What Do You Feel You Have Learnt in the Progression of Contructing this Product, in Comparison to the Preliminary Project?*

Upon remodeling my magazine, I have learnt a lot more since my preliminary task.

The location of the images is vital, as setting it in a background such as in my first copy of Anthem makes it difficult to add text in one colour and font. The picture had to be edited as well as the font being adjusted more often than not, resulting in my magazine looking unprofessional and unrealistic. I made this mistake in both my preliminary task and my first version of Anthem.

As well as this, the colour scheme of a magazine is important - if there are too many colours, it may confuse the audience and put them off looking at and buying the magazine. On the other hand, if there are too little colours, the final product is boring and thus makes the audience disinterested. By having a two or three main colours and a few other secondary colours can create a professional looking magazine page as well as spark an interest amongst a larger market. With my preliminary task, there weren't enough colours, and so the page looks boring and won't appeal to my target audience.

What Have You Learnt About The Technologies From The Process of Constructing This Product?

Overall, I have learnt how to use Photoshop very basically when editing pictures. I have furthered my understanding of Adobe InDesign as I now know how to create a drop cap within a written text. I understand more about the colour swatches, and how to create new colours to have an effect on the reader when looking at Anthem.

How Did You Attract/Address Your Audience?*

I addressed the audience of Anthem through the colours, images and language used on the front page, contents page and feature article. The style of writing is encouraging and mature but not too sophisticated for 16-18 year old indie fans, while the colour scheme is black, white and red, which means that it loses a hint of professionalism, but gains a sense of security for the readers that this magazine is for them.
Then, the images show a young musician who is within the chosen age range for the magazine, so the readers will feel comfortable reading it. Other images of the artists found in the magazine include "Pause", a male duo and "Jocelyn", another female solo artist.
The use of Pause encourages male readers to pick up the magazine and read it as they know that it's okay for them to read it, regardless of the gender of the artist on the front cover, while the use of another female artist also encourages more females to read Anthem.



 Why My Front Cover Appeals to My Target Audience

Why My Contents Page Appeals to My Target Audience

Why My Feature Article Appeals to My Target Audience

My new pages are more appealing to my target audience than before now that they have been remodeled.
Before, the colours didn't stand out enough and the text on the feature article was in two big blocks - something my target audience said that they disliked the most about physical interviews. As well as this, there weren't many pictures on the pages, and the font wasn't professional enough.
I addressed these mistakes and, when going over my pages, re-shot my pictures so they would be more appealing to my target audience.
My front cover is an improvement as it holds more conventions of a real magazine - it has various titles spread out on the page to inform the reader that there is more to this issue of Anthem then just the artist on the front cover.
As well as this, it includes factors that they would typically be interested in, e.g. free posters, opinions of their rock-star idols and general news about their preferred artist.
Finally, there's more colour, but not so much that it's overwhelming and/or difficult to look at. It stands out enough to capture the reader's attention and is a good enough font to read it clearly.






Then, my contents page is more appealing than my previous version as there's more to it - there's more variety of music for the readers who, typically are extremely interested in every aspect of reading, to read about.
Each key section of the magazine is clearly divided up on the right side of the page using bold colours and fonts, whereas a "band list" is on the left side of the page so the reader is able to navigate their way around the magazine and easily find an article about their preferred artist.
An opportunity for the readers to subscribe and save money is clearly advertised in the bottom right corner, which is a common convention found in any genre of magazine, sitting next to an editor's note. Most readers of magazines enjoy reading editor's notes before they continue on reading, so by having that there, it reassures my target audience that some things don't change every issue, such as the editor's note segment.

With my new pages, I feel that they are more appealing to my target audience as they're more colourful, have more conventions of existing and attractive magazines, e.g. NME, Q, and could come across as a magazine for students in their late teens/early 20s.
This can be seen through the coloured titled on the feature article, clearly dividing up the questions and answers for the reader to deduct between the two.
As well as this, the text only takes up just over half the page, whereas before, it took up almost all of the page in one, big block of unattractive text for the reader. The pull quote in the middle of the text also splits it up a bit more, so the reader can have a break.

Who Would Be The Audience For Your Media Product?*

The audience for Anthem hasn't changed since I first decided on it much. They're aged 16-25 year old males and females who enjoy live music and listen to new artists frequently. They are varied in the demographic groups and can be in any of the groups, but mainly C1, which is change I made during the construction of Anthem. This change was made as, if the readers are as young as I predict them to be, they either won't have jobs, or their jobs will be fairly low down in the demographics as they're likely to have just started. At this point in their lives, it's extremely unlikely for them to be so high up in a job. This therefore influenced the change.
Psychologically, my target audience are explorers and informers, so they are a creative group of people with an ear for good music and an eye for potential stars. This is key for my magazine as it offers opportunities for them to explore new music and be creative with their own.

I feel that this is a good audience to target since there aren't many indie magazines which target both males and females. If the cover has a female artist on the front, it's for the appeal of men, not women. With Anthem, it includes women as well as men due to the understanding that women are excluded from these sort of targeted luxuries. This then means that there's a niche in the market which Anthem fills.
There aren't many indie/alternative magazines aimed at both males and females equally, which means that the audience may be smaller but the magazine itself is likely to be successful. This inequality would be identified by my target audience, which would most likely influence their decision to be interested in Anthem.

