How does your product represent particular social groups?

So by my product being dark lighted and oozing individuality my audience will be proud to be seen in possession of it as the magazine is a statement of social status, it shows the rest of the world who you are and that your 'cool and popular' as you are the first to know what clubs to go to this week and know the latest clothes.

The language i have used is quite informal with the use of 'creepier' and the not politically correct 'garage royalty', in my contents page this informality is further used as words such as 'lowdown' and 'adopted' are used to set a relaxed tone as my target audience have very relaxed personalities and wont like reading a magazine that influences their life in an informal tone. The language used in my double page spread is not really representative of my social group which is a major flaw of my double page spread as i could of used street slang to have a further, more deeper connection with my audience however, the interviewer portrays herself as one of the target audience as she shares that she has attended one of the creeps live shows which will then cause the audience to respect her alot more as there is that connection there. Due to the interview being semi-structured the flow of the interview represents the free flow of the lives of my audience as their life goes with the wind wherever it will take them.

The clothes that my models wear represent the target social group of my magazine as the creep is dressed in street wear and in the background is a DJ set which the audience will be familiar with as they see it every weekend, the clothes of DJ Katy also represent my social group as she is dressed extremely individual, also by having a female artist as one of my main stories it represents the equal balance of gender in the particular social group.
The eye level shot angles of the images in my magazine are nearly all eye level to enhance the balance of power between artist and audience, it represents the vulnerability and mortality of the creep as his story backs up.

This particular social group has a very open view on sexuality and bisexuality tends to be popular within the group, this is represented through the image of DJ Katy as she is seen getting intimately photographed by another woman which creates the feeling of sexual tension between the audience and the artist.

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

http://prezi.com/mnfublynlrdt/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

My other products such as the contents page and double page spread are very much more conventional than my front page as my contents page has boxes that add a layering affect that most contents pages have, pictures supported two of my stories which is a common practice for example;






My contents page also has subscription instructions, however usually magazines have inside forms that the reader has to fill out and post, but due to my audience being on the internet most of the time due to the easy access, the subscription is all online.
I also have challenged the convention of all the content under one heading, I have split my content into two subheadings that fulfill two different aspects of my audiences life, I realized my magazine has to be organised just as well as the audiences life as the music genre influences heavily on the life of my audience.
One convention i have followed is the carry through of the house colours, i realised that this was the professional thing to do instead of completely uprooting the conventions.




My double page spread contains many typical conventions such as the crediting of the journalist and photographer, text contained in collumbs to make navigation easy, directly addressed photo, representative colours of the artist, a pull quote, page numbers and a starting capital latter to show the reader where to start.
But i have challenged the conventions in ways such as replacing the typical masthead brand that appears on the page with one of my iconic masthead figures (the flamingo) which will build up association with the brand and increase the status of the figures. I also noticed that most double page spreads are quite plainly coloured to enhance the focus onto the story itself, this is something i challenged as my background colour is a faded, pale green which represents the creep subtly, i also changed the colour of the text background to signify a change in mood or topic which creates excitement and curiosity for the reader.
The title of the double page spread is not exciting ON PURPOSE as the audience are intrigued by the front cover anchorage text the title of the story inside still doesn't give much away which forces the audience to read the spread.

How did i attract/address my audience?

The uniqueness of my masthead will attract the eye of the audience no doubt as my masthead spans across the entire width of the page in club-like colors which my target audience will connect too. The unique iconic flamingo and palm tree will intrigue the audience as my magazine is different which will also add to the attraction of my magazine as my target audience loves to be different in there clothes and style so why should they be an different in what they read?
The main photograph has intense eye contact as the model is peering down the lens of the camera straight at the reader, this creates an automatic connection and intimacy between the creep and the audience which heightens the direct address.
I attracted my audience by targeting not just their music interest but there style interest as well via a sell line, as my target audience has a certain dress code which is associated with this genre of music = street wear. My audience also like to be at the forefront of everything new and are usually the first to know about the latest fashion and set the new trends so by my magazine stating it has the 'latest street wear' then this will most certainly attract my target audience.
The language used in the anchorage text "the background to my new album is creepier" is a play on words to create intrigue and a tone of humour to supress the darkness of the story and the main image. The inside story about the creep gave the audience serious insight to the history of thr artist and opens up the what he's gone through which creates an emotion of sympathy and awe around the artist which causes an emotional attraction.
The moderate price of £2.35 is extremely good value considering the content of the magazine as it includes fashion, emotional interviews and information about nightlife and the street scene, this magazine is a teenagers guide to street life so a couple of quid is a very decent price.

