Q1.) In what ways does the music magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real music magazine?
The Front Cover
My front cover generally conforms to the layout of a typical music magazine, it includes the centre image of which the magazine is featured on. I didnt include subsidary images as such because it made the front cover look cluttered and obscured the main image however i used sell lines and features so it will appeal to the audience and what is included in the magazine is evident. The masthead 'iVIBE' is the bigger font on my page, i used this masthead as it is up-to-date with many inventions around such as the iPOD or iTunes. I think the font i used is very bold and modern.
The main image just fits under the masthead and suits the page well on the page and it is very centred and spreads across most of the page so is very visible to specific target audiences of that music interest.
The colour scheme was mainly pink, white and black however i used green around the band that is focused on so it stood out more to the audience.The colour scheme uses very bold and bright colours which work well together but may not be as conventional as other music magazines but i wanted to use my own colour taste with the magazine and im glad i did so, iVIBE could be aimed at both genders however using the colours pink and white it could focus more towards the female audience.
I was going to remove the background of this image using Paintshop Pro however when i tried doing this the surrounding features on my magazine stood out a bit more rather than the front image, i challenged the conventions of usual magazines because they may remove the background image to make the photo look more professional however i decided not to because i believe the original background suited my magazine better.
The Contents Page.
My contents page wasnt based on a contents page i had seen before in any other music magazine, i just layed it out the way i could imagine a contents page being and i believe it worked quite well together. The layout that i used makes the contents page look quite empty whereas other conventional contents page are quite packed with the features in the magazine. However i have included numbered features which are all music related. I like the way my contents page stands out and the colours i used coinside with the front page colour scheme, with the green around the featured artist highlighted. I think the images i used are conventional as the 'paparazzi' pictures i included were taken randomly and they dont look professional or set up, making the idea of 'paparazzi' pictures more believable. I used the front cover image linked with the artist featured on the front cover so it was evident that the contents was linked with the magazine, i had seen this on one of the Q magazines and thought it was a good feature to use. There are many things i can now see that should of been changed with my contents page, such as the same proportions of number boxes linking each article to the pages, as it all looks very rushed and not professional. However the layout of my contents page works well and although it isnt as full as it could be, it is not cluttered and each feature is easy to locate and read.
My Double Page Spread
The background i used for my double page spread is very plain as i left it white, with the only colours of the images and font colours. I used one main image filling most of the one pages and removed the background of the image using Paintshop Pro as the orignal background clashed with the colour scheme. I used a pull quote selected from the text underneath it 'we've worked really hard with this new album, worked with new things and improved our sound' linking it to what they had said and emphasising it as a main quote to make the audience want to read about it. I used subsidary images of both the girls and put it under the text, i had to make sure the font colour changed at different parts of the picture otherwise the text was not visible and this took some time. I found this idea in a magazine 'New' which is not a music magazine but i used the artists to feature as i thought it was quite a good idea. In my double page spread article headline i used the font 'flaming' i thought this was a good idea as it contradicted the words 'sweeter' with the font to give it more attitude. I liked the 'flaming' font as it was modern, funky and brought orignality to my spread. The content in my article would appeal to the target audiences as the layout of the questions and answers is easy to follow and the girl answering was evident as i used colour coding to indicate.
Q2.) How does your media product represent particular social groups?
In each of my images included in my magazine, they are all young models which would attract the target audience as the magazine is clearly current and funky. It is targeted at mainly females so pictures of stereotypical fashionable young women and the feature '10 sexiest males' would all attract them to my magazine. However male readers are not ruled out of the magazine as rappers they may be intrested in are also featured and so all target groups who are intrested in r&b, pop or rap music are all represented. By using a young female duet it is meant to appeal to a wider audience and influence other young adults of that age and be a influence for them, who they would love to be etc.
Q3.) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Frontline is a distributor which we focus on during the media studies course.It is the biggest magazine distributor in the country. It sells over 180 magazines one of which including Q and 70 of them are the top 200 best selling in the UK.
PUBLISHER -> DISTRIBUTION-> WHOLESALER -> RETAILER-> CONSUMER
(Bauer) (Frontline) (Shops) (Target Audience)
If my magazine was to be distributed i would know that using frontline as my distributor i would get the best possible outcome for my magazine and it would more likely attract a loyal and trustworthy target audience.
Q4.) Who would be the audience for your media product?
