By Korrina Albert

In What ways does you product use , develop or challenge

forms and conventions of real media products?

• Such as, the colours used, I used the colours red white and black like NME as they are really simple yet effect I’ve they are also the typical colours used on indie magazines making my magazine seem more realistic.

• Other similarities are the mid shot picture covering some of the title and the details next to the bar code, I felt that this made the magazine classier as they are very subtle ways the make the magazine look professional.

• Although my magazine and the existing magazine had many similarities I chose to have a less cluttered magazine cover, I feel that this makes my cover seem a lot more elegant and much easier to read.

• .I also chose to have a competition on my cover, so that a young audience would be more attracted to the magazine. The competition is for Reading and Leeds festival which is one of the biggest indie festivals in the U.K, so it would be really appealing for young fans of indie music, which is my audience.

There are several similarities between my indie magazine and the existing indie magazine NME

As you can see like NME I chose to carry on the same colour scheme and fonts from the front cover so that my magazine was consistent.

•Although these elements of my contents page are like NME my layout is very different to the one which is used in NME. I decided to use photograph of the artist featured on my front cover and my double page spread, I did this to show that it was the main story in this issue of the magazine. •I also chose to include an editors letter, which is written in a very relaxed way so that the young readers can relate to the magazine. •I also listed the different article by page not in alphabetical order as I found that it was much easier for the reader to read when it was written clearly and in more detail. Another similarity is the advertisement to subscribe to the magazine. •When doing my research I found that almost every magazine regardless of genre had a subscription advertisement, I felt that this need to be included purely to make it realistic.

My magazine does have similarities between it and existing magazines.

•These similarities are the large picture as the background and the article written in black with a white border.•I did this because I felt that this was a very good simple layout, therefore making it easy to read.•I chose not to make my photograph full bleed because I found that the border was a great place to put the small print information. This was another way to make the text on the page look easy to read.•When choosing my photograph I chose to do it on location instead of in a studio like most magazines to create more effect. •My picture was taken in Brighton, which is a town closely related to the underground indie music scene which is the theme of my magazine.

How does your product represent particular social groups?

•My magazine uses the colours red and blue which make the magazine more fun and playful which would appeal to my young audience of 16 - 24 year olds.

•I also use a scribble effect on the front cover which is associated with doodling, most of my target audience would be in full time education. The doodle like font is often related to school, this therefore relates to my audience of 16 - 24 year olds.

•The artist that I chose to use is a university student. Most of my readers would be at university or hope to go on to university. This makes them able to connect to the artist more, as in the interview she talks about her university experience.

What kind of media institution might

distribute your magazine and why?

I would have IPS media distribute my magazine. I’d use the company as they already distribute NME and UNCUT

magazine which are similar magazine to mine and have a similar audience. This company how and where to

distribute my magazine as they have experience in the genre that my magazine is.

Who would be the audience for you magazine?

My audience would be:

•People ranging from the ages of 16 - 24.

•People that listen to indie or alternative music.

•Also people who like lots of unsigned artists as undiscovered music is my magazines theme.

How did you attract this audience?

• I used a competition on my front cover which entices the reader as there maybe a chance to get something free.

• It also is for Reading and Leeds festival tickets which one of the biggest indie music festivals in the U.K which would clearly be of interest for my audience.

• I chose to put bands that my readers would like, these are mostly up and coming indie bands.

• My magazine also has a website which they can keep up to date on music news when readers visit it. Young people use the internet a lot so this would be good advertising for the reader.

Looking back at the preliminary task, what do feel

you have learnt about the progression from it to the full

task?• I found that doing the preliminary task helped me learn about what

looked good and what didn’t. It showed me what kind of layouts are appropriate foe magazines.

• As I hadn’t done the full research into magazines I was unable to conduct a realistic magazine, after I had done my research into existing magazines I found ways in which I could achieve this.

• I certainly found that using Photoshop gave the magazine a much more professional finish compared to using publisher.

What have you learnt about the technology?

• When using professional digital cameras I found that the image quality was a lot higher than the quality on ordinary cameras.

• When making my magazine I used Photoshop, I learnt a lot about the different uses of Photoshop.

• One of these was the way in which you can change or enhance images, by changing the background, colours, size or the shape of the picture.

• I also learnt about the general use of Photoshop, for example how to reposition objects, change the order in which things are shown, change colours and fonts etc.

New Media

In my magazine I did find a way to incorporate new media as this is a large part of the magazine business now. I used a website in which people can visit to view the latest in indie news. My website can also be used for magazine subscription which is shown on my contents page.