Media EvaluationTom Hogan

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

My media product both uses and challenges the conventions of existing media products as it contains aspects that are either similar or different to those already in use.

The font used for the title - and the title itself - is reminiscent of NME magazine’s concept of using a large, boldly printed, three letter title. However rather than using an initialism to shorten the title, I have simply abbreviated the word indie to create IND. This creates a familiar look to the magazine whilst being a unique way of developing the title.

The font Arial - Bold is used almost entirely throughout the magazine with the occasional exception of band names and article quotes. This is fairly typical of real media products and consequently creates a professional look and feel to my magazine.

The colour scheme used is also similar to that of NME magazine’s as it focuses primarily on using red, white and blue - the colours of the British flag and the Mod logo.

The front cover of my product is similar to existing magazines however I have tried to avoid allowing the text to cover the image as much as possible.

I have numerically organised my contents page which is a method that is apparent in many existing media products.

I have set aside one of the contents pages to emphasise two particular articlesthat feature in the magazine. This isn’t very common for existing magazines.

I have also included an advert for an enclosed competition. This has been highlighted using a contrasting text colour and is a common convention used in existing media products.

I have titled my contents page “this month” in order to challenge traditional conventions of existing media products. The title is in large, bold text which is a common method used to signify that I is a header.

The structure for advertising the magazine’s articles follows that of a typical magazine. The article is titled and followed by a short description, image and page number.

The double page spread mirrors elements from both NME and Q magazine as I have placed the image on one page and used the other for text. The background of the image does run over both pages which is where the inspiration from NME magazine is focused.

I have increased the font size of a significant quote made by an external party from the interview. The fact that the quote has been emphasised in this way is fairly typical of similar existing media products however the quote was not made by anyone (or included) in the interview itself. This challenges conventions of other magazines.

An introduction to the interview has been included which is not always found in other media products of this category, consequently developing and challenging them.

The image used shows the model looking directly into the camera with his chin slightly raised. This draws the readers attention and also invites the reader into the article. The model takes up one half of the double page spread allowing the focus on the text to be placed on one individual page. This is a common convention of magazines such as Q.

Q2 – How does your media product represent particular social groups? My media product represents young, indie music listeners by creating a

relaxed, informative and enjoyable reading experience. The frequent use of images and bright colours helps to achieve this and is

more visually appealing to younger audiences. It also imitates the personalities of young people as they are often seen as active, easy going, fun-loving people.

The colours used also represent historical youth cultures that teens and music lovers today idolise and present themselves after.

I have used relatively informal language to create an easy reading experience.

Indie music is generally dominated by white males from Britain and America which is why the majority of my images or of young males and all of the images are of white people. This relates to and represents my intended target audience.

Q3 – What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

A media institution that has experience in distributing magazines of a similar category to mine would be ideal. Bauer Media currently distributes the music magazines Kerrang!, Q and Mojo. However, these magazines focus more on rock and metal genres which is why I think it would be more suitable for IPC Media - distributors of NME magazine - to be involved with my media product. My magazine and NME share striking similarities making IPC Media the obvious choice for being the distributer. They both focus on indie and alternative music and have a very similar target audience. IPC Media also distributes a number of other magazines that would attract a similar audience. Magazines such as MBR (mountain bike rider), Chat, UNCUT (another music magazine) and InStyle all attract audiences of a similar age and interest.

Q4 – Who would be the audience for your media product?

80% of readers enjoy this genre of music because of the entertainment it provides and 33.33% of people surveyed would expect to spend £2-3 on a monthly magazine.

The typical IND magazine reader is a 16-18 year old Indie Rock and Roll music lover who attends gigs and concerts on a regular basis. Their favourite bands consist of Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, Catfish and the Bottlemen and Royal Blood.

66.67% of readers are male whilst the remaining 33.33% are female, however both genders like reading interviews of their favourite musicians.

The most appealing band out of the list provided was Arctic Monkeys with 80% of people showing an interest.

Q5 – How did you attract/address your audience?

Images: The images used in my magazine are all of young people which attracts my target audience and persuades young people to purchase the magazine as they are able to recognise connections between the models and themselves. The front cover image fills the entire page which increases the chance of the item catching people's eye.

The style of clothing worn by each model has also been taken into consideration. I have edited all the images and even removed certain logos and prints from some clothing items to maintain the stylistic characteristics associated with indie musicians and fans.

Colour scheme: The scheme used follows the colours of the Who/MOD logo. These colours are bright and vibrant which aims to attract a younger generation of readers. The colour scheme is also recognised by indie music listeners as it is also used in other music magazines of a similar genre.

Interviews: 40% of the people surveyed stated they are attracted to music magazines as a result of the interviews they contain. This is the reason I have included an interview for my double page spread.

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

During the production process I have learnt many new things about the various technologies used. In order to capture good quality images I have had to learn how to operate the lighting and camera equipment. At first I found this quite challenging as I was unsure about how to take effective photographs that I could utilise in my magazine. However I was soon able to overcome this and take photo’s of a high quality with plenty of headroom.

This photo was taken in the college photography studio and has plenty of headroom, allowing me to add the band name in large letters above the models.

I have also used and devolved my knowledge and skills on various computer programmes. The most prominent of which is Adobe Photoshop. Having not used Photoshop prior to this project I have had to apply my knowledge of other programmes, such as Fireworks, in order to understand the basics of the software. From then on I have learnt a lot about how to remove and edit certain aspects of images, how to use the clone stamp tool and generally create the canvas and background. Here is an example of me using the

clone stamp tool to remove the image that was originally on the model’s t-shirt. It is fairly evident that I have used this technique as some of the t-shirt’s creases have also been removed.

Looking at the products I have produced I feel confident that I would be able to create another magazine that is at least on par with the one made in this project.

The text effect used on the front cover was created on Photoshop by first editing the Drowners logo to remove the text from in between the two flags. I then coloured the flags in blue, white and red to match both the colour scheme of the magazine and the original colour of the flags. After this I then placed the text on top of the image and cut around each letter using the Polygonal Lasso tool. Each time, after cutting round a letter, I created a new layer via cut. This cuts the shape of the letter out of the image resulting in the effect.

Q7 – Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Looking at the comparison between my preliminary task and the end product, I feel I have learnt and demonstrated many new techniques. The image used for the preliminary task takes up too much space on the right hand side of the page, meaning article titles and plugs have to be split up. This creates a divided feel to the magazine which is why for my end product I had the model stand with he guitar over his shoulder. This eliminates the issue and leaves plenty of room for article titles to be positioned down one side. The end product also seems to be much brighter and eye-catching in comparison to the dull, dark colours used on the preliminary task.