1. Evaluation
The questions that are in the evaluation are:
• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
• How does your media product represent particular social groups?
• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
• Who would be the audience for your media product?
• How did you attract/address your audience?
• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this
product?
• Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
After researching what type of music magazine I wanted to do I decided I liked the layout of
Kerrang. So I thought that instead of challenging the design that I would make my design
based on their magazine Layout.
5 Points:
•Mastheads
•Cover Lines
•Photographs
•Colour Scheme
•Fonts
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

3. Both masthead use a similar style font. Kerrang’s mast head has been created to look as if it is glass that has
just been smashed and because of this I tried to make my Masthead look as if it is slowly withering away.
Both mastheads represent the style of rock, because Kerrang have used a smashed font for their masthead it
is related to music being so loud that it smashes glass – when the majority of people think of loud, glass
smashing music they stereotypical think of a loud genre that most teens listen to. The foreground is black
and the background is white the reason for this is because black looks a lot better on white than when
placed over any other colour it also enables the masthead to stand out to the audience. But as the cover line
has a red background the audience might relate it to either passion, energy, aggression or violence. Also the
fact that the masthead is smashed might also make the audience yet again relate the magazine to different
types of feelings such as energy, aggression, violence. The reason someone might relate the colour to energy
is because red can be seen as a vibrate colour not just aggression or violence.
Although I decided not to use the same layout of colours that Kerrang has used on
their masthead, I decided that I would still use the same three colours for my
masthead. I thought that instead of using white for the background I would use
black because it look a lot better than black on white did. The close up of the letter
‘K’ is to show how the audience might relate the masthead to an artist smashing
their guitar or that the fact that the magazine is called ‘Kerrang’ could make them
assume that maybe it is smashed because of how the word sounds – for instance
‘Bang’ sounds like an aggression loud noise so ‘Kerrang’ could make the target
audience think it's like a noise.
By Jessica Murray Mast Heads AS Media Studies

4. Cover lines
Above is a collection of my cover lines and Kerrang’s; because they have used a band index detailing what bands are
mentioned within their magazine I have tried to do a similar method with my magazine. Instead of using the word
‘Plus!’ I decided that I would use ‘+’ the reason I decided to use a different version of plus was because I didn’t
want to copy all Kerrang‘s conventions. Also with the use of ‘+’ (has a substitute for ‘and’) it is capturing the use of
text/slang because the majority of my target audience will either own a mobile phone or have used one before will
all recognise what the context and meaning of it is.
For my Contents and double page spread I tried to use a similar type of text like Kerrang has used the reason for this
is because I wanted to make sure that my magazine kept to some of the same conventions shown above. I also used
the same colour scheme throughout my magazine.
Kerrang are well known for their unambiguous, bold cover lines because of how Kerrang try and catch their target
audiences attention I tried to use a similar technique. I did this by having the main bands name in a bold white font to
catch the audience's attention; the reason I used white was because it stands out more than any other colour it is also
a part of the colour scheme. By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

5. Photographs
In Kerrang’s photograph they used an artist
wearing a hoodie so with this in mind I
purposely made my model Josh wear his
hoodie in a similar context to Biffy Cylro’s
pose. The reason for this is because Kerrang’s
photographs shows the rebellion state of the
music industry today. Most teenagers are
related to being trouble makers – rebellions
teens as most people call them! So from the
research I did earlier in the year I decided that
I would try and use a similar technique for my
photograph. This is because my target
audience seem to like the idea of rebellion
being used within the photograph. Both
Kerrang's and my magazine have one person
wearing a hoodie; the reason for this is
because the older generation have symbolised
hoodie as problematic and a unnatural use
within the society of today – the older
generation
See them as a symbol of rebellion . Also when
teenagers wear hoodie some people tend to
stereotypically brand them as ‘chavs’ or ‘thugs’
which is untrue as hoodies have become a big
part of today’s fashion.
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

6. The font above is called ‘Payday’ the reason I decided to use this was that because
Fonts Kerrang used a font for the cover line ‘ FREE! POSTER SPECIAL!’ that made it look as
if it had been painted on to the page I wanted to make my cover line ‘Wanna be
famous? See how in just one week!’ look as if it had been spray painted on to the
page by using a stencil.
For the band header I used the ‘Old typography’ font the reason I decided to use the same font as my masthead was
because I liked the look of it and it draws attention of my target audience to my magazine. In addition to this I like
the context of the font and how it looks as if it might represent the symbol of rebellion. I wanted to carry on using
the same convention methods and techniques throughout.
For my mast head I decided to download a font off a website called dafont.com the reason for this was because I
wanted to use a font that had a similar context to it like Kerrang used with their masthead. Both masthead use a
similar style font. Kerrang’s mast head has been created to look as if it is glass that has just been smashed and
because of this I tried to make my Masthead look as if it is slowly withering away. Both mastheads represent the
style of rock, because Kerrang have used a smashed font for their masthead it is related to music being so loud that
it smashes glass – when the majority of people think of loud, glass smashing music they stereotypical think of a loud
genre that most teens listen to. The font I used was ‘Old Typography’ the conventions of using this font is that it has
a decayed look about it showing the audience how it relates well to music; a lot of old music is sometimes seen as
being a lot better than the music of today. http://www.dafont.com/search.php?psize=m&q=old+typography
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

