Final Magazine

Looking back at my preliminary task...

Audio version can be found using link below:
https://soundcloud.com/gjonesmedia/looking-back-at-my-preliminary-task

Since creating my school magazine front cover back in September, I can see huge progression in my final media product. I feel that compared to my final product, the front cover I produced in my preliminary task is very amateur looking whereas my final product has the potential of being a professional music magazine front cover. I feel that the improvement in my media product is due to a range of reasons. 

Firstly, I feel that my improved knowledge and understanding of the software I have been using, Adobe Photoshop and InDesign, has allowed me to create a professional looking final media product. As previously in my preliminary task, I feel that my lack of knowledge of the software is clearly presented. The use of the gradient background on my school magazine makes the overall product appear amateur; I have improved this in my final product by using a mid-shot of my model creating a simplistic yet effective background and main image, in order to attract the audiences gaze. 

Additionally, I feel that my improved understanding of the codes and conventions of the pop music magazine genre and a better understanding of my target demographic audience, compared to my preliminary task, has allowed me to create the magazine and features to appeal to the young female demographic; by creating coverlines, using a range of fonts as well as serif and sans serif styles, and a house style, applying to the 3 colour principle, this will more likely attract the attention of the audience. 

Throughout the process of creating my final product I feel that I have gained a better understanding of page layout, to arrange features of the front cover in order to attract the attention of the audience and gain a greater response, As well as emphasising key features such as the masthead, main image and promotional features (WIN! features and freebies) in order to increase the appeal of the magazine to the audience, as well as encouraging the audience to purchase it.

Overall, I feel the preliminary task was a good opportunity and a good practice for me to understand the features of a magazine and to practice using new software such as Photoshop and InDesign, that I had not previously used before starting this media course. I feel that the task has allowed me to further improve my final media product to ensure that it is successful. 

Evaluation of my Final Music Magazine

An audio version on my evaluation can be found using the link below:
https://soundcloud.com/gjonesmedia/sets/audio-evaluation-pop-teen

• Who would be the audience for your media product?

The chosen audience for my media product- music magazine, POP TEEN- is teenage girls between the ages of 8 and 14; as the pop genre was highlighted during my audience investigation as being popular amongst this young female group. Stereotypically, the pop genre is popular amongst the younger audiences as the songs and artist culture has a reputation for being fun and energetic, happy and uplifting. Thus, also, a sub audience for my music magazine could be teenage boys of a similar age group, as the pop genre culture is rather accepting and diverse, it could then appeal to this demographic. Young people tend to be attracted to this genre and its culture as it is mainstream; the pop genre is typically the most supported and played, in terms of its songs, due to the radio, TV and other media forms such as social media, which help to support and promote pop music artists. Children and young people below the age of 14 are often reluctant to explore other genres and forms of music so therefore support pop artists and boybands. One direction, for example, have been marketed towards young girls below the age of 14, through the mass audience TV show, The X Factor and since then have spread their music and boyband personas through other media forms such as radio and social media, to create a fan-base of 10’s of millions teenage girls.

•  How did you attract/address your audience?

Throughout the process of creating my magazine, I kept in mind the audience for my product, using many techniques and features in order to attract and appeal to the target demographic.

Firstly, the main image on the cover of the magazine, I used an image of perfection of a ‘’famous’’ model; as stated in my audience investigation, the consumer may be persuaded to purchase a magazine if a recognisable and popular model was used on the cover. By using an image of perfection, as well as using a model who is clearly older than the target audience, this allows the model to by idolised by the younger audience, building a relationship between the model and the reader; the reader, then, may feel as if she/he is being personally addressed, fulfilling the need to belong in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The model is presented as being innocent, due to the connotation of her white t-shirt, thus being a suitable role model for the young reader, from a parent’s perspective.

Again, by using images of perfection and references to males, this may attract the female gaze as young girls begin to idolise and fantasise about males in the pop industry at this age e.g. boybands and teenage girl fan bases.  

