media evaluation

Magazine Analysis.Vicky Rowlands

KickerIn my opinion the kicker is one of the things that stands out the most on the page because it is so bright and colourful and the text is big and bold. I wanted the kicker to stand out because it is show-casing the young star; Abigail, who is being interviewed in the magazine. The target audience want to read about her, so making her name big and bold will draw readers in and make them want to buy ‘Dynamic Magazine’

Tagline‘Britain’s Number One Music Magazine’ shows that this magazine is British and that it is a music magazine with a good reputation around Britain.

Masthead And Colour Scheme.Masthead

‘Dynamic’ has two meanings; the first is a musical term meaning music’s speed, either slow or fast. This relates to the genre of music for my magazine as it is a musical term. The second meaning something that is new and fresh which is what I wanted my magazine to portray to it’s readers. The font that I have used for the masthead is similar to the fonts that high class magazines such as ‘Vogue’ and ‘Elle’ use which are high class magazines in the fashion world and I wanted mine to come across as a high class in the music world.

Colour Scheme

The main colours that I have used for my magazine cover are bright pink, black and white. These colours represent my target audience of Girls aged from teen girls to women in their late 20s. These colours also tie in with my main image and relates to ‘Abigail’ who is on the cover as she is girly.

In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions Of Real Media Products.

The genre of my magazine is chart music and to create my music magazine called ‘Dynamic Magazine’ I researched two very different looking

magazines; ‘Billboard’ and ‘Q’, although they do have somewhat similar looking layouts and they both have the genre of chart music. Along side

them you can also see the magazine front cover that I have created. The two magazines below that I researched, both follow the generic conventions of a

chart music magazine and I have tried to follow these conventions when creating my magazine as closely as possible.


For example; on the example I have shown of ‘Billboard’ the pop artist’s head is covering the title because it doesn’t need to be

seen as it is such a well known and widely read music magazine. I wanted to give off the impression of a popular and well known

magazine, so I have also positioned my models head over the masthead, covering some of it and hopefully achieving the same

affect.


All of these magazines look quite similar in terms of a clear and fluent layout, the masthead being big, bold and eye-catching,

the kicker being straight across the middle of the cover with the artist’s name in it. Also I have noticed that the straplines on

these magazines are surrounding the main image of the artist on the cover, framing it and the barcode and dates seem to be

in similar positions.

In what ways have I used or developed conventional features of a chart music magazine.

I have used some of the conventional features of a chart music magazine to create my own ‘Dynamic’ music magazine. The

generic conventions that ‘Q’ magazine have used are somewhat similar to the ones that I have used.


For example; both the main image on my front cover and the front cover of ‘Q’ magazine have well known, strong and

popular female artists as the main image who are both looking directly in to the camera, engaging with the readers, inviting

them in and encouraging them to read about the artists in the magazine.


Secondly, the straplines on my magazine and on ‘Q’s magazine cover are placed around the main image, framing it and enabling the main

image to be the main focus of the front cover and drawing more attention to it. The kickers on both magazines are positioned across the bottom of the cover, have a large and bold font, making the kickers eye-

catching and noticeable and furthermore, have the artist’s name in them.


Lastly, some information has been put in to a circle on the mid-right hand side of both magazine covers, this draws more

attention to it than the information on its own would ordinarily get.

How have I challenged the conventions of a chart music magazine?

I have also challenged some of the conventions of a chart music magazine as some of them on my music magazine differ to the

generic conventions on ‘Q’ magazine.


For example; the masthead on my magazine has been positioned straight across the top of the cover and ‘Q’

magazine's masthead in placed in the top left hand corner of the magazine, also the main image on ‘Q’ magazine’s cover is more

of a close up on the artist’s face and my main image is more zoomed out than ‘Q’s is.


Secondly, the positioning of the barcode is different on both magazines and there is a different colour scheme, ‘Dynamic’s is pink, black and white and ‘Q’s is red, black and white. Finally,

the tagline for ‘Q’ magazine has been positioned along the very top of the cover of the magazine and my tagline and been positioned just below the left hand side of my masthead.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents the younger generation of girls and women who are music lovers, and who like anything to do with the latest chart music and up to the minute chat topping artists. These women have ages ranging from mid teens to late

20s.


The colour scheme, main image and content of the magazine anchors this as the colours used; pink, black and white, tend to be very girly and

the colour pink connotes girls in this age range and social group. The main image on my front cover, contents page and double page spread

also helps this point because the image is of a female chart topping artist within this age range and social group, who is dressed in

fashionable, yet feminine clothing and is looking straight in to the camera, inviting this particular social group in to come and read about

her in the magazine.


