introduction

For my project I created a music magazine based on the genre of r’n’b.

For this project I worked individually so all the work was designed and produced bymyself during a ten week period.

1. In what ways does your media product use,develop or challenge forms and conventions of real

media products?

my front cover

I have used a large title at the top to catch the readers attention.

I have included a slogan which is on top of the title to make my magazine stand out from other magazines.

I have used many subheadings on the left side of the front cover; these are the main stories that I want to advertise because I think they will catch the readers attention into purchasing my magazine as they are all popular r’n’b artists.

For the background of my front cover I have used one main model in a medium close up shot using direct address. I have included a leading caption on my front cover which is focused on my feature article inside my magazine.

On the right side of the page I have used another subheading because I think that having more subheadings this will convince readers to purchase my magazine as they will want to know about the latest music etc.

I have used a strap line underneath the title which highlights the other stories in my magazine.

I have included a barcode, price and date to make my magazine look professional.

I have challenged and developed the convections of real media products by using a colour scheme which makes the front cover look really good. Also I have used different fonts and styles of font to make certain things stand out well.

Question 1 continued...

Comparing to a real product

As you can see the typical conventions I mentioned are shown here on this professional magazine too; these include:

•A title/header•A slogan•One main star/group shot photograph•The leading caption•Subheadings

However this professional magazine doesn’t include either a barcode, price, date or issue or any strap lines. This means that my magazine does use and develops the conventions and forms of real media products as it includes the exact same conventions as this professinoal magazine.

Question 1 continued....

my contents page

I have included the title at the top of the page. I have laid the title out in a unusual way but still readable to show the reader that my magazine is unique and different from other magazines.

I have used four images on this page and left each of them in there original colour to give the page some colour and make them stand out. I have included page numbers on each image too, to indicate which page each artist is on.

I have included a list of contents which shows what pages the main stories are on. I have numbered each of the stories to help my readers find there way to all the stories inside my magazine. Looking at my audience feedback most people said that they found that this informed them more than it did interest them which is something I can consider in the future.

At the side of the top image I have included the date and the title of the magazine to make it look professional.

I have continued with the same colour scheme as my front cover. This gives my magazine a meaning by using these colours it shows that my target audience is girls.

Question 1 continued....

my fe

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rticle

I have used one main image as I thought this image would dominate the page on its own.

The heading of this page explains what the article is going to be about and will catch the audiences interest as I have used a sentence which I think will interest my target audience.

The article I have written includes a brief introduction and then goes into an interview with the magazine and the artist. Both the magazine and artist are represented with the first letter of their name to show the reader who is saying what. The article is very clear, easy to follow and directed straight at the reader.

At the end of the article I have included what date the artists single is going to be out in stores as the main focus of the article and interview is to sell the single to the audience and convince them to purchase it.

On the image I have included two quotes from the article which will convince the reader to read it and to grab their attention.

Again for this page I have still continued to use the same colour scheme as the front cover and the contents page as it makes each page look professional and genuine.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In my media product I have represented young female artists by using a young female as my main artist in my

magazine. I have also represented young people who are fans of r’n’b music; I have done this by using different

costumes, colours and appearance on my artist. I have also represented ethnicities by using girls of different ethnicities because this means that my magazine represents anyone

from any social group whether they are White British, Black British etc. Both of these images are great as my target

audience can be aspired and relate to them. By looking at other r’n’b artists such as Amerie, Janet Jackson, Fergie etc these have all inspired me into creating my images for my

magazine. In today’s society there are many artists of different ethnicities which means that anyone can be an artist if they wanted to be; this is why I chose to include

people of different ethnicity in my magazine to represent them. I have represented them in this way because it is fair and so they represented in the same way as anyone else. For my images I used a fun and cheeky way of creating a representation of my artists, by doing this I got my artists

to laugh naturally or pose in a cheeky way to get the readers attention so they feel that my artists are fun.

Therefore this represents young artists in a good and fun way as my images prove that they are fun and happy

people just like any normal person. The two images I have placed underneath my original photos are of celebrities

Amerie and Christina Aguilera; as you can see these images are similar to mine as the pose and facial expressions of the

girls are very alike.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I think that VMG would be a great magazine institution to publish my media product. VMG is known for producing many magazines including Vibe which is my main magazine influence. I think that they would be great to publish my magazine with as there magazines especially Vibe magazines are very similar as my magazine, as they are targeting the same type of audience as me and also they include r’n’b artists in their magazine which is the exact same genre as my magazine.

My magazine is special and different to those on the market already as it is only aimed at girls aged between 14-21 which means that it is likely to make a profit as girls of that age are going to want to buy a magazine of their own age so they understand it and it fits in with what music they enjoy etc while no other magazine does this for them. All the journalismincluded in my magazine, for example my feature article, it is easy and fun to read which will make readers want to read more and more. Also instead of just including the latest information and gossip on music it includes new moves by the artist theirselves, the latest fashion trends and sneak previews of artists and fashion shows. I think that all these make my magazine special and different as no other magazines include all of these in one magazine. The publisher of VMG think it may be likely to make a profit because it is a magazine targeted for a certain audience so they will want to buy it and see what its all about etc.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

This here is my reader profile and this represents my audience of which I am targeting for my magazine. Lily is a female and is 18 years old, she is a big fan of r’n’b music and enjoys Ne-yo, Chris Brown, Amerie and Keri Hilson who are all popular r’n’b artists. Overall this is the type of person who would represent my target audience.

