Media evaluation

Evaluation of ‘Outrage’ magazine

By Sapna Sahota

In what ways does your media product use, develop

or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

Front Cover

The masthead of my magazine is ‘Outrage’ which emphasizes that this magazine is beyond all other magazines as it has a name which means having a powerful feeling or something that strongly offends others. This fits in with the idea of this magazine outraging other magazines, so that people pick up this magazine to buy or read.

The convention that I used from the Vibe magazine was the font and the colour of the masthead, as it is black and bold. This connotes that this magazine is unbeatable and more superior than other magazines because of the colour black and font style bond which connotes power and elegance. This also goes with the meaning of the name of magazine and the genre of hip-hop as many songs are based about expressing powerful feelings!

Masthead

I used the convention of the Vibe magazine, for making a similar skyline, with names of Hip hop singers. The purpose of this, is to introduce the names of the artists that the magazine would cover, to attract the target audiences attention to read the magazine.

Moreover the font style I used is ‘Arial’ this is the same as the conventions of Vibe, for instance Vibe has some straplines bolder than others, as ‘Tweets’ is in bold and ‘crazy celebs’ are not. On my magazine I have ‘of the eminent figures’ in bold and other straplines such as ‘Unread tweets…’ not in bold font.

The use of font in bold allows the addition of emphasis on certain straplines, this draws the audiences attention to read these straplines, so that they are interested in reading further into the magazine.

Bold – Gives importance to certain straplines

The colour scheme of my magazine is of three different colours, which is similar to the conventions of the Vibe magazine, as it has also only used three colours, black for the masthead and two other colour for the straplines. Using only a minimum amount of colours gives the magazine consistency and professionalism, as well as this fits in with the conventions of all magazines, helping my magazine look realistic and within the conventions of other magazines like hip hop and RnB.

Another convention I used from the Vibe magazine were the arrangements, colours and quantity of the straplines. I used the two colours for the straplines, for instance pink for ‘ men on fire’ and black for the rest of that strapline, this is the same use of Vibe magazine, for example yellow for ‘usher’ and white for ‘there is no competition’. This makes the straplines look more sophisticated and complementing each other on the cover, also this allows the straplines to look part of each other.

Colour

Moreover I used the barcode design from the Vibe magazine, so that my magazine looks like it has a individual format for the barcode, from the rest of other magazines. Also this gives the magazine a individual look.

Straplines

The straplines I have used here are names of Hip-Hop artist names in a list, the purpose of having this is so that it interests the audience and it allows them to be aware of who is within the content of the magazine.

Moreover this is in the colour pink because of my target audience which is girls and pink is stereotypically a ‘girly’ colour, so therefore this will gain more girls attention.

The use of language that I have used within this strapline is a rhetorical question directed at the audience, the use of this is that it questions the reader and to be interested to read into the magazine to search for the answer.

Use of black to make the rhetorical question stand out and get instant attention from the audience.

Use of pink fits in with the consistency of the colour pink.

Use of numeric other than letters, makes the number ‘36’ stand out more and looks visually more interesting for the audience.

The use of the word ‘your’ makes the strapline directing direct at the reader, so that the audience feel invited into the magazine.

Straplines

The use of capital letters gives the strapline more importance, also the colour pink for ‘exclusive’ makes it stand out further so it draws the attention of the audience that they can get this digital amazing cover of Usher, whom is a hip-hop singer.

The model is looking straight at the camera, this makes the model giving eye contact to the audience which makes them feel invited into the magazine.

Main Image

The main image that I have used is a long shot of the model, so that the audience can see her clearly.

The pose of the model is with arms crossed with one hand on her face while sitting down. This connotes strong attitude and power which links to the name of the magazine – ‘Outrage’ and also this fits in with the genre of HipHop music to have that ‘look and style’

The clothes of the model are in the colour black which connotes power and dominant, also due to the net tights it makes the picture look seductive which fits in with the conventions of female hip-hop artists. The purpose of wearing black and them clothes – tights, shorts, gloves and jacket would make girls more interested as they would want to look at the model as a ‘fashion item’ so they can dress like there favorite hip-hop singer.

Light use of makeup shows realism and that the target audience – girls can be like this model.

Main image

Text for each page

Text and language

For the contents page I have added the short phrase to summaries what is on each page, so that the audience feel interested while reading the contents and so that the audience know what is on each page.

There is use of pink for the headings, so that they stand out. Moreover the pink fits in with the consistency from the front cover.

The font that I have used is Ariel bold, this is consist from the front cover and makes it easy to read for the audience.

The use of having ellipsis at the end of the statement for instance ‘and the makeover…’. This shows that this is an unfinished event, which is used to build the tension and excitement of the reader, so they want to read this page.

