Evaluation of my Media Product

By Stacey DaCosta

In what ways does your media product use, develop

or challenge the conventions of real media

products?

Question 1

The mast head Vibe magazine’s mast head is conventional used in a banner form across the page which is placed at the top of the magazine. The mast head is white and bold against a green background making it stand out to the audience

The main cover line This is essentially the main cover line as it is in a larger font than the rest of the cover lines showing the audience that this is the main feature of the issue which relates to this particular month.

The eyebrowThis is conventional for a magazine as it tells the reader what the main articles are inside the magazine

The central imageThe central image is conventional as it is laid over the masthead as Vibe readers are able to recognize this immediately even if the main image is covering the mast head completely. This shows that Vibe has built its readership over a period of time to get familiar with the name showing that now the magazine is established for the content as this is the main selling point. The image also show eye contract which draws in the reader. Females are also see in a sexualised manner as she shows her legs off and poses with her hand on her head. The text between the arm and legs is purposely put their so readers would be drawn to that after reading the main cover line.

Other cover linesAlso the rest of the cover lines highlights other key articles that will interest the reader to buy the magazine.

The barcode and dateThis is what all magazines have at the bottom which includes the price in different countries currencies e.g. this magazine states the price it is in, in Canada and the US. The date is also placed over the barcode usually or at the top of the magazine

TypographyVibe magazine uses mostly the same font throughout the magazine with just different sizes to show the main articles. At least eight different font sizes are used on the front cover so the reader is bored.

Conventions of a ‘Vibe’ Front Cover

The eyebrow I used an eyebrow to bring in my readers and highlight a main article that they would be interested in

The masthead – I used a bold masthead with a drop shadow and layered the maroon over the black to give it more dimension and to stand out. Also I spread it across the page which magazines of this genre do e.g. Vibe

Strapline I created a strapline of “Lyrics you will never forget” This is not convention in HipHop and R&B magazines however I wanted to produce something different that would make my magazine stand out in the market.

Main cover line – After looking at several front cover pages of HipHop and R&B magazines especially Vibe, I saw that it was conventional to place the main headline either on the left of right of the top of the page and it was rare for the main cover line to be placed in the middle. I made the font larger and bolder than the rest of the cover lines to emphasise it is the most important

Cover lines – I used 5 cover lines which is conventional for Vibe magazine. I tried to use words such as “Plus” to entice the reader and make them read on for what articles are in the magazine.

Barcode and date – I placed the barcode at the bottom right hand corner instead of the bottom left as I wanted to first grab the readers attention to the cover lines as they would start reading from the left instead of the right. Therefore they would read the content first before deciding the price.

Central imageIt is conventional in Hiphop and R&B magazines for women to show ¾ of their body as most of the images stop at their knees or thighs. The model also uses eye contact with the reader and her pose allows the reader to be brought down to the rest of the cover lines.

Eye contact – The model is looking straight at the viewer which makes the viewer feel like they are important .

My Front Cover

The predominant colours of my magazine consist of black, grey, maroon and navy blue. I thought these colours would fit in well with my target audience which is males and female, however mostly females. I thought navy blue would be a good colour as it would give a contrast of light blue and navy blue.The model of the same age range as my target audience in my magazine which is 16-22 year old which I thought would be easy for the audience to relate to.

Ways my front cover uses the conventions of real front cover

Like Vibe my masthead is simplistic, bold and clear and is also spread across the page like Vibe magazine does so readers are immediately able to recognize the name of the magazine. I went along with the conventions of

placing the central image over the masthead as I wanted to stick be conventional even though it is a new magazine in the market and readers still need time to recognize the name. This is why I also spread the

masthead out so it was more recognized. I used this masthead as my magazine as well as Vibe magazine are both of the same genre therefore our target audience’s are the same which means that this is what readers of

Vibe magazine would expect from other R&B and HipHop magazines.

Similarly to Vibe magazine’s front cover, my front cover also uses an eyebrow at the top of the page this allows the reader to know some of the key articles in the magazine or who features inside.

Ways my front cover uses the conventions of real front cover

RULE OF THIRDS

My front cover uses the conventions of a real media product as I made sure that it used the rule of thirds which is an important convention that Vibe magazine follows. I thought that as this is a R&B and HipHop magazine and my magazine is aimed at a target audience of 16-22 year olds, they would be rebellious teenagers/young adults therefore I stuck to the rule of thirds, but not completely.

