Audience research

Evaluation question 7

Question 7: looking back at the preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to a full product?

I have learnt many skills that have helped me to produce my final product, since doing my preliminary task. One very useful skill I learnt is learning the conventions that magazines use to make a professional magazine, this has helped me improved my magazines quality and it has also helped me make it look more realistic. The first preliminary task I created lacked use of magazine conventions and result of this my products was of poor quality.

Another very useful skill I have learnt from the progression from my preliminary task that has helped me produce my final product is how to use Adobe Photoshop which was something I found very hard to use when creating my preliminary task. Adobe Photoshop was the software I used to create my final product which has improved the quality of my music magazine and was able to adjust things that didn’t make my magazine look more professional. Whereas in my college magazine I wasn’t able to adjust things I didn’t like as much as I lacked convention skills.

My preliminary task only had a front cover and contents page where as my final product had a front cover, contents page and a double page spread, this shows my progression from my preliminary tasks as it was my first time creating a page that was vertical and was different to the front cover and contents page. I also learnt how to work on an A3 canvas to produce my double page spread.

The progression from my preliminary task to my final product has taught me how to attract my target audience and how to address a particular social group which was the aim of my music magazine and was something I lacked knowledge on when making my preliminary task. My college magazine had a wider audience so I had to addresses a much wider audience whereas my music magazine only targeted a smaller audience. This shows progression as I had to be more selective and do research on how I could address the audience that my magazine would attract.

Evaluation question 6

Question 6: what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From the process of constructing my final product I have learnt a lot about technology that helped me improve and construct my magazine. The first thing I learnt in the process of constructing my magazine was how to use a Canon E0S 400D camera to take pictures of my models for my magazine. Though i used the same camera for my preliminary task i didn’t know how to create the image i wanted but in the process of creating my final product i learnt how to do it. I used long shot photos so I could fit all my models in and also so that once I put it on Photoshop I would be allowed to crop unnecessary things that I did not wanted. 

Another useful technology I learnt is the use of Photoshop, before i created my tasks my knowledge of Photoshop was very little but through progression it has improved a lot. I used Photoshop CS5 to create my music magazine, this is because it had more features then cs3 and I found it much easier to control my images and the layers. I used many different tools to construct my magazine, one tool I used was the Polygonal Lasso tool so that I could select my model and could make the contrast brighter or darker without having to change the contrast of the background. I also used the patch tool to make one part of my background the same colour as the other so my magazine would look better.

Another technology I used was the internet. I was told to create a blogger account to submit all my media coursework in and it recorded the time you posted your work also. To upload images onto blogger.com I would have to save the image as a JPEG file before attempting to upload it. I found many problems using this website for example, sometimes when I would copy and paste the text into the new post box and then publish it, there would be a white background covering my writing which didn’t allow the text to appear. Another problem was when trying to arrange the images into your desired position, when uploading a larger picture it was very difficult to place it next to a smaller picture that you have already uploaded in the new post box though there was space for it to go there. Another problem was that the formats of the text would change when you previewed the post before you published it. However through the process of using blogger I overcame all of these issues and published my work in an organised fashion.

Another technology I used was google.com. I used google.com to research everything I needed to know about magazines e.g. the conventions used in a real magazine; how a real magazine design was laid out and what sort of topics magazines discuss. I also used Google images to get magazine front cover images for my textual analysis. I also used Wikipedia.org as it has a very detailed explanation of the thing you want to research about and to research about companies that published the magazine that I wanted to distribute my magazine to for question 3.

I used Microsoft software’s such as Microsoft word 2010 and Microsoft PowerPoint 2007. I used Microsoft word 2010 to write up all my written tasks such as textual analysis and to use its spell-checker so my grammar was correct. I used Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 to upload the screen munchies of my audience research so I could organise it in a way that I wanted to and to save it as a JPEG so I could upload it onto Blogger. 

Evaluation question 5

Question 5: how did you attract/ address your audience?

I attracted and addressed my audience in many different ways. the first way I attracted my target audience was through the magazine front cover which I think was the most important way of attracting my target audience and determined whether they would buy it or not. The model I used for my front cover was dressed in known brands such as Nike which represents the genre of music that my target audience listen to. Also my model is quite attractive and which helps attract my female audience.  The jewellery that my model wears such as ear rings and a ring also relates to my targets audience as many young people wear them.

Another way I attracted my target audience is by concentrating on the U.K. rap/hip-hop scene which is what my target audience would like to read about, I used cover lines to make it obvious on what the magazine would be about and the topics in the magazine that are discussed. I also used popular U.K. rap artist to attract my target audience for example, one of my cover-lines say “Giggs new album was a flop” this would attract my target audience as Giggs is a well know and liked Rap artist and people generally enjoy his music but because someone harshly criticized it my target audience would want to know why someone would say this. I also included a competition which would appeal to my target audience as they are tickets to see a very well-known U.K. rap artist.

