Question 7

Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? by Eric Media

Question 5

Question 4

Question 4: Graphs and Charts
Create line charts

Question 3

Question 2

Question 1

Question 7: Draft

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 can see that I've learnt a lot throughout the duration of my coursework. The quality of my work has improved when we compare my preliminary task and my full product.

Front Cover

The image on the left is the front cover that I have made for my preliminary task and the image on the right is the front cover I made for my full product. Just looking at it generally, I think my full product looks much better and professional. First of all, the masthead in my preliminary task is plain and boring. It is placed at the top centre of my magazine front cover and doesn't look particularly eye-catching. On the other hand, my 'FLOWLY' masthead looks a lot my professional. It is place in the top left corner of the front cover and looks like there was more thought and work put into it. I think it looks more unique and cleaner as opposed to my preliminary task, so I see a significant improvement there.

Next, I will be looking at the cover lines. In my preliminary task my cover lines do not look very organised and I think the mix of black and white in the cover lines did not fit in well. At the time of actually making this front cover, I thought the cover lines looked quite nice and couldn't think of much to improve my work. Now looking at my full product, we can see the cover lines are more organised and fit in with the colour scheme much better. So overall, I think my cover lines have improved a lot since the preliminary task.

Lastly, looking at the photography, we can instantly see there is a much bigger difference. First of all, in my preliminary task it looks like the main image was just slumped at the back of all the text which doesn't look good. Looking at my full product, we can see that I have now added layers to my main image and my cover star looks much more involved in the front cover rather than being in the background of all that text. Secondly, we can see that the quality of the photo has improved much more. The main image in my full product looks clear and has a clean plain background as opposed to the main image in my preliminary task. 

Contents Page

I think that looking at my contents page generally, the difference between my contents page in the preliminary task and my full product is even greater than in my front covers. Firstly, I think the most significant difference is the most important one; in my full product, my contents page has more content. My preliminary tasks' biggest flaw is that there was very little content in it, and this made it look less professional. In my full product I have added much more content and even had to make it a double page contents page as opposed to the one page in my preliminary task.

Also, another thing that I have done in my full product is add more photographs. Not only have I added more photographs, but they are also a much better quality than the photograph used for my preliminary task. In my preliminary task I have only used one photo and it is low quality which is something that needed improvement. Therefore, I added more photos in my full product of higher quality which I think made a significant improvement in my contents page.

Question 6: Draft

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

Throughout the process of this coursework, I have used many technologies which I have never used before. There were some technologies which I have used before and there were some which I have never even heard of before, therefore I had to learn how to use them. Some technologies that I have used throughout this coursework are:

• Prezi
• Adobe InDesign
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe Photoshop
• DSLR Canon Camera

Prezi

Before I started working on this coursework, I have never heard of Prezi before. I have learnt that it is a presentation software which I could display my work from in the form of a presentation. Prezi was especially useful when I used it to present my music magazine proposal as it looks organised and professional. When I first looked at Prezi I was perplexed and had no idea on how to use it. However, I soon got the hang of it as I have used similar softwares and programs such as Microsoft PowerPoint. 

Adobe InDesign

I have heard of Adobe InDesign before working on this coursework, however I have never actually used it. I had trouble using this InDesign as Adobe programs are very hard to master and they're generally quite complex. I managed to learn some of the basics of InDesign and I had some practice. The first time I used InDesign it was when I created my 'College Magazine' contents page, which was looked very plain and basic. I used InDesign to create my 'FLOWLY' magazine contents page and double page spread, which I think turned out alright for a beginner. I think using this program was useful as I now have the basic knowledge on how to create simple things which may be useful for me.

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is another program which I have heard of but have never used before. I did not find Illustrator as difficult as I found InDesign. I used this program to create my masthead and because my masthead was pretty simple it wasn't too difficult. I did not want to make my masthead too complicated as I didn't know enough about Illustrator and if I try to make it too complex it wouldn't fit in with my magazine. However, overall I am happy with the 'FLOWLY' masthead that I have created even though it's simple.

