Evaluation

• 1. Evaluation! Throughout the course in media we have had to research, create and analyse, existing music magazines;to therefore then create our own individual products; a music magazine front cover, contents page anddouble page spread. Using Photoshop and our own skills we were able to create these three pieces ofmedia, but before doing so we had to research a lot about the history of our genre; such as the genre Ichoose which was pop and we had to carry out many things such as; case studies, questionnaires, costume ideas and mock ups. This was to help make our 3 media pieces the best they could possibly be;after conducting our research and planning we had to then create our 3 pieces.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge formsand conventions of real media products?Through the use of my front cover I was able to follow the codes and conventions of a typical Popmagazine. I used a lot of bright colours on my front cover to make it stand out; this would also appeal to thetarget audience as they like bright colours and not dull boring colours, therefore they would be moreattracted to buying my magazine rather than any other magazine being sold in that shop. This follows thecodes and conventions of a Pop magazine because typically there are a lot of bright colours used to grabthe readers attention. I followed the same colour scheme throughout using, pink blue and yellow andsometimes white; these are typically colours that are associated with Pop and feminine colours that wouldattract the target audience but they are not too in your face.In the same way I also used the same sort of idea for the banner at the bottom of the page, I used theposter idea because it would draw the readership into buying the magazine, knowing that there are postersof hot guys and that they can keep these posters. It was also a good way of filling up the page if there wasa lot of blank space then this would help to cover more space. The images are also similar and the barcodeis in the same position. Differently I choose to use a puff on my front cover next to the banner as typicallyon a lot Pop music magazines, the puff is usually near the top of the page so it is seen first advertisingsomething that may be free. In We (heart) pop magazine they typically do this or they feature no puff, but inthe issue covering One Direction they have a sort of arrow shape that is directing you to the posters,drawing you into buying the magazine for the posters.In my magazine front cover I also followed the general layout of a typical Pop magazine. A lot of my selllines, banners and text are in the same positioning as it is on We (Heart) pop magazine. Typically youwould expect to see the banner at the bottom of the page, which is also where I have positioned mine.There is also a shopping guide to the left hand side in the left hand corner; which as you can see in theimages below where I have placed mine in my magazine front cover and where it has also been placed onan actual existing Pop music magazine. The name of the magazine is very bold and stands out; this hasbeen placed on the top left hand corner, which draws the reader into buying the magazine; therefore they

2. are able to identify the magazine again and again. The positioning of the model also draws the reader in asthey stand out and catch the target audiences eye; the celeb image dominates the page. The use of aceleb makes the reader want to pick up and buy the magazine as they want to know more about thesecelebrities and find out all about their lifestyles.My contents page followed some of the codes andconventions of a typical pop music magazinecontents page. In the same way as my front cover, my contents page also uses a lot of bright and pop likecolours; blues, pinks and reds which make the magazine stand out and also show typical conventions ofthe pop genre so it is easily identified to any other magazine, I tried to use the same colours throughout all3 of my pieces thats why focused heavily on the colours baby blue and pink which are not only veryfeminine colours which will attract my target audience but very pop like colours. I used the lips imageryagain to carry on a symbiotic link from my front cover onto my contents page, it also makes my contentspage seem a little quirky and cheeky and not just your boring, average pop music magazine. The layout isquite similar to how you would expect to see in on a music magazine, there is a larger main image thenthere are smaller feature article photographs, this generally seen on a pop music magazine contents page.Then there is always a section on the page that tells you what is inside the issue this week/month, being itarticles, interviews, quizzes, games and more the magazine is always cram packed full of things to do andread about drawing the reading in even more to buying the magazine because this is the first page theyopen; if it is not interesting or appealing the reader will not buy it.Differently I changed the positioning of my images and where the text was positioned on my contents page.Typically you would see the images placed more to the right hand side of the page or to the middle of thepage, whereas I have chosen to position my images to the left hand side of the page because that is wherethe human eye first looks when opening a magazine. My main article photograph is also positioned here sotherefore this would be the first thing that they get to see, also drawing them into buying the magazine so 3. They can find out more about this article and celebrity. But both my contents page and this current existingcontents page look very similar; it looks like the page has just been flipped round and is now positioned onthe opposite side of the page.Using my double page spread I was able to portrait common codes and conventions that are shownthroughout pop music magazines. I have used common features to show the codes and conventions of thepop genre. Each double page spread in pop music magazines have certain similarities, such as the use ofbalancing out the images and the text so the article/interview does not become too word heavy. I used pullquotes to draw attention to specific points in the article; I also