1. Evaluation
Kianna Briggs

2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
1. My front cover of my media product uses
the forms and conventions of a real media
product in which it uses a skyline to provide
extra information for the audiences and it also
features cover lines which provide
information as to what the content of the
magazine.
Furthermore I also used a strong image on my
front cover which is another form and
conventions f a real media product. The image
is able to represent the type of audience i am
aiming at by the use of the clothes the woman
is wearing and the age of her.
Although this is a small convention,
every real product features a bar code,
therefore I have followed this
convention and also included a bar
code.

3. 2. How does your media product represent particular social groups.
My media product represents particular social groups such
age groups by the use of grammar and vocabulary. For
example due to the fact that my audience is between the age
of 16 and 21, the language used in my magazine is quite
colloquial because I want the audience to be comfortable
with the magazine. I want them to have a sense of belonging
in which their personalities can be reflected within the
magazine because of the language used.
My chosen model also represents
social group such as age groups
because she is in the category
between my target audience. As a
result of this she represents the
youthful audience but also indicates
that the content inside the
magazine will also relate to the
specific age category.

4. Contents Page
When researching magazine
contents pages, one convention that I
came across was an “Editor speaks”
section. This section provided the
audience with an update about the
magazine which could be said to be
its unique selling point as every
magazine has its own editor in which
it can provided exclusive information
for their magazine. However I have
challenged the conventions of the As a result of this I
editor speaks section by not including simply extended the
an image of an editor because when amount to write
drafting this page, I realised that the about in this section
image I would have included in the which therefore
editor speaks section would clash provides the audience
against the images that are already with more
there because they are assigned into information about the
a separate column. magazine and the
editor.

5. In all magazines there is a section
that provides directions on what
is in the magazine allowing the
audience to turn to what page
interests them.
For example in this magazine
there is also a section on
features and regulars
providing the audience with
information on the content
of the magazine.
This is a unique selling point as not
many magazines feature a section on
tweets.

6. Double Page Spread I used a pull quote which is
a convention of a real
media product. I have used
this to attract the audience
and encourage them to
read the article as the pull
quote almost gives them
an idea as to what it is
about.
In order to show a link between
the contents page and the
double page spread, most
magazines feature the
masthead and the page
number within the footer
which is also what I have
included on my double page
spread.

7. I have challenged the codes and
conventions of a real media product by
not using direct address in terms of my
images. This is because I wanted the
images to look as if they have movement
and the artist was not simply posing for
it. Therefore I have taken a picture of the
woman doing her job in which she is
singing. As a result of this the audience
can notify that the article is about her
performing and it also relates back to the
fact that this is a music magazine.

8. The colour of her hair also Due to my research I chose
represents the interests of certain clothing that was
the audience as it sets her able to represent the type
aside from the average of audience I was aiming at.
female because red hair For example because the
stands out. audience I am aiming it is
quite a retro, funky
audience the clothes that I
chose for the people to
wear represent this. For
example both women are
wearing patterned trousers
that immediately represent
a retro style which not only
represents the interests of
the audience but also their
age group. Similarly the
bright and contrasting
colours connote a younger
age group.

9. 3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
When researching media institutions I looked at
the institution Bauer Media Group however
when researching the type of magazines they
owned like NME and Kerrang I realised that
they specialised mainly in rock and men’s
magazines which was not related to the type of
audience I was looking for.
I also learnt that they
specialised in rock music
magazines featuring
predominantly men in
their magazines which
was not similar to my
genre

10. Therefore I avoided this media institution and
researched IPC Media. IPC Media has a large
diversity of interests such as IPC inspire and IPC
connect. Within this institution it distributes the
well known magazine NME. Due to this I
acknowledge that music magazines are welcome
within this institution and there is a gap for my
magazine as there is not a funky house
magazine in this industry.
Although this is a rock magazine which
is completely different to the my genre,
the benefit of this is that the institution
will not already have a funky house
music magazine which suggests that
they can introduce another audience
which benefits them and also benefits
me.

11. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my media product would be males and females between the
age of 16 and 21. I have chosen quite a young audience especially, because the
genre of my media product is in the niche market therefore only a specific
audience would be interested. Furthermore the age of artists within this genre
are similar to this age group therefore they can relate more to the type of music.
In addition the audience I am aiming at has not been catered for already because
there are not any magazines that specialise in the genre funky house therefore
there is a gap in the market for teenagers who enjoy partying and listening to
funky music.

12. How did you attract/address your audience?
In order to attract my audience I used a
number of techniques that ranged from
simplistic entities to complex. First of all the
colour scheme was used precisely to attract my
audience in which I used a funky, bright scheme
which created a trendy vibe that related to the
genre of the magazine. As well as this I also
used images that would attract the audience.
For example because all the images were music
related in which they consist of a prop the
audience can immediately identify this is a
music magazine therefore it encourages them
to view the magazine.
Microphone
Headphones

13. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of
constructing this product
From the process of constructing this product what I have learnt about
technologies is how to use the designing programs skilfully. For example I have
learnt to work between Photoshop and InDesign, which has increased the speed of
my work allowing me to focus more on the research in order to enhance my design
concept of the media product. Also I have learnt to use the basic tools in InDesign
and Photoshop such as working with the layers which when mastered I was able to
separate them which improved the presentation of my work as I was able to
construct images and text coherently. Blogging was also vital in terms of the
constructing of this product because it enabled me to keep a record of my increase
in knowledge. Such as research for my front cover, contents page and double page
spread were recorded in a blog so that I was able to refer back to the conventions
of a magazine when constructing my product.
Technologies I have used are:
The internet for research
Slideshare to upload PowerPoint presentations onto my blog

14. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to
the full product?
Looking back my preliminary task, what I have leant in the progression from it to the
full product is how to use the programs appropriately. For example whereas in my
preliminary task I was limited to the resources within the programs because I had
not had a large amount of practise, in the progression to the full product I was more
comfortable with working in these programs. Furthermore because the preliminary
task enabled me to make mistakes, in terms of my full product I had learnt how to
overcome these problems and to apply my knowledge to improve my work.
In terms of Photoshop, the skills that I
have learnt are: In terms of InDesign the skills that
•Manipulating the sizes of images I have learnt are:
•Rotating images •Applying margins and columns
•Cropping images •Applying baseline grids
•Enhancing the colour on sections of the •Using “set the leading” to
images separate text
•Positioning images appropriately so that •Importing and placing images
I could then simply place them in from Photoshop
InDesign
•Working between layers

15. Research was a vital part of the progression to the final product as it enhanced my
knowledge on minor things such as layout conventions of music magazines. For
example the use of columns is used on magazines to separate information and is
used consistently with each magazine. Such as Vibe uses three columns on its
front cover consistently, therefore the audience are able to recognise the
magazine without seeing the masthead.