In what ways does your media product develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My media product does follow a number of magazine conventions. My masthead is at the top of the page and a larger font is used. This is so that it creates easy eye travel. It is also placed on the left hand side of the page. This follows the norm of what is expected of a masthead. However the masthead is challenged with the employment of a graphic. The graphic used is a microphone and stand. This is to portray the idea of my chosen target audience, and enforces my pop genre. The reason I have added a graphic is because it will intrigue readers and they are able to clearly identify the genre.
Design was also a contributing factor to making my magazine like a real media product. My cover stars name is written in the form of block and the outside is drawn with crayon. This is to instil the view that my magazine is aimed at pre- teens. I am aware that the majority of magazines on the market today use up to five colours. This is to create a brand identity. With this fact in mind my colour scheme was pink, purple, grey and white. This alerts my readers that my magazine is aimed at girls. For my contents page design I took inspiration from “new” magazine. My contents page was ripped down the left – hand side. This is to show the child- like behaviour of my pre- teen target audience, as it shows that even though they want to be grown – up and mature they still have a child- like elements.
The images that are used in my magazine are vital in portraying the view of a magazine which is available in today’s market. My cover image of my artist is of a young girl with her hands on her hips. When selecting what image to place on my front cover I decided to take inspartaion from Top of the Pops magazine, as it is aimed at the same audience. Her hands are on her hips because it shows her as head strong. The image is placed in the centre of the page because it shows that she is the main story. On the other hand my cover image does not pursue the view that all artists that feature on music magazines should be holding an instrument. This creates an element of surprise that she is a stereotypical pop star. The images used on my contents page are drawn around with felt – tip. This idea came with the help of Top of the Pops magazine, as on their contents page they highlighted what their magazine was importance. Although my use of a felt-tip outline does not highlight a certain subject importance, it does challenge the norm of pictures being placed in boxes. It also further demonstrates the immature persona of my target audience. My article also helps with the youthful image of my magazine. The majority of my article is picture based and therefore shows that my target audience are young. The pictures on my third page are placed in polaroids. This is to give my article a family feel, as they are supposed to be from an album or scrapbook. This shows my target audience that my cover star is friendly, as she is allowing the readers to see her personal details.
Language is a key factor into making my magazine as realistic as ones that are available on the market. Every magazine has a tagline (for eg. Kerrang has “life is loud”) as genre is rock and their chosen target audience may be rebellious teenagers. As my magazine genre is quite unique on today’s market I have decided on the tagline “the one and only.” This is because it links with my title (NO.1) and it tells audiences of its distinctiveness. This is because there were only two magazines I could find with my genre (Smash Hits and Top of the Pops.) As these two magazines were either no longer available or were not really music focused with the use of the words “only” it shows how my magazine will portray music as it’s sole importance, as the other magazines do not do so. Furthermore I have ensured that I have used simple language within my magazine and because of the age of my target audience I have written in a style that will suit them (for eg. I have not used swearing.)
I have followed a very conventional layout for my magazine. I have placed banners on the top of the page and bottom of the page. This is because it frames the page. On my contents page I have placed the text in boxes and on the left and pictures on the right. This is because it is the natural way in which we read. The article is predominantly pictures with two pages pictures and one page text. This is fitting with my target audience as they are young.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My chosen social group is one I believe will appeal to my target audience. As my target audience are young girls I have decided that use that to represent a certain subculture. My cover star has to be happy and upbeat, as it mirrors my target audience’s positive outlook on life. Both my cover star and target audience are around the same age this allows them to connect with her as she has a regular life (eg. attends school) and therefore my both her and my target audience face the same issues. My cover star is wearing jeans and a long-sleeved top. This gives the impression that she is relaxed and comfortable with regular clothing. The normality is reinforced and shows the readers that she is not materialistic. Her warm persona shines through as she is smiling and inviting readers into her life. Within my article she is wearing a school uniform this alerts the young readers into my cover stars core beliefs. This makes my cover star a positive role model for my young readers to aspire to.
