Evaluation for media magazine.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
When I was making my front cover I was basing it on a RnB magazine front cover called ‘VIBE’. I got my ideas from this magazine and based my front cover around this magazine. I have created this magazine to be read by a niche audience (RnB) I took the colour scheme from this magazine that were mainly blue and yellow. I thought these worked well with that magazine and that they would work well with mine. Then I had to choose a font style,
When looking for fonts I found this quite easy I wanted something big and bold, which looks like a magazine masthead should do, and I chose the font boulder that suited my magazine well. I wanted to use a few different colours on the text like in the other magazine ‘VIBE’; this is because if I made all the text the same colour certain parts would not stand out such as the sell lines which are there to attract readers who aren’t attracted by the main photo. When I was taking my photo I took it from the same magazine brand ‘VIBE’ but it wasn’t the same magazine I got my colour scheme from are the layout and I based my main photo around the photo taken on this other magazine cover, I positioned Sam (the person on my front cover) exactly how the person on ‘VIBE’ magazine was positioned with is hand up by his shoulders and looking at the camera, I wanted him to do this so he looked as natural as possible to make my front cover seem real, also I wanted him to wear a similar piece of clothing to ‘Nelly’ who is on the cover of ‘VIBE’ magazine which was a suit. I thought this would make him look stereotypical of an RnB artist. I had a small website at the bottom of my magazine beneath the barcode to make it seem more realistic.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
I think it represents RnB singers and stars in a very stereotypical way just like the rest of the RnB magazines do. I think I have produced pictures that would help show the reader that this is RnB style magazine, as Sam is dressed in a stereotypical RnB style with the suit and serious look just like most RnB singers are represented, I believe people that would buy this type of magazine would see the photos and believe that he was an RnB artist rather than something like a dance magazine, I think this because they would see RnB artists and see them as an ideal self, therefore they would dress like them. The media has meditated peoples views on how they see people, this is so it is easier for people to recognise something that they like, for example someone who likes RnB and wants to buy a music magazine wouldn’t have to look for very long as they know straight away from their mediated views on what a RnB magazine would look like because the RnB magazine would be stereotypically different and the buyer would know what he is looking for. Also I think the picture represents RnB artist at its peak as he is serious and looks cool just like any typical RnB artist wanted to keep a reputation of being cool. The fans of the magazine would know this enjoy and look up to how these artist are so cool and envy them, each genre of music has different stereotypical views and different people have different ways on who they look up to.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
As a independent company I think the magazines would be sold on a small basis, the magazine wouldn’t be advertised on the radio or television as it would be too expensive, it would be sold to small store and magazine shops, the main way this magazine would get viewers to hear about the magazine would be by readership where someone would buy the magazine and pass it on to a friend or family member. It would also get seen by the public on the internet, as there would be a website, but there would also be posters advertising the magazine and leaflets that would be handed out and posted to people, this would be the best way for the company to make money as it doesn’t have enough money to advertise on the television and radio. This is because it is a first time release from this magazine and it wouldn’t have vast resources from the start if the magazine is a hit with fans then it would have a bigger budget in the future to advertise through radio and television getting a bigger audience and would most likely be bought by a conglomerate.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
My target audience are 70 per cent males and 30 per cent females, males would be more interested in this genre of music Hip Hop, but there are a lot of females that like this genre. The age group would be from 16 to 25 year olds. The boys would be stereotypically interested in lots of fashion assertors like cap hats, baggy jeans, and baggy hoodies. Also they would probably be interested in sports like football or American football. Girls would also be very interested in fashion but they wouldn’t be dressed in the same way as girls in a Hip Hop magazine. Whereas boys would dress like the Hip Hop stars girls would not. They would probably be quite outgoing and adventurous.
How did you attract/address your audience?
I advertised my magazine on chat websites like bebo and facebook, as many people go on these websites from the age groups of mainly 14 to 25 which tends to be the age groups aimed at by RnB magazines so is a good place to start and with more people looking at this mag the bigger it will become. Also I handed out small leaflets and flyers with a picture of the cover and a few pull quotes to attract the audience.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learnt a lot about media, mainly about camera work and how to create a good magazine cover by using photoshop to produce good covers using photos as they work well with photoshiop and also quark which is excellent for setting out a good layout for a magazine. With the camera I have learnt how to control the focus, zoom and how to arrange people within the photo well and when taking a picture if its landscape take the picture landscape and if it’s portrait take the picture whilst holding the camera portrait.
