Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

In the preliminary task i learnt the basic skills of how to produce a magazine but at times i thought my preliminary work was too simple and didn't have the detail which was needed for the main magazine.

The images have upgraded a huge amount and my skills to edit them has as well. The images looked tacky and squashed in the college magazine but i feel that in the music magazine they are placed better and are better suited for the magazine.

In the preliminary task the text was limited and at times unreadable and there wasn't any connection between them but in the music magazine the text was more readable and has better place and font and is more fluid and adds to the image instead ruining it.

To conclude i feel my progress between the task has upgrade hugely and the work shows it. The preliminary task looks rule and poorly done and the completed task feels that more time and effort has gone in.

Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From using the technology like indesign and photoshop, i felt the progress of constructing my magazine became more fluid and easier and at times fun. Even though at first it took awhile for me to get my head around some of the techniques, for example; cutting the background out of my pictures.

I found it easier to use photoshop when it came to playing around with the picture, by using editing techniques it changed the whole atmosphere of the image and in my opinion made it look more professionally done. I mainly used photoshop for my front cover because i felt that it was basically easier to use and made it less cluttered.

With indesign I thought it was better to use for the pages with more text and to arrange the text in certain ways. Also i felt indesign was more useful when working with a detailed page of information. In indesign i felt each step of the construction progress was easy to pick up and easy to experiment with different text patterns.

Personally in the construction process i felt photoshop was more enjoyable because it felt more artistic and i found more freedom in editing the pictures than i did with the text.

Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

I addressed my audience by online sources like social media or by using other forms of media like radio and other magazines. Another way i addressed the audience is by getting the artists involved and letting them spread the word of mouth. This would attract a large number of the readers and then the fans would enjoy the extra detail and informality and become frequent readers.

I felt by using both new and old artists the fan base would quickly grow and become more interested. Either by reading about their favourite old artists or learning about the new ones. I thought by using artists on the cover that in the fans age range would attract them more because they could feel more relatable to them and quickly make links between themselves and the artists, aided by the articles inside which could give the fans background information.

Another way of attracting the audience was by giving out free CD's with sample music, this would give them a sneak preview of the artists work and allow the fans to chose if they like them or not and if so can get more of their music at their own will.

Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my magazine would be largely men of the age group of 15 to 24, this is because these are the men that enjoy this type of music and the events that play this music: clubs, festivals, raves and house parties. The subculture that would enjoy this magazine are quite common and vary in appearance but mainly wear the common fashion like: Jeans (skinny), t-shirts or shirts and normally a jacket or hoodie. They normally find this music by looking for new artists either by going online to find them, word of mouth or seeing them live but my magazine will be another source to find the artists breaking through and give them that extra information.

Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Bauer media will being the starting point for my magazine, with a large number of print and distribution companies. this product already has already established itself as a brand with a number of magazines already on sale. Then later on the the magazine will become its own brand.

This product will manly be made in print but also would have a webpage and use the all the social networks to connect with the audience, examples like:Instagram,twitter and Facebook. after the magazine gets established an app will be created, this app will be interactive and will connect the audience with the editors. This magazine would have links to Kerrang, Q and NME magazines and BBC radio 1 and other popular radio stations because they have common interests and their fan bases are similar or shared with my magazine. This network of different media brands would help build the magazine until it’s big enough to stand by itself and then the magazine can advertise the other brands.

My magazine will be cheap at the price of £1.99 and will run on advertisement from brands like alcohol companies, sporting companies and other brands that attract the young male audience. This creates the interactions with different brands 

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The target audience for my magazine is young men of the ages of 16 to 24, this is because this is the demographic that would go to the raves, festival, clubs and experience it in the house parties. The music represents a subculture of people who enjoy to dance and party, with the use of a heavy bass and electronic music but without going through a huge effort with their appearance.

The fact that mainly young men would read a drum and bass magazine, i used mainly male artists who are in their age group, this is seen in the real artists like MK, Pendulum and sub focus who are of the age range of the fans. My artists represent the real artists and also the fans because they don't try to make the impression that they're "rockstar"instead show that they're real ordinary people.

My magazine uses the colours red and blue because they're associated with being male colours and give the impression that conforms to the values of the gender. On the front cover the colours are bold and stand out and attracts the audience.



 

Question 1: in what way does your product use, develop or challenge form and conventions of a real media product

My media product conforms to the stereotype of the drum and bass genre of music, with a darker colour pallet and people with characteristics of the underground rave scene and the artists are of a younger demographic because they know the technology and they know want the fans want. The artists have casual fashion sense, this includes plain skinny jeans, T-shirts or shirts and sometimes hoodies, this represents a "back to basics" ideology and lets the music speak for them. A theme of the magazine is the red and blue theme, which all the writing is presented, this is because they are bold colours and catch the eyes, this theme of the magazine goes against other magazines because they normally use a large variety of colours.

My magazine challenges the conventions of a music magazine because the front page is simplistic and doesn't clutter the page with unneeded information. then inside the magazine it represents a style that is informal and lets the fan know what they want without any of the unneeded information, this style wants to represent a "written by the fans" idea. Nothing in the magazine is overpowering and is good for a light read once a month, giving the sense that its a good read but not troublesome.

The colour pallet was very important for my magazine because the main two colours are red and blue and this are two masculine colours addressing the fan base. The two main colours are also two bold contrasting colours which easily catch the readers eye but I tried to do this without being unpleasant.

I used male artists mostly because i wanted to make a connection between the artist and the fans. The idea behind this was to create the belief that the artists aren't unreachable and that they're human too, this could create the idea that the younger fans could follow in their footsteps and become the new wave of artists. This goes with the conventions of the genre.