Before creating my magazine I ensured I had a strong idea of the target audience I wanted to aim my music magazine towards . I took onboard gaps in the market and similar music magazines which would lead to competition , loss in sales and unpopularity so I ensured that my magazine was unique and original. I aimed my magazine toward both genders which would increase popularity and sales of the magazine giving it a more wider target audience. I aimed my magazine toward people between the ages of 15-25 giving it the edge of being mature yet interesting to interest people of both ages.

I made my magazine to be in the genre of ‘r&b, hip-hop’ style representing and taking inspirations from artists such as Nicki minaj, Tyga, J.cole, beyonce, drake ..ect and based my target audience around people who liked and listened to this type of music. A general stereo type shows that music and style is connected showing that the type of music you listen to may reflect on the type of clothes you wear and what kind of person you are also what the persons general interests might be … below I have collected a few images showing what my target audience may look like and what type of clothes they would wear.

My target audience shows a majority of black/mixed race. This may be seen as a stero type maybe suggesting that the majority of people that listen to r&b/hip-hop are black or come from black herratige. This could also link to the fact the most r&b/hip-hop singers are infact black themselves or have black herratige for example the artists I mention previously ‘artists such as Nicki minaj, Tyga, J.cole, beyonce, drake ..ect ‘ are all black or have black herratige themselves. Although my magazine is a r&b/hip-hop magazine my main image shows a mixture of races shown on the main image. The main image shows two girls with a white race and a girl with a mixed race. The group are a band and the main singer is mixed race and is placed in the middle linking with the fact that the majority of the audience is someone who is black or with black heritage so this might make them want to pick up the magazine because of the link.

I engaged my target audience to looking at the magazine by mentioning popular r&b/hip-hop artists which would interest them I mentioned Nicki minaj, Tyga, J.cole, beyonce, drake which are all very popular and are big names in the r&b/hip-hop industry.

When choosing my target audience I took in the fact of how I may address my audience and what wording I would use and how I would present the text. I decided of my audience to be between the ages of 15-25 which may suggest that it would be more appropriate to use my informal language making the audience feel comfortable in what there reading and wanting to read on for example I used language such as ‘+10 festivals to hit this summer’. More of a formal language could make the reader feel disconnected and have nothing in common and no interest in what there reading , it could also make them feel inferior and spoken down to.

Through the magazine I used colours that would appeal to both genders , I did this to avoid having a gender my magazine is primarily aimed towards , this would avoid weakening the popularity and narrowing the amount of sales. I used colours like purple , white , yellow and black. I used these colours because they are not seen as being a male colour or a female colour were as if I used to colour blue it would be seen as a male colour just as if I used the colour pink it would be seen as being a female colour .

The name of the magazine also attracts my target audience making it to be very simple yet affective . The name ‘edge’ also links to my target audience wanting them to be edgy and have and edgy style , it is also a name that is aimed towards just female or just males , it can be aimed towards both genders.

Although I didn’t use both male and female models to link with the fact is aimed towards both genders I doubt it will make a huge impact because of the fact I have mention popular r&b/hip-hop music artists which both male and female obviously have a huge interest in. The only reason I have used just female is because the main bands and music artists are female.

Shows I mention popular r&b/hip-hop artists which attract the target audience. This is also in a bold font to attract and make it stand out to the audience , the word ‘free’ above it is shown in a different colour and underlined to make the audience instantly think there getting a barging or winning a prize.

Using the words ‘reveal all’ attract the audience into thinking that they have a big secret so they would want to read on . This is in a bigger font than the rest of what the magazine contains to make it stand out and seem important also to attract and lure the audience in.

Using a bar code , issue number, price and date make the magazine feel more real to the audience and show the practice of code and convention.

The contents page gives the audience a sneak peak at what they are about to receive giving them a snippet from the ‘exclusive’ interview. The word exclusive also draws the audience in and captures there attention making them think that there getting a exclusive look in and that the magazine is exclusive which automatically enhances its worth.

Making certain words appear in a bold font or changing the colour also attracts the audience , for example changing the font on the word ‘free’ and underlining it can attract the audience and lure them in to wanting to buy the magazine thinking they are getting something for free using a persuasive technique.

Using page numbers show the realism to the audience and show the practice of simple codes and convention.

Iv chose Bauer media as an institution to distribute my magazine for many reasons. Bauer magazine is one of the uks leasding media institution companies , they represent a diverse range of magazines , music channels , radios and tv , they also have over 80 influential media brands. I have chosen Bauer media because I feel that because of there diversity and and success that they could reperesnt bowsa magazine in a good light . Also because they have a lot of influential and successful music magazines such ad Q and kerrang so I feel if Bauer did distribute my magazine they would have the knowledge on distributing popular successful music magazines .

• 300 magazines in 15 countries, as well as online, TV and radio stations.

•Bauer Media spans over 80 influential brand names

• magazine heritage stretches back to 1953http://www.bauermedia.co.uk

Beaur media distribute kerrang magazine , kerrang magazine are one of the worlds biggest selling weekly music magazines, it is a genre rock based magazine which includes things like posters, gig guides, reviews and exclusive features.

Beaur media also distribute the magazine closer. Launched in 2002 , closer is a popular glossy magazine , including latest celebrity gossip and real life content. It also includes a large lifestyle section which includes subjects like diet and health, fitness, fashion and beauty.

Q magazine is the Uks biggest selling monthly music magazine , Q magazine has created name and brand which is recognised by music lovers . It is seen as a very popular and upmarket , professional music magazine and the voice of the music industry.

Using a large masthead , makes the magazine stand out and look more professional , it also makes it stands out as a professional magazine brand .