The chosen colour scheme for the magazine applies to the 3 colour principle, using the stereotypically feminine colours of pink, pastel blue and yellow, to attract the female audience. Although, the pastel blue colour could also appeal to the sub-audience of teenage boys. The chosen colours apply to the typical codes and conventions of a pop-girl magazine, as well as complimenting each other to make the overall product visually pleasing. During my research, I experimented with other colour schemes including darker and bolder pinks as well as purples; however, I feel this wasn’t as effective and appealing as the colours overpowered and clashed with the clothing and appearance of the cover model. The colours pink and blue compliment and link to the colours of the models clothing closely, whereas the use of yellow allows information to stand out, yet still apply to the colour scheme. It was also highlighted during my audience investigation that bold and bright colours attracted consumers to purchase a magazine.

I also tried to appeal to the audience by focusing on their interests via the coverlines. Commonly, girls enjoy gossip, fashion and make up as well as boys. I used information to produce coverlines such as ’12 Celeb Style STEALS’ which incorporates both the topics of fashion and celeb gossip as well as using buzzwords such as ‘SCANDAL’ and ‘EXCLUSIVE’ to suggest that the magazine can offer information that you cannot get anywhere else. I included a free gift feature, offering a ‘’FREE! Miss Sporty mascara worth £3”, which may appeal to the audience as young girls begin to experiment with make up at this age, the buzzword ‘’FREE!’’ may also attract their interest as make-up is viewed as a luxury and can be expensive for girls of a young age.

The masthead “POP TEEN” immediately addresses and suggests the target audience and the genre for the magazine, being a pop music magazine for teenage girls which is reinforced by the pink typography. Also, the audience is addressed throughout using personal pronouns and referring to the audience in the personal message on the contents page as ‘Hey girls!’ again, fulfilling the need to belong in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as they may build a relationship with the writers, making them feel welcome and as if they belong.

•  How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In my media product, I feel that two social groups have been created and presented; the celebrities featured and the female audience.

The celebrities are presented as being high class, rich and powerful which is a common representation and stereotype of celebrities and high-life celebrity culture. Whereas, it’s suggested that the young, female audience is of lower social class, as this is the common view represented in society. The celebrities presented are suggested to be idolised by the young girls and that the girls should aspire to be like them, as commonly some girls have aspirations to be famous and to be pop-stars. Although, this is a common representation and stereotype within the media, it could be viewed as a negative representation of the young girls and celebrities.

Arguably, another negative aspect of representations within my magazine could be the use of stereotyping and generalisation of the female interests and needs. The magazine could be viewed as sexist suggesting that all girls care about is looking good and being interested in boys and should focus on these factors and interests if they wish to become famous or successful; without mentioning and including other interests that the minority of the audience may have such as sport and education. This, along with the use of images of perfection, could trigger body issues that are commonly related to young girls such as anorexia and negative body image. I’ve tried to resolve this negative view by including an interview with the famous, rising star ‘’Lydia Gould’’. The representation of the celebrity, Lydia, shows that she is a down to earth and ‘normal’ girl, by including her views and personal opinions throughout the interview. The message that the star wishes upon the young audience is that the young girls should have fun and enjoy themselves, which is also the message I wish to portray to my target audience.

When producing the magazine itself, regardless of its representation, I have tried to create it in order to appeal to all social groups, from high class to working class. I have tried to create it so that the views presented and topics discussed are general and personal, in order to appeal to the female audience as that the majority of the audience will have common and general views. In terms of pricing, I have priced the magazine at £2 so that it is affordable for almost all the target audience and potential consumers who wish to purchase it, despite their social class. Creating this magazine, I tried to make it as personal as possible in order to appear as if the audience are being addressed personally so that they do not feel as if they are being patronised or discriminated for their social class, this would be ethically incorrect as the audience is so young and vulnerable. 

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

I feel that my media product conforms to the typical codes and conventions of the pop magazine genre in many ways:

Firstly, in terms of format, my front cover includes the typical features of a magazine front cover, including a masthead, coverlines, a central main image of a model, buzzwords, a priceline and a barcode. Along with the chosen colour scheme and brand name, this makes the product easily identifiable as well as making it simple for the audience to configure the genre of the magazine and the audience. Throughout the magazine, the colour scheme and choice of fonts closely links the magazine together, giving it a house style (another element of magazine codes and conventions). The content of the magazine links closely to the conventions as the coverlines identify the topics in which will be presented or discussed e.g. clothes, make-up and boys- these are all typical subjects and topics you’d expect to see in this genre of media product for the chosen consumer group.

