As Media Magazine Course Work Evaluation

8/7/2019 As Media Magazine Course Work Evaluation

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AS MEDIA MAGAZINE

COURSEWORK:

Evaluation.


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Research: There are very few music magazines for

young girls, most have been discontinued or

have become increasingly unpopular, the

only music magazine which I have found is

Smash Hits!. In order to gain a wide range

of styles which I could use which wouldappeal to a young audience, I have focused

on other magazines too, such as Shout and

Mizz which are fashion-gossip based

magazines for a young demographic. I was

inspired by Shout, Mizzand Smash Hitsthese are all fairly new magazines which

have recently been brought out in order to

reach a young demographic. I have

dedicated all of my research to these three

magazines, using there online websites and

hard copies for inspiration.


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All of these magazines initially, influencedmy own through the way that theyaddressed their readers. The style was verycolloquial, informal and chatty, this created afriendly style which I wanted to incorporate,

because I felt, as the reader, included and asif the magazine was talking directly to me.Another element of such magazine whichinspired me was the colourful, eye catchingdesigns of the front cover, from my research,

I found that all of the covers, particularlyShouthad a colour theme of two or morecolours and this continued through to thecontents page and other following pages ofthe magazine.

Inspirations andinfluence:

Colourtheme

demonstratedthrough

use of yellowand

purple.


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CODES AND CONVENTIONS:

Centred images of high-profile pop stars/Bands

Bold, eye catching fonts

Front covers which are

busy and clutteredBar codes

Bold text contrasted with

curly, feminine fonts.

Usually a colour theme of

two or three coloursTaglines

Side panels

Mastheads


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Where is theroom in the

market?

I believe there is room in the market for a music magazinewhich is for young pre-teens who are just starting to consumetheir majority of media, its unique selling point being the factit is a current magazine which instead of being a lifestyle fortween girls which primary focus is fashion and beauty. Diskowould act as outlet for mainstream pop music which iscurrently in the chart, giving reader information on newalbums, singles and releases from their favourite pop singers,but instead of the dated styles of some of the magazineswhich I have researched; it is fresher and aimed much more

specifically at a particular demographic, enabling me to createa house style which is identifiable. Also, I wanted to includeinterviews with mostly, female pop artists who are older,therefore young girls could look up to.


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Representation of social

groups: Representation of the social groups of my magazine is young

females, typically tweensaged 12-15 who are just starting toexperience popular culture and consume media by choice. Ibelieve that this social group is represented positively as Disko

magazine gives of a vibe of optimism, enthusiasm and ambitionthrough its content of interviews with suitable stars who giveits readers advice, and words of wisdom. I attempted torepresent young people in the opposite way to how they areusually portrayed in the news or in newspapers, instead of

trouble makers who are causing trouble and making lifedifficult as young, fresh minds with a new outlook on the worldand with a lot of ambition and zest for life. I think that mymagazine will offer a guide and regular help and advice forgirls who are experiencing growing up and realising their ownpersonality.


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Ideology:

political/social/cultural

The ideology for my magazine is for

it to represent culture and young

people in the 21st century, in a

positive way which focuses on thethings which will inspire young girls

to ultimately follow their dreams

and offer girls role models who

they can look up too. It would

similarly give them something to

feel a part of, offering them a way

to make friends and become part of

a group.


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Who would publish

Discko?

The publisher of a magazine such as mine

would be EMAP, a huge British publishing

institution who have published similar

magazines such as smash hitstheyspecialise in music magazines, radio and

television. The institution also owns

multiple radio stations and the well know

hit 40 UK. I believe that this publishingcompany would be right for my own

magazine because of the similar line of

media products.


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Target

audience/demographic Typical Profile of my reader:

The typical profile of my reader would be a young girl,

potentially in year 7, 8, 9 and 10 of secondary school, who

watch television programmes such as Hannah Montana,

Wizards of Waverly Place and Tracy Beaker. The types of

bands and artist they would listen too would be mainstream,well know people such as Black Eyed Peas, Miley Cyrus,

Britney Spears and Katy Perry, these artist are all role

models in which young people idolise for their success, and

aspire to be in their position. A lifestyle outlook which they

exhibit is free spirited, carefree and naive, perhaps a little

immature. They would enjoy activities such as shopping with

their friends and family, eating at fast food restaurants likeMcDonald's (reflecting their budget)and dance. Their

priorities would be centred on their friends, family and how

they are viewed by other people. Their main interests would

be based around the way they look, make-up, hair and

clothes would be high on their priorities, and they would be

particularly interested in the music artists who offer upbeat,

fun , pop music.


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Target

audience/demographic The purpose of my media piece was

primarily to entertain, and act as a

friend figure to young readers, but

after starting my magazine, I realised

that informing my reader of the newestinformation became a big priority. So,

the purpose became to entertain and

inform towards the end of making my

product. The Media theory which would

tie into is that of Blumlerand Katz: usesand gratifications. I believe that the

reason people would read my magazine

is for escapism and ultimately to escape

reality, and to immerge themselves into

the lifestyle of people who they admire.


