1. Evaluation of music magazineBy Jessica Leece

2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?The style of my magazine is similar to existing magazines such as NME. I tried to keep it simple with eye catching colours and bold fonts. After considering various names, I decided to call my magazine unplugged as it is catchy and relates to music by giving it a modern theme. The genre of my magazine is indie and I feel I have portrayed this by including all the general features of a music magazine. For my front cover:I followed a specific colour scheme of 3 colours as most magazines use the colours red, black and white so I developed this style. On the front cover, I instinctively knew that a large masthead should occur prominently, and decided to put it in the middle of the page. I also put the image in front of the title as the image is the main focus.I have found whilst looking at magazine covers, that there is some prize or competition which makes the magazines more appealing to the audience. My magazine has one main image on the front cover. Usually on a typical music magazine, they have one large image. I included the barcode, date and price of the magazine as this is crucial in order the magazine to be sold.I kept to a limited amount of fonts to make my magazine look neat and professional as i noticed that a typical music magazine would not use more than 2/3 fonts. I made the artist being interviewed the main focus of the magazine as this is what is usually done. I did this by putting the name in the largest font. 3. For my contents page: I have included an editors letter which is a feature on most magazine contents pages and gives the readers information on what the magazine is going to be about. I have included the magazine name at the top of the page to show which magazine it is. This is a typical convention that other magazines stick to.I have different headings for each article and a short summary of what each are going about as this is what is common in other music magazines. On the contents page there is usually a date shown on the page. I decided to have mine on the top right hand side of my page so it is easily viewable to the audience. I have used a white background as this is the colour that other magazines mainly use to make it look more professional and not look too complicated. I have also included the articles in boxes so it is clearer to read. There is always a few images that are shown which are usually of the artist being interviewed and other artist appearing in the magazine to make the audience want to read the articles. I included a subscribe boxas this is usually in other music magazines. It also makes the reader want to buy the magazine more often as they will be getting monthly deliveries.I stuck to the magazine conventions by using the specific colour scheme of 3 colours of red, black and white. 4. For my double page spread: I have a small introduction at the beginning which tells you background information on the artist and tells you what your going to be reading. I have put a large quote at the side of my picture so it stands out and tells you a bit of what the article is going to be about.I have set out my interview in a question and answer format. It is easy to distinguish which are the questions as they are in bold and the answers are in a normal font.I had a large image covering one page and then the interview on the other and this is the conventions on what other music magazines have.I included a bold heading at the top of the page which has the artists name clearly shown. This is to show the reader who the article is about and to make them want to read on. I included 2 larger quotes throughout the interview to give the reader a feel of what the interview is about and to interest them in reading it. I have made the text overlay the picture by putting a box on one of the page. By changing the opacity of the box, this makes the text easier to read. This is a convention that other magazines use. 5. My media magazine matches the conventions of a real media product. 6. How does your media product represent particular social groups?My magazine has an indie theme and would attract an audience who listen to this type of music. It is shown by naming well-known indie bands on the front cover to make the audience want to know more.I think that the magazine appeals to both male and females as it features a variety of musical acts. The dress sense of the model were similar to other indie artists wearing clothing such as a polo top and a denim shirt. They also had the attitude of these type of acts.The colour scheme of my magazine is suited to the social group that is my target audience as it uses black and red which are well-known colours for a rock magazine but uses white to make it more suited to the indie genre. I had her use an acoustic guitar instead of an electric one as this is relevant to the genre of music. 7. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? IPC is based in the UK and distributes magazines such as NME. IPC Media produces over 60 iconic media brands with their print brands alone reaching almost 26 million UK adults. I think that IPC media would be good to distribute my productas NME is similar to my magazine and this is good as they have had experience sellingmagazines with the same target audience and genre.This would be good as it wouldget the magazine good publicity and sell well.IPC also sells magazines to a wide range of retailers and this is good as it will offer my magazine to be sold in a wider variety of places which will also increase the sales of my magazine and make it more well-known. 