Final Evaluation

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

The genre of music I decided to base my magazine on is Hip Hop/ R&B. During my research process I found that a lot of Hip Hop magazines like to use standard colours like your black and whites then using bright colours for the teasers and headlines. They have a very consistent colour scheme. When deciding on the layout for the front cover of my magazine I looked at XXL which is a very well-known Hip Hop magazine and i looked at NME which is a very popular rock magazine. Even though NME is a different genre to what i wanted my magazine to be but i wanted my magazine to stand out compared to your typical hip hop mag.

Images: In the XXL magazine i looked at they used 1 main image for their magazine, I thought this was good because it draws there focus on the main magazine which tends to be in the centre of the magazine. Like XXL I made sure that the image I used on my front cover had a really dark background. I also made sure the models, like the ones use would normally see in XXL or NME had great eye line towards the audience so it looked like they were staring directly cover look but when it came to the rest of my magazine I switched it up by having 2 main models.

Colour scheme: XXL normally uses a 3 colour scheme which is of red, black and white. I wanted to move away from that so i used White and the lip colour from one of my models. This is shown by the use of a lot of images throughout the magazine along with a consistent colour scheme especially bright colours coming out of the standard norm.


Layout: The layout is quite straightforward simply with the main image in the middle and the cover lines/teasers aligned in columns on either sides

Question 2- How does your media product represent particular social group?

The social groups i have used are defined by age, gender and social class which are 16-28, both male and females from working/middle class. The reason why i have chosen these socials groups was because of the music genre and also the style of the magazine. Youths are the ones that tend to be influenced by hip hop mostly as they still have a bit of freedom with not that much responsibilities also they can relate to some of it. This is shown by the images used? For my magazine i have used different ethnicity and genders moving away from the stereotypical views of hip hop with the males being more dominant. In my magazine i have used both genders on the front cover but a female for my dps this is just to express the differences between your already established magazines and my magazine.

Question 3- What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

After doing a bit of research I’ve decided to use 'Dennis Publishing' this is because they don't specialise in music magazines meaning that my magazine will have a better chance of success as it stands out among the rest of their publications. Another reason why i chose this publisher was because they have been established for over 50 years so that means they have had a lot of experience and they are well known. Because they publish on social media network people will then be able to find my magazine online via apps or websites this will attract more people because my target audience use this very often which will give my magazine great publicity and reach more people especially with the chosen audience it will be ideal as social networking is very popular for that age range. Dennis magazine publishes lifestyle magazines such as Womens fitness, Mens fitness, health and fitness etc. So for me to use them as my publisher would help expand the business as they havent published a music magazine before which is beneficial so there is less competition.
Question 4- Who would be the audience for your media product?

My audience will be people from the of 16-28 but mostly those that are younger out of that age selection, that are interested in hip hop/R&B these tend to be youths that possibly live in deprived or areas that are not so posh where there may be inequalities, both males and females. This is because when I researched the stereotype of the audiences for that genre 

For example Ashanti Lewis aged 18, currently living in an urban city attending her local college. Big dreams but no freedom to express it. She enjoys listening to R&B because it allows her to be herself.

For example Tre Johnson also living in an urban environment, not working, attending college 17 with big dreams but not a lot of opportunities wants to be an aspiring artist. He loves listening to Hip Hop music because he can easily relate to what the artist is saying also sees it as an example of how he can reach to where they are at.

Question 5- How did you act/address your audience?

                I addressed my audience by including promotional offers in my magazine for example in every monthly issue there will be an opportunity to win 2 free concert tickets ‘express yourself challenge’ this is where the readers have an opportunity to create a little taster of their music. Also a poster will be in every magazine consisting of the top tracks for that month also a vote on the most inspirational artist for that month (picture of the artist) The feedback i received from my peers was they liked the fact that i included 2 free tickets and how that was very original because no magazine has ever done that before so that was good and also it will attract more people towards the magazine because it is a good opportunity. They also said that because i said my magazine was catered to male and females that i should incorporate more female qualities into it. They had also said that my magazine involved the audience quite well so they feel like they are part of the magazine. From the feedback i have added more female artists to my presentation and also added 2 female models to the photo-shoot. Also the pictures I used I the contents page would appeal to my audience for example wearing leather jeans and leather jackets etc.

Question 6- What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

For the photography i have learnt to use DSLR cameras in the studio to take professional good quality images. I also learnt how to use Photoshop. This was very helpful because it allowed me to adjust the exposure/saturation of the images that were too dark or too light (white balance) just so they look abit clearer. Also I developed the skills of how to extracts colours from different parts of objects and inserting it elsewhere which I what I done with the masthead. In design played a very big part I the construction because that is how I made my contents page and my dps this developed my skills by showing how to use rulers to form columns for my work to make it more professional. I also used Adobe Bridge for my masthead this allowed me to distort the title whether it be changing the colour or the shape of the letters to overlap each other etc. but I didn’t demonstrate that in my magazine because it will be too much and over power the whole purpose of it. Blogger was used to upload my work for my peers to comment and give feedback and also for my teachers to keep track of my work. I used prezi to show what different technologies I will use in the evaluation.

Question 7- Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

With the college magazine i used different colours for the front page and didn’t keep it consistent compared to my music magazine the colours have been taking from elements of the models so it looks very professional because it is not too colourful. Also the quality of the magazine has changed for example the background image has been taken with a good background that looks sophisticated.

The new magazines quality is more professional as there are no reflections in the background. Also the captions and mastheads are all aligned with each other so that the magazine looks neater. With the music magazine the colour scheme is more subtle and not just random colours they are taken from parts of the images. The use of different technologies has developed my skills which has effectively allowed me to adjust the quality of my magazine and allowed me to play around with things to see which one looks better.