Magazine media institutions

In this PowerPoint I have highlighted the points of the companies values that I think compliment my own values for my music magazine.


http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/31120630




I have also research another media institution apart from the main 3 in my slideshow that my magazine would fit perfectly with its values.

Spin Media has over 30 million obsessed fans that consume 350 million page views each month which then leads the audience 2.5 times more likely to follow a brand of Spin Media and makes the audience 4.5 time more likely to stream the music which would make a magazine signed to Spin Media attractive to artists that would be involved in the magazine as they know Spin Media has a hugely span audience.

However although Spin Media is an online media that their audience consume, being a music magazine published by Spin media will allow the vast audience figures to give your brand quick recognition and iconography. The reputation of Spin media has in the music industry will automatically make your product authenticated which will boost its brand.

VIBE is a leading entertainment and lifestyle brand delivering content across multiple distribution platforms to a culturally diverse audience around the world. Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2013, VIBE continues to embrace its roots in music and chronicle the celebrities, sounds, fashion and culturally-relevant events from hip-hop to the modern day converging music landscape. Over the past year, VIBE has been significantly refocusing its efforts online – doubling its online traffic to become one of the most vibrant digital music brands. VIBE is a member of Spin Music, a division of Spin Media.

In this day and age my target audience spend a lot of time on the internet so for spin media to be a platform for my magazine online then it is a perfect publisher for my magazine as they use different platforms to advertise the brand and also get the most out of advertising for the magazine.

 Do the values of the company match the values of my magazine?

One of the main values of the company is to create a credible connection with the audience through partnerships of brands that they can trust, considering that my magazine will influence aspects of my audiences life I think a trust connection is extremely important.

Institutions

What is an institution?

Institutions are the regulatory and organising structures of any society, which constrain and control individuals and individuality. The term more precisely refers to the underlying principles and values according to which many social and cultural practices are organised and co-ordinated.

 For instance, we think of journalists, regardless of politics and rightly or wrongly, as sharing the same set of values as their newspapers. We see 'Newspapers' as something bigger than, and probably more authoritative/powerful than us as individuals.

However, as global patterns of ownership change, so does the concept of Institution. Media ownership is now concentrated in the hands of a few companies worldwide, and these companies own examples of many different media. So, it is true to say that the 'Institutional Values' of, say, Disney, are reflected in a number of different media companies that they own (e.g. Marvel Studios, the Discovery Channel), which can therefore be grouped together and considered as part of the same institution (the Disney Corporation).

Basically, understanding institution is about understanding

• who produces media texts
• what their set of codes and values is
• and their relationship to us as individuals

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

During the process of making my media product I vastly improved using and applying different types of technology such as; digital camera, internet explorer and different software platforms.

Software platforms  

Microsoft Publisher

This software created a platform for me to create all my magazine pages but it was most useful in creating the double page spread as I could see the pages together as they would look in the magazine so it was easier to design. The features such as the cropping device allowed me to crop my photos too fit the page as this would not cause pixilation, the transparent tool allowed me to blend my print screens into the background of my magazine, at first I was quite slow to apply these tools but as time went by it became a second nature to use these tools. The different contrasts tools allowed me to make my images more professional and enhanced.

Another software platform I used was PAINT, due to some of my blogs being done on word documents and my fonts having to be print screened I had to transfer them to paint in order to be able to save them. Paint gave me the tools to crop my images too get rid of the background it was situated on in order to look clean cut for my magazine.

Internet explorer

I used the internet to research music magazines so without the internet I wouldn't of have a proper idea about the conventions or layout of similar magazines. In order to research into my target audience I used the internet as I found out radio stations that play garage music age ranges and typical audience. The internet also allowed me to post my production onto blogger as without blogger there would be no platform for my work.

Other skills

Management, especially time, was a big issue for me in the preliminary task as I found myself in a constant rush to get the pages done and I think the pages reflect the rush I found myself in as I spent time on too many colours when I could of spent more time perfecting the text on the pages.
But on the final task I managed to reach each deadline with my work up to a high standard as I worked after school and tested different ideas until I got the best results. I learnt from my poor time management in the first task by appreciating the importance of a to-do list which helped me organise my blogs in order and it helped me to not forget to include anything.
In my first task of the school magazine I never went out of my way to get props or make up/costumes, but I recognised that this looked unprofessional compared to other magazines and it didn't have a uniqueness about the magazine. So in my final task of the music magazine I used my improved people management (which improved due to my need to get things completed) too be assertive and ask around for street wear (cap, t-shirt etc.)
I produced a brief description of my desired outcome from each photo-shoot I arranged and showed my models which inspired them full of motivation, my people management had to be on top too achieve the best results from my models.

