Presentation Slides

Evaluation

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

I believe that my media product which is a music magazine develops the forms and conventions of a real media product because the same are in the same category which is Rap so it follows the forms and conventions of the media product rather than challenge it. By following the forms and conventions I have done this to create a good Rap magazine which is going to appeal to the audience of 17-28 year olds. I have put my use of knowledge forward by using the forms and conventions which are used in real magazines but I have also made some alters to the forms so my product has a distinctive look.

Unique Selling Point: I decided to create a magazine for young men from the ages of 17-28 years; I made my product stand out from others by adding new elements. I used strong solid colours to catch the eyes of the audience and clear fonts which would attract them. Also my product is monthly so the readers can subscribe so they save money as many Rap magazines are weekly and the readers may not have money to purchase the magazine weekly. The tone of the magazine is informal so this feels like the reader is connecting with the product and it’s made for them.

Not much colour used.

Variety of colours
used to draw
in the reader.

My contents page challenges the forms and conventions of a real magazine product because on my contents page I’ve used four small images which are spread across the page whereas real media products use one big image as the background or they add the big image to the side of the contents page. Also I’ve used coloured backgrounds in my box so they can stand out and so the reader can see that different information is in each box but other products have a contents page which is the same colour throughout.

My contents compared
to a real product.

Real media product.

My double page spread also follows forms and conventions but also challenges real media products because most double page spread use one image that has a page to itself but I’ve used two images one being placed under the title and another being placed on the other page. Also normally real products add quotations to give the reader an insight into the magazine but I didn’t I used my contents and front page to advertise the double page spread interview so the reader could want to read the interview.

Double page spread

My media product represents a young and older generation ranging from the ages of 17-28 years old that are interested and understand Rap music. They are represented throughout the magazine by the main artist and the artist that have been included on the cover of the product. Also one of the cover lines represents old and young because it shows an older artist giving information to a younger artist.

The main artist represents the younger generation as he’s upcoming and an aspiring artist.

This represents both young and old generations because an older artist is giving information to the young generation.

On the double page spread I continue to represent a younger generation because of the language used which interacts with the younger listeners because the language represents how they interact with one another. Also the main artist represents my particular social group because he reflects onto them because all young people have a dream and he shows them he’s following his dream and they can do the same.

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

•        USA based publishing company in New York 
•        It has the top Rap magazine seller which is “XXL”

I feel my magazine is just right for Harris publications even though I’m a British magazine and they are American based because not many institutions publish British Rap magazines and because ‘XXL’ is sold worldwide and is aimed at older groups so by media product being published by Harris publications a younger audience will be able to buy the product and enjoy the magazine.

This is one of the magazines that are published under Harris publications.

(www.xxlmag.com)

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

The target audience for my media product is young males who enjoy listening to Rap music. The ages vary from 17-28 years old the background would be working class. My music magazine is mainly aimed at male audience because of the theory by ‘Butler J’ that male/female is biological but masculine/feminine is sociological and most women don’t think like a man so the product wouldn’t apply to them.

This is my target audience.

This video relates back to the target audience who can relate to Rap Music.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Colour: from my first designs I had many colours put together that didn’t work so I selected three main colours which were; ‘Red, Yellow & Black’. I chose these three colours because they are bright and bold which would attract the readers and they appeal to the male audience as they are masculine colours.

Photos: I chose an image of a young artist as this magazine is aimed at a young audience. Also the photo I chose for the front cover the artist is looking directly and firmly at the camera suggesting to the reader he is looking at them and this magazine is for them. Also to attract the audience on the front I have issued a ‘Free Tickets’ to a Rap concert.

This would attract fans enjoy free
tickets to a concert.

Layout; I used a simple and plain layout so the reader can have a clear understanding of what’s happening throughout the product. It’s organised and clear which links back to the audience reflecting on them being organised and clear. The only page which is busy is the contents page because there’s a lot happening with the colours and images this is to draw in the reader and make them want to read the articles that have been mentioned on the contents page and the front cover.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Blogger: Throughout creating my magazine I used blogger to give updates on how my magazine was coming along. This helped me because I kept track of creating my magazine and it was also easy to use while updating blogs.

This is my blog page as you can see I updated the
blog via various weeks to keep my magazine
in track.

Photoshop: Before I started constructing my media product I didn’t have any experience in using the software Photoshop, but from using this software throughout creating my media product I have become very familiar with the tools in constructing my product: 

·         Brighten/Contrast tool

·         Lasso tool

·         Magic wand tool

·        Crop 

·         Stroke

Indesign: InDesign has helped me construct my media product because I was able to use the product to design the pages and edit how the images and text was placed on all three media products. Using the ‘Swatches’ tool helped me to pick the correct colour schemes for the magazine also the layers helped me organised how everything was edited on the products because I had images and text separate on different layers which helped everything stay in order.

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

      Looking back at my preliminary task, I feel that this experience in creating a media product was very helpful I have learnt many new skills and developed new understanding about the productions of music magazines. Also I've learnt how different products have different social groups and how certain products attract their audience due to all the research I done to create a successful music magazine.

From my previous feedback from the preliminary task I took the advice given by my teacher and put that into use. My research for the music magazine was much deeper so I could get a greater understanding. I have progressed a long way in the completion of my finished media product I now have a much stronger knowledge and understanding of programs like Adobe Photoshop CS3 & Adobe InDesign also using Blogger has helped because it helped me keep up to date. And in preliminary task the photos were not the best edited but since then I have learnt how to change and edit images in Photoshop and how to save them in the correct format which allows me to open them in Adobe InDesign so I could create my media product.