Evaluation - Institutions

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


The magazine which I decided to research was Vibe. I chose this magazine as it is very similar to my product. The genre and target audience of my magazine and Vibe magazine are the same, therefore I was able to compare the two. I found out some information about the magazine which enabled me to see the similarities and differences mine and Vibe magazine. I discovered that the genres featured n both magazines were the same and the audiences were quite similar.


These websites show the information I found out about the audiences of Vibe. Vibe provided a media kit to show all the various media it uses and a partners section which shows who they are partnered with.

http://vibelifestylenetwork.com/VLN-Media-Kit-2011.pdf 

http://vibelifestylenetwork.com/partners/

Vibe has many partners including AllHipHop.com:

AllHipHop.com was founded and launched in 1998 by CEO’s “Grouchy” Greg Watkins and Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur. After many years of developing the site, AllHipHop.com has become a valuable resource for hip-hop on the internet, featuring daily news, interviews, reviews, multimedia, a fast growing community and other interesting content. In addition to the website, AllHipHop.com has been delivering daily news alerts to music industry tastemakers and hip-hop lovers two-way pagers, cell phones and email addresses since 1998. Sign up for the AllHpHop.com News Alerts.

I researched Vibe magazine and discovered that it is distributed by an American company called Intermedia Vibe Holdings, LLC. I then went on to find out about this company.


The following websites gives an overview about the Intermedia company:
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=34669
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/people.asp?privcapId=34669

 

A company like Intermedia would be good to distribute my magazine as they have been very successful with Vibe magazine. As my magazine is very similar to Vibe, the company would help to develop and attract the target audience as it has with Vibe. As Intermedia focuses only on Vibe magazine it would be able to appeal to similar people as it looks at similar genres. Both magazines are based predominantly at pop and r and b music which is all very recent. Also the layout and design of both magazines are very similar and all contain relevant information.

Similarities between Vibe and my magazine Pulse:

• Artist to the right hand side of the page
• Cover line above the title
• Plain background colours
• Bright, bold colours for the cover lines
• Interviews
• Large magazine name
• New music
• Recent pop music
• Recent R and B music

Evaluation - Conventions

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

When doing research for my magazine I looked at other magazines which had a similar target audience and genre to what I wanted mine to be. This enabled me to see what the typical look and style of the magazines were. I looked at how I could take into consideration their typical conventions, coulour schemes, fonts and layout etc. I wanted to produce an r and b, pop magazine which mainly featured female artists. Therefore I chose to research and look at magazines which predominantly looked at this same genre of music so it gave me a suitable idea on how to make my product appeal to my target audience. I looked at the conventions each magazine used to attract their audience so it gave me an insight on how to create mine. From investigating this research on similar products I discovered  that there were various conventions each magazine followed. These conventions were different for the the front cover, contents page and double page spread

 The typical conventions of an R and B and Pop music magazine cover are 

• Large mast head at the top of the page
• The layout is ordered
• The cover lines are spaced out  
• The convention of the route of the eye is used including the main cover lines directly through it
• An image of an artist featured in the magazine along route of the eye or in the hot spots
• A colour scheme involving two bright colours, usually with black and or white 
•   Relevant cover lines
• Use of pugs

 

In my front cover I ensured that all aspects and conventions of a typical pop and r and b music magazine were used. For example I ensured that the title of the magazine was in a large, bold, different font. This allowed it to stand out the most on the whole magazine grabbing the audiences attention. Using a different font to the rest of the text on the front cover makes it really stand out making it really noticeable. I put the title of the magazine at the top of the page in the masthead so it created an ordered look. I continued the ordered look to the magazine by ensuring that the text was spread out and didn't become too cluttered. The cover lines on the cover were spaced out making it easier for the audience to read. Each cover line was in a different colour which made it easy for the audience to define each one. The whole front cover follows the magazine convention of the route of the eye. I used this convention as it appears on all magazines and it allowed me to lay out the cover lines with the most important ones standing out the most. The title is along the route of the eye which means the audience will easily spot it and know straight away what the magazine is about. Also, the 'special edition' caption is in the route of the eye which is an important piece of information. This will stand out to the reader. The image is the main focus on the cover which is in the middle of the route of the eye. Therefore I made the image look professional and appealing to the target audience as it stands out. 'Free downloads' is along the bottom of the page meaning it is in the route of the eye. This cover line will appeal to the audience as it involves them getting free music. The use of it being in the route of the eye is good as the  audience will be more inclined to buy the magazine. All the main cover lines which would appeal the most to the audience are also in the route of the eye so people would be more interested in the magazine. Another example is that I used a suitable colour scheme that would appeal to people that enjoy this genre of music. Also, my target audience is predominantly females and the colour scheme is more feminine than masculine. The colours I used were typical of this sort of magazine as I used to bright colours which worked well together as well as black. I also used grey on the front cover as I thought it looked more appealing and would attract my target audience more. This colour scheme looks quite professional and looks appealing on the front cover as it is eye catching and stands out. I used relevant cover lines on the front cover which would appeal to my specific target audience as it is of interest to them. For example one cover line talks about V festival which stages many popular artists, so the chance for readers to win tickets would obviously appeal to them. 