How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups?*

Social Groups
The main artist of my magazine, Natasha Sky, is a female singer-songwriter who loves all kinds of music and enjoys having fun and being with her friends, just like any other teenager. This means that all of this is shown through her, as a representation of the target audience for Anthem. Although the pictures of her are serious and moody, the readers can relate to her experiences and understand her change in mood.
She's represented as a teenager who, like other teenagers, has had her heart broken and a change of mind about life. The readers of Anthem are able to relate to this, regardless of their age, since it's a normal thing to happen to people. If they see that a famous singer like Natasha Sky has gone through the same thing, they'll feel at ease and can relate to her. This is represented through the pictures of Natasha Sky as well as the interview.

My target audience are music lovers who enjoy new things and accept change into their lives. I have shown this throughout my magazine as there are a variety of artists, both new and old who the audience are expected to like. The colour scheme is fit for both male and female since black, red and white aren't a specific colour for a specific gender.

My main artist was a young female artist with an edgy look which can appeal to both males and females. Therefore, the social group who would follow her are likely to have similar fashion tastes to her as well as be roughly the same age as her. They'd also enjoy the same sort of music as she does, as well as enjoy her music. My artist, Natasha Sky, is what an idealistic artist is to her followers.

In her pictures, Natasha Sky is represented as a serious musician with a dark, mysterious look. This is to reflect the sound of her new music. This reflects the magazine's social groups more so than her own as she's trying to appeal to more people in this article.  Anthem's social groups are quite varied, ranging from people aged 16-25, of demographic groups ABC1C2 and both male and female. Psychologically, they are explorers and reformers. Natasha Sky is trying to represent these kind of people as well as show off a new self.

In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products?*

Front Cover 

Overall, my magazine used the conventions that existing magazines do as on my front cover, all my colours remain the same throughout the magazine so that the reader doesn't become confused or overwhelmed with anything. As well as this, it makes the magazine seem more in sync and organised. It reminds the reader what magazine they're reading and that it's an Anthem magazine; it's an element of visual branding.

A convention which I developed from seeing popular magazines is the use of "Natasha Sky" surrounding the artists head; instead of it being on top of or below the image, it's either side of it. It creates the effect that the artist is important to the magazine.

Contents Page

The general layout of my contents page is simple so that there isn't too much for the audience to take in. The image takes up most of the page as a way of attracting the readers to this certain artist. Then, the repetition of 'Pause' in the corner to continue the idea that there's more to this article than 'Natasha Sky'. It also shows the reader that they're just as important as the main artist.

A majority of the main information about the magazine and the article is found at the top to get the attention of the readers. It's short and snappy due to the general short attention span of the readers when flicking through a magazine. If they come across this page, they can read the top and decide if they want to continue on or not.

Feature Article

 With my feature article, I decided to keep the picture and the text separate from one another so it looked simpler and easier to read. It also makes the page in general seem more professional. Then, I used a quote to put on top of the image to give the readers an idea of what they could read in the main article. This is a common convention used to draw the audience in using a simple technique. 

The use of the big, faded "A" behind the text is a form of visual branding and ties the page together. It reminds the readers that they're reading an Anthem magazine as well as filling a blank space. I think that it cleans up the page. 

The colour scheme is the same throughout the magazine with the use of the bold red font for the title and the black text and white background. This makes it easier for the audience to read the article and makes it less overwhelming for them


Resubmission

 

What Kind of Media Institution Might Distribute Your Media Product and Why?*

Time Inc. UK

I think that Time Inc. UK should publish my magazine as they already publish two indie-rock music magazines which Anthem is similar to, so it would fit in quite nicely with the pattern. As well as this, there are only two magazines, so adding an extra one wouldn't over-saturate it and therefore I think the audience would respond well. As well as this, other existing magazines, such as "What Camera," and "InStyle" are magazines my  target audience would read since it reflects their hobbies and interests. This combined with the existing music magazines would make Time Inc. UK a good institution to distribute my magazine, Anthem.

At the same time, I think that the fact that Anthem is different would appeal to the audience as some of the artists featured in Anthem are entirely different to those of exising magazines under this name, such as NME in the sense that they have a different edge. While NME artists would be indie-rock, Anthem artists would be indie-alternative, which is what my target audience expect from the magazine. As well as this, Anthem is targeted at a younger market with differing interests to those of NME, who are older and therefore more experienced in life, including areas like music and concerts, etc.

On the other hand, Bauer Media would be a good institute to distribute my magazine as they already have Kerrang! under their name, and this magazine has a similar target audience to mine in the sense of age, gender and interests. This would increase the chance of success for Anthem due to the younger style of writing and layout of Kerrang!. As well as this, Bauer Media have distributed other media texts such as Q, MOJO, Empire and Kiss FM, all music/film associated. This would appeal to my target audience as these texts follow their interests.

In conclusion, I think the media institution which would be best for my magazine would be Bauer Media. Anthem would fit in nicely with their existing music magazines, Q, MOJO and Kerrang!, as well as filling a niche in their market as Q's younger sibling - a less mature version of the magazine aimed at people of the ages of Kerrang readers. As well as this, other existing media texts would appeal to my audience, such as "4 Music", "Practical Photography", "Live for Outdoors," and various others. This, overall, would make it easier for Bauer Media to target the audience as they are already existing within their institute.