1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
1) The main sell-line is at the bottom of the page and opposed to the top, right-hand side
Looking at various magazine covers, I realised that most magazine have the main sell-line on the top left-hand side of the cover (perhaps due to the traditional way in which people read and view a page). However, I decided to break away from this convention and have placed my main sell-line at the bottom. Although the sell-line is at the bottom, it still works well as the sell-line is rather bold and large - making it eye-catching and effectively leading the eyes straight-away to the sell-line.
2) Not as many thumbnail images
Another thing I noticed from looking at several music magazines is that most magazines tend to have a lot of thumbnail images included in the contents page - giving the readers sneak-peeks at what's included. I, on the other hand, decided to keep the contents page simple. Especially since I feel that my front cover was very busy due to the many sell-lines and thumbnail images. Therefore, to maintain a balance, I have kept the contents page simple with one main images and only 2 small thumbnails.
3) No editor's letter
Unlike many other music magazines, I decided to forego the editor's letter. This is due to the fact that although it allows the magazine to have a personal touch to it, I felt very little people would actually read the letter. This was further backed up when my questionnaire results showed that only 1/5th of my sample replied that they do indeed read the letter. Therefore, I decided on not wasting the space on the editor's letter and using it to add in more contents.
4) Subscription advertisement
I also noticed that all music magazines had the convention of including an advertisement for the subscription of the magazine somewhere in the magazine. This time, I, too, have decided to include the subscription advert into the contents page. This is largely due to the fact that my audience are people who are regular consumers of music magazines.
5) Bar code with information in it
I also realised that a lot of magazines have information on issue date and number, price and website address included in the bar code strip. E.g:
I, too, have done this as I felt that since my front cover was already 'breaking the rules' with the main sell-line at the bottom and also had a tagline that was in italics (which is very uncommon in music magazines), so I felt I needed to give the reader something that is normal, so as to not throw them off completely - no matter how subtle.
6) There are quotes placed around the text
Another common convention for magazines is that in articles, they often have a phrase or a quote that is extracted from the article and placed around the text. This effectively the breaks up the article and refrains it from being just a block of text, which can easily bore and overwhelm the reader. It also creates interest in the article as reader would see the quote, and want to know more - luring the reader to read the article.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product mainly represents females in the age-range of 16-14. In my music magazine, they are represented as:
1) A devoted music fan, particularly interested the indie, pop & rock genre
The particular social group represented in the magazine is young, female, music-lovers. They are also interested in a range of music genres, although they mainly listen to indie/rock. This can be seen through the use of dark, strong colours that are often associated with indie/rock genres. Also, there are references to artists such as ‘Kings of Leon’ in the Contents page.
2) Appreciative of talented musician/singers and very interested in finding musical talents
The average ‘Music Core’ reader is appreciative of talented musician/singers, regardless of their style, language, etc and is very interested in finding musical talents who may not be involved in the mainstream music scene. This is depicted in the sell-lines in the front cover as there are references to finding 'hidden talents'.
3) A regular magazine buyer
The group represented in 'Music Core' is very much of a regular music magazine consumer. Therefore, I have included an advertisement for the subscription of the magazine in the Contents page.
4) A festival-goer and is also fashion conscious
The group I have represented is also a regular festival goer due to their love of music. They are also very fashion conscious. So, I have merged these characteristics together to create a feature in the contents on 'Festival Fashion'. Also, the models in the front cover are wearing clothes that are stylish and on trend, but are also easily and cheaply re-creatable.
5) Hard-working and has a deeper knowledge of the music industry than the average person
Another characteristic of the social groups, I want to represent in the magazine is that they are hard-workers. This is shown throughout the article in double-page spread as there are several references to working hard and wanting to grow, learn and achieve the best results. They are also more knowledgeable of music and the music industry than the average person. This is also shown in the article as, again, there are some references in relation to music that the average person may not know about - such as the references to layering, composing and arrangement of the music.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
1) Interested in Photography - The photographs are eye-catching
As established in my 'Reader Profile', my average reader is interested in photography. For this reason, I tried to make the photographs used in the magazine to be interesting and eye-catching. I did with the use of colours, lighting, and the mise-en-scene with the placement of the instruments. For example:
In this photograph, I have placed the lighting behind the model, giving her a soft glow and emphasising the soft, and calm feeling of the photograph.
Here, only a part of the guitar is showing with headphones and a mic at the side. In this photograph, i have played with mise-en-scene and only given hints of music, rather than placing the objects in an obvious way.
2) Interested in Shopping & Fashion - Clothes of models and references to fashion in the text in the Contents page
My specific audience is also very interested in Fashion. Therefore, to cater to this interest of my reader, I have dressed my models in clothes that are the current trend such as lace tops and military-style jackets. I have also chosen to dress them this way as it's the type of style that girls in my target age range of 16-24 could potentially wear and re-create in an affordable way. I have put references to fashion in the contents page with the 'Festival Fashion' feature, which combines both music and fashion.
3) Interested in finding new talented artists - References to new artists in the sell-lines
The average reader for 'Music Core' is an avid music fan and likes paying attention to new artists and seperating who is good and who is not. They also like being on the look-out for artists who have already debuted but are not very well-known even though they produce good music. Therefore, in the front cover of the magazine, I have included the sell-line 'Upcoming Artist Alert!' and 'Hidden Talents Uncovered' so that this can straight attract the interest of the audience.
4) Interested in a variety of music - References to artists in sell-lines and in the contents page
My target audience is one that has an interest in a variety of music and not just indie/rock and not discriminative in reference to the genre of music. Because of this, I have included references to different artists in the sell-lines and in the contents page, such as the reference to 'Ellie Goulding' and 'Kings of Leon' - 2 artists of different genres, gender, and one is a soloist and the other a 4-member band.
5) Interested in music itself - Musical instruments and equipment in all the pictures
In all of the pictures, there is at least one musical reference such as an iPod, or a guitar. This is due to the fact that 'Music Core's average reader is one that pays attention to every single detail of a song, including the various instruments used. So, I felt that adding in a range of musical instruments and equipment would succesfully attract that type of audience that the magazine is targeted at and conveys the right image of the magazine to the audience.
6) A regular magazine buyer - Advertisement for subscription in the box
My target audience is also a regular consumer of music magazines. Therefore, in order to attract them and give them a better deal on their buys, I have included an advertisement in the contents page about subscribing to all 12 issues of the magazine and getting 20% off what they would have to pay if they bought the magazines individually.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
1) In the preliminary production the image background has not been well thought out. In the full product, the background and the other smaller details such as the accessories and the props were given much more thought and everything in the photographs were included for a purpose. I also experimented more with the camera angles, different poses, colourings, lighting, etc in the main production.
2) Compared to the preliminary production, there is more of variation in the types and sizes of the font which would help sustain the reader’s interest as audiences would get bored easily if everything is in just one type of font. In the main production, I have tried to have subtle differences in font types and still sustain a housestyle in order to not confuse the reader with numerous fonts that are vastly different and to present them with a uniform style that is consistent and helps the reader get familiar with the magazine.