The typical conventions of an R and B and Pop music magazine contents are

• The page is ordered with the articles organised in columns 
• The colour scheme is the same as the one used on the front cover
• A plain background, usually white 
• A sub heading for 'on the cover' and 'regulars'
• A message from the magazine editor
• Main image

In my contents page I made sure that all aspects and conventions of a typical pop and r and b music magazine were used. For example, I organised my contents page so that it looked ordered and professional. I did this by putting the articles and their page numbers in columns which created an easy to ready page. With an easy to read contents page it makes the magazine easy to navigate around as the reader can refer back to the contents page. Therefore having an ordered structure is very suitable and would appeal to the audience. The columns are also separated by a dashed line which ensures that the page doesn't become confusing. Another example is that I used the same colour scheme to that of the one I used on the front cover. This is a typical convention of any music magazine so I needed to include it in my product to make it look more professional. This gives the magazine a theme and is easy on the eye which will attract the audience. The colours are very bold too, so they will keep the reader interested. I used a plain white background on the contents page as it looks more effective and is typical of a pop music magazine. The background is also similar to that of the one on the front cover so it carries on the theme. Having a white background is very simple yet effective as it ensures the text is easy to read and that the magazine doesn't look too busy or cluttered but instead ordered. The ordered layout will appeal to the reader more. From research I found out that most music magazine contents pages of my genre had sub headings for 'regulars' and 'on the cover'. Therefore I included these on my contents page so it would appeal to my specific target audience. This convention allows the audience to know what to look for. The favourite pages of the magazine will be featured in the regular section which will appeal to the reader. This is because these articles will be easy to find. These headings needed to be clear to the reader so I put them in a bold, bright font making them stand out. Usually on the contents page of a magazine there is a message from the editor. This feature is very conventional of a music magazine.  I added this message to ensure the audience could relate to the magazine. This message makes the audience feel like the editor is talking to them individually, involving the audience in the magazine. Therefore I made the message quite attention grabbing and made the magazine sound exciting as this is the first thing the audience reads. I put this at the top of the page to the right of the main image in a simple font so it's easy to read. The black font colour stands out on the white background making it clearly visible. I used a main image on the contents page to the left hand side. This photo stands out and would appeal to the audience as it allows them to see what is inside the magazine. However, this feature is not typical of every music magazine, as some feature a few smaller pictures.

The typical conventions of an R and B and Pop music magazine double page spread are

• Simple background
• An image of the artist
• Different style and font to the cover and contents
• Questions in a bold and or different colour
• An in depth article with many questions and answers
• Pull quotes

