1)In what ways does your media
product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a real media product?
Firstly, before creating my music magazine, I have researched into successful existing magazines such as NME and Kerrang. I have found out that they use three different colours for their magazines and rarely use any others. When it came to creating my magazine I followed this convention in order for my magazine to look simplistic and at the same time professional. The colours I have used are: red, black and white because other magazine like Kerrang use those colours and are trying to attract the same type of audience as I am. Therefor I’m following this code and convention of current music magazine because dark/black background will contrast to white text which will make it look professional and easy for reader to read. This regularity of using three colours makes the magazine easily recognisable for its readers. The colours used for a magazine is very important because the colour will be associated to the brand which is very important for the “belongers” because they like to associate themselves to the brand. This convention is very important to follow because “belongers” almost take up three quarters of total population today which is important for the magazine to be appealing to them to reach the maximum and widest audience possible. Music magazine “Kerrang” also follows the codes and conventions of a rock magazine. It’s Masthead being made to look that it’s being smashed which is called typography. This is very effective for this sort of genre because it associates to the band artist smashing his guitar. This type of typography I have used for my music magazine Masthead which is called “Urban Jungle” and I downloaded this type of font from“dafont.com”. This worked very well for my music magazine because it has a sense of industrialism because as its base it has large city which also could connote back to New York where Hip-Hip itself was born.
During the process of making my music magazine I followed many typical codes and conventions of exciting music magazines. On my front cover I followed some of the code of convention such as: a barcode, a price, a main image, a masthead and a cover line. Magazines that follow the codes and convention typically place their skyline at the left/right hand side of the page because that is the next place the reader will see after the main image. My Skyline follows these codes and conventions because I have placed my skylines at the right hand side of the page. Also, I have used red and white colours in order for it to contrast to the background. I have also chosen those colours because I was following the scheme of three colours: red, black and white and this was the best colour to use to make the skyline contrast from the background and the Masthead. I have also used a graphite font which will connote back to Hip-Hop culture and a stereotypical few of rappers graphting. I have also used Buss words such as “free” and “win” this will attract my audience to the most important parts of my magazine and make them feel like they are getting more for their money. I used the words “free CD” in order for my magazine to be more appealing to my audience. I made the font: bold, white and “urban jungle” style in order for it to contrast the masthead and be easily spotted by the reader. Also, I used 'puffs' to attract the reader to the offer; I have done this by using a black triangle and completely contrasting the buzz word from everything else on my front page which I think is very effective.For my main image, I have researched into many different successful front cover images in order to understand and apply those conventions to the image I will use. First of all, the artist is using direct mode of address which is a very powerful and effective technique to use on the front cover of my magazine. This technique engages the model with the reader. Also, the model is pointing at the reader which also has a strong effect because it makes the engagement between the model and the reader much stronger and it connotes back to the masthead “Underground Unleashed” and makes the reader feel like the underground will be unleashed upon him/her. The mise-en-scenes are very effective and important features too. First of all, he is wearing: a hat, a hoody and a tracksuit which is expected from a rapper because of their economic background or life style. Also, the hat he is wearing is angled to the side which will give it a “gangster” look and will be more appealing to my type of audience. The artist is in a long shot and taking up most of the space and only leaving some background space. This is very effective because he is the dominant figure on the front page and will be much more memorable and will attract the reader more. Also, I have challenged the code and convention by creating a front page image that has a serious facial expression. Some may argue that this is not very effective as his facial expression is not strong and power. However, I think that this welcomes the reader to the magazine. Also, it connotes back to the culture of Hip-Hop because the artist is smiling cheekily as if he has something to hide from the reader, which he will later on find in the magazine. I think this is a very effective feature because the reader is left wondering what is behind his smile. Therefore he will be motivated to buy the magazine. Also the banner on my music magazine follows the codes and convention of current existing magazines like Kerrang and NME. My banner follows the codes and convention because i placed it at the bottom of my page and I made it contrast from arrest of the page. Also I included some buzz words with-in the banner like “Niki Minnaj” in order to appeal and excite the audience with famous names.
