On my media product I have developed the idea of using a master head at the top of my front page cover. As I researched allot of Hip Hop and R&B magazines before.
Before proceeding with creating my media product I researched alot of Hip Hop and R&B magazines in order to get an idea of conventions I should also have in my media product.
On my media product I have developed the idea of using a master head at the top of my front page cover. The reason for this decision is that I believed I should follow some typical conventions of a Hip hop & R&B in order for my media product to actually look like an Hip Hop and R&B magazine. As I was aiming on making my media product look as realistic as possible I believed that I should use alot of Hip Hop and R&B conventions. So I decided to develop the ideas of using a basic barcode which automatically made my media product seem like a real selling magazine. Also I ensured that my image of my model was place directly in the middle of the page.
My magazine is also conventional in a sense that it uses similar fonts on my front page cover. I have also made the models picture overlap my master head just like other Hip Hop and R&B magazines I have researched.
I have used very suttle colours so that my magazine will attract both Males and Females, the colours I used where Carkey Green, White, Black and Grey. The reason I done this is because I want my media product to attract both Males and Females. This therefore challenges real Media magazines and breaks the typical conventions of magazines aimed at specific genders. I also made sure that I advertised different subjects that will be included in my magazine in order for the magazine to attract both Males and Females. E.g. "The best Myspace rappers" - This is aimed for the Male audience as they would more be familiar with myspace and are stereotypically more interested in rap than girls. Also "David Emmanuel Spices Up Your Closet" - This is aimed for the Female audience as stereotypically Females are more concerned with fashion and are more interested in shopping and looking for new styles.
My magazine uses the convention of having a Women modeling on the front page. My Model is dressed in a down to earth costume, I didn't want my model to be dressed in typical Hip Hop and R&B clothes, so I dressed her in plain denim jeans, a carky green jacket and a simple top. This way she has more of a British look rather than a stereotypical American Hip Hop appearance to attract different audiences worldwide.
On my contents page I have decided to dye my male models hair red for this image in order to come away from the stereotypical conventions of Hip Hop and R&B images of a 'Hoodies, Tracksuits an gangster look', because this isn't always the case, so I decided to give him a more unique look.
My Media product challenges forms of conventions because unlike stereotypical Hip Hop and R&B front pages I have stated on mine that it is a spring issue, you wouldn't normally see this on a Hip Hop and R&B magazine as they are normally distributed every fortnight.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product represents different social groups such as:
- The younger generation of 16-24
- Hip Hop and R&B audiences
- Males and Females
- Audiences of Fashion
I styled my models hair this way as I know that this is one of the latest hairstyles so therefore it will attract a specific type of social group. My models are wearing specific props to add to the picture. E.g. The male model is shown here wearing a gold ring to give an extra bling to the photo.
In my media product I have decided to use specific colloquial language on my double page spread in order to represent particular social groups, in this case 16-24. I created a interview were the interviewer is talking in formal language and the person being interview ( Leanne Lewis) is talking as she would in her everyday life. To do this I included slang words which the majority of the audience can relate to. I also used other colloquial language such as "Totally".
Another way i have represented different social groups is by placing " The best Myspace Rappers" on the front cover, this is my unique selling point, which targets a more technological social group that use the Internet. This type of social group is usually aged between 16 - 24.
My media product also represents the group of people that like "Hip hop and R&B" magazines. This has been achieved through my front page cover were I have advertised latest gossip at the top of the page, the exposure of a new R&B artist Leanne Lewis and also " The best Myspace Rappers". It has also been achieved through my contents page where at the bottom I have advertised the latest Hip Hop and R&B music out in order to attract this type of social group. I have also written about other pages that can be found within the magazine, e.g. latest gossip about Beyonce. Lastly I have also represented this social group through my double page spread where I have a full on interview of a new upcoming R&B artist "Leanne Lewis".
My media product represents both male and females which is one of the main reason of why I choose to have very natural colours that would appeal to both genders. I have included both male and female models, and I also ensured that I have advertised different types of interest on the front page of my magazine. I have also used these natural colours as my media product is supposed to be a spring issue and these colours connotes spring colours.
The title of my media product "Base" represents the younger generation. The word "Base"is quite modern and the audience can tell that it is related to this kind of genre of music. This is a way in which it relates to my audience. It is young and It relates to Hip Hop and R&B, as the base is normally an important part of this genre of music.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why ?
