1. AS MEDIA STUDIES EVALUATIONCandidate Name: Muddassir HussainCandidate Number: 5584Centre: 51627

2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? I would say that my product follows the conventions of real media products in a similar institution. The ‘Q’ music magazine, uses a lot of clever conventions in all their issues, in fact they use similar colour schemes, font styles and sizes and image positioning. Having analysed several ‘Q’ magazines, I have noticed and have used many of this techniques to make my music magazine as popular as it. Firstly, I concentrated on achieving a masthead that could be recognisable to my audience. For example, as ‘Q’ have a white ‘q’ on a red square, it stands out on a newspaper stand, so I similarly made my masthead achieve a similar status. I used a chrome font style to write my masthead, ‘MUSIK’, on top of a black square. I feel that this is eye-catching, as well as following my audience’ requirements, as the colour black was a popular result. I also used a similar convention of ‘Q’ in the way that I layered out my cover lines and main cover lines. Having kept in mind the rule of thirds, I displayed major band names and pop star names on the left-third, this appeals to audiences and potential customers, as when they look at these popular names, they will want to find out more, so they’ll inevitably purchase the magazine. Another convention of ‘Q’ that I followed was the way in which they present the information on their content pages and double-page spreads. For example, they present their information in a simple column format, and use a few images around the page to fill space. In the double page spreads, they have one image that covers one page, and then they tease the reader with rhetorical questions that fill up two thirds of the second page, below these teasers, is a more serious piece, sometimes presented in question and answer format or just a simple article. However, I didn’t cohere to the conventions of ‘Q’ in some aspects. ‘Q’ provide their customers with free gifts on their front covers to lure them into buying their product, however I didn’t, instead I went with a similar ‘Cash for Questions’ convention on my double-page spread.

3. Similar conventions, white ‘Q’ masthead on top of a red square. Meanwhile my product has a Chrome effected ‘M’ on top of a black square.

4. This is an example of how I cohered to a similar convention of ‘Q’. They lure in their customers to ask questions, and supposedly they will get paid

5. How does your media product represent particular social groups? My media product represents many social groups, by this I mean that it doesn’t specifically outline one group. Using the results from my audience research, I was able to recognise the age ranges that my media product should be represent. For example, I had a variety of age ranges, and the top three ranges were quite similar, so I was able to ensure that my media product can be aimed at a multiple age range, or a specific age range. Also, my product could have been aimed at either male or female. This is because my audience research was nearly balanced, I questioned 57% male and 43% female. So by using two male pop stars on my front cover, my cover will attract female audiences, however, it will also attract male audiences, because of the mirror gaze rule. I asked a question that related to my audience informing me on the type/genres of music they are interested in. Having collected the results, I recognised that my media product should be represent social groups that have an interest in Pop music, Dance or Rap. In the end I opted to have my media product represent social groups that favour Pop music, as it was the most popular of genres.

6. These charts show that my media product could have represented a whole range of different social groups, for example, it could have represented a younger audience to mine or it could have been aimed at social groups that represent the Rap genre of music.

7. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? My media product would be distributed by a music institution. Being a music magazine, I had to produce it so that it could compete with the likes of ‘Q’, ‘NME’ and ‘Mojo’, and having followed similar conventions, similar rules that apply to ‘Q’ magazines, I think that my media product could be successful once distributed by the music institution, because I specifically concentrated on fulfilling the requirements of my audience using my audience research. It could also be sold at major newsagents, or branches such as WH Smith. This is because other major music magazines are effectively sold in these places. There is also an opportunity that my product could be distributed online, although there isn’t a website as yet, ‘Q’ have a website which is available to have a look at. Furthermore, I feel that my product could also be a product on a subscription basis, customers could sign up for it online, supply their address, payment details and they would receive it every month. http://www.qthemusic.com/

8. Who would be the audience for your media product? My media product would not be aimed at one single audience. My audience research gave me results that helped me to aim my product at different ranges. For example, having asked the question ‘What genre of music most interests you?’, this question sparked many different results, in fact, it showed me that there are many genres of music which audiences adore, so I could design my product around any of these genres and it would have effectively matched many audiences. Firstly, using my audience research, I was able to notice which age range my product should be aimed at. The results of my questionnaire showed me that I could have aimed my magazine at any of the age groups, apart from ‘13 and below’. Secondly, I could have aimed my product at the audience that preferred Rap music or Dance, because the results from the question ‘What genre of music most interests you?’, gave me results that were split between three genres of music. However, in the end, I decided to go ahead with appealing to the majority, which meant I based my music magazine on Pop music. Also I have aimed my magazine at people who cannot afford to pay a lot of money for magazine. It is important to create a product so that it can be available to people of different affluences, which is why I priced my magazine at £2.70,. This is less costly than the ‘Q’ magazines, and others such as ‘Kerrang’ and ‘NME’.

9. How did you attract/address your audience? I attracted my audience using my questionnaires. The results from my questionnaires, allowed me to understand what my audience wants in a music magazine. The layout of my magazine resembles the layout of many ‘Q’ magazines. I purposely did this because, from my audience research, I found that the most popular magazine out of ‘Q’, ‘Kerrang’, ‘NME’ and ‘Mojo’, was in fact ‘Q’, so it made sense to analyse these magazines. The way in which my magazine’s layout will attract audience’ is due to the left-third. My masthead, main cover lines, cover lines and date are all supplied, so when a customer picks one up, they will automatically notice the way in which content is so conveniently laid out. Colour schemes also attract audiences. My audience research portrayed that the most attractive looking colours on a music magazine are Black, Red and Blue. My masthead is laid on top of a black square, my font colour, throughout the magazine is different shades of red. These colours are obviously eye-catching which is why my audience demanded these to be in place.

10. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? I have learned a lot about technologies from constructing my music magazine. Prior to starting the product, I had no knowledge of utilizing Photoshop, however now, I am able to effectively use all the features, such as layering. It was obvious, that in my preliminary task I had no knowledge, this was clear in the way that I had placed my images in places that I thought were convenient, however did not realise that, conventionally, music magazine designers do not place their images as I did, rather they specifically place images to create a sense of house style, to wow their audience. ‘Q’ magazine followed this trend, in one of their magazine issues that I have analysed, I noticed that the main image is layered on top of the masthead, this is done to make the rockstars in the main image stand out. I also have learned to rasterise shapes. This means that I can effectively play around with shapes, without them becoming locked. Once they become locked, it makes it impossible to re-size, position images and shapes, however using this tool, i was able to easily transform and position shapes and images. Another tool that became easier to utilise over the course of my project was the magic wand tool. Once I got the hang of this tool, it made it easier to clear certain parts of an image, highlight certain aspects and edit backgrounds.

11. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? I have learned many things over the course of these two tasks, although, I would say that taking in feedback from my audience was the most vital aspect in me succeeding in this task. My preliminary task proved that I had no knowledge on what audiences believe to be the perfect magazine; It had no sense of character, no conventions of real media products, my colour schemes was boring and my images were lined up perfectly, however real designers, position their images, some rotate and some flip. However, whilst designing my real product, having analysed several, I gained knowledge of real music magazines, such as ‘Q’. This enabled me to base my magazine on the similar conventions to ‘Q’, such as using similar colour schemes, similar layouts, the way that ‘Q’ magazine present their information on their contents pages and double-page spreads.