Then I followed this colour scheme onto my double page spread to create continuity which made the magazine look more professional and recognisable. When I was creating my double page spread I followed some of the code and convention but challenged some. I noticed that double page spreads usually have an image on one side and text on other. But I’ve also noticed that sometimes the text over laps the image which I challenged. I challenged this because I didn’t want my text to overpower the image, because I wanted the image to be the dominant on the page. Therefor when I created my double page spread I put text on one side of the page and image on the other one. I thought this looked very effective, because of the composition of my image made it look like artist is looking at the text, which is effective because the text is about him and the reader by using direct mode of address. All together the reader, text and artist are connoted together which made a strong and engaging atmosphere with-in this page. Also I followed the code and the convention of putting a in quote from the artist somewhere round the page. I did this by putting in a quote over the artist quoting “I didn’t do it” which connoted back to the text which was asking him in a live interview if he committed a murder. This is very effective because the reader will feel like the artist is talking to him and will be engaged to the magazine much more. Also most double page spread follows the code and convention of putting a page number at the bottom and quoting something like “continue”. I have followed this code and convention by adding a page number and “continue to next page”because I though it adds continuity and motivate the reader to read on.
My content page follows the codes and convention of a typical content page and a similar structure. Whilst researching successful content pages I have found out that magazine like NME don’t call their content pages “content page”. They call them something like“NME this week” which makes it look much more professional and adds a continuity effect to the page. I have followed this convention by calling the content page “This week” because I thought it will be much more effective and interesting for the reader to find out what’s happing this week, rather than just “content”. Also this technic give my magazine repetition as the reader will think there’s something new every week and will be persuaded to go back to it. Whilst researching into content page image, I have found out that most magazines like NME don’t use an image with direct mode of address because they want to make the magazine feel like it’s more about the music that the artist. I will challenge this code and convention by using two images with direct mode of address on my content page. I think that this will have a much better effect because the artist will be much more engaged with the reader. This is important because most readers of music magazine buy the magazines because of their favourite celebrity. I have also placed my navigation bar at the left hand side of my content page which followed the codes and convention of exciting content pages. I think this worked well because it contrasted to arrest of the page and was easily identifiable by the reader. Also I included a date on my content page which is one of the codes and convention. I’ve placed it next to the title because a date is of the most important features because it give the reader an indication that his on track with the news. Lastly I added sub tittles on my content page because this is one of the most effective codes and convention for a content page. It highlight the most interesting information to the reader which will make there reader much more engaged and interested with the magazine.
As my magazine is aimed at younger male audience I have to have features that this generation will appeal and be attracted to. For most of my images I have used direct mode of address so the audience feel a lot more engaged with the artist which is very important for this age group because it gives them a status. Also the direct mode of address implies to the artist being very strong and confident with-in himself which is important because this type of age group look up to people like this and use them as role models for themselves.
Also my model is same age as the audience I’m trying to reach. I believe that this age links between them engages the both reader a lot more towards the artists because they will have the same understanding of everything as each other, which will be much more appealing to the reader. Also I presented the artist in same cloths that a teenager of the genre will wear, so the reader is not too distant and overpowered by the artist which will make him feel good about himself.
The main image on the front cover is of a model wearing a Monster hat and No Fear headphones. I used this in the mise-en -scene as it will attract my audience because they will aspire to have this lifestyle. They are also brands that are typically aimed at the same target audience as my product so they will relate with the artist and want to read more about him, which will attract a wider audience.
A media institution such as Bruer Media could distribute my music magazine as it is influenced by 80+ brands and have published more magazines that any other institution has. Also Bruer Media works with the largest music radio station in the world such as Heat which is aimed at 16+ audiences. Bruer Media could be possible institutions for my magazine, because it is one of the largest in the world and it is aimed at the same age audience as my magazine.
IPC Media is leading UK consumer magazine publisher, also publishing over 80 different magazines all over UK. Even know this is the largest publisher in UK I don’t think it will be suitable to distribute my magazine because it deals with more of broad spectrum and is usually aimed at females that are above my audience age.
However Vibe Media deals directly more with music magazines, and usually deals with urban music. This institution could distribute my magazine because my magazine has a theme of urbanity and industrialism.