I have researched into two different institutions that might want to distribute my type of media product. The first company is the "Conde Nast International" ( http://www.condenast.co.uk/).
I believe that this company would want to distribute my media product because it doesn't already distribute my music magazines genre. So therefore my media product would be a good addition to the company. But it does appeal to some of my social groups which are females and the younger generation. It would attract females as the majority of the magazines that this media institution distribute is for women. Also all the magazines are being aimed at the younger generation, so this would be good for my magazine as my audience is the younger generation.
Another reason why this company may want to distribute my magazine is because my magazine has a range of different topics within it. It has topics on fashion, latest music, technological websites and articles.
Condé Nast Digital UK's stable of websites now attracts over 2.6 million unique users with 46 million pages viewed each month which shows that this company is quite popular, my magazine would therefore get alot of attention.
The second media institution i have researched is a company named IPC (http://www.ipcmedia.com/). This company is one of the worlds leading UK consumer music magazine, this would be good for my media product as many of the magazines that this company has distributed are popular and have a wide rang of audiences. IPC Media uses its own products to advertise its own products, the synergy at this level would mean that the advertisement and marketing would be from the same institution.
This company would also be a good company to distribute my magazine as it has a very large variety of different types of magazines ranging from, fashion, beauty, music magazines to sports and homeware. It would appeal to many different social groups such as audiences that enjoy fashion. IPC has many different fashion magazines that the younger generation of readers would be familiar with.
IPC Media produces over 85 iconic media brands, with their print brands alone reaching almost two thirds of UK women and 44% of UK men – almost 27 million UK adults – while their online brands collectively reach 20 million users every month. This shows me that if IPC was to distribute my media product then I would have a wide selection of readers varying from different ages and genders.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
There are many different groups of people that are my audience for my media product. My main age group that I am targeting is 16-24 the reason for this is because the type of music magazine and genre I have based my media product on would be more popular for the younger generation. Also because I based my audience research on people between 16-24 in order to get ideas for my media product.
My media magazine is targeting females and males, but there are more topics for women within the magazine. The reason for this is because women are more likely to purchase a magazine than men so i felt that i should include more women topics within but also include male interests aswell.
I am directly targeting readers that are into Hip Hop and R&B as this is what my magazines theme is based on. It will attract audiences that enjoy reading about new upcoming artists and the latest gossip out. It is also targeting audiences that just simply enjoy reading.
Before I even started creating my media product I done some audience research in order to find out what the audience do like, and from this information I gained an insight into what I should include in my magazine in order to target 16-24 year olds. E.g. The audience would prefer to see a large image and a bit of information on a front cover, so I took this into consideration and used this idea, this helped me because this is what my audience want to see. The audience also said that inside my media product they would like to see such things as latest gossip, pictures and information on the latest going ons within the music industry.
How did you attract/adress your audience?
Firstly I began with creating a big blown up image of my model on my front page as this is what the audience would like to see. I addressed my audience by using a model aged 17 in order to attract my audience and people of this age, this way they could relate to the picture because if it was a picture of someone over 40 or under 16 for instance it wouldn't attract my age group because they may not be interested in reading an article about someone of this age.
I have used both males and female audience in order to attract the opposite sex to read to my media product.
Another way I attracted my audience was by advertising "Myspace" on the front cover which is quite popular Internet website for new upcoming artists and different genres of music including Hip Hop and R&B. So people that are interested in this website may want to read and article on this topic.
I attracted the female audience by advertising fashion styles on the media front page, I done this as I know females are very much interested in fashion and care about their style. Also quite alot of females are concerned with there fashion and are always up for any tips available.
On my front page I am advertising the new upcoming artist "Leanne Lewis" this will attract the audience because they will want to know about the latest artists and new songs out in the music media As the new artist is female this may be popular with the female audience as they would be able to relate to the new artist, and for some women it is good to see new female artists growing as the music industry sometimes can be very male domineering. Males can also relate to her because they may have an interest in new upcoming women.
I have dressed my model Leanne Lewis in very up to date clothes with a bit of an unique style, this way it stands out and attracts the readers eye. I used jewelery to attract and represent religions, E.g. Leanne Lewis is wearing a necklace with a cross on it to represent Christianity.
