7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the process from it to the full product?

Given that I constructed my preliminary task before undergoing any research or planning meant that looking back I can see just how dismal my school magazine was. I had not yet understood the expected form of a magazine or how to arrange things in order to appeal directly to my demographic meaning that the sales of that magazine would have been very low and unsuccessful. I have come to realise that understanding the audience is key. Yet when creating these pages I had not done any research into my demographics' lifestyle, wants or needs from a school magazine. My qualitative and quantitative research into my demographic was vital in furthering my understanding of what my audience wanted from a magazine and therefore helped me to construct a more successful mode of address that would appeal to them for the main piece. The qualitative audience research focus group was incredibly helpful as it meant that I could gather rich, detailed answers from my demographic rather than just pre-written answers ticked from a selection which was what I received from my quantitative survey that I conducted using ‘Question Pro’. My research into existing texts was vital as it helped me to understand the codes and conventions in detail and therefore take that knowledge of your audience (from my research) and use it to design the mode of address of a magazine that they would want to read. The in-depth analysis I conducted into three different front covers, contents pages and double page spreads all helped to advance my understanding of music magazine conventions and how they were codified to entice a certain demographic. Among other things my technical skills with photo shop and publisher developed and improved the most from the preliminary to the final task. I learnt how to manipulate images fully in order to make them hyper real and also how to adjust them in order to make them appear more professional and of a higher standard. As well as this I became more confident when it came to using Microsoft Publisher and found it easier to crop images, place them according to the text and also became better at arranging textboxes and designing pages to make them appear as professional as possible. It was also apparent that focussed audiences are much easier to target. With my preliminary task I had to make my magazine appeal to students, teachers and parents which is very difficult as they all look for different things they would expect of a school magazine. Thus when it came to constructing my main task I was able to take more time and conduct more research into my demographic as well as having a better understanding when it came to designing my pages to make them the best they could be in order to appeal to my niche audience.

The Process

This is the process of which I created my front cover. I first started with the masthead (which was eventually changed and two banners at the top and bottom of the page. Then I added in the barcode which is a convention of all magazines. After this, I put in all the feature stories written in different typographies and colours. Then I placed in the cover story 'THE TRUTH' and my 'free download' additional incentive. The last thing I had to do was copy in my hyper real and thus my front cover was complete.

With the contents page I firstly placed the heading contents down the left side of the page. Then I wrote all the text in one column under clear headings in an attempt to keep the page simple and easy to navigate. After this, I write an editors note within a black textbox and then finished off with pasting in my image into the background behind some of the text. This meant that as some final adjustments I had to change some of the text's colour to white so that it could still be read given the image/background.

Again with my double page spread I first pasted in the two dark red banners at the top and bottom of the page. Next I added in all the text, quotes and notepad in the top right corner with key facts about my artist typed upon it. Finally, I pasted the photos into the appropriate places- I also adjusted the border of my main image and added in the black tape.

When it came to using photoshop I did the exact same thing with all of my photos. I edited out the background using the 'magic wand tool' and carefully blurred the edges using the'blur' tool. Then I simply adjusted the brightness and contrast so that all pictures were on the same number setting and that was all as I wanted to go against the hegmonic values of creating overly hyper real images.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