4) Who would be the audience for your Media Product?
My target audience are male between the ages of 15-25 and would take up the life style of Strives and Survivors in the Vals system. I’ think I reached this audience by using strong dark colours on my music magazine which is typically associated with males. Also I continued the same colour scheme through the magazine which the magazine will be recognised by, this would attract the “survivors” and the “strives” because they are brand loyal.
5) How did you attract/address your audience your audience?
My front page attracts my audience through the colour scheme and the connotations between the reader and the artist. The front cover is the first thing the reader will see and it will give them an immediate impression of my magazine. In order to make my front cover attractive to my audience I thought very carefully about what mise-en-scenes I will use for my artist in order for him to connote to the reader. I have used the outwear on my artist the same as the audience this age/genre would usually wear in order for the reader not to be too isolated from the artist and so they would want to find out more about him and his background. The typography of my masthead is simple yet very effective it, it symbolises industrialism which will attract my audience because an audience of my age group spend most of their lives on the streets as they are teenagers and they are always out with their friends.
My content page attracts and addresses my audience is a similar way as the front cover. Firstly, I did not call it“contents” I called it “Hip-Hop This Week” in order for it to sound much more interesting. This is a very simple feature, yet effective because it doesn’t sound as boring to the reader, which him/her would want to read on in order to find out what’s happening “This Week”. Also, the artist uses direct mode of address which is very important for my audience as they will feel engaged with the artist. Also, he is not using a strong facial expression which may push the reader away as it is too serious. The mise-en-scenes shows him wearing: headphones, hat, a hooded jacket and a tracksuit which is stereotypically a“chav“. My targeted audience is males 15+ and they are usually wearing this kind of clothing which will connect the reader to the artist. Also, there is not a lot of complicated text on the page because my audience are age 15+ and they a might be alienated from the page as they do not understand it.
My Double page spread has also addressed and will attract my audience. Firstly, the artist is using direct mode of address which creates a closer link between him and the reader, this has a very important effect on this page because the text is talking about him. Also, there is a direct quote from the artist on the page saying ”I didn’t do it”this connects the reader and the artist together and the reader may have some empathy for him and he/she may be more likely to read on to find out what will happen to him or what he did not do. Also, when I created the title for my double page spread, I wrote it in a 'graphite' font which makes it much more appealing and attractive to the audience. This is because this connotes back to the hip-hop culture.
6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of construing this product?
Firstly, for my music magazine I used a software that is called 'Microsoft Word'which I was already familiar with, it was very helpful because it helped me to build a skeleton structure for my music magazine. Tools such as; 'crop' were helpful in order to get rid of excess background, 'rotate' was very useful because I could place my image anywhere and angel it in the way I wanted to which was useful. Also, Microsoft word had a feature where I could place my image as the background which was useful because then I could put my text over it. Also, on Microsoft Word you have a varriaty of fonts that you could use/download from other sites, this was helpful because I could download fonts such as 'Urban jungle' and 'graphite' which helped me create my masthead and gave me a good variety of fonts that could use that would associate with Hip-Hop.
Also, I downloaded a programme called 'Picasa'. I found this programme very effective because Word didn’t allow me to edit my images. I used this programme for the first time on this project, but the simple layout of it allowed me to upload the images I needed to it and edited them in the way I wanted to. Firstly I used a 'magic wand' in order to change my artist's skin colour to make him look much more powerful. Also, it allowed me to play around with the lighting of the image which helped me to create a right mood/effect I needed to on the image. This programme helped me to create a right feel of my image which overall I think it made my images on my magazine look more professional.
Overall, helpful website sites such as 'Da.font'
helped me to get the right font I needed and generate barcode that I have used
for my magazine. Software’s such as Picasa helped me edit my image which i
could then later put everything together on Microsoft word.
7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have from the progression of it to the full product?
Also I didn’t include any buzz words or cover lines on front page which made it look very boring and unprofessional. Also the content page looks very basic; there is not colour or not images on it which ones again make it look unattractive and unprofessional.
I have learned that if I used; a variety of font, some skylines, sub-headings, buzz words and some images the preliminary task could of looked much more professional and attractive to the consumer.
