Written Evaluation

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

A convention is what is associated to make a product, for the rock genre in terms of its content, form and style. For example rock magazines usually follow a dark colour scheme. As such, when we see a model holding an electric guitar on a front cover, we apply our previous knowledge of similar magazines and make assumptions about what genre the magazine is. My media product follows the conventions of real media products in many ways. 

The masthead at the top left corner is an example of a convention in my magazine. The name of the magazine is unique and is a smart play on words. "ROCKUS" could be read as "ruckus" which means a lot of noise and commotion or as "Rock Us" associated with a famously known song we will rock you by Queen. The name therefore fits into the rock genre and the stereotype that rock music is very noisy, with an association to famous rock bands.

The tag line used is placed on the top and bottom of the magazine, it includes the list of all the featuring artists. There is also a puff that brings attention to the cover line that gives exclusive content. The puff and tag line are also conventions of a music magazine cover. The colour scheme I have used is black, red and white which compliment each other and are conventional as are commonly seen in rock magazines. 

My anchor follows conventions as she is holding a guitar. She is looking directly at the audience to create an intense atmosphere and it makes the reader feel more immersed in the magazine as the anchor model is directly addressing the reader with her posture and pose. Furthermore, the model is the biggest object on the cover and right underneath her is the main cover line in the form of a quotation, the biggest font after the masthead, meaning that she is the most important feature to focus on.

This follows the conventions of a magazine cover when looking at font size and how the main cover line is presented on the cover. My magazine similar to many editions of Kerrang! I have analysed previously for inspiration through analysing the colour scheme, layout and content used. It has a C layout which is often used by Kerrang. Kerrang covers a lot of articles about new music coming out and interviews with artists just like the model shown on my magazine cover. 

The cover of my magazine is successful as the images fit the content and target my audience, immediately attracting the audience to the masthead, main story and anchor model. The design of the magazine attracts a mainstream audience. Other conventions I follow are barcodes, price, date and issue number. Those are necessary for a magazine to be published as they provide general needed information of the product and a barcode is important for the consumer to buy the product.

The contents page has great purpose and is very important as it provides the reader with easy access to find out what the articles are briefly about. My contents page was hugely inspired by one of the contents pages from an older edition of Kerrang! Magazine that I have analysed previously. This is seen through the layout and the way content is organized. 

There are columns at the bottom half of the page and a main picture at the top half of the page. The content is laid out like a list and divided into categories. Each article is attached with a page number right next to it: to guide the reader to a page relevant to their interest. The article also has a brief description for the reader to decide what to read first depending on their interest. The way the content is organized is common in rock magazines like Kerrang and therefore "ROCKUS" magazine is strongly conventional.

The band names are in bold red font for the reader to select their favourite artist. An editors comment is placed in the first column signed by the editor themselves, this is not a necessary convention but it is commonly used, particularly in rock magazines. The contents page is successful as it is giving quick and easy access for the reader to find articles and it gives the magazine a sense of order. 

The name of the magazine is at the top right corner and it includes other small images to give a sneak peek of the article to the reader, which are conventions of a magazine. At the top left hand side of the page, is titled "contents" this is also a convention of Kerrangs! Content page to make it obvious that is a contents page. The main image is at the top,it doesn't have a caption but is just attached with a number and artist name, this challenges conventions as usually there would be a caption. Other conventions that I used are issue number conventionally placed right under the title.

The double spread feature page has similarities to music magazines as it’s a personal interview with the artist. The conventions of a bold name of the name artist and brief description of the article introducing the reader who are unaware to the artist. In some ways it challenges conventions as the main image isn't the biggest object but it’s still evident that both it is linked to the artist that is being interviewed. The article takes most of the two pages and is divides into three columns focusing on the artist that is featured. Every time the interviewer and artist speak it is very clear to the reader by having their initials written in bold before they speak. The quote used is bold and big .Furthermore, the name same one used in the cove page showing a clear link to the reader.

