What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?

Throughout the process of making the product I have used a variety of different technologies, I first had to get used to using the Macs which I found very difficult and time consuming to get used to. The technology was completely new to me as before the coursework I had never used a Mac before, I do like Mac computers but I feel that I would've found it easier to use a windows vista PC as this is what I use at home. Also blogging was new to me, before the coursework I didn't even know about blogging, however I found the process of setting up a blog simple and grasped the concept of it quite easily. I found it a very effcient way of completeing courseework and think it's a good idea. The main piece of software we had to use throughout completing the coursework was photo shop, we had to use this during our preliminary task when I first used it i found it very difficult and time consuming as I couldn't grasp the new technology. There are so many different tools and setting that it was very confusing at first, but the more I used it the easier I found it to use. The hardest tool I found was the magic lasoo as you have to have a very steady hand, which I don't. Also the photoshop software crashed countless amount of times meaning I had to re start what I had already nearly finished.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I used many different things to help attract my target audience, the first thing being the competition, all people who listen to house music will definitely be interested in winning that amount of equipment so that is a definite incentive to buy the magazine. I also attract the audience through my main colour of electric blue as this represents electric house music, also it is a bright funky colour and is in your face, this is what you feel like when you are out raving and the colour scheme does well in following this. I have also selected artists that all house music lovers will know and enjoy. I also feel that the way I wrote addressed the audience, as it was funny, put not incorrect and all the text was understandable I made sure it was as if the magazine was talking to the person to give customer confidence that we care. Also the main images target the audience as the image on the cover is of a well known DJ himself, but we get behind the scenes of his track playing to get to know what he really gets up to, anybody who listens to the DJ will definately want to buy this magazine, also as you get in inside infomration on all the hot new tracks people who listen to house music will want to know all of this gossip and definately want to know all the hot new tracks.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

For my target audience, they would be people generally like the couple below. They would listen to artists such as David Guetta, Laidback Luke, Steve Angello etc. They would be generally under 30 and of any ethnic background, they would enjot bright colours with strobe lights and hardcode raves, they would dress like the couple in the image, and would enjoy a drink at a club regularly.

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

The first place I would want to sell my magazine would be tesco, as it is such a national large store it would be easily accessible to anybody. Also places such as WH Smith and all stores that generally sell magazine so that the magazine is easy to find.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents a particular social group, it is aimed at people who enjoy going out raving and generally people who listen to house music, generally people under 30 of any sex and of any ethnic background. My main images clear represent my target audience as they are all of people raving, or of alcohol, this clearly showing what the magazine is about, you get a free CD with the magazine so by looking at the tracks on the CD you immediately know whether this magazine is right for you, also the people who do enjoy house music will want to keep buying the magazine as you get inside information on all the hot new raves, also all wannabee DJ's will want to buy this issue as they get hte chance to win a load of DJ equipment themselves. The cover lines on the front cover include many well know DJ's so people who are into house music will immediately recognize them and will want to buy the issue. My main bright colour is electric blue to represent electric house music, I wanted to get the colour scheme as close to the genre as possible and I feel electric blue was the best colour to use for that.

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

Throughout my music magazine i have used multiple examples of conventions, on of them being the pug on the right hand side of the front cover, these are used regularly on professional magazine to make a particular cover line stand out, it has the same effect on my front cover as it is large & eye catching, it also conveys more features of the cover as it gives the cover more variety rather than having all the cover lines near each other in the same font. My pug is advertising a competition, many professional magazine have competitions as it encourages people to buy the magazine. I have included a bar code with the price next to it to make sure that the cover looks realistic. I placed the price next to the bar code so that the price is easy to find, and this is usually where the price is placed on professional magazine. I challenged the convention by having the website on the front cover with the price, I feel that this was the best place to put it without it looking out of place. I have used the masthead convention in the same way as regular magazines, placing it at the top of the cover. I have used and challenged the left side third convention , the two main stories and the bar code are on the left side third however because of my main image is positioned the names of all the artists are at the top right, I did not want any of the cover lines covering the main image. Also I wanted to make the cover look busy so felt that not all aspects of the cover should be on the left side third. I also challenged the strap line convention by placing it at the bottom rather than the top, I feel that because of my image and the thickness of the strap line that it looked better at the bottom rather than the top, I think that in this case challenging the convention was successful. Also I have used the colour scheme of grey white and blue throughout the entire magazine. I also used the convention of having the masthead in the contents page, most professional magazines do this . The aragement of my contents page has been highly influenced by MixMag. I have different sections such as regulars, tunes, vip etc. this following the conventions of most magazines also it enables the target audience to find what they want easily. I have followed the convention of page numbers this is a must have to ensure that the contents page is correct and clear, also under each story there is a breif section about it, these are all conventions to make the contents page correct.

Stage of Double Page Spread

I then realized that I should add in the website at the bottom of the page, now the double page spread is complete.

I then decided that the contents page style should be more represented throughout the magazine so put a border around the title of the page to make it stand out more and to use the house style more.

I then did the same for the events.

I then added in the text for the albums, I wrote the name of the artist and a little section about the album so that readers could see which ones the magazine preferred and why.

The next thing I did was cut and paste the text I had previously written for the double page spread, I chose to use white for the font color as it would still effectively stand out on the grey background, but I didn't want too much of the blue color as it would become too bright and too consecutive throughout the magazine.

I then added in the images of the events and left room to write about them.

I feel that this looks much better and you still have the outline of the blue but it is not too in your face as I have put a grey shape over it. This makes it look more effective.

I then added in a shape so that I could put pictures of event flyers to show readers where they can go to listen to this type of music on the weekends. However I do not want it this colour

I then added in the main image, this is an image of the DJ on the front cover raving to rebeltronic music, it shows him with funky glasses on that many house music listeners can relate too, it is in the middle of the page to ensure that no writing cuts across the middle, it is rather large but leaves plenty of room for text and other things.

I then added in images of different CD's that have rebeltronic music on them, this is so that readers who are interested in this type of music know which albums to buy to listen to this music, also it would make the page more busy and relate more to the target audience.

I then added in the date and page number on each side as page numbers must be present on a magazine or it would be too confusing, I used blue so that the blue was still present and it would keep the page colourful and bright.

I again decided to use a grey background to keep within the color scheme of the rest of the magagzine, I put the title of the story in large bold writing as it makes it stand out and also is loud and bold, so it is loud like the events where you would be hearing this type of music.