The document discusses how the student's media product compares to real media products in its use of conventions and forms. It describes how the masthead conforms to expectations by being positioned in the top left corner but challenges conventions with its unique title font. The layout conforms to magazine conventions but includes developed elements like a quote in the double page spread. The student learned about using tools in Photoshop and InDesign to edit images and layout pages professionally. Overall it improved from the preliminary task by having a more balanced and appealing design.

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

2. • This is the masthead for my magazine, as you can see it pretty much
conforms to the audience’s expectations of a music magazine; it has
the generic top, left hand corner positioning. By positioning the
masthead of the magazine here it allows it to be seen clearly and
easily, this is crucial for a new magazine. As you can see the title
dominates over half of the name of the magazine.
• In terms of naming the magazine, I wanted to keep it simple yet
unique, in order to make it more appealing, this also conforms to the
audience expectation however the main concept of the title,
personally, is that it is familiar to the audience, it doesn’t need to grab
the readers attention as such but instead, is there to inform them of
what they will actually be reading.

3. • The title font and style of my magazine is
quite different compared to other music
magazines such as NME, Q and Rolling
Stone, however it conforms to certain
conventions of a magazine because of the
bold, capital letters used and the use of
Red, a very popular colour for music
magazine titles. The use of red contrasts
well with the main image because of the
filter used, enabling the title to stand out
and seem more appealing to the reader.
• I would say the title font challenges the
conventions because it is different from
majority of popular music magazines. The
use of ‘chalkboard’ font differentiates the
magazine with other music magazines.

4. • The layout of the magazine
really conforms to media
conventions, I believe it is
hard to develop or challenge
the conventions because of
the vast variation in styles of
magazines. However I did
try develop certain
conventions by including a
specific quote in my double
page spread, this creates
emphasis and makes it look
more interested. I believe
the double page spread
need to look interesting for
the reader and make them
want to read on.

5. • My contents page really conforms
to the conventions of a music
magazine because of the split
columns and labelled categories; I
believe this is a good presentation
technique. I kept the title for the
contents as ‘Trailer Contents’, that
way it is quite straight forward and
it fits in nicely with the title of the
magazine.

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

7. • I believe my magazine does not represent only one specific music
genre, I’ve designed it so it appeals to different social groups,
however specifically for those who are into new, raw talent or looking
to be discovered. There is no specific class and for this magazine
however it is less likely to appeal to those of an upper class due to its
laid back appearance. The images used in the magazine are of
unknown or new artist, which can draw people into the magazine in
order to acknowledge who it is. Also I intentionally did not include
any top artist as it can send out mix messages to the reader and
overpower other articles.
• The image used in the double page spread was taken at a coffee place
and was shown in that way to reflect on the magazines personality
and relate with people who may read the magazine, as I believe
people who would read this is most likely to be middle class,
struggling artists or established artists looking for raw talent.

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

9. • My target audience is based upon people aged from mid teens towards
late thirties; this means that they will desire a reasonably priced magazine
which is easy to pick up in a convenient store. I think that my magazine
would be best distributed in stores like WHSmiths, maybe even
supermarkets chains such as Tesco metro. As well as this it could be
distributed to smaller stores which specialised to music, for example HV
and smaller localised stores. Another way of buying and selling goods that
has become quite popular over the few years is via the internet. Having an
online distribution will help get the magazine around further. Going further
on the use of internet selling a rapidly growing craze is to issue
downloadable apps that supply magazine subscriptions through mobile
devices. This is a new and smart way of distributing magazines especially to
those who are unable to purchase them from stores.
• In terms of availability to buy the magazine, I think the best method for this
would be the option of buying weekly and also the option of buying a
subscription. This allows the customer to pick and choose when they want
to buy the magazine.

10. • IPC distribute many magazines such NME, Woman’s weekly, Uncut, TV
easy and many more. This is a spread of magazines which are very
well known and so there is an identity between IPC and the
audiences. By choosing IPC I can take advantage of the connection
between the company and the buyers therefore promoting my
magazine with the well known standard of service the company has.
• Another company that distribute magazines is the Bauer media
company; however, I decided that this was not suitable for my
magazine as the type of media it deals with are very different to the
kind of company that I’m looking for despite it’s already well know
name.

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

12. • My target audience for my music magazine would be aged between
the late teens and their late thirties, this is quite a range but I believe
it is suitable for the kind of magazine I am promoting, this is backed
up further by the price of the magazine, it has to be affordable
because of the age of the audience, I’d like to think that my target
audience would also contain of both male and female, even if this
issue of the magazine seems to include mostly male profiles, however
it’s placed and written in a way to appeal to both genders. Another
thing to consider when talking about target audience is their taste in
music, quite obviously. I think my target audience would have what I
consider a varied taste in music, they don’t just prefer to stick to one
genre of music but look to embrace other types. I think the main aim
for me with my target audience is someone who has real appreciation
for music and musicians.

