The document discusses the process of creating a magazine from preliminary tasks to the final product. It describes early drafts that lacked proper use of codes and conventions and had weak cover lines and contents. Through research, drafting, and taking test photos, the creator improved the design and layout. The final magazine better represented the target audience with a cohesive style, bold writing, and inclusion of proper codes and conventions throughout. The creator learned the importance of planning, comparing other magazines, and testing ideas to create a higher quality end product.

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

2. Date
line and
price
Cover
lines
Barcode
Main
Heading
Main
image
Main cover
line
Puff
When creating my magazine I
used many generic codes and
conventions that can be see in a
wide range of magazines. In class
we completed a codes and
conventions task. This helped
my understanding of codes and
conventions and how to use
them.
http://mollymcdonaldmedia.blo
gspot.co.uk/2013/09/analyzing-
magazine.html
After this I used a range of main
images and added in the codes
and conventions. This helped me
to further develop the use of
codes and conventions in more
imaginative ways.
After completing these tasks I
had a clear understanding of the
basis of my magazine.
Below I have drawn arrows pointing to the
stereotypical codes and conventions that should be
used. I have made my left third white on a black
background because I believe this makes it stand out. I
have also used a main cover line and three smaller cover
lines because this is what is seen in a magazine. I have
used a demo as a puff and I have also used a main
image, barcode and a date and price line. This means
that I have adhered to all the rules of codes and
conventions in magazine publication.
Conventions

3. Challenges to Codes and Conventions
I have challenged some of the
conventions slightly to give my
magazine its own identity. I did this
by having a plain black background
behind the main image. Usually
there is something behind the main
image or there is a white
background.
I have also used two females for my
main image which you would not
usually see. This is not common for
a music magazine and it gives it
originality and something different.
The masthead is in white and this is
also not a common colour used for
mastheads. Giving my magazine
originality.

4. Influences for front cover
I looked at a variety of
magazines for my influences
and I did not just look at rap
magazines.
http://mollymcdonaldmedia.b
logspot.co.uk/2013/10/research
-on-type-of-magazine-i-want-
to.html
I looked at four magazines in
detail and how they helped
with the creation of my
magazine. The black background
I copied from this. I
thought that this made
the main image stand
out
I liked this type
of bold writing.
I thought that
it stood out.
I saw this one
and liked the
idea of a
persons
whole body
being in the
front cover.
All the magazines are
giving direct address
and I thought this
meant there was a
connection between the
reader and the
artist/artists.

5. Contents
For both of my main images
I wanted them to be of a
good quality like other
magazines therefore I
thought about lighting and
the type of camera.
I used the same colours
as I did on the front cover
so that they are linked.
This is like other
magazines as all of the
pages usually tie in with
each other.
I love the way
that ‘CON’ is on
one line and
‘TENTS’ is on
the other. I
believe this gives
my magazine
edge and makes
it different to
others. Not
following the
normal
conventions.
By having the black writing
on the white background
and the white writing on the
black means that the writing
stands out and that it is easy
to read.
I have also
included reviews
and this is a
common
convention of a
music magazine.

6. Influences for contents
The Contents page is a lot like most
contents pages. There are two images on
there that are in boxes and are relevant to
what is inside the magazine. The writing
on the contents is in a clear, bold font
making it stand out. One of the pictures
is on the right and the other on the left.
This is not following usual conventions as
usually they are both on the right.
However this gives my contents page
edge.
I got inspiration for the dark colours by
looking at other rap magazines such as
HIPHOP. I got my inspiration about
writing on the left from looking at Q
magazine and I also found that I did not
want too much writing on it after looking
at No.1 magazine.
http://mollymcdonaldmedia.blogspot.co.
uk/2013/11/contents-ideas.html

7. Double page spread
When creating my
double page spread I
used Q magazine as an
influence. I have put a
white V behind the
writing and I got this
idea after researching
into magazines.
http://mollymcdonaldm
edia.blogspot.co.uk/201
3/11/for-me-best.html
I also used the two large
pictures because on a lot
of contents pages there
is often a large picture of
the person or people
that the text is about.
This means I did stick to
the conventions but I
also changed the way
that I did this as I have got two images
opposite each other which I believe gives
my magazine an individual identity unlike
any other music magazine.

