This is my final front cover
This is my final contents page
This is my final double page spread
Friday, 17 April 2015
Evaluation question 1
In what ways does your media product use,develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
When making any media text it is important to follow some conventions because you need to have a structure for your product to work. You want your target audience to be able to identify the genre product as well as the genre. You want the magazine to stand out and for them to instantly know what sort of magazine it is, instead of having to work it out.However challenging some conventions makes your magazine different to other magazines that are of the same genre, you want your magazine to bring something new and fresh but at the same time it still being similar to other magazine of the same genre so your target audience knows what genre it is.
The technical conventions of an RnB music magazine would be to have the Masthead normally at the top left, it is in bold font that is really visible and straight away you know it is the Masthead. The Masthead is also short and snappy and relates to the RnB genre, my Masthead is ‘UJ’ which I think works really well because it sounds like an RnB magazine name, it is also what a name my target audience preferred.
A key convention is having strong sell lines that are appealing and relate to the RnB industry, on my front cover of my magazine I think I have strong sell lines that are appealing and interesting to read. I have used current RnB artists that are dominant in the industry that I believe will appeal to RnB fans as they will associate my magazine as being current and up to date.
The dominant image is another key convention it is also the main focus on the front cover of a magazine. Normally the dominant image is central and the model is looking into the camera. Looking at RnB/Hip Hop magazine covers I have noticed that Red, Black and White are used quite frequently on the front of RnB/Hip Hop magazines and other music magazines like NME.
The technical conventions for an RnB contents page would be to have features and regulars, normally the features and regulars are in a column on opposite sides of the page. Also on the contents page the main story on the front cover is normally in bigger font or made a little more eye catching so as soon as you open up the contents you know what page the main story is on. I really like the layout of the RnB magazine ‘Vibe’ I think it’s really interesting to look at. Also ‘Vibe’ uses Red, black and white as their colour scheme which I also think works really well. The technical conventions of an RnB feature page would be to have a big image of your celebrity on one page with a pull quote that makes the target audience want to read your article. Also it would have an introductory paragraph and another pull quote on the same side as the writing of the article. The symbolic conventions of an RnB music magazine would be the bling/jewellery that the artists wear, which links back to what I wrote in my Genre and Iconography. The poses that the artists are photographed in are normally showing off the female artists flesh and male artists it’s showing that they are dominant and in control and have a good physique which is appealing to women because they find that exciting and sexy. Also the artists whether they are male or female are normally wearing tight fitted clothes or hardly any clothes at all to make them stand out and live up to the ‘sex icon’ name.
Red, black and white are used a lot as the 3 colour scheme, they work well and the red and white links in with the connotations of the artists because the connotation of Red is sexy and dangerous which links in with the reason the artists are known as ‘sex symbols’. Also the connotation of white is virginity and purity that is linked to most RnB artists, as they are very humble and thankful for where they are and the red shows their playful side. The dominant image on a RnB magazine is very obvious and the first thing you would look at on the magazine, normally the female artists are posed in sexual poses and revealing clothes and jewellery which would attract men to read the magazine and also women because they might idolise them. Men are also shown as sexy, normally they have tattoos and muscles and are wearing jewellery and clothing to show off their muscles, which is appealing to women because they find them really attractive and sexy. However men are interested because they idolise them also.Overall I think that my magazine follows most of the technical conventions for an RnB magazine, however I have also subverted some technical conventions.
For my front cover I have followed the key conventions, I have a sharp Masthead that works really well and I also have used strong sell lines that fit in well with my RnB genre. My dominant image is centered in the middle of my magazine cover which is following the technical conventions and I also have a reasonable price and a bar code as well. My magazine challenges the symbolic conventions for an RnB/Hip Hop music magazine. Normally majority of female RnB/Hip-hop artists are showing flesh because they are known as ‘sexy’ or as a ‘sex symbol’. My media products challenges the stereotypes of an RnB magazine front cover, as it is normally with a female wearing hardly any clothes and her body is posed in a seductive way however I decided to challenge the convention because I still think it works really well. The model still looks appealing because of how I have dressed him and the image I have used on my front cover makes him look fierce and fresh. Even though I have challenged some of the symbolic conventions I think that my magazine still works really well and I am really proud of what I have created. I have still created the RnB style and the genre is clearly visible due to the colour scheme used and the featuring artists I just decided to take a different approach to the main image and expressing the males rather than the females, the females are used to gain males attention whereas I believe that using a male would address both male and female as the females would be psychically attracted due to his looks and them thinking he’s good looking an the males would be more attracted to him being something for them to look u to if they see a male being able to gain females attention and being successful then they would want to be like him to get the same.