I have chosen to use flowers on in the design of my artist name on the front cover and within my article. This is because it enforces the girly genre. Furthermore it promotes a relaxed carefree image.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
If I were to publish my magazine I would want major publishing company EMAP to do so. This is because my genre is aimed at a mainstream audience and therefore would need the backing of a major publisher to succeed. With this support my magazine would then be able to reach my target audience and reach a mass market. The reason I would not use an independent publishing company such as Plan B is because they are not well known and therefore have a small budget. This will not benefit my magazine as there are very few magazines that feature my genre and therefore I believe it would need the promotional help from a well-known publisher. Also Plan B is not suitable with my pop genre as its focus is indie music. Even though I am aware that with a major publishing company such as EMAP there would be a loss of control I believe that I would need the support and advice from major companies in order to boost my sales.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
My chosen target audience is young girls of any race and are between the ages of 10 – 13. The social demographic that my magazine is aimed at is between the B- D as they will have enough money to pay for my magazine and I feel they will be able to relate to the pop stars in my magazine because she has worked hard to achieve her goals. Their typical weekend may consist of playing games with their families. They will value family and will enjoy the time they spend together. Some films they may enjoy are Harry Potter, Twilight, Gulliver’s Travels, Toy Story. This shows the innocence of my readers as they watch films about magic and unexplainable situations. My readers will take pleasure in escaping the normal world and delving into the mythical one.
Furthermore the certain TV programs that my target audience will watch will define what they will value. In life and the certain persona they will have. For example they will watch Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place and iCarly. These programs are inviting and friendly. It engages my readers as it makes them laugh and they are able to relate to the characters as some of their lives are similar.
How did you attract the audience?
Taking all that into consideration I wanted to portray the same feeling, so I made the images inviting. I achieved this by having images with a smile. This made my target audience happy as it shows that my cover star is friendly and wants to “speak” to them.
This is unlike magazines such as NME for example as their cover stars are often aggressive or emotionless. The “evil” stare would of it was aimed at my readers make them feel scared. They would feel the “coldness” of NME cover stars personality. They would be turned off by intimidating nature that NME tries to covey. The colour I used further enforces the warm image of my magazine. This is because I have used bright bold colours such as pink and purple so that it will appeal to my young female audience. I also added free vouchers to New Look. This will allow my target audience to have some money and gain a small independence from their parents as they will not have to ask them for the money. The language on my front cover and editor’s letter portrays the intelligence of my target audience. I have used words such as plus and hi to engage my readers encourage them to read on.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
Within my magazine I have used various amount of image manipulation to make may magazine look more realistic. I cut the background from my front cover image , using fireworks, as it was not fitting to my magazine genre. On my contents page as well as cutting the background out of my image I added a blue felt tip outline. This was to create the idea of my younger audience. This is because they love colouring in and bright colours. On my feature although I used polaroid’s for the majority of my pictures I cut around the picture of my artist with a microphone, and added a dashed line. This was so highlight that my artists’ career is what is important to her. It also incorporates the idea my idea of a young child cut out and stuck into a “scrapbook.” When shooting my images I used a relatively good camera, so that I would get good image with sharp definitions. The used a well lit room as it shows the bright friendly persona that I want my artist to convey. Using desktop publishing it helped me to create my product. I used a rounded font called Calbri on my front cover a contents and Century Gothic within my article. This is because it is because it is clear and simple for my target audience to read. The colours used further helped my construct my product. I used pinks and purples. The background of my front cover is plain bright pink, as this is the stereotypical colour that my audience favour. My cover artist is placed in the centre; showing her importance. Also there are a number of images throughout the whole of my magazine as this reinforces the young image.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I have learnt how the framing of a image is vital for the magazine to look authentic. Also I am better equipped when it comes to manipulating an image. I had to do this so because the background that my image originally had was not fitting to my genre. The second aspect of my preliminary task that has improved is the page layout and colour. My magazine now has a background, this is because it is eye-catching compared to my preliminary task which was plain and there was a lot of dead space. The text both in size and clarity has also improved. This is because instead of using a regular font (Arial) I have chosen to use a rounded font called Carbri. This is because of its rarity it shows how unique my magazine is.
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