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is one of the programs which I have actually used before working on my coursework. I have used it before in my own time for editing pictures, there was no real purpose to it other than that I enjoyed doing it. I used Photoshop to create my front cover of both my college magazine and my 'FLOWLY' magazine. Since I am a little bit experienced with Photoshop, I knew what I was doing more or less and I am happy with the front covers that I have created.

DSLR Canon Camera

I have never used a DSLR Canon Camera before and I'm not very good at photography, however I own a Nikon camera which I sometimes take pictures with. I believe that my photography wasn't very good and could improve in a lot of ways. However, I don't think my pictures turned out too bad and I was able to include them. I used the DSLR Canon camera to take pictures for my 'FLOWLY' front cover, contents page, and double page spread, I have never been in a photo studio prior to this coursework and it was a useful experience that I was able to learn from.

Question 5: Draft

How did you attract/address your audience?

Audience Feedback

I made a group chat on 'WhatsApp' and asked some of my friends what they thought about my front cover and contents page. Here is some of the feedback that I have received:

My friend pointed out that I used colours well and that my colour scheme was good. He also said that this grabs the readers attention and the front cover and contents page in general, is aesthetically pleasing.

I didn't tell my friend about my target audience for this magazine, however he instantly noticed that this magazine is targeted towards young people as I have used popular trends that come from the youth culture and outlined them in my front cover and contents page. For example, the clothes that my cover stars wear.

On the other hand, my friend pointed out that I have put a lot of writing on my front cover and at his first glance he would not want to read all of it so I should keep cover lines in my front cover brief. My friend also said that I should make the headlines in my contents page clearer so that it is easier to understand what the page will be about without reading the full text.

Question 4: Draft

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience that I am waiting for is going to be between the ages 16 and 26, which would make my median age 21. This is because young adults are most likely to like rap out of all the other age groups and I would also want some of my readers to be teenagers as I will be featuring modern rap, which is what many teenagers are interested in.

The gender that I will be aiming is mostly males. This is because rappers are usually males themselves, and men are more likely to enjoy rap. However, there is also some females that like rap therefore I will also include some content which will appeal to females. In my case study, when I was looking at the 'XXL' magazine I found that 78% of the readers were male whilst 22% were female or other. Therefore, I would want 75% of my readers to be male and 25% of my readers to be female. I want to add content which would also appeal to females because even though they are not the majority of my audience, it is much better if my readers do not feel excluded and covering this would generate more profit.

My magazine will also be targeted at the black ethnic background. This is because rap/hip-hop is often listened to by that audience. However, I will also target people from a mixed ethnic origin and some people from the white ethnic background. This is because I want my magazine to feature a broader range of interests which may appeal to people from different ethnic backgrounds. My percentages of the audience will be 75% black ethnic background, 15% mixed ethnic background and 10% white ethnic background or other.

Audience Profile: Male

Age: 23

Gender: Male

Ethnicity: Black

Region: Hackney, East London

Enjoys going to parties and is likes to go to social events. Works part time at JD but is still a student at University. Likes to listen to grime, rap and hip-hop music. His main hobby is playing football but he also listens to and likes to make music. He is working class and lives in a small apartment.

Audience Profile: Female

Age: 20

Gender: Female

Ethnicity: Mixed

Region: Bromley, South London

Enjoys hanging out with friends and going to parties. She has just started University. Enjoys listening to grime and rap. Her main hobby is playing dodgeball and going to youth club. She is unemployed and still lives with her parents.

Question 3: Draft

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

Which media institutions might distribute my media product:

• Nat Mag (Hearst)
• Time, inc. (IPC)
• Townsquare Media (AOL)

The 3 companies above are the major media institutions for distributing magazines.

Hearst

Through research on Hearst I found out that they do not distribute music magazines and therefore there would be no competition within the partnerships. In addition to, Hearst have other popular magazine brands such as 'The Oprah' magazine. This could be a good media institution to partner with. On the other hand, Hearst not distributing any music magazines may have a negative impact as this means that they're not very experienced with this genre.