The layout of my magazine is very similar to the RnB magazine 'XXL' as it is a successful and current magazine and I think that my layout works well. My sell lines look and sound professional and they fit around my dominant image brilliantly. My contents page looks professional but again next to a magazine like Vibe you can tell that the images aren't a photo shoot created by professional photographers. If I was to do this again then I would possibly use a different location, I did take the photos again however even after doing this I would still change them, My features and regulars look like a real magazine, I loved the contents page layout that XXL used and mine is very similar. My contents page is of a similar layout because I really liked the way they have set out their features and regulars, it looked professional and even though fairly simple it still drew your eye to it and the certain parts that needed to be stood out were bold and drew your eye to them.
Evaluation question 3
The publisher that I would use to publish my magazine would be LPC media, the reason for this is that they are one of the leading media institutions in the UK. They also produce NME which is a magazine my target audience would read. IPC media is a very well known publisher, 26 million adults in the UK read a magazine published by IPC media, so by using them to publish my magazine I will definitely know that they will be doing a good job. As thy therefore are a very successful company that I can rely on. Also because they are such a big and well known company there should be more advertisement options as it should be both made easier and cheaper to advertise with help from such a big media institution.
The kind of distribution methods I would be using would firstly be the most common way of putting physical copies of the magazine in various popular retail shops such as WHSmiths, and Tescos. This is so that i reach all of my target audience as most people who want a magazine still goes straight to the shop, by having it distributed to local shops it makes it convenient for the audience to gain access too and therefore more likely that they’ll buy it as they won’t have to worry about travelling very far for it.
Nowadays big chain supermarkets such as Tesco and Morrisons are becoming the main sellers of magazines and are the first place people now go to buy magazines. Thus is why I would make sure to distribute my magazine to supermarkets to make sure i get the most people viewing and buying my magazine as possible. i would also however have visual copies of my magazine online and use internet distribution, many more magazine companies are now putting their magazines online, so by putting y magazine issues online I would be keeping up with the completion and eliminating the competitiveness. Also it would help attract a younger audience to my magazine as many young people are stereotyped to be spending their time online rather than in magazine shops choosing to purchase a hand held copy, it also allows the customer to have different ways of viewing the product entitling them to the choice and not just making it a set way.
Another reason I chose IPC Media to distribute my magazine is because I feel that they will also be able to help me appeal to my target audience, On their website their is a section on the audiences that they reach and one of the sections is called ‘men and music’ the writing on the page quotes ‘ IPC Media is a leading content provider for today’s man, providing products with multiple contact points to connect with and influence, the 18-34 year old male’ it is this writing that also helped persuade me to choosing IPC Media as my media distribution.
However another distribution company I looked at was MusicMags, they distribute all different types of music magazines and my media product is a music magazine therefore this would be a suitable company to choose, they would benefit from distributing my magazine as they do not produce magazines within my genre therefore distributing my magazine would gain them a new target audience swell as the ones they already have from distributing other magazines, I would benefit fro choosing this company as they sell many magazines and there annual average is 2.5 times the industry standard, therefore distributing more magazines than any other company.
I decided to go with IPC however because they are more well known and are a much bigger magazine producer, they sell large amounts of magazines and have a mass audience therefore allowing my magazine to be accessed from a large audience. Although MusicMags annual average is a substantial amount it does not reach to my target audience and therefore I don’t feel the magazine would benefit as much from this company.
The kind of distribution methods I would be using would firstly be the most common way of putting physical copies of the magazine in various popular retail shops such as WHSmiths, and Tescos. This is so that i reach all of my target audience as most people who want a magazine still goes straight to the shop, by having it distributed to local shops it makes it convenient for the audience to gain access too and therefore more likely that they’ll buy it as they won’t have to worry about travelling very far for it.
Nowadays big chain supermarkets such as Tesco and Morrisons are becoming the main sellers of magazines and are the first place people now go to buy magazines. Thus is why I would make sure to distribute my magazine to supermarkets to make sure i get the most people viewing and buying my magazine as possible. i would also however have visual copies of my magazine online and use internet distribution, many more magazine companies are now putting their magazines online, so by putting y magazine issues online I would be keeping up with the completion and eliminating the competitiveness. Also it would help attract a younger audience to my magazine as many young people are stereotyped to be spending their time online rather than in magazine shops choosing to purchase a hand held copy, it also allows the customer to have different ways of viewing the product entitling them to the choice and not just making it a set way.