Firstly, before creating my music magazine, I have researched into successful existing magazines such as NME and Kerrang. I have found out that they use three different colours for their magazines and rarely use any others. When it came to creating my magazine I followed this convention in order for my magazine to look simplistic and at the same time professional. The colours I have used are: red, black and white because other magazine like Kerrang use those colours and are trying to attract the same type of audience as I am. Therefor I’m following this code and convention of current music magazine because dark/black background will contrast to white text which will make it look professional and easy for reader to read. This regularity of using three colours makes the magazine easily recognisable for its readers. The colours used for a magazine is very important because the colour will be associated to the brand which is very important for the “belongers” because they like to associate themselves to the brand. This convention is very important to follow because “belongers” almost take up three quarters of total population today which is important for the magazine to be appealing to them to reach the maximum and widest audience possible. Music magazine “Kerrang” also follows the codes and conventions of a rock magazine. It’s Masthead being made to look that it’s being smashed which is called typography. This is very effective for this sort of genre because it associates to the band artist smashing his guitar. This type of typography I have used for my music magazine Masthead which is called “Urban Jungle” and I downloaded this type of font from“dafont.com”. This worked very well for my music magazine because it has a sense of industrialism because as its base it has large city which also could connote back to New York where Hip-Hip itself was born.
During the process of making my music magazine I followed many typical codes and conventions of exciting music magazines. On my front cover I followed some of the code of convention such as: a barcode, a price, a main image, a masthead and a cover line. Magazines that follow the codes and convention typically place their skyline at the left/right hand side of the page because that is the next place the reader will see after the main image. My Skyline follows these codes and conventions because I have placed my skylines at the right hand side of the page. Also, I have used red and white colours in order for it to contrast to the background. I have also chosen those colours because I was following the scheme of three colours: red, black and white and this was the best colour to use to make the skyline contrast from the background and the Masthead. I have also used a graphite font which will connote back to Hip-Hop culture and a stereotypical few of rappers graphting. I have also used Buss words such as “free” and “win” this will attract my audience to the most important parts of my magazine and make them feel like they are getting more for their money. I used the words “free CD” in order for my magazine to be more appealing to my audience. I made the font: bold, white and “urban jungle” style in order for it to contrast the masthead and be easily spotted by the reader. Also, I used 'puffs' to attract the reader to the offer; I have done this by using a black triangle and completely contrasting the buzz word from everything else on my front page which I think is very effective.For my main image, I have researched into many different successful front cover images in order to understand and apply those conventions to the image I will use. First of all, the artist is using direct mode of address which is a very powerful and effective technique to use on the front cover of my magazine. This technique engages the model with the reader. Also, the model is pointing at the reader which also has a strong effect because it makes the engagement between the model and the reader much stronger and it connotes back to the masthead “Underground Unleashed” and makes the reader feel like the underground will be unleashed upon him/her. The mise-en-scenes are very effective and important features too. First of all, he is wearing: a hat, a hoody and a tracksuit which is expected from a rapper because of their economic background or life style. Also, the hat he is wearing is angled to the side which will give it a “gangster” look and will be more appealing to my type of audience. The artist is in a long shot and taking up most of the space and only leaving some background space. This is very effective because he is the dominant figure on the front page and will be much more memorable and will attract the reader more. Also, I have challenged the code and convention by creating a front page image that has a serious facial expression. Some may argue that this is not very effective as his facial expression is not strong and power. However, I think that this welcomes the reader to the magazine. Also, it connotes back to the culture of Hip-Hop because the artist is smiling cheekily as if he has something to hide from the reader, which he will later on find in the magazine. I think this is a very effective feature because the reader is left wondering what is behind his smile. Therefore he will be motivated to buy the magazine. Also the banner on my music magazine follows the codes and convention of current existing magazines like Kerrang and NME. My banner follows the codes and convention because i placed it at the bottom of my page and I made it contrast from arrest of the page. Also I included some buzz words with-in the banner like “Niki Minnaj” in order to appeal and excite the audience with famous names.