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

9. Target audience
My target audience is for a niche
market, any one at any age that likes
rap music. As it is a rap/hip hop
magazine any one that likes any
other music and does not like rap
could still be interested in my
magazine as it has reviews and fresh
faces appearing in the music world.
However, although it can be anyone
who likes rap it is mainly aimed at
the younger generation who are into
new upcoming rappers and like to
know what's new.
As my magazine is the genre of rap I
needed to make sure that people
knew it was about rap without
having to look at what was inside. I
did this by using plain colours such
as black and white as after looking at
other rap
magazines I have found that
plain colours are the best to use.
I also dressed the cover stars in a
way that stereotypical rappers
would be dressed. The two girls
have a lot of attitude as one is
holding her collar and the other
biting her chain. This attitude
and behaviour is rebellious
much like the younger
generation such as teenagers.

10. Pictures I took
All of the pictures that
I took are all full of
energy and stick to the
rappers image. I have
pictures of both female
and male this means
that it Is not aimed at
one type of gender and
is open for anyone to
read. Although the way
that they are dressed is
like stereotypical
rappers the clothes are
not clothes that
teenagers don’t wear as
some may dress like
this and this adds to
the similarity to
teenagers.

11. What kind of music
institution might distribute
your media product and
why?

12. How it would be distributed
The genre of my magazine is
Hip-hop/Rap. My magazine
shows fresh young faces so I
can imagine that it would be
displayed a lot and would be a
top seller.
This is why I think that the
best distributor for my
product would be Bauer
Media as they publish a
distribute a huge variety and
range of magazine genres for
different target audiences.
Therefore I feel that the
company would be good for
distributing and advertising
my product due to the fact
that there aren’t currently any
popular rap magazines being
distributed in Britain.
http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/

13. Who would be the
audience for your
media product?

14. Target Market
My target market will be
anyone who likes rap/hiphop.
However I need to choose an
age range. The age range for
people that I am trying to buy
this magazine is for people
aged 16 to 21. This is a small
age range however it is who I
am aiming my product at. It is
also open for boys and girls
and is not swaying in any way
towards one particular gender.
I did a questionnaire for
people aged 16-18 to see what
they liked the most when it
comes to genre and what they
would like to see in a magazine
and this helped me greatly
with what I wrote in the
contents and in the interview.
http://mollymcdonaldmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/
12/what-people-would-like-to-see-in-my.html
The results of my questionnaires told me that a lot
of people at this age range wanted to see a rap
magazine. I also wanted to do rap as this was
something that interested me and a lot of my
friends like rap although it is not some of there
favourite genres the people that are in the rap
world are
interesting and
this may also
make people of
my target market
buy this
magazine.

15. How did you attract/
address your audience?

16. Attracting my audience
Mast head
My magazine is called flare.
This is a simple and easy
name to remember. My target
market of teens do not want a
magazine that has a
complicated name or a name
that is not different. The
colours white on black
encourage aspects of my
magazine to stand out. The
words are in block letters that
are bold and easy to read.
Being bold they could attract
the eye of teens when it is on
the shelf.
Cover lines
All of my cover lines are in capital letters and
they are white against a black background
making them easily readable when on the shelf.
The language that I have used is all easily
readable and understandable.
I have also used words that appeal to my target
audience such as AMAZING. There is also a
phrase on there that says ‘GUESS WHOS BACK’
This could make them want to look inside at
where the question is answered. It is all easy to
understand and there are words on there that the
majority of people would understand.

17. Attracting my audience
Images
All of the images that I have
used show strong character.
All the pictures show
confidence. There is also a
lot of attitude to the main
image and a slight
rebelliousness. This would
make it appeal more to my
target audience as they may
relate to the image which
would make them feel more
involved. Three of the
images out of four are giving
eye contact to the reader and
I believe this is very
important and interacts
more with the reader and
makes them feel more drawn
to the image.
Colours
I have used black and
white of the main
colours and I believe
that the white writing
on the black
background looks
very effective. Also
Rap and Hip hop are
not usually associated
with bright cheerful
colours but dark and
shady colours. Having
these colours attracts
my target audience of
rap/hip hop fans even
more.