7. Colour
scheme
For my colour scheme I decided that instead of challenging the design that I would
make my design based on Kerrang’s colour scheme. But instead of using them in the
same context I decided to use them in a different layout. I decided that for the
background that I would use black as it would look the most effective because most
colours work well especially the colours I've chosen to do. Throughout my magazine I
have tried to use some of Kerrang's conventions.
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

8. Gender: How does your media product Age:
Male represent particular social groups? 16 - 19
Ethnicity/Culture: Music/Culture Sub-group
Rock is usually related with
white people this is because
Class: not many ethnic people
Working/ Middle
class By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

9. Male Gender Female
The representation of gender within our society is that rock is usually associated with males. So with this in
mind I decided that I would have my magazine containing photographs of the younger male generation with
the exception of one photograph of a female; the reason I used one of a female was because I didn't want
my magazine to come across as being sexist even though my magazine is mainly aimed at an male audience I
still think some female readers could be interested in it. My magazine has a masculine feel to it because of
the photographs I’ve used. The photograph I used for my front cover has one guy wearing a hoodie this gives
the front cover a rebellion look to it. The colour scheme I’ve used could also be represented as masculine
because of the three colours ; red can be defined as energy or anger. The majority of people think of anger
as being related to males because of how masculinity is portrayed in today’s society. The photograph of the
female is a counter typical image the reason for this is because even though majority of the magazine is very
masculine the photograph of the female allows the male audience be even more attracted to it. There is a
balance between the photographs both gender are wearing similar make of clothes this shows that both
people are a part of the same social group/ music genre. The fact that she is wearing a short sleeve t-shirt
shows that she still has some femininity about her. The light also contradicts with her being a masculine
character because she has pink light shining on her it shows she again has some femininity about her.
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

10. The reason I decided to use young models was because I thought that a
younger generation would relate more to them rather than using older
models; because my target audience age range is 16- 19 I decided that it
would be best to use two teenagers aged 17. Most music magazines tend
to have an audience range between 16 – 22. I decided range my target age
as 16-19 because the majority of answers I got from my survey from earlier
on in the year found that most people who liked to read music magazine
were aged between 16-19. The content of the imagery and text are used
to mirror the audience this is because I want my audience to be interested
in what they are reading and looking at. The fact that the two guys in the
image are showing quite a positive look shows that they are none
threatening and know each other quite well. The clothing the boys are
wearing are quite stereotypical for today’s society, most teenagers are
Age
known for wearing hoodies, branded jeans and high tops.
The fonts and language used within my magazine has been used to allow the audience to relate and
understand the information more easily. Cover lines such as ‘Find out who crashed the relentless party last
Saturday night!’ relates to types of things that most teenagers know about quite well; energy drinks and
parties. Using this type of information allows the audience to relate to the articles within the magazine. The
reason I decided use this type of language in my magazine is because after researching ‘Kerrang’ I found that
most magazine like to advertise something they know the audience will either enjoy or like the look of.
Another cover line I used ‘Wanna be famous? See How In Just One Week!’ relates well to my audience
because most teenagers dream of being famous. By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

11. By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies
Working/Middle Class
Kerrang’s target audience is both working class and middle
class. To attract both types of class I decided that I would use
one person from working class and one from middle. The
photograph below shows the differences between middle and
working. Most people tend to look at types of clothing and
how people dress to determine what type of class they are; so
with this in mind I decided to use two different types of shoes
to represent class. I decided that I wanted to use a regular pair
of white ‘airwalk’ trainers to represent working class and use
a pair of high tops to represent middle class. The way both
shoes are worn show the differences between the classes.
The airwalks are no longer bright white and are mostly
covered by the jeans whereas the high tops are fastened
tightly and his jeans are tucked into the shoe in a fashionable
way this shows that the boy in high tops cares about how he
wears his clothes. In today’s society not many people care
about class this is shown in the two photographs at the side.

12. Ethnicity
Stereotypical rock music is aimed at a
white ethnic group and has been
traditionally made up of white musicians.
In most magazines such as Kerrang , they
only seem to use white people. In my
magazine I didn’t want to challenge
conventions so I decided to only use white
musicians the reason for this is because I
wanted to reinforce a similarity between
Kerrang and my magazine.
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

13. What kind of media institution might
distribute your media product and why?
http://developmenthell.co.uk/
http://www.condenast.co.uk/
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

14. http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/
Bauer Media
Bauer Media would be a good choice to distribute my magazine to because it would mean they
would have less competition to compete with. This is because they are already the owners of
Kerrang!, Q and Mojo. Bauer Media already sell a large number of music magazines that are
very alike and have some similar conventions to mine. This means that the company is well
known within the music industry . Bauer Media are an international company , this means that
people from all around the world have the chance to read my magazine. An advantage of Bauer
Media already selling three other music magazines means that they have a great deal of
experience when trying to sell them.
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

