Abigail JenningsCandidate Number:2534Centre:33435 Aquinas

College

AS Media StudiesOCR G321: Foundation

Portfolio

Create the front cover, contents and double page

spread for a new music magazine

Who would be the

audience for your media product?

I conducted audience research to gain the knowledge that my product was needed and had an audience to fit in with it. From my research that I conducted I found my best primary audience would be 16-26 year old and would mainly be a female audience. I decided my secondary audience would be males of the same age group.

Both my primary and secondary audience could be any ethnicity and will most likely be in some form of education or a young profession as my age group is quite a young group including young adults who are still in education such as college and universityMy audience can be categorised according to the socio-economic groups, the following groups are E, D, C1 and C2. E mainly covers students and an audience on a low income or basic benefit, D covers my audience including students who may be in part time work or be doing an apprenticeship . Groups C1+C2 could possibly cover the older section of my audience as this group includes people includes young professionals that have not long left education including first time professions after university which could cover the older aspect of my age range for example 23 and 24 year olds.

The audience for my media product can be split into psychographic groups which segments a market identifying potential customers and consumers for a particular product in the case of my product. I thought the groups of Strivers, Explorers and Mainstreamers.

Strivers: social group who seek approval and I think will be included in my audience as my genre is popular among most of age range (16-24) and this type of audience will buy my product to ‘fit in’ with others.

Mainstreamers: a large social group who tend to consume ‘safe’ products I think this type of social group is included in my audience as my genre is widespread and covers a variety of music genres also I am using a hybrid genre which will associate with more people.

Explorers: social group known to try new things and I think they will fit into my audience as my product is new and this group is known to be early adopters of new products

The primary audience for my product would be mostly females as my magazine is of a hybrid genre which includes fashion. This will be combined with the genre of pop music, and although this may appeal to males, I would class them as being more of a secondary audience, as I think that the majority of the features I would include within my magazine would be more female related. The age range for my primary audience would be teenagers to young adults (16-24) as I think that these make up a large percentage of people that listen to popular music genres such as Dance/Urban and RnB as many people within this age range visit night clubs.

Similar ProductsI feel my magazine would be similar to Mix Mag or Pride and also share a similar audience however the audience for my product may be more mainstream and appeal to a wider audience. I felt there was a gap in the market for my product which is Dance and Rnb Music Magazine that also features music festivals and fashion appealing to my chosen young audience of a student age group. I choose to use similar colours as mix mag for my magazine as purple seems like a unisex colour that would fit with my primary and secondary audience which is women then men.

Audience IdolsI used the main image of my double page spread to draw the attention of my audience to my main star. The picture shows the image uses the rule of thirds and shows my celebrity star which is Iggy Azalea in the main frame of the image towards the right and more towards the front than the backing dancers which are framed towards the left of the image . She is also in a different costume than the other dancers which suggests her importance and individuality which may be why my audience will aspire to be like her.

How does your media

product represent different

social groups?

Iggy Azalea changes her appearance and behaviour depending on her environment and if she has an audience or is performing at a gig or festival.

In this image Iggy appears to have a more relaxed everyday look. No eye contact with the camera and the bags she is holding suggests she has been on a shopping trip and is getting on with her own everyday business and did not expect the photo to be taken. Her outfit which is a simple jeans and a top suggests this is her everyday look however the leather red jeans and tattoos also provoke her outgoing and rebellious side to her character.

In this image Iggy has direct eye contact with the camera forming a more serious impression. Her formal dress sense with a long black dress suggests a sensible and formal side to her character. Her natural body image with her arms by her side shows she is relaxed and comfortable with the image being taken. However the cut outs on the dress still hint at her rebellious side.

This image of Iggy shows her performing at a festival or live show or on tour. The downwards looking eye contact suggest she isn't looking towards the camera but directly towards the audience she is performing to however the sunglasses suggests she is keeping her audience at arms length. Her pose holding her hair shows her confident side when she is on stage and it looks as if she is standing proud.

I used direct mode of address in my front cover of my magazine to attract my target audience towards my media product and also create personal identity and audience interaction within my media product to make my target audience feel asif they have been included in the product itself.

My cover star of my magazine represents my ideal reader or who my reader would aspire to be like. Her costume and performance connotate a relaxed style and her smile and direct eye contact to the camera suggest a friendly approach towards the audience. Making my target audience asprie to be like her as they attend music festivals and seem to be more relaxed and laid back. My cover start is an idealistic example of who my audience wishes to be or look like.

My cover and celebrity star were chosen specifically to attract the audience, both of them are a similar age and the same gender making both of them aspirational for the readers attracting my target audience . My cover start was used to represent my celebrity start on the front of my magazine and a more realistic version of what my audience my aspire to be like as a celebrity is not very realistic.

The use of the quote in my double page spread is used to specify what has been said by the celebrity but also suggest the important information in the text to the audience. This quote ‘I had big dreams’ suggests a reason why the audience would want to aspire to the celebrity star.

What kind of media institution might distribute

your media product and

why?

