Draft product commentary

.

The main image complements the masthead "nOstalgia" which means looking back to a period in the past as to what the model is doing in the picture. The masthead is unconventional as it has two different font sizes making the audience question why it is like that, making them fascinated in the magazine. Moreover, the main image is quite blurry so the audience cant see the face of the model clearly so they quiz themselves on how they this image could be clearer and why they do not get to see the model's full face.

.

The text of the context page is slightly unreadable as the text color is similar to the background's color, so its harder for the audience to read and understand the text. The image used is set in a close up to capture the facial expression of the model, through the costume worn by the model the magazine is unconventional as Grime music artists are usually dressed with a bit more 'swag' e.g. They would wear less clothing to show of their masculine body, they would wear more 'hood like' clothing such as - baseball caps (either sideways or backwards), wearing tracksuit bottoms and jeans whilst wearing drop downs (jeans a bit lower than expected). Whereas my model is formally dressed  showing less skin which presents his formality. Lastly, there is only one image for my contents page where as in most magazines there are more images usually from different pages in the magazine.

The background is unconventional because it does not enhance the genre (grime). The background image should be electrifying and exciting. In addition, to this the background decreases the reader's ability to read the text easily and clearly. The font type, size and color do not illustrate the genre of the magazine because its not as bold and dull as most Grime magazines

Final Product commentary

For my final  magazine cover, the black background makes the image stand out and the text is of a mid toned color which attracts the audience's attention. Moreover, the use of dark colors emphasizes my chosen genre because it associates with violence and crime. Since the title of my magazine is "nOstalgia", the audience expects the main image to have a connotation with it. My masthead has two different font sizes making the "O" in nostalgia protrude from the rest of the letters.

For my contents page, the effect on the sub heading is artistic, big and bold to catch the eye of the audience, making them intrigued with the contents they will find it in the magazine. Furthermore,the image is perfectly placed to the side so that there is enough space for the text alignment. The picture is a close up because it brings out a focus on the artist's facial expression and highlights the importance of the magazine. The spray paint on the background connotes the informality of the magazine. This is because Grime music is typically set in biased areas.

.

The double page spread layout is conventional as the text surrounds the artist. This brings out a sense of personality because the audience can understand that the story is about the artist. Also, the artist's facial expression indirectly motivates the audience to read the story and to somehow draw themselves throughout.

Magazine Evaluation Question 7

Question 7- Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

My preliminary task made me realize the color I wanted my text to be, where I wanted to position my text, masthead and date/price and whether it was a close up, mid shot for my cover, furthermore, my media product has improved a lot as shown below:

        

Preliminary task                                                            Final Task

My idea from the start was to have a blurry image as it enhances the title "nOstalgia". However, i decided to change to a better quality image and increases the quality of the front page. Furthermore,  i changed the font type and background color making more readable and exciting. The title is much more intriguing an eye catching.

Magazine Evaluation Question 6

Question 6 - What have you learnt about technology from the process of constructing this media product?

 I used Photoshop, Blogger and Microsoft Word for my media product production and the software that I found hard to use was Photoshop as it was my first time using it and I didn’t know how to navigate it but in due time I got the hang of it.
Moreover, the problems I experienced with Photoshop were that it had a variety of tools that I was not familiar with making it harder for me to edit my cover, contents page and the double page spread such as the photo did not fit the whole page when I copied and pasted it to the background layer.

Furthermore, I had a problem with the layers as every time I clicked anywhere on the page a new layer was created so I asked for help from my teacher and he showed me how to carry on with my production without creating any extra layers.

I also used the Canon EOS Series 700D as it has a high resolution and it had a variety of settings to choose from when taking my picture. When I was taking the photographs, I had to consider the environment and its surroundings, the lighting, the clothing of the model, the props used etc. Moreover, I had to think about the camera angles and shots in order to come up with the perfect close-up for my main cover and to also make sure that I could place text on the right side of the magazine as demonstrated below ;

Magazine Evaluation Question 5

Question 5 - How did you attract/address your target audience?

I believe that the image I used for my cover was very attractive to the human eye as it cooperated with the masthead.

Moreover, the font size and the color I used is unconventional for a grime magazine as it is very bright and grime is a very violent genre of music so it needs a dark toned color like violet or dark red etc.

Moreover, I would attract my audience by promoting it on lots of social media platforms I could also stick poster around just to get out to my Target audience everywhere. 

Magazine Evaluation Question 4

Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

My audience would be mostly black males and some females aged 13 to 21 as they stereo typically listen to this genre of music I have used some slang in my magazine as my target audience would understand most of the words because they’re probably in the countries like The USA, UK and countries that listen to this genre of music as they relate more to the songs or the artists. Furthermore, the socio-economics are group D & E because they usually have the time to purchase and read a music magazine and they also are eager to keep up to date with the latest music released by grime artists, moreover, my target audience doesn’t have any disposable income that’s why I made my media product as cheap as £1.99 so its affordable for them.

The psycho graphic profile of my target audience is fans of Grime artists, entertainment, fans of R&B n’ hip-hop and Grime.

Magazine Evaluation Question 3

Question 3- What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The kind of media institution that might distribute my media product is Time Inc. as this institution had published music magazines that were the same genre as mine in the past so they’re more likely to publish mine too, moreover, my magazine that appeal to youth and they have a wider audience appeal and they the audience what they what they want, they know how to make their audience come back for more. 

Their network would get my media product out to the world as they have a wide international audience they also have retail outlets everywhere to get the word out for new magazines.