15. By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

16. Who would be the audience for your media
product?
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

17. My Ideal Reader
Below is a detailed description of what my ideal reader would be like (taken from
my audience research material) on the slide before there are many different
products that my target audience could relate to. For instance, in today's society
stereotypically every teenager owns a mobile phone.
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

18. How did you attract/address your audience?
Sense of community around music
Provides information
Topic of conversation
Sense of belonging
Entertainment: Colours
Role models
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

19. I wanted to create a magazine that allowed the audience to feel a sense of belonging, to allow
the audience to reflect and relate with what my magazine offers to them. To do this I provided
them with a lot of information within my article detailing about the types of things my target
audience enjoy; I did this by using the research I gathered together. I used two teenage boys to
symbolize them as my target audiences role models to do this I made sure that the boys were
aged 17 same age as my ideal reader.
When addressing my audience I made sure that I used a similar
convention to Kerrang’s language technique I did this by using ‘THIS
WEEK’ on my contents page; I wanted to make my magazine connect
to my target audience as much as possible. Using words such as
‘WANNA’ allows the audience to feel apart of something. Aiming the
language to teenagers between 16 and 19 meant that they would
always have a topic of conversation. This means that if someone they
knew read my magazine they would be able to chat about the
articles and features, this also enables a sense of community around
music. I tried to attract my audience by using the same three colours
throughout my magazine; I used white, black and red to keep the
same conventions methods as Kerrang’s magazine.
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

20. What have you learnt about technologies
from the process of constructing this product?
Throughout this whole project I have used many different types
of technology; ranging from search engines such as Google to
image editing software known as Adobe Photoshop.
www.slideshare.net
www.blogger.com
www.google.co.uk
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies www.surveymonkey.com

21. I began by using Google to research information and images about my audience. This then lead
to the convergence of PowerPoint and Slideshare. PowerPoint is a proprietary commercial
presentation program which allows people to write information on and then present it in a slide
presentation; because of this I thought it would be a good idea to upload some of my work
using Slideshare. Slideshare is a website that allows people to upload presentations and then
upload them to blogs.
Adobe Photoshop is a image editing software, I used
this for the construction of my final magazine design
although it was one of the hardest piece of technology
to use I found that the more practice I did the more I
became more confident with using the tools. For my
magazine I used the majority of the tools but mostly
used the lasso for cutting around the models heads to
allow the mast head to be placed behind. I used the
crop, copy and paste tools for mainly all my work.
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

22. Another piece of technology I used was a website called survey monkey; this is where you can
create a survey then use the hyperlink to place it on any website ranging from Blogger to
Facebook to allow different types of people the choice of filling it in. I thought that overall it was
a very easy and simple piece of technology to use this is because all the user needed to do was
type in the questions you wanted the audience to answer then once I had enough results
collected I could then convert it into either pie or bar charts. I used this website to gather results
for my target audience research which I did at the start of this project.
To take my photographs I used a DSLR camera with a
black dropdown background to create the converge of
rebellion between the camera and the models.
The most important piece of technology I used in this
project was a website called Blogger this is where all my
work was uploaded and displayed for people to read;
after learning the basic understanding of how to use it I
now know how to read and edit old posts, upload new
posts while adding images along side it and how to add
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies hyperlinks to my blog.

23. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you
feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the
full product?
Software
Photography
Layouts
Writing
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

24. Photography
Since the preliminary task I have improved my camera work
skills this is because when I first did my college magazine
photographs I hastily took a photo of a random girl in my class;
whereas with my final photographs I did a lot of planning about
how I wanted them to look. So after carefully planning how I
wanted them to look I hired out the photography studio and
had my models pose in many different ways until I found my
perfect photographs. From my preliminary task I have found
that when trying to create a good image you need to make sure
you do plan carefully.
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

25. Software
Throughout my preliminary it is clear that I have improved with my Photoshop skills as you can
tell with my college front cover and my music front cover. I have learnt not to precipitate when
trying to piece things together. The progression throughout my magazine has helped me
understand the use of Photoshop's tools; such as using the lasso tool helped me cut around the
two boys head to enable me to place the mast head behind there heads.
Layouts
When I first started to create the college magazine I did not have a very deep understanding of
the forms and conventions used in magazines neither did I have any understanding of how to
use image editing software such as Photoshop. Over a few weeks I began to understand these
more thoroughly allowing me to produce a much better magazine as when I first created my
college magazine. In addition, I hadn’t gathered any audience research for my college magazine
so my understanding of what people thoughts were on what types of things they enjoy reading
in a college magazine were hard to decided on.
By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies

26. By Jessica Murray AS Media Studies
Overall
Overall I think that my final music magazine looks much better than my college
magazine this is because as you can tell I have taken much more care with the
use of planning and thinking about how I wanted my final piece to look. This is
due to my deeper understanding of the forms and conventions used within
magazines and the many hours of product and audience research.