Structure

The layout of my two productions are extremely different due to my vastly improved knowledge of the conventions and how to adapt them to my brand.

So as you can see I have come on a huge learning curve as the main thing I learnt about structure is 'more is less', and everything I put on the magazine front page has to be effective but simple and connote deeper meanings subtly. 

Contents pages

Originally I wanted to have one image that structured the contents down the page but doing this would of not varied the image type from the front page as two full sized images would of been used so I decided to use individual photographs that represent the story, positioned in the space that is left void by the features and club review boxes as it fills the page whilst enhancing the fact that these two images are the main story's in the magazine, the diagonal positioning of the two main stories also balance the page out.

The layering of the different boxes is neat and compact which my school magazine contents page lacked as the boxes are not positioned properly and interfere with the stretched background image.  

The colours of the masthead are carried through into the contents page as the green, white and pink are used as the font colours which gives the brand more recognition and identity.

Again the title spans across the width of the page which is another one of my magazines iconic features, whereas in my school magazine I had no brand identity to carry through so the magazine contents page could of belonged to any magazine as there was no iconic representation of the Hustle magazine on the page.

• Minimal layering
• Plain, bland text
• Boring colours

Anchorage text

As the music genre has an effect on all aspect of street life, I have included a fashion incentive on the front page too portray the variety of content in the magazine. There is a house font that wasn't present in my school magazine, this gives the magazine more iconic status and a recognisable style as well as obviously looking more professional. There is a different font for the codes of the magazine such as issue number, date, price etc as they need a different recognition from the audience. The font style of my anchorage text on the school magazine was made on word which didn't look original and fairly unprofessional, there also wasn't a house font which caused the magazine to lack iconography. However I didn't just focus on school life, I focused on a students image and their future aspects with the university strapline, which will appeal to my audience on different levels. In my school magazine there was no accompanying anchorage text description which I included in my music magazine, it adds a professionalism about the story and also will give the audience a quick deeper preview it, as well as being a platform for more persuasive writing to attract the audience. As the school magazine lacks the titles descriptions, the anchorage text looks brief and not given enough weight, however the straplines anchorage text 'Best uni for you' anchors down the background images without hindering the ability too view the buildings. The school magazine is missing the date and issue number which anchors down the validity of the magazine to the audience, this is a major weakness.

The colour of the fonts used in the school magazine vary too much in my opinion, I have now realised that the font associated with a story has to represent that particular story in everyway and not the magazines colour scheme which is what I did in my school magazine. The colour of my text in my music magazine shows my understanding of my previous statement by 'The Creep' story in the creeps iconic colour green which is different to the aluminous green of the Jungle font, my anchorage side story's are written in the iconic Jungle green and white which gracefully corresponds with the large masthead colours.

"The right pathway for you?" was the main story on the front page which is a rhetorical question that most of my audience will be unsure of the answer and so will want to read the story as there future is the most important thing in the world to them. Also the "right" pathway makes the audience feel like this magazine has all the answers which would consequently sell more issues.

"Look the part", this plays on another aspect of the student life which is of course IMAGE. Every young adult wants to look good but the average student doesn't have that much money available to them so I've used the connection with the audience from my masthead to let them know that the magazine understands and so therefore the clothes will be priced cheaply.

 

Masthead/Brand

My masthead in my school magazine was a good title for a sixth form magazine as The Hustle represents the stress and the hard work that the audiences goes through which shows the audience that the magazine understands what they are going through which is an automatic connection. However the masthead wasn't bold enough to be a truly recognised brand as although the light grey colour represented higher, classy education it didn't stand out and was quite weak amongst the layers on the front page. The hustle masthead didn't have its own background space that would of added extra layers and made it stand out which is an improvement I learnt to make in my final product, I realised how important the masthead is in creating a recognisable, iconic, representable brand that can build up a reputation within the industry.

 



 

I wanted to create a masthead that would be iconic, so the fact that most magazines just have a word as the masthead would of made it easy for me to just of jumped onto the band wagon of the generic conventions. But my masthead has a twist as I have added two iconic images of the jungle in vibrant colours that are associated with club lights to emphasis the music side of jungle. The idea behind this was also instead of having the magazine name 'Jungle' everywhere, I can vary my advertisement by using the two iconic images as they represent the magazine just as much as the word jungle, this will enable more advertisement as the two images take up less space when advertising making it cheaper.
Also on every page through the magazine will be a little flamingo at the bottom corner of the page to remind the audience of the magazine name to cement the iconic recognition.

