Evaluation Questions

1. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my music magazine would most likely be fans of rock/metal music mostly males who are in their teenage years. The reason for this is because I assume from what I have observed from actual magazines in this genre, male teenagers who come from a working class background would make up the majority of the readership since the genre appeals to people who are sometimes disillusioned and aggressive towards others. I don't have a specific ethnicity in mind on who I am trying to reach so my magazine can have a larger audience.

2. How did you attract/address your audience?
I attracted my audience by making the front cover for my magazine unique and non-conformist compared to other rock/metal magazines. This also would attract a reader because it fulfils the 'uses and gratifications' theory which fulfils the readers need for simple entertainment. The readers are also potentially drawn in by the picture on the front cover where the two people in the picture have a direct mode of address towards the audience. I also attracted the audience by utilising pathos, which appeals to other peoples emotions on the front cover.

3. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
As the target audience for my music magazine consists of male teenagers who have an interest in this genre of music, things such as ethnicity doesn't matter that much as due to the nature of the front cover the people's skin colour is ambiguous. The front cover also connotes towards the audience that the people on the cover are aggressive which conforms to a gender stereotype.

4. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
The technologies that I have utilised in the making of my product are; Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, PowerPoint and the Internet. Before the main task, I didn't have much experience in using InDesign and Photoshop. Using both the Internet and PowerPoint wasn't that difficult, with PowerPoint I only took screenshots to show the progress I made in my development of the magazine and I used the Internet to find the magazines to base mine off and use a barcode. With InDesign, I learnt how to make more complex layouts for my magazine and how to use Photoshop to manipulate images to create a more appropriate mood for my magazine.

5. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My magazine follows standard codes and conventions compared to actual magazines in certain ways and goes against them in others. When I compare my magazine to what it was based off, the front cover keeps the masthead and headline in prominent positions which make them similar to other rock magazines. The central image was also in a position in which the reader would be drawn to. I also saw that the regular music magazines in the genre, have a very intense and moody atmosphere so I attempted to replicate that in my own product.

6. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
A media institution that might distribute my media product would be the Bauer Media Group. The reason for this is because they are well-known for publishing the rock magazine; 'Kerrang!' so, logically, it would make sense to publish one from within the same genre. They reach all across the world though they are primarily based within Europe. However 'Kerrang!' is published in the United Kingdom which would contain the target audience I intend to reach with my music magazine.

7. Looking back at your preliminary work what have you learnt in the progression from the college magazine to the full product?
When I look back at my college magazine I created at the beginning of this unit and the recently completed music magazine I can tell that I have become much more proficient at using InDesign and Photoshop. I've learnt more about how to edit and manipulated photographs beyond what I did in the preliminary work where I mainly edited the lighting and removed spots. This has moved on to where I started to change the photos colouring to look more unique and eye-catching. I also feel that I've become better at making the pages more complex, this is apparent when comparing the content pages for the college and music magazines. Another reason as to why my music magazine was superior to the college magazine, besides my better proficiency in utilising the programs, was because I did interviews with my target audience which gave me more feedback on what worked and what improvements could be made. When making the music magazine I also had more photographs available for me to use. I would say that the main task's magazine is closer to the codes and conventions of a regular music magazine when compared to the preliminary work as there was a larger group of examples I could take reference from.