Finally, the content of my music magazine has a gossip like nature with a friendly tone which strongly relates to this social

group and age group with their gossiping nature. This magazine talks not only about the latest chart music but also about music artists and their lives, with interviews and columns aimed at this

social group, which this social group typically like to read.


The language that I have used throughout my front cover, double page spread and contents page ahs a very friendly tone, for example on my front page I have the strapline; ‘XFactor! We Heart Cher Lloyd’. I have used a language that teenagers can relate to by writing ‘heart’ instead of ‘love’, this type of slang that they are used to will engage them. I have also picked the show ‘XFactor’ because it is so popular with young people and the artist Cher Lloyd because she is in the same age range as my potential readers and is very similar to Abigail who is on the front of my magazine in the way the she is a popular and successful teen music artist.


In my opinion, the message that my music magazine is giving off about young people is that they are hard working, fashionable and successful. This is because, when you look at my front cover you see a teenager who has become very successful and popular at a young age and has worked very hard to get there. This is giving off a very positive message about young people to readers of my magazine. Abigail is also wearing fashionable and up to date clothing, giving the impression that the teen population are well dressed.

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

Famous and popular music magazines such as ‘Q’ use established publishers such as Bauer Media Group to produce their magazines. This media group produces and distributes many internationally renowned and

popular magazines worldwide. Having Bauer Media group produce and distribute my music magazine, ‘Dynamic’, would enable it to become globally known.

Who would be the audience for your media product? How did you attract/address your audience?

The target audience for my magazine would be girls and

women who are music lovers, aged between their early teens to

late 20s. My music magazine, ‘Dynamic’, contains information and content that these type of

people would be interested in and the whole magazine is generally

quite youthful looking. My magazine has a friendly and

inviting tone to it and the language used is quite colloquial

and informal making it more appealing and inviting to it’s

readers. The images used are also girly and youthful looking .


The tactics that I used while creating my music magazine to attract my target audience were

the use of colour scheme, the

photography and the genre of music for my

magazine. I tired to emulate the stylish and

professional finish of popular and well known music magazines such a

‘Q’ and ‘Billboard’.


The colour scheme that I have used is pink, black and white and it is directly aimed at my target audience of girls and

women who are chart music lovers, aged between early

teens to late 20s. This is because the colour scheme is very girly and the colour pink connotes girls, femininity and

style and the colour white connotes purity and these are

all things that my target audience would be like,

making the magazine very relatable to them.


Secondly, the photos that I have styled and taken have been taken in the way that they will relate to my

target audience, as the fashion that Abigail is wearing is very up to date and feminine, making Abigail look

stylish and sophisticated. My readers aspire to be like this, making them want to read more about Abigail. Furthermore, I have used a pink

electric guitar in these images, which strongly relates to the genre of chart music and my girly target audience.

Also, in the main images, the artist is looking directly in to the camera, both

attracting and addressing my target audience.


Finally, the genre of music that I chose to create my magazine

around was chart music and this specific type of music would certainly attract my

target audience because these type of people stereotypically listen to and love this

sort of music.

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

Throughout the process of making my music magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread I have found that my Photoshop skills have improved by far. Although I had some

experience with using the program Adobe Photoshop before creating my magazine, I feel that my skills have progressed a

lot since making it.

Adobe Photoshop ultimately helped me to create and then construct my music magazine ‘Dynamic’ with ease and was a

very effective program to use in the process.


For example I have improved in techniques such as the

magnetic lasso, a tool used for cutting around images, to gain clean cut edges and to put the

image on to a different background, I found this tool useful when cutting around a part of my image and placing

it over the top of my masthead, while still being

able to read it.


Another skill that I gained whilst

experimenting with different tools and

techniques on Photoshop was how to adjust the brightness, hue and contrast of

images. I found this very helpful because if I

wanted to I could easily make my images

brighter and make them come to life.


Finally, a tool that I discovered while constructing my

magazine cover was how to make images, auto shapes or text go from being opaque to becoming translucent, so you can slightly see through it. I really liked the effect that this tool

created and have used it on the background to my kicker on my front

cover.

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

product?

In the progression from my preliminary task to the full product I feel that I have learnt how different genres of music, styles, colour schemes, fonts and images draw in different types of people and make them want to buy a certain magazine.

I have learnt how a magazine looks, reflects it’s target audience and what they like and what they are interested in.

I have learnt what the conventions of a magazine are and what attracts the target audience to it and, what aspects of the magazine make the audience want to buy it.

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