1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? My media magazine suits conventions of real media products by, having a strong masthead across the top of the magazine front cover. It also has a strong image that is the central focus of the front cover. It also has a price with issue number and a barcode, which is common amongst all magazines. It has a strong quote, that makes a reader want to read more about a well known artist. The font for the artist is also eye catching and interesting, which is seen common in magazines about popular artists having eye catching fonts.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups? My magazine links with my target group in a number of ways. The main artist is a young person wearing stylish clothing which looks like the type of hip hop artist the target audience would relate too. The fonts are very lively and bold which similarly attracts the target audience, eye catching headings and colour schemes enable the target audience to pick the magazine out as interesting. Interesting headings for articles for well known artists also interest the reader and make them want to read the articles. They want to know about their favourite artists and what’s new in the musical world. Hip hop music is all about what new stars and music are being produced, so the use of introducing new stars and new singles, new things make the reader want to read the magazine. The heading is an example of a modern font and interesting title that is eye catching. Audiences of this genre like to feel the artists are addressing them as the artists are their idols. “I thought my fans had forgotten me” is the article used when the famous artist is addressing the audience which represents his fans. I wanted to represent my audience in a positive way, through positive images and positive competitions and quotes. It is noted that this genre of music is associated with crime at times, which is why I made sure that my magazine was positive to the target audience.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? A good magazine publisher that I would choose for my magazine is IPC Media. They publish similar magazines as to my product, magazines that are modern and display similar genres of music such as NME magazine. IPC Media have a tradition in distributing successful and popular magazines. By having my product distributed by the same company is showing how my product is popular and successful. I feel my magazine could be published by IPC Media because it follows a similar professional look to the magazines that are distributed. The styling and format of the magazines are very similar between my product and NME, they cover similar genre’s of artists as well. I therefore feel that IPC Media is the perfect distributer for my magazine product. I at first see my magazine fit in with the new style of distributing. Online distributing is becoming the more popular choice. I will therefore attract my younger teenage audience who have an in-depth knowledge of the internet. I will start my product as a free one too see how popular it could become. If it becomes popular, see it as a magazine that could be purchased like magazines of today and make money.

4. The audience for my media product is the age range of 13 – 25 year olds. I have aimed my product at a younger target group, as I belong to this age category and my research showed from my questionnaire, that a large majority of this age range chose hip hop. Both genders would be targeted in this magazine because of the features inside of it. The artists that are portrayed in the magazine are liked by both genders and by people of many ages. The extra content is also something that everyone would be attracted to. Winning prizes and holidays which are advertised for my magazine is an exciting prospect for this age in the target market. The images have a shared split between the number of male and female artists shown. Therefore making the artists and the magazine in all appealing to both genders in the age range that I have targeted. My magazine follows conventions of teen magazines through colour and layout which is why they are the ideal target audience for my magazine. Who would be the audience for your media product? The pose and the artist has a young style and theme to it which is aimed at the younger target audience.

5. How did you attract/address your audience? I tried to attract my audience through the way I presented on the page. I used a large title which is common amongst all music magazines. Especially ones that are in this genre. I used an image that is large and takes up the majority of the front page. The main image is also an artist of the similar age that I have attracted the genre too. This makes the artist feel more personal to the audience, and the artist has a far greater identity to the audience. I have used competitions and free perks advertised on the front of the magazine cover, this is an attraction to the target audience, as the target market age group likes to enter competitions and win prizes. I used images of both genders in the magazine, this makes the artists appeal to both genders and enables me to attract a wider target audience. The quotation of the artist on the front cover also adds a question in the reader’s mind. Audiences who are into this artist will want to read on to find out the answer to this question. This also persuades them to read the rest of the articles in the magazine.

6. Audience Feedback In order to establish the success of my magazine, I carried out a questionnaire asking twenty people in total. I asked them numerous questions and asked them to comment on several aspects of my magazine, to see if it was a success or not. 75% found that my masthead was bold and eye catching, and would feel not out of place on the shelves of a magazine stand. 79% said that the colours are the sorts of colours that are stereotypical to this genre of music. They felt it made the front covers and inside pages look like professional magazines. 89% said that the magazine was everything that they would look for the target audience of the magazine. It represents the hip hop genre well and reaches out to the young target market through the main artist.

7. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? I have used many different programmes to make my magazine a success. I have learnt how to take the backgrounds off of pictures with ease using Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004. Using tools such as firework, and Lasso Tool. I never had heard of Fireworks before and I would have probably tried to use the Paint programme, this would have therefore made my product look less professional. Which is why this technology is a good one to use, enabling me to get rid of the background to pictures quickly. I have used new internet sites that are able to add interesting and modern fonts. On www.cooltext.com I used the classic font “BuschGardenz” with a Neon effect to achieve my title. It is eye catching and effective, it is a technology I wouldn’t have thought of using, until I found it on a search engine.

8. 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 to use more professional fonts for my front cover. The Ely college magazine has been made using WordArt which looks unconventional. My music magazine has used an interesting font that is recognisable. From my research of existing magazine I found that all magazines had a distinctive font that was recognisable which I needed to use. The fonts for headings and text of article titles is common throughout the magazine, it is also very clear to read which is a convention of a magazine. The colour scheme of the college magazine is not conventional at all. No magazine uses gradient colours, so I have gone for plain colours that are consistent all of the way through. My questionnaire gave me an idea of the colour schemes my target audience wanted to use, and research showed that magazine front covers follow the rule of 3. I have learnt much better ways of editing my images for the magazine. The school magazine was limited to pictures in a school environment and were not imaginative. Whereas we had more freedom in choosing images and had to edit them so they looked better. I have learnt better ways of editing them too, being introduced to Macromedia Fireworks has helped me to advance my editing. I have learnt that picture borders do not need to be over complicated. In the school magazine I used fancy colourful borders which look unprofessional. A simple border is much more effective. I also found that an article often uses more quotes than I had used in the school magazine, which is why in my double page article there is many more quotes from the main musician.

9. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in progression from it to the full product? Continued. The final music magazine is much more improved from the college magazine. The changes I have made make the music magazine look much more professional, and look similar to some of the music magazines that I had researched previously.