Evaluation
My main task was to create three media product which link to a music magazine. The three media products I made where, a Front cover, a contents page and a double page spread. To reach my final products I went through months of research and planning, mock up and even listen to a certain music genre to get my final products to the best of standards. Since pop music is a well known genre, I decided to focus my magazine on pop and since my age range links to the genre, it was an advantage to getting these final products to a high quality, professional finish.
Here are my final 3 products:
From my research and planning to I have decided to use, develop and challenge forms and conventions within the media products that I have created to make the final products look professional and not amateur made. By learning conventions of the same time of genre on magazines has allowed me to create high quality pieces of work.
In my front cover product I have decided to follow and invert conventions. I have decided to do this because if I use the same conventions it will be easier for the target audience to identify the genre, age range and what the magazine is about but also by using invert conventions, it will make it a fresh new look and something different to be sold on the market. I have based my research on two magazines which are “TOP OF THE TOPS” and “WE LOVE POP” “TOP OF THE POPS” has been around for many years going and it has developed in many ways which will allow me to identify the good features that have been repeated and the bad features which have been removed and by using “WE LOVE POP” magazine, it is a new mag which gives me an idea of what the new magazines conventions are and what the target audience are currently looking for.
Front Cover
The conventions that I have used were inspired by existing magazines. When I was creating this media product, my aim was to make sure it looked professional and a high quality product that would most likely be bought by the target audience. The target audience like seeing repetitive things and so I have used the following conventions.
- Attractive model – it is essential to have a pretty model for your main front page. This is to attract the audience and encourage them to buy the magazine since they would want to look like her and be inspired by her.
- Puff – A puff is a little circle which usually is placed in the top right corner of a magazine. It usually is to present important information which is or should be featured in the magazine. It eye catching and effective and I have used mine to present to the audience that they can win One Direction gig tickets.
- Sell Lines – I have laid out sell lines all around the left and right side of the pages and made the main sell line on the left middle as the biggest and most colourful. By having a range of sell lines, it will let the reader know what the magazine will feature. This is a common thing which is shown in pop music magazines.
- Banner – Banners are usually only done on music magazines. So to make the readers realise that it is a music mag, I have decided to input that at the bottom corner. The banner gives it a fun, edgy look which would make them want to know what it is about. For example, on my magazine I have made the banner to feature celebrity photos, this is also a common convention which is usually found in pop magazines.
These are some of the typical conventions that have inspired me to include in my front cover. The reason for this is because each convention makes the final touch a music pop magazine more attractive and more suitable for the target audience that I have chosen for. For example I’m aiming at ages 13-18 and so a puff and a banner is something that would catch their attention.
I have also used an invert to make my music magazine different from what is already on the stores. Usually music magazines are fully crowded with pictures and really big text and font across the page. So I have decided to make mine a bit tidier yet still stand out. Here is an example to show the difference between a current magazine and my front cover that I have created.
On the left is an image of the top of the pops front cover and you can see how crowded it is with pictures and large text. I have followed many conventions but also I have kept it really tidy and simple. I have used effective text in different fonts and sizes which will attract the reader and finally it looks modern and more girly.
Contents Page
Seeing that I had an invert of conventions in my front cover, I decided to keep this media product very simple and ordinary when it came to conventions. Since my front page cover is different than current magazines, it was a good idea to keep the contents page as common as possible so that the target audience doesn’t get uncomfortable when reading the magazine.
I have used the same layout as usual magazines such as the columns of the categories. I have a main heading then sub categories which are the main stories in that certain category. This is a good way to keep it organised and easy to find when looking for a certain topic.
I have also entered a strap line slogan underneath the Header “Contents” to make them show that they are welcomed into reading the magazine and that the magazine is theirs to read. This makes them feel comfortable since I am giving them direct address.
Relating back to other music magazines like “TOP OF THE POPS” their magazines usually have images of artists or certain products cropped out and placed onto the page. I have done the same by including t shirts and tops near the certain topic. This is to make the page more visual and more interesting since pictures play a big part in a music magazine.
I had to make a link between the front page and the contents page by using the same font and same design of layout. For example in the front page I have used a creative looking blue background as the main sell line then used again in the contents page to show what the page is. Since the topic is about Nadine Lewis, I have once again put a picture of her on the contents page so that the readers don’t forget what the main topic is about in this issue of the magazine.
The use of big numbers was inspired by a top of the pops magazine contents page when I was doing my research and planning. Within my questionnaire I realised that it attracted the audience by having big numbers to identify the pages of the topic besides a picture. I have managed to do this successfully.
As you can see here, I have used common conventions like cropped out images and accessories, small images around the edges, repetitive puffs and a range of big page numbers.
Double Page Spread
Double page spreads are one of the most important topic and page in a music magazine. So my task was to make sure that this media production stood out from the rest of the magazines. I kept these common and simple and used traditional conventions.
- Headline – I used a headline to tell the audience who and what the topic is about, as you can see Nadine Lewis is the headline. I have given it a continuous link with the front page and contents page by using the same font and colours.