Within the language of the statements for each page, there is use of rhetorical question for instance ‘Is he the real winner?’. The purpose of this is too question the reader and make them think. Also this makes the reader feel interested in wanting to read more for this page.

The contents page that I created has one main image to the left hand side of the page which makes the ratio text to image equal. So that the page does not look over crowded.

The model fits in with the genre of hop-hop due to the way he is dressed; necklace, sunglasses and open cardigan. This is within the conventions of male hip-hop artists such as ‘Jay Sean’. So therefore this would get the attention of girls to read on further and look at other images within the magazine.

The pose of the model is open, with one arm holding his cardigan and the other out, which emphasizes that he is welcoming and the pose is seductive which is within the conventions of male hip-hop artists.

The picture is a ‘middle shot’ of the model, so we can only see his upper half of the body, this is done in this way, as only the top half is important due to the showing of the ‘six pack’, which makes the picture look ‘glossy’ and professional within the hip-hop genre.

One of the conventions I used from the Vibe contents page was the title ‘Contents’ separated on to three lines. The effect of this is that it gives an usual and ‘different’ look from other contents pages from other magazine. This emphasizes that my magazine has something different, exclusive and new to read, that the audience would not find in any other magazines. However the improvement that I would make is to make the font more closer and tighter together, like the Vibe contents page. As my title has a gap between the words.

Nevertheless I developed on the conventions of using a special and unique company barcode for each page in the magazine. This is the same as the Vibe magazine as they have used a special Vibe barcode on each page of the magazine in the corner. I used this convention for my contents page as well because this accentuates with the idea that every page in the magazine is specifically made for Outrage readers.

Furthermore another convention I used for my contents page from the Vibe contents page was the use of colours and font style used for the text. As the number page and headings are different colours. I developed on this convention as I made the numbers white, pink for the heading and black for the outline text underneath. This adds to more colour on the page, preventing use of dull colours and mood on the page.

Colour

Main image on full one side of double page spread

Graffiti like font for the title

Text in columns

Barcode on each page

Text and languageI chose to make the font style of the title in ‘graffiti’ style which fits in with the genre hip-hop urban culture. So therefore this would instantly get the audiences attention. Moreover the font style of the text emphasizes the style of the style of the singer the article is about.

Use of explanation mark adds power to the title and it emphasizes on the importance of the article to vigour the audience to read on.

Use of capitals to reinforce the message of importance of the hip-hop artist the article is about.

Use of rhetorical question in the heading to instantly get the audience interested and to start thinking about what could be in the article.

The use of language is informal, for instance ‘lads’ , ‘boy- like’. The reason for using this technique is to connect with the audience while they read the article. As it is everyday language that the audience will enjoy reading and understand more.

Where as if the text was formal and sophisticated language then the audience will not understand or enjoy reading the article as such.

There is use of first person within this article for instance ‘I grew up with...’, the purpose of this is to make the readers more interested as they would want to read direct quotes from their favourite hip-hop artist.

Use of ellipsis to keep the reader reading and interested.

Use of capitals such as ‘BUT’ gives importance to the statement and keeps the reader interested to keeping reading to see what happens next.

Text and language

Double page spreadOne of the conventions that I used for the double page spread was the Vibe barcode on each page with the number page next to it. For my double page spread I made a barcode with the letter ‘O’ and Outrage website underneath ‘outrage.com’ , the effect of having a special barcode on each page is that it makes the page look exclusive only for the readers reading this magazine.

The layout of the page was another form I used, the use of having a image for one side of the double page and text for the other half. I used this style because if there was too much text on the page, then this would make the page look heavy with text resulting the readers not wanting to read the page. So the effect of this layout is so that the text and image is balanced and it makes the reader want to read the article.

Main Image

I used only main image on half the side of the double page spread, which is like the Vibe double page spread, this allows the image to be clear and allows the audience to have a good look at their favourite hip-hop artist.

The use of clothes; ripped jeans, heals, leopard print top with black jacket. This fits in with the theme of hip-hop and urban theme, so therefore the audience would be familiar with what they see.

The pose is welcoming and emphasizes power, due to the posture of sitting down with arms leaning on the legs, this also relates to the name of the magazine ; Outrage’, which emphasizes that she is in control. The target audience – girl would want to see this as a role model.

There is use of straight eye contact, which inviting for the audience to read the article.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product; front cover, contents page and double page spread represents a particular social group which is the Hip Hop music culture. My magazine is made for the people that enjoy listening to and being part of the Hip Hop culture, as people in these groups would be fascinated and would have interest in singers in this music group.

Continued...

My magazine front cover represents the social group of Hip Hop fans, as it has the names of well known and popular hip hop singers in the skyline and in the straplines of the magazine cover. After the people in this social group see the names of their favorite singer, they would feel fascinated and attentive to pick up the magazine and to read more about their favorite singers. So therefore having the names of more than one hip hop singer would attract more of the fans from this social group.

