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.

Front Cover

The feature i love about my front cover the most is the image i have used. I have never changed this because i think its striking and bold which will catch my audiences attention. I kept a thin font for my title because i didn't want it to make my page look to over powering. There wasn't alot to change about my front cover because i have always wanted it to stay looking simple which is what i feel i have achieved in the final outcome. 

Contents

This is my favourite page of my magazine. I love how professional it has turned out and am proud of the progress i have made. I took on board what Phil said about explaining why the images of different artists are placed at the bottom of the page by adding in a bit of text above them. I also edited my titles for each page to make sure they were all the same length which i think has presented them better. 

Double Page Spread

This is my final Double Page Spread. I have taken on all the comments from various young adults who i have asked about my magazine as well as keeping in mind the advice i had from a professional. I combined these ideas and added to this page to improve my magazine as much as possible. I enlightened the background and changed the layout of the text. I also have changed the photo i have used to make this page look more interesting. I wanted to make sure i added an advertisement on this page for our website so added that in at the bottom of the right hand side. Along with other minor changes i feel i have improved my magazine as much as possible to make it appropriate for my target audience as well as looking fun and attractive. 

Feedback and Tips from Phillip Chamberlin

Phil is a professional magazine editor/creator who i was honoured to meet and receive feedback from on my music magazine. We went through each page (contents, front cover and double page spread) one by one and discussed what worked well and what i could do to improve. 

Front cover comments:

He loved how i had created my own background for the whole of this magazine and it helps link the front cover to the other pages. He also said it was risky to use a thin font for my title as it could easily be over powered which is one of the things i considered when choosing this font, however he said it works well and adds to my magazines 'simple look'. He advised me to make the font for "TOP 10 R&B HITS THIS YEAR" the same as "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW" to stop my magazine from looking so busy and said it would look more professional if i cut down the amount of different fonts i used. He also said i could bring up the image of my model a little higher so the top of her head was underneath the title slightly so that area didn't look so plain. 

Contents comments:

Phil suggested i added more pages to my magazine so it has more content which i agree on after looking at other magazine contents pages. He also discussed the idea of making the titles for my pages on the contents all the same length as this would make the page look more organised. I had to explain why the strip of photos at the bottom of my contents page were there, and this gave us the idea of writing above them something along the lines of "previous artist's that have featured in DOMINO. Go to www.dominonline.com to get hold of the issues you missed" which would inform the readers the purpose of them being there. However he said he loved my contents page and thought it looked very professional and likes how i have placed my image so half of it cuts through the O in "Contents". 

Double Page Spread comments: 

Phil liked the layout of my Double Page Spread but advised that i used a slightly different image on the left hand side of the page. This is because my model is doing a similar pose for each photo so to make my magazine look more interesting i am going to select a different image to use. He also thought it would be a good idea to create two columns on that page to break the text up a little. He mentioned how it would be a good idea to fill in the 'O' of "UPCOMING ARTISTS" like i have done on the front cover for "DOMINO" which would be another way of linking the two pages together. Im going to lighten up the background of this page so my text doesn't disappear into the background and also switch over the text font so that my interview questions are in bold and the answers are normal. 

I am going to use all this feedback to help me improve my magazine as much as possible.