Amber AS Level Media: 2012

I complied a short open ended question survey to investigate what my target audience thought about my product

1) What are your thoughts on the colour scheme used?

2) What are your thoughts and ideas on the style of the cover model?

3)If you saw the front cover in a shop what would stand out to you?

4) What appeals to you about the front cover?

5)What needs to be improved or altered?

6)What are your thoughts and ideas on the contents page? Would it help navigate your way through the magazine?

7)What are your thoughts and ideas on the double page spread story?

Respondent one:

Stephanie Beaver

1) it's quite pop arty, I think it would attract a younger generation of women.

2)her style fits in with the theme and information on the cover. Furthermore suggesting a younger target Market.

3) the colours.

4)The layout of the writing, it gives quick highlights in to the magazines contents.

5) the background could be changed to make the rest of the cover stand out.

6)Good layout. Yes, they provide headings and page numbers with snippets of information to match and highlight the subject featured on the page.

7)It's easy to follow with the questions and answers in different colours and the topics of the questions flow well.

Respondent two:
Roujin Samiepour

1) I like the colours used the pastel colours make the cover seem cordinated, compared to if you had used bright colours this would have looked tacky and cheap.

2) The model used on the front is quite edgy this links into the sell-line regarding the lookbook.

3) If I saw this magazine in a newsagents the lookbook sell-line would stand out the most.

4) The layout is appealing

5) The models clothing could maybe be made more age appropriate if the magazine was aimed at a younger target audience.

6) I like the layout because it looks sophisticated and realistic also it would be easy to navigate through the magazine as the sub-headings are used and the font is clear.

7) I think the target audience will enjoy the double page spread story as they will be able to relate to it.

Respondent three

Ashleigh Keogh

1) I like the blues pinks and purples it looks fresh

2) I like the style of the model she is eccentric but it suits the magazine, her style reminds me of Jessie J.

3) The offer to win tickets to see Rhianna would lure me in.

4) I like the look of the magazine its very girly, its like a grown up version of top and the pops.

5) More sell-lines could be added

6) The contents page is good as it is continous of the style used on the front cover it would be easy to navigate through as the text is clear and sectioned.

7) I like the double-page story I think readers would find it inspiring

Respondent four:

My magazine maintains many of the excisting codes and conventions established within the music magazines I have analysed in order to gain a better understading of how music magazines attract their target audiences and produce a brand identity to create a image for their magazine which is instantly identifiable with the audience it is aimed at.

My front cover of Harmony follows the conventions of excisting pop magazines on the market such as "We love pop". As I have used bright and femnine colour scheme of pastel pink, lilac and blue. These bright colours reflect the youthful fun personality of the magazine and the target audience. By consistently using bright colour schemes each issue it helps to create a brand identity for the magazine, as the magazine will stand out on shelves in comparison to many others. By making the magazine layout striking and bold it will attract attention. I have also maitained codes and conventions by sticking to the standard layout of using a headshot of the model, with the masthead above and puff and sell-lines surronding the image.

Moreover like 'We love pop' who feature female artists who have found success within the music industry such as the cover I analysed featuring Tulisa Constavilos. Judge on the hit talent contest the X Factor which scouts for the next sining sensation with the 'X Factor'. Also a member of group 'N-dubz' who have had eight hits on the UK top 40 singles chart aswell as their debut album 'Uncle B' reaching platinum. Raised in camden town, london Tulisa has remained down-to-earth despite reaching success and fame. Although there has been controversey surronding N-Dubz for her band mates rebellious antics and confrontations with the law, she has continued to strive for success. Tulisa acts as a role model to the target audience as in 2010 she was aired a documentary with the BBC Tulisa: My mum and me. The programme followed her life as a teen before she n-dubz reached their height of fame, it showed Tulisa and her mothers relationship and how she dealt with her mothers diagnoses of the mental illness bipolar. Tulisa also visted some young carers and who had parents with bi-polar Tulisa offered them advice and found out more about how they felt about caring for their parent and looked at the issues of living with a parent with bi-polar and how it can affects the young carers lives.

Like 'We love pop' on my issue of Harmony I have decided to use a cover model who will reflect the values of the magazine, acting as the ultimate role model for the target audience to aspire to be like. 'Christina' the fictional character featuring within Harmony is a british pop artist aged sixteen, this will appeal to the target audience as she is of a similar age catergory, although she is successful and has achieved much in her musical career she is also down-to-earth and is like almost other teenage girl making her relatable to the the target audience.

