provides for. They could
do this by using their multiple platforms
of, events, tablets, online, and mobile.
Not only would it appeal to the current
target audience of Halcyon, by using
the platforms, but it could draw in
more of a diverse market so that
Halcyon could grow.
What they can offer
Other magazine brands that distribute
through IPC Media include;
NME
Eventing

17. The company I would choose
to distribute
. wants to be able to build
a relationship with its consumers, and with
the platforms IPC offers it will open
Halcyon up to more possible consumers.
The 350+ million sales each year show that
the strategies the company use and the
skills they posses are what can make my
magazine successful.
Because IPC are based in London it enables quick
communication for deliberation or general
awareness for both companies.
Whereas ‘Speedimpex’ and ‘Bauer’ would have
the risk and likely case of miscommunication, or
delayed action. If either business needed face to
face communication there would be the
drawback of having to travel the distance. Which
in inconvenient, wastes time and wastes money.

18. Who would be the audience
for your media product
?4.

19. Ages of 15-20 year
olds are targeted
through my
magazine. All
sexualities could be
attracted to the
magazine as there are
different sexualities
of artists that would
be included too. For
example, Jessie J.
The social media build up
the fashions and styles
that an artist has, which
now influences that of
the targeted audience, so
they are more image
conscious. I used Ke$ha
as a style model because
she has a very quirky
manner and expresses
herself through the
clothes and facial
expressions she uses.
Much like teenagers
today and that is who I’m
aiming to target.
People, both male
and female, who are
often downloading
the charts, going
online or tuning into
the radio to listen to
the latest and most
popular music is who
I tried to get my
magazine to appeal
to.
The models I used
are like the target
audience I tried to
aim at, in the sense
of their age and
their style and
musical interests.

20. How did you attract/address
your audience
?5.

21. The main model I
used, was chosen
because her image
was most suited to
the genre of the
magazine, and she is
of a relatable age of
the targeted
audience.
The sticker of upcoming festivals, is
something that would appeal to
people in their late teens/20’s as
commonly they are to be seen at
festivals.
Because of the social status that being an artist
brings, it is envied by a lot of young adults/teens.
They will look up to where the artist has come
from and where they are now. The bigger the
artist on the front cover, the more people the
magazine will appeal to.

22. I asked this question to determine how often
my magazine should be
produced, weekly, monthly or
seasonally, because the audience asked don’t
often buy one, I decided to produce it each
month.
57.15% preferred chart and pop
music, this is why I chose it as
the genre of my magazine and
this percentage is the audience I
aimed to target.
75% of the
people asked
were aged
between 15-22
In my double page spread article I
tried to add as many of these features
that I could achieve what the audience
wants.

23. On my contents
page, because of the
feedback I received, I
included different sized
images, with a main
image and I kept it neat
and inline so that I could
appeal to as many people
as possibly.
My research showed that
more females than males
buy a charts music
magazine, because of this
reason I included for
images of females
throughout the magazine

28. What have you learnt about
technologies from the process of
constructing this product ?
6.

29. We create different
layers so that if we do a
mistake we can go back
to the original image
These boxes determine
the fill colour of
whatever it is you’ve
made. The black box
behind is the colour of
the outlining
I used this tool
to create the
gradient
background
on my front
cover
The crop tool
lets us cut out
part of the
image
The stamp tool duplicates
the selection you have
when you hold Alt. It’s
great for blemishes
On adjustments on this
drop down you can adjust
the brightness and
contrasts
Here is where you can
edit the text you’ve
placed, with
size, spaces, width

30. The pinks lines are
called bleed
lines, anything inside
of these is included in
the magazine.
I created the
gradient background
for my front cover on
this
This will
give you a
preview
without
Here you can
change the fill
colour and the
outline colour
To put any
text or
images on
the
page, you
need to
create a
box first
Selecting
the
images
inside
the box
File, Place is
how you put
an image into
a box
Object, arrange
choose the position
you want it in, e.g.
bring to front
Clicking, tools and
control brings the
other option bars that
hold the tools needed

31. You can create as many
surveys as you wish
To create any
survey, you need to
make an account, its
free
I can analyse the results of my
questionnaire. They are presented in a
bar chart and have percentages below, to
show how many selected that option.
Tells me
how many
responses
I got
To get people to answer my
questionnaire I put the link
on my blog so they could
get access to it

32. This would take me
to what other
people will
see, with all of my
posts
This is how I post things
on my blog, clicking save
just saves it as a draft
I can change the fonts
here, I used Arial, there
was only 6 to choose
from
I added images and
videos to show what
new photo I’d taken or
edited
All the font
options are here

33. AMERAC
Aperture
Shutter Speed
ISO (Exposure)
Shutter speed is measured in
fractions of seconds, having ‘S’
on the top dial is the setting yo
need to change it, and turning
the dial on the screen side
changes how quick it is.
This controls the exposure. ISO
control how well the camera
reacts to light, it’s the
sensitivity. A low ISO means it’s
less sensitive to light, giving a
darker image.
Is the opening of the lens camera.
Controlling the light passing
through the sensor, affecting the
light of the image. It also control
‘depth of field’, determining how
much of the image is in focus.

34. Looking back at your preliminary
task, what do you feel you have
learnt in the progression from it to
the full product
?
7.

35. Since I did the
preliminary I have
learnt to select an
appropriate (short)
title and chosen
appropriate fonts
I realised that the
background needs to be
basic so that the main
model(s) stand out
more
Conventionally, there is
one artist/model on the
front, so that the head can
touch the title, I learnt
this through my
preliminary
More features were
needed that appealed to
the audience, so I had to
research for the end
product, what was desired
by the target
The text needed to be
more legible and clear, so
a new font and colour was
selected for the end
product
I needed to
make this
pages titles
more
attractive
A lot more images
were needed, and to
be edited
more, instead of just
having a smiley
photo, in the end
product it is better to
have a more posed
image
Again, I need to get
an appropriate
background so that it
shows the features
and images well

37. Feedback from the teachers
I changed the
backgrounds
of the images
to add variety
I changed the
colour of my
font and made it
bolder so that it
was more legible
This is one of the
images I included
The main photos for my
DPS were way too grainy
and poor quality so I
took lots of new ones
with different poses
I changed my text to left
justified. And changed
the layout of it, now I
have the image covering
the while of one page
and the text is now in 3
columns
I edited my
photos
again, to
make the
cutting out
neater