The main pieces of technology used in creating my product were a camera, Adobe photo shop CS6 and Microsoft publisher. The camera I used was a Canon eos 600d, it took professional looking photos that came out in good quality. I used the sport action setting which meant that if I held down the capture button it would take a succession of photos depending on how long I held the button for. This came in very handy because if there was a certain pose I liked yet the model was blinking during one shot I could just pick another one of exactly the same pose in which he was not blinking. It also saved time and meant I would not have to conduct a photo shoot as I had a lot of images to choose from when constructing my pages. When it came to using photo shop I made some decisions that were different and not generally expected of a professional magazine. Rather than drastically alter my images I decided to simply adjust the shadows and brightness instead in order to prove that my magazine is more about content rather than how aesthetically pleasing it is to the reader. This would instantly label my magazine as different and unlike other magazines available on the market. Publisher was quite a simple software to use when it came to the actual construction of my pages. It was very easy to arrange textboxes and images in order to look most attractive to the audience. Internet research of other magazines and the annotations I did of existing magazines helped greatly in deciding the placement of words etc. on my magazine. Also, it was easy for me to pick up on things that could be done differently or things that had to be included given the expected design of magazines e.g. barcode, masthead. However, it was not just in the construction phase that I used a lot of technology. During the research phase I used social media and an online questionnaire (created with the website ‘Question Pro’) in order to study my audience and form a sufficient audience profile. I also used the internet to research existing texts so that when it eventually came down to construction I had a sound idea of what needed to be done. This was massively advantageous as it meant the research could be done quickly and without much difficulty. Other than this, I used digital media technology for the evaluation- my blog. I used the site ‘Blogger’ which proved to be quite easy to work with; it was simple to upload text and images to form posts. I learnt some very useful things during the overall coursework process. I discovered to what extent images can be manipulated in order to make them hyper real and also just how important the audience is in deciding how to create my magazine according to the genre of music I had chosen.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

In order to successfully attract my audience I had to think carefully about what they wanted and needed from a magazine. Using ‘Malsow's Hierarchy of Needs’ it became apparent that what people require in order to live are aspirations, confidence, creativity etc. all of which my magazine could offer. By displaying famous artists with undeniable talent my magazine would be giving the readers hope and fuel for their dreams and desires. Essentially when the audience buys my magazine they are buying a little piece of that dream.

By considering the ‘Uses and Gratifications Theory', there could be a number of reasons for consumers to be buying my product. The ‘Uses and Gratifications Theory’ is a theory that centres on the understanding of why people use media. It is based on the premise that the modern audience are not passive consumers of the media. Instead they choose what media to buy and how it will thus integrate into their own lives providing them either with sources of entertainment, education, social affairs, current affairs and information. The demographic buying my magazine would either wish to be entertained by funny articles/their favourite bands or wish to escape from everyday life and so immerse themselves in the images and content of my magazine. Otherwise they may simply want information, such as tour dates, album releases or details regarding their preferred artists. Also, by staying up to date with these sorts of things it helps to ensure a certain degree of social interaction. After reading up on what is going on within the rock genre it means friends can talk about bands and music together and even form a deeper relationship based on mutual likes and tastes. The final reason for buying my magazine would be personal identification. As humans we generally like to identify personally with our idols and to draw similarities parallel to them as well as aspiring to be just like them. I believe that the most important one to consider is social interaction as it not only benefits the audience but will be extremely advantageous to my magazine given that sales would increase simply due to word of mouth which is completely free advertising. A different from of interaction I can offer my reader is via exchange, which is when magazines offer readers the opportunity to contribute and interact with the text in order to make them feel like they are part of the magazine. Exchange means that we are no longer passive recipients of the text. Due to web 2.0, the public has become more interactive given that we can now upload videos to ‘YouTube’, statuses on ‘Facebook’, form playlists on ‘Spotify’ and much more which is completely free and easy to do. This means that an old media text (magazine) has to evolve to incorporate this level of interactivity in order to compete with newer magazines. Some ways to encourage exchange would be to have a competition in which reader's make their own music videos and upload them to ‘YouTube’ with a prize offered to the best one. Also, in the way of user drive content readers could submit online reviews of new albums or gigs which would then in turn get published in the next issue of the magazine if good enough. Regarding my magazine, on my contents page I have sections for competitions, live reviews and album reviews which all help boost the idea of exchange among my audience.

Due to the sheer amount of channels and radio stations now available to the audience, audiences are now fractured meaning that it is harder to target a specific demographic given how divided reader's are. However, one way to overcome this is by having a multi-platform approach meaning that various accounts for my magazine are created on ‘Twitter’, ‘Instagram’, ‘Facebook’, ‘YouTube’, ‘Spotify’ etc. Thus I will have a better chance of targeting my audience if I have some sort of form of recognition on each social media platform. If my magazine becomes successful enough, eventually like ‘Kerrang!’ magazine it could have its own music channel and radio station specifically for the niche audience that make up my demographic. Another key way to create more publicity for my magazine is by using synergy. This is when a mutually beneficial relationship is created between two texts. For example, I could have a page used to advertise another magazine and then that magazine in turn would have a page publicising my brand. This means that we would both get more fans from each other's products coming to check out something recommended by a magazine they trust and enjoy reading. One of the ways I chose to encourage exchange within my magazine was to provide a code on the contents page which can then be used online to get a free exclusive acoustic music download. This means that the reader would have to visit the magazine's site in order to actually get the download and so would hopefully spend some time on the website whilst there.

