Before i created my magazine cover, contents and double page spread I had to ask my target audience some questions to help me create a magazine which would be aimed at them.

I went around my college asking teenagers the following:

Do you read music magazines?
yes IIIIIIIII no IIIII

What do you think is the most common colour to appear on a urban, retro music magazine for a young female audience?
Red and black IIII White and blue III Green and Grey IIIII Other II

What would you prefer to read about inside a music magazine?
Interveiws IIIII Concert reveiws III Gossip II Upcoming artists IIII

Which title do you think best suites an urban retro magazine?
Shake III Rolling III Pump II Switch II Un-plugged IIII

Are you most likey to stop and look at a magzine with a busy cover page or a simple cover page?Busy IIIIIII Simple IIIIIII

When I recieced the feed back I included them in the making of my meida products.

Evaluation.

I worked in a group of three and worked on one magazine however creating three different issues, and with the same house style we all contributed different ideas and helped each other throughout the process. My magazine followed the conventions you would expect to find in an urban-pop genre. On our front covers we all incorporated the same masthead, and then we each used different images, strap lines and kickers, so each issue was recognised as the same magazine. Our content pages all have the same layout but have different contents, images and colours, although we kept a black and white background to keep a consistent colour theme throughout. We changed our double page spreads by setting out different layouts; however we again kept the black and white colour scheme.

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

From the research I undertook from the music magazine ‘NME’ I found that it undertook the following conventions; it includes a masthead and the images which are layered, resulting to the main image to overlap the masthead.

As a group we used the idea of using the layers, and overlapping the image to go along with the conventions showing that our magazine ‘Unplugged’ is recognisable and a well known magazine. We all had the same masthead, which gave the impression of being edgy and retro because urban magazines kept their masthead looking unique and edgy which made the magazine look more interesting, this catches the eye of the target audience because the font ‘saucy millionaire’ is the type that they like to see on clothing. The thing that differs on the front cover of my magazine to ‘NMEs’ is the main image, on ‘NME’ front cover the main image is a medium shot of a band which makes it seem quite personal to the audience where the band looks as if it is, the medium-long shot of the solo-artists focus’ more on the fashion and attitude of the artist. Having the artist sitting on the piano looking slightly down onto the reader gives a sense of control and power over the audience. The urban/ indie/ NERD fashion industry varies from several styles of clothing such as bright coloured jeans, comical t-shirts and nerd glasses. my main looking straight at the audience. Even though my image looks quite personal, with the facial expression image on my front cover of the artist sitting on the piano follows the NERD style which a lot of young people especially teenagers from the age of 13 to 18 have started to follow since late 2009. Also the people in my images on my contents and double page spread also follow the latest fashion trends, which young readers aspire to and copy, especially if it’s worn by famous artists and bands. I got rid of the background from the original image because it didn’t give the artist in the image true potential. Therefore the bright and bold red and white background I created for the front cover defines the image and makes the artist stand out. I found that in the ‘NME’ front cover the strap line’s and their images were to the left of the main image and fitted round the people on the image, or even were overlapped by the main image, this creates the rule of thirds convention which is often used on the magazine ‘NME’. I took this convention because I believe it looks organised and professional and draws the audience’s eye to the image straight away. My group used the strap lines to give the audience an insight to what’s within the magazine and to make our magazines look realistic. The image on my front cover again follows the convention of rule of thirds, which I believe draws the audiences eye from the main image to the kicker which anchors the main image, to then lead them to look at the strapline’s and any other information left on the front cover. This then leads the audience to have a quick insight of the content and allows them to want to buy and read the magazine. There are three main colours used on my magazine which compliment each other well; black, white and red similar to NME. I used these three colours because as a group we all used black within our magazines, then I saw that red really stood out, so I decided to keep that throughout. My contents used my main three colours and as a group we incorporated grey as the research showed that is an in-trend colour at the moment. To brighten my double page spread, and keep it from being the same colours all throughout my magazine, is used the blue from off the artist jeans on the front cover, I did this to appeal to the audience, and to be similar to the bright colours used in the latest fashion. When my group took our photos for our main image for the front cover we each took the image that best suited each issue and the rule of thirds because that was another convention we saw throughout all the different magazines we researched including ‘NME’. The mise en scene included in my front cover, contents and double page spread such as the indie/ retro fashion and make-up and the colours and objects used reflects the attitudes of the audience.

Who would be your audience for your media product and how does your media product represent particular social groups?

The magazines created by my group all represent the genre of urban-pop, this is a modern genre which attracts 16-25 year old females, however often known to extend to ages low as 13 and as high as 35 from research we did. The magazine I created is multi-generic and attracts urban-pop fans, but also reaches out to indie, rock and R&B due to the artists included on the front cover such as Ke$ha, ‘Misfits and Goldieloxx’ (the band and artist on the front cover of my groups magazines), Katy Perry, Gym Class Hero’s, Kate Nash and Catpower. My strap lines and kickers are big and bold to catch the target audiences’ eye, also it again relates to the target audience because the interest of them is to make big statements with fashion and attitude. The mise en scene within my magazine gives us the impression of laid back, down to earth teenagers who like to enjoy life.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted and addressed my audience by keeping the magazine busy and full of things that young people like to read about. The information and detail within the magazine relate and attract young vibrant and retro social groups because a lot of it is about how the artists became famous and how they made it big which many young people are interested in and aspire to do. The one that represents relates and attracts the audience the most is “Dance, Drums and Determination in the way of Control.” The main image on my front cover is a solo artist who young females would aspire to be like from their fashion, attitude and career prospects. The article within my double page spread include information about the solo artists which people really want to know, as it is interesting and exciting information, and gossip that everyone talks about.

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

IPC Media (Time Inc.) would distribute my group’s magazine as it would be popular within teenagers and young female adults and is well established publishing firm. Our magazine has all the conventions of a genuine music magazine and would definitely sell copies as its modern and eye catching.

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

During this project we have used different types of technology for example: cameras and Photoshop. We all had a lot of experience on Photoshop before the start of this project as we used it a lot in art and media before at gcse level. I learned how to use the magical lasso which helped me cut out my images neatly which made my magazine look more professional. Another tool which I used was the brightness and contrast to enhance the photo and make certain features of it stand out. We have definitely gained a lot of knowledge whilst constructing this product for instance we now know how to upload and process video clips and photographs onto a computer this is valuable knowledge for everyday life.

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

Before creating our music magazine we conducted a lot of research about different genres of music magazines and there conventions. This has helped our group create better magazines as we learnt about new things we wouldn’t have known before the research. Looking back at the preliminary task I feel I have learnt how to develop a magazine and make it look very professional. The layout from the preliminary task has very much developed and looks more organized and allows the audience to focus on certain points.

I showed various different people mine and my group’s magazine and the feedback from the different audience was good, we found that everyone said it looked like a real magazine and would buy it if on sale. A lot of people said it was professional and organized, with effective images and strapline’s relating to the latest trends.