The Target Audience Music Profile >> Miss Hiphop <<
They would be aged around the age of 16-20 as that is the age group my magazine is aimed at.
Young fashionable women who like to have fun and a good sociable life. Up-to-date with all the fashion trends and likes to have a dance and a drink.
R&B, Pop & Rap are their music tastes.
This music magazine is the kind that girls would read to each other, aspire to be and catch up on the gossip or latest tunes while spending time together, listening to music or before they go out. During my studying of Media Studies I found that most music magazines target more of a male audience. So I decided to challenge the conventions of the music industries target audiences, by producing a magazine more focused on the female gender, with a slight edge for the male gender.
Q5.) How did you attract/address the audience?
The main image on my front cover of iVIBE is of independent girls who show confidence and attitude. This would appeal to young teen women who are intrested in girls that have edge to them and individuality, they would look upto them as being their influence or idols, maybe who they would dream to be if they were interested in the music industry. The modles in the main image have styled hair and wear makeup, they are also wearing very fashionable/trendy outfits this would appeal to the young women as they may want to look like them and style themselves on them. This could also target young males however, as they may find the girls attractive on the front cover. The masthead 'iVIBE' is very bold and eyecatching. The colour scheme i used is also very bright and i used quite feminine colours. Magazines create relationships with readers so by using sell lines and images on the front cover that relate to the target audience i think it attracts the readers.
Q6.) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
When creating my magazine product I used many different technologies, some which i was frequent of using and others which I have never experienced before; such as Adobe indesign which is a desktop publishing software which helped a lot through my production of my magazine. To do things such as remove the backgrounds of my image i used a clipping path using the feature Paint shop pro. When uploading a image for my magazine i used another feature called 'Adobe Bridge' which helped me move it from the bridge over to my magazine layout.
I used a 10megapixel camera with a 3x optical zoom for my main images and a 7x megapixel for the small images included in my contents page with using two different megapixel camera i have come to the conclusion that the better the megapixel the more professional the better quality picture that it is. When taking my pictures i needed to consider the angle and and setting of my image. Fortunaltey i used a good plain background for the main images i used so the colour of them did not need removing however i later removed one of the backgrounds just so it fitted well and looked good on my double page spread page.
Q7.) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
For my preliminary task i had to produce a school magazine front cover, it had to be aimed at students so i had to think of the best ways to approach the task; how to appeal to both younger and older audiences, experiencing this task allowed me to learn and familiarise myself with conventional layout and designs of magazine covers.
Here is my preliminary task:
For my first attempt using features such as adobe indesign which i was not familiar with i think my preliminary task was okay. However the subsidary images and sell lines are boring and it doesn't look like a professional magazine. I think i could of improved my preliminary task by adding more exciting sell lines and improving my subsidary images. My main image is suitable for this magazine as it is contrasting with both the older and younger students and it also relates to the sell line. The one thing i like about my preliminary task is my masthead 'Henry's Voice' i think it fits well and the use of the clipart crown adds to the effect.
Taking all of the improvements i could have made to this magazine i then went on to produce my final product. My Music magazine:
Compared to my preliminary task there is a clear improvement in the layout and design of my magazine. I understood the changes that could have been made to my school magazine and made sure i applied this to my music magazine. I improved my main image as it is more presentable on the page and a better quality image than my school magazine, i also believe it would stand out more to the audience. I decided not to use subsidary images on my music magazine because it looked to cluttered on the page and i didnt want it to turn out anything like my preliminary task. My school magazine looks very plain and boring whereas my music magazine is bright and more exciting to the eye and the structure works well. From my final magazine cover however it is clear to see the difference in how professional and more realistic it looks and how each of the features work better together.
As well as creating a magazine front cover, we had to produce a double page spread and contents page, which allowed me to explore further into the styles and conventions of a real music magazine.
I am really pleased with my final product and i believe i have made quite a big improvement and now understand how to attract different audiences. I was able to follow certain conventions of music magazines but create a magazine with features that suit my own personal tastes and was able to create my own original layout and design. I now feel my school magazine was not good at all and i am pleased that my final product of the music magazine is better than the two.
I am really pleased with my final product and i believe i have made quite a big improvement and now understand how to attract different audiences. I was able to follow certain conventions of music magazines but create a magazine with features that suit my own personal tastes and was able to create my own original layout and design. I now feel my school magazine was not good at all and i am pleased that my final product of the music magazine is better than the two.
