Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
-----Sync magazine is aimed at a broad musical audience and was designed to retain the conventions of established multi-genre music magazines. However it does vary some in order to form an individual brand identity. The unique selling point of my product is that it has technology element in the features and even the interviews. There are currently no magazines out there that do this.
-----On the front cover, I instinctively knew that a large masthead should occur prominently, and decided to use the top left corner. This is because the eye naturally gravitates to this position as we read from top-to-bottom, left-to-right. The minimalist appearance of magazines has been influenced by new music. I have used such influence in my product as the music artist I've featured produces understated music.
-----For the contents page, the first thing I did was form the heading. This is a key convention from all the publications I researched. Also, I had considered using a bold red background for my contents page. However, this would have been far to vibrant and would have overshadowed everything else. That's why I chose a simple and clean white background. It fits my overall product and is also favoured by many established magazines.
-----When it came to the Double Page Spread, I knew that to grip a readers attention from the beginning, I would need a bold heading. To do this I used a large quote which engages the reader as it comes from the featured artist himself. Also, by having Glastonbury in such a prominent position and alternated colour, it draws attention to it. This is positive because music festivals have become key events in the music industry and they appeal to a huge audience.
-----Take a look at this PowerPoint and see how key conventions in established magazines have been used and improved for my product:

How does your media products represent particular social groups?

The feature artist of the issue is a successful male star. However, he isn't portrayed in the conventional tabloid way. He is shown as professional and focused and not the typical violent and alcoholic rock star.

-----I have represented the artist as friendly and down to earth. This makes the interview accessible and represents the successful musician as 'one of the guys'. The humour and exclamatives also connect with the audience.

-----The genre of music of Daniel Welling is folk rock. To represent this, I had him use an acoustic guitar instead of an electric one. This is relevant to the genre of music and also makes him fit into the 'alive and live' category.

-----Check out this PowerPoint which shows how I have represented the character on each page:

What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?

Firstly, I looked at which big companies produced which big magazines. NME is produced by IPC media which has a large European portfolio. However, as the two magazines are quite similar, it would be unwise for them to compete under the same distributor, as they could harm each others sales. It's the same problem with Bauer who produce Q. They could not print SYNC because it would provide competition for their established magazine.

-----Therefore Future Publishing would be a good fit. They produce a lot of magazines all over the world. They are focused on media products and have magazines in the music, technology and videogame sectors. They have catered for genre-specific tastes, and their portfolio is missing a music magazine with mass appeal. The technology element would fit in well with their established publications and some common resources could be utilised by multiple magazines.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target demographic for my product is 16-24 year old males. It's quite a sophisticated magazine and I'd imagine the audience to be in employment or education. It would be aimed at people interested in the modern world and the influence of music and technology.

-----Stereotypically, males are more interested in technology. This is a generalisation, and females would find the magazine accessible and entertaining. However, it has been constructed with a primarily male audience in mind.

How did you attract/address your audience?

The cover has a cool and relaxed appearance. This is relevant to the chilled out folk rock sound of the month's featured artist. The background is filled which indicates that the magazine will have plenty of content. The model is making eye contact which connects the model to the audience.

-----The iconography of the image is suitable. He is holding a cool acoustic guitar and he's wearing cool clothes. Also, a natural attraction for a wide audience is a free gift. An iTunes voucher will appeal to a large percentage of the population as iTunes is the largest distributor of digital music on the web. Also, having a competition entices the reader the take part and have a go at winning an appealing prize.

-----The contents page has a rectangular layout which is slightly formal. This acknowledges that SYNC has a sophisticated readership. All the models are making eye contact which maintains and upholds the connection to the audience.

-----The image on the Double Page Spread is dynamic and catches the attention of the audience - it appears as if he is about to burst out of the page. The quote initiates the transaction between the writer and reader. However, it is presented as interactional with follow-up questions, rhetorical devices and an introduction of the artist.

-----Below, I have annotated all the products I've constructed, visually depicting how I've attracted and addressed the audience.

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

One key thing I've learned from the process of construction is that the big players in software can have more user-friendly yet equally powerful alternatives. Personally, I found PhotoShop to have a really clunky interface. When I downloaded a trial of Corel PaintShop Pro Photo X3, I found it far more intuitive and possible even more effective.

-----Another thing I've learned is that in some situations there are more than one tool to get the job done. Through my experience on the software, I am now able to identify which tool is best suited to which job.

-----BlogSpot had been a useful tool in the construction of my product. Primarily, It has documented the constriction process from start to finish. I can easily access my information over the Internet whenever and wherever. Also I have learned some highly useful HTML coding skills. These will be undoubtably useful in the future. As BlogSpot only has a width of 410 pixels, I have had to edit the widths down to this measurement. Then, I had to recode the heights so that they remain in proportion.

-----One of the skills that I have learned the most is photography. A valuable lesson I learned is that even though you'll capture plenty of material, only a small fraction will actually be used. Also, once the photos are open in CPSPPX3, I learned how best to utilize the adjustment features such as exposure, brightness, contrast and curves.

-----I also gained some experience using professional equipment. I've learned how to operate and best use the industrial three-point lighting system. I doubt the quality of my images would be at the same level without it.

-----On the PowerPoint below, I have listed what tools and technology I've used, and what I have learned from them.

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

I have learned a lot in the span between preliminary and full product. On the cover, one thing I learned is that coloured backgrounds are very hard to work with and make look professional when mixed with teaser content.

-----Also, the contents page on the preliminary had quite a listed contents page. However, I have learned from this and my final product features more on depth that breadth, giving a brief synopsis after each feature title. Thirdly, I now understand that coloured backgrounds ultimately detract from a contents page. I had considered using a bold red background but reconsidered as it would take away from the text. It would also look artificial, whereas the white background looks natural and clean.

-----Below, I've detailed how the first two products have developed into their more advanced counterparts. There is also a quick summary at the end as to what else I've learned about the magazine business as a lucrative industry.