In my double page spread I made sure that all aspects and conventions of a typical pop and r and b music magazine were used. For example, I used a simple background. I included this convention as it mad the article text stand out and was clear and simple to read. This would attract the audience as it is easy on the eye and looks more appealing. The white background I used is suitable for the colour of the text on the spread as they compliment each other well. The black writing works well with white and the bold pink colour is very bright which would stand out and appeal to my specific target audience. I used a photograph of the artist being interviewed on the double page spread so it would attract the audience as it makes the page look more appealing and suitable to the genre. The image used is also suitable for the specific target audience as the artists fits in with the genre well. The image looks professional too, which would attract the readers as it looks like a typical magazine. This convention is used in most music magazine so it works well with the rest of my product. Also, the image used is similar to that of the one on the front cover as it is an interview with the cover artist. The artist is wearing the same clothes which is a good convention as it allows the audience to easily recognise the artist. The font used on this spread is different to those on the front cover and contents page as to make it more individual and separate from them. I also followed the convention of using few fonts on the spread to make it more appealing to read. In the article i used a serif font so the text was easy to read which would attract the reader. By doing this it makes the pages look more professional by  creating a simple and clear article. For the title of the spread I used a different font highlighted in black which stands out on the spread. However, I used the same colour as on the front cover as it relates to the artist and the reader would associate the colour with that artist. Another convention which I followed was that the questions were in a bold and different colour to the answers. This separates the two and makes it easy to distinguish between the two. The reader would then find this easier to read as it is simple to follow. My article is in depth and has many questions and answers which would appeal to my audience as they would want to know about the artist and what they are like. The language used in my article is typical of teenagers so the audience can relate to the artist too. This is typical of a pop music magazine. Also it makes the magazine seem more realistic. The interview is very relaxed and not very serious so it is more fun to read. The interview is chatty which allows the audience to relate to it. A lot of slang language is used by both the interviewer and the artist and they both are very friendly which makes it easy to read. For example, some quotes in the interview that show this are 'Hey Katy', 'I know right, it has been pretty crazy!' and 'other than being forever tired'. The interview includes personal things about the artist so the reader is kept interested. Also, as the magazine is about music much music related conversation is used to keep the audience interested too. I used pull quotes which is another typical convention. This broke up the text to make it look more interesting and less intimidating to read because it would look too much if the pages were just text. The pull quote font was bolder than the article and was in a different colour which made it stand out. I ensured that I used an interesting quote from the article so it appealed to the audience.

Evaluation - Focus Group

For my focus group I chose a few people who fit the target audience my magazine is aimed at. Therefore I asked questions regarding my final magazine to older teenagers/young adults females who have a strong interest in predominantly the pop and r and b music genre so would potentially enjoy reading my magazine. I showed the people in my focus group a sample of the front cover, contents page and double page spread and asked them what they liked and didn't like in order for me to make improvements in the future. I also asked for them to suggest strengths and weaknesses of all aspects of the magazine. Finally, I asked my focus group to rate my magazine out of ten so I could see if it attratcs to the specific target audience.

What are my magazines strengths?
What are my magazines weaknesses?
How could I improve my magazine?
Rate Pulse out of 10

Person Number 1
Front cover - "I love the colour scheme as it is really eye catching and stands out. The fonts used are good as they are clear to read and are attractive. The image looks very professional and the overall layout of the magazine is appealing. To improve the cover props could be used to show the magazine is about music."
Contents page - "I like the layout of this contents page as it is very clear to understand and the fonts used are quite simple but effective. The bold page numbers are good as it would be easy to navigate around the magazine."
Double page spread - " I like think the pull quote looks very effective. The bold black background  of the quote really makes the pink text stand out. To improve the spread more questions could be asked in the interview."
Rating - 9/10

Person Number 2
Front cover - "The cover is very appealing. I think it would be suitable for a music magazine. The use of fonts and colours are good as they stand out. I also think the layout is designed well and it looks like a typical magazine." 
Contents page - "I like how this contents is easy to follow yet it looks very attractive. The colours and fonts are the same as on the cover which is good as it gives the magazine a theme. The image looks professional too."
Double page spread - "The way this spread is laid out is very appealing and would catch the readers attention. I like how the questions and answers are in different colours so it is easy to read. The spread isn't over the top but is quite simple which is good because its easy on the eye. To improve another pull quote could be added."
Rating - 9/10

Person Number 3
Front cover - "I love the colour scheme used on this cover as the colours work well together and stand out. However, the scheme would appeal mostly to girls. I like the layout as it look very professional and the photo fits in well."
Contents page- "I like the photo at the side of the page as it is different and looks quite professional. I think the page is easy to follow and articles would be easy to find in the magazine."
Double page spread - "I really like how the title and the pull quote are highlighted in black as it makes the stand out the most on the page. I think the colours work well together too. I think the blank spaces on the spread need to be filled which would make an improvement."
Rating - 8/10

Evaluation - Appeal to target audience

Final magazine survey results

I created a survery on http://www.surveymonkey.com/ in order for me to get responses about my magazine. From these results you can see I got a very good representative sample of my target audience opinions on my magazine. I know this because most people who took part in the survery were females aged 16 - 20, which is whom my magazine is aimed at. This allowed me to make a fair assumption of what most people would think about my magazine and to see if the techniques I used worked or not. I can also see their personal opinions about my magazine. Overall, i recieved very positive results and opinions from my survey suggesting that it attracts and appeals to my target audience appropriately. 

