Evaluation

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of

real media products?

One typical media convention I have followed is a large masthead. On most existing magazines, the masthead is one of the main focuses of the cover especially, but also throughout the magazine. My masthead is on all 3 pieces of my work but is particularly large on my cover and contents page, this way it is memorable and clearly visible which separates it from other magazines. The fonts I have used are Birds of Paradise for ‘Riff’ and 60’s Stripe for ‘magazine’, the first font is bolder and generally more eye-catching which is important when grabbing the reader’s attention whereas ‘magazine’ isn’t as important which is why I decided to use a plainer font. I followed a layout similar to that of Q Magazine by having my masthead in the corner in a square format as I think it is effective to have the focus mainly on the image.

Another convention I have followed is the use of pull quotes. This is a useful technique as it attracts the reader by showing them a snippet of what’s inside the magazine/article, I have used a pull quote on my cover as well as my double page spread as I think these are the most effective places for them to be.

Throughout my work I have used a colour scheme of red, white, black and different shades of blue. The use of colour scheme is also a typical media convention and I decided to develop this as I believe it makes the magazine look more consistent and professional. My particular colour scheme is very gender neutral, I purposefully did this as my target audience is 16-19 year olds in general, and I think these colours will attract people of this age of both genders.

Another typical media convention I followed on my cover was the use of a freebie. This is a simple yet effective way

of not only catching the readers eye and drawing them into the magazine, but hooking them to future issues of

the magazine as they will be more inclined to buy again if they know they can get free things. I used an image of an

actual CD to make sure the freebie stood out, and it is clearly visible with it being positioned in the top corner.

Again, similarly to this Q cover I have

followed the typical use of a large main title. This is another

effective convention as it draws readers

attention to the main point of the magazine, and as popular artists are usually featured here it is a good way of securing

readers.

Unlike most magazines, the pictures I used in my work were all very similar; they were all taken in a studio

with a white backdrop and they are all posed. Other

than two images that feature on my contents page that I took myself at V Festival. While doing my research I

found that a lot of the pictures in the magazines

were similar to this but also included many pictures from outside the studio or album covers, I chose to challenge this convention as I think the studio-shot pictures look very

professional and the posed element of them allowed me to control how they looked.

With the pictures of my main artist, I made sure these

photos all looked similar and that she was wearing the

same clothes and makeup, to ensure they looked like a

photoshoot that a magazine would include.

Contents page images

On my double page spread I have followed the typical convention of a plain layout with a large main image. I based my double page spread on these existing ones featuring Amy Winehouse and Nicki Minaj and I think they both look very effective. During my planning I said that I wanted the main focus to be on the images and I think my double page spread achieves this.

One convention that I challenged while producing my magazine was the layout of my

contents page. A lot of the magazines I researched, including this contents page in an

issue of Vibe, were very plain and had simplistic layouts. However I thought it would be much more effective to add as much information as

possible while still looking good.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My product represents predominantly teenagers of ages 16-19, because of this I have used language and texts styles that suit this group. As teenagers are stereotypically lazy I made sure that my double page spread article was not too long winded and easy to read, by using techniques such as pull quotes. I have represented my target audience by making my magazine as current and fashionable as possible, as this is another stereotype of teenagers. I have done this by dressing my models in fashionable clothing and makeup, and included current artists that will appeal to them.

My product is aimed at middle class readers who buy popular brands, but that aren’t too expensive, for example in my DPS article I have mentioned Topshop which will appeal to a lot of the readers as it is a popular brand among teenage girls especially. By middle class I am referring to those who have enough money to buy extras such as magazines. Similarly, I think the targeted group will attend concerts/festivals and I have also mentioned these throughout the magazine. The models used in my products are all of white ethnicity and this is a typical convention of the music industry, however I have mentioned artists from different countries which means my product represents a variety of social groups therefore making it more diverse.

My magazine represents young women and the main way I have shown this is through the use of my models. I chose models that were of a similar age to my target audience because I think this is a good way of making readers relate to the product, and I tried to represent the women in my magazine loosely around the women that are in real life media. Women in the media are usually represented in a sexual, attractive way that appeals to men and makes other women envy them because of the way they look. On my cover image and DPS images, I chose to uphold this attractive representation by using direct gaze, specific poses and bold red lipstick. All three of those things grab the readers attention, especially the red lipstick as it has attractive connotations and it stands out from the rest of the image. This is another technique used by magazines, as pictured right.

My double page spread image is very similar to this iconic image of Christine Keeler in the 1960s, although mine is much less explicit this is an obvious tool in making the model look more attractive and attracts a certain audience. I have continued to represent young women by the clothing and makeup that this model is wearing as they are fashionable and look professional, and are similar to images that existing magazines use.

