1. Question 1:
My media product is quite conventional and follows other forms set up by existing media products.
The colours used are quite conventional, using mainly red, white and black, something that is seen
in magazines such as Q, NME and UNCUT. I used a word that is typically music-related
(JUKEBOX), a feature that is also seen in existing products NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS, VIBE,
ROLLING STONE etc. I also designed the masthead in a way that was related to music akin to how
Q's masthead is emulative of a record player, the circle being the record itsself and the tail of the Q
being the needle, I followed this convention by making the O in JUKEBOX into the shape of a
typical Jukebox. For my front cover I did a typical mid-shot portrait for my main image, employing
the Guttenberg principle by having the models face in the primary optical area and the bar code
being in the weak fallow area, the bar code being the part of the cover that I would not want
consumers of my product to be as interested in as the magazine itsself. The model of my cover, and
the other models throughout my magazine, are wearing quite urban, yet rock-styled clothing; my
main model wearing a woollen hat and a leather jacket on the cover photo. I also retouched the
photo in vain of how almost all images in magazines today would be e.g. I made my models
eyelashes darker, I made the background slightly out of focus and I emphasised the blue in my
models eyes. I wrote the article quite formally and used many quotes; five pull quotes used, one
which was used as the title of my double page spread, another as one of the main cover lines. I used
a few similes to emphasise the differences between my artist and the typical representation of
people of her social group and organised my article into 3 columns with small line spacing, due to
my article being quite long, a feature that is seen in both of the double page spreads that I evaluated
as part of my product research. I added pull quotes in between all of the columns in larger, bold
and red so that the article was more visually stimulating, similar to how the kerrang double page
spread that I evaluated, has the first few words of each paragraph in red.
Question 2:
The representation of gender, race, age and sexuality is all done quite typically in my magazine.
In terms of gender, although my main model's body is not emphasised which is typically done in
most magazines featuring females in the main images, however, both of the females used; my main
model and the model in my contents page, are posing quite suggestively in their pictures, with the
exception of the image on my double page spread where my main model is reaching out her hand to
the camera. The males are also represented quite typically, the mid shot of the male on my contents
page displaying quite a powerful, intimidating pose and the male in the mid-long shot seeming quite
indifferent. All but one of the models I have used are Caucasian which is quite typical of music
magazines relating to the rock and pop genre, however, the model of Sub-Saharan African Descent
is not facing the camera. All of the models that I used are young adults that are dressed in modern,
urban clothing, showing that they are fashionable and trendy, something that is commonly
associated with young adults. In my article I have represented the artist quite opposing of typical
social group stereotypes. For example, although a young, Caucasian female, she is quoted as having
interests that are not typical of her social group; many sporting activities (usually associated with
males), not wearing make-up (typically represented in depictions of young adult females), liking
both No Doubt and Frank Ocean (typical of a more older age group) etc.
Question 3:
I think that Bauer would be more likely to distribute my product rather than IPC as Bauer not only
publish magazines similar to mine such as Q or MOJO, also rock and pop-influenced magazines,
who discuss similar bands and feature similar articles, for example Q’s “CAPTION CONTEST”
and JUKEBOX’s “I’D CAP THAT” as well as using the same colour scheme and organising the
articles on the contents page into REGULARS and COVER STORY. Finally Bauer aim their
products at a similar target audience to mine; Q is aimed at the ABC1C2 demographic as is my
magazine.
Question 4:
I think the audience for my media product would be fairly wide but also quite typical of a rock/pop
genre magazine. I would target the magazine at the 16-25 ages demographic due to the articles and