The language used would also be important in enticing my audience thus meaning that my choice of buzzwords would have to be considered carefully. Also by using colloquialisms my magazine will be seen as something informal and personal for reader's to enjoy rather than something talking down to them which would deeply aggravate my demographic given that they are teenagers. By considering this approach I am building a sense of community around my brand. I am inviting the audience to be a part of something centred on a mutual love for rock music.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

The general consensus is that my audience will be young, white males who have a great deal of passion for rock music. They will probably be slightly rebellious and trendy and looking for a source of escapism by reading 'Awake'. Also, this audience are likely to be going to concerts regularly and are the type to always have their headphones in no matter where they are. They are probably up to date with fashion yet would still wear their own thing and do their own thing in order to be considered unique and apart from the majority of their friends who are probably very mainstream in comparison. Regarding the ABC1 demographic my audience would probably fit into the C1 category which are compromised of skilled workers such as engineers, plumbers etc. Even though my audience would not be working their parents would which is where most of their money would come from. Most advertising is aimed at the A, C and C1 category as these are the type of people who would thus have enough money to spend on things like magazines, etc. However, this model has now become outdated as barriers in society are not as rigid anymore. There is a new system now in place called 'Consumer Profiling'. This is where the audience are categorised by their personalities rather than their earnings. The main groups I will be targeting are aspirers, and explorers. Teenagers and young people are generally aspirers as they have no power/control they aspire to be powerful. This group normally have an icon that they want to be like and always want to be better than who they are. Explorers are similar to aspirers yet they are more adventurous, willing to try new things and keener to break away from the norms of society (which fits in well with the uniqueness of my demographic).

The results from my quantitative audience survey helped to give me a clear understanding and idea of who my demographic would be. As I was already thinking of constructing a magazine centred around rock music, I thought that it would be best to aim my magazine at young, white males as these are the types of people who would usually listen to rock music. The age range I chose for my magazine was 16-23 year olds. This meant I would have to use colloquial language to appeal to this audience and that I would be competing with other magazines such as The NME and Kerrang as these are two very successful rock magazines being published at the moment. With my survey the majority of participants selected RnB as their preferred type of music meaning that I would have to be careful when interpreting the data as a lot of it would be specific to fans of RnB. Thus by going with less popular answers for most of my questions I would be targeting a niche audience and going against what is thought to be mainstream. Although at the time of analysing my audience survey I had chosen to go with a green, purple and black colour scheme, when it came to constructing my pages I found that the colours may be different and quirky but they did not look very appealing when put together. So instead I decided to go with blue, red and black. These colours seemed to work better together and made my magazine look more professional. The rock artists that were favoured by my participants have me a good indication as to what type of bands needed to be mentioned in my pages. By using these artists I would ensure that out of loyalty to these bands, fans would buy my magazine simply for having specific artists names on the cover. Also, it meant I could use bands of a similar sounds to achieve the same effect. Now with secondary data, I used www.nrs.co.uk to find some figures that could help me to establish my magazine's demographic. I found that people aged mainly between 15-34 buy Kerrang and The NME which means that as I want my magazine to be of similar stature to these two I have chosen a wise age range. Also, it is quite blatant that a bigger proportion of men compared to women buy these texts, which again means that by attempting to appeal to males I am targeting a wider demographic which will definitely improve my sales.