Then I followed this colour scheme onto my double page spread to create continuity which made the magazine look more professional and recognisable. When I was creating my double page spread I followed some of the code and convention but challenged some. I noticed that double page spreads usually have an image on one side and text on other. But I’ve also noticed that sometimes the text over laps the image which I challenged. I challenged this because I didn’t want my text to overpower the image, because I wanted the image to be the dominant on the page. Therefor when I created my double page spread I put text on one side of the page and image on the other one. I thought this looked very effective, because of the composition of my image made it look like artist is looking at the text, which is effective because the text is about him and the reader by using direct mode of address. All together the reader, text and artist are connoted together which made a strong and engaging atmosphere with-in this page. Also I followed the code and the convention of putting a in quote from the artist somewhere round the page. I did this by putting in a quote over the artist quoting “I didn’t do it” which connoted back to the text which was asking him in a live interview if he committed a murder. This is very effective because the reader will feel like the artist is talking to him and will be engaged to the magazine much more. Also most double page spread follows the code and convention of putting a page number at the bottom and quoting something like “continue”. I have followed this code and convention by adding a page number and “continue to next page”because I though it adds continuity and motivate the reader to read on.
My content page follows the codes and convention of a typical content page and a similar structure. Whilst researching successful content pages I have found out that magazine like NME don’t call their content pages “content page”. They call them something like“NME this week” which makes it look much more professional and adds a continuity effect to the page. I have followed this convention by calling the content page “This week” because I thought it will be much more effective and interesting for the reader to find out what’s happing this week, rather than just “content”. Also this technic give my magazine repetition as the reader will think there’s something new every week and will be persuaded to go back to it. Whilst researching into content page image, I have found out that most magazines like NME don’t use an image with direct mode of address because they want to make the magazine feel like it’s more about the music that the artist. I will challenge this code and convention by using two images with direct mode of address on my content page. I think that this will have a much better effect because the artist will be much more engaged with the reader. This is important because most readers of music magazine buy the magazines because of their favourite celebrity. I have also placed my navigation bar at the left hand side of my content page which followed the codes and convention of exciting content pages. I think this worked well because it contrasted to arrest of the page and was easily identifiable by the reader. Also I included a date on my content page which is one of the codes and convention. I’ve placed it next to the title because a date is of the most important features because it give the reader an indication that his on track with the news. Lastly I added sub tittles on my content page because this is one of the most effective codes and convention for a content page. It highlight the most interesting information to the reader which will make there reader much more engaged and interested with the magazine.
As my magazine is aimed at younger male audience I have to have features that this generation will appeal and be attracted to. For most of my images I have used direct mode of address so the audience feel a lot more engaged with the artist which is very important for this age group because it gives them a status. Also the direct mode of address implies to the artist being very strong and confident with-in himself which is important because this type of age group look up to people like this and use them as role models for themselves.
Also my model is same age as the audience I’m trying to reach. I believe that this age links between them engages the both reader a lot more towards the artists because they will have the same understanding of everything as each other, which will be much more appealing to the reader. Also I presented the artist in same cloths that a teenager of the genre will wear, so the reader is not too distant and overpowered by the artist which will make him feel good about himself.
The main image on the front cover is of a model wearing a Monster hat and No Fear headphones. I used this in the mise-en -scene as it will attract my audience because they will aspire to have this lifestyle. They are also brands that are typically aimed at the same target audience as my product so they will relate with the artist and want to read more about him, which will attract a wider audience.
A media institution such as Bruer Media could distribute my music magazine as it is influenced by 80+ brands and have published more magazines that any other institution has. Also Bruer Media works with the largest music radio station in the world such as Heat which is aimed at 16+ audiences. Bruer Media could be possible institutions for my magazine, because it is one of the largest in the world and it is aimed at the same age audience as my magazine.
IPC Media is leading UK consumer magazine publisher, also publishing over 80 different magazines all over UK. Even know this is the largest publisher in UK I don’t think it will be suitable to distribute my magazine because it deals with more of broad spectrum and is usually aimed at females that are above my audience age.
However Vibe Media deals directly more with music magazines, and usually deals with urban music. This institution could distribute my magazine because my magazine has a theme of urbanity and industrialism.
