My media product both use and challenge the conventions of a real media product, as well as develop them in some areas. When I started thinking of the ideas for the front cover, I was certain of one thing; I wanted to challenge the conventions. This was because I want my magazine to stand out from the other music magazines. My front covers focal point is the image, it is completely dominant. I believe that this is effective because it means that the front cover is rather simplistic and therefore would appeal to my target audience. This alone challenges a real media product because magazines would normally reveal a lot about the content inside through text. The image itself also challenges the conventions of a real media product. The shot is high angle and reveals all of the artists’ body. Again, this challenges the conventions of a media product because the front cover usually depicts a mid-shot. The front cover continues to challenge the conventions of a real media product through the use of different colours to the usual (black, white and red). Radar uses blue, green and black. I think this is effective because the use of different colours is eye-catching and unique, which would attract the target audience. The only convention that my front cover uses is it only uses two different fonts. However, it does feature the artists’ logo which is in two different fonts entirely. Overall, I feel that the front cover definitely achieved my goal of challenging the conventions of a real media product.
In contrast to the front cover, I wanted to stick to the conventions of a real media product on the inside of magazine. The contents page almost entirely follows the conventions. It uses a fairly simplistic listed layout and features several images. Furthermore, the contents page also uses only two fonts. One of the images used depicts the front cover. I feel that this is effective because it is something which is a little different and interesting. I haven’t seen this used very often in music magazines; therefore, it challenges the conventions. Finally and similarly to the contents page, the double page spread mostly follows the conventions of a real media product. One side of the double page spread is taken up by an image, this conforms to the conventions. Moreover, there is a memorable and introductory quote that relates to the featured article.
2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My magazine represents the indie rock scene. Indie music has become more main stream since the turn of the millennium as independent artists joined major record labels. The typical indie rock fan can be either male or female; this has led to a blending of gender coded imagery. Male and female indie fans dress similarly and act similarly. Therefore, it is fair to say that my magazine is representative of a wide variety of people from the indie rock scene as a whole. In order to be a representative of this social group I had to ensure that it appealed to both genders and remained neutral in colour, font and language.
My front cover uses neutral colours; blue, green and black are three colours that could appeal to both genders. However, I did not choose colours that were conventional because I feel that indie rock fans are symbolic of free will and distinctiveness. The colours used definitely make the magazine distinctive and by choosing colours that would not be normally used it shows the magazines desire to promote free will and indie rock. This continues on both the contents page and double page spread.
The central image on the front cover is of a male indie artist. The reason why I have chosen a male for the front cover is because it goes against what you’d expect when you actually read the story. The story is hard hitting and very open. Again, the magazine is challenging the conventions. In choosing a male I think it represents indie rock fans because they are not afraid to open up and show emotion; whether they are male or female. The original photograph used is seen on the right.
3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I would like to think that several media institutions may like to distribute my magazine. However, there is one clear obvious candidate, Bauer Media Group. Bauer Media are a large publishing company based in Germany. They currently operate in 15 countries worldwide. The company is owned privately by the Bauer family and on average circulates 38million magazines a week. However, brand reputation is not the factor that attracts me to Bauer Media; I would like to think my magazine could sell itself. What attracts me to Bauer Media are their current media products. The Q and Kerrang! Magazines are two of my favourite magazines and are what provided the inspiration for my own media product.
Another reason that Bauer Media would be suitable for my media product is because of its good advertising reputation. On their website it quotes, “Bauer Media reaches over nineteen million UK adults across multiple media channels.”My other consideration was IPC Media. Another large publishing and distributing with a good reputation for distributing indie rock magazines such as NME. The only difference is, historically, IPC Media have been reluctant to distribute abroad. When the creator of Loaded magazine gave an exclusive interview saying, “I left because it was just such a struggle with them. They were reluctant to develop it abroad or establish any of the spin-offs they could have done.” This wouldn’t be appropriate for my magazine because I could see my magazine distributed abroad.
4) Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my media product would be any indie rock fans between the ages of 14-25. Bearing in mind that, nowadays, indie rock is such a main stream genre of music, I feel that I have to keep my magazine fairly neutral and appeal to both males and females.
My particular magazine would appeal to both males and females. It would appeal to males because the feature is focused on a male artist. Likewise, it would appeal to females but for different reasons. The article on ‘Cameron Ebbs’ in my magazine is an interview style article. This would stereotypically appeal more to females than males. Therefore, it is fair to say that my particular product, rather than the brand itself, is aimed more towards females because of the content.
5) How did you attract/address your audience?
Like I have mentioned, I felt as if I had to try and make my magazine appeal to both male and females, whilst maintaining an indie rock feel. My front cover, I feel, does this effectively. I tried to use neutral colours; such as blue, green and black. In doing this I hope that the colours would not put either gender off immediately. Furthermore, I have interestingly shot a high angle shot instead of a mid-shot. In doing this, I hope to entice people and hint that the interview inside is revealing and open. Overall, I feel that the front cover would attract my target audience because of its simplicity, whilst maintaining a certain amount of individuality that I feel mirrors and indie fans personality.
The contents page continues this simplistic feel; using simple colours, fonts and layout. The colour scheme continues on from the front cover. I tried to make the contents page as uncomplicated as possible. This is because I feel that people do not pay a lot of attention to the contents. Instead, they skim the text and look for words which stand out to them. This is why I have put a large quote on the contents page, to try and attract readers to the main feature article.
Lastly, the double page spread. I have chosen to take up an entire A4 side of the double page spread with one image. The image again is enticing and I hope that it would start people assessing and guessing as to the content of the article itself. The article itself is done in an interview style. This is quite unusual for an indie rock magazine. However, I feel that promoting an article which is slightly different from the customary could be a stand-out point and become an advantage.
6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
On the course of creating my final media product I have mainly used two completely new technologies. Firstly, Adobe Photoshop, which at first I struggled with. This is evident looking at my preliminary task which looks untidy and uncreative. However, in the preliminary task I did learn how to use the main tools like free transform. In doing this, my confidence started to develop and by the time I came to do my main task I was a lot more comfortable using Photoshop. Whilst doing my main task I had to create a logo. It turned out to be the most time consuming task of the whole production. However, without Photoshop’s copy merged and drop shadow options it would have taken me far longer to achieve the same result. Another layer which took some consideration was the large image on the double page spread. I used filter gallery to choose my favourite effect and apply it. Therefore, a task which I thought would take a while actually was rather stress-free.
The other technology I learnt how to use was Adobe InDesign. By using InDesign I could convert my work to a PDF file. Moreover, I learnt how to apply bleed marks. This allowed me to give my work that extra professional look that certainly Microsoft Publisher and perhaps Adobe Photoshop could not.7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
The preliminary task was rather basic. I used one font, two colours and a very simple layout. Overall, it didn’t take long to construct. I did not know how to free transform, drop shadow, emboss or bevel. Therefore, the outcome didn’t look very professional; instead it looked cheap and rushed.
However, developing to the full product I learned new skills and this aided my understanding of key conventions and codes. By using Photoshop with more experience the outcome of my final product was very good. It looked professional and well thought out.
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