Evaluation

EvaluationRose Daly

 In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

For my final production I tried to slightly challenge the typical codes and conventions found in popular magazines by changing the target audience to a more feminine audience. I did this because magazines such as NME target a 73% male audience, as well as Q magazine targeting mostly middle aged men. This therefore left a gap for a female audience of young adults, one that I decided to target. I did this by using stereotypically feminine colours such as the pink box around ‘BETH BULLARD.’ However, I feel by keeping blue as a colour though out, it still allows both genders to be represented, just focusing on the feminine side of things. This contrasts slightly to NME as they use mainly blue and red, colours seen as typically masculine.

I followed successful techniques in magazines such as having ‘flawless hair and skin’ following Kilbourne’s media representation theory

Logo and masthead colour repeated throughout – recognisable to audience

Direct mode of address connects audience to artist, personal relationship (uses and grat.)

‘Exclusive’Tag line, draws attention, infers information is unique to this magazine

Bold, large font- grabs attentionAppeals to young adult audience

Bar code/date in bottom left corner, out the way

Masthead hidden by main image- audience familiar with the brand, don’t need to see entire masthead to identify it

3 main colours including magazine logo to keep covers both simple, eye-catching and recognisable to an audience that know the brand

For my contents page I repeated the feminine colour scheme still with highlights of blue to apply to mainly women but still some men, keeping a consistent target audience.

Repeated use of logo throughout – following magazine codes and conventions

Examples of twitter/facebook

Magazine’s brand logo featured in contents page to reinforce the brand to the audience

Direct eye contact with audience creates personal relationship, entices audience

Kilbourne’s media representation theory – perfect hair, skin without a blemish

Feminine font to support the idea of a feminine target audience

Different fonts- eye-catching

Same colours repeated throughout magazine help to reinforce the brand

Main images in centre/just off centre to get attention from the audience

3 main colours to keep contents page simple

Main article on one side, avoids page fold so it’s easy to read

Main image takes up half the double page spread – catches audience attention

Kilbourne’s media representation theory – perfect hair, skin without a blemish

Colours repeated throughout magazine – remind audience of the logo

Magazine logo repeated thoughout

My magazine used the codes and conventions of most other magazines by following theorists such as Kilbourne in representing models with almost flawless skin and hair. It also followed the conventions of having colour schemes followed throughout, with the same recognisable fonts to remind the audience of the original magazine. I followed these as they work for successful magazines and I think it’d make my magazine ‘Level’ more recognisable to my target audience of female young adults, as well as making it seem more professional.

I decided to go against the typical codes and conventions of targeting a male audience that so many magazines such as Q and NME seem to do, hence keeping my colour scheme feminine with pinks rather than the harsh blues and reds seen in NME.

It goes against Wolf’s theory of women being sex objects to be consumed by the male gaze as I want my magazine to target a female audience, hence it wouldn’t be right to portray that same audience as simple sex objects and nothing more.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine represents different particular social groups, mainly women. It does this by having female artists featured in the actual magazine, as well as using colours such as pinks and purples to follow the stereotypes and appeal to women. It also however appeals to men due to the range in artists I’ve featured in the magazine (going from The Arctic Monkeys and Sum 41 to the fictional Beth Bullard and Eilish Barrett.) I’ve ensured I cover a range of artists purposely so my magazine does have a larger appeal to my audience, interesting more people than I would if I’d stuck to only people like Beth Bullard. My media product doesn’t aim to represent any ethnicity or social class in particular, I’d rather it cater for all than have one specific group it is aimed at. Saying this, however, my magazine isn’t very culturally diverse in terms of the models, but this is done purely coincidentally rather than to appeal to a specific audience, and I feel if my magazine were real and had more issues, then there would be more diversity to it. In terms of social class, I’d also say that it doesn’t have a specific target, instead appeals to any and all to give it a wider audience. I feel that the age group my magazine is aimed at it young adults, ranging from 16-25 mainly, however it isn’t limited to that. I used young models to correspond to the audience age group, and also used the appeal of Eilish being a ‘youtube sensation’, something that targets a younger audience more and appeals to them.

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

My magazine might be distributed by IPC media, the institution that also distribute NME and the magazines aimed at very young girls such as Teen Now. I feel they’d distribute my magazine as it is aimed at young adults between 16-25 rather than the young girls that Teen Now is aimed at, and as it is also inspired by NME, it’d appeal to them. It’d also be shared out across their social media platforms, and would have it’s own, examples being the use of Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and it’s own website.

Who would be the audience for your media product?/How did you attract/address your audience?

My audience would be mainly girls aged from 16-25, however it’d still have a slight attraction to a small male audience.The magazine appeals to females due to the colour scheme used, as well as the models in the magazine. As the models are all alsofemale young adults, they’d be familiar to the audience, making them feel included and important like the models. The contents of my magazine, however, would go against the stereotypical idea of a typical girl loving pop music such as One Directionor the Vamps, as instead of those bands my magazine contains bands such as The Arctic Monkeys and The Maine. It also features theIsle Of Wight festival, appealing to anyone who is a fan of the festival, opening the audience up to more than just a stereotypical young girl.The language used in my magazine such as ‘EXCLUSIVE’ helps to attract my target audience because it implies out of every magazine, mine Is the one that someone would want to be.

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

From my production I have learnt to use Photoshop to create my magazine. I have also learnt to use Slideshare to help make it easier to upload things like this evaluation. In the production I also learned to choose the right settings on the Canon 60D to get the best picture, including to change the exposure/brightness etc.

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

I feel like since the preliminary task I have learnt to fully use Photoshop as the camera I used for my photography.I have also learnt to properly edit, and to take into consideration real media theorists whilst putting my piece together,along with thinking fully about the effects my editing will have on a chosen audience. I have also learnt that nothing isdone by accident in regards to the media industry whilst researching other magazines, showing that every detail in my final production matters and is done to create a specific effect.