2. Q1. In what ways does your media
project use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media
products?
3. Title Page
Selling Line
Masthead
Date
Side Stories
Cover story
Plug
Barcode
Price
4. • Masthead:
I researched a number of magazines covers and checked their mastheads on how they were positioned, what font and color
they used. I looked at how productive they were in making an influence and selling the magazine. There were many factors
that influenced my decisions. I realized that most of the magazines placed their mastheads of the top of the page centered
and on the left hand side. I noticed that the mastheads were all simple fonts but in large size which outset the magazine.
Whilst making my masthead I tried a variety of fonts and sizes. I selected my font from the website named ‘dafont.com’
named ‘Mixed Up’ which fell in the category of PUNK in yellow color to outstand the magazine cover page and attract the
user onto buying the magazine. I positioned it on the top of the magazine.
• Selling Line:
I decided I wanted to feature selling line in my magazine because it will make it more unique and noticeable. When looking
further into sell lines I discovered that they were placed below the masthead, above the masthead or at the bottom the
page it was rare to see it anywhere else on the page. From this research I then decided to place my sell line ‘Best Rock
Magazine ever published’ just above my Mast head, this is because it will make it noticeable and attractive. I also discovered
that the sell lines were usually a very different color to the mastheads so that the two texts contrast against one another
making it clear and easy to read, from this I decided to make my sell line a different font and a black color.
• Cover Story:
In my existing texts the cover lines were different all around from size, color, shape, font, etc. Some magazines decided to
use colors that contrast against one another to make it easy to read and show the difference between them, I decided to use
all the bright and catchy color to make it unique I also thought it would look more modern and appeal to my target audience
because there is nothing else much like it, by doing this I had to make sure that it was still easy and clear to read that is why I
decided to do only four cover lines because I could spread them
• Main Image:
My main image consist of only one large picture of the rock band artist named ‘Ridz’ who is holding an electrical guitar and
having a direct eye contact with the viewers, this is to attract the customers onto buying the magazine in one look.
• Plug:
In my magazine I have added one plug on the left side of the magazine under the side stories which usually gauge more
attention. I had to made a rectangular box for ‘Free’ to make it more prominent. And for the customers to get more for what
they are paying for
• Side- Stories
After much research to see different magazines for their structure of side stories, I decided to place my side stories in the
left side of the magazine below the masthead. Keeping the font of the masthead large enough to be visible and to grab
attention in just a look.
6. • Content Page
• Image
• I wanted to have just one image on the content page which would be linked to the artist in
the cover page to make it more prominent and to have more focus on the cover story. On the
content page I placed it on the left side below the title in a rectangular box above its story to
make it catchy.
• Color Scheme
• The color scheme for the magazine is mostly black and white, it was mainly because it was
pretty catchy color scheme and that I was extremely influenced by the NME magazine. These
colors make the font more prominent and outstand of the black background.
• Name of Magazine
• ‘RockAlicious’ the name of the magazine immediately makes the reader understand that it’s a
rock magazine and is a real magazine for all the rock lovers. This name was decided as it
stands under no discrimination whether it’s the case of gender, age or ethnicity. So to have
any flaws in the magazine and to make it attention driving, I kept this name.
• Layout
• My layout for the content page is pretty organized and simple. Each and every section is
made very clear for the readers, the subheadings are filled out with black color and the
writing is in while and for the page numbers a vibrant shade of red is used to make me eye
catchy. I added only one image linked to the cover photo to continue the momentum.
8. • Double-Spread Page
• Drop Cap
• The interview started with the drop cap to give it a starting, the color pink was chosen as it was in the images plus it gave a
good impact to the whole structure and color scheme of the double spread page.
• Columns
• The images and the writing is structured in five different columns, the idea was different and original. I believe that this
creativity will make it interesting for the readers as the interviews of upcoming singers tend to bore the readers so it’s a new
way onto making them read and look through the whole page.
• Image
• Four images are used in separate columns with different actions in different color schemes to add life to the page and to
make it attractive for the users to read the interview and to know more about the artist.
• Pull Quote
• The put quote was in different font and color to make it prominent for the reader as they hold a deeper meaning of what the
artist meant, and also that the quote tell about the life and style of that separate individual.
• Lead story
• The leading story is in two different colors with strokes and was placed in different settings to make it more interesting. It
also represented the thought of the artist about herself, and will attract the reader onto knowing more about them.
9. Q2. How does your media
product represent particular
social groups?
10. • The Social Groups are represented in the subheading below;
• Age:
• My magazine stand for the age of 16+. It also shows a positive look for teenagers because as my images used do not shows
the stereotype of a teenager they show a more mature look on things, this can persuade the audience to read as it makes
them feel good to know they aren't going to be stereotyped. The cover lines on my magazine defiantly stand out to the age
of my target audience as they all have a famous artist that is targeted at the teenager audience for example '‘Lil Wayne’ so it
was important for me to makes sure I kept the cover lines at the right age range.
• Gender:
• The way gender is represented in my magazine can be seen as sexist because I have only presented it with images of females
however my magazine is for both the genders. The rock magazine is for all the people who are rock music lover whether
they are males or females.
• Ethnicity:
• In my magazine there was only I type of ethnicity shows in my images an Asian. I had to make sure that this was not seen as
racists, so I made sure that in my cover lines and in my headlines I had artists from all different types of ethnicity which
shows that my magazine is not targeted at one ethnicity and I don't want it to single out anyone as it is targeted at all
different types of ethnicity.
