Media evaluation
- 1. Evaluation
- 2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Before making my magazine I studied a lot of different music magazines and looked at the designs, fonts and text and tried to point out what they all have in common. Looking at fonts they where quite simple and really few used a lot of colours. Since I mainly looked at pop magazines I couldn't really find any fonts with patterns or texture. I tried to copy this keeping the font simple and short. Also I came up with a title that indicates that the content is music related – M-Code, short for Music- Code. I also looked a lot at the colour schemes. There were a lot of colours that kept showing up like grey, blue, red and white. So I kept that in mind while designing the magazine, keeping it simple and giving it a modern and chic look.
- 3. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? While doing my research I noticed different things like plugs, mentions of artist and the use of ’big’ words. I made a plug where you could win tickets; capturing the attention of the audience, making people want to buy the magazine. Reading through the magazine I noticed the use of big words like ‘exclusive’ and ‘amazing’ to make the articles and content sound more interesting and captivating. By using word like ‘exclusive’ it makes the audience feel like their getting in on a secret, and it draws them to the article. I also added the names of a lot of famous artist on the front cover to capture the interest of the audience. If they see a familiar name they are more likely to buy the magazine, so I made sure to mention new and relevant artists that has been topping the charts lately.
- 4. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? When it comes to contents pages you usually find that they have multiple small photos, but in some cases they also have one big photo. I have two photos, one of me and one of an artist. Since most people can’t bother to read the contents they usually just use a lot of pictures, but since I only have one photo I’ve highlighted the artist names so people can easily locate what they want to look at. I’ve gone with a really simple and organized look, not anything flashy. I’ve used red as that is a colour that is continuously used on contents pages. This is because it’s really bright and strong and instantly catches your attention. I’ve also added an editor's note, which you usually don’t see in more mature music magazines. Since my magazine is directed at teenagers, I think this is a way of connecting with them.
- 5. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? For my double spread page I used a big picture of the artist smiling directly at the camera. I’ve used a picture of her smiling because it’s an interview and it makes her seem more open and light-hearted; which is also reflected in the interview. You also feel like you get more of a person relationship to it as she is looking directly at the camera. I’ve not used a lot of colours, or highlighted some quotes from the interview as they usually do on double spread pages. This is because I just didn’t think it fitted the simple style of my magazine. I wished I’d made more columns but unfortunately I can’t find the PDS file so I’m unable to change it.
- 6. How does your media product represent particular social groups? My magazine is meant for teenage girls which is why my magazine mainly contains young and relevant artists. The artist on the front cover is clean cut and dressed in black. I would say she represents the middle class – living quite comfortable, but at the same time you don’t have any clothes or jewellery that suggests that she’s elite. She looks directly into the camera; showing confidence. She’s not really portrayed sexual, like they do in a lot of magazines. She’s not portrayed as an object but more of a young and confident artist. I want to have sort of a balance when it comes to the gender of the artists. Since my audience are teenage girls, I’ll have a lot of guys that the girls can drool over but at the same time I want to have a lot of girls that they can look up to and admire. The model is wearing make up, but I wanted it to look quite natural, so she’s only wearing make up that highlights her skin. I also fixed and covered a couple of blemishes. By doing this I’m making her look “perfect and “unreachable”. By doing this I’m setting a certain standard of female beauty.
- 7. How does your media product represent particular social groups? Even though I’ve mentioned a couple of black artists on my front cover and in my flat plan, there are only pictures of white girls on the front cover, contents page and double spread page. This may suggest ethnic unbalance in the pop industry. In the interview with Johanne, she talks about her new song and the story behind it. She explains that she was inspired by her own love life to write this song. We get quite the “typical” female aspects as she is really open about her feelings and isn’t afraid to talk about them.
- 8. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? For my magazine I would like Prometheus Global Media to distribute it. They’re the company that distributes the magazine Billboard, that is quite famous for their music charts. My reason for choosing them is because I feel like Billboard is quite similar to my magazine. We both focus on new and relevant artist and are mainly meant for the younger audience. Instead of trying to compete with such a big magazine, I would rather work along them and get recognized and become known through their magazine. Getting people to buy your magazine is not easy, working with another known magazine would definitely help
- 9. Who would be the audience for your media product? My audience are female teenagers between the age 14 and 18 - The new and cool generation, a big fan of the pop culture. They usually follow the newest trends and are quite wrapped up in the world of pop artists. Shopping, hanging with friends, listening to music and living while their young is what busies their minds, and they are quite adventures and likes to explore new things. They usually listen to music that they downloaded onto their mobile phones, or blasting it loudly trough speakers in their room until their parents ask them to stop. Music is quite important to them and it helps them get through the occasional struggles in life. They also like to talk about the latest gossip and their favourite artist with friends, and often through social media. Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr are often used to be noticed by their favourite artist, following what they are doing and getting new friends through liking the same artists.
