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

For editing the images in my magazine I could have used Adobe Photoshop, however I have never used that particular software and thought that it would take too long to learn how to, so I used paint instead.

Whilst I was creating my front cover, contents and two-page article, I used the software ‘Microsoft Word’. Whilst I was using Word whenever I tried to move a particular text box or image, everything else on the page moved with it, which as you can image got very annoying.

I queried one of my cousins on a solution to this problem and he showed me the ‘Anchor’ feature on the ‘Wrap Text’ option. This allowed me to move one text box or image at a time without the rest of them moving along with it.

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

Throughout my final product I have used the main conventions of any other music magazine on the market, however I have also left out some of them because I feel that they are pointless and not needed.
On my front cover I have not included 'ears', simply because I think that it would distract the reader and attract less attention towards the mast head.
I have also only included one headline on my front cover as any more would cover the main image and make it less eye-catching.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My final product represents a young but well mannered social group. I have not used any swear words or rebellious images in my final product which suggests that the target audience who would read my magazine would not be rebellious.

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

I gave a lot of thought as to what media institution would want to distribute my final product, I also did some research on some music magazines which are very similar to mine in what genre of music they are based on, what kind of articles they feature, etc.

After all this thinking and research I finally found a company that might want to distribute my magazine. Bauer Media Group distributes both Q and Kerrang! which are both centred around the pop and rock & roll genres of music. The target audience for Kerrang! is young adults of both genders between the ages of 14 - 19, much like my magazine 'Infinity'.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I have chosen to aim my final product at young adults from the age of 16 - 19. Simply because it is that particular age group that tend to read music magazines on a daily basis. Also, that age group would be more into current pop music.

What feedback have you recieved from your audience about your product and how did this affect your creation of the product?

Before I started work on my final product I created a survey on 'SurveyMonkey.com', my survey included  10 questions which would help me to get a better idea of what I could do to my magazine to make it more appealing to my target audience.
To encourage people to take my survey I posted the link on both my Facebook and Twitter profiles.

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

In the preliminary task I simply used the fonts that were available on Microsoft word and used their 'Word Art' feature. However, as you can see, in my final product I have used more of a variety of different fonts using the website 'DaFont.com'. This gave my final product a more professional look and would make it more appealing to my target audience. Thus I have learnt that a bright and eye-catching font is just as important as an interesting image on the front cover of a magazine.

Also, on the front cover of my school magazine I used an image that may be colourful and eye-catching but doesn't actually have anything to do with any of the articles featured in the magazine. In my finished product you can see that I have not only used professional looking images but they are also very eye-catching and relate to the main article featured in that issue of the magazine. As a result I have learnt how to edit my photos to make them look more professional.

My contents page is very similar in those ways, though I didn't edit the images any more than cropping them, I did use 'DaFont.com' for my mast head again.

Its the same for my two page article, I haven't edited the images in any way but I have used 'DaFont.com' for the mast head.

How did you attract / address your audience?

I attracted my audience by using a variety of different images in my final product, this made my front cover stand out more compared to my school magazine. Also, even though the colour scheme for my magazine is quite plain (black and white) it is still quite bold and will attract the target audience.

My contents page is very similar in those ways, the use of the bright, colourful images makes the page seem less plain. The fact that I used opposing colours for the text to avoid it blending in with the background makes it seem more unique, whereas in my school magazine both the text and the background are both one colour and never change. Also, in my contents page I have mentioned artists/bands which are quite famous at the present time, this will attract my target audience simply because it is up to date. The images I have used are bright and colourful which will make it more appealing, and since all of the images relate to an article mentioned in the issue, if the reader likes the look of one of the images they may want to read the article.

My article page is based on the band McFly. Which in itself would make the target audience want to read the article, simply because they have recently started touring again, and two of the band members have recently won both 'I'm A Celebrity, GET ME OUT OF HERE!' and 'Strictly Come Dancing' which are both very popular television shows. If one of the readers have seen either of those shows they may want to know more about the band which would make them want to buy the magazine.

I addressed the readers in a more modern way in my article. The kind of language I used was more informal, with no complex words or phrases that may be confusing to the target audience.