Evaluation Question 2: How does my media product represent particular social groups?

When designing my media product, one of my aims was to create a magazine that appealed to fans of all different kinds of rock; from classic to modern; from metal to indie; as I felt that there was a gap in the market for an all inclusive rock magazine.  NME mainly appeals to fans of 'indie' rock, Kerrang! appeals to metal/modern rock fans, Mojo and Classic Rock appeal to older rock fans.  I, myself, am a fan of all different types of rock, so I decided to make a magazine that I would buy to make it easier to relate to my target audience; thus appealing to my target audience more affectively.

So, on the cover, I used the image of the models to reflect the 'typical' rocker; unnatural hair colour; dark clothes and makeup; tattoos etc. 

Here I've drawn some comparisons between aesthetics and stereotypes of my 'band' and those of already existing bands.  This way, the audience will be able to identify that the people on the cover of my magazine are a rock band and therefore will be drawn towards picking up the magazine, knowing that what they like may be in it.













This slideshow allows you to see how I've put my models in a similar pose to the ones in already existing photos/promo shots of bands.

• Stood in a line
• Frontman in the middle
• Looking at the camera (mostly)
• Stern facial expression
• Interacting with each other in some way (arm around shoulder)
• Facing towards one point (not facing away from each other)
• Comfortable body language
• Confidence

I chose this photo because it possesses all these qualities therefore has the look of a real band photo.  This represents social groups in terms of musicians.  Some of the readers may be musicians themselves so this is an accurate representation of them to.

http://www.leedsfestival.com/photos - this link directs you to a gallery of images taken at Leeds festival; a popular festival for rock fans to attend.  (The line-up at Leeds is always centered around rock music and has many types of sub genres playing there.  I therefore conclude that my magazine would appeal to many Leeds festival goers for this reason.)  In the gallery you can see a range of rock fans/artists represented; a significant amount having alternative style, coloured hair, tattoos, piercings etc but all interpreted in different ways e.g. Punk, bohemian/indie and electro.
 This way, the models wouldn't appeal too directly to any particular rock sub genre, and in turn wouldn't particularly exclude fans of certain sub-genres.


Furthermore, I've made my magazine inclusive via the use of a Band Index on the contents page.
This alphabetically lists all the bands that would be mentioned in the magazine and the page number on which they feature.  The bands I've listed are a wide range of styles.  This way, people can see that the magazine probably has something that appeals to their taste by looking at the band index.

Also, the album covers shown under the 'REVIEWS' subtitle shows that albums with varying music styles have been reviewed.  This demonstrates the inclusive ideology I've adopted in an obvious way which will easily appeal to my audience.