Another way I have attracted my audience is by putting latest gossip on my front page cover in order to tempt my target audience to buy my magazine. I also ensured that i used high key lighting when photographing my model in order for the picture to stand out and for her clothing to stand out more this way it attracts the reader to buy my magazine.
I used a questionnaire in order to attract my audience.
I also used a big master head to stand out in order to attract the readers eye. I have included an interview on the double page spread to engage the readers, it is a down to earth interview were Leanne Lewis is talking about her life all the way up to the stage that she is at now. The reason I have done this is so my target audience would be able to relate to what she is saying. I have also included another attractive picuter of Leanne Lewis to appeal to my target audience.
As my target audience is the younger generation of 16-24 I have used fonts that would more attract them to my magazine.
E.g. on my contents page I have used the following front:
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
At the start of my media course I was taught how to use a proffessional digital camera, this camera was what I used to capture my media product pictures. It helped me to achieve high standard clear pictures that could catch nearly every detail possible. I learnt about the different options on this digital cameras, I was able to zoom in and out in order to get the correct shots, it had different themes on it aswell which I was able to use. I also learnt how to adjust the light in order to achieve the high key lighting that I wanted.
I used a software named 'Photoshop' to edit my photographs and create my media product. I gained alot of knowledge on the tools that were availiable for me to access, they varied from cropping and adjusting, to changing the lighting and contrast. In photoshop I first started to construct my front page cover, I learnt how to create new layers in order for my pictures and words to overlap. From my new knowledge on photoshop I was able to crop my picture of my model and also size it. I used a tool called the 'Lasso tool' which was very helpful at helping me cute and transfer. There were also make up tools which would help remove spots on my model. Photoshop offered many tools for me such as guide lines, this helped me when creating my contents page, it made sure my black lines were straight. I have also learnt to add and remove backgrounds on my front page cover, in the end I decided to have a White background.
Photoshop also offered a range of fonts that I would be able to use for my media product,but I wasn't quite so happy with these as I wanted one that would be just right for my target audience. So used a website called http://www.dafont.com/ to find different fonts that I could transfer to Photoshop. On this website I found the best font to use on my contents page which I thought was great for my target audience. ( "Miss Leanne Lewis").
Looking back at the preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to a full product?
Looking back at my preliminary task I feel the main thing I have learnt is how to produce and create a proffessional looking media product by doing such things as:
- Audience Research
- Researching Magazines
- Learning How To Use A New Software
I also learnt that it is very important to have a target audience and that you should really base your magazine ideas on this target audience. It is important to gain information on this group. I have also learnt that alot about diffrent social groups that magazines aim at. Many magazines included specific topics within their magazine in order to attract more than one type of social group.
At the start of my project I carried out a task in which I had to create a college magazine, from this I learnt how to produce a magazine using photoshop and I learnt about audience research. After this I got feedback from from my fellow students and friends so I can do better in my real media product. From this I learnt the improtance of audience feedback. This all helped me to make my media product look proffessional.
I have learnt that specific colours create a dramatic change in th effect that the magazine gives to my target audience. I have learnt very significant techniques and skills on the 'Photoshop' software in order for me to create a proffessional media product. I also learnt about diffrent files that must be used in photoshop such as ' JPEG' this is the file in which I had to use when transfering my media product fom photoshop to blogger.
During my research I looked at various music genres, it allowed me to gather resources for my product. I choose to base my media product on the Hiphop and R&B genre as I am already familuar with this genre. I knew that if I used this genre then I will have a better insight on the whole product and also I would recieve more accurate results from my audience in my audience research.
I also learnt about styles and colloquial language used in Hip Hop and R&B magazines, I learnt that Hip Hop and R&B artists are stereotyped, they are said to always wear tracksuits,big gold chains and hoodies. But I learnt this isn't always true, so this is why I represented my models in a very modern unique style and not a typical stereotype look. I learnt that Hip Hop and R&B is more than just music it represents peoples struggles of living on the streets and trying to get through everyday life on dangerous neighbourhoods and many more difficultys.
During this whole task not only did I learn new skills buh I have also learnt how to be more organised within myself as I organised my time carefully.
Kamara Israel - Mcleish
