1. JOHN HAMMOND REVIEW

2. 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? My magazine front cover is typical of a music magazine for the genre. The corner of the title is covered by the main image. This allows the image to stand out from the text. The front cover only contains one image so the main focus is on the image. Other headlines and text are in front of the image to allow the titles to contrast the image, therefore allow the image to stand out. The structure is very similar to most magazines, the positions and angles creates a professional feel. The position of the headlines are very similar which almost create a border around the artist featured. The red and white contrast of colours allow the text to grasp the audiences attention and is a common theme throughout ‘MISC’ magazine, which becomes common with the readers. The unconventional style of my magazine is the all white background, this could be seen very plain if not in the right context. As a result of using a plain white background this enhances the image, text and colours on the front cover. The red banner is similar to popular music magazines, It is a good feature as it allows the audience to see what bands are featured which draws there attention. The bold font emphasises the headline, allowing the audience to be interested in the magazine at first glance. The different colour of each article/word draws the attention to the headline. This emphasises the image. The grasping pose of the artist Zane Lowe enhances the audiences vision and connects due to his friendly pose.

3. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? ‘ MISC’ contains the masthead in the contents page this is the same as ‘NME’ and ‘Q’ music magazines, this allows the name of the magazine to stick with the audience. The image of the artist is in front of all the headlines which emphasises the artist’s present on the page. The ‘Artist’s Featured’ section is adapted from ‘NME’s ‘Band Index’. It is a really great feature it allows the audience to spot which artists are in the magazine. The images which represent headlines is an alternative idea to the standard music magazine which is usually with text. Using images gives the audience an immediate insight and the page in which the image is featured. The ‘MISC’ contents page sticks to the same colour theme throughout the magazine which represents the ‘MISC’ Theme. MISC is more basic magazine, the primary colour red contrasts with the gold to give a professional feel and emphasises the remaining colours of the other text. The image of Zane Wilson is not featured with a musical instrument or not in action which is a bad point of the image as it could be hard to tell what type of musician he actually is. I could of possibly added advertising/tokens on the contents of the magazine to gain larger interest to the audience to buy the next issues to make it look more authentic

4. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? The MISC magazine colours of the text enable the audience to define the questions and answers at first glance. The images used are very different, The image of ‘The Vaccines’ is very personal and shows all the band close together, whereas ‘MISC’ magazine shows the journey of Zane Wilson and portray he is alone. The graphics on the double page spread of ‘The Vaccines’ almost creates a border around the image, MISC magazine lacks an emphasising image to draw in the audience. The text in the article of ‘The Vaccines’ does not stand out and it is not spread out, it seems like there is a lot of text which could potentially put the reader off. The size of the text is small for compact writing but is still easy to read.

5. 2.How does your media product represent particular social groups? The images used are of a 18 year old solo artist. This is appealing to many ages due to the factor of music for the older generations. Girls would be attracted to the artists and for teenage boys they would be inspired at what he has achieved and his style. The images and stories can be directed at mainly working class/middle class. Middle class are most likely to buy the magazine and visit concerts. The higher class could possibly attracted to the magazines The people who read the magazine would obviously be interested in music and common trends. If they were to see the new artists on the covers they would obviously listen to the artist’s music as they have read the magazine to see upcoming music. Fashion and style is also a big influence on the audience who buy the magazine.

6. 3.What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? Facebook is currently the most popular social network in the world with over 500 million members. To advertise on Facebook would be a great opportunity. 17% of all magazines are published digitally and all music magazines are accessible through the internet. Some even have a subscription service where the whole magazine can be viewed via the internet. Also through social networks such as twitter and groups on Facebook to keep there customers updated Magazines are often given away free at clothes shows and music shops, which is a great way to advertise your magazine whilst starting up. Shop shelf is the obvious way to distribute magazine and majority of magazines are seen in the shop. It is then up to the magazine’s front cover to draw in the customers. Magazines can advertise in other magazines similar to there kind although this would be unlikely due to the obvious competition between leading magazines. T-shirts is a new and stylish way to advertise the music magazine My magazine could be advertised through music websites such as ITunes. A market for music and where a lot of customers will use the website

8. 5.How did you attract/address your audience? The colours used in the front cover are an obvious contrast there for emphasising text used to describe articles to attract readers. If I were to advertise my magazine I would use t-shirts with a front cover of a well established artist, this links to fashion in music which would advertise the magazine as people would wear the t-shirts in many places which works similar to ‘word of mouth’ I would also advertise my magazine at music festivals possibly giving a sample of the magazine to increase interest. The festival would be obviously linked to the theme of the magazine to direct it at the correct target audience. The front cover would attract the audience immediately due to the professional look. The guitar shows the relation to music so people instantly know its music related. The banner at the bottom which features band names will appeal to the audience and it is a great way to include artists without creating an individual article. The character on the front of the magazine known as ‘Zane Wilson’ is set in a dramatic pose with direct eye contact. This is purposely done to connect to the audience. By putting the artist in front of the text it means the authors are confident that it is a well established magazine. The face of the artist is clear, which outlines his eyes therefore interacting with the audience. The products have been written/constructed to address my audience due to the indie/rock musical scene which is the main audience. The questions in the interview ask what the audience want to know which will appeal to the audience The red, white and black text contrasts with the grey which the artist is. This defines the text from the image yet links it to the audience. The way the beginning of the text is a different colour from the remaining text gives the articles definition and obviously attracts the audience.

9. 6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? I used Photoshop to turn my image grey, it learnt me very basic skills which are very beneficial. All my projects were edited on fireworks. From cropping to editing text, it greatened my skills and I would feel comfortable to create another Magazine. I published all my work to Blogger, it allowed me to keep track on what was updated, it can also be viewed by other people. Which also means I can view others. I can also previous my other posts on a timeline. Slide share allows you to upload presentations on to blogger. Which you can view with ease. This enables me to sort my blogger page out so my products can be viewed easily and stress free. Taking the images your self with a digital camera allows a high definition image which allowed me to take the image with the angles which would grasp the audiences attention greater. The mise-en-scene I used was an open field with a guitar, this was my first idea and it worked well due to the open, musical feel. Light was very important and I took several images and effects to get greater front cover images.

10. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? Technology: I have learnt to use technologies such as Blogger, Fireworks and Photoshop. I have increased my skills on taking photos. Learnt how to upload power points in a greater form (slideshare). I also know how to download fonts from the internet. How To Attract a Target Audience: My target audience was 16-30 males. To direct the magazine at these is used music which men of this age are generally into, directed the price at middle class (yet available for every class) and used masculine fonts to interest the audience How to Create an authentic magazine I learned how to create an authentic magazine through much research of similar magazines to my products. Simple things like text, and colours. Not to make the page to fancy and keep things simple to give of a realistic feel. Other techniques include positioning of images and titles such as putting the image in front of the title so the magazine seems like a well established product. How to communicate I have learnt to connect to the audience through interviews by addressing them directly. Also by using images which reach out to the audience by eye contact. Another technique is to use informal language to communicate more direct. Conventions of typical magazines Conventions of a typical ‘Indie’/’Rock’ magazine is colours. Keep the same theme throughout. Include a band list and insert as many band names as possible to interest the audience. I learnt this through wide research by researching many music magazines of this genre such as ‘NME’ and ‘Q’ where colours are a main theme which keeps the magazine together through a series of fonts and colours.