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How did you attract/address your audience?

  Within my magazine, I made sure the mode of address was appropriate to my target audience. The mode of address I used in my magazine is relatively informal and features a few swear words, which fits in with today's youth. All of the text used in my magazine speaks directly to my audience as it uses a similar speech pattern and uses models that seem easy to relate to. In the interview, I made sure all the text was very similar to that used by 14 - 21 year olds. I attracted my target audience by; using a girl as a lead on the front cover, who they could relate to, placing the masthead at an angle and having it not quite fit on the page, which connotes rebellion and breaks convention, which hopefully catches the attention of my target audience. Being associated with my magazine would make my target audiences' favoured genre of music known, perhaps their preferred style of clothing and it'd enable them to get an information they wanted about tours and new albums etc.
  Throughout the production of my magazine, I asked for the opinion of someone from my target audience. I asked if they felt my front cover would catch their attention and whether they would be interested in reading on. I did this to ensure I was doing the right things in order to get my target audience's attention.
 
Notes on attracting my target audience.

• Conventions, Masthead - I decided to keep the masthead at the top of my cover so my audience would know where to look. However, I placed my masthead at an odd angle and made it so, it would not fit entirely onto the page, connoting that my magazine is breaking conventions and isn't your average magazine. The combination of these two factors would attract my audience as they would see the masthead (The Mixer) and notice that it's not following the usual stereotype of having all of it on the page, making it seem interesting and exciting, therefore, drawing them in.
• Despite the fact that a subjective gaze would be better suited in catching the eye of my target audience, I decided to use an objective gaze, which could connote apathy about the world, an interest elsewhere. The models appear to be 'too cool' to look directly in the camera and therefore, could attract my audience as they could relate to them. 
• The language I used in my magazine was current and in an informal tone, in order to reach out to one particular section of my target audience; youth. The mode of address was contemporary and was on the same level as my audience, therefore attracting them to read something that'd be relevant and in the style in which they speak.
• The layout of my magazine was predominantly conventional, however, I chose to break some conventions such as; putting certain things on a slant and not using conventional postures in images. This would attract my audience as they would see something that breaks the rules and is rebellious, appealing to the hegemonic view of teenage life and the style of music included in the magazine.
• The advertisements in my magazine are mostly gendered for females, such as make up and clothing lines. I also used relevant advertisements for my genre of magazine like CD's, tours and merchandise.
• A lot of the images I used in my magazine were not quite conventional which reinforces the idea of my magazine being a bit rebellious and 'out there'. This makes it a bit easier for my target audience to relate to. 

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

  I'd choose to have my own small publisher to distribute my magazine, because Bauer and IPC Media already publish similar genres of magazine. Eg. NME and Kerrang!

  The advantages of self-publishing would be; I would have no competition within the institution, there is a niche in the market for an alternative music magazine aimed at girls so perhaps starting off with an independant publisher would catch the attention of readers as it'd be something new and interesting. The biggest advantage would be that I'd have a lot of editorial control  over what goes into my magazine and also I'd be able to target my audience a lot better with both content and advertising. However, a major disadvantage of self-publishing would be that it would take a lot to get my magazine noticed in an already buzzing magazine industry, especially as there are so many different magazines within each genre. The main issue would be competition with all of the other magazines and as my publisher would only be a small one, it probably wouldn't have the pushing power to get it into the mainstream and catch possible readers' attention.

  In order to gain readership I'd plan to have an online version of my magazine for those who prefer to read magazines online and a radio station so readers can hear the music included in the magazine and any other that hasn't been included in the fortnight's so even more bands can get themselves out there. Kerrang! magazine arranges the annual Kerrang! tour, which goes around the UK, usually consisting of 3/4 popular bands who have been repeatedly featured in the magazine. I think this would be a really effective way to promote my magazine and get bands onto the scene.  

Finished Products.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

  The social group I am representing is a mixture of three tribes from 'UK Tribes'; Scene Kids, Young Alts and Emos. I chose to represent these social groups as a collective, because I feel that the range of music covered in my magazine isn't stereotypical to just one group and I want my magazine to have a variety of genres included, in order to encourage a wider variety of readers.

  My magazine encourages it's readers to to support bands by going to concerts and buying tracks, merchandise, and also promotes hair products, make up and clothing lines/distributors that are linked to the genres of music featured in the magazine. Eg. Everything But The Music, Shockwaves and Barry M. Therefore, I believe that my magazine has a pro-consumerist stance, as it advertises everything related to the artists and anything else that might attract the attention of my target audience.

  For my main cover feature, I chose to use a similar posture and layout to a Bring Me The Horizon photoshoot. I liked the way in which the lead is obvious and not pulling a conventional, happy expression. I decided to replicate the layout of the entire band because it clearly shows the lead and all the other members of the band. The size of the lead is larger than the other members and is centred which draws attention to the them. I decided to make my models seem a bit more animated than the members of the Bring Me The Horizon. I wanted it to look light-hearted and easy to relate to, but not conventional. None of the models in my shot are looking at the camera, which suggests their attention is elsewhere, in the case of the other members, they are looking bemused and up towards the lead, making the reader look towards the lead. The costumes are just normal clothes, probably similar to what readers wear, so they can make a connection and relate to the band. All of the hairstyles are similar to that which you might see everyday, which is another way I hoped would make the models easy to relate to.

Evaluation, Forms and Conventions

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

  Conventions are the conventional, typical things you'd expect to see in a certain context. These convention's are set so people can distinguish the difference between different types of media and also to provide an outline of how a piece of media should look like. Some magazines are more conventional than others depending on audience. This is because either using or breaking conventions can fit in with the context of a magazine, eg. An alternative magazine might not follow conventions in order to amplify their differences to the mainstream magazines. On the front cover of a magazine, you'd expect to see; a masthead at the top, alongside a selling line, the main feature story with a large photo, a selection of coverlines and a dateline and barcode. A conventional contents page has the word "Contents" at the top and has two distinct sections; regulars and features. These tell the reader what's usually included and what exclusive features are in the latest magazine. There are also usually fairly large images related to various features and regulars. On a conventional double page spread you would expect to see a main image which is about the size of half of the double page spread, a large title with kicker below, pull quotes and gutters.

  The genre of magazine I have created is an alternative music magazine aimed at girls. My main influence was Kerrang! magazine, because it is the one of the mainstream alternative rock magazines and the way it's all set out is quite interesting and sometimes unconventional, which amplifies it's differences to mainstream conventions. I liked the way the contents page in Kerrang! was set out and therefore used a similar layout for my magazine. Another of my influences was NME as it is also an alternative magazine which chooses not to follow certain conventions to outline how it differs from the mainstream.

Connotational Analysis (via Flickr)

      

Second Mock Ups