used a pull out quote from the article as a title as it draws attention to the article. A lot of pop 4. magazines typically do this as it adds to the effect of the article and is makes the article more fun as welland highlighting and stressing a certain point.A typical convention used in La Pop magazine is that thecolours are very bright and friendly as the reader and target audience would expect to see on a doublepage spread in a music magazine. Another similarity between my double page spread and a double pagespread from top of the pops magazine, is that there is a bigger main image that dominates the page, andthen smaller feature images that surround the page which make it more fun and visual. A lot of popmagazines tend to have the writing on one side of the page and the image/images on the other side, thiscreates a type of division or barrier between the visual side of the magazine and the informal, textual sideof the magazine.How does your media product represent particular social groups?My three media pieces show the representation of different female social groups. It does slightly stereotypethe typical female as loving the colour pink and enjoying mainly pop music; due to the fact La Popmagazine is predominantly featured on pop artists and bands and this is the type of target audience La Popwant to attract. A lot of feminine colours are used to show this, such as hot pink, baby blue and a softpurple, to exaggerate the type of magazine and target audience we want to achieve. Such artists that fillthese brackets are people like:Katy Perry Taylor Swift CarleyraeJepsenHowever they are not alsoshown to be these typical sex objects just thrown onto a page, wearing very revealing clothing, such asVibe and Billboard; this is because the artists La Pop like to feature are more than just a sex object they arethese powerful and successful women, we know the target audience will look up to. La Pop magazine alsowants to give an edge and quirkiness to the magazine thats why the clashes and mixes of bright coloursand colours such as black give a good contrast between the typical pop colours and the darker edgiercolours, which also link in with the personality of my target audience. Artists that can be placed into thesecategories are: Jessie J Pink Lady GaGaMy magazine also shows a lot of bands that are a mix between the girly stereotype and the quirkyedginess. The bands that are shown are both female and male pop bands, but for the past 10 years therehas not been a band that has had a mix of both female and male artists such as S Club 7. Howevertypically the articles and fashion pages in La Pop will just be based on the female bands; whereas theposters that are featured will be predominantly male this is due to the fact that the readership of La Popwould rather have posters about these males, and therefore rather read about their role models. Throughthe use of bands La Pop is able to represent different ethnicity groups and gender as bands such as JLSand little mix have different ethnicities within their girl/boy bands. Pop bands that are featured throughoutLa Pop magazine include; Little Mix JLS One Direction Girls Aloud 5. The reason I have chosen to represent these specific female social groups is because this is a typical ofthe type of celebrities and people that are featured in a pop music magazine such as top of the pops andwe love pop magazine. Generally the readership would typically see these celebrities dressed in pink andgirly clothing throughout the magazine; these celebs also reflect the type of fashion sense the readership ofthese magazines and the type of qualities they possess. The target audience and readership for these twomagazines also possess some of the same qualities that my target audience and readership posses, sotherefore I wanted to make sure that their needs were met. But in a lot of pop magazines you would nottypically see much of pop artists such as pink and lady gaga due to the fact they are slightly edgier andquirkier than the typical stereotype for pop magazines. But in a lot of pop magazines you would not typicallysee much of pop artists such as pink and lady gaga due to the fact they are slightly edgier and quirkier thanthe typical stereotype for pop magazines. But I have chosen to represent this type of female social groupbecause I wanted to publicise and broadcast my magazine to a wider audience, therefore grabbing morefemale attention more readership figures. Using a range of different representations of female social groupsmakes sure that La Pop is a magazine that is able to maintain a high level of success and keeps its readersinterested and glued to their seats when reading the magazine.Most of the stereotypes that we have today are because of the media, through the uses of;NewspapersMagazinesTVInternetMusicFilmThe way an artists portrait themselves in a music video is able to create a very strong stereotype forhim/her and their genre of music. Take an artist like pink, she sings a combination of pop and rock andthrough the use of her music videos, the press are able to take a song such as so what and show pink sobe this really destructive and crazy woman who is hard to control, but then through the use of a song suchas lady marmalade makes her seem like this fun and happy outgoing person. So as you can see themedia can manipulate us and deceive us into thinking a different way about certain celebs.What kind of media institution might distribute your media product andwhy?The media institution which will own and distribute my magazine will be the BBC, (BBC magazines whichare now part of the immediate media company and are merged withMagicaliaLimited which is a digital cross-media publisher and platform provider, based in London, England). The BBC are most known for their successfulTV channels, BBC1, BBC2, etc, But Inaddition to programming they have many other media platforms such asradio, news, music, books and magazines. The BBC produces material to accompany programmers. The BBCcurrently is the third-largest publisher of consumer magazines in the United Kingdom, This institution currently ownmagazines such as: Radio Times Top Gear Top of the Pops Doctor Who Adventures