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

My media product would be distributed by one of the main publishing companies, such as Bauer Media Group. They are Europe’s largest privately owned publishing group, They publish magazines of all genres and therefore I think my magazine would have a place here, they aim their magazines at all ages but some are targeted at the same age range (16-19) as my magazine and so they would already have the attention of this age range when my magazine would be distributed. They already have a large audience and a good reputation therefore I think it would be very beneficial for me to have Riff distributed by them, and would make money for both parties.

Media institutions are companies that publish and market media products, such as magazines. Some examples of media institutions are the BBC, Bauer Media Group,

and Sky.

A bit more about these media institutions:

Bauer Media Group is a European-based media

company that more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital

products and 50 radio and TV stations around the world. Their products cover a wide range of topics, such as: Absolute Radio,

Grazia, Rail, and Your Horse.

Sky UK is a British company that provides

television and broadband internet services and fixed line telephone services to homes and businesses in the UK. It provides extra

services such as On Demand and 3D, and has

produced it’s own products including Digibox. Sky TV is

linked with existing channels such as

Nickelodeon but also provides its own channels, including Atlantic, Betting and Gaming, Arts and Real

Lives.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the public service broadcaster of the UK,

and is the world’s oldest national broadcasting

company. They are also the largest broadcasting company in the world, employing over

20,950 staff. The BBC provides a wide range of services, such as; TV, radio, news, music and

internet.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Riff readers are obviously big music fans but they also enjoy knowing a bit about the artists they listen to, which introduces a slight gossip element into the magazine. Readers are also highly functioning in other areas of the media such as film and the internet, and due to the majority age group that read Riff being 16-19, they have grown up with the developing media/technology.Readers are fashionable and move with the times in terms of music and technology, therefore the content in Riff is always up to date and will be enjoyable and easy reading.

I chose to have quite a young age range mainly due to the responses from my survey but also because of my own age, as I believe that being within my own target audience I would be able to product content that would be appealing. My survey results also decided what format I would produce my magazine in, this is why I chose to only publish a paper copy of my magazine. I was unsure whether to create an online/app version of my magazine due to my target audience being used to using technology, but in my results I saw that the majority (56%) would prefer to have a physical paper copy.

My survey results came back as 77% female, and from this data I decided that it would be best to target my magazine at females. From this data I could use my other results as a guide for the rest of my magazine, such as the type of subscription. My targeted age range is 16-19 year olds as again, the results from my survey revealed this age group responded the most (92%).

My average female reader within my age range would be middle class, trendy

and current, interested in fashion and might buy brands such as Topshop,

River Island and MAC. They would follow the trends of the time regarding clothing and makeup, and attend musical events

like festivals and concerts. They would listen to a broad range of music, mainly

featured in the charts.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

On my cover, I advertised a free CD in the top right hand corner. I put the text onto an image of an actual CD to attract readers attention to it, as it contrasts from the rest of the cover. Similarly, I advertised that readers had a ‘chance to win’ on the banner at the bottom of my cover. This banner is bright red with black writing to again, contrast and grab the readers attention. I included these in my product because the data I received in my survey revealed that 82% of people would want to receive free concert tickets the most, rather than a CD or poster.

One way I addressed my audience is by including colours that appeal to both genders, even though my magazine is predominantly aimed at women I wanted to appeal to men too in order to widen my readership. For example, I used red a lot throughout my product as this is a colour that has female connotations, and I also used different shades of blue as this is a male-associated colour, but I included black and white too as these are relatively gender neutral colours.

Throughout my magazine pages I tried to keep an even text to images ratio, my magazine is aimed at teenagers and this social group is typically lazy. I therefore tried to make sure that my magazine wasn’t overrun with text but still included information people wanted to read about, while making sure that there was sufficient images and spacing too.

My target audience would read magazines that celebrities feature in and therefore I have tried to edit my images in a way that resembles professional magazines. For example I edited my images on Photoshop so that they look the highest quality possible, and I asked my models to do poses that are similar to the poses models do in real magazines so that it looks professional and this would make people more likely to buy it.

In my survey I asked which artist readers would be most interested in reading about, and from these responses I made sure that I included some of them on the cover/contents page. For example, Justin Bieber was mentioned several times so I put his name onto the cover. I think this is important as the people that answered my survey are within my target audience, so by including these artists I am giving them what they want.

In my survey, I asked which type of story people would prefer to read about, celebrity news, gossip, factual or interviews. The results to this question were fairly even and therefore I tried to address my audience by writing headlines and my article accordingly, but revolving these around music due to the genre of my magazine.

In my survey I asked how much readers would be willing to pay for

my magazine, the most popular choice was £1 - £1.99 so I priced my

magazine at £1.99. This was also based on research I had done after

my survey about much existing magazines cost and this price therefore seemed reasonable.

Another question in my survey was regarding magazine choice and the aim of this question was that I would be able to base my magazine on the most popular choice, however all the results were fairly even and so I tried to base my layout on all 3 of these magazines by taking bits from each as I knew this would attract my target audience.

