EVALUATION

DETAILED FEEDBACK – By Holly Beale

Why I chose to make a Drum and Bass magazine aimed at female studentsDrum and bass is a fast growing genre amongst the teenagers of today, it resembles the energetic individuality of today's youths.

I wanted to aim my magazine at Female students between the ages of 17-25, this is because drum and Bass is more recognized as a masculine genre due to the deep bass and dark drum beats, but this isn’t nessicarially true. Drum and bass is attracting the attention of more and more females, whether they are just attending drum and bass nights or actually start their own career through the genre.

Before making my magazine I had to intensely Analysis different genres of music magazines so I could work out the codes and conventions of each genre and also see how they are aimed at their chosen audience. and I also had to research who my audience was, this was done with questionnaires and researching each genre of music and finding out who was listening to that particular genre.

This helped me to consider which genre I would eventually try to interpreter and aim it at the correct audience.

Cover Page

Masthead

This helps to Identify the genre of my magazine, and also draws the reader into picking up my magazine, I used a ‘distorted’ font as it has a impact with the phrase ‘Warning’ It makes the audience initaly think of danger, which appeals to my aimed audience because of their outgoing persona’s. Changing the colour of the ‘W’ helps to make my masthead stand out but also helps to link the different layers.

Colours

I used the colours Pink, White and Black This was because i was persivicaly aiming my magazine towards the female audience, The use of pinks help my targeted audience distinguish this.

The pink gives my cover page more character and identity.

I used Black as my background to show the stereo-typically darkness of the D’n’B genre.

Pull Quote

My pull quote is a fair bit bigger than my masthead, I did this because I feel that my audience would recognize my magazine from just its appearance, I wanted my audience to notice this main feature, I used the same font as I did for the masthead so to keep the same ‘destroyed’ theme running throughout the cover page. I think its really affective.

Cells

Adding Cells down the right hand side of my cover page and colouring the font white helps to make sure my readers don’t miss the added features inside but it doesn’t distract them from the main article ‘Dirty Bass Headz’.

Main Image

The main purpose of my main image is to relate to the audience, I used this image because although it’s of two males, It shows the codes and conventions of what my audience appeal to

Most of the contents pages I researched/analysed used almost the exactly same house colours used on the cover page, so to carry on the theme.

I didn’t really challenge this, but I feel my cover page is still individual from what you would find on the market.

Contents

- I wanted to split my contents page into different sections, this was so I could contain more relevant information on just one page.

Editors Note

I wanted to include this because i thought it would be an interesting feature to include, it also adds a personal touch to my magazine, it makes the audience feel as if they are directly in contact with the editors and producers of this magazine, it also share secrets with the reader, which keeps the audience engaged.

I used the bands Logo as a background for the editor note, this helps to split the page up further.

Features

I used this layout to show the main features of the magazine, i wish I had included a ‘regular features’ section, this would have given it an authentic look implying that there are regular issues'.

Main Image

I kept my main image central, Although it is a Mid-shot I think it works well because of the main DJ’s facial features. I would have liked to replace this with a long shot of just him .

I escepally like the way his hat is obstructing the masthead, he’s almost jumping from the page.

Masthead

I used the same masthead so to carry on the destroyed theme, expect this time none of the letters are overlapping.

I also kept the pink and white theme because it’s very nice on the readers eyes. I split up each feature in the contents by colouring the numbers.

The splashes of pink throughout this page should keep the reader engaged.

Double Page Spread

I really dislike my double page spread, I think it lets down the whole magazine, I think it should have been split up in two pages, the main image on one side, the article on the second page. If I could, and had enough time, I would make it again.

Main image

My main image isn’t as good as it could have been, I feel l should have take a shot of just the main artist and made the image a low-angled, wide camera shot. I feel this would have given him a more dominating and superior identity about him.

Masthead

My masthead is exactly the same as it is on the cover page except it has been laid out in a straight line; all the overlapping is the same.

I think this is the feature that actually proves that all three pages have a relationship between them.

