AS Media
Alice Gledhill
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My magazine follows many of the conventions in other rock music magazines such as Kerrang! and Rock Sound, but I have at times avoided typical codes. For example I wanted to eliminate the common representation of rock music being violent, as my target audience and I felt this was an unfair stereotype. As a result, I challenged the convention of having a graphically broken or tattered masthead with frayed text, as this connoted urban violence and anger. What’s more, my magazine is aimed at a female audience, which is stereotypically seen to be passive as opposed to destructive. In addition, on my double page spread, I chose a more feminine font, Vivaldi, rather than the conventional block lettering. This was to create a personal feel for the content, representing the artist as unique from the rest of rock music. On the other hand, I did follow the convention of having bold, sans-serif font in other places; the “this month” title on the contents is an example of this.
To further the appeal to a female demographic, I chose to use a female model for my main images across all three pages as this allows young women to relate to the content more. However in order to have a variety of fictional artists to increase audience interest, I used secondary images of both males and females allowing the magazine to cover a range of sub rock genres, just as Kerrang! and Rock Sound do. Furthermore, I have challenged the typical way in which females are presented; my model is sat with a skateboard which is stereotypically thought to be a more masculine object. Also, despite the fact she’s wearing make-up, she’s not presented sexually as some women in the media.
Another way in which I challenged a convention is by changing the typical red house colour to orange. Again this eliminates the violent look, but maintains the bold appeal of rock magazines. I wanted to use a warm colour to create a positive look, and I feel it is more feminine by its softer tone compared to red.
One way in which I made use of a convention was by increasing the size of the main image on my front cover, as real magazines' covers are largely taken up by the main artist to increase appeal. Whilst adjusting the look, I re-arranged the coverlines, giving the 'layered' look commonly seen in rock music magazines. Similarly, I added a logo to my contents page with an abbreviation of my magazine's name which will appeal to my young audience while fill an empty space. I purposely used an "explosion" shape to represent my publication as edgy and loud - just like the genre.
Also, just as the two examples I closely studied do, I included and advertised “free posters” in my magazine. I felt this was a crucial feature as so many music magazines include posters, and so many young people use them. I displayed the included posters on the front cover and contents page in the same way to give a consistent look to aid navigation. As well as this, looking at this issue of Rock Sound, I have developed the code of a USP by including a puff stating “less adverts and more music content.” This increases the appeal to my audience as their main interest lies with the music, and differentiates my magazine from others.
Finally, I made sure to use the convention on my front cover of having slanted text, in various fonts and sizes, and sometimes supported by a block as shown in this example of Kerrang! I did experiment having titled text on the contents and double pages, but felt that they looked smarter with a straight layout. As a result, I have a contents page with a look similar to Kerrang!'s, and a developed DPS.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
I have maintained a focus on music throughout my production, as this was the primary preference of my target audience. As a result, I centred my contents (shown on all three pages) around personal accounts of the musicians, and their music. This presented female rock musicians as dedicated to making music, and passionate about the genre while appealing to my target audience.
On my front cover, I have shown young females to be confident through the high power pose of my model, and her direct address in the form of eye contact. This also supports the bold colours, giving the page a strong and iconic look that represents rock in the conventional way. However, because the colours are so bold and plain, it could be said that I have presented the social group as average and down-to-earth. This is supported by the personal language I have used with the double page spread; my audience research highlighted that they like learning about an artist from their own words rather than a tabloid news article for example. This creates a friendly and informal tone as well as showing upcoming artists as realistic and just like the average person.
Having said that there are also certain aspects that depict the social group as rebellious. For example the language in my contents page, “breaks his leg” implies an energetic and dangerous personality. Similarly, the secondary images on my double page spread show a skateboard which connotes youth and represents young rock musicians as outgoing and active. Finally, I have used abbreviations such as “rockin’” to avoid a formal and overly-mature representation in order to appeal to young females.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Like Kerrang! and rock music in general, my magazine is aimed at a youthful audience; those aged 16-24. This is due to my findings in my audience research, and the fact that a young audience can relate to the young social group I am presenting. However, unlike most rock music magazines, I have aimed my work at women. More specifically, I intend for my magazine to reach energetic young women with a passion for music - who perhaps attend music festivals and gigs frequently.
How did you attract/address your audience?
The buzz words, “free” and “win” will appeal to my target audience of students as they're not the wealthiest social group. Secondly, I chose to price my magazine at £1.49 as my target audience feedback highlighted that many people do not buy music magazines due to the cost. Having mine priced below £1.50 per month means it’s more likely to sell, especially as it’s supposedly a new brand rather than a well-known name.
