By Jae Plummer

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

Front coverIn the creation process of making my magazine I used a variation of typical codes and conventions. I knew what these were from becoming familiar with them from doing the generic codes task:

- http://jaeplummerasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/i-used-pun-from-kings-of-leons-hit-song.html

- http://jaeplummerasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/the-typography-choose-matched-zombie.html

- http://jaeplummerasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/the-typography-choose-was-revolved.html

- http://jaeplummerasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/i-choose-this-name-for-group-as-i-think.html

- http://jaeplummerasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/i-used-white-font-as-it-stand-it-on.html

I then looked at existing products to familiarises myself with these features:

- http://jaeplummerasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/magazine-analysis-of-xxl.html

Front coverFrom these exercises I was able to have a clear understanding of the layout of magazines as shown in the example. The convention rules that I followed are circled below, the masthead follows the ‘left-third’ and the

Main cover line stands out a lot more compared to

The cover lines. The bar code and price also are

Placed typically in the bottom right hand corner.

Challenges and developmentsTo give my magazine its own identity and interpretation of these conventions I included challenges and developments to them. The main image shown in the example below is in grey which is not something you will

Often see on a magazine. Also the masthead is quite big

I did this in order for it to stand out and show a sense of

Authority on the front cover to show its importance.

InfluencesI took most of my influence from similar products in

particular ‘XXL magazine’. This made sense to do as it

shares the same genre as my magazine, which is rap.

I took inspiration for my layout as shown in the XXL edition

of ‘the game’ as this does I put the main cover line in front

of the cover star. I also was inspired by the photography

that was used quite frequently for XXL of the medium close

ups of cover stars, I also did this however decided not to use

a white background as I felt this made it look to plain and empty.

My contents page fits with my front cover as it follows suit of colours, I was influenced for this mainly by Q magazine even though it doesn’t have the same genre as I do therefore I changed fonts and the style. Using the borders I was able to still keep the focus on the cover star as well as making the Contents clear on the page due to the contrast between the black background and white writing.

Double page spreadWhen creating a double page spread I firstly had to look at other existing double page spread and I chose to look at one from ‘XXL magazine’ this being my inspiring magazine.

- http://jaeplummerasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/double-page-spread-from-inspired.html

I analysed the double page spread

So that I then knew the conventions

of a double page spread. From this

I incorporated a large image that is

Set as the background and I feel

this makes the cover star the main

Focus as it should be.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine is aimed at teenagers, mainly boys who enjoy the music genre rap. I used XXL magazine to help me understand how to fit my magazine with its genre and also how to target it at my audience, who is teenage boys.

Cover starThe cover star ‘J Indigo’ emulates a cool laid back teenage boy,

who is shown as being independent through the camerawork

showing him in a lone light but yet still stands out.

The other photos used also expressed the same as my cover stars as being inquisitive as well as having depth within their personality that readers of the magazine want to be revealed. They persisted with the theme of being laid back yet shady. Boys dominate the magazine typically teenage boys this gives my target audience something to relate to as they will be mostly teenage boys themselves.

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

The genre of shiftyrap is similar to XXL and vibe, these magazines are from major distribution companies. Shifty rap could work well for a major distributor as it will feature a lot of upcoming and established artists and will include fresh ideas and styles hence making it likely to be a top selling magazine.

I researched on several magazines and the distributor that I think should distribute my magazine is IPC media : http://www.ipcmedia.com/

The reason for this is it is a British major distributor that not yet publishes a rap magazine and I feel that this is a spot that my magazine can fill. They also advertise on many platforms such as websites, printing and modern technology like tablets and mobiles, which would be most beneficial for my magazine.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My magazine will be aimed at teenagers mainly boys aged between 15-21. The link below will show an analysis of the questionnaire answers from people in that age group so that I knew what they wanted in the magazine as this would help the magazine to be more suited to them and I would be able to develop the magazine around their answers.

http://jaeplummerasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/questionnaire-analysis.html

‘XXL’ also has a similar target audience to me as they

Target people who enjoy urban music for example rap

and hip-hop that mainly aims itself at males however

at a more mature age.

How did you attract/address your audience?

