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

When i first created my preliminary task i had never tried creating a magazine on pages before so i was only using the very basic tools on Pages. I imported a picture as my background and inserted a text box as the title. Comparing what i was like then, to now has made me realise how much my technical ability has improved and how much i have actually learnt throughout this process. By looking at my school magazine you can immediately see my lack on knowledge in they way a front cover should be Laid out as well as it being boring and not very attractive from an audiences point of veiw. I have also learnt that you don't have to give away a lot on the front cover to attract an audience, by adding exciting fonts and an eye-catching image you will easily catch anyones attention. On my school magazine i didn't involve a bar code or price so by researching different magazine labels i had more knowledge to help me make mine look as professional as possible. Overall I am proud of the progress i have made and the skills i have picked up along the way. 

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

Throughout my process of constructing my music magazine i have discovered many new technologies and have had to learn how to use them along the way. I found this exciting especially when we were learning how to do new things on the Macs, I already had my own Mac laptop so to my advantage I could practice and get quicker at using them at home. I think the good thing about producing my work on a Mac is the applications you can use to make the quality of your magazine better. For example IPhoto. 

IPhoto is a quick way of editing your photos at a high quality. It allowed me to make my images look as professional as possible and edit them so they all had the same lighting level so none looked out of place. The background of my magazine was also imported into Iphoto so i could make it look slightly more colourful. 

Instead of using Photoshop i decided to create my magazine on Pages. I was already familiar with this software but had only ever used it for written purposes. I learnt how to import your own photo and use it as a background. I also learnt how to make the images 'float' so you could place them anywhere you want on the page. I found it quick and easy to use.

Before i started my Media AS course i had never used Blogger before. However i did have my own blog on Tumblr so knew roughly how they work. It was interesting comparing the two and how they work differently. 

I used this wedbsite to import more interesting fonts onto my laptop to use in my magazine. I never knew this website existed before doing this project so im excited to use it in the future as well. This website also inspired me on the style of my magazine by looking at what fonts could emphasise the 'urban' look.

Who would be the audience for your media product? How did you attract/address your audience?

I wanted to aim my magazine at young adults aged between 16-30. I feel this age is appropriate for the style of my magazine and genre of music that it is based on. When designing the layout of my magazine i wanted to make sure it wasn't boring and would attract my audience. I did this by the use of different fonts and how they were positioned to make my magazine stand out. I also used a young adult as my model for the new upcoming artist in my magazine. I feel this was appropriate because my audience would want to read about people of a similar age to them so they can relate to the magazine. I approached various young adults around my sixth form as well as out side of school with my magazine draft to get varied feedback about my magazine so far. I asked them what the thought worked well and what i could improve on to attract my specified audience even more. This is one of the ways i made sure my magazines appearance would contribute to attracting my audience as well as comparing different music magazines and what they did to attract their audiences.

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

I researched two well known media magazine institutions to help me gain knowledge on what type of company i would like to distribute my magazine.. 

National Magazine company- The National Magazine Company publishes 19 magazines in total in the UK. Their main magazines are: Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Country living, Harpers Bazaar, Mens Health, Runners World and House beautiful. From these i can tell that the majority of their magazines are aimed at adults and are Lifestyle Magazines. 

IPC MEDIA- IPC media publish NME magazine which is a music magazine targeted at a young audience. They produce over 60 iconic media brands, including their printed magazines they manage to reach to almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men. I think this institution suits my magazine better as they have previous experience working with a magazine interested in the same audience and genre as me. 

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I believe my magazine is aimed at young people who have an interest in Hip Hop/R&B music. The age range is between 16-30. This is represented through the colour scheme and people featured in my magazine, such as the Upcoming Artist where i also used a young adult. I feel that my magazines interesting layout will attract a younger audience as well. The kind of people that would be interested in buying my magazine would be the type to watch urban music channels such as 4Music and MTV. It is likely that they would be regular users of the ITunes store to download new music. Woman are also represented strongly in my magazine. All the images i have taken and featured in my magazine are of a woman, however there are a couple of album covers on my contents page of a male artist. I think even though my magazine is for both genders you would link it more with woman, this is also shown through the subjects we talk about, such as 'Exclusive Fashion Tips' and 'Up close and personal with Jay-Z' where we discuss his and Beyonce's baby. These are topics that genuinely woman would be more interested in. I think in this sense, my magazine is more a-like NME music magazine. This is because even though its audience is men and woman, it still has a more 'male' feel to it.

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

Throughout my coursework i have referred back to real media products such as VIBE magazine, Rolling stone, SPIN and WILDFOX. However i think the most influential magazine for me was VIBE, this is because it is a popular music magazine aimed at a young audience which concentrates on new music, this is what i wanted to portray in my work. VIBES striking front covers have inspired me on how i have positioned my images and texts. However i wanted to develop my magazines text layout even more so started looking at different front covers which is when i came across SPIN magazine. This magazine gave me the idea of placing my text both horizontally and vertically on the page.

Evaluation

I will discuss and reflect on my process in creating my music magazine and what i feel learnt through this experience.