Another reason I chose IPC Media to distribute my magazine is because I feel that they will also be able to help me appeal to my target audience, On their website their is a section on the audiences that they reach and one of the sections is called ‘men and music’ the writing on the page quotes ‘ IPC Media is a leading content provider for today’s man, providing products with multiple contact points to connect with and influence, the 18-34 year old male’ it is this writing that also helped persuade me to choosing IPC Media as my media distribution.
However another distribution company I looked at was MusicMags, they distribute all different types of music magazines and my media product is a music magazine therefore this would be a suitable company to choose, they would benefit from distributing my magazine as they do not produce magazines within my genre therefore distributing my magazine would gain them a new target audience swell as the ones they already have from distributing other magazines, I would benefit fro choosing this company as they sell many magazines and there annual average is 2.5 times the industry standard, therefore distributing more magazines than any other company.
I decided to go with IPC however because they are more well known and are a much bigger magazine producer, they sell large amounts of magazines and have a mass audience therefore allowing my magazine to be accessed from a large audience. Although MusicMags annual average is a substantial amount it does not reach to my target audience and therefore I don’t feel the magazine would benefit as much from this company.
Evaluation question 4
Who would be the audience for your magazine and why?
Teenagers and young adults (ages 16-25) both male and female.
People who listen to R&B/hip hop music listen to radio and TV stations such as MTV BASE, Radio1 Extra and Kiss. These stations play a lot of R&B and hip hop songs so this is why they are listened to buy teenagers and young adults.
They buy clothes from stores such as Nike, Adidas, Hugo Boss, Prada and Giorgio Armani. They wear stylish and high fashion clothes and so would like to see these type of clothes worn of the model on the front cover of the magazine.
How much disposable income to they have? People ages 16-25 would probably have a full/part time job so are more likely to be able to pay for a higher priced magazine than teenagers would. I think that the price £3.99 is an okay price to sell a magazine at.
This age range look up to the aspiring artists of today, the current RnB artists are seen as role models to the young generation.
The target audience for my music magazine will be aimed at young adults, because this is what an R&B magazine relates to the most, as adults and above are not interested within this boundary of entertainment because it does not fit within their specific generation or time. Young adults look up to the aspiring R&B artists of today as role models, therefore R&B magazines attract younger audiences so that they can follow in their footsteps, or simply catch up on the latest gossip involving R&B celebrities. Aswell as this, most R&B artists are either in their teenage years themselves or just above, so the younger generation can relate to their background, etc. as they are of a similar age, and being a young adult myself, I can write about the articles etc. in my magazine specifically for my target audience, as it is already coming from a young adults perspective (me).
Teenagers and young adults (ages 16-25) both male and female.
People who listen to R&B/hip hop music listen to radio and TV stations such as MTV BASE, Radio1 Extra and Kiss. These stations play a lot of R&B and hip hop songs so this is why they are listened to buy teenagers and young adults.
They buy clothes from stores such as Nike, Adidas, Hugo Boss, Prada and Giorgio Armani. They wear stylish and high fashion clothes and so would like to see these type of clothes worn of the model on the front cover of the magazine.
How much disposable income to they have? People ages 16-25 would probably have a full/part time job so are more likely to be able to pay for a higher priced magazine than teenagers would. I think that the price £3.99 is an okay price to sell a magazine at.
This age range look up to the aspiring artists of today, the current RnB artists are seen as role models to the young generation.
The target audience for my music magazine will be aimed at young adults, because this is what an R&B magazine relates to the most, as adults and above are not interested within this boundary of entertainment because it does not fit within their specific generation or time. Young adults look up to the aspiring R&B artists of today as role models, therefore R&B magazines attract younger audiences so that they can follow in their footsteps, or simply catch up on the latest gossip involving R&B celebrities. Aswell as this, most R&B artists are either in their teenage years themselves or just above, so the younger generation can relate to their background, etc. as they are of a similar age, and being a young adult myself, I can write about the articles etc. in my magazine specifically for my target audience, as it is already coming from a young adults perspective (me).
Evaluation question 5
How did you attract/address your audience?
After research I realised my magazine needed a USP which stands for a unique selling point, this is to attract the audience and differentiate the magazine from other competition, it also encourages the target audience to buy my magazine.
The house style I used in my magazine is not gender biased and therefore could appeal to both males and females as do many of the other RnB magazines I researched such as XXL and NME. The words used also had to be suitable for my audience so they could associate with it and understand more, the language would be a lot more informal and chatty so they feel more comfortable and chilled when reading the magazine.