- Main Image – I have my artist/ model wearing different clothing in the interview to show off that she has a range of different glamour. Her hair is the same to show a link between the media products. The main image is taking over one side of the double page spread and this is to attract the audience by making it stand out against the text.
- Pull quote – a pull quote is when a bit of text has been pulled out from the interview and has made big. This is to show an important detail in which will grab the reader’s attention. This will make them want to read the interview and try to find out why she would say that. I have used this in the top right corner as for its easy to spot.
- Stand first – I have used a stand first to explain what the interview is about and who it is aim at.
- Smaller relative images – I have used three of these because it makes the page more visual and interesting. On each image it is related to what is said in the interview and this is a good way of making the reader feel connected with the artist. It makes them feel like they are the one picturing what she says if they are living her life.
My media products that I have created represent a particular social group which is the typical girly girl, love to look glamorous teenagers. I have purposely aimed to make my three media products match their style, their age, their personality and even they way they think. Since my target audience are aimed at young female teenagers from year 8 and onwards, that love pop music, it was essential to grab by using certain elements to represent them.
Within the three media products I have used the typical beautiful model that gives off the glamorous and confident look. This represents the particular social group of a girly girl because of her soft curls, simple yet elegant makeup, top of the trend fashion and even the happiness in her eyes. I have my made my model smile so that she has that calm and fun personality look to her, and the target audience can relate to this, to show that she isn’t serious and down to earth. This gives of a fun, playful look which relates to the target audience’s personality.
I have used a range of bright colours especially baby colours which link with the gender of the target audience. Baby pink and baby blue are mostly common with girls rather than boys, so it attracts them and makes them interested in buying this magazine. These colours are bold yet very subtle and calm which makes a statement but also represents which gender this magazine will be made for.
I have given it a messy and scrapbook look to the magazine on three of the media products to show off the representation off youth. By using really bold designs and not straight text for example:By having the text diagonally placed, different colours and fonts, it shows off a youthful look which the target audience can relate to as for they usually would like messy work when creating their own diaries or scrap book. It gives of a quirky look which makes it really youthful and fun and it represents the youthful look; this makes the three media products really creative and successful in this representation.
The mode of address that I have used in the three media products are a way in representing the social class that I have chosen. Teenage girls usually fantasize about male celebrities, by calling them things like “Fit”, “Sex God” and even “Oppsie” these words are mostly used by girly girls and you will not expect a geeky or emu stereotyped girl saying these things. So by using these types of words, it reflects the target audience personality and it makes it clear to them that the magazine is aimed at them. Also the mode of address makes them feel like the magazine is their friend and someone they can openly talk to.
My representation is a typical look which is commonly shown within other pop music teenage magazines. I have used the same conventions and elements to make it suitable for the target audience. As I have mentioned before, many little elements like makeup and hair can play a big role, such as an emo stereotypical girl wouldn’t be interested in the model as she can not relate to the model.
This is a link with other media text that have the same target audience as me and how I have used the same type of features to make it suitable for a certain social group.
1. I have used a pretty model, nice flowing hair, simple makeup yet nice.2. The range of colours, baby blue and pink again, which matches the target audience’s personality
3. A poster page, at the bottom I have also used to grab the reader’s attention by included hot celebrity posters
4. The mode of address “Flirt Alert” I have used “Eye candy.
5. A range of cell lines, big bold sell lines that pull out the important topics in the magazine.
1. I have used a header in my magazine as “contents”. This is to make it clear that this is the page were they find all the information.2. I have used a range of images which the target audience can relate to such as fashion, images, make up and even other existing celebrities.
3. Easy columns but fun look to read, I have used a range of sub headings to make it easier for the audience to read.
4. Use of colours, the colours reflect the target audience, the calm, subtle colours are again repeated here.
1. This represents a social class of girly girls, once again the model is pretty and looks natural yet confidence, I have also done this in my double page spread
2. the use of relative images, these helps represent a social class, young teenagers love images more than reading and so by using allot of colour and pictures it is more interesting and youthful.
3. The colour and font once again relates to the social group because it’s cute colourful and bold. I have also done this in mine.
The media institution that I would like to distribute my pop music magazine would be BAUER MEDIA for several of reasons.
Bauer Media was found in 1875, privately owned by the Bauer family. They offer the world over 300 magazines in 15 counties, with online magazine websites, TV and radio stations. It is a multi platform UK based media group which controls many top end magazines and TV channels. By reading these statistics, this will allow me to know that the institution is successful and owns some of the biggest magazines going. It gives me the comfort that the magazine will be sold all over the world and that the institution is really triumphant.
Bauer Media has a lot of magazines that are selling a lot around the world and this will be a good thing for me since they know how to sell magazines. They also have a pop magazine called “POP” for young adults and so by me promoting my magazine to them, I’m sure they will know how to make it look good, know how to put professional features and so they have experience in music magazines. They also feature music magazines like “Kerrang” and “Mojo” and these two music magazines are some of the biggest worldwide selling rock and indie music. So by me promoting a pop music magazine, it will be different for them and also a good hit with the target audience.
