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

EVALUATIONQUESTION 1

Niamh Reilly

Follows Conventions

Masthead, Both

magazines have a

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

Consistent colours in house style.

Barcode and price

Date line.

Puff

Main cover line

Main cover image

Featured artist

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

Rule of thirds: As you can see the mast head is in the first third of the magazine this is because of the way the magazines are stacked in shops. The magazine is stacked with the first third showing therefore the masthead is usually dominant of this section because the consumer will see it first and it is the most recognisable aspect of the magazine. This reinforces media conventions because the title is always in the first third because of the way the magazines are stacked. My title further reinforces the conventions of a magazine because it is horizontal rather than challenging conventions with a vertical title.

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

Rule of thirds: The main cover image is also central to the cover this reinforces media magazine conventions as it is the most used style. There isn’t much going on in the midsection (2ndthird) this makes the cover image dominant, because the image is dominant it draws the consumers attention towards the image and the cover girl looking normal with no particularly fancy props makes her approachable to the spectator and seemingly more human. The subtle guitar prop makes the audience think od music and takes up the bottom horizontal third.

Image dominant of 2nd vertical

third

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My magazine conforms to most media conventions for example, my dateline is placed parallel to the ‘W’ in the title and I have stuck to a set house style. The matching house style brings together the magazine because it makes it look complete and its more appealing to the consumer because there’s not too much going on. My magazine also conforms to media conventions by having different sized fonts to draw attention to certain aspects of the contents, and the use of capitalisation is a subtle way to draw the viewers attention to a certain story or article in the magazine.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?Fr

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

On my front cover there is only one image. This challenges conventions of typical music magazines. Stereotypically on the cover of a music magazine the editors add more pictures of bands to promote artists and increase target audience. As if you were a fan of a particular band/artist you’d be more likely to buy the magazine.

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eIn what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Date line

Contents title telling reader what is on the

page

Contents pages picture heavy

Magazine title on the page

Page numbers have features on

Letter from the editor

Subscription option

Multiple columns

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eIn what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Subverts

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?C

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My contents pages subverts media print conventions by not having a letter to the editor, most contents pages include a letter to the editor to make the consumer feel more including and part of something this reinforces the need for affiliation in people. However I chose not to include a letter to the editor and make my contents pages more picture heavy. I though my target audience of young adults would prefer this because they prefer the more visual aspect of magazines. It also reinforces conventions by having a dateline, datelines are conventionally used on magazine contents pages near the title, my dateline is situated by the title.

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I used the rule of thirds on my contents. Many design teams use this to keep the audiences gaze on the page. I used this technique by angling the pictures and changing picture sizes to draw spectators attention towards the title and then the page listings again.

My contents has a total of four dominant pictures on it which is more than conventional magazines this is because it attracts the readers attention and gives the reader a further insight to the contents of the magazine. As you can see to the left there is a small gap before the text box this is there to allow ‘bleed’ so when in print the binding or such wouldn’t compromise the text.

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eIn what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

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adIn what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Name of person/artist in different font, standing

out.

Page Numbers

Photo dominant

Short Article

Strap line

Fitting house style

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adIn what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

No pull quotes

No direct eye contact

No shadow

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adIn what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I chose to keep the shadow on the left image because it makes the image look more three dimensional. This is juxtaposed to the stereotypical clean cut magazine images we are all accustomed too. I wanted to make the page look more thrown together in a presentable way. I felt that the shadow emphasised the difference between the light coloured skin and the dark back ground. The red colouring on the girls – Jess’ – nail matches the red on the centre strip, the text in the article and the red of the mans – Callums’ – shirt and sticks to the general house style of the magazine.

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adIn what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The double page spread has a distinct house style which correlates to the rest of the magazine. It sets a house style for the magazine which is key for any magazine especially a first issue. This house style should be kept throughout the magazines print life so I could establish a brand.

The magazines logo/name is in the bottom right hand corner this further establishes the brand and lets the reader know what they are reading.

These things are both typical conventions of magazines.

How does your product represent particular social groups?

Niamh Reilly

EVALUATIONQUESTION 2

How does your product represent particular social groups?

Country music is often solely associated with being just for cowboys and the older generation. Many under this assumption are incorrect however. As one of the fastest growing music genres country is growing increasingly popular with the younger generation. This is especially relevant in the US with bands like Lady Antebellum and Sugar Land rising to fame. It is also gaining popularity in the UK.

How does your product represent particular social groups?