TitleThe title is bold and laid out in an abstract format which is in three rows showing the magazine is very simplistic and unique. This may have been done to give the magazine it’s own style so if readers saw this they would immediately know this belongs to Vibe magazine. Vibe’s contents page is always consistent as they use the same font through all their issues.

Conventions of a “Vibe” Contents page

Main imageVibe magazine conventionally uses one image on their contents page so it’s not cluttered with information and the reader can easily navigate their way through the magazine as it is clear and concise. The model is looking straight at the reader to show their significance and make them feel involved. The main colours used are grey different shades of grey and black with a pop of colour from the heart.

The magazine is divided in a range of sections

The letter ‘V’ from the masthead is used and is quite transparent and hidden behind the title and main image, which indicates that Vibe magazine already has a built in readership as they are instantly able to recognize that this is from Vibe.

The page numbers are written in bold making it easier for the audience to navigate their way through the magazine

We can see that below contents it states 1/3 which suggests that there is more sections of the contents page as it stops at ‘Fashion’ this means that Vibe magazine decided to go against what is conventional and have spread their contents pages out into 3 different pages which is unusual for a magazine.

Header I used this as it reinforces the name of the magazine to the reader. Vibe magazine’s contents page doesn’t do this, making my magazine unconventional. I thought as this is a new magazine a header would help my target audience to remember my magazine better.

Main imageLike Vibe magazine I used one main image in my contents page as I didn’t want to distract the readers away from the main feature of the magazine which is ‘Rihanna’

My contents page

HeadlineSimilarly to Vibe I used a different font to my masthead as I didn’t want my target audience (16-22) to get bored easily. I decided to go against the conventions of Vibe by laying my out in a different format, as Vibe usually lays their headline in 3 sections. I did this as I wanted my magazine to stand out against a bright background.

SectionsI divided my magazine into different sections so the reader would be able to easily navigate their way through the magazine, for example if a reader wants to see the ‘Gossip’ section they know exactly what page it is as it is written in a larger text.

Page numbersI placed the numbers in a bright bold orange as I wanted it to be easy to read, like Vibe did.

Reference to the model and photographer I made sure to highlight the main article in the magazine by writing ‘Exclusive

biography’ also I used Direct mode of address by stating “You won’t want to miss it!” The word “You” is talking to the reader directly making them feel more involved and important.

Ways my contents page used and developed the conventions of real contents page

Vibe magazine lays their contents page on a range of pages (normally 3) I developed the conventions of a real contents page by putting all of the contents page information on one page so it would make it easier for the reader to navigate their way through the magazine and find the page they want.

I used Vibe magazine’s conventions of dividing my magazine in main sections such as ‘Posters’ and ‘Gig reviews’ so the reader can get what they are looking for immediately without reading everything in the contents page to find the page they want

Conventions of a ‘Vibe’ double page spread

A stand first This is conventional for all articles to use as this gives an introduction of what the article is about.

Full bleed imageThis is placed on the left facing page and the model is looking straight at the camera

Header‘Vibe’ is used to indicate the reader is reading this magazine. Also highlights the section they are on.

HeadlineIt is bold and clear to the audience and is placed on the right facing page which is conventional for most double page spread articles.

Copy

Text is written in bold as well as regular

My double page spread

FooterThis includes the date, page number and the name of the magazine

Pull quotesI used four pull quotes all together which is unconventional for Vibe magazine to do but seeing as my audience is aimed at 16-22 year olds I considered the fact that they would get bored easily and by using pull quotes it was drawn in the reader if they knew the main parts of the article

Drop capI used this to make it eye catching and it would immediately draw the reader into the text. This is unconventional for Vibe to do.

HeaderI used a header so the readers would be familiar with the magazine and it is also conventional for Vibe to also used one.

HeadlineI wanted my headline to stand out so I made it in italic and a bright red, and made it into a satin effect. Following the headline I wanted to write words that were catchy to my target audience by using alliteration “Rihanna’s revolutionary race to recognition”

Stand firstI used this to summarise what was in the article so readers would know exactly what they were going to read.

Main imageI went against the conventions of Vibe magazine by putting a landscape image onto a portrait page. This is unconventional for any magazine, however I wanted mine to stand out

By lineI wrote my name at the bottom of the page even though it is conventional to place it between the headline and stand first it after which Vibe magazine does. I placed it at the bottom as I didn’t want to clutter the top of the page as it already had the image, headline, stand first and header.

