2. Q1
• My media product, a music magazine, had a genre of ‘indie/ pop’. For this, in many ways, my
magazine challenged the usual conventions. For one, my magazine was made by a 17 year old,
which of course affected everything from the quality of the magazine to the content and
appearance. The photos all had to be original which then left it to students to find the resources
to take photos and upload them onto a computer. We also had to think of a name, the content,
feature, colours, models ourselves. This of course is the same as any media product that needs
development and planning. This itself took a few weeks, which is different for an existing media
product as it already has most things thought of, and of course of team of experts working
together, whereas we did it individually. In the process of making the front page, contents page
and double page spread we had to use software provided which was Photoshop. This would be
different to a well know media product as their software would be designed and defined to make
those products especially. Therefore our work could not possible reach a magazine like ‘vogue’’s
standard. As for the content, a specially hired editor and publisher would work on the content of
the magazine. This is different to how we were working as we had to check it ourselves, leaving
more room for mistakes. We also don’t have a special qualification in English which means our
standard of writing wouldn’t be as high.
3. Q2
• The ‘indie’ social group has come more into light recently compared to the last few years. It is a
growing trend to show your individuality publicly. That is one of the reasons I have decided to
make my media product to represent that social group. This is allowing my market to be much
wider as it is something more and more people are exploring, creating a wider audience and
therefor a wider opportunity to be creative. Moreover that social group is something I find myself
interested in which make the work not only easier and more enjoyable but most likely more
accurate. The models, colours and content are more visually appealing to my audience too. The
magazine uses these factors to represent their audience. The colours are electric and funky
representing its new, fun, exciting and daring social group. The content is fresh and unique which
is why it is ‘indie’ and away from the mainstream.
4. Q3
• The Professional Publishers Association would most likely publish my magazine as
it represents around 220 companies, ranging from consumer magazine publishers
to business-to-business data and information providers, customer magazine
publishers and smaller independent companies. The PPA are most likely of the
top three companies to publish my magazine, as they are a link to smaller
publishing companies, which means they have audiences of all kinds reaching
their products, and mine would fit nicely, for the reason it is an ‘independent’
magazine.
5. Q4
• Who would be the most suitable audience for my magazine. I have pretty much covered that in
my previous work. The audience for my magazine would be 17-30 year olds because they are the
main area of ‘indie’ or ‘out of the norm’ kind of people. If I design and base my magazine to be
different, outgoing, full of vibrancy and life then I need to make sure my audience is captured by
that. I think looking back at my preliminary work has helped me to develop my skills and enabled
me to do just that. I researched ways in which magazines targeted their audiences even though
there was different social groups within that it still managed to target a specific group of people.,
which is what I have tried to do.
6. Q5
• Next, I had to attract the audience. Using fonts, colours and photography I blended these
techniques to create an attraction. The fonts were on different angles which is out of the ordinary.
I did this deliberately as it strayed from the norm, yet again. I used mostly a blue colour scheme
because the main feature of my magazine was wearing an electric blue fur coat. I dressed my
model in clothes I felt would attract my audience because they could relate it to their own fashion
sense. I also blurred my main photograph that appears on the front and double page, the fact that
the background is blurred is quirky and matches my continuous theme of being ‘out there’ or
‘different’. I used relatively easy language on the front cover and contents because I felt using big
complicated words would put people off reading it. In the interview on the double page spread,
most of it was the ‘artists’ words so the article wasn’t ridiculously hard compared to an article I
would write.
7. Q6
• Throughout the course of this project I have used a wide range of different technology such as, computers
and cameras. If you look further into that, I have used word, excel, PowerPoint, Photoshop, blogger and even
had the opportunity to make a survey on survey monkey. I hadn’t used all of these systems, or perhaps not
in this detail, so this became a learning curve for me. Developing these skills was key to my project, and
without them, it would’ve been impossible for me to produce what I have produced in such detail, quality
and quantity in the time given. Using these devices speeds up your process hugely, although it does take a
while to get used to and can be quite complicated depending on your ICT skills. Another think I got to use
was a camera which I have never had the chance to use before. This improved the quality of the picture and
without it your work would’ve looked amateur.
8. Q7
• The duration of this project leads me to a conclusion of how far I have come. Using so many
different technologies and taking the time to plan and research finally led me to create a final
product, a magazine. I have learnt several things from this, the first being how to manage time
skilfully or not skilfully. I think I need to be more aware of time pressure and how it will effect my
work load. I need to also make sure I do work in equal amounts so I am not left with a huge load
at the end. Aside from that I have learnt so many different ways to edit and transform a picture or
video clip, which I can then use for the rest of my life. It has also broadened my knowledge of
magazines in media and media in general. These skills were all very important for me to complete
this task. What I have learnt is to not waste time in lessons so that I am left with work at the end.
I also need to be more organised with my work so the presentation and content is as good as it
can be.