The image on the front cover of the model has chains coming down from her shorts which conveys ‘bling’ that people in this hip hop social group would have.

Moreover my double page spread also has representation of this social group as the title of the page is in graffiti type font , which represents the type of font that would be used in this group, we know this due to the hip-hop song videos having this type of font.

The contents page also represents this particular social group of hip-hop due to the main image on the contents page. The style of the clothes, jewellery such as long necklace, sunglasses and showing some of the body coveys the idea of this social group, as singers from the hip hop culture such as ‘Jay Sean’ or ‘Chris Brown’ would be dressed in a similar format and style.

Additionally the hair style of the model on the contents page being short and ‘funky’ also adds to the conventions of a hip hop artist, so consequently people from this culture would be familiar with this type of dressing style and this allows the magazine to represent this social group.

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

attract/address your audience?

The target audience for my magazine ‘Outrage’ is girls interested in Hip Hop music between the ages of 16- 24. The ways in which I made my magazine attract and relate to this target audience was by various features, for instance the use of colour scheme pink and black and white for the straplines and text on the contents page and double page spread this is because girls would be instantly related to these colours, as these colours connote sexy, strong, neutral and as pink is one of the stereotypical colours for girls.

Additionally, in order to attract my target audiences I used images that were appealing and attractive to girls because the images are of models that are dressed in the style of young hip hop artists and how young girls would like to dress themselves. Also the pictures that I have used are up to date with the jewellery such as latest sunglasses and the use of showing parts of the body for instance the ‘6 Pac’ of the image on the contents page.

Nevertheless the use of graffiti font that I have used on the double page spread, is used so that the target audience feel content reading the article and they would instantly feel that the article will be within the style of their interest and speech and they would easily be able to read and understand the article, making them interested and wanting to read the next issue of the magazine.

The language for instance on the double page spread had been also used so that it is appropriate for the target audience such as using informal language, which makes communication for the audience reading the magazine ‘Outrage’ more interesting.

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

product? From the process of constructing this product; magazine front cover,

contents page and double page spread I have learnt many technologies in order to make the product look professional and consistent. For instance making a magazine front cover look like a real product you have to make sure the main image itself looks like a real modeling picture, as it is the picture that instantly gains the audience awareness and concentration.

However I also learnt that in order to gain full attention of the target audience you have to correctly place and have the right quantity of straplines because if there are too many or not enough it would not make the magazine lack in professionalism and it would not attract readers to read the magazine either filled or with not enough with text, the cover looks ‘boring’. Moreover the straplines have to be straight to the point, so that the readers want to read on into the magazine because the straplines have got their attention or there favorite singers name are in the magazine.

Moreover I learnt that in order to keep the consistency within the front cover, contents page and double page spread, you have to keep the colour scheme similar so that all the pages look part of the same magazine. So therefore I used the colours pink, black and white throughout, which was also relevant with the target audience which has the connotations of ‘girly’ colours.

Nevertheless during construction of this product I learnt that all pages in a magazine have to have the layout in grids, so that the page doesn’t over lap text or images and so that the page looks neatly and professionally constructed.

Additionally using grids in the planning process of a magazine is in the conventions of real magazine designers and creators for all pages such as front page, contents and double page spread sp that the page looks professional and image or text is getting over-lapped.

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

After looking back at my preliminary task I have learnt how to construct a

magazine cover so that it has the right amount of images and text on it because if there are too many images on the cover then this would confuse and distract the target audience from looking at the main image or even looking at any of the images. Moreover if there is to much text on the front cover this would make the magazine look ‘boring’ and extremely heavy with text, so this would prevent the target audience from reading the magazine.

Subsequently looking back at my front cover I realized that I had to many

images on the front cover and the straplines were not correctly placed. So therefore when I was making my front cover for ‘Outrage’ I made sure that I only had one image that was placed in the middle of page, attractive and the mise en scene was correct for the genre of Hip hop.

Nevertheless from the progression of making a magazine I learnt that a magazine front cover needs to have a colour scheme that only consists of 3 or less amount of colours. As my magazine cover from the preliminary task had to many colours and there was no colour scheme, so therefore this made the cover look overly filled with colour and not proficient. Consequently as I was designing the cover for ‘Outrage’ I made sure I only used 3 colours; pink, black and white, so that the magazine fitted in with the conventions of Hip hop magazine front covers.

Similarly for the contents page from the preliminary task and the Outrage magazine I learnt that the text on this page has to be at a minimum amount and straight to the point, so that when the readers visually see the page the image and text looks balanced. Also the headings and brief outline of each page has to be catchy and interesting so that the readers feel interested in the magazine