1A Debbie Bowman

Introduction

For my Media Coursework I decided to do the Print Project as I found that it would be more suitable for me. I enjoy the journalism aspect of media and I felt I would be stronger doing this rather than the Film Project. The genre I chose was ‘Pop’ as I particularly like this genre and I and enjoy listening to the music and the concepts that come with the genre. I worked alone on my magazine and enjoy developing and producing my product. I also found researching the genre very interesting and finding out what sort of things connote the ‘Pop’ genre and who the audience are. I decided to call my magazine ‘JUKEBOX’ which I felt, even though it is quite an old term the font and style of my magazine made it fit perfectly. The majority of my magazine is based on music; however it is slightly hybrid with hints of tips and gossip within. I chose to do a solo artist based on people such as Cheryl Cole and Alexandra Burke. I named my artist ‘TANYA MARIE’.

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

The genre I chose for my magazine was ‘Pop’, I chose this as I particularly like this genre and enjoy everything that comes with it and what it is involved with. I think I have followed the typical conventions of a music magazine such as ‘Top of the Pops’ magazine.

The image of my magazine fits the content and the target audience which is 13 – 17 year old females and of mainstream race and with socio-status B to E. It does this as it has direct mode of address and my artist is young and fashionable. The name of the magazine, ‘JUKEBOX’ also fits the content and the target audience as the font used is stylish and modern and the name is simple and easily recognisable. The colour scheme is also very important in creating a ‘house style’ and in appealing to the target audience. It has to have a distinctive look and to fit the genre. Also so it is recognizable to the target audience and it will stand out to them. Magazines usually include stars of celebrities on their covers to increase sales and therefore profit, I have stuck to this convention and placed a celebrity/musician (my own made up celebrity/musician) on my front cover. I think that it is vital to use typical elements of music magazines as it is less likely that the audience will reject them. Therefore by using familiar elements that the audience enjoy and are comfortable with will make the magazine sell more. I think my innovations were likely to prove successful because my final product has stuck to the typical conventions making it more sellable. It is bright and stands out from other magazines with eye catching fonts and subjects.

Conventions of my Front Cover

My magazine cover follows the typical conventions of a music magazine. The front cover of a magazine should be the main advertisement/story of the magazine and this is apparent on my magazine front cover. My front cover is very bright and eye-catching. I also think that it is interesting as the font is appealing as it is quite different to normal fonts used of the front cover of a magazine. I have done this to entice the audience in so they buy the magazine. The colours I have used not only reflect the target audience but it also represents the genre of the magazine I have chosen to do which is ‘POP’ therefore I have used bright colours such as purples and greens to represents the connotation of fun that the ‘POP’ genre portrays. I have also used a variety of fonts on my front cover which I got from www.dafont.com which make it visually interesting and eye-catching, I have used the same fonts throughout the magazine and I have made sure to be careful to use the same similar ones so it creates a ‘house style’ and it is recognisable to my target audience. The title of my magazine is at the top of the page which is sticking to the usual conventions and this has also helped me create a brand image so it is instantly recognizable to my audience. I have also used a slogan underneath my header which is ‘Bringing the latest Pop Music to you!’ I have done this to explain the content of my magazine as well as to make it stand out to any rival magazines I may have. I have created a large leading caption that dominates my page and is focused on my feature article and it anchors my cover story. Another typical convention of music magazines are subheadings which are some of the main stories you wish to advertise in your magazine, I have used ones such ‘which pop princess has been spotted with bad boy Eminem’ and ’10 ways to get the pop star look’. I have tried to pick the most interesting ones so it would bring attention to my magazine and people would buy it. I also decided to put a strap line at the bottom of the page to advertise tour dates and also to give me a chance to show my magazines website address. Also at the bottom of the page is the barcode and price of the magazine which is a typical convention, as is the date at the top of the page. My magazine is a cheaper weekly magazine such as Zoo and Now.