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Flat Plan (front cover)

This is my flatplan for my my front cover of Discko. It

has inhibited the typical conventions of a teenage

magazine, for example: the central image is directly in

the middle and a focus, this is usually the artist or band

who will feature in the main article. The title is at the

top, usually in a bold font which stands out. Smaller

writing and pictures are on the band which is situated

down the left side of the magazine cover. Along with the

central image, there is typically a quote from the

band/artist to advertise the main interview. Thebarcode is conventional situated at the lower right

corner, or along the right side (research ofsmash hits

magazine) The price is not a unique selling point of

Discko, therefore i have not made it obvious point on

the front cover.

After I had made this flat plan and the main

construction of my magazine started, I realised some

problems with my design. One of these is the fact that

my picture would go over my title, I then worked aroundthis by changing the font into a more bold style,

allowing it to still be clearly visible to the readers, even

when the photo was covering it. Another problem I was

faced with is the pictures which were going to be placed

along the side bar, I found that I didnt have enough

space to situate them comfortably along with writing to

intrest the readers. I decided to cut using the pictures

and focused on the writing enticing the readers.


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Analysing my front cover:

Masthead in bold

font

Bold font contrasted

with a girly, curly

font.

Colourful side

bar

Celebrity quote

which is apparent

on researched

magazines also

Fun, colloquial

language which

appeals to the

reader

Barcode

Main, centredimage of star

Making

everything sound

exclusive to them

Addressing the

reader

personally


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My adopted house-style:

Discko magazine

Using a three colour theme of yellow,purple and pink: these are femininecolours which are eye catching toyounger girls

Bold fonts for titles, quotes and features Feminine, curly fonts for names of artists

Coloured blocks and squares behind anywriting on the front cover

Speech marks for main quotes

Multiple shapes (circles and squares) all

being present throughout the magazine. A colloquial, youthful use of language-

relating the audience

Constant shortening on words in orderto make familiar phrases OMGandBFFS


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Contents PageA plain, white background- in

the style ofShoutmagazine

Quiz from last weeks issue

this assumes that the readers

are regular

Speech bubble-style ofsmash

hits

A page-by-page index

of what's inside

Cover star is continued

throughout

Colour theme on front

cover has been continued

throughout the contents

and the rest of the

magazine .

Involving the audience

Photograph has not been edited

overly because the style has to stay

naturalistic


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Double-Page spreadPicture of who

interview is with is

shown

Space is left in order not to

overwhelm the readers because of

their age group.

Questions are in a

different colour in

order to make them

stand out.

Answers are written in

blue, this is continuous

with the colour themewhich has been used

throughout my magazine

Name of artist has been put in

the same font as front cover

for continuity throughout.

Suitable language for

audience.

Background is the same as the

front cover, just zoomed out in

order to girly pattern more clearly.

Clear headings-Similar to

Mizzmagazine


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Attracting and Addressing

my audience:

My audience is young andperhaps a little immature, so Icentred their attitude to life intothe Language which I used. I

chose colloquial phrases such asOMG in order to connect withmy audience who would usethese terms on a daily basis. Ialso called any celebrities by

their first name, for example Liaand Miley, this is assuming myaudience are aware of who theyare already, acting as a familiarfriend figure.


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my audience:

I think that the informal language I have adopted is inorder to make my audience feel confident, comfortableand as if they are being addressed by an older friend. The

photograph I have used has been used in magazine likeMizz, and sugar. My front cover is of the star from thelead article, a interview with female pop artist Lia, thephoto is a head-and-shoulder shot of her posing in acheeky way which conveys a fun, inviting illustration tothe audience. She is wearing geek style black glasseswhich I have photographed with her because it wanted itto be a trademark lookwhich the readers wouldautomatically associate with the artist.


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my audience:

I chose to make my masthead a in a very bold,eyecatching font this would make a young girlpay attention to Discko magazine if it was in ashop.

Using celebrities names ie. Miley and a star onthe front cover in order too aim it at girls whowould admire and look up to such artists.

Creating a girly, colourful and attractivemagazine through my use of colour themes inorder to engage with tween girls.

Offering interactive quizzes in the front covers

which gives the girls something to do within themagazine and this relates it to themselves andtheir own day to day lives.

Making the audience feel as if they are a friendthrough the uses of words such as exclusive


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Evaluation:conclusion

Through the process of making my product, I havelearnt to create and adapt a house-style in order toattract the target demographic of my magazine, I havelearned to use Photoshop a completely unfamiliar

editing programme, which enabled me to edit photo isin a subtle or obvious way, this allowed me to make myphotos look a lot more professional compared to mypreliminary task, in which the images where over-edited and look heavily tampered with, rather than

slightly edited in order to make them look brighter,more colourful and overall more fitting to my style ofmagazine.


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What I havelearnt:

Preliminary toFinal

Product From making my preliminary

task, I have realised theimportance of research and

finding a similar product, whichappeals to the same audience toinspire you when making yourown emulation of it.

Again through my research of

similar products I have realisedhow to use the Photo shop inorder to make the product asclose to professional looking aspossible.

As Media Magazine Course Work Evaluation

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