1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
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2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Representation, by definition, is the portrayal of someone or something in a particular way. In my magazine, I represented several things, such as the artist, Tom Bridge, and the genres covered within my magazine.
In my magazine, I used several techniques to represent Tom Bridge, an independent musician. On the front cover of my magazine, Tom is pictured in front of a brick wall surrounded by overgrown bushes. By using this setting, I represented Tom and his music as being very natural through the connotations of these bushes. Graffiti can be seen on the wall, creating the effect that Tom is in a very urban area, representing him as being from a very normal low-income background. Tom is also represented through the use of clothing, hair, and his pose. Tom’s clothing and hair style is very fashionable, and his pose is very strong and open, representing him as confident and ideal, inspiring readers.
I have also used several techniques, such as symbolic codes, to represent the genres discussed within my magazine. For example, my use of white-space has connotations of modernism and freshness, suggesting that the genres in the magazine also have these qualities. I have also used language such as "upcoming" and "five genres you've never listened to", representing these genres as innovative and exciting. In addition to this, I have used a mixture of serif and sans-serif fonts, representing the genres as being timeless.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
When it comes to publishing a magazine, it is very important to select a distributor suiting the needs of the magazine. This ensures that the magazine reaches the correct audience. For example, if a magazine has a niche market, a distributor would need to be selected which would be able to make the magazine known to this audience and produce enough copies to meet demand, whilst not producing too many copies than the amount which is actually required. In addition to this, if a magazine is going to be published digitally, you would need to select a distributor with knowledge of this market. Failure to pick the correct distributor can result in underwhelming sales figures for the magazine, often leading to the closure of the magazine.
My magazine would be distributed by Bauer Media. I chose this institution for a number of reasons, such as the fact that Bauer Media is a European company which frequently publishes and distributes magazines within the UK, making them suitable for my target demographic of UK residents aged 16 to 25, male or female.
My magazine would be distributed by Bauer Media. I chose this institution for a number of reasons, such as the fact that Bauer Media is a European company which frequently publishes and distributes magazines within the UK, making them suitable for my target demographic of UK residents aged 16 to 25, male or female.
In addition to this, Bauer Media publish a large number of magazines that cater for large demographics, such as Q Magazine, which features a variety of genres and is read by many different demographics. My magazine, Playlist, is similar in style to Q - it is based around the music magazine genre and focuses on many different sub-genres within this, making it accessible to a large audience.
My magazine would be distributed in a physical print format, but also digitally, using services such as Google Play Newsstand. Many of Bauer Media's publications are distributed this way (using their "digital arm", Bauer XCEL), making them a suitable distributor for my magazines requirements.
Bauer Media do not usually publish magazines for particularly niche markets as these are less profitable than more accessible magazines, making Bauer Media a suitable media institution to publish Playlist.
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| Google Play's Newsstand - An example of a digital retailer frequently used for Bauer's publications, such as Empire magazine. |
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
Through my research, such as my Audience Survey, I discovered that the audience for my magazine is both male and female UK residents aged 16 to 25. This is a demographic which often uses streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music to listen to music, rather than buying the physical releases (ie: CD, vinyl) or individually buying tracks/albums digitally.
From my Survey Analysis, I discovered many things about this demographic, such as the fact that a large number of them are students who are either unemployed or have a part-time job. As a result of this, many of them have a relatively low weekly disposable income of less than £50, meaning that subscription services such as Spotify are very appealing to them as it is a cheaper way to listen to music.
My audience listens to music frequently throughout the week and likes to discover new songs and artists. Their favourite genres are indie, alternative, and rock, and they enjoy attending live music events. When it comes to deciding if they want to listen to music, they are not particularly influenced by critical reviews.
In addition to their interest in music, they are also interested in film and television.
Many of these interests are present in my magazine, such as the fact that the magazine is focused on recommending music or introducing unknown artists, rather than critiquing music. Playlists are a key feature within the magazine, creating a link with popular streaming services. In addition to this, the key genres covered in the magazine are indie, alternative and rock.
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
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6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Hover the cursor over the collection of logos below and then hover the cursor over each of the white dots (with a black outline) to read about the software/tool and how I used it.
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 college magazine made for my preliminary task, I feel that there is a lot of evidence of my skill development. My cover page for the college magazine was made in Photoshop because I had no experience with InDesign. My image editing skills have definitely improved; the cover image for the college magazine appears to be over-exposed and the background is too variable, making it very difficult to read the cover-lines.
In the time between the preliminary and main tasks, I have learned about the importance of scale in design, such as making an article title or an image bigger than others around it to emphasize its importance. I did not have this understanding when I created my college magazine cover as the puff is one of the biggest features of the page, but it should have been considerably smaller as it dwarfs everything else, making them look insignificant.
Another skill that I have acquired in the time between the two tasks is altering the leading and tracking of text to make it easier to read. There is no evidence of this in my preliminary task as I did not understand the importance of it, or even how to do it. However, in my main task, this is a skill I used much more often resulting in a much more reader-friendly design.
Preliminary Task (click to enlarge)
Main Task (click to enlarge)
