Final Product

Front Cover

Contents Page

Double Page Spread

Evaluation Question 6

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

Whilst constructing my product I have developed skills in many areas regarding technology. I have used many different programs and websites to help me achieve a professional look for my media product, including Adobe Photoshop, blogger, and Prezi. Photoshop allowed me to edit and create my product, and through using it I have acquired knowledge on how to crop images, edit them, create typical conventions of a magazine etc. With this knowledge I was able to create a final product that looked professional. 

Prezi allowed me to present information in an organised and aesthetically pleasing way, helping me plan my final product more thoroughly, and leading to a more professional well thought out final product in the end. 

Blogger has allowed me to post and keep track of all my work and plans throughout the project, and enabled me to display my product in a stylized way which is very useful when constructing a product.  

Evaluation Question 5

5) How did you attract/address your audience? 

I began by thinking of what audience I was looking to address. Because of the genre of my magazine I decided it would only be right to address people who are seen or see themselves as 'Indie'. To attract and address Indie people I made sure all the content in my magazine was related to the interests a typical Indie person may have, for example, all the feature stories are based around bands and artists that are considered 'Indie' and are associated with Indie music culture. I also made sure to address my audience with content that would interest them, for example people with an interest for Indie music won't be looking to find out about the latest pop artists, they will be looking for content my magazine shows, next big Indie bands, news relating to big names in the scene, reviews of bands and live shows they should attend. 

Evaluation Question 4

4) Who would be the audience for my media product? 

From the offset I decided my magazine's genre would be indie rock, and following this came the thought of who this would interest and attract. The audience for indie rock music is quite a niche audience so i bared this in mind. I also looked at the reader profile of indie music magazine NME to analyse their audience, which will be of a similar nature to the audience of my media product. 
I found the primary audience was males, with only 32% of the audience being female.
I found the average age of the reader was 24. 
And I also found their are 2 cluster groups of consumers of NME: Young socialites who are style conscious students typically who love music, and first time earners who are people with a job who are simply in love with indie music. 
With this in mind I made sure all my content, aesthetic, offers and images all were something this audience would appreciate and pay an interest to. 

Evaluation Question 3

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

My magazine is an indie rock magazine, meaning I would have to find an institution that distributes magazines of a similar genre, as they would know exactly how and where to distribute my magazine in order to gain an audience. An example would be the institution IPC, who distribute NME, by also distributing my magazine, IPC will know how to attract an audience and gain profit from my product. 
On the contrary, an institution that doesn't distribute magazines of a similar genre would also be a good idea as they're would be no competition between sales, and the institution wouldn't doubt the idea of two magazines with very similar content being distributed at the same time by the same institution. An example would be Bauer who distribute Q, a magazine that mainly focuses on mainstream rock and roll, by having an indie music magazine they will have a broader range of magazines, which will potentially gain them profit.  

Evaluation Question 2

2) How does your media product represent particular social groups? 

My media product has a specific target audience; consumers of Indie music. By identifying this target audience from the offset I found ways to easily represent the specific social group associated with my media product; Indie people. My reader profile is shown in the image below. The content of my media product represents this social group as it is all focused around artists, bands and news that will interest people who are interested in Indie music. For example, Alex Turner is a popular cultural icon among those who are interested in Indie music, therefore by including content around him my media product represents the same interests to those it is aimed at. I also included the offer of tickets to Leeds festival in the plug, this represents the social class of my magazine, as many readers will be interested in the festival because of the Indie music acts, but may not be able to afford full price tickets. I also represented social class through the affordable price of my magazine as people of a working class background will have no problem paying a cheap price for a lot of content.  

  

Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Questions

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

To ensure my media product was made to a professional standard I used as many of the typical conventions as possible. 
On my front cover I included:

• A masthead, as it is an essential convention at the top of the magazine to ensure the reader knows what the magazine they are consuming is called 
• A plug to offer readers an opportunity that will attract them and make them want to consume my product, the plug contains an offer that corresponds with the genre of the magazine, in my case it is tickets to Leeds festival, a festival that displays acts from the genre of my magazine, Indie music. 
• A feature story, which displays the main content from the magazine and encapsulates the story into a bold, brief piece of text, leaving the reader wanting to know more.  
• Cover lines, which offer the name of artists that are featured in the magazine, offering more content for the reader to be interested in. 
• Images, main and small, to showcase the artists involved with the magazine and attract the reader before even reading what is to be said, if they are interested in the artists they will be interested in the product. 

On my contents page I included 

• Main feature story, to offer a more detailed insight into the content associated with the main artist 
• Page numbers and feature stories, to direct the reader to any of the stories they want to read instantly and give them a brief summary of the content written about that artist. 
• Subscription opportunity, to ensure readers are given the opportunity to invest into the product for a cheaper rate, ensuring the magazine gains a committed audience.
• Letter from the editor, to give the magazine a professional look let the audience engage with the man behind the magazine. 
• Images, to catch the eye of readers who may be browsing the contents to make a decision on buying the product 

On my double page spread I included 

• Large image, as this is a typical convention of double page spreads and helps maintain a professional feel to my magazine.
• Pull quotes, to give the audience a brief summary of the article, gaining their interest.
• Main Story, In a column structure, making the text look more concise assuring anyone who may think a main feature story is too much to read invests time into the main story.