Girl TalkI have chosen this particular institution because they own top of the pops which is one of the magazines Istudied while trying to get ideas for my Pop magazine, top of the pops has also been running for almost 20years showing that this is a very good media institution to distribute my magazine on.top of the pops isvery successful in ensuring their target audiences needs are fulfilled. Having the BBC distribute mymagazine will increase its popularity because it is a worldwide media institution that is very successful andown very popular well known magazines. The BBC will successfully meet and fulfil my target audiencesneeds and requirements, because they are very informed about the pop genre because, before themagazine top of the pops was released in 1995; it was first a music programme thatwas originallybroadcast 6. weekly between 1 January 1964 and 30 July 2006.This therefore shows that the BBC has a great understandingabout the pop music industry; and what the pop target audience want.A way in which they could promotemy magazine further and make it even more successful is to publicise and advertise La Pop in some oftheir current existing magazines, such as top of the pops and girl talk.The fact that the BBC are a multimedia platform is able to show that, they know exactly who their targetaudience are and what their target audience want and are very successful in fulfilling their audiencesneeds; also showing that they care about their viewers, readers, listeners and target audiences needs.Who would be the audience for your media product?The target audience for La Pop will be focussed on females, aged between 17-24 year olds with a passionfor pop music and pop artists. My target audience enjoy going to gigs and concerts that have a range ofdifferent artists, from Jessie J and Little Mix to Katy Perry she loves her feisty strong powerful artists thatare predominately pop artists. My target audience are people who like to stand out from the crowd and benotice, they are not part of a typical stereotype because they like to be different and original and this is whatpop music is about, having your own unique style and quirkiness to the genre of music.They aspire to be like little mix and Jessie J as you can see from the images above that both, as solo artistsand a girl band they can still have their own style and edge to the genre of pop. That is why my magazinewill appeal hugely to my target audience due to the fact these celebrities appear throughout my magazine;therefore my target audience are able to make the magazine their own as they can read about their idolsand can feel like they can have a close relationship with their idols as well as La Pop magazine.My target audience fall into the category of E, D, and C2 on the Jicnar scale. These categories are definedas skilled or partially skilled workers. As my target audience are still in school or university trying to becomethe best they can be they have not yet reached the top half of the scale, but with La Pops help they willsoon reach their full potential. This links into Maslows theory; who was a media theorist. He created thepyramid of hierarchy of needs. The category which my target audience will fall into is esteem and self-actualization as my magazine will make them feel good about themselves and help them become the bestthey can possibly be. Love and belonging could also be a category which the readers of La Pop fall into asthey love their family and friends and love to be around them and spend time with their loved ones.My magazine is suitable for my target audience because it fulfils all their needs and their interests. It givesthem all the latest updates about gigs and concerts and also the low down on all the celeb gossip. Due tomy target audience being female my magazine focuses mainly on big, successful stars such as Cheryl Coleso they are able to relate to La Pop magazine, which highlight their success and fame and fortune. But LaPop also offers them with male pop artists and posters of Hot Bods as this is what my target audiencewant to see. The use of my editors letter every issue will make La Pop magazine seem personal andexclusive for La Pop readers only, so therefore my target audience is constantly drawn in to carry on buyingLa Pop magazine each month, to get her monthly fix of celeb news, Goss and fashion. 7. How did you attract/address your audience?La Pop magazine successfully appeals to its target audience and attracts the reader in a multiple of ways.The front cover of La Pop magazine features are the typical conventions that youd expect to see on amusic magazine front cover. The female model on the front cover of La Pop; gives a visual imagery of whatthe target audience and readership aspire to look and be like, the artist that is portrayed also gives of thistypical stereotype of the type of artists that the pop genre portrait throughout pop magazines such as Welove Pop and top of the pops. The model is giving direct eye contact towards the audience which againdraws the reader in, as the use of this make the reader feel as if the model/artist is looking directly at them,which makes La Pop more personal for the readership and the target audience.The colours that I have used are very bright and eye catching but, I have kept to a particular colour schemeso the page has a hint of sophistication as well as a fun element to it; using predominantly pink, blue,purple and yellow to again highlight that the magazine is a pop magazine. From the three images above of;La Pop magazine, top of the pops magazine and We love pop magazine, we can see that La Popmagazine follows a similar colour scheme as to the following two magazines, where they too have onlyused 3 or 4 specific colours to carry on this symbiotic link throughout their magazine front covers.Thisdraws the reader in, because they know what they are getting each time, and consistently using similarcolour schemes gives the magazine its own brand identity that the target audience can easily follow andtherefore are able to recognise the magazine each time they go to buy it.The use of the banner across the bottom of the page is able to draw our readership into buying La Pop,because