The target audience for my magazine would consist of females aged between 14 – 21 and of any ethnicity and socio-economic status. Also the reader would have to have an interest in music especially r’n’b as this is the genre of my magazine. Using females as a target audience is a good one because females are known for their love of reading magazines and wanting to know the latest music and celebrity gossip, “it touches up on all the latest celebrity gossip and music”.

For my magazine there is a possibility that it could have a secondary target audience as males of the same age may be interested in my magazine as it has all the latest music which is something they will be interested in if they are music fans. Also they may be attracted to the female artist on the front of the magazine and inside the magazine which could convince them to purchase my magazine.

Looking at my audience feedback it is very good and positive, for example one person said “ the colour scheme, photographs and the text all look professional ” which means my magazine would be a good success and I have fitted everything in correctly to target my target audience. However, I did receive some negative points from my audience feedback which is something I can take into consideration for the future, for example someone said "the contents does inform but includes photos also and a short line trying to indulge readers but it could do with more persuading."

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

• The title of my magazine “touch” is just something plain and simple which I thought would be good for the title as it would be a name that is easy to remember.

• Females enjoy music by female artists so having my main artist as a female I think this would attract my audience as they could relate to her as she was just a normal girl who eventually got to peruse her dream.

•The outfit she is wearing may be liked by the readers which can create a fashion icon towards the girls of my target audience.

•The storylines/subheadings I have used on my front page could attract my audience as they may enjoy the music of the artists, as I have included artists suggested on my first questionnaire of this project so by including artists they said they like this will obviously attract them to my magazine.

•Throughout my magazine I have used a particular colour theme of pale pink, baby blue, white, grey and black which all contrast great together but I used them because they would appeal to females.

•The layout of each page I think is very modern and girly which would appeal to femalesas it would catch their attention because it isn’t plain or too girly etc.

•The double page spread is modern and laid out very simply so it is easy to read and understandable. I made sure that my article would appeal to my target audience so including laughs and cheek to the artist this has made my article fun and exciting which will attract females as they will want to read something fun.

•The image I used for my article suggests that the artist is calm and relaxed so this would appeal to my audience as they will see that she will be fun to read about and not boring.Also again her choice of outfit could create a fashion icons towards my target audience.

•Using quotes from the interview and placing them onto the image would attract my audience because having these quotes will give them an idea of what the article is about and they will want to read on to find out more.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

During this project I have learnt many new skills which included taking photos and editing them to create a professional look. Also I have learnt how to use DTP software's such as Adobe InDesign and Photoshop.

Before I began my coursework I didn’t know how to use either InDesign or Photoshop simply because I have never created anything before on the software's and I had never heard of InDesign. However, I have now learnt the skills for creating a magazine. I have learnt how to use different effects on images such as cutting certain parts of the image out and using the tools like the smudge tool, poster edges tool etc. Using Photoshop enabled me to turn my front page cover image from its natural colour into the black and white effect.

Throughout this project I have learnt how to use www.blogger.com which is the website I have been posting my research, planning and progression of my magazine . This website actually acted like an online diary to show how my magazine was developing throughout me producing it and it was very easy to use.

Using InDesign I have learnt how to create a magazine by :

•Using a good layout for it to look professional.•Placing text on top of images to make them stand out.•Using different fonts and colour to again make them stand out and look good.

Using Photoshop I have learnt how to change photos by:

•Using different tools to create an effect to make my photos look unique.•Using different sizes so the images fitted on my page and didn’t look pixelated after• changing their original size

before

after

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to

the full product?

Looking back at my preliminary task I think I have progressed alot as I have learnt alot from it to the final product. There are quite alot of differences between my preliminary task and my final product which are

that I have used alot more detail, a professional image and contrasting colours.

No colour except in the image which makes it look dull and boring.

Hardly any subheadings or magazine information.

Title or text doesn’t stand out and isn’t clear.

Title is clear and stands out along with all the text.

Lots of subheadings and a good choice of different stories.

The body language of the model is relaxed, confident and happy.The colours used contrast great together and makes the magazine look alot more colourful and helps it stand out.

The image looks edited and not professional.

my preliminary task my final product

Conclusion

Overall I think that my final magazine has turned out really good. I am very pleased with my final product as it is just the way I wanted it. My magazine has both strengths and weaknesses to it which are indicated

below:

Advantages Disadvantages

•All the photos used look professional.

•The colours used all contrast great together.

•The article sounds realistic and professional.

•The artist being interviewed seems comfortable with the questions being asked which creates a good and fun atmosphere.

•The subheadings sound catchy and interesting.

•The artists included fit into the r’n’b genre and are all up to date.

•Could have taken more interesting photos for the contents page.

•The text on the double page spread could be made abit bigger.

•Some of the text on the front page isn’t very noticeable as it blends in with the image.

•Not alot of stories included on the contents page.

Conclusion continued....

At the start of this project I thought it was going to be quite easy but to be honest it wasn’t. Making my magazine look just how I wanted it took a lot of time to make it look right so I had to be very patient throughout the project as making sure things like mostly all the models in my images were in direct

address and all the layouts for each page looked professional took a lot of time and effort to make them look just right.

Throughout this project and looking back on blogger I think that my development for each of the pages in my magazine has progression really well. As you can see from the images about these show the development of my front cover; I have learnt many different skills on InDesign and Photoshop which have all helped me created my final product. I have also learnt how to direct my magazine to my target audience by using specific colours and photographs. I think that my final product is very close to a real magazine as I have included everything which a real magazine has in the best way I can; I have researched different magazine front covers, content pages and

feature article which have all inspirated and helped me into creating my own ideas and producing my final product.