Evaluation for AS Media coursework task

My media product is a music magazine that follows most of the conventions of a magazine. It has a masthead to show brand identity, the masthead is a suitable name for a pop music magazine “iScream”. It has a strap line to attract the audience, the strap line says “win a pair of Lady Gaga concert tickets” which can attract the audience as it shows star significance. There is barcode, the issue date and a slug(short burst of information) which says there is “a free CD inside”. I decided to add a free CD because from my questionnaire analysis I found out that people still listen to CDs even though there are downloads available. The target audience also like free gifts with their magazines.

My first draft of the front cover had challenged the conventions a little as the photograph was completely to the side instead of the middle. I looked at some pop magazine examples and they had used collages of pictures on the front cover. I decided not to follow that convention and only put one photograph as the main feature. I wanted my magazine to stand out a little bit implying that it is not the same as all pop music magazines with the collage of images, I tried to keep things professional with only one photograph. However, it can still be recognised as a music magazine. The magazine size is A4 . I decided to put most of the sell lines on the right as they would display well on a shelf.

I have used the conventions of a pop music magazine as the theme was to try to add different colours throughout my work. My first draft for the front cover the model is smiling and wears a white shiny dress to show innocence however, I thought the conventions should slightly be twisted. For my second draft of the front cover the model shows attitude and wears a formal outfit, I had to plan this out for the photo shoot. It shows a different side to the pop music culture as the model is not smiling on the front cover and that breaks one of the conventions of a pop magazine. I have chosen a neutral background so the picture can stand out. My masthead has curvy letters in purple which gives a feminine look. I have used an unusual shape for my slug which creates enigma and aesthetic value. I added a small image of my front cover on as I thought it made the page more colourful and “Q” magazine also do this. I kept with the pop theme and added star on the page numbers are special features. From my feedback for the first draft people said I used too many colours and the page needs more images. For my second draft of the contents page I chose green and purple as my main contrasting colours and added more images to fill the space. I like my double-paged spread the most as I have chosen sensible colour schemes and the framing and format suit the article. I also like the main double paged spread picture as it is a contrast from the magazine side. It shows the model (“pop star Jen Green”) at home posing on the bed to show a relaxed atmosphere which also links in with the mise-en-scene. I have chosen to show a new side of the pop culture making the model an aspirational figure.

My target audience are female teenagers (13-19) who have a source of disposable income. They would buy the magazine to feel like they are a part of a social group. This connects to the media theory Users and gratifications as it is a diversion form the real world. I have photographed a teenaged “pop star” which the target audience can relate to because they are of similar ages. A majority of music magazines have teenagers on the cover that are not stereotypical. However, I have chosen to photograph an ordinary teen which could be a role model. I feel my product could be more improved if I photographed a less stereotypical teenager. In this magazine I would want article that represent girls and women in the media as strong and independent in this male-dominated society.

The pop magazine I have created is main stream and I would like Bauer Media Group to distribute my magazine as they are one of the market leaders. They also publish ‘Q’ magazine which is a successful magazine and has sold 94,811, Kerrang which sold 41,125 and Mojo which sold 98,484 (statistics from abc). They have recently taken over some Emap titles. I would like them to distribute my magazine because they do not have a magazine which is specific to the pop culture.The institution may benefit from having a pop magazine aimed at a female teenage audience. They may reach a new audience this way.

In terms of AIDA my magazine tries to attract the audience through images, fonts and text. The front cover photograph is a mid close up, the model faces forward to show a direct mode of address. On the contents page I have added shapes, images and contrasting colours. For my double paged spread I have chosen a high angle shot so the model dominates the picture. I added different pictures of her in different outfits to show a variation of shots. Inside the contents page I have chosen language as if the magazine is talking to the reader as a friend “visit our website”. In terms of interest I have created sell lines which are eye catching. The reader should desire to buy the magazine if they are interested in the topics of the magazine. The action is to buy the magazine.

To construct the product I have used desktop publishing programmes. I have used Adobe Indesign for my contents page and main cover. I edited my pictures by changing the colour levels and using the cloning stamp to get rid of any hair which was in the model’s face. I also used the spot healer pen to get rid of any blemishes. The programme was difficult to use at first because I got confused by all the layers that had to be clicked on f you want to change something. My feedback for my first magazine cover draft was to make the picture lighter to contrast the writing. It made the product more authentic looking by adding effects to the masthead and manipulating the picture. I have used Adobe Indesign for my double paged spread as it doesn’t distort the images and fits it proportionally to the frame. It also kept the formatting of the article nicely, however it was difficult to use. I also created a blog using Blogger to display all my work therefore; it has an internet presence and shows convergence. I used Excel to create graphs for my questionnaire. I used publisher to show the graphs I had created in Excel and used it for any annotations to show basic concepts of a music magazine. I also used the Picassa slideshow to display all my products and photographs. I thought it was really clever that the slideshow already put all the images I used on my blog together without me uploading any more. The texts and images create eye flow for the work.

I feel I have learnt a lot from my preliminary tasks. It helped me get used to the software which I also used for the actual product. I got feedback form my preliminary magazine cover that I shouldn’t put the sell lines on the edges of the model as it over powers the image but my teacher liked the use of colours and the mise-en-scene for the background because my model was posing with a textbook and a pen to represent the college. I have also learnt more abot framing and lighting when you take photographs.

If I were to do this project again, I wish I could have used better programmes to create my work in and more interesting fonts. I also would add pay more attention to the mise-en-scene for my photo shoot. I would also incorporate another music genre in because it was difficult for me to research pop magazines as most have folded e.g. top of the pops and there are more rock magazines available on the market.