this is the type of thing the target audience want to see in their magazine, because they are thetype of women that like to see a hot guy topless so they can have a gossip with their friends about who theythink the hottest celebs are; it also draws them in further due to the fact that they can tear or cut the poster 8. out and stick it on their walls, so it is like a kind if free gift that they get from La Pop.The mast head I haveused is slightly different to your average and typical mast head that would usually be seen on the frontcover of a pop magazine because, I did not want La Pop magazine to seem like it was copying any otherexisting pop magazines that are already outthere, I wanted La Pop magazine to shows is own brandidentity and its own style and quirkiness. My content page is also verysuccessful in attracting the readership and target audience as it gives a very visual imagery to themagazine. If the contents page was too word heavy then the readership may become bored and loseinterest before even reading the magazine. I find that La Pop magazine is very similarly laid out to theabove magazine We love pop as both have the editors letters and the main images dominating the page.The contents page from top of the pops magazine however I find does not attract me personally as it seemto scattered across the page as if there is no set layout which just makes the page seem messy. La Popmagazine is set out neater and tidier to make it easier to navigate through the magazine; the targetaudience for La Pop are also classy and sophisticated women that like to have organization in their livesand this will appeal to them. The use of just re-using the front cover as the main image on the contentspage in top of the pops magazine makes it seem slightly cheesy; it also suggest that, that is all that youwill see in the magazine as it seems they are the only articles and interviews that are being shown.Typically before buying a magazine the reader would flick through to the contents page to see what isinside this months issue, if the contents page does not appeal to them then they will not buy the magazine.I made sure that I carried on the symbiotic link from my front cover onto my contents page by using thesame colour scheme, mainly blue and pink with black text. This was so the target audience are able toconstantly recognise La Pop magazine, from the already existing pop magazines. The editors letter in thetop right hand corner of the magazine also appeals to the readership because it is as if, me the editor ittalking directly to them personally, it also makes the magazine more personal to each individual; makingher feel like she can relate to the magazine, as if the magazine is her friend; it lets her see that La Popalways has the reader in mind. Whenever she is having a bad day she can just pick up a copy of La Popand relax, its her way of comfort and a way of her being able to find out all the latest gossip on herfavourite celebs and pop artists. The content which is presented on the contents page of La Popreflects the results which Ireceived from my questionnaire. I included free posters because this iswhat the reader wanted to see, it also makes the reader feel like they are receiving a gift from themagazine, again making La Pop a friendship figure almost. 9. The content in La Pop such as my double page spread appeals and draws the readership and targetaudience in becauseLa Pop magazine balances out the images with the text, giving visual imagery toaccompany the text. This appeals to the readership because the article/interview is not too word heavy, asthis may become boring and uninteresting for the reader, and therefore make them not want to buy La Popmagazine again.Some double page spreads are much more visual and only include snippets of information,using minimal text, such as in the double page spread above from We love pop magazine featuring thewanted. I find this effective as this informs the reader in a short summery of what is happening and goingon in the images; We love pop also use the same sort idea that La Pop uses, by balancing out the imagesand the text. I find that this is a good way of mixing up what sort of content the readership will see as itkeeps the reader interested, informed and excited about what they will see in the magazine.Again I haveused the same colour scheme throughout La Pop magazine (Blue, Pink, Black) to make sure the magazinehas a constant running symbiotic link throughout so the readership and the target audience are able toidentify and recognise the magazine, this draws them in because of the fact they can always just walk intoa shop or supermarket and pick up a copy of La Pop straight away.The questions in the interview from LaPop are written in blue, this makes them stand out and they are easy for the reader to read and thereforethe reader is able to see what the question is and what the reply from the celebrity is. At the bottom of thepage the page number is written in black against the red lips background so it stands out and is easy forthe readership to navigate their way through the magazine, making it easy for them to flick through to thearticle/interview they want to read about. The way in which I addressed the reader of my magazine wasinformal, but very friendly too as I used informal mode of address to attract to certain members from mytarget audience using certain things such as, OMG and hot bods alert this will attract their attention as itis as if they are talking to a friend and having a nice gossip about all the Goss they have just found out. It isvery chatty and how the reader would speak. This makes the magazine more relaxed and chilled out for thereader and target audience, which also links into her personality and likes because she likes to chill out withfriends and have a good old gossip.