Georgia Wheeler
Music Magazine Evaluation
In what
ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of
real media products?
In my magazine, I have used different features which are
conventional to different magazines. I have placed my masthead at the top of
the page, where it is usually located on all different types of magazines. I
also have a number of cover lines and a central image. My main cover line is in
a larger/bolder font, in comparison to the other text to ensure it stands out
to potential readers. Most music magazines use either one or both of these
techniques, including the two that I have talked about.
The written content on the front cover are conventionally
keep to a minimum, in order to draw more attention to the images, as well as to
avoid the page looking squashed together. I have also used puffs so audiences
are intrigued to carry on reading as important words stand out that appeal to
them.
All of the pages use bright colours and the content page especially
features the conventional list of items within a magazine. For example, the
number references. Numbers on the contents page are in bold yellow font so my
target audience of young girls can direct themselves easily to the page that
interests them without any confusion.
How does
your media product represent certain social groups?
The social group my magazine is aimed at is young girls aged
9-13 who enjoy pop music and are fans of boy bands. The way I have portrayed
this is my magazine is through mise-en-scene and language. I used a mixture of
‘slang’ and formal language to represent my audience. In today’s society, my
target audience speak in this way therefore was appropriate to use and they can
relate and understand the magazine easier. In the language, I frequently
included exclamation marks and various size fonts, this is so it looks informal
and more fun. This represents the social group because 9-13 year olds are fun
and loud so I wanted to portray this attitude in my magazine.
What kind
of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The company I would choose to distribute my magazine is Bauer
Media Group. The reason for this is because it’s a large European based company
with huge success within the media and magazine industry. It is one of the
largest distributors of magazines in the world this means I can spread the name
of my magazine and sell it internationally.
I would distribute my magazine in well known, big brand shops
such as Tesco, Sainsburys and Asda. I will sell my magazine in these shops as
they are very popular and as they are supermarkets, they are guaranteed a high
number of customers doing their food shop which are likely to come across the
magazines and take a look. I would also distribute my magazine online on
different platforms like a website and an app. The reason for this is because
within today’s society it’s common for younger individuals to own a device such
as an iPad to have access to view Simply
Pop online.
Who would
be the audience for your media product?
The target audience for my music magazine is young girls from
the ages 9-13 years old who are interested in pop music. The reason I chose
this for my target audience is because being a female and enjoying pop music, I
have once fallen within that age range and I thought it would be easier to do a
magazine based on what music I used to like. Another reason I chose this was
because pop music is a popular genre within today’s society because there are
huge and well-known artists who release music within this genre.
How did you
attract/address your audience?
I feel I have attracted my audience in a variety of ways. For
example on my front page I have used an image which fills the majority of the
page to grab my audiences’ attention. I have used the image of Shannon who is
slightly older than my target audience so readers read the articles within the
magazine and look up to her as a role model. I have used conventions in order
to attract my target audience. For example a conventional layout which I felt
would attract my audience. The fonts I have used are bold to attract the
audience’s attention. I feel the colour scheme I have used also addresses’ my
target audience as I have used a bright stereotypical colour such as pink.
What have
you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing this
product?
Throughout the project I have extended my knowledge on
software such as InDesign. I have learnt about lots of new editing skills such
as overlapping text, bringing text in front and brightening images. Learning
how to edit images has proved very useful in this project and it will also help
me in the future as well as learning to edit images or constructing a magazine.
Looking at existing products helped with this and I feel confident that in the
future I would be able to create another magazine from the knowledge I have
gained.
Looking
back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?
Looking back on my progress from my preliminary product, I
feel that my preliminary product helped me in many ways when creating my final
product. One major factor that my preliminary product helped me with was
planning my time, for example when organising when to take my images to allow
enough time to edit them. When taking images for my final product I stuck to
backgrounds where all colours are noticeable on them. Although my preliminary
product helped with the planning of my time I have also had to learn new things
which weren’t covered in the preliminary products for example, using a wider
colour scheme to attract a wider audience as it’s not just aimed at a school
like the preliminary task. Overall I think my final product was better than my preliminary
product as it helped me gain more knowledge in the software used.
