Note to Examiner

Dear Examiner, 

Throughout this course, I have learnt the importance of research & planning and evaluation in the making of a product so that it is made to its best quality and is sold to as many people. By doing this I have been able to develop my skills in the use of the programmes provided e.g. Photoshop which have helped me to construct a final media product that I hope you will enjoy viewing.

Maya

Final magazine

Preliminary, Draft and Final Magazine

Looking at these images i can clearly see that my skills in Photoshop have gradually increased, making my final product look really good. I have developed a knowledge of what follows a conventional magazines and I have also researched what my target audience would want and have added that to my magazine.

Evaluation Activity 1

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of music magazines)

The genre of my magazine is pop therefore I have used some styles that have been included in other pop themed magazines. The font I used for the masthead suited the style of my magazine; it was called ‘Elephant’ and is bold and eye catching to the reader, it is also slightly similar to some fonts that you see on other pop magazines like ‘Billboard’. It is big and bold however they use different colours in the holes of some of the letters to make the title stand out, I have not done this as I did not like this idea. I have developed my magazine by adding a red colour to make the magazine pop out more and the colour red links in with my cover as the model is wearing a red jumper, this makes all my pages tie together. The ‘M’ in ‘Melody’ was in italic so that it looked like a music note, following the conventions of a music magazine. The name of my magazine fits in well with my style as it makes the reader instantly think about music. I feel that my magazine has challenged some of the conventions as my double page spread isn’t as vibrant or eye-catching as other pop magazines, however my contents page has some features that are similar to pop magazines like Billboard and Q which makes it clear that the theme of my magazine is pop. My models are dressed in a casual outfit which is unconventional for my magazine as it is not similar to other types of pop magazines and their make-up is a subtle look but it should’ve been vibrant for the reader so that they can recognise that my magazine is about pop music. The mise-en-scene in my photos is not like a pop magazine as there is a tedious white background in all of them. This makes my magazine look less like a pop magazine as they don’t look eye-catching or interesting to the reader. I have chosen to use colour in my photographs as this makes them pop more and it fits the style of a pop magazine, one of my models wears a red jumper so I have included this colour throughout my magazine pages which links them together.

I have developed the conventions of a normal pop magazines as the style is quite different and not all of it would be found in a magazine like Billboard or Q. I have challenged the normal look of the model as the make-up is subtler on my magazine. The layout of the cover is simpler with less text however some Billboard magazines don’t have a lot either. This follows Roger Black’s theory; “A cover should be a poster. A single image of a human will sell more copies than multiple images or all type. Always has, always will.” The cover is the most important thing I think on a magazine as it represents the whole magazine and is the first thing my audience will see therefore it needs to be simple and easy to read but also draws the reader in as they could like to read more due to the lack of information. This could be a bad thing however, as the reader might think that the whole magazine is boring so I needed to think carefully when laying out my cover so that it doesn’t look boring but is still simple and catches the readers’ eyes at the same time. The mid shot of the model on my cover introduces the perception of Roger Black, as I had used only one person instead of a group which relates to his idea. I have been researching and looking at other magazines like NME, Billboard and Q and how they’ve laid out their pages. My contents page is quite similar to the style of Billboard’s with the lines separating the pictures from the text. I used the colour red as throughout my magazine the theme is mainly red due to my model wearing a red jumper on my cover page. For my photographs, I have included some mise-en-scene for example my models hold a guitar, however the background is a white, plain colour which makes my magazine look boring so I could’ve been more creative with the mise-en-scene in my photography.

I have challenged Chris Frost’s theory; “Don’t use too many typefaces. Too much variation will end up looking a mess. It’s best to limit yourself to one font, and variations of it.” as for my magazine I have used a variety of fonts with my text to create some style, however, the fonts I have used are quite similar. My masthead and other headlines are in the font ‘Elephant’ and my smaller text that is on my contents and double page spread is ‘Tw Cen MT’. My colour scheme is mainly red therefore under the masthead on the cover and the headlines on my other pages I have underlined most of the word with a red rectangle, this links all my pages together and gives a vibrant feel to my magazine as the red is quite bright, following some of the bright colour schemes in most pop magazines. On my double page spread, within the interview I included a block quote of what my pop star has said. This makes it stand out more and represents how they are and their personality due to how they answer their questions. With just one quote, it encourages the reader to find out what the question was and also find out what else they have to say about becoming a pop star. This section might be good for people aspiring to become pop stars or famous or it could just be good for people that are interested. The genre of my magazine is pop and it is clearly represented throughout my product with the way I have laid it out and the angles of my photographs. 

