To The Examiner...

I have very much enjoyed producing this blog, along with my magazine. I am happy with my final piece of work and believe that my media skills have improved consistently throughout the whole process, as I believe that my final magazine is far superior to my preliminary magazine at the begining of the year. I hope you enjoy marking my work as much as i enjoyed producing it!   

Format Magazine

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of music magazines)

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

Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine was aimed at white middle class males, who were between the age of 16 and 24. My magazine represents this social age by using a model who 18, this represents the 16-24 years olds as he is a kind of role model for them and the readers will look up to him. My magazined was aimed at outgoing people who have an interest in music but also in fashion as this plays a large role in my magazine. Again my magazine should represent these people as my model is wearing expensive streetwear clothing such as Obey, Adidas, Sebago and Carhart. This clothing and appearance will represent the the social group as these are the kind of clothing that they will wear/desire. I took inspiration from magazines such as Spin, Clash and Vibe magzine, which all have a unique style and focus on the fashion and music. This edition of Clash is particularly eye catching, as the cover shows the unique style and fashion of the group. I used this edition as inspiration as i believe this style will represent my social group. I have used a similar style to this edition of Clash, by using bold text at the top of my magazine and also having text that slighty overlaps the my cover photo.  

I am going to compare the picture of my model/artist with Orlando Weeks from the indie band the Maccabees. He is the perfect person to compare my model as he is an idol like figure in the music industry. Not only is he known for his music, but also for his fashion and style. As you can see in the photo they both have very similar poses, facing the camera and looking straight into the lense. Both also have their hands in their pockets whether it is one or two. Both men also have similar facial expressions, showing little emotion. Orlando and Miles also have similar haircuts, with short back and sides with a long fringe, which is very stereotypical of the indie alternative genre. Despite some similarities the photographs are taken in very different locations, Orlando is clearly in an urban location, with very little around. Whereas the grass around Miles's feet suggests that the photograph was taken in a much more rural location. Although in these photographs Miles and Orlando are wearing quite different clothing they are both wearing clothes of similar styles, with skinny and dark jeans and a coat and shirt which are both fastened at the top. Overall I think the style or each photograph is very similar and the clothing and appearances of each model represents the indie/alternative genre.

Q3. What Kind of Media Institution Might Distribute Your Media Product and Why?

I believe that the best media institution to distribute my magazine would be InterMedia Partners. InterMedia Partners already distribute Vibe magazine, Vibe magazine is a Hip-Hop/R&B magazine, which features extremely famous artists such as Kanye West and Pharrell in each edition. Vibe magazine is a very successful magazine and has become exceedingly popular since publishing its first magazine in 1993.  However I believe there is a gap in the market for my magazine and InterMedia Partners are the right people to distribute my magazine. As oppose to Vibe which concentrates on Hip-Hop/R&B, my music magazine focuses on the indie/alternative genre. The fact that InterMedia Partners distribute Vibe magazine shows that they have experience in dealing with music based media and will have experience and contacts in the industry, this is ideal for magazine as it is new and needs an experienced company such as InterMedia to distribute my magazine. I beleive InterMedia Partners would be an ideal distribution company to distribute my magazine.

Q4. Who Would Be The Audience For Your Media Product?

This is the audience profile for my magazine. My target audience were white middle class males, this magazine will appeal to this audience as the magazine is written and designed by a male, so hopefully my magazine will relate more to males tastes rather than female. The magazine is also aimed at white middle class males, the magazine will attract this social group as the magazine is written in semi formal language and features Indie/alternative music which is typically associated with this social group. My audience will be outgoing males, who are fashion concious and wear labels such as Carhart, Stussy and Obey. I believe my magazine will appeal to this type of audience as the photographs are taken outdoors showing that the magazine is outgoing, my magazine also features a festival guide which will appeal to an outgoing audience. My magazine is also aimed at 16-24 year old and these age group is the most outgoing and also the most likely to visit music festivals, so my magazine will appeal to this age group. The labels mentioned above are the clothes my artist is wearing in all of the photographs, this will attract the target audience as they will recognise the brands and be encouraged to read the magazine. My audience must also show an interest in a wide range of music particuarly the Indie / alternative genre as this is the genre that my magazine focuses on, again my magazine will appeal to this kind of audience as there are many references to indie/alternative groups such as: Foals, Crystal and Friendly Fires ect. on the cover, contents and double page spread of my magazine. 

