Finished Front Cover

Finished Contents Page

Finished Double Page Spread

Pre Limb Front Cover

Pre Limb Contents Page

Evaluation Question 1 (Front Cover)

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

The generic conventions of a front cover are Masthead, Cover Lines, Barcode, Selling Line, Main Image, Exclusive Extra, Date and Serif Font.

This is my masthead, What inspired my Masthead was Q Magazine's. I liked the red background and I quite liked the singular letter but I didn't feel that just the Q stood out to me that it was a music magazine automatically. That's why I called my magazine 'Listen' When I think of the word Listen I think of music. I done a red background just like Q does but because the name was Listen, it wasn't just going to be a singular, I also used a gradient fill which not many magazines use. I used a gradient fill because It's really eye catching and stands straight out, I have challenged the conventions by using a gradient fill, but I decided to keep it because I got really positive audience feedback off it. It really stands out from the red background, it bounces off it and I think my masthead looks really good.

These are my cover line stories, so the stories that will feature in my Contents Page. I have used artists that relate to my Target Audience. My music genre target audience is quite a large range. Because I was looking at Q and I was looking at their music genre audience I felt that Q had quite a wide range of genres for their magazine. My magazine mainly focuses on Pop and Chart music but I have also used a bit of rap music as well within my magazine. So i used artists like Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Drake, these are artists that I myself like and that a lot of people in my target audience liked as well. I also wrote about the V fest Lineup, Uk top 40, Free iTunes voucher, upcoming tours, free posters and winning a day with Lauren (main story) I decided
                                                                                    use V fest because that is an upcoming tour which      
                                                                                    all different kinds of musical genres everywhere.
                                                                                    Upcoming tours which has local tour dates. Free
                                                                                    posters also because I found that a lot of magazines it also makes people feel like they are getting value for their money.

This is my Barcode, Issue Date and price. I have positioned this in the top right hand corner. Even though I've looked at Q's magazine mainly for my style model I haven't used a style model for this I went through a lot of music magazines and noticed most magazines tend to have their barcodes on the bottom so I have challenged the conventions by having it at the top. Also a lot of magazines have the issue number and price inside their barcode but I have challenged the conventions by doing this and I've had positive feedback about it.





This is the selling line of my magazine. The selling line is quite an important convention of the magazine. As mine says 'UK'S BEST MUSIC MAGAZINE.' It draws consumers in because it sounds like It has been voted the best magazine in the UK. Which I have made reference to in my contents page by saying vote us the best music magazine for the third year running. Q's selling line is Discover great music.

Exam Question 1 (Contents Page)

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

The generic conventions are: Masthead, Contents themselves, Main Image, Smaller image, Edition&Issue Number and Page numbers on Images.

Masthead for the Contents Page

This is my Masthead for my Contents Page. I have used the same Gradient fill again with the red background but with the 'Contents' This time.

These are my contents. I have used the same cover lines from my Front Cover and added them to the contents. I have looked at Q's and Top of the pops contents page. I especially liked the way Q's was formatted and set out. I have recreated a similar set out. I decided not to do the header 'This Week' on mine as most music magazines do, I have challenged the conventions by doing this as nearly all music magazines have this. Even without the 'This Week' I think it still works really effectively. I also added in tour dates in the contents page this is for the audience to be able to see what artists they like and their upcoming tours also by adding these it makes it more clear what my target audience is for my magazine, as I have used young/new/popular artists it makes it more obvious that the target audience is for younger people and the genre is more broad than a specific target audience. I decided I would make my target audience more broad as you tend to find that people don't like just one specific genre they tend to like a few. I'm mainly looking at Pop and Rap as everyone I got my audience feedback off liked both Pop and Rap music.

     This is my main image for my contents page. I selected this one because it has a direct mode of address and draws the audience in. I have also put the page number on the image. The image is effective because it stands out on the page and has a really good quality to the image. By having the page number on the image it makes it more easy access for the consumers to access the page and also when they read about Page 16 they can see who it's about properly without having to turn straight to the page.

These are my smaller images that are just below my main image. By using smaller images with your main image it give the target audience more of an insight to the artist and what they're like. I looked at one of Q's contents page and how they structured their images. In the certain one i was looking at there was a main image and two smaller images underneath them. The smaller images where for a different article but I decided to have two extra images of Lauren on the Contents Page, because she's a new and upcoming artist.

I have also put in what Edition the magazine is and the Issue number on the contents page as the Q magazine I was using as a style model also had their Issue number in the Contents Page. I have also added that It's the February edition on the contents page also even though that Q doesn't do that.

I have also added the Social platforms to the contents page. By using the Social Platforms into my magazine I am introducing 'New Media.' I have involved social networking sites that include Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Many magazines are now using 'New Media.' by making my magazine available online it allows me to reach out to my target audience on a different level rather than just having it as a magazine and introduces a whole new way of purchasing a magazine rather than just in a shop.

Evaluation Question 1 (Double page Spread)

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

Title text and pull out quotes:

This is my title text and a pull out quote. My main title is her name 'Lauren Ronan.' Because I have used the silver background I have written her name in white and added an inner glow and drop shadow, this makes my title stand out and become very eye appealing to my audience. The article I was looking at for Q had a different sized title text and they had there's a lot smaller and instead they took the first letter out the article and made it bigger. I also pulled out a quote from the article I decided to pick out a quote about the tour as on my front cover that's what I've said the main story is about.


Text itself:

This is my main article. The questions I have used all apply to what I have written in my front cover. I looked at many different magazines for help with my questions such as Q, Top of the Pops and Billboard. I decided to set it out in a more spread out form rather than have it all running down one side as most because my target audience is for young adults I decided to span it out more.

I have also added in page numbers and the editors name. All music magazines have the page numbers and the editors name. I positioned them in the bottom corners of the piece.

These are my images I have used for my double page spread. I have used a divider to split the text up from the pictures. I have used three images next to the divider, they are all direct mode of address but all of them have been taken on different angles. I have also placed an image behind the text. I have changed the opacity on the image so the text is still really clear and the image is still clear and stands out.

Evaluation Question 2

http://www.slideshare.net/JenniSmyth/evaluation-question-2-34615457

Here is the answer to my second evaluation question.

Evaluation Question 3

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

I believe that Bauer media would be the perfect institution to distribute my magazine because it's a pop/rap magazine and they don't really have a magazine that offers that, so by them selling my magazine it would help them corner off more of the music magazine market and even help them grow their empire. I also think that Bauer Media is a well grounded company with a stable background to help my magazine grow. I think by Bauer Media distributing my magazine it would be a great help to my magazine as they are a wealthy and well ran company who has a reliable audience.

Evaluation Question 4

http://www.slideshare.net/JenniSmyth/evaluation-question-4-34615664

This is the answer to my 4th question.

Evaluation Question 5

http://www.slideshare.net/JenniSmyth/evaluation-question-5-34615735

This is my answer to Question 5

Evaluation Question 6

CLICK HERE to view my answer to Question 6.

Evaluation Question 7

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

This is my Pre limb front cover. My picture follows the rule of thirds rule. I've added text in my front cover and used blending options such as Drop Shadows, Strokes, Bevel and Emboss etc. This doesn't look professional at all and doesn't look like a real magazine but when I started this I hadn't had any previous experience with photoshop so I wasn't really sure what to use.








This is now my front cover. This looks more professional and has better conventions than the first one. I have also used blending options with this Front cover I have used a Gradient Fill, Drop Shadow, Outer Glow, Bevel and Emboss. I also started to explore to use other texts as well that a real magazine would use.

All the exam Questions