music magazine evaluation

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

To understand more about the forms and conventions of the type of music magazine I planned to create I undertook some research into existing music magazines of the genre that I planned to target.

I created a mind map so that I could compile and look over the conventions that I could use or reject within my own magazine, I considered all aspects of the layout of the covers from headlines and fonts to colour schemes and photography.

After looking at music magazines that were acceptant of the grunge rock genre such as Kerrang! Magazine, NME and Rock Sound, I experimented with the different conventions that they used within their magazines. I noted that the colour schemes used by most of the rock magazines where dark yet bold, often using contrasts between red, yellow and black. I thought that this effectively reflected the stereotypical mood and atmosphere of rock music, making the audience understand what kind of magazine it is. I thought that this was important because I wanted my magazine to successfully target the audience that it is designed for: grunge rock fans. As a result I decided to use a similar colour scheme as well as incorporating some blues that contrasted with the other colours to indicate important articles.

From previous research I already understood the kind of photography conventions used in rock magazines and particularly grunge style photography. For my magazine shoot I decided to stick to using grunge style conventions, I made sure my backdrop wasn't too stylized, I also kept the clothing for the shoot fairly dark and simple to empathise with the attitudes of grunge rockers and fans to make the cover relatable to the target audience. As a result I think that this has made the products of the shoot successful, the photos are easily recognisable as those of the grunge style to an audience.

This is the link to my mind map: Online mind map

 

 

 

 

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

http://prezi.com/rkhwujoh0wt6/present/?auth_key=1y4oxls&follow=1gnw3r9j9uyt

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

Media institutions is an established, often-profit based organisation, that deal in the creation and distribution of advertising,entertainment and information services.

I think the kind of publishers that would distribute my media product would be Bauer Media Group and IPC Media, this is because these two media institutions already publish rock music magazines Kerrang! NME and Uncut, this shows that they have an acceptance and understanding of the genre and would be supportive of producing a rock subgenre magazine.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

http://mind42.com/mindmap/5d03f900-66ce-4074-bafe-755e64aa57c8?rel=url 

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

 



6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
http://prezi.com/fcq6wc2dawg9/untitled-prezi/?kw=view-fcq6wc2dawg9&rc=ref-38505427

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

 



From looking at my preliminary task I believe that I have learnt a lot more about magazines and the editing process of magazines than I did when I first started the project, my understanding of how to channel and target particular target audiences has also expanded.

At the beginning of the project I thought that I already had a significant understanding of the technology and ways in which magazines are produced but I now understand the complexities that are involved with the development of the final product.

When I created my preliminary task, my college magazine, I wasn’t happy with my outcome because I thought that it wasn’t professional looking which, in all reality, it wasn’t. However, I am pleased with my outcome for this project; I think that I have managed to create a professional looking magazine that would be recognised by an audience as a magazine for grunge and rock fans.

 

 

 

 

The front cover for the college magazine that I had created for the preliminary task was very bland with washed out colours, I tried to make the colour scheme relevant to the theme that I had chosen for the magazine (Christmas issue) but I felt that overall, the idea of using a seasonal theme was a bad idea. I struggled to find appropriate fonts for the magazine and ended up using fonts that looked unprofessional alongside the front cover photograph.

I thought that my contents page for my college magazine was also unsuccessful, mainly due to the use of colours in blocks that clashed with each other and the font. Having looked back at these once again I can now see how far I've come since starting my music magazine.

 

 

I think that I have learnt a lot about how to produce a professional magazine in relation to a target audience, I chose fonts and colour schemes that went well together yet contrasted each other in a way that drew a readers eye to the magazine. I also used much better quality photographs that had been stylised both on the shoot and in post editing to make them more professional and to fit the needs and requirements of the magazine, I learnt how to use software such as Adobe InDesign and Photoshop with successful outcomes which made my magazine appear suitable for my genre.