1. Evaluation
Music
Magazine
Hannah
Simmons

2. Evaluation
In what ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
My music magazine uses many different forms and conventions of a real music
magazine, I used VIBE magazine as a guide to help me as they have the same genre,
the similarities it has are tag lines, cover lines and badges, most of my inspiration came
from VIBE magazine.
I used what is normally used in a magazine such as headlines etc. and expanded on
them to make them unique to the magazine which I had created, I did this by changing
fonts colours and style but still used some of VIBE’s layout to use on my magazine. As
an example my front cover uses only one main image which is in the centre of the
magazine making it the main focus to draw people in to buy the magazine. My
magazine is also promoting V FEST and a free Jessie J poster this could make my
magazine more appealing to those who were less interested in it to start with.
The badge promotes the magazine
as it is offering a free things . This
could make it appeal to a wider
audience range as people who
maybe wouldn’t have bought the
magazine before would perhaps
consider buying it.

3. Evaluation
I developed my magazine name and font by first thinking of a catchy
name which would meet with the needs and purpose of the magazine.
‘THE KICK’ implies that my magazine has something secretively good
which will give you a kick from reading it.
The main image
is my only image
on the page I did
this because I
wanted it to be
the main focus on
my front cover it
also added
femininity to the
magazine. This is
similar to VIBE
magazine as it
only has one
image too.
Cover lines are vital
to the magazine

4. My media product is aimed at representing young adults/ teenagers, to show that I represent this
age group I use different types of codes and conventions to represent them. I do this by the type
of artists which I have written about on the front cover. The image which I have used on the front
is also representative because of the fashion that she is wearing is very young and youthful, my
model on the front cover is also around the same age as my target audience, having a model who
is a similar age may influence people to buy the magazine because they ,ay feel as though they
can relate to the person who is on the front of the magazine.
The colours which I used where bright and young whereas if id chose to use darker colours such
as brown or black it would appeal to a different style of audience or a different age group. The
colours represent different things the pink is used to make the main text stand out but the
brightness of the colour is also used to add youth to the magazine front cover and make it more
appealing to the younger audience in contrast to the black writing which differentiated the mood
and colour it added a slightly more mature look to the magazine so it didn’t look childish it also
stops it from looking like a girls magazine.

5. 3. What kind of media institution might distribute your
media product and why?
IPC media is one of the biggest media publications in the World it owns over 60 publications almost 26 million adults read their
media products. They have three main medias: mean, mass market women and upmarket women.
Their men's magazines consist of: country life, horse and hound, NUTS and NME.
Mass market women’s magazines consist of: Look, Now, chat & woman.
Their upmarket women's magazines are Marie Claire and in style.
They are owned by Time Warner, they own the best weekly magazine What's On TV.
Although IPC would be good for my magazine I don't think that they would publish my magazine as they already own the second
best selling music magazine NME, which like my magazine has similar artists and genres of music.

6. 5. How did you attract/address your audience?
I used a picture of someone on the front of the magazine who would be famous if my
magazine was to be produced. This would make it appealing to my audience because if
they're fans of the artist on the front then they're more likely to buy the magazine. I also
wrote about artists and stories which would appeal to my audience.
My photography on all the pages is of young people around the same age as my audience is
aimed at people around this age so it would make them more relatable with the people in
the magazine. I also used colours in my photos instead of black and white to make them
more lively and fun. I used a long shot on my front cover to show the main image properly
and show who the main focus f the magazine was on. The image on my two page shot was a
mid shot I used this to show off everyone in the girl band and showed what type of band that
they are. I used terminology such as ‘FREE’ on the front cover to draw audience and people
in and so it caught their eye and made them want to buy it.

7. 6. What have you learnt about technologies
from the process of constructing this product?
The technologies which I used to construct my magazine are indesign and Photoshop, I found
that this they sounded easier to use then they actually were, when I first started using them I
found it a bit awkward to figure out which tools did what and the right way to do things so
that they matched the tone of my magazine. I also used a digital camera and a computer to
help take and to help edit the photos and to help cut around them indesign helped me do
this. I used the cut out tool to cut out the background and things which were not necessary
for my photos so that the main image was ready to be set on my front cover. I also
brightened some of my photos using this software, brightening my images added a more
bright and youthful tone to my magazine to make it fit my target audience effectively. I also
used the text tool to create mast heads and headings on my front cover so that certain
stories stood out against the other and caught potential readers attention and made them
interested.

8. 7. Looking back at your preliminary task (the College
magazine), what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to full product?
From when I first did my preliminary I think that I have learnt a lot because I now know how to
use the editing tools properly on indesign and Photoshop. I also now know how to use the
magic eraser which helps to eliminate anything from the photos you’ve taken which you
don't wish to be there, whereas before when I did my preliminary I thought you had to cut
around the objects which you wanted to keep in your photo. I have picked up valuable
information on Photoshop and indesign as I have made my music magazine, however doing
my preliminary taught me the outlines of the programmes and what I should be doing for my
music magazine. I have learned about audience, forms and convention to complete my music
magazine and try to understand my audience to put the magazine in the correct context for
those who will read it. Representation and style are also important because they can show
what type of audience you have and it also represents them so getting your magazine front
cover correct is a vital part of the magazine so that it sells and represents your audience in a
way that won’t make them feel ashamed to buy the magazine. Technology is also very
important as it assures that the magazine gets produced.