Columns and GuttersI made sure that the gutters were the same width. Like Vibe magazine I also have 3 columns.

How does your media product represent

particular social groups?

Question 2

The meaning of representation is something the media/media producer does to re construct reality and put forward their ideas

of what they think is reality but really isn’t, for example a musician/artist is shown to the reader in a different light to reality e.g. the way they dress and through their pose. They may not be

like this in reality, but portray this look.

What is meant by representation?

Lyrical reader profile:Cassie is a typical 19 year old who attends University where she studies English Literature and Journalism. Cassie’s friends live in halls with her and also read ‘lyrical’ as this is a common interest between her and her groups of friends. She also has a part time job so in her spare time she likes to splash out her money at places like Topshop and Urban Outfitters and loves reading about style. Cassie is into the latest technology and loves computers and downloading the latest apps. Cassie’s style reflects her taste in music as she aspires to look like her favourite music idols, for example Rihanna. She has a wardrobe of branded clothes and footwear. She looks forward to her Friday nights as she goes to the local night club with her friends where she has fun and listens to Hip Hop and R&B music. After a night out she comes home where she regularly tweets and uploads photos on Facebook.

Representation my photographs construct

Clothes/DressingMy front cover image demonstrates representation through what she is wearing as she has on a lot of jewellery e.g. rings and bracelets which reflects my target audience as it shows uniqueness and gives an 80’s feel to it, suggesting the music in the magazine is contemporary yet mature. The denim jacket and skater skirt also suggests that the fashion is up to date and trendy.

LocationI took my images in a TV studio in college against a white backdrop. I picked a white backdrop instead of black as I didn’t wanted to get to get the hair to represent Rihanna.

PoseI got my model to pose like this as it shows a kind of innocence to the reader and also shows they have something to hide, for example like many of Rihanna’s poses.

Mise en scene – This is means ‘telling a story’ for example through props, compositions, lighting and sets

How I demonstrate representation through copy

I tried to keep the copy as interesting as possible to my target audience so they would keep reading. I didn’t want my article to sound like I was just stating the facts so I made sure that the text flowed as much as possible. This articles represents my target audiences as it shows that Lyrical readers don’t just like the lyrics and beat to a song, they also like to find out the person behind the music.

How I demonstrate representation through design of my product

ColoursAs my magazine is aimed at males and females I used colours represented both sexes – e.g I used navy blue for males and burgundy for females.

ArticlesFor my coverlines I made sure to include features that would attract both females and males. Since my main article and front cover is based on Rihanna which would attract a female audience more than a males audience I made sure to include more male orientated articles too e.g. ‘Drizzy vs. Breezy

What kind of media institution might

distribute your product and why?

Question 3

IPC media is a large UK magazine publisher, selling over 350 million copies each year. IPC produce over 60 iconic media brands with most of their audience being women. IPC was sold to Time incorporated in 2001 which is also owned by Time Warner, making IPC an international corporation. Time inc publishes 130 magazines, for example Marie Claire, Uncut, NME, In style, Entertainment weekly, Life etc. I’ve noticed that IPC do not publish Hip-hop and R&B magazines therefore my magazine would bring something new to their teen and music section as IPC publish the magazine NME for the same age range as my magazine which is 16-22 years old, however this is a rock magazine. This suggests that there is a gap in the market for HipHop and R&B magazines in IPC therefore I believe a new genre of magazines would fit well into this publication as they haven’t done this before consequently leading to less competitions between other publishers. Also after looking closely as their magazines and recognizing many of their successful magazines, I thought this would be a better publisher as they have good experience and would be able to make ‘Lyrical’ into a thriving magazine. IPC mainly publish their magazine to a mass market of men and women, therefore having a unisex magazine can build their readership even more, attracting a new set of readers and widening their audiences.

Where my magazine would be sold

My magazine would mostly likely be sold in big stores such as WHSmith and supermarkets such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrison's etc. My magazine would be sold in WHSmith especially as this is a book store and sells a range of magazines which would attract consumers looking specifically for magazines. Also since my magazine is a ‘music magazine’ it would be sold in a range of music shops e.g. HMV. My magazine can be sold in large retail pharmacy’s such as Superdrug and boots.

Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media

product?

Who is my target audience?

My target audience is between the age range of 16-22 years old. My magazine is also aimed at females as well as males, however predominantly females, similar to Vibe magazines audience. Vibe magazine’s statistics show that their magazine is made up of 55% of male adults and 45% of female adults.My audience’s interest

• They know how to play an instrument e.g. drums, guitar, piano etc.• They enjoy online shopping and watching out for the latest trends• They are up to date with technology and download the latest apps/applications

Shops they like:

Who is my target audience?