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructingthis product?Since beginning of this project I have learnt a lot of new technical skills which I did not have before. Beforestarting this project I had no knowledge on how to write or create a successful blog; as I had never usedone before. However since starting this project I have learnt how to create and navigate my way around ablog successfully and I am also very confident on how to use a blog I learnt how to do things such as; useembedded codes to upload files, videos and images.I also knew a few previous skills from Photoshop, as Ihave previously used it before, but I was able to re-access that knowledge and add to it by learning extraskills that I did not know beforehand. Another skill that I was able to pick up through the process is beingable toimport new fonts into Photoshop; I did this using a font website that allows you to find a variety offonts and download and install them onto Photoshop (http://www.dafont.com/)Through the creation of my three media pieces I have learnt a lot about different technologies that I neededto use to help me to improve my work. These technologies included things such as; 10. Blogspot.com Adobe Photoshop Microsoft PowerPoint Microsoft word Youtube.com Slideshare.comdafont.comI found that using bloggerwas very easy, and after the first few times of navigating my way around my blog Ipicked up the skills very easily. I used slide shareso I could upload my work to, my blogso it was easy touse and read when presented on my blog. I use YouTube on a regular basis and listen and download a lotof music from this site, so it did not take me long to work out how you convert a video and embed it, so Icould then put it on my blog to show conventions and representations of the genre of pop.Da font played amajor role into the making of my final three pieces as, I downloaded a particular font called Bubble-gumwhich was used throughout all three of my pieces and was the main font used, as I chose not to use toomany fonts as it may have become overpower and make my final three pieces look amateurish.Overall I feel that the technology that I learnt how to use and already knew how to use really helped memake realistic and successful magazine pieces. Without these new skills learned I would not have beenable to make such successful and well-made pieces, that filled all La Pops target audiences needs andinterest.Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt inthe progression from it to the full product?At the beginning of my course I had to create a school magazine for the sixth form as my preliminary task.Looking back on the front cover that I created during this set task and comparing it to my current front coverI have done as well as my other two pieces I can see huge improvements in my technique, skill and ability.Looking at both front covers, I can see that I lacked a lot of skills that were needed in order to create asuccessful and believable looking magazine front cover. The finished product for my preliminary was verybasic and rushed; although it did possess some good qualities, such as the layout was set out quite well,but was slightly rushed and the font used was not great. After this I then conducted a lot more research andplanning and this was able to help me improve my skills and knowledge of how a magazine should look 11. and the qualities it should possess in order to attract the reader. My front cover did stick to one particularcolour scheme and I didnt go to mad on using a variety of colours, but I do not think the burgundy red andthe mint green worked well for this school magazine as it made the front cover seem slightly tooChristmassy and not realistic. The model is making direct eye contact with the audience which is alsoanother good feature for my preliminary task. I am glad that I had the chance to make a preliminary piecebefore conducting my final three pieces because this was able to help me learn from my mistakes andimprove my capability and technique as to how I conducted my final three pieces. This also gave me thechance to learn new skills and pick up new knowledge that I did not have on the beforehand; I was able tocreate three visual pieces and make them seem very realistic as if they were a real music magazine.Looking back at the two of the front covers that I created and comparing my preliminary to my final frontcover there are huge improvements and differences. The main sell lines and other sell lines stand out muchmore and are positioned a lot better making the page seem more collected rather than just thrown onto thepage. The main image is also better placed on the page as you are able to see the artist clearly; whereasthe image on my preliminary task doesnt grab attention and stand out; the text is also surrounding her andover lapping onto her face which does not really draw the reader and target audience into the magazine. LaPop magazine looks realistic and professional; however Get Ready magazine looks very messy andcluttered and unprofessional. I think without my research and planning, I would not have been able tocreate such as well-planned out magazine that looked realistic and met all my target audiences needs andinterests, through the use of my questionnaire and other things I was able to learn a lot more about mytarget audience and what I should include in my magazine to make them want to pick it up and buy it.Through doing this project I have learnt a lot about the magazine industry, and the different media aspects,and platforms a magazine may possess, such as having their own website etc. I also learnt a lot moreabout the pop genre, which is also my favourite genre of music to listen to.I found out that pop magazinesare very successful with a young female audience; and that the BBC who distribute top of the popsmagazine is the third biggest distributer in the UK, who also distribute magazines such as doctor who, topgear and the radio times. I have learnt a lot more about the typical conventions of magazines and pop andalso what makes them appealing to their readers and target audience. I found this whole course veryenjoyable, and I liked having to build up a profile before actually making a final product. I am very pleasedwith the outcome of my final three pieces and the research and planning which I conducted; which was alsoable to give me a lot of knowledge and I enjoyed receiving negative and positive feedback to I could goback and improve my three pieces and make them even more realistic and to fit the readerships needs andinterests.