Question 1
In what way does your product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I am comparing my magazine cover of ‘Note’ to a cover of Smash Hits to see how my product challenges and/ or develops forms and conventions of real media products. I am using Smash Hits because its target audience is the same as mine, so will be useful to see what similarities and differences there are.
My product ‘Note’ uses some conventions of Smash Hits in its design. There are many similarities in the designs of the magazines that have been used for similar reasons. The first example is the colours I have used. For the masthead I used a deep purple with a pink outline, targeting the female audience. This is very similar to the background colour of the Smash Hits Magazine, which uses a duller tone of purple in order to appeal to the female target audience. This is a strength of my magazine because I have used similar colours to try and attract my audience, like Smash Hits. The use of bright colours in both magazines is also a similarity and is used to catch the audiences’ attention and show them what the magazine has to offer. In my magazine I have used a centre image like Smash Hits. This is mainly to attract the audience by showing what celebrity the magazine is focusing on this week and trying to capture their attention. Another similarity between my magazines is that we have both used supporting images around the page to support the cover lines. In terms of using, developing or challenging forms and conventions, these similarities support the use of forms and conventions in real media products. I have used some of the conventions seen in the Smash Hits cover to attract my target audience.
My magazine also has many differences to Smash Hits where I have tried to develop conventions seen in real media products. This can been seen with the use of my font choice. Smash Hits has used rounded fonts giving off a more relaxed, young adult friendly appeal to the audience. In comparison I have chosen to use a sharp font, which is more structured and formal, which may usually appeal to an older target audience. Although my font may not be extremely appealing to my target audience I feel the colours have relaxed the text making it more appealing to a younger audience. Another difference is how I have displayed the price in large font with bright colours, where Smash Hits has chosen to make the font small. I have challenged this to add to the design of the magazine and try and make the cover as vibrant as possible. I have also added in extra images, at the bottom of the page, and included page numbers. This challenges and develops what Smash Hits has designed. Smash Hits has only included some images in random places. I alternatively have put a structured set of images in that support my cover lines. Using examples like this you can see that I have started to challenge and develop usual forms and conventions seen in real media products. I have developed some conventions so that they are still familiar to the target audience and what they expect to see in a music magazine but I have modernised them so that they are more up to date, and relevant to the audience. I have challenged some conventions to, again, update and modernise magazine design so that it is more appealing to the target audience, and is different and exciting, not the usual design they expect.
My magazine uses, develops and challenges conventions in a series of ways. By comparing my magazine to Smash Hits I have been able to demonstrate how I have used conventions, similar to Smash Hits but also how I have used conventions, from a similar magazine, to update and develop them to ensure I really am attracting my target audience.
Question 2
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Question 3
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Question 5
How did you attract/ address your audience?
Question 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Looking back at this project I have realised how important technology is in the magazine industry. The use of technology covers practically every area of production, from researching to actually making the product.
At the start of the project I was quite naïve about how many different programmes/ and technologies could be used in the production of magazines.
At the beginning of this project, the first thing I had to do was to learn how to work Blogger. This was essential as it was how I would present all my research and work over the course of the project. To begin with I found Blogger quite confusing to use but after a while I realised how simple Blogger really was and I found it very easy to upload all my work and present it how I liked. I found that Blogger wasn’t just important for someone like me, but could also be influential in the magazine world as a way of displaying stories and being an easy way to access the latest news.
When I started my research I realised that I had to use Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Excel to present and design my work. This was very useful as I am familiar with these products and found them easy to use. I used Microsoft Word to type essays, before putting them on my blog and present other work. I used Microsoft PowerPoint to create my flat plans, create PowerPoint’s to display certain research and as a way of easily editing pieces of work. Finally I used Microsoft Excel to present my questionnaire results easily and create graphs as part of my research into what the audience wants. I think that these types of programmes will always be important as they are staple products in everyone’s lives that are quick and simple to use, especially in a fast paced area of production like the magazine industry
The next programme, which I learnt to master, was Prezi. I used this as a useful tool to display my market research, especially who my target audience was. I found that Prezi was simple to use, once I’d mastered the basics. Prezi would be a useful tool to use in the magazine industry to present and piece together who their target audience was. I found it very useful as a creative PowerPoint to present my research in a new exciting way. Once I’d set up my user I was ready to go!
Another useful technology I used in the production of my magazine was SlideShare, which I used to upload my PowerPoint’s to my blogger. This was a useful technology because it allowed me to get my work onto the blogger but also presented my PowerPoint as a normal PowerPoint, so it didn’t disrupt any of my work.
I used iPhoto when editing my images. As iPhoto is an Apple Product it was easy to access and use. Once I had uploaded my images to my computer I could edit the colouring using iPhoto. It’s a very simple programme which allows you to make basic edits/ changes to your images, like making them black and white or sepia. This was a very useful technology as it meant I could easily edit my images for my work without loads of hassle.
The main technology that I use through out the project, in both my Student and Music Magazine was InDesign. This is a programme that allows you to design easily and was perfect for my magazines as the editing was simple and easy and gave a professional look. I started out by blocking where I wanted each bit of information on my page, using the square tool, as this is what you have to use to position things on your page. I then added in text and images, editing the text colour, font and image size and positioning using the range of tools available on InDesign. I would say that InDesign was the most useful technology that I used during production as it helped me achieve a professional looking magazine easily and simply. InDesign would be useful in the professional magazine world as it is simple and effective!
I think that over time technology will have more of an impact on the magazine industry because it continues to develop. It has not only changed the way magazines are made but the way they are consumed. I have learnt from the process of constructing this project that technology is essential in the creation, distribution and consumption of magazines. Many companies now allow customers to view their magazines online or through iPhones and iPad’s. With the introduction of ‘News Stand’, on the recent software updates of iPhone and iPad, customers can now subscribe to magazines to read them on their phones etc. or whatever is most convenient for them. The Amazon Kindle is also a new technology that is changing and developing the way technology is used in the consumption of magazines. This is because consumers can now use it as a way of accessing their favourite magazines. Technology is the most important factor in the creation of magazines and is slowly changing, developing and improving the magazine process.Question 7
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
