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AS EVALUATION. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge form and conventions of real media products?. FRONT COVER. I have created a music magazine called ‘White Noise’ aimed at young adults of both genders who are into electronic style music. .
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In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge form and conventions of real media products?
FRONT COVER I have created a music magazine called ‘White Noise’ aimed at young adults of both genders who are into electronic style music. My magazine front cover is similar to this cover of Vibe magazine with the colour scheme. They both have a monochrome theme for simplicity but with splashes of red to attract attention to main bits of text and make the page look bolder and stand out rather than just simple black and white. Due to the length of the title Vibe being much shorter, it stands out across the page much more than my title does, but I chose my title of ‘White Noise’ because it is something that is used frequently in electronic music, so is therefore appropriate as this is my target audience. Vibe magazine is aimed at listeners of rap music which could be the reason behind artist Eminem having a very harsh stance and facial expression. I wanted my magazine to have a more softer and approachable tone to it as the style of music is slightly more upbeat and something to let go to, hence why it is used frequently at popular clubs and parties. On both covers there is a focus on only one artist and the head of each is covering the title, connoting that the magazine is well known and making the artist much more of a main feature to the cover. However, I have used a full body shot to continue the relaxed, friendly tone I want my magazine to connote, whereas Vibe magazine has more of a close up of Eminem with his arms cross, further highlighting his closed body language,
FRONT COVER My magazine front cover is similar to this cover of NME magazine in the font style as the fonts used for both covers are very bold yet simple so that it stands out on the page and is easy to read and understand. However, I used just black, white and red for my cover to keep it striking but simple, whereas the NME cover has lots of different colours and has less text, but much bigger text, which actually makes it look busier than my cover, Furthermore, the NME cover used a much closer shot of the artist and made him completely dominant on the page, meaning a lot of the text is covering him. I used a longer shot so that there was plenty of space around the artist for the text and the only text that covers him is his name as this, apart from the title, is the boldest bit of text showing that he is the focus of the magazine. It does make my artist look more inferior on the page than the artist on the NME cover, however, I feel a closer shot wouldn’t have worked with the layout of the cover.
Contents My magazine contents page is similar to this Q magazine contents page in the layout, with the cover artist having the main picture, but a few smaller photos of other main stories also on the page. I liked this layout for my magazine because it continues the simplicity of the front cover but I think it still looks bold with all the alternating black and red. I thought the pictures matched the music style my magazine is trying to portray because one of the smaller photos is from a music festival and the other is of DJ equipment. My magazine has a lot more text then the Q magazine contents because mine has one less picture, I think this is best for my magazine because the page length column of text is also seen on my front cover so keeps a theme going throughout the magazine. The text on the Q magazine contents is more simple than my text as my text slightly more rigid but still bold which gives it more of a sharper edge without it looking too harsh.
Contents This contents page is from mixmag, which aims at a similar target audience to mine with the electronic music genre. I think my contents page is much more simplistic than the mixmag contents as the mixmag contents is much more colourful, particularly against the complete black background. I chose a more simplistic page as it went better with my front cover and I didn’t want the theme of the pages to change too much. Again the similarity between these pages is black and white, I think black and white is used regularly, particularly with the electronic style music because it is much bolder and attracts a much older audience than a magazine with lots of bright colours, which usually attracts a young audience, particularly young children.
DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD As a recurring theme throughout my magazine, I chose to keep the background of my double page spread black and white to make everything else stand out and attract the most attention from the readers. This is similar with this double page spread from Kerrang magazine, however, the model and text (minus the headline) seems to blend into the background more than with my spread. The main pictures of my magazine occur outside to give it more of an urban feel, which is related the my genre of music, I didn’t want my photos to have the generic model in a studio style to them, which is what this Kerrang spread has. However, this means that with the Kerrang spread, the artist is much more dominant on the page than mine is, meaning that mine has a lot of space on the page compared to Kerrang.
