In what ways does my magazine use, develop or challenge the forms and conventions of existing magazines?
Even though I like Vibe magazine I thought that their contents page was a bit plan and didn’t look very attractive so I took inspiration of the layout of NME magazine, because they use a variety of images and less writing. So my magazine has 6 images around the page shaped like a border and a little article summery. I have used a big image in the centre and that is of Soulja Boy because that is the main feature in the magazine. Even though I used all the conventions of NME I chose to have two boxes of information giving more information about what is in the article called ‘Plus’ boxes. Instead of challenging NME is tried to incorporate all the conventions of the page, the same for Vibe I didn’t challenge their layout dramatically at all but instead used their conventions because they have been so successful and looks professional just like I want my magazine to be.
How does my magazine represent a particular social group?
My magazine ‘Loud’ is a Hip Hop and RnB magazine; I chose that genre because I listen to it therefore know roughly what a magazine of that genre should look like. I personally think that my magazine represents the social group of black working class youths who listen to RnB and Hip Hop. They will be able to relate to my magazine based on the genre and the choice of artist and genre. When thinking about the social group I also had to think of the price of my magazine because if it is too pricey then my social group wouldn’t probably buy it. The artist that I chose for my front cover Soulja Boy is relatable to the social group because he came from a black working class neighbourhood. The main image on the front cover also symbolises the social group of black working class youths by the use if the bars in front of him and the way that he is looking into the camera looks really urban like he is in the hood. The diction that I used was colloquial as well because I wanted my particular social group want to read it.
Who would be the audience for my Magazine?
The target audience for my magazine is both male and female, even though it I know that there is a special niche audience that will be the main ones that will read and buy my magazine. Like other RnB magazines but Vibe in particular my target audience will enjoy the genres of RnB and Hip Hop. My title ‘Loud’ is the title of Rihanna’s new RnB album so as soon as you hear that masthead you will think of RnB which will attract my audience. The conventions of my front cover should also attract the audience because the artist is well known and represents that stereotypical urban character. When thinking about my target audience I had to take the price into consideration knowing that the age range will be 17-25’s so I priced it at £2.99 which isn’t to expensive compared to other magazines.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The two closest magazines to my magazine are Vibe and NME. Both are produced by different companies, Vibe is produced by InterMedia Partners and NME is produced by IPC Media so those two companies would be the most suitable to produce and distribute my magazine to the shops. InterMedia Partners would be the most appropriate. The reason behind this is that it distributes to the American audience meaning it will be making more money and be more successful giving the magazine the money it needs to keep it going. Also because America
How will I attract/ address my audience for my music magazine?
Before creating my magazine I created a questionnaire and gave them to people who meet my target audience on the questionnaire I asked questions such as; what magazines do you read?, How much would you pay for a magazine? , where do you buy your clothes from? (People don’t have to write their name on it so they don’t get embarrassed about writing the truth). I then used their answers to give me ideas for my magazine. For example a lot of people wrote that they get their clothes from H&M and new look and Primark so when creating an advertisement I will put one of those shops up also you can win vouchers for one of those shops. I also asked what is their favourite artist at the moment again most said the same people like Nicki Minaj, Drake, Trey songz, Lil Wayne, Rihanna ect so when creating my magazine I will keep these artist in mind and use them so people will see them in it and automatically be interested in buying it also the fact that by using those artist I will be addressing my audience and genre. The fact that I asked the audience how much they would pay for the magazine is important because if it is too expensive they will not buy it and again taking my target audience and social group into account I need a reasonable price but at the same time make some sort of profit to make the magazine successful. So because I want my magazine to be successful I need to address and attract my target audience so getting their ideas and incorporating that will help in making my magazine.
What have I learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
In order to make my magazine ‘Loud’ I needed to use the computer both at school and at home they have different applications for example I don’t have Photoshop at home but at school I do and I have the new Microsoft publisher at home which works different to the older version at school so that aspect was difficult but I got use to it. I wasn’t use to using Photoshop so I found that difficult to use especially when it came to editing the pictures I tried t use it a couple of times but found it to complicated to use so I used a programme called Piknic which edits all sorts of pictures you can make a picture lighter or darker you can add font you can also sharpness and this is important so that all the pictures look high quality and look as if it is a photo shoot.I also had to do that for a few other pictures just show some contrast for the article page. All this was done in Piknic it was a very easy tool to use compared to other applications such as photoshop.
I additionally learnt how to use blogger; it is where we put all our work on. It was a challenge at first when trying to insert images onto it because you had to make sure that you save your work as a Jpeg then put it on and some of my work was on word which cannot save work as a Jpeg so then I would have to copy it all on to publisher to be able to save it as a Jpeg and put it on my blog. Once I found out how to use blogger it was surprisingly easy to use and I found that it is a good way of ordering your work and presenting it. Many people today in this century use the computer and other forms of technology so it is becoming ever more important.
Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
When I started this project I created a school magazine which didn’t take much effort at all. But the advantage of the preliminary task was that it got me ready and thinking about what I could do for my music magazine and how I can make it look like an actual RnB magazine. Through out this project I have learnt a number of different things such as; how to use different forms of technology such as Piknic, blogger and publisher. But more importantly it has taught me all the main codes and conventions of a music magazine and school magazine I found that comparing the preliminary task and the final music magazine that music magazines have a lot more conventions to follow and a lot more things to think about like their target audience and their choice of artist for their front cover.
