Final Front Cover

Final Contents Page

Final Double Page Spread

Reader Profile

Evaluation Question 1: In what ways does my media product use, challenge or develop forms and conventions of real media products?

As I've highlighted in the presentation, I used basic conventions while breaking others to create a product that is professional, looks like a real product, but has a unique look.
 To enable myself to apply convention, I first looked at other magazines and identified where there are similarities.  I also looked for differences to discover where conventions aren't strictly followed.  This would allow me to create a product that is unique and stands out from the rest  but not look so different that it's unrecognisable that it's a magazine.

  A consistent colour scheme is a convention, however the colour scheme itself can sometimes vary from product to product.  However, as exemplified by the screenshots below, pink and purple are hardly used as a colour scheme on the front of widespread rock magazines Kerrang!, NME, Mojo and Classic Rock.  The most common themes are black, white, red and yellow; with some exceptions.  I decided to break this convention because I wanted to create a product that looks different from the rest.  Furthermore, rock culture is about trying out new things and embracing the unique; therefore I thought it would be fitting to have a non-conventional colour scheme on the front of a rock magazine as it would reinforce one of the ideologies of the genre.  

I did, however, stick to conventions regarding layout, font styles and representations of the audience because I had to keep those things consistent with the genre to ensure that it was evident what it is.  This also allowed my magazine to adopt a professional look as it looks similar to other already existing products.

One thing that I think could be adjusted to make the front cover look more professional is to make the main image bigger/take up more space because I feel that my magazine has more blank space that other magazines.  Also, the artists' faces, on existing products, are bigger on the page than on my magazine. I think this is to allow potential buyers to see the artist more clearly which would be more likely to attract an audience as people want to read about their favourite artists. 

 To improve this, I would take an image in which the artists are closer to each other, allowing me to take a closer shot and still get all the people in the frame.  For instance, I would have one model stand slightly in front like on the 'Green Day' issue of Kerrang!  This way, more of the space would be filled and it would have a more professional look as it would follow conventions more closely.  

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.  

Evaluation Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?

I feel as though my magazine would be best to be published by independent publishing company TeamRock.

 

I feel this because the ideology of my magazine and of this company match more that IPC or Bauer; the  publishers of other similar magazines NME and Kerrang!  Although I've used NME and Kerrang! as my main sources of inspiration for designing my magazine, I want the ideology of my publisher to be different to that of IPC.

For instance; IPC Media also publish magazines such as Nuts, Woman's Weekly, Marie Clarie etc.  This demonstrates the mass audience for which IPC publishes.  To me, this suggests that their ideology is more one of making money and appealing to the masses.  Of course, there are advantages to this, in that my magazine will reach a wider audience.  However, readership counts show that Classic Rock, the biggest magazine published by TeamRock, sells more copies than the NME. 

TeamRock seem to have a much more down-to-earth approach and have more passion behind what they're actually publishing.  I believe this is because they only publish Rock Music magazines, so are able to consolidate all their passion and effort into this.

On the about section of their webpage:

"TeamRock is a company that combines the best of traditional media with the boldness of new media, corporately speaking.

We've spotted a gap in the rock music market, it's called "the rock music market" and we've noticed that rock music fans aren't getting the right access to the content they want, the way they want it, so we're changing that. Along with the recent acquisitions of Classic Rock & Metal Hammer magazines, the plan is to keep growing and delivering the content that you want, any time you want it.

...

Everyone who works for TeamRock is a rock music fan; from the newly divorced IT guy on the window ledge, to the Van Halen fan in accounts that always shouts "Jump" - we live it, we breathe it, all day every day."

To me, it's obvious that a passion for what you're publishing is important when creating a music magazine.  I would want my magazine to be published by people who know what rock is about.  If you're a fan of the music yourself, you're going to know what to put into the magazine. Furthermore, the ideology of TeamRock matches the rebellious ideology of rock music; being independent, individual, and having a true passion for music.  

  Another advantage of having my magazine published by TeamRock is that the other magazines they appeal to an older audience due to the genres of music that they focus on.  (Classic Rock, Prog Rock, Blues, Melodic and Heavy Metal)  This is good because my magazine is more likely to reach the older audiences that I want to sell to, but also because it won't be in constant competition with the other magazines that TeamRock publishes.  My magazine tries to appeal to both a younger and an older audience.  This fills the gap in the type of magazine that TeamRock publishes, which would in turn be economically advantageous for the company as their sources of profit would be expanded to a younger market.  It may also be advantageous to publish a magazine with an ideology like mine; uniting rock genres in a magazine institution and creating a sort of synergy between audiences.