Evaluation of

“pulse”

By Nicole Emanuel

The way it uses conventions of real media productsReal-life Magazine

My ProductUses a masthead•Positioned at the top with capital letters – big and bold – similar to real life magazines – so we instantly know the magazine.

The Gutter• A way of informing readers what else is to come in everyday magazines.

Uses a main centre image• Real life magazines often have a centre image that is normally the main story.• My image is a low angle Shot medium shot. Magazines can use a variety of images from close up to long shots. •I challenged images by rotating the image and having a border of a circle rather than square.

Strapline•“Adding A Bit Of Funk To Your Life” Like real magazines you can associate that strapline with that particular magazine.

Banner“The UK’s Funky House Festival”•Centre – grabs readers attention in real magazines.

Uses IncentivesMusic magazines such as Kerrang! Use incentives weekly to lure their reader.• I used “Win An IPod Touch” – which draws readers in. • I developed this incentive by placing it in the “sweet spot” so is a good way of luring readers in.

Use of Typography•Sans-serif – typical of magazines for middle class teens. •Blocks and Capital Letters – often found in magazine cover lines and headings.

Barcode• Enables it to be sold. Like real life magazines.

Institutional Details• Magazine website – normally found on contents pages of magazines.

Continuity In Design• Pink and yellow are still the main colours.•In magazines similar font and colours are used on the cover page and contents page.

Sub Headings• Creates division in the different sections included in the magazine. This is used in real life magazines.•The three sections “Features, Funky house & Fun” are an example of alliteration. This challenges the convention.

Issue Date•Typical of magazines – makes reader aware of info about the timing of the magazine.

Images Marked With Page Numbers are both used in my music magazine and an everyday magazines.•Page numbers are normal in all magazines as it instructs the readers to what page covers which story.

Images• More images are added to the contents page and are related to the stories included in the magazine.

TypefaceThe same font is used for each subheading.

Shapes•Different shapes being layered challenges conventions of real life magazines. •The borders of images are wonky which also challenges conventions of real life magazines.

Use of Quote• Typical of magazines – gives reader an insight into what is included on the text –quite direct and personal as its from the interviewee’s point of view.

Inset images•Typical of magazines – helps to divide the text and make it more aesthetically appealing.

Artist details•Included in magazines to give more information about upcoming events involving the artist.

Page Numbers•Typical of all magazines – to enable direction.

Byline•This is present in all journalist writings in magazines and newspapers and shows the public who wrote it.

Use of Images•I have a main image , which is similar to some magazines (below) – it relates to the story beside it.

The ways the product represents particular social groups

Price •Its quite cheap

represents middle class teenagers who have money to dispose.

Banner•Suitable for the teenage social group that is interested in attending festivals and concerts.

Colours• Yellow and pink are contrasting colours.•Pink – quite girly – feminine - suitable for the audience.•Yellow – bright & attractive . Energetic vibe , full of excitement -Like funky house music .•Typical of the “girly” social group who love pink.

Use of Typography•Sans-serif – could represent informal, fun & laid back type of people

Incentives“Win An IPod Touch” could represent the generation of people who want to keep up with the latest technology and possibly be materialistic.

Images•The images are of young people, so it represents the youth social

group. Also the people are of black ethnicity which could represent the black youth.

Language used•“Clothing Range” This type of language could target those that are interested in fashion.

Mode of address•Quite personal – pronouns “I” – represent the social group who are interested in celebrities personal lives.

The image of a female could represent the girly social group who like to have role models.

The images of the black youths present them in a positive light. The facial expressions seem quite positive and will be good representation to the race in the media.

Also, the image could represent a strong black lady who has or is in the process of fulfilling her ambition and becoming successful.

What kind of institution might distribute my media product and why

•Bauer MediaWHY?

• Bauer would allow retail stores such as WHSmith, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Local supermarket stores would distribute the magazine. WHY?Because these stores are stores which the working class teenagers are most likely to visit .

•Because Bauer is a multi-platform UK-based collected around two main divisions – Magazines and Radio –therefore “Pulse” would be included in their division.

• Because in 1994, the company bought a small magazine called For Him Magazine and is now the core of the best-selling international multi-platform brand FHM. This suggest that a small magazine such as “Pulse” could imitate this and start as a small magazine and build up to be worldwide.

•The Bauer Publishing Group is a worldwide media empire offering over 230 magazines in 15 countries, as well as online, TV and radio stations. Therefore, “Pulse” could be advertised by the use of synergy in Bauer’s various products which would make it more known .

The audience of my magazineWorking class, female teenagers (14-18) of

mixed or black ethnicity

How do I know?.... How

do I attract/address my

audience?Gender is made known by the use of colours (pink) which connotes femininity which draws in the female readers.

Ethnicity is made known by the use of images (of black/mixed ethnicity) which address readers of that race.

Class is made known by the pricing.“£1.99” is appropriate for working class.

Age is made known by the cover lines, mode of address and language. “The UK Funky House Festival” targets the working class who attend these festivals during their summer or winter breaks.

In order to receive feedback of my magazine “PULSE”, I had to send out questionnaires to a range of people.

The audience of my magazine

Questionnaire Questions1. Do you think the colours work well together?2. Does it look like a music magazine cover?3. What genre of music do you think the magazine represents?4. What draws you in the most on the front cover?5. What age range do you think the magazine is targeted at?6. What do you like most about the product?7. What do you like least?8. What do you think could be improved or added?

70% most liked the headphones in the background of the contents page and described it as being very appealing.

All of the people asked

“what age range do you

think the magazine is

targeted at? Answered

with teenagers. However,

the age range varied

from 13-20.

50% of those asked thought that an editorial could be added to the contents page.

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

product•QuarkXPress is not suitable for me. I personally don’t find it user friendly and find it harder to use than Adobe Photoshop.

•Apple Mac PC’s are harder for me to use Adobe Photoshop on as the symbols differ slightly from a windows PC.

•Digital Camera. From using the camera and taking a variety of images I have learnt that different angles and lighting effects can differ the quality of the image.

•Blogger. I have signed up to blogger and have learnt how to make drafts and posts and also insert images. I have learnt that it is a good way of recording stages of your work.

•Printing A3. I found the A3 printer difficult to work with as it was confusing to adjust the size and shape of the magazine so that it printed out the correct size , so I could see what it would look like on paper.

Looking back at the preliminary, in the progression I think I have learnt…

Preliminary Task Music Magazine

•New skills on PhotoshopHow to move and resize imagesRotate and transform textHow to position words and images to make it look more successfulHow to insert images

•How to manage time efficiently

•That the type of shot can connate many things.

•To take a variety of images so you have many to choose from and figure out what works best.

•That it is useful and very beneficial to plan a good draft so you have a rough idea on what direction your going in.