I posted this survey on my blog http://molliehinson.blogspot.com/ and on my facebook account allowing me to get responses which would more likely to be from my specific target audience. Also, this would give me as many results as possible.

In the survey I included questions about  my front cover to see what people specifically liked and disliked about the cover. These below responses are the results I got:

Many of the responses show that people liked the colour scheme I used on the cover suggesting that it worked effectively and would attract people to the magazine. Many people also said that the magazine had a professional look about it as they thought the layout looked good. Having a porfessional cover is very important as this is what attracts the audience to the magazine. If the magazine didn't look professional it wouldn't appeal to the audience. A tacky look would make the magazine unattractive. Another point made from the responses was that the main image on the cover looked appealing and attracted the audience to the cover. This is a key feature of attracting the audience to the magazine as it takes up most of the front cover. All of these factors give the impression that people would buy the magazine. One response said that the cover was too feminine which I could improve upon. However, my cover is predominantly aimed at females.

I asked in my survey how I could improve my cover and these were the results: 

Most of the responses show that no improvements should be made to the magazine  and that the cover was good how it is. However two results said that props could be used to show to make it more clear to the audience that it is a music magazine. This is good as it shows that my target audience likes my magazine and it doesn't need to be improved. 


Overall, my front cover proved to be very effective as it appealed to the specific target audience it was aimed at. I didn't need to make any adjustments to the cover as it appealed greatly to the audience already. The cover succeeded in attracting my specific target audience. 


The results I received for my contents page proved to be very positive too. The responses are shown below:

The results show that people liked the continued colour scheme and fonts used. This is because they are very eye catching and bold which makes them stand out greatly. Having a continued colour scheme from the cover to the contents is a typical convention of a magazine. Many people thought the layout of the page was good and that it was easy to follow and read. the clear design meant that it was easy on the eye which appealed to my target audience as they would be more likely to read it. Also, people said that the bold page numbers made it easy to understand where things were in the magazine meaning it was easy to navigate around. 

I asked the audience for improvements I could make to my contents page. The results are shown below. Many people said that no improvements should be made which is good as it proves it appeals to my target audience. However, many people said I should use fewer, smaller pictures which would improve the page. Although these improvements were suggested they were very vague. The contents page proves to be very successful, however slightly less appealing than my cover.

Next I asked questions about my double page spread to get feedback from my target audience. I asked whether the spread appealed to them and why. The results are shown below:

From these results I can see that there are many different ways in which the spread appeals to the audience. Many of the answers said that they liked the layout and that the text and image were positioned well making it clear and easy on the eye. This would appeal to the audience as its simple to read yet effective and bold. People said that they thought the article was very interesting and that they enjoyed reading it. A response said that the text was easy and clear to read which is an appealing aspect. Again, the colour scheme used proved to be very popular meaning that people are drawn to bright colours with a black font used for the article to make it look professional. People liked the title as it's very bold and stands out on the spread drawing them into the article. 

Again, I asked whether they thought any improvements should be made or not. The results are shown below:

The responses for this question were again quite vague, but many people thought that the page could use a larger variety of fonts. However, if I did this the page could become less professional and might not appeal to my audience. A suggested improvement was to add another pull quote to make it more eye catching. 

In the survey I asked whether people would read my magazine and there was a high percent of respondents that answered yes. This shows that my target audience are interested in my magazine and that it has successfully appealed to them.

Finally I asked if the font and colour schemes used in the magazine appealed to them. Again, the percentage was very high for yes showing that this aspect attracts the audience.

Overall, from looking at the responses given in this survey, I think my product greatly appealed to my target audience. The results show that people liked my magazine and thought it was very effective and appealing other than very few minor improvements. This shows that the techniques I used throughout creating my entire magazine worked well and made the audience attracted to the final product.

How did you attract/address your audience?