However because "We love pop" is aimed at a younger audience of 13-15 year olds, and Harmony is aimed at 15-18 year olds I have styled the cover model in a different way although her pose is friendly and appealing to the target audience as she makes direct eye contact and is smiling she has been styled in a different way. Her style is more bold and reflects current trends and fashions. The cover model has a gritty rebellious edge as she is wearing torn denim shorts and a blouse. Her make-up although it is glamourous it is bold and daring as she is wearing scarlett red lipstick. The styling of the cover-model differs to other pop magazine amongst the market as the genre of music is different although Harmony does cater to the needs of pop fans it has a urban edge.

'We love pop' 's contents page is vibrant and full of sell lines and images, although this is appealing to their target audience, I wanted the contents page of Harmony to be more minalmistic to make it easy for the audience to navigate to find the information they want. I divided the contents into music, lifestyle and fashion these features reflect the interests of the target audience. I have also created brand identity by using the same font as used in the front cover's masthead of 'Harmony' in addition to this I have used the same colour scheme. Moreover I have also included an image of the cover model in the same urban location used in the double-page spread feature helping create a symbiotic link between the two. Overall by creating a simple minimal appearance to the contents page I wanted to the contents to look sophisticated and make navigation through the magazine easy.

In my double page spread of Harmony I have kept the conventional layout of the page of 50% image and 50% text, with the image being kept in the left hand side and the interview in columns. However the image I have used in my double page spread shows the cover model in a urban location, I have used a urban location which contrasts with her glamourous polished styling of a classic 40's style tea dress and femnine hair and make-up this is unexpected but I have used this to cause a dramatic affect on how the cover-model's life has changed from before she become a popstar to the present. By using a realistic urban location of a underground subway it reflects her down-to-earth attitude it will appeal to the target audience as the cover model appears more relatable towards them.

Many current music magazine's feature negative stereotypes of women. For example in this front cover of NME featuring Lilley Allen she has been stripped of her femeninty. Her hair and make-up is dark given her eyes are lined with jet black eye liner giving her a pale washed out complexion she is also dressed in a masculine shirt. To gain respect within the music industry she has been de-femenised to give her an equal status to males within in the same field.

Moreover other negative stereotypes held by the media and featured within music magazines particulraly within the genre of R&B is the sexualised image of women. This is demonstrated on this cover of vibe magazine featuring Kelly Rowland. On the cover Kelly Rowland bares all as she is stripped of her dignity and symbolised as a sex object.

These images of women are aimed at a male target audience and would not appeal to the reader of 'Harmony' as they represent women in a negative way. I have represented the cover model of Harmony as confident, successful, down-to-earth, unique and glamorous. By representing the cover model in this way it will encourage and inspire readers to fulfill their potential and aim for success in whatever field they are talented within. By showing the cover model's confidence in herself it will further empower the readers to reflect the same attitudes. By showing the cover model's down-to-earth personality the target audience is able to relate to the cover model because underneath her status she is a teenage girl just like the target audience. Moreover the cover models unique and glamorous style will inspire the target audiences style.

The media instution I would choose to distribute my magazine would be with Hearst Magazine UK, (The national magazine company) I would choose this company as they have experience of distributing many popular womens magazines including Company, Cosmopolitan and Elle. With 46% of their reach extending to UK Women, they would be suitable to launch 'Harmony'.

My Target audience are female’s between the ages of 16-18 they are students currently studying subjects in a creative field which would enable them to pursue a career in the creative field. She is single as she enjoys her freedom and does not like to be tied down. She has a fun daring personality she is never afraid to try things in life. She is down-to-earth the girl who all her friends go to for advice. She is very ambitious with big aspirations for success in the future. She is positive and has tons of energy and ideas that she puts into her work. She is extremely passionate about music and lives and breathes pop culture. Her philosophy on life is you only get what you give, so she always give her best. In her spare time she enjoys listening to music and visiting gigs. She is a party animal and has many nights out socialising with her friends. She also has a love for style and fashion and is conscious of what she wear’s, she loves to be creative with clothes and tries to keep up with trends; whilst adding her own edgy personal twist. She enjoys taking inspiration from the catwalk and look books. She enjoys and gets a real buzz out of retail therapy. She keeps fit and healthy by visiting her local gym at least once a week, and enjoys taking part in dance classes. One of their favourite artists is Jessie J as she is one of the rising female British artists. She is role model to the target audience as she is confident and self-assured she knows who she is and what she wants. She has come a long way from her days at Brit school and has accomplished so much and she is only in the early stages of her career. Her lyrics are inspiring and deliver a message to her fans, her sense of style is original and she has her own signature look which she is happy in. She likes a range of music, mainly pop, but she also likes other genres, mainly current music.

