My magazine complies with the conventions of a real magazine by placing the texts and images in the appropriate areas. This is shown by the masthead being placed at the top of the page, being bigger than the rest of the text on the page. It is placed in the center which is more popular than positioning it to the sides of the page. I have followed the conventions by placing an issue number along with the date beneath it which is significantly smaller so that there is no emphasis taken away from the title. I have used images which are appropriate for the magazine’s purpose and I feel that they would make the reader feel part of the student life and society my magazine attempts to illustrate. I have developed the convention of having a big masthead but developed it so that it is bold as well, making it stand out more. I have not fully followed the conventions with the text positioning which creates a challenge to the typical magazine. However, I feel that this reflects the audience of the magazine being diverse and busy. I have used different size fonts and different font colours to make it easier to read due to separation and variation. I have tried to make the magazine seem fun and energetic so that it is more appealing to those reading it, saying this it does seem to look more like a fashion or celebrity gossip magazine by the way I have used their conventions as a template for the magazine. Being a school magazine, I feel I have portrayed the positive aspect on school life accurately, from the images, and from the content advertised.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
I feel that my magazine represents students as fun, happy and ready to learn. I wanted the images in the magazine to portray this and I feel that I have done this well as the students appear to be in a learning environment and to be enthusiastic about their education. I would like to think that if the student’s parents were able to get hold of a copy of my magazine they would be impressed with their child’s education. I think the stereotype of this age group is very harsh so this magazine is a contrast to how some older generations see this social group. The students in this magazine are representing the sixth form and the lower school, I feel like I have portrayed them well enough for the whole school to be presented as a good one.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Due to my magazine being a school one, the only institution to distribute it would probably be Plumstead Manor School, which my magazine is representing. If there were an open evening or an enrolment day, I think this would be an ideal time for it to be distributed because upcoming students and parents would like an insight to how the school is run and what it has to offer. This would be seen from the front cover by the cover lines about achieving high grades and exciting upcoming events.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
My audience for my magazine would be the current students attention aged between 16 and 19. I have also used appropriate language and content in case the student’s parents are interested. By following the conventions for magazines aimed at a similar age range, the audience will be interested due to the colours and how the magazine is presented. There is a dress code which is evident in the images used and therefore the audience know that this dress code applies to them and not the lower school; this is also emphasised by the “best dressed student” cover line on my front cover. I have used a mixture of colours for the magazine and therefore it does not apply to only one gender as the lighter colours such as peach and yellow apply to females, yet the black and blue can appeal to males. Colours such as purple and red are appropriate for both genders.
How did you attract/address your audience?
I attracted my audience mainly by my masthead being so big and bold. It is not a typical colour used for institutional magazines yet my audience is young and energetic and they’re more likely to be attracted to it than a darker, duller title. My language used is not necessarily informal, however I have made it more appropriate to the audience by incorporating stories which are fun and exciting such as giving them a chance to give their opinion, as well as using exclamation marks to make it seem more exciting and appealing. My bottom right picture has eye contact with the reader which will draw them in and feel more included with what the magazine is addressing. By using students who currently attend it is also a very personal way of making the students attending feel like a community because they will know the people who are being mentioned and could be mentioned themselves.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learnt a great deal from constructing this magazine as I previously had limited experience when working with Microsoft’s Publisher. However, I found it easy to pick up as I went along by using a great deal of text boxes. Compared to using Photoshop where there is an automatic alignment when moving around layers, I did not know how to use the rulers in publisher before discovering it in Photoshop. This has really helped improve my alignment from my preliminary task to my final product. I have also learnt how to save my documents in different formats. I found it very confusing how to save and upload my products as a JPEG but after asking for help and repeating it multiple times it became a lot easier. The same complications arose for me with the size of my files and upload limits, but again it was easily overcome. With my images, I felt very restricted to how I could edit and manipulate them compared to using Photoshop as I was completely clueless when trying to work out how to crop, change background and change the brightness and contrast of each photo. I am now able to do this confidently without struggle.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt?
I have learnt that magazines and media in general, have conventions which in order to be successful, need to be followed. Saying this, I have also learnt that by breaking some of the conventions, you could be advertising diverse media products which could appeal to a different type of audience. I now have knowledge of what to focus on, such as my alignment and positioning of my texts/images, which will make my music magazine more appealing and successful. I have learnt about colour schemes and how this can affect the responses of the audience and also what will attract a person to a certain product. Using research has been a massive help for me and I know now that in order to have a successful product, I need to do research into how I can make it appealing to the audience. Changing from publisher to Photoshop will make my product better and by planning and having more resources I feel that this will greatly improve the quality of my music magazine compared to this product as well and the images I will be producing by using better equipment.
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