I chose to put younger artists on my cover and throughout my magazine to draw the younger audiences attention. The growing fan base for country music will be inclined to buy this magazine with a younger artist on the cover than an older one as they can relate with a younger person more than an older person. My magazine is an example of the growing country music social group that involves a younger audience. The connotations of having a younger cover model is subverting from typical stereotypes of old men in cowboy hats. The younger girl would attract teens and they would find it more interesting that an older person. Because it is a country magazine but also is attracting a younger audience my magazine widens the country music magazine demographic.

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

EVALUATIONQUESTION 3

Niamh Reilly

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IPC

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auer

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

The two main institutions that sell music magazines are IPC media and Bauer. My magazine is a country pop/rock magazine so both of these institutions would be suitable to distribute my magazine. Alternatively I could choose a less well known institution.

Bauer currently owns two music magazines; ‘Kerrang!’ and ‘Q’. These are current popular music magazines. The genres of these magazines are rock and would be a good institution to use for my magazine because neither magazines have genres of country music.

IPC media would be a good institution to use for my magazine. Although they have two music magazines already one is labelled as an ‘indie rock’ magazine (NME) and the other one (UNCUT) is more labelled as a ‘classic rock’ magazine. Which leaves an opening for the genre I am focusing my magazine on – country pop.

The institution that would be more suited to distribute my magazine would be Bauer.

Bau

erWhat kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I have determined that Bauer would be a more suitable distributer for my magazine because there is not a large cross over with the genres of their other magazines ‘Kerrang!’ and ‘Q’. Unlike IPC media, Bauer’s doesn’t have an ‘indie rock’ magazine. This is why Bauer may be interested in my magazine, although it’s not of ‘indie rock’ genre, my country magazine involves folk music, and country rock which is liked by the same audience that listens to indie rock.

Who would the audience be for your media product?

EVALUATIONQUESTION 4

Niamh Reilly

Many people do not realise new modern country musicians because of how diverse their sound is, and how used they are to artists like Dolly Parton dominating the stereotypical country genre. my magazine would appeal to people who like; Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum, Sugar Land, Brad Paisley, and Carrie Underwood. These are artists of the new country generation, and having these big country stars on my magazine may attract the target audience and maybe even a secondary audience of all different types of people of age, race, gender or class.

Who would the audience be for your media product?

Who would the audience be for your media product?

Unlike most typical music magazines my magazine doesn’t have a particular small interval set age group, my target age group is between 13 and 30 as country music is widely diverse and can appeal to any age but I feel this age group would be most interested in this magazine from my questionnaire results. Another reason is that country music magazines in the UK is more of a niche market so I can’t be completely sure of a definite target audience. My magazine accommodates the target audience by looking classically modern with a young artist cover image.

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sHow does your product represent particular social groups?

I categorised my target audience using socio economic status.Using the ABC demographics. I defined my target audience in the ABC21 categories. These are upper class, middle class and lower middle class workers. My audience would more than likely be from these categories. I found this information by gathering a focus group to comment on my final magazine. In this questionnaire I asked participants their post code and their current total house hold income to determine where they were on the socio-economic ladder. I found that the participants in my focus group who were essentially a select representation of my target audience were in fact ranging in status from A – C1 however none of them were lower than C1. This correlated with the pricing of my magazine being £1.99 which is a mid price for a magazine.

A – Upper Class (Higher managerial, administrative and professional, such as Mangers, Lawyers, all high paying jobs earning demographic would be around £50,000 and over)B – Middle Class (Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional, such as deputy secretary and or above average pay, earning demographic would be around £35-50,000)C1 – Lower Middle class (Supervisory or Clerical, junior managerial, administrative, such as a supervisor or highly skilled working job (one where more than one skill is required))C2 – Skilled working class (Skilled Manuel workers, such as mechanics, etc)Please note for C1 and C2 the earning range is for both £15,000 – 25,000D – Lower working class (Semi and unskilled Manuel workers, such as mechanical trainees, or shop workers, earning demographic would be around £7,000 –15,000)E – Lowest level of income earners (pensioners or widows, casual or lowest grade workers, those on Benefits, such as students, earning demographic would be around £5,000-7,000) *

Socio-economic Status

* http://neofalcon.wordpress.com/2010/11/13/the-socio-economic-statusthe-abc-scalethe-classification-of-employment/

How did you attract/address your audience?

Niamh Reilly

EVALUATIONQUESTION 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

Big bold title, attracting readers attention. ‘TWANG’ associated with country music, and the font had a country feel to it.

Puff lets the reader know its new, draws attention towards the product letting the reader know that this may be something they’ve been looking for but haven’t found before.

Specific words are highlighted to grab the readers attention. It also inclines the reader to read on.

One main image dominates the page and guitar is quite clearly in view showing it’s a music magazine

Price and barcode in the bottom

Win grabs peoples attention so do words like exclusive which gets people interested.

