evaluation
TRANSCRIPT
EvaluationBy Thomas Harvey
My music magazine uses the same main features of a real music magazine. For example, the title is the largest font on the page and has a large main image on the front cover. The person within the picture on the front is also the person starring on the double page spread, mimicking a real music magazine. I chose not to have any other pictures on the cover, challenging the convention of normal magazines as I believe that having multiple images on the cover page makes it become crowded and less aesthetically pleasing. I have also implemented a barcode onto the front cover so that it also mirrors a real music magazine. Furthermore, I have used main cover line which is accompanied by multiple other cover lines, once again mimicking a real music magazine. I have developed my main image on my front cover, changing the colour, as it makes the cover seem more to do with the music it represents as it is very eccentric.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Within my contents page, I have kept the convention of the word ‘contents’ being the largest font on the page. I have also used few colours, once again keeping within the convention of a music magazine. Three pictures have been used within my contents page, which is in line with a real magazine. I have put the page numbers in the corners of each picture displaying what page you can find information about them on which is often used in music magazine contents pages. However, I have developed upon the standard contents page as I have faded the magazine title into the background of the page. I believe this gives a good effect and makes the page aesthetically pleasing. I have challenged the convention of a contents page by adding in a section called ‘What’s the word’ which is a section where I write an interesting fact. I believe this will engage the audience and entertain them whilst scanning through what the magazine contains.
I have challenged the conventions of a music magazine’s double page spread. Instead of putting all the text on the left/right hand side and a large imagine on the opposite side, I have decide to blend both images and text together. I believe this will maintain the reader’s attention as for every certain amount read, there will be a picture to entertain them. I chose a plain grey background which is a use of a real convention as on double page spreads; the background colour is often plain in order to not distract the reader from the actual information/pictures. I have developed upon the standard one main image on a double page spread by using multiple images. I believe this is better as it gives the reader more to look at and will help engage them. Within my double page spread, I have created an interview with my main artist, this should engage the reader as it allows them to find out more about the artist.
My music magazine is aimed at those who enjoy ‘rap’ and ‘drum and bass’ music. The magazine MDMAybe is secondly aimed at people aged between sixteen and twenty five. I based this upon the fact during my research, I discovered that the rap genre is enjoyed mainly by people within that age group.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
People Who Enjoy Rap
Aged 11-18Aged 18-25Aged 25-32Aged 32-39
My colour scheme represents the social group that enjoys listening to rap music as it is very ‘in-your-face’. I believe this mirrors the ideas behind the creation of rap music, it has enabled people to speak their minds through music. The main image on my front cover is of my main artist who is dressed in order to represent the rap image. He is wearing a ‘snapback’, a ‘Dope Chef’ t-shirt and a gold watch. I believe this choice of clothing/accessories represents the social group of those who listen to rap on a regular basis. My artist also has a cigarette in his mouth on the cover and a pint of beer on the double page spread, portraying an outlaw which the rap genre is meant to represent. Tattoos have also been edited onto my cover artist in order to connote the fact he is an ‘outlaw’.
An independent distribution company would suit my ‘rap’ magazine and I believe it would help maintain the urban feel of the magazine. Furthermore, I believe it would represent the type of people that would read my magazine.
I believe a media institution such as ‘Vibe’ would be able to distribute my music magazine. I have determined this due to the fact it would grant a large amount of male attention as there is more males than females that are interested in rap. Furthermore, I mostly mention male artists within my magazine and therefore Vibe distributing my magazine is a good way to expand my male audience.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
My target audience for my music magazine would consist of mainly males rather than females. The males would be aged sixteen to twenty five as this age range is typically what age the fans of the rap genre are. The price of my music magazine would be £1.99 as this is affordable for everyone within my target audience’s age group. My magazine will also be published every two weeks on a Saturday. I chose to release the magazine on a Saturday as my target audience will have the day off from work/school and will be able to pick up the magazine and spend time reading it.
