Foundation Portfolio Unit: G321 Centre Number: Candidate Number: 6275

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

Red & White house style Slogan Coverline Main image – full size of page Pull Quote Main coverline Barcode Coverline Gold border Masthead

Coverlines Puff Skyline Main coverline Features Barcode Red, black and white colour scheme

Coverline with blurb Barcode Facebook & Twitter linksWebsite Corner Grabber Logo Masthead Slogan Black, white yellow colour scheme

From the previous slide, we can see that I have used most if not all of the codes and conventions that were used in the Music Magazines that I had analysed on the previous slides. It is clear to see that the colour scheme I have used on my magazine cover are bright colours, consisting of black, white, and yellow being the main colours. I have also used a yellow corner grabber to catch attention of readers, a red and white logo. A black background on the main image that takes up the full page, a puff in the bottom left with a red and purple star surrounding it. I fell that by having cover lines down both the left and right third is challenging the current codes and conventions. I also feel that by doing this, I am availing of all of the available space on my magazine cover page.

masthead Heading of section Sub sections Heading of section Main caption Image relating to caption

masthead Heading of section Sub sections Subscription Main caption Image relating to caption

Heading of section Sub sections Heading of section masthead Main caption Image relating to caption Main caption Image relating to caption Main caption Image relating to caption SubscriptionPage Number with logo Heading of section

The codes and conventions I have used in my contents page, are similar to the codes and conventions used in real music magazines. An example of this is that I have used different sections within my music magazine contents page. As we see in all magazine, the contents page is broken up into sections and mine is follows these codes and conventions. I have also included a subscription section within my contents page. I have also added in at the bottom of the page the Facebook and Twitter links. The page number also has my magazine logo beside it which is following almost every magazines codes and conventions. I also varied from the codes and conventions of NME and Q magazine as they have repeated the name of their magazine on the contents page whereas I have not, the masthead on this page is just ‘Contents.’

Main image – black and white to follow house style Page NumberDrop Cap Magazine logo Artists name 3 columns Capital L for Lady Gaga - red to follow house style

Bold font to stand out Pull Quote Text in 4 columns Drop Cap Main image – Full page Page Number Magazine Logo

Masthead Facebook & Twitter Links Page Numbers Text in 4 columns 4 images relating to the text in the article Interview style article

The codes and conventions that I have used in my Double Page spread are also used in real music magazines and I discovered this when analysing this section in magazines. In my Double Page Spread, I have not challenged the current codes and conventions because I felt that what I had created looked well and it looked professional therefore I kept it like that.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In the beginning of creating my music magazine, I had decided on the several age groups that I was going to target my music magazine at. These age groups were 13+ and also year olds. To solve this problem, I created a target audience questionnaire and I distributed it to 20 different people, of all age groups, both male and female to find out what age group I was going to direct my magazine at. This also helped me decide what music genre I was going to base my music magazine around. This ended up being R’n’B and Pop. After discovering the genre of music that my magazine was going to be, I decided to choose the artists that I wanted to feature in my music magazine. I also had to decide on several stories that I was going to feature in my magazine because I had to create cover lines. My final target audience age group was 15 – 17 year old females.

I found coming up with ideas and developing them enjoyable because I am part of the age group that my magazine was being directed at which made it easier to pick artists to feature in my magazine. When choosing my artist, I had to keep within these music genres because it would help make my music magazine look more realistic. Everything in my magazine, from the colours to the number of images on the cover page, were all decided by my target audience which helped me relate it to them. If I was to place my magazine according to the NRS social grade definitions my magazine would be within the grades of, C1, C2, D

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

The media institutions that would be distributing my magazine would be either of the main three, Emap, IPC Media or Bauer media.

Emap Limited is a British media company, specialising in the production of business-to-business magazines, and the organisation of business events and conferences. EMAP Radio owned 40 UK and Ireland local commercial radio stations. It has 20 magazines in its business-to-business portfolio. EMAP ceased publishing many magazines in its history; there was in particular a move away from the computing genre during the mid-1990s.

IPC (International Publishing Corporation) Media, is a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a large portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year.