Evaluation Activity 2

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

I have found that one of the many important tasks in creating a magazine is finding the right model and picture to go on the front cover. This is because it is the first thing that my intended audience will see so it has to grab their attention and encourage them to read my magazine. If the image is not good, then the reader would not pick it up to read it as the image on the cover represents what the rest of your magazine will be like. From my audience research and profile I was able to find a suitable audience that would be interested in reading my magazine; my target audience is aged 13-18 and it is mainly focused on women than men, I decided on this by researching some audiences on websites like ‘UK Tribes’ which had a wide variety of social groups that I could target my product to by looking at what most people like and outing them into according groups. I chose this age group as older people are more interested in a unique style of music e.g. indie/ classical. Some of my images are taken with different outfits and models to see which ones would look best on my magazine. I used a mixture of camera shots and considered using a close up for my cover, instead I used a mid-shot and also made the model have eye-contact with the camera so that it feels like they are looking at the reader.

When making my pop music artist I considered other artists that my audience would want to see and read about, finding out what it is that makes them look appealing to my intended audience. This would be easy as there are a lot of pop magazines with similar styles that I could’ve borrowed, however it would be hard for me to attract an audience if they already have a preferred pop magazine. Billboard is a very popular magazine that is looked at by many people including my intended audience so by comparing and borrowing some ideas for my magazine I would be able to attract to my target market. Looking at my cover photo and a photo from Billboard magazine I can see that there are many similarities but also some differences that could’ve been improved on my magazine to make it look better and attract to my intended audience. The colour of the billboard magazine picture is in black and white whereas mine is in colour with a focus on the colour red. The colour of the text is white and yellow on the Billboard magazine so that it goes with the black background and is easier to read. I also used white text on my cover however the background wasn’t black, I could’ve changed this to make my product look more sophisticated, throughout my audience research I have found that some teenagers like vibrant colours but also a sophisticated look to a magazine.

The fact that I didn’t think about the mise-en-scene in my photography would lower my grade therefore I should’ve done a block colour in the background and cut out the picture to put over it, this would make my picture stand out more and look similar to other pop themed magazines, attracting to my audience more as it is what they’re used to seeing. Both models are making eye contact with the camera which draws in the readers’ attention as they feel like the artist is looking at them which makes my audience want to pick up my product. They are both similar with a relaxed facial expression and not to be overly posed however billboard’s model has positioned her arm in a different way. It took a lot of changes for my contents page to be finished but the final look is quite similar to most pop magazines, however I have added thin rectangles to surround my pictures and separate the text. The colour of my text is black and red due to the white not being seen with the white background. I have incorporated red somehow in all of my pages so that they all link together as one whole product. The language of my contents page and article is mostly informal and written in Standard English. This way every person who reads my magazine will be able to understand what it is saying without struggling to read it with the use of any slang or jargon. 

Evaluation Activity 3

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

There is a large variety of publishing companies that I could choose for my magazine. There are many successful companies like Bauer Media; I have chosen this company to publish my magazine as it in my research I have found that it is worldwide which means more people will read my magazine. Bauer Media owns 570 magazines; including Q, a pop magazine, 300 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations, I picked this institution as it has already published pop themed magazines and it is very successful as it has a turnover of two billion Euros due to its 11,000 employees in 16 countries working hard. I have found that they publish more niche magazines which means that they are aimed at niche audiences. I think this would be good because I feel like my magazine is a niche pop which fits in with other magazines that Bauer has published. I would be publishing my magazine monthly as it has a mid-price of £5 so making it weekly would be quite expensive for my audience. My magazine would be sold in specific news agents/ music stores and can be bought by subscription, similar to Q magazine as my magazine is quite similar. I believe that this company will ensure my magazine will be successful and read by my target audience.

In my research I have found other publishing companies like Prometheus global media. This company has published many pop magazines for example Billboard. This would’ve been good as my magazine is pop and I have followed some conventions and styles from the Billboard magazine however if my product was too similar then my audience would prefer to buy their preferred magazine; Billboard. In my research I have found that this company is quite successful as it owns and operates a number of major entertainment industry trade publications and was made and intended for music professionals such as artists and radio DJs. My product would be sold in a news agents or a supermarket as that is where my chosen audience would prefer to buy their magazines from. This institution would not be good to publish my magazine as their product would be found in consumer bookstores and magazine stands, mostly in cities with a large music industry presence.