MastheadMy masthead ‘shiftyrap’ is in a bright red colour which makes it stand out as a

masthead should as should, the font of the masthead is also different giving it a unique look this is something that people will remember and be attracted to as it gives them visual interest.

coloursThe colour scheme of black and red contrast well together, the colour red has

connotations for energy which relates to my target audience of youth and teenagers. The black gives the magazine a dark and mysterious edge. Red is also used in similar products such as ‘XXL’ so it is clear that this is colour is successful in attracting an audience.

ImagesThe images in the magazine use direct address to engage with the audience, the

direct address is particularly strong on the main image (front cover). The images of the cover star show the dress code of most teenagers today for example the cap and hoodie, presenting this as being magazine including young artists that my audience can relate to.

PugThe pug attracts the audience as it offers a free item inside the magazine creating a

want from the costumers for the item and is an incentive for the audience to want to open the magazine. It is in the middle of a circle making it stand out on the page.

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

Paint.net Page plus Microsoft publisher

Easy to use and understand.

Easy to use and understand.

Able to save the document as a JPG or image format.

Able to add text and add shapes.

Able to crop and editimages easily with the ‘cut-out studio’.

Able to add text and images to document.

Able to edit images with effects and tools.

Able to move images and text around freely.

Flexible withchanging font, sizes and colours.

The use of layers makes it easier to edit, change or delete each layer.

Here are the strengths of each of the programmes that I used in the process of constructing my magazine:

Paint.net Page Plus Microsoft Publisher

Unable to edit text after unselecting layer.

Inexperienced users of the programme could find it complex to use.

To simple to create the magazine on as it will not give off a professional final look.

Effects do not appear as a good quality.

The wide choice of effects could lead to overuse of them.

Limit to its use as it is unable to do the things that the more complex programmes can.

Limited choice when selecting shapes and brush effects.

Here are the weaknesses of each of the programmes used in the process of constructing my magazine:

Drafting and planningIn the process of making my magazine, I had to draft and plan many features of the

magazine such as the layout, how the photos would be taken and inspiration taken from existing artists and magazines. It was crucial that I drafted and planned before even starting to create the front cover, contents page or double page spread as I needed to first sort a layout, colour scheme and also the pictures I was going to choose to feature in my magazine.

BloggerThe use of blogger was the way in which the process of my magazine was shown. I

uploaded my work to this blog on a weekly basis and I found it to be better than having my work in a folder. This is because blogger is easily accessible and I could upload post whenever I needed as it had a phone app, which I often used. The use of a blog meant that my work was already organised and the option to edit or delete a post made the blog flexible to use as I could add to my work or make changes to any mistakes in a post making it more efficient in comparison to written work, where I would have to re-write the work.

Photographic choicesBefore I started to take pictures I first had to think about what I needed for my

photographs to be of a good quality and also how they would fit in with my magazine genre. This was very important as without this the magazine simply wouldn't work. Drafting and planning of photographs made it a lot easier when it came to choices of which I would use for the magazine. The photographs also helped in fitting with the layout of the magazine as I needed to include pictures that were also going to work well and look as one with the cover lines and contents for example.

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

Preliminary front cover Main task front cover

As you can see the main task layout is a lot better as the cover lines surround the cover well and also the fonts and colours tie in well showing the more careful approach taken to planning and experimenting with them, which makes everything on the cover link together, where as this seems the exact opposite on the preliminary task.

Main task contents page

Preliminary task contents page

The preliminary task contents page barely has any typical features of a contents page of a magazine where as the main task contents page does showing that the research and tasks done surrounding magazines has helped me to execute the features and typical layouts of a contents page.

How successful do you feel your end product is in fulfilling the task? how well does it fit the brief?

Overall all I feel that the final product I have produced has been successful and have fit the brief well in making a music magazine. The research and task I done helped me in the process of this task as it helped me to become familiar with the conventions of a magazine and also the ways I will attract my target audience, which in my case was teenagers. I feel that the 3 parts of a magazine that I tackled (front cover, contents page and double page spread) fitted together creating a flow throughout the magazine. I made a rap music magazine and I feel that my strongest part of the task was the front cover as I feel that the features and layout of the magazine were executed well, as well as linking in with my target audience through the features such as the photography and colour scheme.