Conventions of my Contents Page

My contents page is bright and colourful; I have particularly stuck to the main colours that I have chosen for my magazine which is ‘pink and purple’. I also haven’t been afraid to use the white space as I chose not to put a colourful background on. I have used bright colours and my recognizable ‘house style’ colours to try and entice readers to read on. Another typical convention of music magazines is for images to dominate the text and I have decided to place 4 large images of my artist to dominate the page which allows my audience to graze. I have also placed page numbers on the images as well as fairly detailed contents of the rest of my magazine under the dominating images. Direct address is most definitely used on all my images; I chose to stick to this convention because I feel that it is important to let the audience feel a connection with the image. My title ‘This week in Jukebox…’ is at the top of the page to make it clear to the audience. I have also listed my contents under sub sections to make it easier for my target audience to browse and graze to the section they want and are most attracted to. Some of my sub sections include ‘Regulars’, ‘Singles of the week’ and ‘Jukebox chart toppers’. Here is an example of a contents page with different sub sections like mine.

Conventions of my Double Page Spread

For my double page spread I decided to do a question and answer format as I thought it would be more interesting for my target audience. For my headline a decided to call it the name of my artist ‘Tanya Marie’ and I used the same font as my front cover and contents page to keep the ‘house style’ and to make it recognizable to my target audience. I have also placed a sub heading to explain the story and catch my audiences interest which is ’Shouting Out Loud!’ this is a play on words as my artists single is called ‘Shout Out Loud’. My artist has appeared in my music magazine as she is promoting her new single ‘Shout Out Loud’ so I have pushed it through my article and referred to it at the end. This is sticking to the typical conventions of music magazines. On my feature article I have one main image that dominates the page and another smaller one with a different pose; I have done this to make the article more interesting which is an idea of typical conventions of music magazines. I haven’t been afraid to use the white space on my page I decided not to put a coloured background and to just let the white space simply frame my writing and images which is seen often in feature articles. A typical convention of music magazines that I have used is that my writi9ng is clear and easy to follow. It is also directed straight at the reader. My writing is typically informal as in music magazines and some slang words have been used such as ‘Yeah’ which are appropriate to my genre of music. I have used text grabs in my feature article such as ‘I was slightly under the influence’ and ‘Flat on my back, with my legs in the air and knickers out!’ to make breaks in my columns and so that when the reader turns to this page these funny quotes and interesting subjects will jump out to them and make them want to read the article. This is a typical convention and text grabs are usually controversial or rude and I have done this in my article. Here is an example of a double page spread that i have looked at for ideas.

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I have represented young people on my media product and I have done this by using a young model in my images and I have used bright and youthful colours to make it look fun and lively. The social group that I have focused on is ‘music stars’, ‘female celebrities’ and ‘young people’. I have constructed this by looking at different aspects and constructing my ideas and products around these groups. I have done this by considering different aspects such as costume, I chose a sequin dress which represents style and class as well as fun and youthfulness as shown here in the picture of my model.

The appearance of my model is sticking to the conventions of music magazines and the genre I have chosen, she has direct address and is smartly dressed. The actions/activities that she is doing make it similar to female celebrities especially in relation to my genre as the images are fun and energetic such as where she is blowing bubbles and with balloons all around her. The setting I have chosen is comfortable and casual (a bedroom) I chose this so that the audience can relate to my artist and to make it look and feel realistic, I have used bright lighting to emphasize the vivid colours and show the whole enjoyable image. I think my images fit with the dominant mode of representing the groups I have chosen above ‘music stars’, ‘female celebrities’ and ‘young people’, as it is adhering to the stereotypes that we commonly see in the media. My audience has responded the way I wanted them to as my products are sticking to the typical conventions, therefore people feel comfortable and familiar with it.

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

When I came to research media institutions I came across IPC Media http://www.ipcmedia.com/. It produces over 85 iconic media brands. With their print brands alone they are reaching almost two thirds of UK women and 44% of UK men – almost 27 million UK adults – while their online brands collectively reach 20 million users every month. I decided that this media institution would be the most likely one to distribute my media product as it produces brands and prints similar to the one I have produced. These include magazines such as NME, Look, Now and Nuts which all have similar representations to my magazine. My magazine is mainly a music magazine but is slightly hybrid with gossip and news etc within. I think that IPC Media would definitely publish my magazine as it is similar to the ones they already own yet it is slightly different as it is a music magazine with fashion tips in and gossip etc which would be adding a new addition to their company. Also as it is similar to their existing brands it is very unlikely that their target audience would reject my magazine as it is something they are familiar with and they like. I think my magazine would be an asset to IPC Media and if it was to be published I am sure it would bring in profits and fit in nicely to their company. Here are some of the magazines with IPC Media:

Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

I decided who my target audience would be by using the method of GRASS. The Gender for the audience for my media product is females, I decided to target it at females as I am one and I found that I could relate to females more and know what they want to read based on my own preferences. The Race for my media product is mainstream and has no preference to any race; I did this as to not exclude anyone from reading my magazine. The Age range for my media product is 13-17 which I think is fairly young; however I chose this age group as it is a very large group and a lot of teens in this group buy magazines, so I targeted my magazine content to them. When thinking about my audience and Socio-economic Status I decided that my audience would most likely be in groups B-E these range from intermediate managerial roles to the unskilled and the unemployed, this group is fairly vast and as my magazine is on the cheaper side at £1.40 I decide that it would suit these groups the best as it would be considered as a weekly magazine rather than a monthly glossy magazine. I think that the only secondary target audience that I would have would only be females maybe 1 or 2 years older than the top end of my age range which would be 18-19 I think this would be because my magazine content is quite young and innocent with no sexual references or innuendos. My audience feedback was very positive which assures me a made the right choices when producing my music magazine. Here is an example of my audience feedback questionnaire.

Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience firstly with my front cover. The title of my magazine is Jukebox, when first thinking about the word Jukebox you think of the connotation of it being old. However I have combined this ‘old’ word and made it young and fresh with the font I have used for it which makes it new and funky and yet still retro. I think my audience would be attracted to this name as retro is definitely back in fashion and in lots of products. The colours I have used on my front cover are very bright and stand out a mile off, I thought about the colours I could use and came to the conclusion that the brighter they are the more likely it is going to stand out and people are going to be attracted to it. The key main image on the front cover has direct mode of address which audiences like as they can make a connection with the artist or who ever is on the front cover, as well as addressing the audience it draws them into to wanting to read on. I have used bright lighting to emphasize the colours as well as posing my model with different coloured balloons around her to make the image look fun and playful to entice readers in. When I thought about mise en scene I decided to dress my model in a sequin dress I did this as sequins are in fashion now and I thought it would attract readers as this sort of outfit is in fashion now and popular with my age group. I have also used the same colours and fonts on my front page to keep the ‘house style’ of my magazine and to make it recognizable.

I tried to attract my audience with interesting storylines on my front cover that I thought would be the most interest to them. I picked out storylines about fashion such as ’10 ways how to get the pop star look’ and ones about music such as ’25 music stocking fillers’. The language I have used on my front cover and throughout my magazine is young and basic so that readers can easily get to grips with it and easy fro them to follow. The content of my magazine is interesting and funny, I write about things that I would like to read about and the sort of things that I would be attracted to. I have also placed a strap line at the bottom of my front page to attract readers to pick up my magazine with advertisements of tour dates. On my contents page to attract and address my audience I chose the most interesting topics and chose attractive images to place on it. I realized that by doing this it would draw more readers in. I also made sub sections for the different topics of my magazine; I thought this would be more appealing to my audience as it would be easier for them to browse. The language style of the captions and headings are snappy and to the point so the audience knows what to look for and to choose the section they prefer to read. I have also included a strap line again advertising VIP tickets and shopping trips to attract my audience.

I think that my double page spread is very attractive to my audience. It is not too complicated or over the top and it set out in a simple way so that the audience will find it easy to read. The headline is the name of my artist which is in an attractive and appealing font that stands out to my audience. The subtitle is a play on my artist’s name of her single which I think is addressing the audience directly by advertising a new single that is coming out. The content and the language of my article is funny and simple to read which I think my audience will find appealing as in my target audience I have groups of the lower socio-economic status which may not have very high literacy skills. The structure of my article is in columns to avoid confusion and introduction to the article makes it clear to the audience what it is about.

Question 6: What have you learnt about your technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Whilst producing my media product I have learnt many new skills and used technology that I had never used before. For instance I had never used http://www.blogger.com/ before and I found it very interesting.

Here are two screen shots of the website (shown above). I learnt how to set up a new account and how to make new posts. It helped me hugely in keeping on top of my work and following my progress and how well I was doing. I also learnt about a website that I had never come across before which is http://www.dafont.com/, this website I found particularly interesting as I enjoyed looking at and downloading all the fonts that I liked and using them in my products. If I hadn’t used this website I doubt very much that my product would look as good as it does. I learnt how to use photo shop which I found quite difficult to use at first but as I got to grasps with it I found it very useful. I didn’t really use Photoshop a lot in my products in fact I only used it for one image on my double page spread, but without it I wouldn’t have achieved the outcome I did. Using Indesign was a major part in producing my media products as it helped me bring all my pages together and construct and design them to the way I wanted them to look. I found Indesign quite easy to use once I had read the tutorial given to me about it and I enjoyed using it. The image below is a screen shot when you open Indesign and a screen shot of using Photoshop.