2. the artists mentioned being more enticing to a young adult age demographic. I also received many
people in this age demographic reporting in my market research questionnaire that they read
magazines such as Q and NME over other magazines, the two magazines that I attempted to
emulate.
I have chosen quite a mainstream audience, mentioning artists like Eminem and the Killers, but who
are also interested in indie-rock music and the upcoming artists of the genre, mentioning bands like
the Courteeners and Jake Bugg. I have made my article universal in terms of gender, using gender-
neutral colours and an equal balance of male and females throughout, however I feel that due to the
nature of the articles and the genre of the artists mentioned, it is likely the magazine would appeal
more to a male audience. I made this evident by making my model look quite suggestive on the
double page spread and by using the brick background on my cover page, however, I made my
magazine also appeal to a female audience by having my female models fully clothed throughout
the magazine, the model on the cover page having a fairly neutral facial expression, detracting from
sexuality, and by making the masthead quite stylised, something that would not typically be
necessary had the magazine been aimed solely at males.
To appeal to a younger target audience I used a conventional
colour scheme and mentioned activities that are associated
with youth.
My colour scheme is red, white and black, quite conventional
colours for a music magazine as they are vibrant and eye-
catching and will appeal to a younger target audience due to
younger people generally finding it easier to accept
convention. I also appealed to young people using the content
of my magazine; I mention high school and being young quite
often throughout the magazine and use urban slang; "ace" as
well as mentioning festivals on my contents page, the main
audience for festivals being people in the 16-25 age
demographic, and by showing
graffiti on the wall behind my
model on my main cover
image, another part of youth
culture.
The characterisation of my
models and the mise-en-scene of the pages throughout
clearly aims my product at my target demographic, my
models posing in ways that would entice a younger target
audience; the model on my cover page looking
sympathetically at the reader, wearing a leather jacket and a
beanie hat (clothes that are typically associated with my
demographic) with graffiti behind her (another feature
that appeals to a younger audience.) And the main
model on the contents page posing quite sexually, another
feature that is more likely to attract a 16-25 demographic
rather than those under 16 or over 25.
I created a focus group on facebook to gather feedback
on my 3 magazine pages that consisted only of people who
were within the criteria of my target audience. The feedback I received confirmed that the content
of my magazine and the masthead was appropriate for my target audience, the only problems being
brought up being to do with my layouts

3. Examples of feedback from my focus group:
Question 5:
To attract my target audience I revisited my
market research. It told me that my target
audience were more interested in Indie and
Rock music than anything else that attractive
people are what draws them to magazines and
that their other main interests were in TV and
film. Although I didn't touch on TV or Film at
any point in my product, I used a typically
attractive model for my front cover main
image and included references to indie artists
such as The Pierces, One Ring Zero and The
Courteeners. I used a pull quote for the title of my double page spread that I thought would entice a
younger demographic as I feel that they would find it easy to relate to as well as using a
conventional colour scheme, as a younger target audience tends to find it easier to accept
convention over change.
Question 6:
In the process of developing my final media product I have learnt a lot more about various
technologies. The most obvious improvements I have made are in photohraphy, developing my
skills in using Nikon, Panasonic and SLR cameras, learning how to construct a good photo and
principles such as the rule of thirds and the Gutenberg principle. I learnt how to use many of the
cameras tools to achieve different effects, about shutter speed and types of lenses as well as how to
set up a good photo. I also improved in other areas however, having never used blogspot prior to
working on this product, yet I found it quite straightforward
and user-friendly, being easier to grasp than the
photography skills. Although already familiar with
technologies such as Facebook and Photoshop, my skills
also slightly improved in this, Photoshopping images
became a much more fluid experience for me as I re-

4. familiarised myself with the tools and also learnt how to efficiently use tools such as the magnetic
lasso tool and how to rasterize layers. On Facebook I learnt how to set up private groups and how to
upload images in an album to be viewed in a specific order.
However I found that when using USB's that it was too easy to forget or lose the device which
could cause me to be unable to access my work at inappropriate times which strongly limited me
and influenced my decision to resort to E-mails to transfer most of my work as I found it to be a
much more efficient way of transferring data.
Question 7:
I feel that I have progressed extremely since my preliminary task and that my final product has
increased magnitudes in comparison. Although then I had some understanding of how to take a
good quality photograph, I often found I had blurred images, something that I later fixed by
adjusting the shutter speed. I learnt how to use more complicated cameras following my prelinary
task as I was not then comfortable with the ones I was using, learning how to properly light a photo
and how to edit the settings on the camera that change the quality and feel of the images. My skills
in image manipulation has also increased, learning how to combat problems such as overexposure
or how to adjust the focus of an image and also learning some basic retouching skills to remove any
blemishes, for example now I know that to retouch an image the healing tool is the most effective,
where previously I might have used a filter on a particular area or simply used a paintbrush and
reduced the opacity. I have learnt about the Guttenberg principle and how to apply it, directly
employing it onto my main cover photo, something that I did not consider in my preliminary task,
then only taking into account the rule of thirds.
I learnt how to attract a wider target audience, my preliminary task having quite a niche audience,
looking quite electronic and using an abstract colour scheme matched with content that would
solely interest teenage males, whereas my finished product appeals to both genders and a slightly
wider age demographic. Overall I have learnt that following convention is the primary way of
creating a professional look to my magazine, my focus group clearly showing that alothough they
appreciated the originality of my masthead, they mostly appreciated how “professional” the colour
scheme and the layouts looked, those aspects being the closest that my magazine had to existing
products.