Media questions

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The magazine i have created uses the forms and conventions of real music magazines. The central image on the front cover, mast head in large text, interviews, lead stories in bold, columns of the contents, double page spread etc are all features of current rock music magazines.
I have developed the use of the font by using the same font in a variety of sizes throughout the magazine for headers and featured items in an attempt to tie all the content together and maintain a common thread linking all areas of the magazine.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Through the results of my questionnaire i identified the needs and wants of my chosen audience. My results showed that the people interested in rock music magazines were mainly within the age band 16-30. I therefore targetted my content towards this age group with features, interviews, competitions etc which would be of interest to them.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Newsagents would stock my magazine along side other music magazines. The magazine institution would distribute my product which would be produced by one of the leading publishers such as 'Future' publishers who specialize in carefully targetted special interest magazines.


4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
16-30 year olds with an interest in the rock music genre.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?
I carried out a survey to find out what people wanted in terms of genre and features then used the findings of this to aim my magazine directly at my target group.


6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learnt that it is important to try and test any software in advance to make sure i not only know what it can do but also its limitations. During the creation of my front cover for example i ended up carrying out a few processes to eliminate the sight of text boxes as i didnt know how to hide the box using the software. This added extra time to the project which should have been unnecessary. I've also learnt however, how easy it is to create a professional looking cover in a relatively short space of time when compared to how long it must have taken before computers became common place and the whole cover would have had to have been created by hand.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I have learnt more about the importance of layout and the aesthetic appeal the layout must have to the reader or target audience. I have learnt that images attract people and unless something looks good on impact people will not bother to take a closer look and read further. It is important to include features which not only appeal to the reader but make it clear on the cover exactly what they will find inside. A magazine needs to look appealing on the outside but also be honest on the inside.
I have also learnt the importance of carrying out an indepth survey of what people really want to see and gain from a magazine to lead the contents, and also the importance of identifying the target audience to make sure that the 'tone' of the magazine is appropriate to the audience.