- 10. Who would be the audience for your media product? In my audience research I asked what sort of artists and what genre they were into. I also asked what music meant to them. They all answered the same thing; music is everything for them. Music helps us through the ups and downs in life, which is also we get such a personal connection to our favourite artists. Therefore I’ve made sure to cover relevant artist, having exclusive interviews with them giving the audience the contents they want
- 11. How did you attract/address your audience? To attract my audience I had to think about my reader profile and think about what would drag them in and buy my magazine. Since my audience is mainly teenage girls, I have to think about what grabs their attention. At this age it’s really common to be interested in artists and celebrities in general. They often become totally obsessed with them and use a lot of different social networks to express their love (Facebook, twitter, Youtube, instagram, tumblr ect) So to attract the younger audience have to make sure that the artists I choose to feature in my magazine are relevant, modern and loved by the crowds. That’s why I’ve added artists like Bruno Mars, Imagine Dragons, Nicki Minaj, Sam smith, A$AP Rocky and Taylor Swift. Playing on the fact that teens tend to obsess over artist I added free posters with their favourite artist, tips for websites where you can buy artists merchandise and exclusive interviews. This allows the teens to get even closer to their favourite artist, and honestly talking who doesn’t like free stuff?
- 12. How did you attract/address your audience? Talking about getting closer to their favourite artist, I’ve also added the opportunity to win tickets to concerts. Nothing draws a teenage girl in as the chance to see her favourite artists live. Continuing on I’ve added a lot of reviews and guides for festivals as that’s really popular right now. Writing about the most famous and popular festivals will make the audience want to read the actual content of the magazine. Familiar names, bands and artists grabs our attention which is why I’m really playing on the fact that teenagers are really knowledgeable on the pop culture.
- 13. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? I sort of had an advantage while doing this project, as I’ve already learnt about and used the adobe programs back home in Norway. On the other hand it makes it a lot harder to answer this question. I had no problem using either Photoshop or Indesign during this project and I wouldn’t really say I’ve learnt anything new anything new either. I did use Premiere, Wordpress and SurveyMonkey for the first time though. I’ve used and had blogs before, so the concept wasn’t totally foreign to me. I’ve never used Wordpress before, but I found it quite organized and really easy to use – I really like it. I also quite enjoyed using SurveyMonkey. It was really easy making surveys and it helped me gather and analyse research in an easy way. Even though I’m actually really familiar with adobe programs, I’ve never used Premiere before. It was kind of tricky in the beginning but after a while I got quite the hang of it. Even though it takes a little more effort I really like using videos to convey a message. It makes it easier to convey information and makes it more interesting for the audience.
- 14. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
- 15. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? I would say I’ve definitely learnt a couple of new things since my preliminary task. I would say I had big advantage seeing as I`d already learnt how to use the adobe programs back home in Norway. I didn’t really have any struggles using the programs, and I wouldn’t say I particularly learnt anything new in the progression. If I where to point out anything I would say I`ve definitely learnt how to use the space better. As you can see I barely have any text which leaves the cover quite empty. I remember doing that because I didn`t like how the text covered her face. I think if I had made the picture larger we wouldn’t get that big empty space above her head and I wouldn’t look as weird if I added more text. I quite like the picture and I think it represents York college pretty well as students are the main focus. The medium close up makes you come ‘closer’ to the person, and you feel kind of drawn to it. So overall I wouldn’t necessarily say that it’s a bad first draft, but the full product is definitely a lot better. Even though I haven’t learned that much about Photoshop, I have learned about the amount and work of planning and research that is put into a magazine. I don’t think I actually though about how much research you have to do before you actually make the magazine. You have to know who your target group is, what do they like? how do you attract your target group? And a bunch of other questions you have to consider while making the magazine. There is so much thought and care that is put into a magazine, and the outcome is the result of a lot of peoples hard work.