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

Referring back to my preliminary task, I feel that I have come across numerous challenges that have resulted into overall positives in the outcome of my music magazine. As well as this, I believe that I now have a wider knowledge on the conventions of a magazine and why they are important. Also, I now have a more broad understanding on the importance of having a good photo on the product, looking at the numerous connotations pictures give.

When creating my music magazine front cover, I began to understand why we use magazine conventions such as left-thirds, cover lines and puffs. Even though I included some of these conventions on my student magazine, I wasn't aware on the effects they would have on the audience therefore, resulting in a poor and unappealing impact.

Fundamentally, my music magazine uses left-thirds, cover lines and puffs as well as rule of thirds (in the picture) to create some form of effect. Everything on my music magazine was attention to detail, ensuring it had an, if not more, effect/s on my chosen audience.

Furthermore, I believe that my experience with the programmes I used to create my magazines benefited the overall outcome of my music magazine. This is because, when creating my student magazine, I used Adobe InDesign CS6. I then discovered problems with transferring edited, Photoshop images onto the programme, resulting in a low resolution display. With some trial and error, when coming to creating my music magazine, I discovered that it was easier to edit and create my music magazine front cover on Photoshop. This is a prime example of me learning through the process of creating both student and music magazines.

Throughout the overall coursework process, I can see the improvements I have made (the most important I have stated). I believe my music magazine has appropriate front cover and is relevant to my chosen audience. Moreover, I feel that everything on my front cover has a positive effect, I wish my audience to have when they see my magazine, from text to pictures. An example would be the eye contact the artist on my front cover has towards the audience. This encourages people to buy the magazine and often influences imagery, with the audience imagining they're the person in the image. 

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

 Technology is obviously important when creating my music magazine. There are numerous editing programmes that media companies use when creating their magazines. These include programmes I have used such as Adobe Photoshop and InDesign. Even though Adobe is an expensive and reliable programme, some magazine companies would use other programmes and may sometimes have their own programme, created for them.

Below is a SWAT analysis elaborating what I have learnt, about technologies, when constructing my product. Click on the image for a larger display.

4 & 5. Who would be the audience for your media product and how did you attract/address your audience?

Who would be the audience for your media product? 

My music magazine is aimed at a teenage audience who enjoy an acoustic/folk sound. The magazine has been written for a teenage audience (ages 14-18) however, it may be read by anyone and everyone. My music magazine is likely to be read by more teenage girls; more females read magazines compared to males. I have insured that aspects of my magazine are appealing for all audiences even though the magazine has been created for a specific audience. This is because, I wish for my magazine to be read by many other people if they chose to do so. An example would be: recommended songs to listen to, competitions to enter or even festival information.

During my IPC Media case study, I discovered that the publisher have numerous audiences however, adapt some of their magazines to appeal to all. I have imagined that my magazine will be published with a company such as IPC Media. 

How did you attract/address your audience?
by: SamPoole24

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

The two media institutions I have looked at in my research are IPC Media and Bauer Media.

IPC Media publish a variety of different media magazines such as NME, Nuts and What's on TV. From this, I can clearly see that the institution would be appropriate to publish my magazine; they already publish to different audiences.

• IPC Media is known by numerous people for its lifestyle brands. This may possibly be of disadvantage as music magazines aren't their specialised area of publishing. Even though they publish NME, which is highly successful, it is not guarenteed my music magazine would follow a similar path. 

Bauer Media is more recognised in digital media, leading some top national radio stations such as The Hits Radio and the South Coast's most popular radio station, Wave 105. Again, Bauer Media publish music magazines with Britain's most popular magazine, Q. This institution may be more appropriate to publish my music magazine because:

• They have a larger audience base.
• Bauer Media have numerous radio stations and a television channel to support the promotion of a new music magazine they would bring out therefore, working in synergy. 
• There is more content Bauer Media publish that is aimed at young people, supporting my target audience and drawing them into buying my magazine. 

Overall, I believe that IPC Media is an excellent publishing institution although, would not be appropriate to publish my magazine with. This is because, the companies working under the institution are very limited in the audiences they have, resulting to a disadvantage in promotion, compared to what it would be like with Bauer Media. Bauer Media have the option to work with their companies meaning that the promotion process of my magazine would be advertised to a wider audience, resulting into a more likely hood for my music magazine to succeed. 

2. How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups?

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

 

Below is the script I used for the above video:
The media product I have created is an acoustic/folk music magazine aimed at a young audience who are interested in the genre and are keen enthusiasts of new music.

The music magazine I have created was supported and inspired by other music magazines such as NME and Q. I feel that the support from the real like examples challenged my original ideas; they were highly limited in the conventions I planned to include. Therefore made the overall outcome of my music magazine look professional and real. 

During the creation process of my front page, contents page and double page spread, I always used real life examples beside me to ensure I was conforming to the expected conventions. Below, are a few examples of music magazines that supported me during the creation process.

NME was the first magazine I analysed and I felt that the front covers they had were the best option to support me during the creation process of my front page. When creating my front page, I understood the importance of the conventions such as cover lines, plugs, puffs and left thirds as well as the photography conventions, considering the rule of thirds. When creating my front page, I followed some aspects of NME's front pages like how they situated the left thirds and the behind the head points. I am pleased with the outcome of my front page although, I have acknowledged some changes I could of made. Refer back to "finished front cover" post for the reasons why I didn't change my front page. 

The music magazine Q had a vast influence on my contents page. This is because I liked the way in which they situated their text on the page as well the picture. Moreover, I found that the main image on the contents page was posed, as most contents pages are and that the mis-en-scene was limited so that the audience were not distracted by what's in the background and were focused on the artist or anything thing else obviously shown. During the creation process of my contents page, I debated to whether I would challenge the forms and convention to do the opposite with my main image positioned on my contents page. For example, I'd have the image of the musician with numerous items in the background, creating a busy mis-en-scene. I decided against this as I knew the importance of good photography and didn't wish to confuse my target audience. I feel that the more objects in the picture, the more interpretations the audience can have. I didn't wish for this, I wanted my audience to have a grasp of the passion and enthusiasm the musician in the picture had towards their music. 

I wished for my double page spread to look real and professional but be my own. That's why I din't use one pure music magazine to support me during the creation process of my double page spread. I used numerous examples of music magazine double page spreads to contribute to my ideas on what I wished to have in the outlook. I found this process challenging but highly rewarding as it gave me a more, broad understanding of the creation of music magazines and how they are made to work with their audience. Personally, I believe that my double page spread is the the best piece out of all three pieces.

Below are some opinions of those who have seen my music magazine:
Source: Facebook

Finished Double Page Spread

This is my finished double page spread. I am pleased with the outlook as it looks professional and remains to the magazine conventions. Furthermore, I have remained to the colour scheme and font types which shows a sustained design.

Click on the image for a higher quality display.