1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My media product utilises many key conventions found within real media products, more specifically music magazines. For example, on the main cover, I have utilised a large typeface to emphasise the name of the artist who will be the main focus of this issue, or at least have a feature article within the magazine. I have also adopted an image which portrays the subject in an intimidating and confident pose to give the reader the impression that the artist is perhaps planning something, or perhaps implying they are behaving confident for a reason, but not explicitly specifying what this reason is. This, in turn, is likely to prompt the reader to go and pick up a copy of the magazine to find out why an artist which is rather famous is behaving in such a way. This is a convention found across most magazines, not necessarily exclusive to musically-orientated ones. It does, however, challenge conventions, using a circular background behind the masthead, whereas most magazines either do not utilise a background behind the masthead, or resort to a rectangular one. In my opinion, I do not believe the shape of the background detracts from the overall effectiveness of it.
For the contents page, it uses a very linear and organised structure which is immediately obvious upon first viewing. It is filled with information, featuring as many possible artists and gripping previews of articles within the magazine. This large amount of information is a common convention within magazine contents pages, especially music magazine contents pages. Aside from this, the fact that there is no 'main' story featured on the contents may be considered a convention, or may be seen as challenging conventions. In my opinion, this helps the overall look of the contents page by not including one 'main' article to focus on, and I believe this is a convention of other music magazine contents pages. One aspect which may seem to be challenging a traditional convention is the inclusion of the 'Contributors' section, which may not necessarily always be found within a music magazine, especially on the contents page. Despite this, however, I believe that the inclusion of this section works very well, giving the audience a sense of connection with those who have worked on the magazine. As well as this, it is also written slightly informally and light-heartedly so to fit in with the rest of the magazine's writing style.
My double-page spread follows the convention of traditional music magazines, by featuring a rather simplistic layout style. It features just three colours, black, white and red. The image is also placed in a rather simplistic fashion, not overlapping to the other half of the page. I have also included the credits to the writer and photographer who worked on the respective pieces for the article, a convention found either at the beginning or end of a music magazine article on a double-page spread. The fact that the image itself is in black and white, however, may be considered challenging the conventions of traditional double page spreads, as a double page spread, especially in a music magazine, isn't expected to adopt such a sombre, melancholy tone. Despite this, however, I believe this fully works in the design's favour, as the article itself is quite toned down, informal and overall not 'zany' enough to warrant an over-exaggerated, overly-colourful image.
For the contents page, it uses a very linear and organised structure which is immediately obvious upon first viewing. It is filled with information, featuring as many possible artists and gripping previews of articles within the magazine. This large amount of information is a common convention within magazine contents pages, especially music magazine contents pages. Aside from this, the fact that there is no 'main' story featured on the contents may be considered a convention, or may be seen as challenging conventions. In my opinion, this helps the overall look of the contents page by not including one 'main' article to focus on, and I believe this is a convention of other music magazine contents pages. One aspect which may seem to be challenging a traditional convention is the inclusion of the 'Contributors' section, which may not necessarily always be found within a music magazine, especially on the contents page. Despite this, however, I believe that the inclusion of this section works very well, giving the audience a sense of connection with those who have worked on the magazine. As well as this, it is also written slightly informally and light-heartedly so to fit in with the rest of the magazine's writing style.
My double-page spread follows the convention of traditional music magazines, by featuring a rather simplistic layout style. It features just three colours, black, white and red. The image is also placed in a rather simplistic fashion, not overlapping to the other half of the page. I have also included the credits to the writer and photographer who worked on the respective pieces for the article, a convention found either at the beginning or end of a music magazine article on a double-page spread. The fact that the image itself is in black and white, however, may be considered challenging the conventions of traditional double page spreads, as a double page spread, especially in a music magazine, isn't expected to adopt such a sombre, melancholy tone. Despite this, however, I believe this fully works in the design's favour, as the article itself is quite toned down, informal and overall not 'zany' enough to warrant an over-exaggerated, overly-colourful image.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My music magazine focuses primarily on representing the artists within the music industry, but also indirectly represents particular social groups through the imagery, language usage etc. The magazine, as a whole, adopts a very informal tone regarding its use of language. This is far more likely to appeal to a younger audience (i.e. my target demographic) because of the light-bearded and lack of a serious tone. The imagery is also likely to appeal to this target audience because of the intimidating and interesting mannerisms the subjects of the images express through their poses. Regarding how this represents a particular social group, it is clear to see that a younger social group is far less likely to read long, monotonous articles, showing how they may have a short attention span - this can be justified by the informal, to-the-point layout of the magazine, ensuring that there isn't a moment where the reader becomes bored with the text.