Lyrical reader’s style

Out of all celebrities Rita Ora’s style represents my target audience’s style the most. They love looking unique yet cool at the same time, by putting certain pieces together from different places to make one outfit. They like to stand out from the crowd and show their personality through their fashion.

Lyrical readers like looking relaxed and distinctive to other people by wearing hats, denim, t shirts, crop tops, hoodies and sunglasses.

Question 5How did you

attract/address your audience?

The target audience for Lyrical is males and females – however mostly females from the age of 16 to 22 years old. I tried to structure how women are portrayed in magazines such as Vibe, for example I found that they are seen in a more sexual manner as they have a full body shot, whereas men normally tend to have a head shot, and is therefore unusual for men to have a full body shot in a magazine especially in Vibe. I took a full body shot of my model as this is how women are represented in magazines.

How did I attract/address my audience through language, imagery and

layout?

How did I attract my audience?As my magazine is a cross over audience of males and females I attracted males to my magazine by using a full body shot of my model instead of a headshot. Also I attracted my audience of females by using a female on my front cover. This makes it easier for the viewer to relate to my model.

Imagery

How did I attract/address my audience through language, imagery and

layout?Language

How I attracted and addressed my audience:As my target audience is from the age of 16 – 22 this means that most of them are in higher education e.g. College/sixth form/university. Therefore I addressed my target audience through words used such as words such as “eccentric” as they would already know words like this. I also wanted to attract my audience through the use of alliteration e.g. “Rihanna’s revolutionary race to recognition” and “Barbadian Beauty” as this makes the text flow more and makes it memorable and sound more catchy. Layout and design

How I attracted my audience:I attracted my audience through layout and design as I structured my double page spread article in a different format than usual by not using a portrait image. This makes it look like she is lying on the page. This would attract my audience of 16-22 years old as it is seen to be rebellious and breaking the conventions of a magazine.

What have you learnt about technologies from

the process of constructing this

product

Question 6

Using wordpress, Adobe Photoshop and Indesign

Word press is a free and simple way to share information at anytime and anywhere. I found it really easy to find my way around the blog once I put everything into categories and menus e.g. In ‘Home’, ‘Preliminary exercise’, ‘Research & Planning’, ‘My music magazine’ and ‘Evaluation’ The second tool I used to construct my product is Adobe Photoshop CS5. This is used widely in the magazine and media industry to edit, enhance and manipulate photos. At first I found it quite hard to use as my model had very curly hair and I wanted to get the background out of it, but as I played around with Photoshop I was able to get used to it more.

This is an example of how I used Adobe Photoshop CS5

This To this

Wordpress

Adobe Photoshop CS5

Using wordpress, Adobe Photoshop and Indesign

The third tool I used to create my magazine after editing the images is Adobe Indesign. I used this to create my preliminary exercise which is a student magazine and my real magazine product – my front cover, contents page and double page spread. Initially I found this software also quite hard to use, especially the measurements. Like Photoshop I was able to come to terms with the software and produced a range of designs for my mastheads and then went on to make the real product.

Adobe Indesign

Camera

I used a SLR camera which I hired from my college along with a tripod and I also hired out the TV studio where I used lighting and a white backdrop to produce my photographs for my magazine. In order for me to construct my magazine I had to book the studio in advance. I found the camera really easy to use, however at first I go a few unfocused shots, which I like but weren’t clear.

Using other technologiesI used a range of other technologies in order to complete my coursework. These include...

• Social networking sites e.g. Facebook to contact my model as well as through phoning and texting.

• Google to do my research for my article and look at the style of other magazines

• Dropbox to make sure my work was saved and backed up, making it easily accessible on any computer.

Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have

learnt in the progression from it to the full

product?

Real contents page

http://staceyasmedia.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/new-18/

Please click the link which will direct you to my blog, where I speak about how I have progressed since my preliminary task and what I have learnt through the process

Preliminary Front cover

Real Front cover

Preliminary contents page

What have I learned about manipulation of representations?

I have learnt that the media can do anything to manipulate images and making it look perfect to the viewers. Most magazines airbrush and edit their images in Photoshop a lot before putting it on the front cover.

I have learnt how producers manipulate anything and everything to get you to buy their product.

After Before