The audience for my magazine is predominantly female older teenagers/young adults who are interested in pop and r and b music. In order to appeal to this audience created a suitable layout, used appealing fonts, colour schemes and images which would attract them to the magazine. I also included topics that covered the said music genres. 

Front cover

The front cover of my magazine was very important. This is due to the fact that this page is the first thing the audience see, therefore it needs to be eye catching. I used as many conventions on this page too. 

The title of the magazine is placed at the top of the page due to the fact it is a very important feature. The title is at the top so that the audience can easily see then name straight away, The font I used for the title is very bold and stands out on the page against the other colours used. I used black for the title font as it made the magazine look more professional and stands out from the bright colours of the cover lines. The next most major thing the audience see is the image. The image I used on my front cover follows on from the title in line with the route of the eye convention. Using an appealing image is an important factor as it makes the reader more interested and therefore more likely to buy the magazine. Also, by having the image here it provided me with good space to add cover lines and other features to the cover. In my survey results revealed that most people would prefer an ordered layout to a cluttered one so I created an ordered layout to appeal to as many people as possible. The next thing that the audience will see is the main magazine article. This main article needs to appeal to the audience as it will make them want to read more. On the cover I used a different font to the rest of the text. This made it appear to stand out more, catching the audiences eye. The most important features on the front cover are in the route of the eye as the audience will spot these straight away when glancing at the magazine. The colour scheme I used on the front cover was suitable for my target audience as it is quite feminine but mature looking at the same time. The colours I chose to use were pink, blue, grey and black. I spread out the different colours well, ensuring that the magazine looked even and spaced out. I only used a few different fonts on the cover which made it look more professional and carried non with the ordered theme to the magazine. If I used lots of different fonts the magazine could look immature and cluttered. 

Contents page

My contents page is also extremely important as it is the second page that the audience see and the reader has to refer to this page to know which pages to go to. Therefore this page needs to be eye catching and stand out. I had to make the layout interesting ensuring that it didn't look too plain. To make the contents page appealing I used many different conventions to do so.

As you can see by the above image, the principle of thirds has been used conventionally. The image is in one column and the article pages are exactly in the other two columns. This separates the information in a neat ordered way which will appeal to the audience as it is easy on the eye. Again, the route of the eye convention has been used professionally on this page. The first thing that the audience will see is the face of the model which has to be appealing to attract the target audience. The image used shows a stereotypical representation of a fashionable teenage girl which is my target audience so will appeal to them. Next, the audience will see the title of the page welcoming the readers to the magazine which is another important aspect of the page. I used bold bright colours for the fonts here as it will appeal to the audience grabbing their attention. After reading the title of the page the readers then see the editors message. This is a very important feature of the contents page as it tells the reader about the issue and welcomes them to the magazine. Therefore it has to make the magazine sound interesting which I did on my product. There is also a signature from the editor which makes it more personal and makes the reader feel involved in the magazine. Along the route of the eye, the next thing the audience will see are heading for article pages and the different articles. This is an important feature as it guides the audience around the magazine and is essential for attracting the reader. When the reader scans over the page and sees articles of interest to them, then they are more likely to read the magazine. I used bold bright fonts and colours for the headings of the different articles such as 'on the cover', 'regulars' and 'plus'. I did this so that the page was easy to navigate around and so the reader could easily spot articles which they wanted to read. I also put the page numbers in bold so the audience knew where to find certain things quickly. 

I used the same colour and font scheme for the contents page as I did on the cover of my magazine. This consistent style throughout the two pages gives the magazine a professional look making the reader want to read on. By keeping the colours and fonts the same the magazine looked quite mature which will appeal to my specific target audience.

Double page spread

Final Magazine Survey

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Final Magazine

Draft Double Page Spreads

Draft Contents

Draft Covers

Original And Edited Front Cover Image

Original Image                                                         Edited Image

 I edited the image to make it look more professional and suitable for the front cover. I needed to adjust the sizing of the image too, so it would fit accordingly to the size and layout of the cover. The original image had a shadow around the outside of the model which looked quite unprofessional for a front cover of a magazine. Therefore I used a photo editing programme which allowed me to remove the shadow without the image becoming tacky. The original image also looked quite sharp so i continued to use the editing programme to soften the photograph. This made the image look more proffessional so that it would work well on the cover.