Main Article

Although I feel the content is good, I took into consideration the tone and register of my targeted audience, applied good information and there isn’t a crazy amount of text. It gets the point across simply and it contains humour.

But they way i have laid out on the page looks very amateur and disappointing. the columns should be a lot smaller, and the text shouldn’t be obstructed by the picture, which makes it hard to read.

How does your media product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I have developed a media magazine that follows the connotations of mainstream musicmagazines, but due to its musical genre it is a specialist magazine designed to appeal to female students between the ages of 17 – 25. Although this particular social group is highly targeted by media companies because of their used of technology and their variation in entertainment and they amount of media consumed daily by this audience, there are not many drum and bass magazines on the market,Which I found surprising considering this is a fast growing genre and that there are more genres branching from Drum and Bass such as Dub-step, Grime and alsoa strong hip hop influence.

I have tried to promote the Drum and Bass scene throughout my magazine by using dark colours.

I managed to follow the mainstream connotations of the outline of a standard music magazine by making sure I had included a pull quote, Masthead, main image, Cells and use of colours to grab the right audience.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine has been generally aimed at female students between the ages of 17 – 25, who have an outgoing personality and have an interest in Drum and Bass/ Dubstep. I have tired to represent this audience through my product in a number of ways:

The colours I used I think really show who my magazine is aimed towards, the black and white used keep it visually safe, although it keeps to the conventions of Drum and Bass but the vibrant pink help to grasp female attention, especially the use of it in the masthead which draws the eyes in.

The type of font I’ve chosen for the masthead also represents my pre-adult audience, it conveys destruction and danger which appeals to my audience due to the harshness of the music.

Although my Images are of males throughout my magazine I think this works to my advantage because it will also grab the attention of male drum and bass fans, and will eventually up my views.

The boys are dressed in typical ‘chavy’ fashion, wearing caps, zip-up hoodies and expensive make T-shirts. They represent my audience fairly well, they look like typical DJ’s who would be playing at a Drum and Bass event, they also convey the outgoing attitude my audience have, this is shown in my models expressions; the main artist has a ‘bass face’.

What kind of institution might distribute your media product?

Mainstream shops such as H.M.V and Virgin Mega Stores would be too commercial to stock a magazine such as this; As it’s a specialists' magazine, I think local outlets such as small record shops, pubs, clubs, colleges/ universities would sell it. Also due to the pricing of the magazine, there isn’t going to be much profit from it, so big establishments might want some commition for selling it- I’d rather it be handed out to audience to pick up for free (like a college magazine) as this would be the best way to promote it to my chosen audience; They wouldn’t be willing to pay £4.00 per issue due to lack of funds, also you could get your readers involved in future issues by requesting for people to send in articles.

Shops In Norwich that would supply/ sell ‘Warning’:

-SoundClash + White-label (record shops)

- The WaterFront, Pulse, Mustard (Student Clubs, which regually hold DnB events and such)

- Norwich Arts Centre

- City College Norwich & Various schools + College’s in the local area (attract more varied socal groups)

- Most City Pubs (which attract youths)

I would also take full advantage of having a website for this magazine, so my audience can view the entire magazine, for free, plus more features, offers and promotions. This way more of a wider Audience can get to view it.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My Target Audience

My media product is to be aimed at college or university students between the ages of 16 -25, out going and lively students that have a passion for live music events and gigs, especially drum and bass / Dubstep genres, very sociable and enjoys attending socail events but may not nessaricaly have the funds to do attend all the time.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have learnt lot about media and technology this year in media,

I’ve learnt to use a number of new programmes such as ‘SurveyMonkey.con’ and Issue

I’ve also learned to improve skills on ‘Photoshop’ and blogs. I have learnt so many new effects and tricks that can really enharnse your images.

My skills using a digital camera have improved also, I have learnt several new camera angles and learnt to consider lighting and mise-en-scene.

I have learnt about moodboards to represent information in a visually stimulating way.

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

I feel I have improved so much over the year, looking back at my college magazine especially my contents page, you can see a vast improvement, I have improved my awareness of the codes and conventions.

But I think my main article could do with improvement, especially the layout of the font.