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

I used many programmes and websites throughout my project; such as Photoshop, PowerPoint, InDesign, Word and Blogger. I had used some of these prior to constructing my magazine but I have learnt many new skills in all of them, which have helped my edits my work in the best way possible.

Throughout this project I have presented my work on Blogger.com, I

had never used this website before but I have learnt that it is a very effective

way of keeping all your work in one place and being able to present it how

you like, by being able to upload and edit things easily. When uploading

PowerPoints to Blogger.com I had to use SlideShare, another website I was unfamiliar with, which allowed me to

embed slide shows.

I used Word and PowerPoint a lot through my project. Although I had already used both these technologies before constructing my work, I found them very useful for planning and organising things such as my research analysis and drafting my interviews. They were helpful as they both make it easy to write, edit and view your work as you go along.

In order to create a flat plan of my magazine while I was designing, I used Excel. I chose to use this over other programmes as I think it is the easiest for creating something like a flat plan as the boxes are already there and you just insert your own content. I had already used Excel prior to this project but I had never made a flat plan before so I researched this before I started in order to make it look as realistic as possible.

SurveyMonkey was another technology I learnt how to use during this project, I learnt how to construct my survey and publish it to receive results, as I mentioned I also shared my survey onto Facebook so that I could widen my responses.

When picking the fonts for my project I used a website called ‘Da Font’, in order to use these fonts

in Photoshop and InDesign I had to learn how to install these onto the computer. This is a new skill I

learnt through constructing this project and it is very useful because it opened up a whole new set of

fonts I could use and meant I could find one that was the most suited to my magazine.

Photoshop WorkPrior to making my magazine, I

have only ever used Photoshop a few times, including making my

college magazine cover. I probably used Photoshop the most out of all

the software I used because I created my cover and contents

page on it. Through this extensive use I learned lots of new skills which helped me to make my work look as

professional as possible.

One new skill I learnt was how to use layers, they allow you to move

and view things quickly and also allow you to hide certain things that

you can later add back in which is really helpful when editing.

I leant how to manipulate my images in order to make them look how they would on a real magazine, and go with the text on the page. For example I added a ‘stroke’ to the 3 images on the left to make them stand out and not be undermined by the text around them.

before after

Another feature I have learnt how

to use on Photoshop is how

to add shapes. This is quite a

simple tool but I think it looks

effective on my final piece. As

you can see the Q Magazine

contents page is very structured around shapes

and I think it makes the whole

page look a lot more organised.

InDesign Work

A typical convention of magazines are pull quotes. I decided to include one in the centre on my article as I

have seen this in a lot of the magazines I have researched, and I like the way it breaks up the text, I

was able to do this by learning how to wrap text boxes. I also used the guide view to make sure the

pull quote was centred.

In order to make my magazine consistent and realistic, I included my masthead/logo on every piece of work. As you can

see I chose to have my logo in the bottom left corner of my double page spread as I didn’t want it to be too big and over powering. I did this by downloading the same fonts I used in

Photoshop onto InDesign, and when placing it I worked against a screenshot of my masthead on my cover to make sure it was the

same, and then deleted this once I was finished.

I learnt a lot about using InDesign in this project as I had never used it before creating my double page spread, I found it a useful tool for making my work look like a real article by being able to control how the page was structured, for example how many columns I had.

InDesign enables you to view you work as a preview or with guides. This is really helpful when deciding where things will go in order to make the page look organised, as you can see whether or not things are aligned. This helped me particularly because I knew how I wanted my DPS to look so I was able to structure it exactly.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression

from it to the full product?

In preparation of creating my final products, I did lots of research regarding my audience and existing magazines. From this I knew what I needed to include in my magazine and could

create further developments, such as potential layouts. I did no preparation for my college magazine and I think that is reflected in how it looks. By doing research I could take bits I

liked from existing magazines to create my own, well thought through product.

When taking the image for my preliminary cover, I hadn’t thought of how I wanted the model to look and we just played around with different poses as I was taking it, however with all of the images in my final work I planned how I wanted the models to look based on my research, so that it would look as realistic as possible.

Similarly, when planning my music magazine I took a lot of time deciding which fonts I wanted to use from Da Font to make it look eye catching and relatable to my magazine, where as with my college magazine I used simple fonts from Photoshop and put little thought into the ones I picked.

I feel like my knowledge of images that are in magazines has progressed during this project. The image I used for my college cover contrasts dramatically to the image I used for my music cover; I used a tripod to ensure I could take the photo at the right angle and length where as when taking my preliminary image I took the photo free-hand. The first image was taken in front of a white wall, and my music cover was taken in a studio. This allowed me to control the lighting and background and made it more private which made the model more relaxed. I have also learnt more about the type of shots, and poses that are used in magazine images.

As you can see, by developing skills in different areas, such as

Photoshop, photography and editing I have been able to create a front cover that is significantly better than my

preliminary work. It looks more organised and most importantly

more realistic!