Coursework- evaluation of my magazine

Media Coursework Evaluation

When designing and producing my magazine, I tried to expand and challenge other real media products such as music magazines like NME. My magazine is unique and enforces a sturdy feminine approach on music therefore aiming my magazine at females. In a way I felt obliged to convey aspects of the conventional style used in all magazines. I assumed this would be necessary in order to appeal to the majority.

I created my own pop star to interview on my double page spread, it helped to make my magazine individual and as my pop star was promoted on the front cover I felt it was appropriate to base my double page on her.

My inspiration came partly from NME music magazine but mainly from one of the most well known teenage gossip magazines ‘Company’. This is where I found myself sticking with original pieces already existing. I followed the idea of simple necessities such as barcode, price, title and image to truly capture my ideal audience. I followed generic conventions of music magazines by incorporating a large photograph to my front cover using long shot which is generally pursued by the majority of music magazines such as NME. My layout is symmetrical which is a frequently followed convention as well. I used a limited colour range in order to follow codes and conventions of generally all music magazines; this was one of the most effective outputs as it demonstrated by ability to incorporate simplistic details from original music media products existing today. Additionally, I used the same font for my magazine name for all the pages I produced to eliminate the problem of a disorganized design, my idea to do this was taken from music magazines.

My media product represents the typical teenage girl. I have demonstrated my ability to grab attention from my target audience by using an archetypal teenage girl who specifically depicts the young female audience I wish to attract. My magazine represents mainly the pop industry but expresses a variety of music genres such as hip-hop, rap, rock, indie and R&B, aiming my media product at many music fan groups rather than specific ones. Typical “girly girls” favour colours such as shades of pinks and reds so I have incorporated this greatly into my colour scheme. My simple, easy to read layout on the front cover exhibits a sense of youthfulness. It presents the information without being overpowering which I believe is essential when trying to capture the attention of the social group in which my magazine tries to detain. I have dedicated ‘Rebel’ to girls ranging from their first teenage year to their last who are interested in all music, particularly girl bands and solo artists. Even the title of my magazine had to be taken into consideration so therefore I picked a word which could be associated with the stereotypical view of young teenagers today, the idea of them being rebellious characters.

I researched into publishing companies to decide who will produce my magazine. In conclusion I came to a decision that IPC, a leading UK consumer magazine publisher would be the most ideal publishing company for my particular magazine since it appears very popular with almost two in every three women and 44% of UK men reading IPC magazine. I believe that ‘Rebel’ is dissimilar to their majority of magazines as it targets a younger female audience rather than adults. Approaching a well-liked publishing company is essential in order to produce a magazine which slightly differs from standard music magazines. IPC offers something for everyone, ranging from typical music magazine NME to a classic boys magazine such as NUTS. However, their diverse selection still does not offer a magazine similar to mine so I feel they would be the most appropriate publishing company for ‘Rebel’.

I also believe supermarkets like Tescos, Sainsburys and Waitrose might distribute my product. It is appealing and could instantly attract shoppers. It displays a reasonable price in a bright yellow circle which grabs attention immediately. The price is also not expensive so is suitable for supermarkets to distribute. I would hope to believe that institutions such as popular music stores HMV and Virgin Megastores would be interested and likely to distribute my media product. I think that it is very different from any magazine they have ever offered. Since it targets females, this target audience may be more drawn to music since this magazine appeals to their gender alone and the appearance is more likely to attract them than the more masculine products sold today.

I believe my decision to target my music magazine at females only was individual and original. I chose to be unique and target at a smaller audience rather than produce an almost duplicate of magazines already existing which are targeted at a wider audience. I also feel that most music magazines are unintentionally targeted at males alone as using reds, yellows and black aim the focus on males as these are very masculine colours. It was easy to target at females between thirteen and nineteen since I, myself, fit into this category.

I have attracted my audience by firstly capturing their interest in my front cover photograph which of course is the first noticed feature as it covers almost the entire page. I paid careful attention to detail such as jewellery, makeup, shoes and clothes since I wanted my target audience to relate to the image being presented. I had to take into consideration the fact that Belle Bidacoska is this year’s mega music star so I had to ideally, construct a photograph of a girl striking a model-like pose. Secondly I used iconic features such as lips and hearts to portray the true “girly” feel I wanted to illustrate. The exaggerated use of pink in my magazine completely identifies my audience and addresses feminine “girly girls” directly. I restricted my colour scheme to a limited amount of colours as I believe it stands out, pink and black seem to work effectively together as they contrast with each other. I used buzz words such as “exclusive” and “plus” which attract interest from my particular audience who want individual information in addition to what the magazine offers already. I tried to incorporate rhetorical questions on the front cover which try to convince the audience to read more about it. I applied bright yellow arrows to display special, extra information to the reader quickly and attractively on the contents page. The colour instantly draws attention from the rest of the page highlighting key features of the magazine. On the double page spread, it was necessary to use a pull quote to reveal a line from Belle’s interview before having read it. This reveals a small piece of the article and persuades the audience to read it. I created an attention grabbing headline to ensure that the article was instantly appealing, the use of alliteration helps to attract my audience and concludes her story in an effective way. I used shadows on all of my photographs; which makes the image jump out at the audience rather than blend in with the background. I deliberately used neutral colour backgrounds such as the light pinkish grey for the front cover and the off white for the double page spread; this allows the writing and images to stand out in a dramatic way. Using an introductory paragraph on the double page sets the tone to the article and attracts my target audience by gradually “wheeling” them in. The drops cap at the start of this paragraph initiates the beginning of the article and its bold appearance draws you to the opening of the piece of writing. I felt it was important to tell the reader more about what is on each page with justification, I wrote an additional sentence next to the page’s title to ensure the reader is satisfied with the purpose of the page. This also is another appealing quality for the audience and attracts them.

I have learnt a lot about technologies from the process of constructing this product. Before starting AS media studies I had never used Photoshop, I have grown to appreciate the many different features of the programme such as the magic wand which I found myself using continuously, using it to select an area of an image based on it’s colour. I was also able to use the crop tool to trim unwanted areas.  Throughout the year I feel I have progressed greatly and have learnt from the mistakes I have made along the way. The programme allows you to use a range of tools and develop your skills using them. I have developed my ability for using tools I had never used before such as the marquee tool which is a quick way of selecting a series of pixels simply by dragging out a rectangle in most cases, but furthermore dragging shapes like circles as well. I believe I have developed my knowledge of technology and have produced a successful magazine.

My design skills have definitely improved throughout the course of this year. My preliminary task shows little individuality within it’s design, whereas when constructing my media product I incorporated as much personality and distinctiveness to produce a unique magazine. Although gossip magazines tend to be directed at girls, there are very few music magazines which target females alone so by developing my design skills and making it look feminine by using colours such as pinks it positively constructs my aim. I also made my images and texts spaced out in order to avoid confusion of the readers.

I believe I have largely improved when comparing my preliminary task to the coursework. The preliminary task allowed me to experiment with the tools and permitted me time to make mistakes and learn from them. I feel that the preliminary task definitely helped me to progress my skills using the programme as it allowed me a certain amount of time to practice using the editing devices. Overall I consider myself to have greatly advanced especially in comparison to where my level was at the start of the year and throughout the preliminary task. I think my final project; the music magazine looks far more professional than the pilot project of the school magazine and so therefore demonstrates my development and improvement.