4) Who would be the audience for your Media Product?
My target audience are male between the ages of 15-25 and would take up the life style of Strives and Survivors in the Vals system. I’ think I reached this audience by using strong dark colours on my music magazine which is typically associated with males. Also I continued the same colour scheme through the magazine which the magazine will be recognised by, this would attract the “survivors” and the “strives” because they are brand loyal.
5) How did you attract/address your audience your audience?
My front page attracts my audience through the colour scheme and the connotations between the reader and the artist. The front cover is the first thing the reader will see and it will give them an immediate impression of my magazine. In order to make my front cover attractive to my audience I thought very carefully about what mise-en-scenes I will use for my artist in order for him to connote to the reader. I have used the outwear on my artist the same as the audience this age/genre would usually wear in order for the reader not to be too isolated from the artist and so they would want to find out more about him and his background. The typography of my masthead is simple yet very effective it, it symbolises industrialism which will attract my audience because an audience of my age group spend most of their lives on the streets as they are teenagers and they are always out with their friends.
My content page attracts and addresses my audience is a similar way as the front cover. Firstly, I did not call it“contents” I called it “Hip-Hop This Week” in order for it to sound much more interesting. This is a very simple feature, yet effective because it doesn’t sound as boring to the reader, which him/her would want to read on in order to find out what’s happening “This Week”. Also, the artist uses direct mode of address which is very important for my audience as they will feel engaged with the artist. Also, he is not using a strong facial expression which may push the reader away as it is too serious. The mise-en-scenes shows him wearing: headphones, hat, a hooded jacket and a tracksuit which is stereotypically a“chav“. My targeted audience is males 15+ and they are usually wearing this kind of clothing which will connect the reader to the artist. Also, there is not a lot of complicated text on the page because my audience are age 15+ and they a might be alienated from the page as they do not understand it.
My Double page spread has also addressed and will attract my audience. Firstly, the artist is using direct mode of address which creates a closer link between him and the reader, this has a very important effect on this page because the text is talking about him. Also, there is a direct quote from the artist on the page saying ”I didn’t do it”this connects the reader and the artist together and the reader may have some empathy for him and he/she may be more likely to read on to find out what will happen to him or what he did not do. Also, when I created the title for my double page spread, I wrote it in a 'graphite' font which makes it much more appealing and attractive to the audience. This is because this connotes back to the hip-hop culture.
6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of construing this product?
Firstly, for my music magazine I used a software that is called 'Microsoft Word'which I was already familiar with, it was very helpful because it helped me to build a skeleton structure for my music magazine. Tools such as; 'crop' were helpful in order to get rid of excess background, 'rotate' was very useful because I could place my image anywhere and angel it in the way I wanted to which was useful. Also, Microsoft word had a feature where I could place my image as the background which was useful because then I could put my text over it. Also, on Microsoft Word you have a varriaty of fonts that you could use/download from other sites, this was helpful because I could download fonts such as 'Urban jungle' and 'graphite' which helped me create my masthead and gave me a good variety of fonts that could use that would associate with Hip-Hop.
Also, I downloaded a programme called 'Picasa'. I found this programme very effective because Word didn’t allow me to edit my images. I used this programme for the first time on this project, but the simple layout of it allowed me to upload the images I needed to it and edited them in the way I wanted to. Firstly I used a 'magic wand' in order to change my artist's skin colour to make him look much more powerful. Also, it allowed me to play around with the lighting of the image which helped me to create a right mood/effect I needed to on the image. This programme helped me to create a right feel of my image which overall I think it made my images on my magazine look more professional.
Overall, helpful website sites such as 'Da.font'
helped me to get the right font I needed and generate barcode that I have used
for my magazine. Software’s such as Picasa helped me edit my image which i
could then later put everything together on Microsoft word.
7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have from the progression of it to the full product?
Also I didn’t include any buzz words or cover lines on front page which made it look very boring and unprofessional. Also the content page looks very basic; there is not colour or not images on it which ones again make it look unattractive and unprofessional.
I have learned that if I used; a variety of font, some skylines, sub-headings, buzz words and some images the preliminary task could of looked much more professional and attractive to the consumer.
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