2. I will now explain how my cover, contents and double page spread addresses the
different issues of genre, audience and conventions. Firstly I will start off with my
cover.
For my magazine cover, I have applied standard convention which is imperative when
creating a successful media product. The positioning of my title and sub articles is
according to the standard conventions of a music magazine. However as a Bhangra
music magazine, the barcode is mainly placed at the top of the page, I have decided to
place mine across the bottom, placing it at the top will not allow the title to fit across
the page. Moreover the image I have used is placed through the centre of the page, this
is following the standard conventions. In some aspects it is important that you follow
the standard convention as readers will know where all the information can be found. I
personally think that my media product has some similarities with real existing products
in terms of the conventions. My title follows the standard conventions
of existing magazines, it is situated along the top of the page and is large and clearly
written, the first and last word of “Asiana” are slightly bigger than the other words, this I
believe works really well as it stands out and looks professional, I have provided a main
image as well as all the subheadings which can also be found on the left and right of the
main subject, this was another element which I found common in the magazines which I
had researched.
3. For my contents page I have used the standard conventions of an existing magazine for e.g. I
have listed the numbers and stated the contents and along the right is an image of the artist
this can be found in many magazines., however the content information does not disregard
any conventions as it is aligned to the left and is appropriately set out, just as you would see
on a existing magazine.
My contents page represents an age group of 16+, who is young intelligent and modern.
Judging by the artists clothing we can say it is smart and sophisticated. Which will appeal to a
modern reader, moreover because anyone younger this age bracket will not understand what
the articles are about as well as that the artist himself fits within that age group, An article on
my contents page relates to competitons this may relate to ambitious people, so people of
this age group can relate to this, for e.g you can win this prize if you enter, this gets people
interested and makes them want to continue, Another article on my contents page relates to
celebrities who have been in the limelight, this causes them to read on and make them aware
of the situation, so this is another which you would find in existing magazine, I am aware that I
have included a variety of ethnic groups within my magazine, this hopefully should interest
both male and females
4. The double page spread follows the standard conventions of existing magazines, an image
takes up all the space on page, this is usually a close up shot of the artist, this is because
the main focus is the artist.The text is also to one side like that of other magazines so it is
noticeable. I have used a male model aged 16 so this is related to the target audience. As
you can see he is dressed in a modern, fashionable way. The content within the double
page spread includes a introductory statement which welcomes the artist and his is
success to fame, following is the main interview and the responses. This is very
inspirational as a lot of people can relate to the subject which is never give up on your
dream and keep working on it and this artist shows the process in which he had taken to
gain recognition and what advice he would give to people out there who have given up
hope on their dream. Having looked through the research phase I believe I have improved
exceptionally through the use of imagery, content and quotes. So the research and
development was most helpful ensuring that my final outcome was successful in targeting
my audience and genre.
5. How does your media product represent
particular social groups?
I would not associate a particular social group for my magazine, as mentioned
above it would suit both male and female, so it would be difficult to represent a
particular social group, some male and female maybe interested in the media
product, there are particular elements within the magazine that may interest both
genders for e.g. the main artist is a male, this may attract a female, however the
sub-articles might be the opposite.
6. Target audience of media
product?
As part of the research and development phase we had to identify who our target
audience was, for my magazine cover I identified that it would suit both genders but
with a particular age, the age group I had chosen is 16+, I had chosen this age group
because the sorts of language used may not suit people under this age bracket, also it
may not interest them either, but I think this age group are mature enough to
understand what the magazine is about. As an Asian/Bhangra style magazine I would
predominantly expect Asian people to be interested in the media product.
What kind of media institution might distribute your
media product and why?
I believe my magazine would be best distributed by IPC media, I chose this institution
primarily due to them being upmarket, they publish a variety of successful magazines
which attract the public’s eye. They are currently the UK’s leading consumer magazine
with more than 60 iconic media brands and they also engage with more than 26 million
people within the UK.I decided IPC media because they create all types of magazines
with both genders, so I believe it will match the style of current magazines that are
created by IPC media. They offer diverse and distinctive magazine which would suit a
magazine similar to mine, this for all magazine cover, contents and Double page
spread. My magazine would no be suitable for Conde Nast as it appears to sell up
market, posh magazines.
7. How did you attract/address your audience?
I attracted my audience by mentioning the names like “Katrina kaif” and “lomattic”, these
people are successful Asian artists, who are seen as an icon within the Asian music
industry. I also used quirky and exciting language which will instantly attract attention for
e.g. “Katrina kaif been a naughty girl”, this will make the reader want to read on. It is
important that I portray the right language because if I don’t it will firstly not suit the genre
and secondly as a reader it will not motivate you to read on. So for e.g. if I used slang in my
magazine it will no suit the genre, as this would be associated to grime/rap magazines. It
was important to use language which urged you to read on, so I took this in mind and
developed language which attracts immediate attention.The audience for my media
product would be Bhangra because of the colours however the subject is wearing a suit
and one could argue this is more classical. However it shows that the artist is smart and
proud. I am confident my magazine targets a 16+ age range due to the feed back and the
results show that it reflects the certain style of this age. My model is of the same age as my
target audience which will interest them and can relate to them.
8. What have you learnt about technologies from the
process of constructing this product?
In the process of constructing my product it was essential that I experimented
with technologies, this includes Adobe photoshop which is the software that
allowed me to create my magazine cover, it offered various tools which
assisted me throughout the creation of my media product, within the software
I have also learnt how to place each item in order to make it stand out, an
effective tool which allowed me to create my title is the fx tab, this included
drop shadow and inner shadow. We have also used variety of cameras, we was
able to experiment with camera’s and the options it offered, we was able to
understand the shot type in different lighting and sceneries.
Photoshop was beneficial through the process of making my cover, contents
and double page spread, at first it was very hard to use as I had never used
this technology before, this slowed the process down but without it the
creation of my cover contents and double page spread would not have been
possible. However once I had got the grip of it, it was very beneficial. The
ability to use Photoshop open up all different opportunities of developing my
cover, contents and double page spread such as: the cropping of photo’s
manipulation of text and adding important information for the development of
the cover, contents and double page spread.
9. Looking back at your preliminary task, what
do you feel you have learnt in the progression
from it to the full product?
From my preliminary tasks I believe I have I have made good progression, in terms of
the skills I have gained, During the preliminary stage I had minimal knowledge into
how to use software’s such as fireworks and Photoshop, during the creation of my
school magazine it was clear that I was struggling to get the grips of using the
software, this included how to insert images and layering. However this was part of
the learning process, moreover once I had completed my music magazine it was clear
to identify the drastic improvements I had made. Overall I think I have made a good
deal progression from preliminary to the full product.
10. Looking back at your preliminary task, what
do you feel you have learnt in the progression
from it to the full product?
From my preliminary tasks I believe I have I have made good progression, in terms of
the skills I have gained, During the preliminary stage I had minimal knowledge into
how to use software’s such as fireworks and Photoshop, during the creation of my
school magazine it was clear that I was struggling to get the grips of using the
software, this included how to insert images and layering. However this was part of
the learning process, moreover once I had completed my music magazine it was clear
to identify the drastic improvements I had made. Overall I think I have made a good
deal progression from preliminary to the full product.