DistributionTo distribute my product I would choose Development Hell Limited to distribute my product.

The dance and electronic magazine ‘Mixmag’ are currently published by the distributor Development Hell Limited. Mix Mag is currently known as ‘The worlds biggest Dance, Music and Clubbing Magazine’.

I would choose to use Development Hell Limited to publish my magazine as my product would then become a competitor for Mixmag. My product would also be known as a sister publication of Mixmag attracting a similar audience.

Development Hell Limited also own the company Don’t stay In which is a company which organises and promotes night clubs links with my audience as my target audience will visit night clubs and go out with friends.

I used a web link on my contents page to enable my audience to access and find my magazine brand elsewhere than just a printed product on a shop shelf. The use of the web link on the contents page advertises the webpage to the exact audience reading the magazine and them enabling them to access the product elsewhere in this case online which is now available on the go on smartphones which I expect most of my audience to have. The webpage enables access for my audience to my brand wherever they are.

A subscription for my magazine increases brand loyalty as it guarantees the reader will receive and read the magazine every month.

as the magazine readers will subscribe and pay upfront for their magazine and in return receive a small discount this benefits both the audience and the producer of the magazine as they know they have guaranteed customers that are buying the magazine.

Giving my audience options such as a magazine webpage and a choice to subscribe makes it easy for my audience to access the product which will ensure they keep revisiting the webpage and buying the magazine using it for the latest music and news stories on celebrities my target audience will be interested in.

BOUNCE would be a fortnightly magazine priced at £2.50 an issue this is a similar price to MixMag however this is issued monthly.My magazine is still cheaper than other music magazines that are only published every 3months which can be more expensive.

My magazine will include a lot of advertisement for my target audience for example clothes, food and music shops or television programmes which appeal to a younger audience.

In what ways does your media

product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of

real media products?

I have created a Dance/Urban/Festivals music magazine including a hybrid genre of fashion. For my media product I designed a front cover, a contents page and a double page spread. I researched and looked into other magazines similar to my product which gave me a better understanding of the conventions used on this type of product. I used some of the ideas of these products but also interpreted them and used them in different ways across all the elements of my media product. My magazine used and challenged the conventions of a real Dance magazine in may ways. In this PowerPoint I am going to evaluate and look into detail and compare my magazine to real ones of a similar genre.

Front CoverAs a hybrid genre of a Dance/Festival Music magazine including fashion my magazine uses similar formats and conventions.My magazine is conventional to this genre as it uses bright colours that stand out on the page and also uses large fonts on most of the front cover. My colours fitted the primary audience of females however also the secondary audience of malesMy front cover is also conventional as it uses a banner like the examples I have chosen similar to my final product, this will catch the readers attention as it s at the top of the page as may be the first thing they read on the product. My magazine front cover also uses an midshot image similar to MixMag which is a similar genre magazine to my media product.My media product has developed the convention of using pugs and used it to represent another article on the front page alongside the cover story.A price and date was included as all real media products also contained this it is used to give the reader information when the magazine was published or what issue it is and how much the magazine is priced at.

Masthead- The font for my masthead was specifically chosen to represent the theme and style of my magazine. The name ‘bounce’ as it sounded vibrant and outgoing alike my target audience for my product as well as the genre of music my magazine specifically targets which is dance music alongside festivals. The font is bold and in lowercase lettering and is quite spaced out. The colour purple was chosen as I thought it was most suitable for my primary target audience which is girls but still appealed to my secondary audience which is boys of a young age of 16-24.This pug used to advertise a

specific page inside the magazine follows the colour scheme chosen and also directly addresses the audience using the language ‘your’ making the target audience feel involved and like they are meant to buy and read the product.

The strapline along the bottom of my magazine front cover advertises a competition to my audience alike other music magazine showing the audience has a chance to win or be involved in a competition if they buy the magazine.

Contents PageI used similar conventions to the magazine Q and NME for my contents page this included the columns for my stories which would usually be new and up to date news stories mainly on celebrities/bands/festivals. My media product used the convention of a subscribe option to the magazine on the contents page which would ensure the reader got and read the magazine every week/month without them having to remember to pick it up and also get the magazine cheaper. My magazine used a large bold header like Q and NME. The obvious convention of page numbers was used to guide the reader easily to every article in the magazine alike Q and NME. I used one main image which linked to my main cover story also on my contents page separated from the other articles similar to Q and NME. I used other images to give the reader information about what is on each page.

Double Page Spread

In my double page spread I decided to go against the typical layout and use my own inspired idea of using the image to cover at least three quarters of the page with the text in columns on the other quarter of the page. This is different to the Nicki Minaj Double page spread as the image on that is placed in the centre of the page surrounded by text.My house style and colour scheme was continued throughout my media product including the colours and fonts. I decided to go against the typical convention of a large header/title for my article with the name of who it is about and instead I used a pull quote in a large font as I believe this would attract the audience more as the quote was pulled out from the interview in the article. My article contained a small stand first to tell the reader what the artcle was about before the began reading.

How did you attract/

address your audience?