My music magazine focuses primarily on representing the artists within the music industry, but also indirectly represents particular social groups through the imagery, language usage etc. The magazine, as a whole, adopts a very informal tone regarding its use of language. This is far more likely to appeal to a younger audience (i.e. my target demographic) because of the light-bearded and lack of a serious tone. The imagery is also likely to appeal to this target audience because of the intimidating and interesting mannerisms the subjects of the images express through their poses. Regarding how this represents a particular social group, it is clear to see that a younger social group is far less likely to read long, monotonous articles, showing how they may have a short attention span - this can be justified by the informal, to-the-point layout of the magazine, ensuring that there isn't a moment where the reader becomes bored with the text.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The target audience for my media product would be typically young adults, specifically those interested in reading about new or upcoming artists within the music industry. Because there are several different genres of music, I considered it would be easier to stick to one specific type of genre. In this case, I decided to pick the genre of alternative/indie rock, genres popularised by publications such as NME and Q, of which I have already researched. Based on these two scenarios, I have determined that the key demographic for my music magazine are young adults/teenagers (typically in the age range 16-30) who would also be interested in alternative/indie rock, and have designed and produced my magazine in accordance with this in mind, using informal/light-hearted language to help the reader feel comfortable with the text and therefore less likely to lose interest.
The target audience for my media product would be typically young adults, specifically those interested in reading about new or upcoming artists within the music industry. Because there are several different genres of music, I considered it would be easier to stick to one specific type of genre. In this case, I decided to pick the genre of alternative/indie rock, genres popularised by publications such as NME and Q, of which I have already researched. Based on these two scenarios, I have determined that the key demographic for my music magazine are young adults/teenagers (typically in the age range 16-30) who would also be interested in alternative/indie rock, and have designed and produced my magazine in accordance with this in mind, using informal/light-hearted language to help the reader feel comfortable with the text and therefore less likely to lose interest.
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
One of the main ways that I attracted my audience was through the use of the abundance of artist names throughout the magazine. I ensured to feature names of various artists prominently on my main cover and my contents page, hopefully with the intention of attracting the attention of as many people as possible. The target audience is far more likely to purchase a copy of the magazine if they saw the name of an artist they followed or were interested in reading about, hence the reason there is a large emphasis on featuring as many different artists as possible, thus appealing to as many people as possible
In addition, I have also ensured that I use simplistic designs on the Double-Page Spread to make the otherwise overbearing article easy-to-read, maintaining the focus of the audience. On the contents page, I adopted a far more complex design, but still emphasises certain parts such as the main articles and features within the magazine to help emphasise the parts of the contents which are important and should be referred to for more insight into the articles. I have also used the band list to appeal to the audience, as it is unlikely they would want to read through the entire magazine to find an artist they were interested in reading more about.
One of the main ways that I attracted my audience was through the use of the abundance of artist names throughout the magazine. I ensured to feature names of various artists prominently on my main cover and my contents page, hopefully with the intention of attracting the attention of as many people as possible. The target audience is far more likely to purchase a copy of the magazine if they saw the name of an artist they followed or were interested in reading about, hence the reason there is a large emphasis on featuring as many different artists as possible, thus appealing to as many people as possible
In addition, I have also ensured that I use simplistic designs on the Double-Page Spread to make the otherwise overbearing article easy-to-read, maintaining the focus of the audience. On the contents page, I adopted a far more complex design, but still emphasises certain parts such as the main articles and features within the magazine to help emphasise the parts of the contents which are important and should be referred to for more insight into the articles. I have also used the band list to appeal to the audience, as it is unlikely they would want to read through the entire magazine to find an artist they were interested in reading more about.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from that to your full product? 
When comparing the progression of my finished product to my initial preliminary tasks, it is clear to see just how much the work has improved. One of the major things which I have believe I have learned is the importance of font. Font is one of the main components which makes up a magazine, and often goes overlooked. In my finished product, I have used bold, gripping fonts where necessary (such as the masthead and main sell line on the cover page), but merely used the same font throughout essentially all of the preliminary task. This, obviously, made for a very unprofessional looking product. Another obvious design feature which I realised the importance of is the colour scheme. In my preliminary task, I used black and white, but used no other colours alongside it, meaning the only other colours present were from the images used, which did not complement the colour choices I had already been using. Specifically regarding the contents page, it is clear that I learned the importance of the abundance of information, as including lots of artist names etc. onto it helps make it appear more professional and conventional, as well as showing the reader which bands will be featured within the magazine. Upon seeing a band that they recognise or enjoy, the reader is far more likely to retain interest in the magazine and read further. The preliminary task just seemed to lack this abundance of information. With the highly basic colour scheme, there is nothing eye-catching or interesting about the contents page. The only aspect of the preliminary design which appears to even slightly resemble a professional design is the layout, with the design on the preliminary contents page adopting a colum-like structure, as well as pictures that are accompanied by short previews. There appears to be little resemblance to a real media product, and I believe that after researching several existing media products and carefully noting the conventions of each, I have produced products of much greater quality than my initial preliminary tasks.
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