I used different fonts and different font colours to make my magazine look more interesting which I think attracts my target audience as it shows that the design of the magazine is creative.  The masthead of my magazine also attracts my target audience as it’s a different font to all the other fonts in the magazine which makes it seems unique as its named ‘Filth’ as the magazine has dirty secrets about famous U.K. rappers and also the streets of the U.K. especially London are grimy and filthy so this relates to my target audience

The colour scheme that I used for my music magazine also attracted my music magazine. The colour scheme was mainly based on blue, white, black and grey, the black represents the dark topics that my magazine discuss such as knife crime but the other colours give a relaxed feel to the magazine. The colour I chose for my magazine are also closely linked to the colour clothing that people of the genre of my music magazine wear so this creates attraction as it suggest the magazine relates to them. I used Standard English throughout the whole magazine because if I used slang the older people might not have understood the concept so I used Standard English so young and old could understand the topics in the magazine.

The layout of my contents paged attracted my target audience as it was very organised and looked neat which makes it clearer to read and so my target audience find trouble reading it.

Evaluation question 4

Question 4: who would be the audience for your media product?

My target audience is aimed at people who are aged 14-25 British audience. This is because Britain and have a very strong Hip-hop/rap scene, British rappers such as K Koke, Giggs and Sneakbo are very popular in Britain and other European countries.

There are a number of reasons why I chose such a young target audience. Firstly the Artist featured in my magazine are relatively young so they can relate to the young people of this generation. Secondly the topics that my magazine discusses relate to young people such as knife crime, swagger and raves. Thirdly because young people are familiar of new and upcoming artist so they can stay up to date on all their latest tracks mix tapes and albums.

Although rap and hip-hop are associated with black people my magazine does target all races and both male and female. My magazine targets and audience who would like to know more information on the artist they normally listen to which could make them feel closer to them.

Evaluation question 3

Evaluation question 2

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My music magazine is made to target both female and male teenage audience who listen to British rap. I made this obvious through the images I used in my music magazine. The image I used in the front cover clearly represents a rapper and because the selling line says “U.K’s n.o.1 music magazine” it shows that it is about British music. My model I used for my front cover represents a particular social group in many different ways.

One way the image of the model represents a particular social group is by his clothing. The model is wearing a black bomber Nike jacket which is a very common winter jacket that teenagers from the U.K rap community wear and also it makes you look bigger so you look tougher; a chunky silver ring and two diamond ear rings which suggest that he’s wealthy; black sun glasses to make him look more gangster and cool and finally a designer scarf again to show wealth. This look is closely associated with gangsters and also famous American rappers such as Gucci mane who dresses very similar.

Out of all the clothing on my model I think that the Nike bomber jacket represents the music genre and the social group of my magazine, because people who listen U.K rap or even American rap have a very similar style and people who wear this sort of clothing are stereotyped as a ‘gangster’ or is gang affiliated.

Evaluation question 1

Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions real media products?

Before I started my music magazine I looked at an existing music magazine to see how I should design my magazine and also to see how they used conventions. There are various ways in which my music magazine uses challenges forms and conventions of a real music magazine. For my music magazine I used conventions to make my magazine look similar to real music magazines. One example of conventions I used in my music magazine is a big masthead at the top of my magazine, I did this so it looks like a real magazine and I wanted the masthead to stand out; I used the Magneto font because it’s a stylish font and to make it attract the target audience. Another example of conventions I used was placing the masthead behind the model; I did this because it makes the music magazine look more professional.

Another convention I used was a magazine selling line. A lot of magazines use a magazine selling line as it is one of the magazines selling points and it also shows what the magazines objective is. The magazine selling line also is a way to promote the magazine. My selling line also to attract my target audience as it stated “U.K’s n.o.1 music magazine” this would clearly attract my target audience.

I also used a barcode and a dateline for conventions. I placed my dateline under my magazine headline so it could stand out.

I used cover lines as conventions as most magazines use them and they also give information on what things are included in the magazine. Another reason why I used cover lines is because it is one of the main ways to attract my target audience. The main cover line is the biggest as it is supposed to be eye catching so it has to stand out. One of my cover lines attract the audience as includes gossip about a big U.K rapper which my audience may find interesting. I added cover lines on the left and right hand side so one side wouldn’t look more interesting than the other.

I used a medium shot for my magazine because most magazines use it as a convention and because it make

the model used for the magazine stand out more.

My contents pages also follow and developed conventions. Firstly I used categories which is a very common convention that magazines use. I arranged my categories on the left side of the page so I could include some pictures on the right hand side to make it look more interesting. I arranged my categories on one side because

most magazines have it on one side so it makes it looks similar to real magazines.

I also included different pictures rather than one picture, which a lot of real magazines use as conventions. I included other images to show my target audience that the magazine has a variety of things to read about. 

My double page spread also uses and develops conventions. Firstly, I used separate colour scheme from my magazine front cover to make my magazine look more colourful and not boring.  I arrange my double page spread vertically as most magazines have it the same way so it looks more professional. My double page has two columns one with a headline and a image of my model I used for my front cover and the other side questions and answers of ‘C.Wizz’(the rapper model I used) which gives my target audience more information about the rapper so they feel closer to him which attracts my target audience even more.

Music magazine front cover

Music magazine doule page spread

Music magazine contents