Masthead

Extra Images

Competition

Features

Main Image

Cover star

Unique selling point

Barcode

Anchored Text

Price

Age,Gender and Genre My magazine is primarily aimed at females between the ages of 16-24 but could also appeal to males of the same age group and who are also into dance music and similar music artists.

The genre of my music magazine is Dance/Fashion this is portrayed through the cover star as it shows an idealistic version of what the primary audience may look like. My primary audience is females aged 16-24. Also names of other artists are mentioned in the feature story on the front of the magazine.

The word ‘WIN!’ draws the reader in as it is a competion they can get involved in and a potental opportunity they can with something big and not have to pay for it. It is also in a different colour and font to attract the reader to this first before they read the rest of the text to give them the rest of the information about what they could win.

The words ‘UK’s NUMBER ONE’ draws the reader in as there is nothing else on the market alike it or as big as it. This text being at the top of the magazine page draws the reader in as it is the first thing they see and read when the magazine is on a shop shelf.

The masthead attracts and stands out to my audience as it is in a bright colour that follows the house style of the rest of the magazine . My masthead breaks the usual conventions as it is lowercase text which is unusual from other magazines.

The pug used on the front of my magazine attract the audience as it uses direct mode of address using the wird ‘YOUR’ making thae audience feel involved and attracted to the magazine.

Using pictures on the contents pages emphasises the main articles and draws the reader in making them want to flick to the main articles. The use of anchorage on the images also gives the audience a little more information about the images before they read the main article addressing them.

By giving the reader offers and discounts or an opportunity to receive the magazine at a cheaper price persuades them to buy the magazine and then subscribe to it attracting them to the magazine.

The use of tabs to categorise the articles in my magazine attracts the audience as it creates ease for them to be guided around the magazine and also separates different articles into categories enabling the reader to choose what articles they want to read. The white text on the purple background stands out as it keeps with the house style of the magazine as it is the same as the background colour.

Tabs at the top of the articles can draw the reader in as they can be flicking through the magazine and be drawn to the article as the tab is on the top left of the page and is the first thing the reader will see.

The grey box gives the reader more information about the featured star and more information about the photographer of the image.

The pull quote attract the audience as it is text featured in the article and may make the reader want to read the whole article to find out more and what the pull quote is about it may also make the audience aspire to be like the featured artist.

The anchorage text overlaying the image gives the audience more information about the article before they read the entire thing drawing them in to carry on reading.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of

constructing this product?

I used several technologies I used to create my product of my music magazine included several pieces of equipment and also computer software such as • Adobe Photoshop• Microsoft Publisher• Windows Photo Viewer• Internet Explorer• Digital SLR Camera• Paint• Green Screens• White Backdrop• Key lights• Tripod• Blogger ( to file and display all my work)

Using the picture editing software Photoshop I created the pug to put on the front of my magazine to attract my audience.

I started by using the ‘Elipse Tool’ on Photoshop to create the shape of my pug creating the basis enabling me to add colour and text afterwards.

I then used the ‘Paint Bucket Tool’ to add colour to the basic shape

I then used the ‘Colour Picker’ option enabling me to select the colour I preferred for my background colour I then used the pain bucket to select the space I wanted this colour

‘Insert Font Tool’ to enable me to add text to the shape I created

I then carefully selected the type of font I wanted on my shape also enabling me to change the size of the text.

I then used the ‘Select Text Colour’ tool enabling me to choose my preferred colour of text which is most likley to be different to the shape colour.

Photoshop

Green Screen and LightingIn the process of making my magazine I used a green screen for the images I took, The green screen made it easier when it came to editing my photos and getting rid of the background of my images. The Green screen is used as the colour is easy for the camera to pick up giving a cleaner image that is easier to edit.

Key lights were used to ajust the lighting of the image and being brightened or darkened to create effect on each indicidual image.

 Looking back at your preliminary task what do you

feel you have learnt in the

progression to the full product?

Front Covers

Contents Pages

In progression to my full product I feel I have progressed with my Photoshop skills and have dramatically improved them being able to work the programme and use it to create things to include in my work.I have also learnt about several magazine conventions which can be seen in the difference between my preliminary tasks and my final product.

My first design of the Aquinas College Magazine is less detailed and uses very bland boring colours with also irregular boring fonts compared to my Final Product Music Magazine which uses a vibrant purple colour alongside white to make the texts stand out.My preliminary tasks misses out features such as a strapline as well as texts and fonts that would stand out to the reader if they overlay the image. My preliminary tasks also misses out typical conventions such as large texts, a pug and a bold masthead.

My contents page for my preliminary task is also very boring using pastel like colours that do not stand out from the white background however my final product uses a housetyle of bright colours that stand out from the white background.My contents page for my preliminary task does not contain a bold masthead stating it is the contents page as the header blends into the background alongside the picturs however this is different to my final product as a bold masthead is used ion a similar font to the front cover but in a different colour of black which is continued through with the text on the contents page.

My photoshop skills have imporved as I now know how to remove the background from images and also use photoshop to create my own pugs ect.