Slide 7 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I've taken into consideration two popular magazine publishing companies in the U.K which are IPC and Bauer, as you can see the magazine logos I have placed underneath their headings are the music magazines each of the companies publish.


The advantages of having my media product published by IPC would mean that it would be the second music magazine they'd publish, showing that they'd take a great deal of consideration into putting more money and promoting Fusion magazine as they don't have many music magazines to promote, besides NME. Whereas the disadvantage of having my magazine published by IPC would cause great conflict with NME for a target audience as they both focus on the same genre of music being indie, which could mean my magazine could be turned away as they'd both be rivalling each other.


On the other hand, Bauer have many music magazines that they've published but could be a disadvantage as the company won't have as much time in promoting Fusion as they have other dedications to other magazines they already publish. However, the fact they already publish a variety of music magazines would indicate that the company are experienced and could help strengthen the convention I've already applied.


After researching both companies, I've come to the conclusion that Bauer would be the ideal media institution that would publish my magazine.

Slide 6 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

This slide primarily describes the particular social group I'm trying to represent in my media product; as the magazine is a rock and indie genre many people would stereotypically assume that the reader would be young, carefree and obviously interested in music. Also people who are interested in rock music as opposed to indie are assumed to maybe drink and take drugs as not any, but some rock musicians are associated with this type of lifestyle. Although sometimes this stereotypical assumption can be true I'm not trying to represent it in my magazine but it's what some people would expect young people to be associated with.

Slide 5 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

As you can see this slide compares my double page spread to one in a Kerrang magazine.

1. The idea of the images of separate band members in the Kerrang magazine influenced me to doing the same in my media product, this is a good convention as it informs the reader with the bands and the main story is focusing on them making the reader feel more connected with the magazine itself.


2. I have also put the names of each band member under each of their photos which helps a reader understand who the interviewer is talking about if they don't know the band already, this is another convention used in the Kerrang media product.


3. As I have done extensive research into stories in double page spreads I noticed that quotes are pulled out of the story itself as they are usually funny, interesting or even fiery which would make the interview appealing which is why I have included some in my double page spread.

4. As well as including images of the whole band I have used an image of one of the band members playing live, this is effective as it enables the reader to gain more of an insight into the performance element in the band portraying it to be a music magazine.


5. The main text consist of an interview with a male member of an indie band and a female member of a rock band which links in with both genres I'm trying to portray in my media product, the language used is informal, colloquial and uses a lot of slang which is another convention as it suits the target audience I'm trying to attract.

Slide 4 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In this slide I have compared my contents page to the contents page which is featured in the Kerrang magazine. As you can see my contents page is very similar to the one of Kerrang's as the layout influenced me when planning my media product.

1. My contents page has a heading to make it clear to the reader which shows a development into the conventions of a real media product.

2. Both contents pages have a main picture to show the reader that although the story on the front cover of the magazine is the main focus, it also show that there are many other stories within the magazine.

3. The heading above the contents is another convention as I've highlighted that it's a weekly issue and draws my reader's attention.

4. As you can see I've included heading to highlight the stories in sections which is another convention as the stories included in the magazine are well structured as well as organised, portraying a professional approach.

5. In Kerrang's magazine the publisher has included a short letter from the editor, which is very similar to what I have done with my media product. Having a short summary letter from the editor which has informal language and slang used, enables the magazine to connect with the target audience.

Slide 3 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Although there were many similarities on my cover I also compared the differences:
1. I've placed my inducements spread out over the cover compared to Kerrang.

2. As you can see there are two males on the cover of Kerrang portraying it's mainly targeted towards a male audience, whereas I put a female artist on the cover as well so I'm attracting both audiences equally.

3. I have a different coloured house style so that it wouldn't be too similar to Kerrang's music magazine. The colours on the Kerrang page mainly use blue to show it's more of a male dominated magazine, but the limited pink shows there are some elements within the product for female. To make sure my magazine is attracting both genders I used colour which would relate to the genre and not apply to one specific gender, by using red, black and white makes it seem more neutral.

4. The price and dateline on my cover is printed much bigger and bolder than Kerrang's showing that it's reasonably low priced.

5. Differences between the headlines on my cover and the one of the professional magazine I have focused my research on is that I've placed all my text in the left third as it's the first thing that catches my reader's attention. Whereas Kerrang have placed their text spread otu over the page, although it is clear and structured well I feel that it would be too much to cram into my product without making it look tacky.

6. The barcode is in the left third which also attracts the reader as they would get the impression it's a proficient magazine.

Slide 2- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Here is how my media product uses forms and conventions of real media products:

1. The heading of my magazine and the Kerrang magazine product I have researched are similar in a variety of ways as they have a clear and recognisable title for the readers to remember easily. I also feel that my title of the magazine would be eye catching to my potential buyer when placed on a shelf as it has an informal look to it which would essentially stand out compared to other magazines.

2. Here I have included inducements for my audience which includes Competitions; this is a good marketing technique as it will make my reader feel as if they're getting more out of their money which would influence them to purchase my product.


3. As you can see on my cover and the Kerrang cover they both feature two main images linking in with the main story, this is effective as it shows the reader that it's the initial focus within this issue. This looks more professional because if there were a lot of images on the cover it will look too messy and unorganised, by making sure I have one image enables the magazine to have a professional approach and sell the main story for the week.


4. I have included headlines in my magazine which are placed in the left third also showing a professional approach, and I have made sure I have highlighted stories that will interest both a male as well as female audience.


5. I have made sure I had a main story heading which took up a majority of the page so that it stands out to the reader informing them that it's the main focus.


6. I thought of a variety of bands names to inform the reader of what's in the content of the magazine, and having them across the bottom of the page would inform the reader of what else is included in the content of my media product.

Slide 1 - Introduction

This is my evaluation for my creation for my media magazine, my product was created using adobe photoshop and the photos were all taken by me. It took on average around 3 months to complete the whole product which initially started off with the preliminary task as a trial plan to improve using elements within blogger and adobe photoshop, to the research and now this evaluation.