Time, Inc
Time, Inc (formerly known as IPC Media) is a very popular media institution in the UK and the US, therefore with their large audience it could give a lot of attention towards my media product.

Townsquare Media

Townsquare Media is a media institution which also publishes magazines. They distribute the popular rap magazine 'XXL' which means they would be a suitable media institution for my product because they are experienced. 
Furthermore, the 'XXL' magazine is the only rap/hip-hop centered magazine that Townsquare Media has published and therefore if they were to distribute my magazine there would be less competition that I would have to go against.

Question 2: Draft

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The social group that I am mainly focusing on are young males. One way my music magazine represents this social group is the use of the dollar sign ($) inside the letter 'O' in my masthead. This is because not only does the dollar sign indicate money, which is what many rappers like to rap about, but also because young males that are interested in rap are often money-oriented people so it will catch my target audience's attention.

Furthermore, other than just targeting young males in general, I am more specifically targeting young males that like both rap and grime music and have an average or below average income. This is because many young men that are from a low or average income family aspire to work hard and be rich like many famous rappers, setting them as role models and having a similar mindset such as Drake's famous line "Started from the bottom, now we're here".

Also, my target social group would come from urban cities, preferably from the UK, Another way my front cover represents this social group of young males from urban areas is from the cover star. This is because my cover star looks serious and is wearing "road" clothes which is the way many teenagers, especially in cities such as London or Birmingham, like to dress. Furthermore, the serious look from my cover star indicates aggression/hostility which is often the nature of young males as many teenagers naturally follow a rebellious lifestyle to oppose their relatively low position in society. 

A third way my media product represents the social group that I'm targeting is that many young people like shows, parties and rap battles. In my contents page I informed the readers of a rap battle event which is something they would be interested in.  

Question 1: Draft

Q1: In what way does your music magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a music magazine?

In my front cover I have added a masthead, cover lines, a puff, price and a barcode. These follow the conventions of most music magazines which is why it fits in with real media products. For example, my masthead has a bold title with a red background similar to the 'XXL' magazine which is one of the popular music magazines.
Another way my front cover uses forms of real media products is my placement of the masthead, cover lines, puff and barcode. This is because my masthead is placed at the top of the magazine which is what virtually all magazines do. Furthermore, my cover lines are moved to the side which brings focus on the cover star and the main cover line that is "A Squeezy". Also, my puff is placed in the right side of my front cover, towards the top. This follows the conventions of a real music magazine because most front covers have a puff on the right side. In addition to, I have also included a price and barcode in my front cover which is what every magazine includes, however, some magazines may include these at the back. Lastly, I have also included a dateline which is additional information many magazines have to indicate when the magazine was distributed.
My main image follows the conventions of a real music magazine as my magazine is centered around the rap/hip-hop genre and the cover star is dressed more like a rapper which fits in with the genre. Furthermore, after my analysis on the 'XXL' magazine I have found that many of the cover stars on front pages look directly at the camera and look serious, so I implemented that into my own front cover. Furthermore, my cover star is crossing his arms which gives off a 'bossy' look which is something that is consistently seen rap/hip-hop magazines. Lastly, the background is plain an the main image itself has a dark theme to it which i think fits with the rap genre as darkness often indicates something serious and sometimes bad which is what is something many rappers like to rap about.


One convention that I have followed in my contents page is that I have added photographs of the artists which are featured in the magazine to inform the reader on who the main rappers are and since many people like these artists then it would encourage the reader to read the whole magazine. Another way I have followed the conventions of a real magazine is by giving information on the magazine and numbering the pages which is what all magazines do in their content pages. For example, in my contents page I informed the reader that on page 12. there is information on the artists new album so that if they only want to know about that particular artist they can easily manage throughout the magazine and they will enjoy everything that they're reading about.


One convention that I have followed in my double page spread is I used a drop cap at the start of my article which makes it stand out and is very eye-catching.
Another convention that I have followed is that my main image is spread across the whole DPS which brings focus to that one image and since the article is about that one particular rapper, the one image that I have used is the only one that should be included.