The Bauer Media Group is a large German publishing company which operates in 15 countries. Since the company was founded in 1875, it has been privately-owned and under management by the Bauer family. Worldwide circulation of Bauer Media Group's magazine titles amounts to 38 million magazines a week. This would be the media institution I would choose to publish my media product as it is worldwide.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my magazine will be the target audience that I handed my questionnaires out to. My magazine was based on the decisions made by these teenagers therefore they are my target audience. Throughout my magazine, I have used an informal tone so the reader can relate to the magazine and the stories that are inside. Throughout my double page spread, I maintained a conversational tone which would keep the reader interested. I also handed out an ‘Ideal Reader Questionnaire’, this was to find out what my idea reader was interested in. This helped me to create an ideal reader profile which can be included in my magazine. I had also included the magazines website and also the Facebook and Twitter account details. This is somewhere that all of the audience for my magazine could interact and find out more.

Leanne is a 17 year old teenager who lives in a bungalow. Her favourite genre of music is R’n’B and her favourite artist is David Guetta. Her favourite band is LMFAO. Leanne’s favourite festival/concert to go to would be Oxegen or LMFAO’s concert. Her favourite television programme is Two and a Half Men. Her favourite type of food is Chinese and she watches Gaelic. Leanne is single and would like to go on holiday to Spain or Japan although, her ideal holiday would be to go on a cruise. Her hobbies include; Gaelic, Bullets, going to the gym and socialising. Leanne loves to shop in JJB, Hollister, Primark and Topshop. Her favourite brands of clothing are; Rock and Republic, Hollister and Canterbury. When she goes out, she likes to go to nightclubs and bars.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted the audience into reading my magazine by getting their opinions in the beginning by getting them to fill out two questionnaires, one being ‘Target Audience’ and the other being, ‘Ideal Reader’ This got the people that had filled the questionnaires out because they contributed their ideas towards my magazine. I also attracted the audience by getting target audience feedback for the images that I was going to use throughout my magazine. The questionnaire’s that I had got my target audience to fill in gave me information that I could use for my magazine. I had all of the information on each of the questionnaires, therefore I though that it was a good idea to create a questionnaire analysis. By doing this, I could then look at the information in charts -pie or bar. I found this easier because I could read off and see instantly which was the most popular answer.

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

When beginning to create my Music Magazine, I had to learn how to use some different programs and websites. The main new program that I had to learn to use was, Pbworks. This was where I was going to display all of the work that I have completed. In the beginning it was complicated to use, but like anything it just took a while to get used to. I find this website a convenient way to submit work and to get feedback from others in the class as well as the teacher. On my Pbworks page, I have organised my work into, Preliminary Task and Main Task. Under main task, I then have divided my work into sections that it is easier to find and they are, Research, Planning, Construction and finally Evaluation. Again, Under Planning and Construction, I have separated my work into Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread.

The most important program that we had to learn to use was, Photoshop 7 because this was where I constructed my media products. I had previously used Photoshop which helped me that little bit more because I knew ho to use some of the tools. After using Photoshop for my Preliminary Task, I found it easier to use to create my main media product because I had again became familiar with the tools that were available for me to use. Photoshop was an essential program that I had to use to edit my photographs for my magazine and also to create my Music Magazine. This is the toolbar for Photoshop showing the tools I used throughout my construction.

I had also developed my Microsoft Skills –Word, Publisher, Excel and Powerpoint. I have used all of these programs before although I had to further my skills to ensure my work was top quality. I used Microsoft Word to type up my article and then I copied it onto Photoshop. I used Microsoft Publisher to create my flatplans of what I was going to create in my drafts.

Another website that I used was ‘Font Generator’ and this was to get various styles of font for my cover page, contents page and also double page spread. Another website that we had to use was Prezi and this was an online mind-map. This was where I could add my ideas for the colour schemes I was going to use, the cover lines that I could use through my magazine. This was an easy way of looking over all of my ideas. Another website that we had to use was Animoto. I used this too create a short 30 second video based on the music genre that my music magazine as based around.

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

Looking at my Preliminary Task on for my cover and contents pages, it is clear to see that there is a significant difference between the two. This would be because I have spent much more time on this piece compared with the Preliminary Task. For my Preliminary Task, I have used one main image although it is quite small. My cover page has a lot of black space which makes it look unprofessional. I have also used a number of bright colours; one of those being a coloured background. On my main cover page, there is a black background which itself makes it look more professional. I also have included the bright colours, although these are only for the cover lines and to help make them stand out.

The main progression that I made from the Preliminary Task to the Main Task was the difference with my Photoshop skills. Through my skills developing, this has made my final pieces look professional. Another progression that I made was keeping good links with my target audience. By asking them what they wanted included in my magazine helped me with the progression of my work as my magazine was made for them.