• Social Class:
• My magazine has the look of a neutral magazine as I wanted to show no class differentials. I have on my mast head and
cover lines and throughout, the color scheme of different shades to make it seem very interesting as well and the good
quality, images but my magazine is actually targeted to middle/upper class, I though the look of a formal magazine gives it a
better professional finish but I had to make sure that in my Double Page Spread that my interview had to be informal which
is what I have done. So although it looks very high class it does have the effect of a middle/upper class magazine.
• Regional Identity:
• I decided not to show any regional identity the reasons for this is because I want it to appeal to all and if this was to be a real
magazine on sale the likely hood of it just being sold in one region are slim and it would be really bad for the business and
hard for them to change the image. So I made sure from the start I had no regional identity.
• Physical disability:
• When I researched in the artists that aimed at my target audience I couldn't find any main stream ones that had a physical
disability that is why I did not feature on in my magazine I do not believe that this singles people out with physical disability I
think that I if I were to put someone with a physical disability in my magazine it could have been seen as stereo typing and
tagging on someone.
11. Q3. What kind of media institutions
might distribute your media product
and why?
12. • My magazine, ‘RockAlicious’ has the capacity and the age limit to be sold
out at supermarkets, bookstores and also to some media company that
publishes magazines, broadcasts radio and develops specialized TV and
interactive media just like EMAP in British. It could also be shared
different websites to promote youth creativity and uprising talent in that
specific field. The newspapers may also like to publish this magazine in
their Sunday special page or can even attach it with their monthly
magazine about the new talent developing in the country. Like The News
or Dawn News. The radios can also mention the name In their daily shows
which would actually make people onto buying the new issue. People can
also visit for free online subscription, the website is
www.rockalicious.com.pk to know about the upcoming stars and the
monthly magazines.
13. Q4. Who would be the audience for
your media product?
14. • As mentioned earlier in the previous questions, the age limit set for the magazine is 16+ and
so it will definitely attract teenagers and the youth. As for the gender, it’s a rock magazine so
the audience would be all the rock lovers, whether it’s a female or male. So there is no
problem of sexist. And there are even chances for the celebs to have a look over the hotest
gossips and the publics reviews over their albums.
Targetted Audience For the
Magazine?
11%
Teenagers
16%
Early 20's
73% Mid 30's and plus
15. Q5. How did you attract/address your
audience?
16. • I tried to attract my audience through the use of my cover lines, Masthead
and side stories also through my images and the plug. My side stories all
represent popular and well know artists which is a good way to pull the
audience in as it will make them think instantly the magazine will be good
and it will give the magazine a good name for its self this is especially
important if it is just starting out. I made sure that my images were
appealing so that they would pull the reader in because this is what the
audience tends to look at when they are looking at magazines 'who is on
the cover?' so my front cover image was the most important and the way I
have done it to pull the audience in is by making the person in the image
look straight into the camera this instantly give the reader a sense of
knowing the person, I then decided to make the person in the image give a
welcoming facial expression which makes the audience feel welcome and
makes them want to read the magazine. Another way of attracting the
audience was the use of bold colors in the cover story and the masthead
itself. I decided that to use all the vibrant colors like red and yellow to
make it very bold and it stands out from the rest and also makes it easy
and clear to read, this is a common feature used throughout my magazine.
17. • In making of this magazine, youngsters were handed over questionnaires to give their ideas
for the magazine and how it tends to attract them and so the magazine was designed
accordingly. However the statistics were;
What is the first thing you Does a catchy cover story
notice in a Music tempt you to buy a Music
Magazine? Magazine?
11% Image 9%
Title
Yes
Cover story
25% 27% No
64% 64%
Maybe
Would you prefer more Should a Music Magazine
than one image on the include free posters?
cover page?
5%
25% Yes
Yes
No
28% 13%
No 62%
67% Maybe
Maybe
18. Q6. What have you learnt about
technologies from the process of
constructing this product?
19. • The making of the music magazine made me go through a lot of technologies
which I have learnt to use. They are;
To take the images of the artist Editing the video of the
interview.
For editing the images and For writing up all the rough
making of the magazine. draft.
To upload the questionnaires
and evaluation. To make the slideshow of the
evalution before uploading it
on slideshare.
For downloading different
fonts for the magazine. Minor editing and previewing
the images
Making of the blog and
uploading all the coursework. Making the pages of images for
the double-spread page.
20. Q7. Looking back at the preliminary
task, what do you feel you have learnt
in the progression from it to the full
product?
23. • From the preliminary task I learnt many different things for the main project. The layout of
the magazine was a very big thing, I learnt straight away that for the front cover, the
masthead and the main image is the main attraction from this I took on that I had to make
them very high quality and appealing for my music magazine. The layout for the contents was
very important as well I had to make sure it didn't look to empty as my preliminary task was. I
made it very basic, but for my music magazine I made it look much more professional and a
bit more complex with more information, I also added headings and subheadings this time
that gave a better finish.
I learnt how to make the images look more professional and make then have a better finish
How I did this was on the preliminary task I used one image for both the pages which gave
them a simple yet boring look, it wasn’t the way I wanted so I was not very happy but when I
did my main task I learnt Photoshop' that gave me the perfect finish and the right effect that I
was looking for and I was very please.
From the begin I found that 'cover lines', 'selling lines' and 'head line' are very important
because they pull the reader in and they basically show the magazines genre and target
audience. So on the preliminary task all these had to be school orientated, so on my music
magazine they all had to music orientated and I had to make sure I put the artists that were
popular and that appealed more to my target audience for example ‘Lil Wayne’ this appeals
to teenagers.