The magazine is successful at attracting the target audience as it will meet their wants and needs where no other music magazine has been able to. The magazine is split into three main sections reflecting the three main aspects of the target audience life they are as
follows: Music, Fashion and Lifestyle.
The magazine's target audience are confident ambitous independent females, Harmony reflects this attitude as it features females who have attained their goals within the music industry acting as the ultimate role model for the target audience to aspire to be like.
The target audience are passionate about music particulary pop music, Harmony will satisfy the target audience craving for new music with all the latest gossip on music featuring reviews on gigs and all the latest album releases and downloads from their favourite artists. Aswell as exclusive interviews giving them an insight to the lifestyle their icons lead.
Harmony will not only exclusively feature music within its pages but will also appeal to the target audiences other interests such as fashion. The fashion section will appeal to the target audience as it will include 'Lookbooks' a collection of printed images showcasing particular fashion trends. This relates to the target audiences interest in shopping, and appeals to the target audiences creative nature. Finally the third section of the magazine 'Lifestyle' will appeal to the target audience as it helps the readers socially addressing common issues amongst the target audience for example relationship dilemmas and advice on how to resolve it. Therefore the magazine will act as an all round guide to life for the target audience, the target audience will find 'Harmony' appealing as it can be used as a guide to life as it reinforces the philosphy of target audience. Unlike current music magazines available the target audience will be able to relate to Harmony as it will speak directly to the reader as a friend using language the target audience are familiar with with content and a layout which appeals to them.

Theorist Maslow Abraham argues we have particular needs as human beings these need to be fulfilled for us to achieve happiness and satisfaction within our lives. Harmony helps the reader achieve the needs of self-actualisation, esteem and social needs.

Harmony fulfills the readers need for self-actualisation as it encourages the reader to fulfill their potential and inspires them by featuring strong independent sucessful and ambitious women within each issue every cover model acts as an embassador for the values the magazine stand for. By gaining inspiration from the cover models who feature within Harmony the target audience recieve the message that they can do anything when they set their mind to it.

Harmony further helps the reader's esteem to increase as it empowers by helping them embrace a confident attitude. This can also be applied to the fashion section of the magazine which gives the target audience style and beauty advice which helps the reader become confident as they find their own individual identity and style. As the target audience is a teenager they may be more vulnerable to having insecurities or hang-ups about their appearance, Harmony may help improve their self-esteem as they give them the confidence to dress and style themselves fearlessly through tips and advice and through the actions of the role models who feature within the magazine.

Finally Harmony helps the reader satisfy their social needs as the magazine gives advice on their relationships through their lifestyle section. By giving advice on relationships the magazine helps the reader to resolve any problems. Overall helping to improve their social life.

Since beginning the project I have gained technological skills. I have noticed my skill's in using Adobe Photoshop CS5 have improved since first using the programme throughout my pre-liminary task. I have discovered the wide variety of tools available which can alter photos to improve their overall look and presentation. Moreover I have learnt how to use blogger, how to set up my own blog, how to upload posts and use advanced tools such as customization of the appearance and layout of the blog to make it appear more attractive. In addition to this I feel my skill in using a digital camera has improved I feel I have learnt different affects can be used to gain more intriguing images via using different lighting and differnt shutter speeds to capture mid-action shots, this can be seen in my practice shots where I captured my model in an action shot throwing glitter in the air.

Reflecting on my pre-liminary task I have developed my organisation and planning skills. In contrast to my pre-liminary task during my main task I undertook planning and research to discover media texts which already excist and how they attract their audience taking key ideas and gaining inspiration for the creation of my own magazine. Furthermore I carried out reasearch on my target audience by creating a questionnaire, the questionnaire was useful in the creation of my magazine as I understood what the target audience wanted from a music magazine and what types of articles should be featured within its pages. Moreover in creation of the media texts I planned the location, costume, hair and make-up that would feature within my images I was more inventive and adventrous in the images I created for my music magazine in comparison to my pre-liminary task this was because the audiences for the media texts are different. My magazine I invented in the pre-liminary task had more of a formal tone as it was a sixth-form magazine, in comparison my main task was a pop magazine with a informal friendly tone.

From the project I have learnt about the different types of music magazines currently available on the market and the audience they are aimed at, this has highlighted to me that there is a lack of magazines aimed at a female target audience. Many of the music magazines featuring female artists tend to give a negative representation of women such as the de-feminised woman and the sex-object. I have learnt about the importance of target audience research to gain an insight into what you should include in your media text you want to create. Furthermore I have learnt new technical skills through photoshop tutorials I have learnt how to reflect the sophisticated proffessional appearance of magazines currently on the market. Also I have improved my use of camera after researching different affects that can applied when using a camera through use of different lenses, shutter speeds, props, and editing. Overall this project has been throughly enjoyable and has opened to my eyes to the research, planning, creating and editing that is used in the creation of music magazines.