I have also researched a publishing company called Immediate Media company. It is an award-winning content and platform company and published the magazine ‘Top of the pops’. This would be good as my magazine follows the conventions of a pop magazine and this institution has already published pop magazines so they will be experienced and know how to market my product. This company is one of the biggest consumer media businesses in the UK and the fourth largest magazine publisher. This would be good for my magazine as it would be so popular with my audience however it could attract the wrong audience or my product will not be bought as this company has published many other magazines that people are used to buying therefore my magazine won’t be as known. They have published many magazines that people will know of therefore they will not be interested in my magazine if they are used to and like the other 74 million magazines they sell every year.

Throughout my research I have found many publishing companies that could be good for my magazines for many reasons. Overall I have decided to go with Bauer media as it is worldwide and means that my magazine will be published in many companies and have a wider range of audience. I have chosen this institution as it has some experience and knowledge in publishing pop magazines which could make my product very successful. My audience is more niche as it is specific and Bauer media aims their products at niche audiences therefore this would be a good publishing company. 

Evaluation Activity 4

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

The main audience for my magazine would be 45% male and 55% female. The reason why my magazine focuses on women more than men is because it men are more likely to listen to heavy metal bands and most of the fans to pop stars like, Shawn Mendes are female. My audience would need to be interested in the genre of pop and to enjoy reading articles about the latest music and fashion in depth. I will not make all of my magazine for females as them my audience with decrease and there will be less chance of selling my magazine. My audience needs to be interested in pop music and the most recent trends for example, fashion. This audience is very competitive as most magazines aim to attract to this type of audience it will also be hard as there are many pop themed magazines that people might prefer over mine. When designing my magazine, I considered all of my research and planning so that my magazine fit the interest of my intended audience. The design of my magazine is quite simple with some ideas added in that I got from other pop magazines, this may attract my audience as it is similar to other pop magazine that they might like. I have decided to make my magazine cost £5 as it is an affordable price for teenagers who for example may not have a lot of money which means they are still able to buy my magazine.

I have chosen this target audience because I think that the age range of 13-18 is around about when children are most interested in music and when they discover their own personal taste. At around the age of being a teenager people are more likely to change their taste in music by looking at what other people like or to get inspiration. People would also what to experience all the different types of music out there and once they have found their type of music they will begin to want to know about it so they will buy magazines. I think that my age range is more likely to be interested in pop music and older people will be more interested in things like indie music. I decided to cap my intended audience at 18 as that is when people are more interested in indie music or rock as they are more mature and interested with unique styles of music. My music magazine will contain information and pictures of pop artists which is what my audience would like to see as the age range I have targeted my product to will be more interested in pop as it is more popular than any other genre of music. The pictures in my magazine would have monochrome colours to match the smart and sophisticated style of the magazine, my models would be mainly women as they are more likely to read this type of magazine. The fashion will consist of casual wear, e.g. Jeans, Hoodies/jumpers, mesh tops etc. Bands and artists that I found to be most featured in this style of magazines are Drake, Ed Sheeran, Little Mix, Fifth Harmony etc. These will be featured in my magazine as they are very popular with my chosen audience.

With my audience research I used the website Musicmachinery.com and it helped me decide on the gender that my product would lean towards the most. “Exploring Gender Differences in Listening- Do men listen to different music than women do? Anecdotally, we can think of lots of examples that point to yes – it seems like more of One Direction’s fans are female, while more heavy metal fans are male." This allowed me to specifically choose the gender that my magazine will be mostly aimed at, I made the decision to aim it 55% towards female as they are more likely to read my magazine because most fans of pop stars like Ed Sheeran are female.

Audience Profile:

Name: Sarah Jeffreys

Gender: Female

Age: 16

Hobbies and interests:  Sports, Using the Internet, animals and music

Favourite music artists:  Drake, Arctic Monkeys, Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes, Oh Wonder

Favourite clothes shops: Gap, Next, New look and Accessorize

Favourite Magazines: Top of the pops, NME and Billboard

Sarah Jeffreys can be a good example for my target audience as she does listen to some pop music which would be good as the genre of my magazine is pop so she might read my magazine as she is interested in some pop music artists which my magazine features. She also enjoys reading some pop magazines although NME does provide information about Indie music as well as pop which means Sarah is able to like two types of music so I could incorporate some other genres in my magazine with the main theme of pop. This could increase my target audience to some people that enjoy reading about other genres of music but it could cost more for my audience which may be harder for them to buy making my magazine have a lower profit as some teenagers cant afford it. Therefore I will be pricing my magazine at £5 and making it monthly so that ym audience will be able to afford it. Sarah wouldn’t be a perfect example of my target audience as the shops that she goes to to buy her clothes does not provide the style that some pop artists wear. The shops she goes to does not include a pop theme which will not be good as my magazine involves all pop fashion. But my magazine could persuade her to change where she shops if she reads and enjoys my magazine.