Evaluation

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

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I have done my best to address and represent my core audience as best as I can. I have tried to represent and reflect the lifestyles of my core audience through the use of a strong sense of informality. By including explicit content and profanity in my main article, the text addresses, and is emblematic of, the core audience's lifestyle. the sense of informality is particularly relevant to the working/middle classes as the majority of the higher class would be offended by some of the content within the magazine and would be unimpressed with the informality of the text.

The main image on the front cover is of a stereotypical Progressive Rock/ Metal Guitarist/ Bass Guitarist (highly energetic, aggressive and Guitar practically around his ankles), which is relevant to what the core audience is used to and therefore appeals to them. This sense of aggression is also reinforced by the bullet holes and belt of bullets.

On the contents page I have included contrasting images which range from the stereotypical aggressive and high energy images to the deep and intense images, which are emblematic of the hard work and concentration that goes into composing and playing music. This is relevant to the large section of the audience that would be musicians and would therefore be something for them to relate to and giving the musicians the sense that the the publishers and producers of the magazine have an in-depth view of the musician's side of the music. This then instantly and subconsciously creates a connection with the musicians in the audience and is also a representation of musicians.

On the double page spread I have used a low angle shot of Ben in order to give him a sense of power

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

I have designed and made my magazine with a strong influence from the media conglomerate ‘Future’. Their magazines are all based around media, particularly games, films and music. It is because of their focus on media that I have decided to use Future as my publisher.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My magazine would be aimed at anyone and everyone who has an interest in Metal music. But the core audience would be male, young, or at-least young at heart. The core audience would be young enough to still be living at home with their parents and because of this; any money they acquire would be free to spend on this product. The core target audience however, would be be no younger than 12 years of age due to the profanity, and explicit content contained within this magazine.

How did you attract/ address your audience?

I have decided, based on magazines that are sold by this company and the similarities that they have with mine, to publish my magazine via ‘Future’, a worldwide media based conglomerate who base the majority of their magazines on music. This should immediately attract any existing customers of ‘Future’. Seeing as how the front cover will be the part of the magazine that will attract the audience to it, and therefore arguably the most important part of the magazine, I have tried to create an appealing front cover with promotional offers and impressive facts about the magazine.

1. Masthead. The title combines the genre of music with the instrument making the target audience very specific. I have applied a metallic texture to the title to give it a deeper and more prominent feel. I have also liquefied the word metal as this genre of music is all about defiance and differing from the norm and I have tried to portray this by not sticking to the original lines of the letters, but dragging the shape of the letters around. The word ‘BASS’ hangs down from the neck, head and fret-board of a bass guitar. I have also added frets to the image which are not only visible on the fret-board but also stem down onto the letters of the word ‘BASS’. The ‘M’ and the ‘L’ of ‘Metal’ are disproportional to the rest of the word which, again, supports this idea of defiance.
2. The bullet holes are relevant to the main article title (‘WAR’ on the right hand side of the cover) and the belt of bullets underneath it.
3. Promotional offer in contrasting colours in order to draw the customer’s eye to this particular section. The fold also gives the illusion that the page is 3D and therefore, practically speaking, in the customers face much more than a 2D image. This also makes the magazine stand out from other plain and ‘flat’ magazines that this magazine may be sat next to on the shelf.
4. Vivid colours to attract attention. One word used in order to make the customer think. ‘War’ is also associated with negative news, which is a much more interesting subject to the general public than positive news.
5. Belt of bullets relating to the main article title and also subconsciously implying that the bullet holes on the left of the page are in-fact bullet holes and not just random small holes.
6. Second article title. Relevant not only to bass players but anyone who enjoys the types of music played at this festival. This also suggests that although this magazine is primarily aimed at bass players, it also has articles that many musicians can relate to and also be interested in.
7. I have used these rip images in an effort to again give the front cover more of a third dimension and therefore making it more eye-catching and interesting as it also adds a sense of high energy to the article title in particular by bursting through the front cover.

Another way in which I have addressed and attracted the target audience is by the use of swearing in the main article. I thought about this for a while, and decided that although swearing will limit the amount of people that will be attracted to this magazine, it will be substantially better at addressing the segment of the audience that would buy it. And I also came to the conclusion that with my magazine being published by a worldwide publisher, the other segments of the audience can be targeted by other magazines from this publisher. However, I have deliberately chosen not to include swearing on the front page. This is simply because my magazine would mainly be sold in supermarkets and it would be socially unacceptable to display explicit content to the general public.

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

I have learnt a great deal about current printing and production technologies and the vast changes that have been made in these technologies in order to increase productivity and decrease the amount of time it takes to get a story on to a magazine and then into the the supermarkets. However, I have also seen that although the technologies have developed dramatically, this can also make the printing and production processes much more complicated. For example, the introduction of desktop publishers and photoshop/ photo editing software has made the production process a lot more efficient, however, with this new technology also comes the expectations of the software being pushed to the limit and therefore makes the production process a grueling and relentless job with no room for error.

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