Throughout my magazine the same colour scheme is used and the content covers popular artists and bands which is very common; The interview on the double page is very inspirational discussing artists future plans and how they cope with their busy lives .The colour are very bright and fun to encourage readers interest the intuitional logo is on each page of the magazine. The magazine is dominated by images as images speak louder than words and are the things a reader looks at .This together created a house style.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Most of my audience would be students or casual workers, young people aged 16 -24. This means they would be at the lowest income in the economy.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents young people aged 16 -24 that have an interest in rock and this made through the content of my media product and the rock artists that I have created. The artists are represented as very fun loud, inspirational, talented, fresh and laid back. This is achieved through their body language and costumes. My audience is very influential and would look up to those artists and what they have achieved for example in the interview of Selkies she discusses a charity project which spreads a positive message to the audience and also discusses her will to help other which also inspires artists to do the same. On the front cover and feature page the artist "selkies" is represented as Fun, talented, hard working through posture, face expression and props. It’s a medium shot of the main model holding a guitar, she's holding the holding the guitar as if she's playing and is slightly leaning back, and this illustrates her laid back aura and many of her talents. Also her facial expression is joyful and cheery reflecting her positive attitude to life.

 How did you attract your audience?

The language is very simple and easy to understand which applies to my target audience as they are young adults they wouldn't want to read something difficult and challenging but something they could read at easy. The use of a lot of images also helps with attracting the young adults as they would want to look at images of their favourite artist, especially in this age of modern technology. By promoting free posters it would attract the audience as it doesn't cost them anything and encourage them to buy the magazine s they feel like they are getting a good deal as in return they can get posters of their favourite artist to put up on their wall. In addition the price of the magazine is 1.99 which affordable for my audience who would not spend much on luxuries and is most suitable as I found out through my research that my target audience prefers this price the most.

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

There are many methods of distributions of magazines and they either traditional which is hard copies or digital like apps and websites. Traditional copies distributed through publishers which are the institutions that produce the magazine. Now digital copies are becoming more popular as it became a norm to own a smart phone, where the magazine can be viewed on the internet. The hard copies are distributed to the consumers by retailers sold in supermarkets and newsagents. However, because of the rapid growth of technology like smart phones as a result of web 2.0 and convergence digital distribution has been becoming more widespread. Through convergence my media product can be presented on many platform like radio, online and social networks for example Kerrang! Is begun as a magazine but later on it had its own radio station as well its own TV programme and website. This would be useful in order to gain a wider audience when reaching more media institutions. The readers can also subscribe to the magazine to get monthly or weekly posts to their home or inbox with a discounted price. This is great deal for the audience and ensures regular readers by giving them a discount.

The magazine can also have a electronic version .They are similar to magazine website for example they have pages you can turn, page numbers and adverts. They have their own special features such as video clips and links that will send readers to other sources. Many magazines have their own smart applications where the content of the hard copies of a magazine can be accessed. An example is the NME magazine app. Sometimes magazine have a QR code that could be scanned via phone.

I think BAUER media group would be suitable as an institution that will distribute my magazine. This is because they are one of the top distributors of magazines in the UK and own a lot of rock magazines. Two of the most popular music magazines published by Bauer are "Q" and "Kerrang!" as well as "Mojo". Which is the type of music I have created in my media product and experience with my target audience which are young adults. BAUER media also uses digital media and is presented in all types of platforms. Kerrang! Radio has With 920,000 listeners a week with a total of 33,024 circulation of .Therefore, I think it would be the most suitable as a distributor of my product.

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

Through the process of constructing this media product I learned how to create a magazine on Adobe Photoshop. I have improved my Photoshop skills. Now I know how to add effects like drop shadow to images, edit text, manipulate and edit images using tools such as the magic wand. I also gained experience in photography during the photo-shoots. It taught me about the importance of lighting and camera angles in a shot and how it's important to plan the photo shoot beforehand to ensure you're completely ready and have all the props you need. I learnt what works best for my media product by experimenting the layout and colours. Moreover, I have never blogged before so, using blogger to publish my work gave me good experience. Gradually through the process I learned more about how to attract an audience in comparison to my preliminary task the audience is targeted better.

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

Throughout the project I learnt what it takes to create a media product. Being the researcher by looking at other magazines and figuring out the conventions of magazines that made them successful.During the photo-shoot I took the role of the photographer as well as the director where I ensure that I got the images I desired for my magazines. I had to plan the photo-shoot and make sure all the props where ready to be used .Moreover, Taking the role of the layout the designer Created flat plans as guides for my magazines, this gave me a variety of ideas for the layout of my magazine. I also took the job of the editor as the features writer and features editor where I ensured each page followed necessary conventions and the Photoshop was smooth. Lastly being the manager editor, I had to make certain everything was done in time. By taking all of those jobs on board, I learnt not only about the creative process of making an idea alive but also the research behind it and the editing that constructs a successful product.

bg7 m6bgk6 dhy6bk fd