I also attracted my audience through things such as content, when writing my article I had to use chatty informal language so they could associate to it better and also feel more comfortable when reading it. Due to my audience being of a young age using formal language would be inappropriate and possibly put my audience of buying the magazine.
The masthead also attracts the audience due to the bright bold style, it is simple yet very effective and is based upon the design of the popular magazine XXL which clearly is popular with RnB fans.
The model I used also attracted the audience due to him being male as this will draw in female attention, males with also be attracted due to wanting to look up to him almost like a role model as he is seen to be powerful and dominant and have a lot of female attention which is what the young male population aspire to.
The colour scheme is not gender biased so would appeal to both genders which is what current RnB magazines are like, the price of the magazine is also reasonable. After doing research into current RnB magazine prices my price of £3.10 is very reasonable and my audience have all said that they feel this is an acceptable price for a monthly produced magazine.
The use of a 'chance to win' at the bottom of my magazine also draws in the audiences attention as they would want to have a go and see if they could win, it is used to persuade them to buy the magazine as they don't have to pay anything to enter they just need to buy the magazine and they could in tickets.
I also attracted my audience through things such as content, when writing my article I had to use chatty informal language so they could associate to it better and also feel more comfortable when reading it. Due to my audience being of a young age using formal language would be inappropriate and possibly put my audience of buying the magazine.
The masthead also attracts the audience due to the bright bold style, it is simple yet very effective and is based upon the design of the popular magazine XXL which clearly is popular with RnB fans.
The model I used also attracted the audience due to him being male as this will draw in female attention, males with also be attracted due to wanting to look up to him almost like a role model as he is seen to be powerful and dominant and have a lot of female attention which is what the young male population aspire to.
The colour scheme is not gender biased so would appeal to both genders which is what current RnB magazines are like, the price of the magazine is also reasonable. After doing research into current RnB magazine prices my price of £3.10 is very reasonable and my audience have all said that they feel this is an acceptable price for a monthly produced magazine.
The use of a 'chance to win' at the bottom of my magazine also draws in the audiences attention as they would want to have a go and see if they could win, it is used to persuade them to buy the magazine as they don't have to pay anything to enter they just need to buy the magazine and they could in tickets.
Evaluation question 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have used many different technologies that I had never used before when creating my media product. Examples of new technologies I used are; Microsoft Excel, cameras, video cameras, and Photoshop.
The vital piece of software which I used the most when creating this magazine was Photoshop CS6. This professional piece of software allowed me to design, create and manipulate a wide range of images which were to be included in my magazine. I also did some research and found out that the majority of magazine brands use Photoshop in order to construct and bring to life their ideas. I found this interesting as I had exactly the same software available 24/7 with more tools than I would have needed. From this, I inferred that photo editing software is a must in the magazine industry and without it, constructing a magazine is near impossible. Additionally, this type of software allows the user to put different twists into their magazines which other companies may not have ever thought about doing. There were many tools that came in useful to create my magazine front cover, contents page and Double Page Spread, and one of the main features that I used was the Polygonal lasso tool. This tool allowed me to select the precise areas of an image by drawing or tracing the selection outline. This came in very useful when creating my front cover, because I was able to put my main artist’s image in front of the main heading of my magazine so it made my magazine look professional and conventional. Another very useful tool on Photoshop was the layering tool. The layering tool helps you to have different levels at which you can place an object or image file. This tool was very useful because it gave me the opportunity to be able to put images on top of text and also put text on top of images, this also added more professionalism to my product and made it very conventional. For my magazine front cover I didn’t want the background to be plain, but I still wanted a plain studio background like my target audience wanted, so I decided to use the fillers tool. The texture tool allowed me to give my magazine a graffiti type background, keeping with the cultural theme of R&B, and I was able to change the colour of the background aswell, to make it appear more dark to keep in with the conventions of R&B. All of these features, etc. have made me learn that it takes a lot of creativity with these technologies to construct up a final peice, and you have to get used to them in able to do so as there are many tasks to uphold.
Another tool that I used was Microsoft Excel. This software came in very handy when I needed to conduct a pie chart for my questionnaire, so that the results were made clear to show the size of the items in one data series. This helped so that I could specify this information for if and when I need it and give each question a total to tally them up and see which ones are most relevant to the magazine. The results were also lined up in order so that it was easier for me to understand and compare the results with each other to see the increase and decrease etc. between each question for the benefit of the magazine.
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