AS Media Foundation Portfolio: 2009

Before I created my magazine I looked at a number of other magazines to see what conventions they have used in order to sell their magazine. Firstly my magazine has a central image which is essential for the front cover of a magazine. The main central image is needed because it is a main selling point of the magazine. For my magazine front cover I have used a central image to attract my target audience. However I could have used a better central image so that it stands out more. My central image could have been edited so that the main artist will catch the eye of my target audience better. I have also used anchorage text on my front cover, which is another convention of existing magazines. The anchorage text is also another main selling point of the magazine since it tells the reader what the main story will be, which therefore persuades the audience to buy the magazine. Another important convention I have used is the fact that my magazine has a title. The title of my magazine is ‘Hip Hop Pages’. It is very important for a magazine to have a title so that it can be easily distinguished from other magazines. I have made my title bold and made the colour stand out from the rest of my magazine so that it catches the eye of my target audience. On the front cover of most magazines the title is located at the top of the front cover and stretches across it from left to right. However my title is located in the left hand corner but I believe it is big enough to attract my target audience. I have also used puffs on my front cover. This is another feature that will help to sell my magazine. It allows the target audience to see what stories will be featured in my magazine. Another convention I noticed that magazines use is teasers. I have used a teaser to encourage people to buy my magazine. My contents page also uses conventions from existing magazines. For example I have used the same colour scheme for my front cover and contents page. However I have not used the same font styles. Which means my magazine does not have a consistent house style. I have used a column to organise the information on my contents page. I have used a bright colour for the writing on my contents page so that it stands out from the background and is therefore clearly legible. The font size is not too small or too big, it’s just the right size for the reader to be able to read it. I have integrated text and image on my contents page. However I have not included an editorial note which is usually on most magazine contents pages. My magazine uses most of the conventions from existing magazines however I have not developed or changed these conventions since they work best for magazines to sell.

My magazine represents teenagers, both male and females, who are interested in RnB and Hip-Hop music. It represents this through the genre of music and artist I have included in my magazine. This means that my magazine features RnB or Hip-Hop artist since this is the group I want my magazine to be aimed at and represent. Even though RnB and Hip-Hop is made up of mainly black people however this doesn’t mean my magazine is aimed at just the black society. The reason for this is that RnB and Hip-Hop music is very main stream now which means this genre of music is more popular. The artist I have chosen to use photos of in my magazine are not black however they represent the Hip-Hop lifestyle and culture. In my magazine article I have included slang words which represent the way in which many teenagers interested in Hip-Hop music would talk. The social group my magazine is representing would understand words like this, these words also make my magazine less formal. I have represented these social groups in a positive way. I have done this by using a photograph of a music artist in a school to show that my magazine and the artist are promoting learning and that the artist can be seen as a positive role model to the people in this social group.

I am aiming my magazine at teenagers aged 14-19. I have chosen this age range because I think they will be into the music my magazine will be based on. Also I think that they are more likely to buy music magazines than any other age range. My magazine will be aimed at mainly black youths since that is the social group that listen to the genre of music my magazine is based on. The main reason I have targeted this group of people is because this is the conclusion I came to from my questionnaire. I have decided to aim my magazine at the people I think would help the sales of my magazine since this is the most important thing.

There are many ways in which I attracted and addressed my audience. To attract my audience I have decided to use conventions from existing magazines. These include and eye catching central. This is so that when the audience are looking at magazines on the shelves my magazine will stand out and encourage them to look at it and purchase it. I have also used a good title which relates to the genre of music my magazine is based on therefore when the audience are looking at it they will know straight away that it is a Hip-Hop magazine. I have used four main colours that stand out. This is another way to catch the eye of the audience. Anchorage text has also been used to attract the audience since it is one of the first things they will see and it will tell them about the main story in the magazine. When the audience read this if they are interested in the story they will by the magazine. Puffs and buzz words have also been used since it is an excellent way to attract my audience. I have addressed my audience through the central image that I have used. The girl that I have used for my central image is looking directly at the camera and therefore making eye contact with the audience. The direct mode of address given out by the central image suggests that she wants to have an intimate and close relationship with the reader. The person on my central image is acting as Keri Hilson who is a young and attractive female artist. This will attract the male audience since it is something that they would be interested in. Also the fact that she looks like a model and will attract the females because they would look at her as a role model, something that they will want to because when they are older. Keri Hilson is also a well known artist therefore she has a huge fan base. Her fans will want to know more about her therefore encouraging them to buy the magazine.

The media institution I would use to distribute my magazine would be I.P.C. this is due to the fact that they distribute many magazines with a wide variety. Some examples of magazines that they distribute are ‘NME’, ‘Now’, ‘Look’ and many others. Over 26 million adults read I.P.C magazines which mean if I was to use this institution to distribute my magazine I may have a very big readership. However most of the people that read I.P.C magazines are adults and my magazine is aimed at teenagers. This means my magazine may not do as good under this institution however it may do very good and attract new audiences, therefore widening my magazines audience.

While producing my magazine I have used a number of different technologies. I have learnt how to use Adobe Creative Suite (CS3). This includes illustrator and Photoshop. I also learn how to different techniques to use when taking a photograph with a digital camera. This helped me to develop my photography skills which I had very little of. I needed to learn techniques like this since I wanted my magazine to look professional. During this project I have also learnt how to manipulate and edit images using Adobe Photoshop. I have learnt how to add effects to images and remove parts of an image that I did not want. To make my actual magazine I used Illustrator which is also part of the Adobe package. This software took me a while to get use to but eventually I got the hang of it. I learnt how to us columns for my article and how to use different types of text. I have also learnt how to use blogs, since this is how I will be publishing my media work. I now know how to set up a blog and post all my work on it. When first using my blog I could not insert images, therefore I had to find another way in which in would be able to insert an image. I found out that I can use HTML to upload an image. From this blog I have also learnt how to set up polls in order for me to get audience feedback about my work. This is useful for me since I will know if my work needs to be improved. I have also learnt how to edit my blog, now I am able to change the background and layout of my blog.

There is a big difference between my school magazine, which part of my preliminary task, and my music magazine. This is partly due to the fact that they are too different magazines but also because my skills have developed more since I made my school magazine. When I made my school magazine it was the first time I had use this Adobe Creative Suite package. I then had practice and made my music magazine. By comparing the two magazines you can tell that my skills have developed because my music magazine looks more professional since the images have been edited better.

I asked people to look at my magazine so that they could give me some audience feedback. I asked them to tell me whether they thought my font cover/contents page and double page spread article looked good. When I first uploaded my magazine I asked people to judge it. Around 60% said that I could improve it. I took this into account and made some changes to my magazine. Once I had completed these improvements I uploaded it again. Around 70% of the people I asked said that they liked my magazine.