Final Products

Evaluation Q7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Evaluation Q6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Evaluation Q5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluaton Q4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

Evaluation Q3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Q3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

A media institution is typically a profit based organisation that is in charge of the producing, marketing and the distribution of various media products.

The product that I researched was Kerrang which was published by Bauer Media Group. Bauer is a large European based media company that produces more than 600 magazines, 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations all around the world. The fact that Kerrang is published by this institute influenced my decision massively about which institution I would want to distribute my product.

 

Here are some examples of the products that Bauer Media Group produce where I am able to see a lot of the similarities between target audiences and demographic social groups.

If my product were to be distributed by any media institution, I would want it to be Bauer media as this institution typically distributes products that have a similar demographic and target audience to mine. In choosing to distribute my product via this institution would be done to hopefully encourage the audience of the existing products to also invest in mine due to the similarities between them both. I think this would work as the British public love familiarity yet, they would also see the differences that I have to offer within my magazine. I also think that since Bauer media is such a large company, the scale of the distribution would be massive and I would therefore hope that they would help me to reach out to the mass market that I’m trying to attract. This mass market could also be reached by the fact that other magazines they produce such as Q and Kerrang, have their own TV and radio station and website which would mean I am then able to reach out to more consumers virtually who may not typically like to buy a magazine as they prefer to have their products distributed on various technologies. 

Evaluation Q2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation Q1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

During the initial process of creating my magazine, the main aspect I wanted to focus on was the continuity as this enables the magazine to have a 'real' and convincing feel which would make it more believable to my target audience. I did this by keeping the same colour scheme throughout and similar styles of images which all helped the individual parts of my magazine appear as if it was from the same one. As well as this I kept the font sizes the same where I used larger fonts for the titles or important information and other sizes for the content etc. Although, if I'd have done the creating of my product again, I would have used the same fonts throughout for my titles as this would give it an even bigger sense of realism to my audience. I also provided continuity by using the same model who wore the same outfit more than once to again add to the believability.

Whilst researching various products, I studied the use and effects of various conventions - especially within my chosen genre of magazine so that I knew how I'd want my final products to appear. For example I looked at headers, footers, plugs, the main images and how they were effective etc. and the more products I researched, the more I saw a pattern develop with the choices of conventions which made it clear to me which I should include and its placement on the page.

The ways in which my magazine uses existing conventions effectively:

Second Draft of Double Page Spread

First Draft of Double Page Spread

Fourth Draft of Contents Page

Fourth Draft of Front Cover

Developments of my DPS

I then wrote the contents of the article in an interview format as I felt like this was a very liked and popular style of writing in my chosen genre. I differentiated the  questions and answers by having the questions written in bold and the answers in an emphasised font. This is commonly how magazines present an interview style format so in doing this I felt like it helped to present my magazine in a realistic and believable format. 

                              

I then added the page numbers that were stated in the contents page as this helped to show continuity throughout my magazine and it also made the DPS as a whole appear more realistic. I also added the masthead of my magazine smaller in the corner next to the page numbers as again this is a very common feature among DPS articles in a magazine.  

                         

When I finished writing the contents of my article, I then realised I hadn't accounted for the central point of the two pages where the crease would fall if it was to be made into a real magazine. To make sure that my writing was lined up properly, I measured what number my page started on which in this case was 0 and finished on which was 42. I then new that my central point would fall halfway between them numbers so I then put a line at number 21 which cut my page in half so I could then adjust the lining of my text so that it would be clear and legible if i were to make it into a real magazine.
At the end of the article, I also added the word 'continued...' as this allows the reader to know that the article continues onto the net page.

Progression of DPS

I began creating the title of my double page spread as I had a clear idea of what I wanted it to look like and where I wanted it to be placed on the page. In creating this first, this allowed me to position it where I wanted to and then create the rest of my page e.g. text and images around it which then made it easier when taking my images as this gave me a better idea of how I would need to frame them. I created my title by using the Round Blunt Medium Stiff tool as this allowed me to create a 'messy' and rugged text which was able to accommodate the style of my chosen genre. When creating the title, I changed the size of my brush regularly as this helped to create the look I wanted, the title wouldn't have looked right on my page if I'd made sure that the title was perfectly neat and in line as this is the opposite style to the genre I was trying to create. 

I then created a stand first where I wrote a brief overview of the contents of this article in a small paragraph as this allows the readers to know more about the celebrity featured in the article. For instance, someone may not know who the celebrity is so this brief introduction is allowing them to find out more about who's featured in the article. 

I then created a 'news' box as on the contents page, this article was featured in the news section of the magazine so in doing this, it provides continuity to the readers and reinforces to them other places that they can find out extra news. This would hopefully encourage a reader to buy a magazine as they would feel like they're getting more for their money as they are told where to find news of similar content which they will all be interested in as it is specifically based in their genre. 

I then decided to add a pull quote as this is a very common convention among double page spread articles as this helps to intrigue the reader and encourage them to carry on to read the full article. I couldn't decide between two pull quotes as I couldn't decide which one fit the genre and article better. When I put them both on my article, I decided that the second quote would be better for many reasons. These being, it fit on the page a lot better and there was less white space and it fits the content of both the article and genre a lot better than the other one as the first pull quote seemed to contradict the whole point and purpose of the article.

Conventions of DPS

• Main image
• Pull quote
• Stand first
• Drop cap
• Page numbers
• Columns
• Title
• Masthead (next to page numbers
• Do not place text in the centrefold 

Third Draft of Front Cover

I made various adjustments since my second draft of the magazine as these all helped to improve the overall look of my front cover.

I began my improvements by moving the plug slightly on the page as in my second draft, some of the plug was going off the page. I also added a yellow boarder to it as this fit my colour scheme and it also gave the plug a more '3D' look to it which helped emphasise it more on the page.

Front cover progression 3

Third Draft of Contents Page

Second Draft of Contents Page

Production of my Contents Page

I began creating my contents page by designing the layout as I found this as the best starting point . I started by making a yellow coloured box as the background for my masthead. This background made my masthead stand out more and help it look neater on the screen. The masthead was used to show continuity from my front cover so that it was obvious that it was from the same magazine. I also used this box as a background for the issue number and cover date. Both of these features are important as the readers like to know what issue they're on if they're regular buyers of the mag so they know they're up to date and the cover date is also important for this reason. It's also important in case the front cover gets lost so then the readers know which issue was from when. 

Once I'd created the layout, I then added the category names on the black boxes to show which articles feature under which categories. I designed it like this as it makes it easier for the reader to find what they're looking for. It also allows the readers to find and focus on what types of articles they like to read the best as they will read the heading and know where to find them.

Once I'd written the headings, I then wrote the articles and page numbers as this allows the readers to find what's where easily.

I created a subscription box as this is a very common feature among contents pages. I decided to have the prize music related as this is the genre of my whole magazine so therefore my prize choice was influenced by this as this would be the most appealing to my target audience.

I then added a competition with all of the images of the prizes taken from different music websites as I wasn't able to get a variety of t-shirts and CD's for the prizes myself to take images of.

Once I'd made the competition box, I then creates an editors as this is a very typical convention of contents pages. This allows the readers to gain incite into what it's like to create a magazine as information about what's happened during the week in the magazine's production will be there. The editor's letter is fairly informal and personal to the reader as this makes it a much more enjoyable read for thr reader and it helps to make them feel more involved in the magazine. 

Once I'd finished everything else on my contents page, I then knew how I wanted my main image to be framed and positioned as everything else was in place, I also made sure that I used the same person that was featured on my front cover as this helped to portray continuity within my magazine as a whole.

Images for my Contents Page