The data I collected from my qualitative research was invaluable when it came to the actual construction of my pages. By having people from my demographic around to talk to and probe with questions helped a lot as I was able to gather more than just answers ticked from a list. I was able to understand why certain things appealed to them and why other things would not be much desired in my magazine. I received a lot of constructive criticism and fresh ideas that helped a lot in creating my magazine and in deciding how best to entice my demographic. So by conducting questionnaires and doing research into secondary sources I have been able to form a strong idea of my demographic and what they expect out of a rock magazine. A lot of this can be seen in my audience profile in which I give a vivid description of a typical person buying my magazine as well as images that capture the particular lifestyles I am attempting to draw in or offer to those looking for escape buy reading my media text.

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

When it comes to distributing my magazine I have three options. I could either choose a major or independent publisher or choose to self-publish. Karl Marx stated that 'Power resides with the few who have ownership and control of the means of production and distribution'. From this quote it would appear that the best choice for publishing would be a major publisher. For example, Kerrang magazine is published by Bauer Media who also own Absolute Radio, Q magazine and 4music meaning that in order to advertise for 'Kerrang!' they could chose from a range of products all owned by their own company which would prove to be very efficient; this is horizontal integration. This level of multi-platform, horizontally integrated synergy is only an option for the major publishers. They will also have larger departments responsible for their online platforms such as websites and social media. Also, major publishers would tend to have a larger budget and more resources when it comes to production of the magazine which is why it is usually more successful. Within major publishing there are generally two types of integration. Vertical integration is when the production, distribution and exhibition are owned by one company. Horizontal integration is otherwise when one organisation controls companies that produce a range of media. This is generally more advantageous because content created for one media platform can be adapted to fit other formats e.g. printed magazine to online site.

Now with independent publishing there is a blatant disadvantage given that they do not have the money or resources that the major publishers possess. However, due to web 2.0 it is much easier to advertise a magazine. A page could be created on Facebook advertising competitions and free downloads in order to achieve more likes. Also, someone could be in charge of my magazine's twitter feed, posting interesting and attention grabbing tweets made to appeal to male teenagers especially. This would all be free and effective distribution of my magazine. By taking a multi-platform approach I would ensure that my magazine would be advertised everywhere from traditional media to free advertising on web 2.0. I could use billboards, posters, radio adverts, spotify adverts etc. all to create a bigger fan base for my magazine. However, use of traditional media such as billboards would be limited due to the expense. Independent publishers will usually be aimed at niche audiences who would sustain a loyal readership for the text. They would also take more time producing the magazine yet treat it with a lot more passion as it would not be one of a plethora of magazines produced by the company. The independent publisher will also have less resources. The final option is self-publishing. Normally this would be done online as it is free and extremely easy to do considering that most people have a media hub in easy access to them. For example, one of the most famous self-published magazines to date is Sniffin' Glue. This was a monthly punk fanzine created by Mark Perry in 1976. The issues were all constructed by hand and had a haphazard randomness that fans loved as it was something new different. Initially only 50 copies were sold but very soon circulation figures soon rose to 15,000 within the year that it was published. The big appeal of Sniffin' Glue was that fact that it was so personal and informal which greatly appealed to fans of punk music. Tony Fletcher stated that 'Sniffin' Glue was not so much badly written as barely written; grammar was non-existent, layout was haphazard, headlines were usually just written in felt tip, swearwords were often used in lieu of a reasoned argument. . .all of which gave Sniffin' Glue its urgency and relevance.' A lot of critics view this magazine as the pinnacle of early British punk rock as well as the start of the DIY punk ethic. If I were to self-publish on the internet it would mean that I would have to give the product away for free and rely heavily on online advertising to create revenue. This may prove tricky as advertising on 'Facebook' or 'Twitter' would still cost me money rather than just creating a page available for likes.