8. Who would be the audience for your media product? The target audience for my product is 16-24 year old as the genre of music is most popular in this age group.It would be aimed at people interested in the modern world and the influence of music and technology. My article on the double page spread was informal and the type of language used throughout my magazine shows that the it will be aimed at a my chosen target audience. I have also attracted a male and female target audience as the colours red, black and white are not generalised to a specific type of gender. This is also done by using both male and female photos on my contents page. I have also used similar aged models and included information that they would want to know about. 9. How did you attract/address your audience? I have used specific conventions to attract the audience into buying my magazine: For my front cover: The background is filled and there is a lot of writing which indicates that the magazine will have plenty of content.A natural attraction for a wide audience is a free gift. I have added free gifts and fun stories to get them interested in my magazine over others. The models are a similar age and this will interest the audience more as it allows them to relate to the models. The model is making eye contact which connects the model to the audience and makes the audience want to read more about her which influences them to buy the magazine.I have varied the size andtype of font to make it look more exciting and attractive. I have also used a colour scheme of 3 colours so it looks more professional and can attract either boys or girls. I have made the price 1.95 which is affordable to my target audience as if it was more it would add up to be too much money each week and might prevent them from buying it. I have named well-known indie bands on the front cover to make the audience want to know more. 10. For my contents page: For my double page spread: I have used a white background as this is the colour that makes the text stand out and makes it look more professional. By putting the articles in boxes, it makes it clearer to read. The large, lively image and catches the attention of the audience as the model is making eye contact with the audience. It has an editors letter to give them a summary of what the magazine has in it. It has lots of writing to show that the magazine is worth the money.The quotes are big and eye catching and will show what the interview is going to be about. This will make them want to read on as it will be about the type of thing my audience want to read about.I have used both male and female models so this will attract a larger audience. I have also chosen models who have the indie look which makes the audience want to read more about them. The interview is quiet short which will make the target audience want to read on as it will be quick and easy. 11. What product have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?I have used software such as Adobe Photoshop to create my front cover, contents page and double page spread.As it was my first time using it, i have learnt all the simple tools and now seem more comfortable with it.One of the key things I have learnt is about photography. Although lots of photos were taken, only a few were used as they are very important in catching the attention of the target audience. Also i learnt that once the photos are uploaded that you can change the exposure, contrast and brightness of them. You can also use the more complex tool such as spot healing tool. Here is an image before and after i have edited the brightness, contrast and used the spot heeling tool: I also learnt to edit text on a front cover. I have also learnt that typical music magazines use either stroke to make the writing more bold and stand out more or put boxes behind the writing to make it clearer to read. Here is some examples on my magazine where i used the stroke tool and put boxes behind my writing: 12. I also learnt how to put the text behind and image. I had to duplicate the image layer. I then had to use the rubber tool and rub out the title from the normal layer 5 as the other layer was behind it. This made my magazine more professional as the image was the main focus and it was the same as existing magazines. I did this editing on my masthead and front cover image: 13. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? During the process of making my magazine, i have learnt many things. At first i didn't know how to edit in Photoshop but after some practice i got used to it and learned all the specific tools that made my magazine to the best it could be.I have also learnt more about the conventions of magazines in order for them to look professional. I have learnt to take better quality photos e.g. Edit the exposure/contrast and know the poses of the model. Also i have kept in mind the genre and target audience so it will be suitable to match it by having the correct costume.The image on the front cover should be the main focus and that the model is mainly in front of the masthead. Also i have learnt from my preliminary task to not have any empty space on the front cover or it wont look very appealing. I have also learnt to make the text stand out more by varying the font size/type/colour to make it more appealing to my target audience. Preliminary Final cover 14. I now understand that coloured backgrounds ultimately distract the reader away from the text. I had considered using a bold red or black background but reconsidered as it would look artificial, whereas the white background looks natural and clean and makes it easier to read the text. I have learnt from my preliminary work that the contents page should look fuller to make it more appealing to my target audience. Preliminary Final cover I have learnt that the articles should be clearly set out and the headings should stand out more. I have learnt that the page should have no empty space and be full with writing or images so that it more worth the money to the target audience. I have learnt where the main conventions should be situated for example, the band index is mainly on the left hand side and the articles are usually on the right side. I feel that i have learnt a lot through making my media project and i feel i have improved from making my preliminary piece to my final piece.