1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and convections of real media products?
The cover font used, Star Avenue also shows a use of convection; this is because with a slight glance at the magazine from the audience will show that the style and genre of the magazine; this one being R&B and Pop.
The magazine used page numbers, an obvious convection of a real magazine. This made it easier to follow the magazine, and linked the contents page with the double page spread in a realistic way. In addition, another convection the magazine used was the barcode and issue number on the front page of the magazine. This was used to show regularity in the magazine and a possible large level of consumption.
The magazine challenged convection by using bright colours on the cover and context page. This is because most musical magazines prefer to use white/black background with opposite text to make the magazine text stand out. This magazine didn’t do that, as the theme was more pop, and the text was aimed to directly challenge convections, to catch the viewer’s attention.
Secondly, the magazine challenges the convection by using more sexual in images such the context page image, where the model has her leg in the air. This adds sophistication with youth so the magazine appeals to the target audience by connoting they are not children but make it more fun and saucy.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The magazine is aimed to appeal to 14-25 year old males and females. This is shown in the magazine by the articles covered, shown in the contents page, by artists such as Nicki Minaj, listened to by mostly by these social groups. In addition, the competition to the Brits award shows that the magazine is aimed at 14-25 as it is a prize only that social group could enjoy. The price of the magazine shows the target audience, as it is accessible to those students and young employees.
3. What kind of media institution would distribute your product and why?
The main distributors of the magazine would be major retail stores of media, such as WHSmith and Waterstones. This is because this magazine is aimed to be a high selling one, with high levels of demand which would lead to demand from these large suppliers of magazines. Also, supermarkets, like ASDA will also sell the magazine, due to seeing there are high sales in other stores and may also follow the trend and demand the magazine.
4. Who would be the target audience for your media product?
The target reader would be Gender : Male or Female - M:40% F:60% Age :16 - 25 Occupation: College, University or Work. The magazines usually bought : Vibe, Mojo, Q, XXL and NME; meaning they will enjoy Things they look for in a magazine : New and Exclusive band interviews, feature articles, new stories and an eye-catching front cover. Usual Hobbies are Music, a mixture but commonly Rock and Indie.
Their hobbies would include going to gigs or music festivals, going out with friends, playing sports and shopping. Income: £20-£40 per week; finally, their Usual products bought: Clothes, CD's, Magazines, DVD's,
5. How did you attract your audience?
The use of bright colour attracts younger audiences in their teens, which is exactly what the aim of the magazine was. Because my target social group was teenagers interested in R&B music I couldn't use colours that weren't associated with that social group, such as bright black or purple.
Addressing my Audience; for this the aim was to connect t as well as address my audience which is why the model was dressed in a ‘diva’ type of clothes my reader profile would wear want to see worn by an R&B star
6. What have you learnt about technologies from constructing this product?
With producing magazine, there was the chance to explore various image editing software, mainly Adobe Photoshop. This helped us develop our skills for the future, as using Photoshop unable one to use almost any other photo editing program, and improve creativity.
There were many techniques to be learnt, such as simple sharpening of images to the blur of backgrounds, to the more extensive effects editing to add extraordinary effects to the pictures, and give them a professional feel.
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt from the progression from it to the full product?
From looking back at my preliminary task it is clear that I have learnt a lot about producing a magazine, from text techniques, to writing a concise article. In the process of developing the preliminary task, my knowledge was limited. So I was not confident with things such as the angles at which I took photos, the contents I entered into the magazine and the colours I thought matched the genre.
However, when it came to this task I found that the more work I did, the more confident I became as my skill is in photo editing and ability were developing. This led me to feel at ease when making decisions, like fonts, and layout.