Main image , medium close up , showing facial expressions , and the models clothing , this can portray and image and identity , appealing the a certain sector of the audience maybe having the same style or personality.

Main headline title is usually bold and links to the main image , either promoting an interview or other. This shows that model/models are influential in the music industry or are seen as famous or upcoming , which shows they have a big impact on the audience.

Using colours , shows what the magazine issue is all about and is also used to show a theme or portray the personalities of the music artists used for example in ‘vibe’ magazine shows Janet Jackson using faint pastel pinks and bright blues portraying that she's girly and bubbly were as in ‘EDGE’ magazine the colours are dark and grungy maybe hinting that the band may have a dark side.

Facial expressions and poses also play a big part in the magazine and how it is seen , using a model who is pulling a happy , girly pose may show the magazine is aimed towards young girls but using the a model who is pulling a sexual pose may show that the magazine is aimed towards an more mature generation or for males. ‘EDGE’ magazine shows the models posing as more rebellious and bad which may suggest that there music is rebellious and bad but in ‘VIBE’ magazine Janet Jackson is pulling a more sexual pose with her mouth open ands by her trousers which may suggests her music is more mature.

Big masthead captures the audiences attention, I have used a slightly edgy font to link with the magazine title ‘edge’ because I have made my magazine to appeal to both genders , I didn’t want to make the font to girly or two masculine so I opted for a colour which would appeal to both male and female

the bar code is essential in making the magazine seem more real and professional . It is also a key thing that every magazine needs in order for it to be distributed . The bar code I have used is one I found on Google images .

I have used a large main image to stay in lines with what a typical magazine would have . This type of shot is used to emphasise this main star on the cover . This also represents them to the audience in a certain way using facial expressions and types of clothing.

Mentioning the word ‘free’ on the front cover instantly makes the magazine more appealing and popular making the audience think there getting a freebie/barging.

Issue number and date makes the magazine feel more realistic and look more professional to the audience .

Making the main story the biggest font and a different colour makes it stand out to the audience and makes it known it’s the main story and linked to the main image.

Using the same font as the front cover on the title , makes the magazine seem more professional , and making it the same throughout.

Using pictures on the contents page promotes inside the magazine and gives the audience a sneak preview of what they could read and what they could read about.

Taking quotes from inside stories , is what most magazines seems to do, it makes the reader want to read on and read all the stories which persuades them to end up buying the magazine.

Listing the main stories first adding pictures , different colours and fonts gets the audience more interested and then listening the other pages show what other things the magazine has to offer.

Using the band name in a big font/different colours and fonts makes them look important and as if the story is also very important this makes the band the main focus for the reader .

Using the words ‘exclusive interview’ makes the reader think there getting an exclusive look in , and that the interview is going to contain secrets and untold things , making them want to read on .

Using separate images of each of the band members makes it seem more personal and gives the reader and closer look at the band members maybe showing there individual style and portraying there personality through facial expressions .

The quote that is normally taken from the interview and enlarged is normally the thing that sounds over exaggerated on its own which makes the reader want to read more.

Making the question a different colour to the answer makes it easier to understand for the reader and makes it look more professional as most magazines either do this or make it a different font or bolder.

I feel my magazine is very aimed towards people from the ages of 15-25 who have a general interested in r&B / Hip-hop music and culture and would interest people in this social group as well . r&b/hip-hop is a very popular and recognisable genre of music and with people like beyonce and drake in the media to promote it.

The specific social group that would be interested in my media product would be males and females between the ages of 15-25 interested in r&b/hip-hop music with a cool fashionable street style edge and look up to artists such as rhianna and drake and tyga for this image. To promote this I have looked at the clothing my models were and the back drop of were the images have been taken.

On the front page it shows the band wearing very fashionable clothing and standing next to a wall with graffiti in the background as the bands name this represents cool urban street style.

I have learnt a lot from making my media product , I have learned more about different camera shots and angles and which works best for a certain image or page and how to portray my images. I have also learned more about editing my pictures to enhance them either editing the exposure or contrast , making it lighter or darker , cropping my images and using different colours. I edited my pictures on a free site called picknik , having no knowledge of what picknik was or what picknik could do I taught myself and was amazed at what effects you could use to make pictures look better and more professional. I also learned how to add text and use different effects such as black and white , sepia and a 1960’s effect. I also learned how to use the website ‘fontspace’ which is a website that has hundreds of different fonts including famous fonts that you can add your own texts to . I found my font for my magazine title and band name from this site. Technologies is not reliable 100% incase of loss of work so you need a backup file for each piece of work.

After creating my school magazine I found this task to be very beneficial as it gave me an insight in to what creating a magazine was like but on a smaller scale. But from the school magazine task I learnt to basics such as creating a target audience and using things like layouts and colour schemes to appeal to the target audience showing my creativity. I learnt how to organise my work by planning each page carefully before making my final draft I carefully researched what colours and fonts would interest and capture the eye of my target audience . I also learnt the basic codes and conventions from adding a bar code, price and date to make the magazine seem more realistic and professional , I learnt that every popular well established professional magazine including a issue number this was recognised by researching different magazines in the same chosen genre of mine .

After looking back at both magazines I have made I can see a drastic improvement which shows I have learnt and made progress this is shown by the way I have laid out my magazine and the presentation showing a clear house style , the photography is also a much higher standard and the way I have edited the pictures looks more professional and interesting. I carefully selected the clothing my models wore and made sure facial expressions and backdrops linked to the magazine audience and house style. Looking back on my magazines I have realised I could of improved maybe by using better grammar and punctuation or adding my text and images to the contents page. I recognised this and made sure I improved this on my music magazine which shows I can take criticism and improve my magazine.

Here are images of both magazine covers showing I have made improvements by adding more text on my front page also adding a date and issue number and bar code .