Throughtout producing my magazine i have been using an Apple MAC computer as it is the best computer for producing such a product as it has all the correct programs on it. I hadn't used a MAC before and i found them really easy to use and really helpful with producing my magazine. We were trained how to use them and showed how to use all the packages to help us produce our magazines. I would definitely uses a MAC again if i had to produce another magazine.

When taking pictures for my magazine, i used a digital camera. These are the ones that we used :

I had already had experience in using digital cameras and i found these ones especially easy to use. The quailty of the camera was very good and with the correct lighting and location, my images came out really well. I used different props and shot my images from different angles to make my magazine and images more intereseting for my readers to look at. When uploaded my images to the Apple MAC i was surprised to find how easy and simple it was. At first some of my images looked slightly pixelled but once edited and saved in the right fromat (JPEG) my images turned out really clear. Oveerall i was really happy with the quality of my images and i would definitely use a digital camera again.

Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Prelimary Task Final Project

Looking back at my Preliminary Task, i can clearly see that i have progressed greatly with my Final Project. My Preliminary Task is very basic and bland compared to my final project. I this may partly be because when i produced my Premilinary Task i didn't know how to use the editing packages such as Indesign and Photoshop properly so i couldn't benefit from them. However when i first produced my Preliminary Task i was very happy with it but looking back i can clearly see it isn't anywhere near the standard of my final project. The techniques i have improved on the most i think are:

Better use of lighting - the lighting is alot better on my final project than my preliminary task i think this is becasue at the time of producing my final project i had alot more knowledge and understanding of the effects that lighting can have on an image and i applied this knowledge to make sure my images came out the best they could.

Better use of layout/less boring - my final project is definitely better layed out than my preliminary task, this may be because i did alot of research of other magazines and took tips of how to layout my front cover to the best and most attractive i could. I think my preliminary task is too bland and boring and doesn't have enough going on the front cover making it less attractive to read compared to my final project which is very intereseting. I have also placed lots of interesting topics of my final project so the layout and cover looks more exciting.

More interesting images - my preliminary task image isn't interesting at all as we only had the location and props of our college at the time of doing it. In my final project and i had alot more locations and props to play with to make my images a lot more exciting and eye catching. On the front cover of my final project there are many colours and it is a fun image which makes it alot more interesting for my audience to look at and read.

Effective use of colour - my preliminary task is very bland and colourless compared to my final project. I made sure that my final project was very colourful and eye catching so it can reach its best potential and my audience would find it eye catching. I have used the same base colours throughtout my magazine to create a 'house style' that my audience will recognise, i think this element is essential for a successful magazine. The colours and fonts on my preliminary task don't really stand out and the black box around the texts make it look really harsh and dull.

Editing - my prelimary task has no editing at all to it and i think this has a huge impact on the quality of the cover. Whereas my final project does and this makes the image look a lot brighter and colourful and makes it stand out more. Also i was able to crop my image appropriately to suit the front cover of my magazine.

Conclusion

Overall i am extremely happy with my final magazine. I think the fonts, images and colours used really work well together and fits the genre of 'Pop' that i chose. I think it looks very professional as the layouts are sticking to the typical conventions of a music magazine and i have stook to my 'house style' colours throughtout which also makes it look professional. My favourite page is my front cover as i like how colour full it is and i think its the best prodcued and looks the most professional and the best structured. Indesign and Photoshop have helped my greatly with producaing my music magaizne and i have used them to a very high qualitly and standard to benefit me. Comparing my preliminary task to my final prducts i think i have developed so many skills which i am really proud of and i will take them with me when i move on to do other things. I like how i used the same feminine font throughtout my magazine for the name of my artist, i think this wokred well as it made it recognisable t o my audience. A weakness that i will point out is that i think on my contents page i should have maybe used the white space more to make it more colourful and eyecatching. In conclusion i am really happy with the outcome of my music magazine and i thoroughly enjoyed producing it and developing new skills.