Double page spread My double page spread is similar to this Q magazine double page spread in that the background picture continues throughout both pages, making the spread more unique to that of the majority and giving the effect of a continued theme. I also think it makes the pages stand out more as a lot is going on in the Q magazine spread. However, this is how it differs, as my spread is once again quite simplistic in comparison as the Q magazine spread has an even more relaxed approach and is much more zoomed in on the artist than mine is. Also the main headline is much bigger, making it stand out even more across the page. It also has much more colour than mine. However, I used this picture for my double page spread because I thought it was unique to what I saw in the majority of double page spreads and also looks relaxed and like he is looking at the text. Also, the plain grey background make the text, even the interview text, stand out more on the page than the other spread, making it easier to read.
How does your media product represent particular csocial groups?
M y target audience for White Noise magazine is around the young adult, 16-25 age demographic. I chose this because with research I found that a magazine similar to the music genre I am aiming for called Mixmag aims at this style of audience with acquired taste of electronic music. I want my magazine to be aimed at this same acquired audience but still wanted it to appeal to the wide range of 16-25 year olds of both genders . My magazine looks quite masculine with the continuity of my main male model used throughout, so to appeal to a more feminine audience as well, I should have used a pictures of females too, however I couldn’t achieve this due to timing issues and I also felt that this would mean too many pictures and therefore take away from the simplicity I wanted my magazine to feature. I feel I have shown this age bracket through the clothing as it the style a lot of young adults are wearing now, I also think the urban style background links to young adults as this is a scene a lot of young adults can relate to with where they meet up with friends etc.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
For my magazine, I would use the conventional distribution method of selling it in various supermarkets and shops throughout the UK as this is a big part of using the magazine to grab readers attention from the stands. However, with the ever increasing use of the internet, particularly for my chosen age demographic of16-25, I think having an internet website for a more detailed version of the magazine with games and quizzes and things to keep the readers on the website entertained and want to keep using the website. It would also include exclusive videos and interviews which the readers would be informed of in the magazine to make them interested in the website. Barcodes that are able to be scanned using smart-phones becoming increasingly popular, so I would probably feature them in my magazine, for example with the competitions page, so that readers can scan and go straight to the website to see what they can do to win the competitions. I think it is very important to be involved with the internet as it is such a huge part of modern cultures and shop bought magazines are becoming slightly outdated and therefore much more expensive with this growth. An example of a distribution company that I would use to sell my magazine is Worldwide Magazine Distribution (WWMD), as they sell mixmag and DJ magazine, two top dance music magazine, with mixmag being the first dance magazine to ever be published. I think this would be a good company to distribute my magazine because it shows that they have a good success rate with their magazines.
As mentioned earlier, the age demographic I am aiming for is the 16-25 year olds. This would be of both genders and of any race, wealth status and occupation. The use of a male artist can appeal to both gender readers as most artists are typically liked by both, for music taste and attraction. I also tried to appeal my magazine to both genders by including stories within that would attract both males and females, including plenty of gossip stories about different music artists, stories to do with technology and competitions that would appeal to anybody. I also used colours that are gender neutral as to not give off the wrong message, for example if I had used a lot of pink, that would appeal to females a lot more as it would suggest it is a very feminine magazine. These colours would also usually suggest it was a magazine for young female children, so I feel my use of black, white and red also appeals to my age demographic as it connotes a more sophisticated magazine. In terms of wealth, I priced my magazine at £2.59, I think this is a reasonable price and coincides with other magazines. I made it £2.59 instead of £2.60 as a lot of companies are adopting the use of making something £99 instead of £100 to make their items look cheaper as a whole. In terms of education level and occupation, I think I have based my magazine at everyone however it is the music genre that does not necessarily appeal to everyone and means my magazine is therefore targeting a niche market of any age, wealth, education level and occupation who happen to like this genre of music.
How did you attract/address your audience?
I attracted my audience through the red against the monochrome, making some text stand out amongst the page and attracting readers to the bold text I’ve used. I also attracted my audience through a relaxed, happy looking artist to give off a friendly impression for my magazine and not make people feel intimidated by it. My magazine cover is also quite busy which implies it has a lot of information for readers which also attracts readers because they know they will get their moneys worth. The price at £2.59 is a reasonable price as magazines go and so is therefore available to anyone who wants to buy it. I have advertised a competition on the front to attract audiences and make them want to get involved. The stories include a variety of things from gossip to technology to behind the scenes, so a variety of people can be interested and want to read it. I addressed my audience in a friendly manner, using a friendly pose and facial expression and through relaxed language.