However, I feel that the magazine could challenge the forms of other media products as the chosen main image model on the cover isn’t sexualised, unlike many other females in the media. The model is dressed in appropriate clothing, without showing too much skin, wearing colours that represent innocence and femininity- giving the young girls a suitable representative that the girls could aspire to be like. I chose to present my model as a natural being and representative for the pop genre, as I felt that this would appeal to the young audience; allowing them to relate more to the magazine, rather than presenting the young girls with an unrealistic image that could portray a negative message. Equally, with the sub-genre being young males, it may have been inappropriate to present women in a way that could be viewed as sexual. Although, the model could be perceived as an image of perfection- as she is a natural beauty and conforms to the stereotype of a female e.g. long hair and pink clothing- I have tried to keep her look as natural as possible to ensure that the young girls can relate and find her image appealing.

I also feel that my magazine develops the forms of the pop magazine genre as I have used multi-media convergence. On the cover, a website to advertise the POP TEEN brand to the young audience, giving them access to more content online and encouraging them to share the content with their friends. Again, the use of social media links on the cover and double page spread, may appeal to the young audience as social media forms such as Twitter and Facebook are commonly used by a young demographic; this, also, encourages the young teenagers to access and view more content using these media forms as well as to share with friends the content they find. The use of this feature will allow POP TEEN as a brand to develop and expand, offering free advertising as well as attracting a wider audience and a greater market. 

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

Since the start of this media course, I have learnt how to use 3 new programmes: Photoshop, InDesign and Blogger, in order to create my media product.

Firstly, Photoshop, I used this software in order to edit my pictures from my photoshoot. At first, I was unaware of the programme and found it was extremely complex to use but throughout the course I became more aware of its uses and functions. I learnt how to use tools such as the crop and resize tools to manipulate my images as well as the spot healing brush to eliminate any obvious blemishes, which I found very effective. I also experimented with other tools including the dodge and burn tool, which allows areas of images, eyes for example, to be highlighted or darkened, I found that this was an unsuccessful way to edit my images. Additionally, I experimented with pre-set effects which I added to images. I later removed these effects from my images as I felt that in some cases it made my images appear amateur.

Another programme I used was InDesign in order to create my media product, the pop music magazine. I really enjoyed using this software, although I found it difficult to use at first, as it offers you freedom and so many choices in tools and features in order to make your product unique. At first I found it difficult to work with as I had not previously used the programme and found that it was much more complex to use than other software such as Microsoft Publisher and Word.

The final programme I used was Blogger, a blogging website in which I uploaded all the content I had produced, including my preliminary task. I found that this website was simple to use and allowed me to produce the content I wanted as there are no limitations as to how much text you can write and upload. However, I felt that it could be improved by providing more options in terms of font sizes, colours and font styles as there was only a selection to choose from. I also found some limitations in the use of the website as you cannot directly upload videos or audio onto you blog, I found this frustrating as I had to use other websites and programmes including SoundCloud and YouTube, both of which I have used throughout the course of this task. 

• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

My chosen media institution for my media product is Bauer Media, Europe's largest media distribution firm.
More information on Bauer Media can be found using the link below:
http://www.slideshare.net/georgiajonesx/marketing-and-distribution-44904602?related=1

I would like my music magazine to be distributed by Bauer Media as my target demographic for my music magazine is young teenage females and Bauer Media do not currently distribute a magazine for a young female audience. Therefore I feel that my media product can be marketed and established as a unique product, giving it a greater opportunity to be able to compete with other similar magazines such as Top of the Pops.

Additionally, another method of distribution, for my magazine, is through iTunes and the App store, this will allow consumers to download a digital copy of the magazine onto any Apple device including iPad, iPhone and Mac. Allowing the audience to access content of the magazine on-the-go at any time that is convenient to them.