13. How did you
attract/address your
audience??

14. PUFF
Price
Coverlines
What features
attracted my
audience?

15. I used a simple font, so it was clear for my audience to read, but I
varied my font style and size to make the writing more exciting.
Another thing, my regular audience would be interested in interacting
with the music magazine company, there fore I had mention a
‘supporters column’ in my Coverlines, to make them want to open my
magazine and read further.
After researching prices of other popular
music magazines and just magazines in
general I noticed most of them varied
between £1-£4. hence why I decided to go
with a price of £1.99, which is the most
common price I had found. Also this price
is affordable for my target audience.

16. I used this particular puff for my front cover
because this appeals to my target audience,
as the modern generation are all about
downloadable music and advertising
anything for free attracts attention and is
appealing to a range of ages.

17. Eye
catching
images
Enlarged
numbers
Section
titles

18. For my audience to be attracted to the image, I
needed to pose my model in a fun and unique pose.
On this photo, I included the term ‘rising star’ to
attract readers.
I used an enlarged font size for the page
numbers of the features mentioned on my
contents page as this makes it easier for
my readers to see what they want to look
at and flick straight to the page and article
they want to read. This is particularly
aimed at my younger audience, as they are
known for not wanting to read too much
text. This feature is a common technique
used by other magazines of the same and
different genre.

19. Section
title
Larger
font
Star
image
Album
cover
Artist
quote
Exclusive
feature

20. I used a large font in my heading to emphasis the
artists name. this attracts my audience as once they
have acknowledged the artist, they will want to read
more. I kept the heading in Bold to make it stand out
compared to the other text.
This is a pull quote, by using this it gives the reader
an initial look into the interview without having to
read the whole thing. By reading the pull quote, it
will encourage the audience into wanting to find
out more about the artist.
The section title is located on the top left corner of the
page, this will help the reader in finding the page in
which the interview is on. By having this it attracts the
audience attention and encourages them to read on.

21. Having an image of the album helps in promoting the artist and
captures the readers attention as my target audience is based on
people who have a passion for music. Having this image makes the
page a touch more appealing.
Having this exclusive feature entices the audience into finding out more
about the music magazine and the artist in the interview. This is a new
feature that will appeal to my target audience as majority of the present
generation is into new and developed technology, making this feature
even more useful in attracting the reader.

22. What have you learnt
about technology
from the process of
constructing this
product??

23. • Equipment based I used a ‘Sony Cyber shot Camera DSCH200’ and My
smart phone ‘Apple IPhone 4S’ to take the pictures I have used in my music
magazine. These two were very useful as one allowed me to take really
good quality images, where the other allowed me to fiddle around with
different effects while taking the actual picture. I also used a Laptop to
store and operate the programmes I used to edit the music magazine
together.
• For the Cover of the magazine and majority of the image editing I used
Photoshop. Through this process I learnt how to use he tools on the
programme effectively and I learnt different ways of improving the images
quality. The main tools I used include the crop tool, text tool, lasso tools. I
also used InDesign for both my Contents page and double page spread as I
found it was the best choice for the layout and tools needed. This is
because InDesign allow me to create guidelines for columns and rows for
my text on both the double page spread and contents page. I also used
Microsoft word when making notes and writing up the interview I had
carried out for my double page spread. Lastly I used Microsoft PowerPoint
to create my evaluation as I am aware of it’s features and how to use it ,
therefore finding it appropriate.
• I also used Blogger to upload my music magazine work online.

24. Camera
USB
Laptop

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

26. • These are the two mastheads I have used in my work, in terms of layout
they a very different pieces of work. By looking at the first images
(preliminary work) you can see that the title is spread across the whole top
section of the page and slightly tilted, I wouldn’t say that this looks
particularly professional or effective, however comparing it to the second
piece of work you can see signs of improvement. The improvement comes
from the positioning of the title amongst other aspects. As you can see the
masthead dominates over two thirds of the page, this is creating a
balanced sense fro the page in which the focus is not only on the one side
of the page. The font is also an aspect that adds to the difference of the
two pages, as you can see the text in the preliminary task looks much
softer, smaller and therefore less effective, whereas the main task has a
title that uses Bold capital letters, this looks far more effective and
professional. I have also included a slogan on my masthead just to soften it
a little bit.

27. The variation between the two cover
images is quite a contrast, this is due
mainly to the way in which the
photographs have been taken. When
looking at the preliminary task we can
see that the colour pallet is quite
bright and the picture is washed out
by the other conventions. The image
blends in with the background
therefore becoming less effective.
Whereas the image of the main task
has been taken at a different angle and
I’ve added a filter to give it a more
different and unique touch. I’ve kept
the house style of the main task
consistent whereas the preliminary
task had a house style but I couldn’t
keep to it.

28. Looking at the layout
between the two tasks
you can see they are
drastically different. On
the preliminary task I
wanted to create a
timetable themed
contents page to match
with the type of magazine
I am creating.
Unfortunately I was
unable to officially finish
my contents page
because of my lack of
time management
skills. The preliminary task doesn’t have quite a structured layout, however, I think
after looking into the conventions of magazines more, I was able to develop a better
and far more professional looking layout which is separated up and easy to look at.
The contents page for the main task is laid out far more neatly and looks more
appealing to the eye.