Q5. How did you attract/address your audience?

   (Click photos to see additional notes)

My target Audience was males and i believe the colour scheme of my magazine, along with the male artist featured in my magazine will attract the right kind of audience. My magazine was also aimed at Indie/alternative audience, my magazine attracts this audience by featured many Indie/alternative bands throughout the magazine which will encourage them to read the magazine. The text used for the title of my magazine is very bold and quite masculine, which would again attract my audience.

Jess: Ed's front cover is really appealing as the layout is eye catching and bold; the model used on the cover is suited to the genre of the magazine and this is carried through all three pages. The contents doesn't live up to the front cover, but still fits with the theme however it could be made slightly better by re-thinking the positioning of the photograph. The double page spread uses good images as they fit in with the article, also the columns of the article look really professional and fit in with the whole page. Overall the consistency is brilliant and the pages all fit together.

Josh: What i like about Ed's front cover is that the masthead is bold and appealing to the audience. The coverlines are placed effectively around the main image, who portrarys the right image of the genre Ed's magazine is based on. The main image seemes similar to the contents page image, it would have been nice if there was a variation between the 2 photos. I really like the layout of the contents page as i feel everything has been placed perfectly for the reader. The double page spread has a simple apporach, with an image coverling the left and collumns of text to the right, but still having a professional feel about it. Overall i think the magazine is good and i would be attratced to the magazine, if i saw it being sold in a shop.

 Grace:

Front cover- I really like the layout of the front cover, even thought there is a good amount of text it does not look to jammed and the image still stands out very well amoungst the text. I like the colour schme that has been used, red black and white. I think that thses three colours stand out well when together and having three colours is a good amout. The two different fronts on the front cover contrast really well together so that they both stand out but dont look like they dont go together.

Contents page- Again with the contents page i really like the layout becuase there is alot of text but it is not all squashed togther in one part of the page it is all spread out well making the images stand out. The feature that i really like on this is the F that is underneath 'contents' i like the consistancy of the name of the magazine and also again the colour scheme has been kept.

Double page spread- The double page spread is very nicly set out,half of the page is an image and the other half of the page is the article, i think this makes the page look very well presented. With this page the colour scheme has carried on through with links the three pages well together and also the F on the left hand side.

Overall i think this magazine is very well presented and would sell well to its target market.

Q6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Presentation1

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Q.7. Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Final Magazine

New Model Photographs

Front Cover Mock Up

Contents Page Mock Up

DPS Mock Up

Mark Scheme Evaluation

My draft magazine is within this region of the mark scheme as it meets all of these characteristics. To improve my draft i think i need to add more slogans into the contents and double page spread, if used effectively it will lure readers in and could improve my mark. I could also include some promotional offers into my magazine and add a price which is not included on the cover of my magazine. I am also planning of changing some of my pictures and including more emotion and less musical instrumens as i believe it will look more effective, and my magazine will still be clearly linked to the target audience.  

Draft - Feedback Questions

1. What genre do you think this magazine belongs to? 
2. Is there something specific about the magazine you like?
3. How much do you think this would cost?
4. Does the colour scheme fit well? Are there other colours which would look better? 
5. If you were the editor of this magazine, what changes would you make? 
6. Could the layout be better? How?
7. What do you think of the article? How could it be improved?

Draft - Potential Changes

After looking at the mark scheme and other people's work, I have decided to to use less musical instruments in my photographs, as my magazine is music based and including the instruments is quite unecessary.

I may also change the layout of my double page spread, as i think it could look better if it was layed out differently.

Front Cover Draft

Contents Page Draft

Double Page Spread Draft