My magazine would consist of mainly music articles and I would therefore highly doubt that it would appeal to someone who is not interested in the rap genre. However, I believe it would appeal to people as it will contain information about upcoming/undiscovered rap artists. This would be my key selling ingredient as people love to find out about artists before anyone else and before they become famous.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
To attract my audience I followed the main conventions of a music magazine. I used a main image that portrayed the genre of music my magazine represented on the cover and used a coloured masthead. I believe my cover alone would attract a reader’s eye due to its colour scheme and layout. Furthermore, my magazine is concentrated on music and only music which would address my readers needs/wants.
Morality aside, I did not clearly display the price of the magazine as it may put off my readers. However, I made the price £1.99 rather than £2.00 due to the fact it makes the magazine look cheaper and will attract my audience. I also managed to keep my cover and contents page clear and concise which I believe will appeal to my readers and they will not have to spend long periods of time simply trying to locate the information they desire.
How did you attract/address your audience?
I have followed the main conventions of a rap music magazine.
Main image of the rapper facing the camera with a coloured masthead.
Rapper holding a cigarette in his mouth, wearing a hat and jewellery as conventional.
Black background just like most convention rap music magazines.
Similar colour scheme; black, red and white.
Barcode at the bottom so that it is visible without disrupting the layout of the page.
I followed the convention of having multiple imagines in the contents page.
I decided to have page numbers and titles alongside the pictures and titles.
I have used a similar colour scheme to the cover but included a dark grey and a little bit of green as I believe it made it stand out further as well as more aesthetically pleasing.
I have changed the sizes of the texts along the contents to represent popularity. The larger the text the more popular the content.
I have attracted the audience through the use of multiple pictures of my double page spread and followed the convention of a music magazine by making the whole two pages about one artist.
I have attracted and maintained the attention of the audience through maintaining the same colour scheme.
From construction my music magazine, I have improved my Photoshop skills greatly. I believe I have also improve my photography skills as I now understand what lighting and background to use in order to make my photo better.
I have also learnt that using different angles can produce very different pictures. The issue of the picture angles arose when I was trying to make the pictures on my double page spread differ. I then realised I should use different angles, this gave me the effect I wanted and I am very pleased with it and myself. The process of creating my music magazine has allowed me to improve my IT skills greatly and I now feel much more confident working with Photoshop.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Throughout the process of creating my music magazine, I learnt the rule of thirds and used it many times when taking the pictures I needed for my magazine.
Furthermore, I downloaded some of the fonts used within my magazine which I did not know you could do prior to this production.Rule of Thirds
To start, I created a front cover and contents page for a school magazine. During the creation, I was not aware of how to use Photoshop probably and my results were scrappy. However, I believe since then I have progressed greatly and my current cover, contents and double page spread are looking much more professional. For example, during the process of creating my music magazine I have learnt how to use the lasso to cut out images on Photoshop. I was not aware of this tool prior to the preliminary task.
Looking back at the preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to a full product?
During the creating of my music magazine, I have learnt a very large amount about the conventions of a typical music magazine. At the time I was creating my pages for the preliminary task, I was not aware of these conventions and since learning about them, I have been able to make my magazine look a lot more professional. Furthermore, I have learnt during the process to aim my magazine at a specific target audience and to try and make my magazine to appeal to their wants in order for it to look professional and attract readers.
The difference in detail on my preliminary task and my actual music magazine is extraordinary as I had learnt many different photography/ IT skills by the time I started to create my music magazine. I have also learnt that it is possible to download fonts
I created a survey and gave it out to fellow media students who enjoy rap music in order to gather some audience feedback.
These will be displayed on the slides to follow.
Evaluate how successful your product is with your target audience using audience feedback.
From my surveys, I have learnt that my colour scheme, pictures and masthead are typically good. However, my layout and entertaining features are ok, in future they need to be improved.
I have also gathered that my main image’s quality needs to be improved for my rap music magazine to be a completely effective piece of media.