In what ways does your music magazine use, develop or Challenge conventions of existing magazines?
The magazine I have created contains many of the usual conventions of a magazine, as the artist on the front cover is using the direct mode of address, alongside the title which has been placed at the top of the page, as this is how most music magazines are set out, also the barcode, price and date have been placed in the conventional places, which are along the bottom of the magazine front cover. A low angled shot has also been used for the front cover which is typical for a music magazine, as it shows the person in a position of power and the artist which has been chosen for the double page spread article has been used for the front cover which is also typical for a front cover for a music magazine, but unlike a conventional music magazine, I have chosen to edit the background and add a blurred effect, whereas usually the background for a music magazine will be just one plain colour.There is a colour scheme consistent of four colours, which is also often seen in music magazines, the colours used are, blue, white, black and red, and I have chosen to use these clashing colours, so that the red and blue text stands out on the page and is more noticeable to the reader. Another element which is seen typ0ically in magazines is a slogan, I have also included a slogan for this magazine, although not very noticeable, it reads, ‘The one true choice’. The most influenced element from previous magazines I have seen would be the use of the buzz words and teasers, as words such as ‘Exclusive’ are used to attract an audience alongside the teaser which I have used, ‘Ghetto speaks on latest release’, the use of a well known ‘star’ helps attract a bigger audience, as it means that there is a greater chance that the people who are interested in their music will purchase the magazine.
The double page spread also contains some conventional elements of double page spreads of music magazines, as I have blended the image with the article, much like the example I have shown through my double page spread analysis.
How does your music magazine represent particular social groups?
My music magazine has been used to show a middle/lower class of individual who are interested in grime/urban music, this has been shown through the dull colours used for the original image and title block, but contrasting this are the bright colours of the text, which are there to represent the struggle of an aspiring artist within an urban environment. The body language that the person on my front cover has used is shown to represent this type of social group, as ‘hoodlums’ are often seen as quite intimidating, and this is shown through the crossed arms, angry facial expression and low angled camera shot. Also, although it cannot be seen very well, as I have blurred the background, the shot was taken in an alleyway, which is also seen as a very run down place, which is also in context with the lower class individuals, this is also in reference to the genre of music being called ‘urban’, as the image has been taken in an urban environment.
Who would be the audience for your media product and why?
My magazine has been aimed at a target audience of teenagers from a lower class background, this is due to the genre of music that I have chosen to base the magazine on, As it is mostly teenagers from a more lower class background who are into ‘grime’ music. The reason that I chose to base the magazine on this genre is because there are not many magazines which focus purely on this genre of music, and therefore there is a space in the market for such a product to be released and overall this will help ensure that there is a decent amount of sales made. The genre of my music magazine was also decided by a question in my questionnaire, to which the majority of people answered hip hop/urban, but ti was also affected by my personal knowledge of the genre, as I know about this music it is easier for me to research about it and also to
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product? During the process of creating this magazine, I have gained skills in how and learned how to use the basics of Adobe Photoshop; I also learned how to construct the image and text through Adobe Illustrator, as these are the two products which I used to create the magazine. I also discovered how to use a digital camera and how lighting can greatly affect the overall outcome of the image. I also learned how to create and upload images to a blog, these new found skills i used to create the blog which my work is displayed on, http://stanley1993-marcus.blogspot.com/. The skills which I obtained in Photoshop, overall helped me to create effects on the image and text, which in my opinion saves the front cover, contents page and double page spread from being plain and adds life to the images.
What do you feel you have learnt in the progression from the preliminary task to the full product?
When I first began with the preliminary task, I was clueless when it came to editing pictures, but as I progressed onto the full product I had enough skills to create the magazine cover how I wanted it to look and therefore I could show the full extent of who I wanted the magazine to appeal to.The original images for the college magazine which I created were very unprofessional, as the lighting was very dull and the background was very light, the model wasn’t looking at the camera and seemed to be preoccupied and the quality of the image was quite poor, whereas the images for the final magazine were very good quality, the person used a direct mode of address and the artist seemed to be more confident, compared to the Original mock up college magazine. Another element which I have improved for the final music magazine is that I have changed the place of the title and placed it on top of the page, so that it is more noticeable and this is the normal conventions of a magazine, also I have increased the size of the text and anchorage text, this is to make it more noticeable for the reader, which is an element which I never considered when creating my college mock up magazine.