Given all this information I think I would be lead to choose a major publishing company to produce my magazine. Although there is certainly more passion and dedication within independent publishers, the resources and use of horizontal integration would indefinitely insure a successful publishing of my magazine. Also, as my magazine is covering a genre of music that is not considered mainstream having the backing of a major publisher would be very helpful given that most already publish well established and thriving magazines. The use of other companies within the organisation of a major publishers that is horizontally integrated could prove very helpful in using synergy and advertising through these other companies. The organisation I would opt for is probably IPC Media. This is because the only rock magazine it produces is 'The NME' meaning that it already knows how to achieve success for music magazines but that there will also be not much competition from other similar rival texts within the organisation.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The male gaze is a Marxist, feminist, Freudian, psychoanalytic theory thought up by Laura Mulvey in her 1975 essay 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema'. She stated that the audience, and thus the camera, is male and so gains visual pleasure from a dominant, voyeuristic perspective. We live in a patriarchal society in which men are dominant which is why females will normally be shot in submissive and passive poses as this is what men will deem as desirable. Mulvey wrote that the audience is generally put into a masculine position meaning that women are often objectified where the frame 'cuts' them into abstract shapes to increase their attractiveness. This reinforces the dominant ideology that men are powerful and women are compliant. While women do not feature on my magazine pages, I did use some of the techniques that would usually represent women to represent the male in my articles in order to 'soften' his image. Essentially, I have attempted to strike a balance. By having him sitting cross-legged, I have placed him in a position that is more relaxed and not at all intimidating which fits the focus of my article which is one of him 'confiding' in the reader. However, his T-shirt (which features the image of two half-naked women kissing) illustrates that he is still a man who is able to reassert his masculinity should he wish to. So, he is represented in a 'softer' mode which is atypical yet his T-shirt serves to reinforce the dominant ideology that men are more powerful than women resulting in the objectifying of women.

My model due to his being 17, white and male would be a stereotypical type of person to see featured in a rock magazine. My audience would also probably have these characteristics and so find it easier to identify with my model due to his looks. The stereotype is that white teenage boys mainly listen to rock music which is why so many magazines such as 'Kerrang' target their magazine specifically at that demographic. My constructed images help to reinforce this as they show the model looking exactly how the audience aspire to look and be like. The dominant ideology is a Marxist structure in which certain beliefs and ideas are held by the majority of people. Regarding the male gaze, it is thought that women are the weaker sex. These hegemonic values help to decide what kind of images to use as I would want to appeal to a majority of people who think a certain way and so create my pages according to that. Normally in a magazine, images would be airbrushed. However, as I want my magazine to be purely about the music I decided to only change the tones and brightness of my images to make them look professional yet not so striking that they distract from the article. So even though I only changed the images slightly they are still hyper real and so are not completely accurate portrayals of how my model looks in real life. However, I felt this had to be done in order for my magazine to seem en par with other magazines of its stature such as 'The NME' etc. By using attractive models and inspirational artists within my magazine I have ensured that I am going according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs in which he states that aspirations are something each being needs in order to survive. Thus by having someone the audience will aspire to be like will help popularity and sales of my magazine as people will buy the issue to read up on the artist featured and attempt to be more like them. The design of my pages had been thought out to carefully represent my audience. I chose bold, striking colours such as red and blue as I would presume my audience to be defiant and rebellious and outside the norm considering that they listen to music which would not be deemed as mainstream. Also, the language used will appeal to teenagers as it is informal and simple which is what they prefer and are used to. Furthermore, the typography follows the same theme of being quite big and bold and loud in order to entice the reader. Also, the use of buzzwords and colloquialisms help to represent my audience. I chose to use words that they would use without much thought when talking to their friends in order to make my magazine seem as though it was not talking down to them but instead interacting with them like a peer. My audience are more than likely to be going through a rebellious, defiant phase so this will help in targeting them more than other audiences. The bold colours and design elements also represent my audience. The red has connotations of danger and passion i.e. the love my audience has for music whereas the blue can easily represent masculinity and freedom i.e. my demographic is easy to be free from rules from their school, parents etc. Also, by making my pages seem slightly scruffier I am attracting teenagers who take pleasure in a more chaotic, crazy lifestyle. Regarding ethnicity I mentioned a lot of bands on my contents page that feature young, white men. This is generally what my demographic would listen to and so it made sense to feature these artists. The colloquialisms used relate more to the white ethnicity than other colours in order to attract that audience. Also, my artists tastes and sentiments discussed within the article are something that white teenagers would find more interesting perhaps compared to other races.