Also on the front cover, I changed the strapline to mention my target audience meaning it's explicitly aimed at "young women." It also separates my magazine from others.
Another point refers to the welcome message on the contents page. I used informal language and a variety of text types to engage my audience on a personal level. This is more appealing to a young audience such as mine opposed to a more mature group. Furthermore, one particular article listed in my contents uses direct address through the word "your." Again this makes the audience feel included through the personal tone. Similarly, many of my photos use direct address and so my readers will be drawn to the contents by the eye contact made.
On the double page spread, I included a website with an imperative verb, "watch" to encourage my audience to go online. This also allows readers to reach my brand over another medium which would appeal to their age group especially. Finally, the whole double page spread's content is based on feedback from my research: I found that an interview with either an upcoming or a famous name had the most appeal. As a result, I made it the main article and presented it on the front cover and contents page as well.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Throughout the production of my magazine, I studied Kerrang! closely and often compared it to my work. As a result I would intend that Bauer Media Group would also distribute my magazine. This would allow the same target audience to be reached on a mass-market scale, and support from a well-established company. Also, due to their extensive budget, my magazine may be able to have its own website, attracting an even wider audience through another medium.
The company distributes only rock and pop magazines and I feel these two genres are similar and often work well together. This includes Mojo, Q and Empire. Because these brands are so popular, I think having Bauer Media Group also distribute my magazine will dramatically help it sell. Furthermore, they also distribute TV and radio channels, so potentially, my own brand could evolve to one or both of these platforms. For example, Q had its own TV channel, and its own radio channel at one point.
Another point is that my product is very unique due to its niche target audience, meaning that the company may be interested in a new breed of rock music magazine, and therefore encouraged to distribute it. This would increase their range of products they're known for producing/distributing.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I feel I now have a good understanding of how to use Wix; although at times still have difficulty with it, I can now confidently crop images on the site (if I haven't before in the editing process) attach a PDF file or hyperlink, and present my work in various ways. However the main thing I've learnt that has aided my construction is to take multiple shots of the same scene. This allows me to eliminate any flawed images and choose from a range, making my magazine as appealing as possible.
As with becoming familiar with Wix, I have also progressed with Photoshop by manipulating my images. I didn't edit the photos very much for the school magazine, but adapted nearly all for my real production. For example, I can easily change the contrast and brightness levels of a photo, whereas I didn't know how to do this before. I am now more confident with the software, meaning I am able to use my time more effectively than before.
Another point is that I feel my audience research was significantly stronger for my music magazine, due to the fact that I carried out an interview as well as a questionnaire this time. In addition, I focused on one specific real example - Kerrang! - to refine my work. As a result, I believe my music magazine is much more effective and appealing to its target audience in comparison to the school magazine. This is partially due to the fact that I followed the conventions and layout of a contents page with my music magazine, whereas my school magazine's contents page is unprofessional and unconventional.
Above is an example of an unedited photo I used in my preliminary task, and to the right is a 'photoshopped' image I used in my music magazine. You can see the change between the version I used and its original look.
My research showed that rock fans largely consist of white males aged 16-24 living in London or the South East. I have created a unique target audience in the way that my magazine is aimed at women rather than men. The other factors such as age and ethnicity remain the same.
Another difference is that I scanned my plans for my music magazine rather than upload a photo as I did with the plans of my school magazine. This means my music magazine planning is clearer, and I have developed an understanding of how to use technologies.
I also feel that I followed the structure of a contents page more closely when constructing my music magazine. The contents page of my school magazine is not as strong as I would like it to be, as a result of its unconventional layout. Having researched and planned music magazines in more depth, I believe I have improved on structuring my contents page in particular. As you can see below, my school contents page does not follow a conventional grid layout, whereas I have made use of columns and a layout similar to Kerrang!'s in my music magazine. In addition, another improvement is the increased number of contents - there are many more pages advertised with my music magazine, making it more realistic, whereas I only included a few contents on my school magazine contents page.
I have learnt that going back and making small changes is vital for professional looking results. Constantly referring back to planning, real examples and research is also key when shaping any page. I believe I have demonstrated many changes with my music magazine's front cover in particular, though I cannot say the same for that of my school magazine. Another point is that I have developed my understanding of the need to vary font and text size for effect; "Rock Appeal" shows a wider range of font styles and sizes in order to emphasise certain contents, yet the front cover of "Growing Up" only demonstrates a minimal use of alternating text size.
