Evaluation Questions

Evaluation Questions



 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? In order for my final product to look as professional as possible I first had to do an in-depth analysis of existing products available on the market at the moment. I did this by learning the appropriate terminology and applying it where necessary to show my understanding of the conventions of a music magazine. After looking at existing magazines and their conventions, I began to piece together the foundations and layout of my own; for example, where the feature stories should be positioned on the front cover in order to attract my audience but also so they fit the look and the style of the magazine as much as possible. Through this research I have also learnt that it is important to have continuity throughout your front cover, contents page and double page spread. This is so that each page looks like it is from the same magazine and also so that the style and layout is easily recognisable. In order to achieve continuity throughout my product I used the same fonts and the same basic colour scheme for all of my pages. I also made sure the numbers on the contents page matched that of my features and I used the same artists I had mentioned of the front cover and made sure to include them as the features in my contents page. Because I had taken these minor details into consideration when making my magazine, I believe that my magazine does match the overall conventions seen and applied to a music magazine.



2. How does your media product represent particular social groups? I believe that my media product represents my particular audience very well as I used the social demographics table to help me attract the appropriate audience. The social demographics table was very important when I was deciding on what content I should include in my magazine as soon as I had decided what demographic section I was going to aim my product at. I decided to aim my media product at the demographic section C2 which includes people between 16-25 years old and 20% of the world’s population falls into this category and they all have some form of employment. I have chosen to aim my magazine at this category as the majority of people I know fall into this group so it’d be easier for me to appeal to these people. I also looked at reader profiles for my magazine and for some existing magazines on the market suitable to my genre. By looking at these I could estimate what my audience will be able to afford and also what they are spending their money on so I can appeal to their needs as best as possible. For example, after noticing that most people in my target audience have social media, I included some of my magazine social media platforms so that the audience can keep up to date with my magazines news and become involved in our production so they feel like they have a personal connection with our product. My media product also represents my audience as being keen music fans and that they are passionate about their local music scene.



3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? When making my music magazine, I based my magazine identity genre on NME which is a very popular magazine between the social demographics group I have chosen. Because of this I believe that it would be the best magazine for me to aspire to and recreate. NME magazine can be found in the majority of local shops and supermarkets as well as music and record shops. Because of this I would like the publisher of NME to distribute my product as they must have strong connections in the distributing industry as NME magazine can be found near enough anywhere. Also because NME magazine has been around since 1949 the company clearly know how to market their target audience, which is also very similar to my target audience therefore I can use this to my advantage in order to boost sales and readership. 



4. Who would be the audience for your media product? My magazine is aimed at people between the ages of 16-25 years old as the majority of this age group are in some form of employment or education and the majority of people I spend most my time with are in this category so I know how to cater to their needs and what they look for in a music magazine. Because of this I also know what they spend their money on and how they spend their free time which are aspects I can use to my advantage when thinking about my prices, features and competitions which will feature in my music magazine. I also did some research into NME’s audience research and their reader profile in order for me to get a rough idea of what my audience is spending their money on and what events they’re interested in. I based some of my reader profile content on NME’s existing profiles so I can try to represent the magazines ambition and content as closely as possible yet still adding my own style and features to attract a larger audience and therefore seeing a bigger profit. My reader profile I created shows different categories focusing on different aspects of my target audience lives. For example, my reader profile shows how much money my target audience spends on technologic devices so I can get an idea of what technology platforms I could use in order for my audiences to get involved and interact with my magazine as much as possible.



5. How did you attract/address your audience? One of the main purposes of a magazine is to catch the reader eye and interests as soon as possible in order for the magazine to be a success and to fulfil the reader’s needs. Because of this there are key conventions you should use when trying to achieve this and as I wanted my magazine to match all of to necessary conventions and look professional I have tried to include as many of these conventions as possible. On my front cover I included a plug which was a different colour to my main colour scheme and in different and larger font in order for it to stand out as much as possible. After carrying out some research in the form of a questionnaire I decided to advertise competitions such as ‘WIN tickets to LEEDS FEST 2016’. This is to entice the consumer into buying my magazine for a small price as they have the opportunity to win a prize over £200 and it is a festival that is mainly dominated by my target audience so it would suit the genre of my magazine and the artists featured in it. I also advertised the free items on the footer of my magazine; for example, ‘FREE THE 1975 POSTERS INSIDE’, in a smaller font and in different colours so my page looked even and readable yet the important features and items were still easily read and presented. By choosing the word ‘inside’ on my footer, it made the audience want to pick up the magazine and see what other features are inside, as well as the free items displayed on the front cover. I used particular imagery inside my magazine of the artists featured and of the free items I was advertising. I think that this is important as the audience will look at the images first and this will influence the next move on whether they pick up my magazine or not. For example, if the images and font look like they suit the genre and look professional then my audience are more likely the pick up the magazine and begin to scan through the features on the front page. I also believe that the consumer should have a he part to play in when putting together your first music magazine as you are trying to cater for them personally and their market. Because of this I used a multiple-choice questionnaire as a form of audience feedback and the results of this is what the majority of my final outcome is based on. In the questionnaire I included questions about prices, colour schemes, features and how often they would like to see my magazine published. However, I could not let the results of my questionnaire dictate the complete final outcome as it was obvious that if I asked how much they would pay for a magazine, the majority of people would opt for the cheapest option; however I need to take into account printing costs and publishing so I tried to create a happy medium between every question.



 6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? By using my understanding of technology and a passion to try new things, I began to construct my final product by using software such as Photoshop to edit and improve my images and to create a house style for my magazine. I also used my camera to make sure my images are clear and portray the necessary colours and brightness which are a convention of my magazines genre. I used an SD card in order to store my images and make them easier to transfer between other technological devices.



 7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? Whilst constructing my final media product I have learnt how to use Photoshop effectively and efficiently in order to make my images look as professionally as possible. I have also learnt how to manage my time strategically so that I don’t waste any time in producing my magazine and so that I have enough time to do the best I can. When looking back at my preliminary task I know that I have improved drastically in every aspect of the magazine even from the choice of font and to the editing of my images. However I do believe that the preliminary task helped me develop a further understanding of the basic conventions and allowed me to put all of the terminology and understanding I’ve learnt into practise as a draft piece so I can see where I can develop and expand my knowledge further. After completing both the preliminary task and my final media product, I have learnt that in order to produce a music magazine you need a very in-depth understanding of audience and a lot of technical knowledge in order to receive a professional looking outcome.