18. What have you learn
about technologies from
the process of
constructing the product?

19. Different programmes that I used
While making my magazine I used a number of different programmes. These
programmes all had their own strengths and weaknesses. All three of the following
programmes helped me in the creation of my magazine.
Publisher Paint.net Page plus
Strengths • Very easy to use.
• Can add text
• Can use different
shapes and add
text.
• Good when
wanting to add an
effect onto an
image.
• Good in cropping
images.
• Can add effects.
• Can put text
backward or
forward one or
more.
• Can have double
page spread.
Weakness • Does not have a lot
of effects.
• Can not crop an
image.
• Hard to put mast
head over back
ground and under
main image etc.
• I found it difficult
to use as I had not
used it before.
• Hard to crop a
image properly.
• Could use to many
of the effects and
spoil the image.
• Cropping can be
difficult if the
background is
similar.
• Can be hard to use.

20. Drafting and planning
While I was drafting and planning I used a number of existing magazines for
inspiration and did a lot of drafts and took pictures in preparation for the
assembly of my final magazine.
I compared many different magazines and this helped me choose the lay out,
colour scheme and the type of main image that I wanted on the front cover. I also
assembled a number of magazines which helped me to test out what I wanted for
my magazine. After seeing my drafts I realised what I did and did not want on my
magazine. For example at first I thought that I wanted the back ground white, but
then I decided to have a brick wall. After trying a brick wall and a metal wall I
decided a brick wall was best. However I then decided that I wanted my main
image in front of the masthead and the background behind the mast head and
this worked better and looked better with a plain black background. This was all
part of drafting and planning.
http://mollymcdonaldmedia.blogspot.c
o.uk/2013/12/draft-front-cover.html
http://mollymcdonaldmedia.blogspot.co
.uk/2013/12/draft-double-page-
spread.html
http://mollymcdonaldmedia.blogspot.co
.uk/2013/12/draft-contents.html
http://mollymcdonaldmedia.blogspot.co
.uk/2013/11/perlimery-task-final.html

21. Photographs I took
http://mollymcdonaldmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/main
-image-finals.html
I took a number of
pictures that I could of
used as my main image.
I took a number of images
so that I could look and
compare them all as a part
of planning, I needed to
see what one would look
best as a main image, what
one gave the most attitude
and the one that would
most likely make the
audience look at my
magazine and want to buy
it.

22. Photographs I took
I also took a
number of pictures
that I could use in
my contents page. I
took these in the
drama studio of my
school. This was
because I took
lighting into
consideration and
where the best
place to take them
was. I think the
lighting is very
good and the
images are all clear.

23. Using Blogger
I used blogger to display my work as I did it. All of my drafting and planning, codes and
conventions tasks, preliminary tasks are all on there. It is a timed record in lead up to
the design of my final magazine.
This programme allows me to organise and store all of my work. It means that I can
delete, edit and create posts where I like and it also means that it is saved and there it is
less likely to delete and I can not loose it.

24. Looking back to your
preliminary task, what do
you feel you have learnt in
the progression to the full
product?

25. Preliminary task front cover
Preliminary task Final front cover
In the preliminary task my
cover lines did not look
good. Also I have over used
the effects. This was one of
the negatives that I picked
when I picked out the
weakness for paint.net. I
also did not use many of
the codes and conventions
such as a barcode and a
price/dateline. The writing
is also very small for the
puff and one of the cover
lines. Also the colours do
not match and the style of
the writing is not in a good
font.

26. Preliminary task contents
This is my contents that I
first constructed. It
seriously lacks in
everything including
pictures. I have not
included any pictures and
there are only six pages
on there. The colours are
very bland and the page
numbers are also not
right. The colours are just
red and white and
although this fits into the
colour scheme of our
school the colours are
boring and so is the font.

27. My final magazine front cover, contents and double page spread
I am extremely happy with my final piece and I am very happy with how far I have
came since I did my preliminary task. Researching other magazines has helped me
with the style that I want for my magazine. I have also found out what my target
market look for in a magazine. I have used bold writing that flows throughout the
magazine. The style of the magazine fits together throughout all pages and I have
used the correct codes and conventions that are on stereotypical magazines. I feel as
though my magazine is different and unique with the right amount of attitude to
catch the audiences attention.