Structure

The box around 'Jungle' represents a club sign which automatically signifies house and garage music I have also used a shadow effect on the box to present a real life representation of a club sign that pops off the page like its in 3D, the disc type font also adds too the fact that this magazine is based on DJ music (house and garage) which you would find in clubs. The seize of the corresponding images either side slightly overlap the box in order to show he professional finish of the masthead as it shows that it is put together cleverly and not in strict conditions that restrict the design.

Colours

The black background is used to represent the night where the music lives, also it is a good base too make any colour stand out but I chose a white masthead as the contrast from black to white is extremely eye catching. The theme of contrasting from dark and light manipulates the chosen artists front image to conform to fit in with the magazines style, which in turn gives the magazine power, so the audience will respect the magazine. 

The brand 

The word 'Jungle' in itself represents a type of garage music from the 80's so automatically the target audience will think of that type of music. Jungle is a word which creates the image of lots of different content and features which creates mystery in the audiences mind about the magazine. The masthead represents the different beats of the music genre perfectly as jungle is such an amazing word as it creates so much in the mind. 

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

The photography

The main image on the front page of my school magazine had little planning and technique as I didn't know how to capture a professional looking photograph whilst manipulating light, angles and facial expressions/direct address. My lack of knowledge ended up with a finished product that had no audience connection (no eye contact or immediate intimacy), it lacked focus/clarity. However the original concept of mise en scene was unique and represented my audience well as it gave off an urban vibe which replaced the lack of eye contact with the mise en scene setting to the audience.
The photograph fitted my genre perfectly as the two sixth former's are in uniform whilst holding the props of work and a mobile phone which represent the two different mind-sets of students in today's age, 'cool' and 'geek', everyone has both inside them and so the whole of my target audience can relate to situation in this photograph. The female model (me) had tied up hair without making to much effort which shows in my appearance, which compliment the learning attitude shown in the image.



In my music magazine the main image in my opinion is an extremely improved piece of photography as every element that can be manipulated in a photograph I took advantage of and I used to my full ability to represent the artists persona whilst also keeping it in my target audience interest zone whilst corresponding a theme with the personality and new album of the artist. I did this by creating the artists own identity that can be recognized by the audience and used to connect with them (his own style, background, personality). By having an understanding of the type of artist 'The creep' is, I could design the type of image I wanted to capture to present him to the audience in a way that would be representative of what the Creep is all about. The article is about the other side of the artist that the audience have never seen before, usually the Creep is quite hard faced and mysterious but now the Creep reveals his background and what events have changed him over his life, so I wanted to capture the two different sides of the Creep in my photo with a hint of vulnerability. I did this by using the skills i learnt in my research about the use of light and shadow effect and what they can signify.
The use of lighting in my image was made by directing a crystal flash light at the left side of the face from a side angle to create a shadow effect on the right side and would illuminate the green eye which corresponds with the iconic green color that is associated with the Creep , on my school magazine i had no lighting manipulation at all, just from natural daylight, so the improvement is evident.
I also edited this photo using Microsoft publisher as i increased the contrast of the image by 10% as anymore would of looked to fake and any less would of looked amateur. The research i did on music magazines made me realize the importance of a direct address, the direct eye contact with the audience automatically increases the intimacy between the audience and artist, mixed with the slight high angle of the shot makes the Creep look slightly out of his comfort zone so it creates vulnerability.
I am putting my vast photographic improvement down to the fact i watched you tube clips such as  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEcgySslGPA
I also practiced different shots and angles of a subject via an iPad which also showed me that the frame of the photograph is split up into 3 sections and 9 squares to create perfect composition and positioning.

Contents/double page photographs

with direct address ^

Different ways i learnt to edit my photographs

For my school magazine none of my photos were edited as i didn't understand how much a photograph can represent the whole magazine, so the photos in the school magazine looked amateur at best. However, the images i took for the creep were edited on Microsoft publisher as i tuned the contrast by +10%

  

The photographs i took for DJ Katy were edited on my iPhone 5, i took the photograph then added a musky filter too add a vintage tone, the filters also act as an airbrush tool to make the photo more professional. The filter adds more focus on my model as the light gets focused on her, this portrays the model as innocent as everything around her is darker. It looks as if she is oozing out purity.

I have also learnt how to select parts of a photograph and crop it using formats on publisher, also i realized the font i was using in my preliminary task on word was to popular and not original so i found a website called 'font space' where i found my own brand font that fitted in perfectly with how i wanted my brand font portrayed.

Evaluation