Question 7 - Evaluation

Question 7

- Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt and what progress has been made?

      From my preliminary task I have learnt many things on how to create a better and more professional magazine. Looking back on my preliminary task I have noticed I didn’t put enough effort and detail into the little things. For example on my contents page my numbers we’re all different sizes and out of place whereas now I look at my music magazine they are one of the first things I spot out making sure everything is in line and order. My preliminary task was very simple. I had many colours all over the school magazine and the images not contrasting well with the text. I have realized from my music magazine. I have made it more professional adding in lots more detail to each page of my magazine. I have learnt to use InDesign for my music magazine whereas with my preliminary task I used Photoshop I have now found that InDesign is much simpler to use and with InDesign you can do a lot more for example with InDesign you can have your whole magazine on one document and have the text flowing from one page to another with Photoshop you was unable to do this so this consumed a lot of my time stopping and starting. 

Question 6 - Evaluation

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



Before this project knew basic skills on Photoshop as I had used it prior in year eleven for my GSCE coursework. So I was able to get straight into the task using my knowledge and skills to help me create my preliminary task and my music magazine. Although I had this knowledge throughout the task I have learnt to use InDesign. We was told to move from Photoshop to InDesign as we would benefit from this. At first I was clueless about Indesign and did not like the program but as I started to piece my magazine together I started to learn more and in many ways Indesign is the easiest thing to use once you know how to use it. The thing I like about Indesign the most is you can have all your pages on one document adding and removing things from your magazine quite simply. i also like that you can click certain buttons to make your text flow onto the next page. This came in handy for me obviously with my article. You can also put my text straight into colloums with a simple button without having to piece out different texts boxes like Photoshop. I think using InDesign has benefited me and my work and hopefully helped me create a better magazine.

Question 5 - Evaluation

Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

- I have ensured my magazine will sell by adding unique selling points to my magazine. Many successful magazines do the same. I have included many top known artists within my genre of music. This helps the readers to understand the type of magazine and connects with their taste in music.  I am sure my magazine will sell because I have made my magazine professional and perfected all the faults in my magazine from having the perfect photograph on the front cover to having the twitter @ logo in the corners of each page.  I have made it attracted to the buyer by adding free posters, freebies & personal parts like adding a ‘tweet in page’ to give the audience a chance to feel included and secluded to the magazine, this would get seen by other followers on twitter and create a bigger audience which is great for me as I shall then sell more magazines. 

Question 4 - Evaluation

Question 4

Who would be the audience for your magazine?

 – The audience of my magazine as it is very tricky having two genres mixed into one. My magazine is rock and indie so it is attracting a wider audience. I have tried to make the target audience both men and women. Aged 17-25. Below I have created two characters both male and female which are a perfect representation of the target audience I am going for and who I would like to be reading my magazine this includes their likes, age genre and social class.

Josh, 18 lives in London and is well and truly in love with music. He loves a lot of rock‘n’ roll music. His favourite band is all time low he has been to reading festival over three times and seen all time low four times. He keeps up with all the latest releases and gossip by reading Kerrang magazine monthly and reading online. Josh has just started uni and is studying media studies and English language. He is very keen that he knew of the band ‘ Mallory Knox’ before they we’re mainstream and famous within the rock music industry he tells us that he had found them on twitter when they followed him and was trying to make themselves big. Josh is a big twitter fan and follows all the artists on twitter always trying to get the latest gossip. Josh also enjoys going to small gigs as well as big festivals like reading he finds his last minute tickets on apps like twickets. His other interests also loves football, comedies and inbetweeners. Rachael, 20 lives in Reading and her favourite artist is Ellie Goulding. She enjoys going to festivals such as tomorrow land and Glastonbury. Rachael enjoys going into town with her friends and going to small gigs. She is very open minded to listen to new music as she sometimes goes to gigs with friends without known the artists name or type of music.  Her interests besides music are shopping (topshop, urban outfitters etc) dancing and going on nights out with friends. She has a secret love for the lumineeers she thinks their music is very calming after a night out. She uses tumblr more than any other social network as she can upload her own blogs and speak about her gigs and festivals with people that have missed out and enjoy the same music.

My magazine is only £3.99 as I am trying to attract a wide audience of all social classes. And as my magazine is aged at 17-25 year olds many people that age are students or just starting out. So having the price any higher would put them off buying my magazine as they need to save all the money they have but spending a few pounds for amusement and enjoyment is perfect for the genre.

Question 3 - Evaluation

Question 3

- What kind of institution might distribute your media product and why?
 

The company I shall pick to distribute my magazine will be one that doesn’t yet distribute my genre of magazine or style. I believe this is the best option as then the company will have something fresh, new and exciting to distribute for example I would not choose IPC media as the company already distribute magazines like Q and Kerrang which are very alike to my magazine and this wouldn’t work well. I would want something different for my distributors to produce to their readers. Future LPC would be perfect for my magazine as they do not publish my genre of magazine but do distribute magazines for my target audience which would mean possibly getting a bigger audience the other magazines distributed talk about music e.g. guitars and bass. They also have a great connection with ps3 and Xbox which all teenagers love and enjoy. This would benefit me as I could have them advertise my magazine on game adds and create talk about my magazine and what is involved within the magazine.

Question 2 - Evaluation

Question 2

How does your media product represent partilcuar social groups?

My magazine is great for representing certain age groups my magazine is created for both males and females aged 17-27. My magazine has been made and set for that age genre you can tell this by the language I use in my magazine. I have some swearing added to my magazine to make the readers feel like my magazine is real and isn't covered up. It only tells what it’s been told straight from the mouth itself. I have added images from people the same age as my audience this makes the audience feel they aren't looking at a much younger/older audience the models and artists have been made directly for them. I have also added festivals that are age appropriate for example you have to be 16+ to attend reading festival without an adult. The main part of my magazine showing the certain age group is my contents page with all the bands in the same particular age group. The style of images on my magazine help the audience to engage with my magazine as most of my audience are older teens. Most teens are stereotyped as moody, no eye contact, reckless etc I have used this is my images to make the audience feel at home with themselves and feel like they can connect with the mood of the magazine. Using red in my magazine  also makes it very bold and aggressive adding a rock tone to it which my magazine genre and audience is made for. 

Question 1 - Evaluation

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