Evaluation question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

I think that the main progression I have made from my pre lim task to my finished music magazine would be my understanding of the layout and design including the conventions of magazines so that it appeals to my audience. Also I believe the development in my skills on certain software such as Photoshop has been very beneficial.
Firstly I having developed my technical skills using Photoshop going from a basic and very limited knowledge of how to use different elements such as cutting out Photo's and also editing them. My skills gradually progressed throughout the production of my magazine and  I feel when I produced my draft I had a much more understanding of the different tools that I could use which I felt helped me a lot not just with the look of the magazine but also with the time it took me to accomplish things for example I was able to cut out pictures in half the time. I also had a greater knowledge of editing pictures for example blemishing and adjusting brightness, therefore my pictures would look professional.


My understanding of the layout and design of magazine has also improved in the hip hop genre especially. This has mainly been gain during the research stage of my product where I would be finding new and interesting magazine designs all the time that I would take inspiration from. I think this was because I was learning how the magazine would appeal to my audience using the typical conventions of hip hop magazines. I saw that every thing on the page from the photo to the bar code was particularly place to make the magazine aesthetically pleasing. I particularly like complex magazine as they have inventive ways of designing front covers. I developed these further when designing as I used these conventions in my own design and saw how they worked. Also I realised that a lot of magazines go against the rule of thirds and golden spiral especially with hip hop magazines. 
Looking at my contents page development from my pre lim to final I feel shows this. My pre lim laced in design, layout and also text which I think was improved in my final contents page. The photographs are cut out better making a more professional look and work better on the page. The text shows exactly what to expect in each page making it easier for the reader to use. From putting my pre lim contents and my final contents next together you can see my development, particularly my understanding of a conventional contents page for a hip hop magazine as I feel this is the part I have learnt most about.   

Evaluation question 6

Question 6 on Prezi

Evaluation question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

My audience ranges from older teenagers, 18, to young adults around 25 so I have design my magazine in a way that will attract this age range to want to buy it. Also I am aiming my magazine at a predominately male audience and therefore looking to attract this gender to my more so than a female audience. I did this by featuring a male of a similar age to my audience on my cover, also using clothing, his pose and facial expression to appeal further. I chose to keep my colour scheme only 'male' which would be aesthetically pleasing for my audience. My magazine features mainly American artists which I think would appeal to my target audience as these are the top artist in the hip hop genre. Also having my own artist being British I think will appeal to my audience do to the fact I am aiming my magazine at a British market and therefore they will want to see and artist from their own country head lining a magazine over all the other artists. Another reason this would appeal to my audience is because they are more likely to see K.I.D live at a concert, compared to the chance of they seeing an American artists. 

The contents is designed with my audience in mind because they would understand the informal text used and also some of the short brief description related to the artists. I used this type of text to make my contents page as straight forward as possible and tried to keep the text for each section minimal and to the point. However I had to make sure that each section made the page sound interesting making my audience want to read it. I feel the picture would be attractive to them as is shows my artist but you cannot see his face and he is almost looking down at the text which creates a link between them. This makes focus on the text so they realise the interview and page number. Also it makes the main part of the magazine stand out which makes it important that the reader finds it. This includes a small insight into further detail about the interview interesting the reader further. Also I think the page number being placed behind the text makes the link stronger and look better. I made a clear divide between the features and fashion to make the contents easier to use. This would help my audience as they will be able to find what they are looking for.

The language I have used in my artist would appeal to my audience because of the interview style; the way my artist speak matches that of other hip hop artist and is what my audience would expect. Also they can relate to my artist through my interview as they are of a similar age. I also think the photograph on the double page spread would appeal to my audience due to the styling and pose of my artist. The cover line that reads 'nothing is ever what is seems, read between the lines' would appeal to my audience as I feel it is something they will have to think about even before they read the article and find out what it means. They will have to think about the text as in order it reads 'nothing read is ever between what it the lines seems' which will not make sense to them at first. I think this almost interactive part of my double page spread will interest the reader. The interview I think the fact that my interview focuses on music aside to other features such as fashion would attract my audience as they would be more interested to know the story behind the artist’s music up bringing which they would be able to relate to.

Overall, I think I have done a lot of things to attract my audience and interest them into buying my magazine. I believe I achieved this by focusing purely on my artist and how he has become the artist he has which I think will appeal to my audience when looking at my audience profile because they will be interested in getting to know my artist in more detail and feel they are getting an 'exclusive' insight into his life. My contents is focused on the artist they are popular and I know my audience would like and be interested in, therefore attracting them to buy the magazine.

Evaluation question 4

Evaluation question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I think the media institution that would be best suited to distibute my magazine would be Inter Media, a private equity investment fund focusing on the media industry across all platforms - television, radio, publishing, internet and marketing. The company also owns Vibe magazine. I think this because I feel Vibe is targeting the same social group to my magazine. They distribute their magazines through their on-line website which provides some articles from the magazine so the customer can get a feel for the content. The magazine also get distributed to thousands of shops ranging from corner shops to hyper markets. They influence their customers to buy through catchy deals. The company has large portfolio and their aim is to improve their assets and grow the business, so I feel this would be beneficial for my magazine. The company doe not currently have another music magazine to go along side their other extremely popular vibe magazine, meaning there is a lot of opportunity for my magazine to thrive along side vibe. Also because they are a company focused on growing they would be inclined to publish my magazine. Also they will already have the knowledge and experience from the success of vibe magazine, therefore they will be able to push my magazine to be just as bigger success.  

I could distribute the magazine in may different  ways such as posting the magazine for subscribers through and on-line buyers, on magazine stands in shops and also through apps and purchasing of hand held devices which are becoming more popular. All these way will make it more accessible, particularly as my target audience is an age group familiar with the technology. 
I would definitely have to  make the publication of the magazine weekly and with a fixed price, that could be reduced if the reader was to sign up to a subscription over a certain time period, probably being over 2 months. Also the price reduction would vary depending on the length of the subscription.   

Evaluation question 2

Question 2