Evaluation - looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

7) looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? Looking back at my preliminary task I feel that I have learnt that the layout and contents within the magazine are vital, for example if a magazine is too plain and lifeless then it wouldn't get any sort of attention from the target audience. However, the product can not show too much on one page as it would be a struggle to read and far from easy on the eye of the target audience. The ideal lay out of a magazine would feature many of the common conventions and not over do it on trying to show too much at once because I have learnt that if the front cover of a magazine is not attractive then the rest of the magazine often doesn't get a chance. Throughout the progression from the preliminary task to the full product I feel that my photography has improved as I have learnt how I can represent individuals and fit them into a certain genre and I didn't manage to do this so well in my preliminary task. I have also learnt how key clothing and props are. In my full product I went out of my way to get hold of much better props such as guitars, rings and chains and this made such a big difference in the photos. However, in my preliminary task I had not yet learnt how important props and clothing really are so the product looks very weak and lifeless. I have also learnt the impact that fonts have on the overall look and feel of the product. An example of this is the fonts used in my preliminary tasks contents in comparison to the one in my full products. In my preliminary the fonts are very dull, plain and boring and this doesn't look attractive at all, at the time I thought this would be best as it fits the genre. In my final product's contents I went through much more fonts until I found the one which I thought gave off the best sense of genre and impact on me as a reader. I then went and spent a lot of time going through the different types of colour combinations for the fonts as I wanted it to have almost the opposite effect as my preliminary gave off.

Evaluation - what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your product?

6) what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your product? From the process of constructing my product I have learnt that using multiple pieces of software, such as: Microsoft Publisher, Photoshop CS5, Paint and Pixlr(online) that I can achieve the ideal outcome for my final product. For example the basic unedited photos had a completely different background and had carpet showing in a few shots but using Photoshop CS5 I was able to completely remove everything I didn't want and make it look completely natural. Through Pixlr I learnt that I was able to mirror a certain image(Horizontally or vertically), this helped me as I needed a suitable photo for the second page of the double page spread and I could only achieve that by flipping the image. Paint was used to increase the size of the images as it is a lot quicker and more successful than any online websites I tried. I made them bigger by viewing the image as a slideshow, this is so it views it as the biggest possible image with out losing quality, then I took a print screen of the image in the slideshow and pasted onto paint, only leaving cropping out the thick black border. I have created my whole product on Microsoft Publisher and I feel it has been the best and most easy to use technology for my products creation.

Evaluation - how did you attract/address your audience?

5) how did you attract/address your audience? I attracted my audience by the colours that I used within my magazine. I used a lot of black, red, dark grey and dark colours in general. This is because the Rock has a very big association with darkness so if I was to use brighter colours then I would attract the wrong audience or no audience. The target audience for my media product is men and women aged from 15 to 30 who are into rock. They would find this attractive as they would be familiar with their favourite bands wearing these colours and styling their music videos, concerts and personas around these bold colours. Another way I would have attracted my audience is the layout of my magazine. It is a very traditional layout for a Rock magazine for example the artists in the main picture of the front cover have covered part of the title, this is to show how important they are and is a common convention in Rock magazines. One way the audience addresses the audience is the way the majority of the text is central or filled from left to right, this is so that the reader does not miss any of text and skips to certain bits. The text is also molded around images and this is so that the reader can see all of the possible text and does not miss some of the contents from the article. As well as this, the image will instantly grab the readers attention meaning they will know who/what the article is about almost instantaneously.

Evaluation - who would be the audience for your media product?

4) who would be the audience for your media product? The target audience for my media product is both males and females aged from 15 - 30. I have chosen this target audience because it is around 15 when you are exploring all different types of music and I feel that my product would be able to sway these into sticking with rock and more importantly my product. However, Rock is also something that has been around along time so if their parents are Rock fans then they would be more than likely to be a fan of Rock and interested in reading about their favourite bands. As well as the youthful side of the target audience my magazine also attracts middle aged men and women. This is because it features a wide range of artists which means it features the up and coming artists that the younger side of the audience will grow up with as well as the older legends in the genre that the older side of the audience would have grown up with and are still interested in. I have stopped my target audience at 30 as I think my magazine needs to look youthful to attract more youthful people than older people as it is more likely to be the younger ones buying magazines as they do not yet have careers and families to look after and manage like the 30+ year olds which means they would have more time to read and buy my product.

Evaluation - what kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

3) what kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? My media product is similar to Metal Hammer and Kerrang so like these magazines mine would be distributed in similar places. Some of the places my magazine would be distributed are: Supermarkets, newsagents, online on the official website, music stores and they would be able to make a subscription to the magazine which would mean reservation on every issue at your nearest newsagents or distributor. These means of distribution would be massive on the popularity of my magazine as it means it can be bought from a wide range of places.

Evaluation - how does your media product represent different social groups?

2) how does your media product represent different social groups? My media product represents a more younger social group than the average rock magazine as it is aimed at both me and women between the ages of 15 - 30 who listen to rock, punk, metal and death metal and people that model themselves on their idols from within these genres. These genres are very popular in the UK, the USA and Eastern Europe, this means that it is typically white people associated with Rock. Some bands do consist of members not being of a white origin however the majority are from a white origin so I used this in my magazine so it attracted the widest possible audience. My media product also represents certain socials groups because of the type of magazine I have produced. As Rock music uses a lot of various instruments and sounds then it appeals to the aspiring musicians too. A lot of adolescent males stereo typically would like to play the drums or electric/bass guitar as it has a very masculine look to it. The magazines front cover has a guitarist on it, so this would appeal to the musicians as well as the straight up Rock fans. My media product is aimed at neither males or females. I have used male artists on the front cover as this could potentially attract both sexes. Males that are into this genre of music may want to dress themselves around the men used on the product or may even want to style their hair like them. This is as well as being able to relate to the artist as a good percentage of the rock genre fans enjoy getting together with friends and rocking out. Having men on the front cover would attract women as they may find them physically attractive which may result in them listening to their music. If I was to use a woman on the front cover then more men would be interested however I chose to use men on the front cover as I thought it may give more of an even balance.

Evaluation - in what ways does your media product use, develop or change forms and conventions of real media products?

1) in what ways does your media product use, develop or change forms and conventions of real media products? My media product uses many traditional convents featured in mainstream rock magazines. Some of the main conventions of a magazine are: A title, a main picture, headings, features, smaller images, a barcode, a price, an issue number. My media product as used all of these conventions. My magazine follows a very traditional style. Examples being the title being read at the top of the magazine horizontally, this is so that the potential customer would feel more familiar with the layout rather than changing it. The main image being either a medium long shot or medium shot, I chose medium long shot as I thought it would show off more of the artist and not feel so intimidated as they would have done in a closer up shot.

However, my media product does challenge the conventions of real media products as it only has one image on the front cover which is rare in a magazine. Many magazines choose to put smaller images on the front cover as it gives the reader an insight into some of the features in the magazine however I chose to keep to one main image so it keeps the magazine looking fresh and modern as I didn't want it looking messy, I feel this is much more effective than if I were to put more images on it as this would draw the attention away from the main image.