Evaluation pp

Evaluation

Kianna Briggs

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

1. My front cover of my media product uses the forms and conventions of a real media product in which it uses a skyline to provide extra information for the audiences and it also features cover lines which provide information as to what the content of the magazine.

Furthermore I also used a strong image on my front cover which is another form and conventions f a real media product. The image is able to represent the type of audience i am aiming at by the use of the clothes the woman is wearing and the age of her.

Although this is a small convention, every real product features a bar code, therefore I have followed this convention and also included a bar code.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups.

My media product represents particular social groups such age groups by the use of grammar and vocabulary. For example due to the fact that my audience is between the age of 16 and 21, the language used in my magazine is quite colloquial because I want the audience to be comfortable with the magazine. I want them to have a sense of belonging in which their personalities can be reflected within the magazine because of the language used.

My chosen model also represents social group such as age groups because she is in the category between my target audience. As a result of this she represents the youthful audience but also indicates that the content inside the magazine will also relate to the specific age category.

Contents Page

When researching magazine contents pages, one convention that I came across was an “Editor speaks” section. This section provided the audience with an update about the magazine which could be said to be its unique selling point as every magazine has its own editor in which it can provided exclusive information for their magazine. However I have challenged the conventions of the editor speaks section by not including an image of an editor because when drafting this page, I realised that the image I would have included in the editor speaks section would clash against the images that are already there because they are assigned into a separate column.

As a result of this I simply extended the amount to write about in this section which therefore provides the audience with more information about the magazine and the editor.

In all magazines there is a section that provides directions on what is in the magazine allowing the audience to turn to what page interests them.

This is a unique selling point as not many magazines feature a section on tweets.

For example in this magazine there is also a section on features and regulars providing the audience with information on the content of the magazine.

Double Page Spread I used a pull quote which is a convention of a real media product. I have used this to attract the audience and encourage them to read the article as the pull quote almost gives them an idea as to what it is about.

In order to show a link between the contents page and the double page spread, most magazines feature the masthead and the page number within the footer which is also what I have included on my double page spread.

I have challenged the codes and conventions of a real media product by not using direct address in terms of my images. This is because I wanted the images to look as if they have movement and the artist was not simply posing for it. Therefore I have taken a picture of the woman doing her job in which she is singing. As a result of this the audience can notify that the article is about her performing and it also relates back to the fact that this is a music magazine.

Due to my research I chose certain clothing that was able to represent the type of audience I was aiming at. For example because the audience I am aiming it is quite a retro, funky audience the clothes that I chose for the people to wear represent this. For example both women are wearing patterned trousers that immediately represent a retro style which not only represents the interests of the audience but also their age group. Similarly the bright and contrasting colours connote a younger age group.

The colour of her hair also represents the interests of the audience as it sets her aside from the average female because red hair stands out.

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

When researching media institutions I looked at the institution Bauer Media Group however when researching the type of magazines they owned like NME and Kerrang I realised that they specialised mainly in rock and men’s magazines which was not related to the type of audience I was looking for.

I also learnt that they specialised in rock music magazines featuring predominantly men in their magazines which was not similar to my genre

Therefore I avoided this media institution and researched IPC Media. IPC Media has a large diversity of interests such as IPC inspire and IPC connect. Within this institution it distributes the well known magazine NME. Due to this I acknowledge that music magazines are welcome within this institution and there is a gap for my magazine as there is not a funky house magazine in this industry.

Although this is a rock magazine which is completely different to the my genre, the benefit of this is that the institution will not already have a funky house music magazine which suggests that they can introduce another audience which benefits them and also benefits me.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my media product would be males and females between the age of 16 and 21. I have chosen quite a young audience especially, because the genre of my media product is in the niche market therefore only a specific audience would be interested. Furthermore the age of artists within this genre are similar to this age group therefore they can relate more to the type of music. In addition the audience I am aiming at has not been catered for already because there are not any magazines that specialise in the genre funky house therefore there is a gap in the market for teenagers who enjoy partying and listening to funky music.

In order to attract my audience I used a number of techniques that ranged from simplistic entities to complex. First of all the colour scheme was used precisely to attract my audience in which I used a funky, bright scheme which created a trendy vibe that related to the genre of the magazine. As well as this I also used images that would attract the audience. For example because all the images were music related in which they consist of a prop the audience can immediately identify this is a music magazine therefore it encourages them to view the magazine.

Microphone

Headphones

How did you attract/address your audience?

From the process of constructing this product what I have learnt about technologies is how to use the designing programs skilfully. For example I have learnt to work between Photoshop and InDesign, which has increased the speed of my work allowing me to focus more on the research in order to enhance my design concept of the media product. Also I have learnt to use the basic tools in InDesign and Photoshop such as working with the layers which when mastered I was able to separate them which improved the presentation of my work as I was able to construct images and text coherently. Blogging was also vital in terms of the constructing of this product because it enabled me to keep a record of my increase in knowledge. Such as research for my front cover, contents page and double page spread were recorded in a blog so that I was able to refer back to the conventions of a magazine when constructing my product.

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

Technologies I have used are:The internet for researchSlideshare to upload PowerPoint presentations onto my blog

Looking back my preliminary task, what I have leant in the progression from it to the full product is how to use the programs appropriately. For example whereas in my preliminary task I was limited to the resources within the programs because I had not had a large amount of practise, in the progression to the full product I was more comfortable with working in these programs. Furthermore because the preliminary task enabled me to make mistakes, in terms of my full product I had learnt how to overcome these problems and to apply my knowledge to improve my work.

In terms of Photoshop, the skills that I have learnt are:•Manipulating the sizes of images•Rotating images•Cropping images•Enhancing the colour on sections of the images•Positioning images appropriately so that I could then simply place them in InDesign•Working between layers

In terms of InDesign the skills that I have learnt are:•Applying margins and columns•Applying baseline grids•Using “set the leading” to separate text•Importing and placing images from Photoshop

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

Research was a vital part of the progression to the final product as it enhanced my knowledge on minor things such as layout conventions of music magazines. For example the use of columns is used on magazines to separate information and is used consistently with each magazine. Such as Vibe uses three columns on its front cover consistently, therefore the audience are able to recognise the magazine without seeing the masthead.