Artists name is big bold and highlighted this draws attention towards it and fans will see this and be interested. It also tells us something about the contents of the issue.

Fans will be instantly drawn to the image of the artist.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Big, bold title, instantly draws attention to the contents of the page.

Two tone page listings give readers a further insight into the article.

Highlights main articles.

Featured on the cover so fans know instantly who she is.

Magazine brand further reinforced to establish the brand

Polaroid style pictures give it a old feel but as they are coming back in to style it keeps it modern and not outdated.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Name is featured big and bold in the centre so people especially fans will be drawn to this article.

Picture dominant left side with album image attracts fans

Picture dominant for quick get to know information, appears casual and laid back

All the colours fit the house style so further reinforcing and establishing the brand to new readers.

Question and answer article so that audience know they are getting reliable information.

Page numbers and magazine logo in corners establishing the brand.

Big dominant of the right side picture is a selling point for fans.

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

EVALUATIONQUESTION 6

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

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Magic Wand Tool

I used the magic wand tool on Photoshop. I used this throughout the project on the front cover, contents page and double page spread. It was especially useful for text.

I clicked on the white background then right clicked and selected ‘select inverse’ which then selected only the text.

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pWhat have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing

this product?Clone Stamp Tool

Starting image

I used the clone stamp tool to move the girl over making her closer to the boy in turn making it look more intimate.

I made the brush bigger and selected the image I wanted to clone by holding alt and right clicking.

I then cloned it to the right so the girl was closer.

Final image

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Filter Editing

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

I used filters to edit the picture so it would look warmer and so it would have a more ‘country’ feel and fit my house style.

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pWhat have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing

this product?

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pWhat have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing

this product?Changing the Opacity

The opacity of the puff was 100%. I changed this to 85% so it would still stand out but wouldn’t block out the main cover image.

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pWhat have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing

this product?Crop Tool

First of all I went file > transform > rotate 90 CW so the image was the correct way round

Then I selected the crop tool and cropped the image to its desired size.

I then applied the crop to get my final image.

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

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I used ‘PicMonkey’ and ‘DaFont’ to get different font types for my magazine. These sites gave more interesting and appropriate fonts than the default fonts on Photoshop and InDesign.

I opened a blank document, selected the font ‘Rye’ and typed my magazine name to get my chosen font.

Out of the numerous options I picked the ‘fancy’ category as these fonts fitted the house style of my magazine.

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tWhat have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing

this product?

Making a Barcode

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nWhat have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing

this product?To create my magazine pages I opened a new InDesign document

I selected 4 pages, 1 for the contents page, 1 for the cover, and 2 for the double page spread.

I then moved the pages around so they were set in order and the double page spread was now one page.

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nWhat have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing

this product?To create a house style for my magazine I used the eyedropper tool

Once selected I held down alt and picked the colour I wanted

I then highlighted the text I wanted that colour and used a swatch of the selected colour to change the colour of the text.

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nWhat have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing

this product?

To export my final magazine, I went to file > export.

I then selected a JPEG file type to allow upload to the blog.

I selected the spreads option so the double page spread exported as one image rather than two.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

EVALUATIONQUESTION 7

Niamh Reilly

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

From the preliminary task the main progression I encountered was making another page. Instead of just making a front cover and a contents page, our brief was to make an additional double page spread. This was an easy progression as it added more depth to the magazine making it easier to establish a set house style. The main progression for me was writing the article.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

The main task cover image progressed from a direct – medium close up – head shot with eye contact to a mid shot with the girl –Kate – looking down at the main cover article to draw the readers attention towards the main headline and strap line. By taking the shot of the girl looking down at the head line readers attention is drawn from the main cover image to the head line to the strap line to the other minor cover lines then the puff, the title and around again keeping the spectators attention on the page.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

From the preliminary task I feel I have learnt a considerable amount more about conventions of magazines and there is a significant improvement in quality skills. I have refined my skills in Photoshop and indesign to create photo filters and edit photos using clone tools and such. I feel like this make my magazine progress from looking quite childish to more professional.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I felt that since the preliminary task I have learnt more about both layout of things and composition. These things combined have made my final magazine more interesting and visually appealing than the preliminary task. It also added dimension to the main magazine.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Editing pictures to give them a warmer effect and emphasising warm colours within them made them stand out and fit the house style a lot better than just using the natural light of the original photographs in my preliminary task.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Overall I learnt how to use a wider range of tools on PhotoShop and I also learnt more skills on InDesign. Both these programs helped develop my magazine to a higher standard and make it more fitting for the target audience. I felt that the preliminary task helped build my knowledge of these programs and that task helped refine my skills for the main task. This make it look much more visually appealing.