Bauer Media also does “heat” magazine which is aimed on celebrity gossip and fashion. These two topics will be featured in my magazine and so with their experience of these two topics, it will be really successful since they would know where to get their information from and how to make it effective for the target audience to enjoy.
And finally Bauer Media owns radio stations like KISS fm and even Channel 4 (4Music) this would be a massive advantage since they play pop music, have a lot of interviews with the celebrities and also know the latest information and tunes. This will be a great success to deliver the magazine to the target audience because they have been around for many years and have a large number of experience, they feature many topics and they will know how to improve it to make high number of sales and finally, they have the same range of target audience so that they already know what is needed to satisfy their needs. They know Maslow’s hierarchy and so they will be able to input into this magazine.
My target audience are fun, youthful, bubbly teenage girls that love to look good and feel good. They have high hopes to become successful but still know how to have fun. They are girly girls that love to gossip, go shopping, try new things and have a laugh no matter how serious the situation is. They are stress free girls than love to relax and listen to pop music. They enjoy standing out from the crowd, making an effort even if it is to school and just getting along with people by being social.
My magazine is suitable for my target audience because it gives them all the information that is needed for them to get through their teenage lives. My magazine covers music, fashion, gossip and even tips and tricks. These topics are things which teenage girls and my target audience love to talk and discuss about. By using the mode of address, the same style of clothing, the range of artists used the secret pleasures and also the tips and gossip, the target audience can relate to it since it’s what they like and love and also what they want to hear.
My magazine will make the target audience feel like it is their friend by being able to relate to their everyday life ways for example, talking about guys, problems with guys and even high school crushes. Some girls are not open enough to talk to their friends about it, so the magazine is like a small get away that understands and advises the teenage girls on how to do things. The magazine promotes their interests like fashion and style, the colours and fonts used describe what they like and also the title “BUBBLEGUM” shows off a playful side since youthful teenagers love to chew on gum. My magazine is suitable because it’s like their life in one magazine, they can relate to certain topics that are talked about in the magazine and even learn from others and discuss certain issues. Teenage girls need guidance when they are growing up and this magazine has that to offer to them.
A way in which I managed to attract and address my target audience is by using different range of text, font, images, colours and stories that they can relate to.
- colours – They colours that I have used, the baby pink and blue works well and attract the target audience because its colours that relate to their personality and interests for example the girls are glamorous and fun, so the colours that I chosen promote a fun, youthful look.
- Sell lines / mode of address – I use words like “Eye Candy”, “Hahaha”, “Oppsie” and “must have”. These words reflect the target audience dialogue in real life since these words is what they would say to their friends, and so this makes it successful because they feel like they are talking to their friend.
- Fashion tips – girls love fashion and so my target audiences main interests is shopping and looking good, by talking about fashion it will make them want to buy the magazine to find out the seasons must have.
- Attractive Model – by having an attractive model, the target audience would want to look like her because she has the nice flowing curly hair, has great fashion sense and looks confident but fun. This would inspire them to want to be like her so they would buy the magazine to look and learn from her.
The magazine will satisfy the reader’s needs because it talks about everything that they would want to hear. Since the magazine is mostly about pop music, it has other topics such as fashion, tips and tricks, their personal life and even just celebrity gossip. These tick all the interests for my target audience because it’s everything that they like. They would buy this magazine because they will see it as guidance to living and help themselves improve their confidence and be able to relate to majority of the topics and issues that have been said in the magazine. It also features their favourite artists which is a big inspiration for young teenagers.
Throughout this task, I have learnt many technological skills to create high standard media products. Since the beginning of this project I was a bit wary on the BlogSpot website and didn’t really know how to use it. I managed to learn how to input videos, images and even hyperlinks. I already knew how to use adobe Photoshop from pervious media projects but with this, I have learnt more skills on how to make my media products more professional and less amateur. Regardless to the pictures that were taken for this project, I learnt about the lighting which is suitable the certain angles and also what setting is best on the digital camera to create successful images. My skills have improved massively, and I have gone back and forth on the media products to make them even better every time I found a way to improve them.
When looking back at my preliminary task, I feel like I have learnt in the progression from it to the full product that I can make a big difference by using special effects and drop shadowing to create a better quality media product. My skills on Photoshop have developed since the preliminary, because the preliminary was like a practise to know my way around Photoshop and to test certain effects that look better. My final pop music production is much better than my preliminary in areas such as the colour, the blending of layers on Photoshop to make it look realistic, the mix and match of fonts and also the improvement of images that were selected such as contrast and brightness.
Overall, I have learnt that how to manage my time, research certain factors that i will need to create a magazine and also what conventions are suitable for a certain target audience. I have learnt how to develop ideas/ mock ups from feedback. Being able to understand the target audiences needs and being able to make it for them, has made me learn to communicate and discuss things with a range of people. This has made me improve my Photoshop skills and even my knowledge in the media industry.
