1) In what ways does my magazine develope, use or challenge forms & conventions of real media products?

My music magazine uses forms and conventions of real media products due to the fact i have presented my front page, contents page and double page spread in a very well presented way. This would include a professional appearance with tidy factors such as suitable fonts, these are very important to create an atmosphere and create a more detailed atmosphere into the scene and feeling. A good example of this is making fonts italic to show the music genre is always fast and moving forward.

Secondly my magazine challenges the strong colour themes well established magazines use, i have purposely limited my colour scheme to a maximum of four colours. I have only used contrasting colours which complement each other and moods, this is a big part of challenging conventions of real media products due to the fact it will catch audience’s eyes and make my product alike to professional media products.


Finally my magazine challenges in other forms and conventions such as text and fonts. The fonts i have included in my media product both fit the music genre in a very suitable manner, the font i have used for my main title and sub headings fits its purpose perfectly by simply catching audiences eyes instantly. On the other hand the text i have used for writing is very thin, italic and straight forward which relates to drum and bass very well making my media product very competitive against top magazines which use text and fonts to connote an atmosphere.


2) How does my media product represent gender, culture and youth?

My music magazine clearly represents modern gender, culture and youth due to the colour themes, font and style i have used throughout my media product. Certain things which represent gender in my media product would include new technology, this is a very hot topic which is hugely debatable that males are usually more associated with technology. I have no females involved with my magazine due to the fact i have never seen a well known female DJ, this clearly shows the male gender is more popularly associated with my media product.

Secondly Culture is represented clearly in my media product shown through the dedication of these music producers, there is a sense of culture due to the fact the new and upcoming producers are inspired by the original pioneers of the drum and bass culture. This shows an emotional view into the culture and the ways that the amateur drum and bass producers are striving to be like the icons.

Finally youth is represented due to the fact everyone was inspired from a young ages which led them through the path to enjoying drum and bass, this shows from my interview with Chris that fans become intrigued at a young age and usually end up becoming DJ's and drum and bass music producers too following their icons steps.


3) What kind of media institution would distribute my media product and why?

I personally think my media product would appeal to institutions such as Bauer due to the fact they are very popular, known and successful. Bauer are involved with television and the radio which both suit my media product very nicely. My media product could be promoted very successfully through the television by showing music videos and displaying interviews with upcoming talented producers. On the other hand the radio could promote my media product very well by giving out messages, playing music and generally promoting my music magazine. The more the word expands that dnb source is a new magazine which is one of a kind a lot of people will be interested and aware of my media product.

I personally think Bauer would be interested in distributing my media product because drum and bass is a much unexplored part of the music scene and is slowly but surely becoming a lot more popular. The more promotion I can get with my media product the more known and distributed the music genre will become. People are very interested in new music categories and this is the perfect institution which could help me while I could help them with expanding their sales and business.


4) Who is the audience for my media product and why?

The main audience I have targeted my media product at is mainly males and females aged 15 to 30. I have decided to aim it at females even though it is more of masculine music genres due to the fact females are a great way of promoting new things due to them being easy to cooperate with for most people.

I have decided to start from an early age such as 15 due to the fact teenagers become inspired at gullible young ages and start becoming fans of famous music icons. This is a strong and positive way of releasing a magazine, teenagers will most likely ask their parents to buy their monthly copy of the magazine to follow and support music they enjoy. Teenagers are also a very big part of promotion, this would involve teenagers enjoying a certain genre of music and sending it to their friends while they are still at school which is a very successful and popular way of getting known quickly.

On the other hand i have also decided to aim it at the older generation of male and females since as people get older they create a passion for something which they enjoy. In this case if someone would have a passion for drum and bass and have been following it for years they may want to start collecting my media magazine product to cherish their childhood and have memories to look back on.


5) Looking back to my preliminary task, what have I learned and what progress have I made?

Since making my school magazine for my preliminary task I have learnt a huge deal about magazines, companies and general skills.

The main thing I have gathered since my preliminary task is my passion and progression with photoshop. This is evident from looking at my music magazine front cover and comparing it to my contents page and double spread, you can clearly see from comparing these three products that the front cover was created first. This shows because my contents page and double page spread are presented in a more stylish, tidy and professional manner. This shows that I have greatly progressed while creating my media product.

Secondly I have experienced it is not so simple to just take any image and insert it into a front cover, certain additions need to be included such as picture editing for the most successful images. Depending on the photo and its condition you need to make minor tweaks using photoshop to always get the best from your picture. This can sometimes include using the lasso tool to cut another person from an image or simply experiment and improve contrast, brightness and saturation.

Finally I have learnt more about presentation and where to stop when it comes to photoshop, a good example of this would be displaying the discipline to not over edit a magazine cover or page. This could range from many different things such as adding too many effects or exaggerating unnecessary colour changes. The moral I have stuck to and learnt is the more simple you keep your editing the more of a professional presentation it will contain.



I have made a video using Adobe Premiere Pro to give a sneak peak into some of the stages of making my media product. I have also included 2 questions which i included in the interview with my somebody.


1) Does the double page spread contain enough contexts and give you enough information?

Yes there is certainly enough information, from reading your double page i can get an insight into the drum and bass scene and slightly understand how things are for upcoming people.


2) What do you think about the colour themes for each page of my media product?

The colour schemes are very suitable, they create a feeling and create different moods for each page. There is a dark and yellow page which tells us enter with caution and these upcoming talents come from dark and risky backgrounds and put in everything they have, on the other hand there are very bright and open pages like the contents page which welcome audiences into not feeling intimidated with dark colours.


3) What do you think about my front cover including the imagery, text and layout?

I think the front cover is very attractive, i listen to drum and bass quite often and the text describes the feeling very well. It has been chosen carefully, i can tell this by the style and pace of the font and it suits the music genre very well. The imagery is very nice because it focuses on one person, it looks very inspiring to follow this person and learn more about him.

I do think it looks very busy and cramped though, some parts of the cover look too busy, this is the only negative point about the front cover.


4) What do you think about my double page spread including the imagery, text and layout?

The double page spread is my favourite part of your media product, the crime tape and dark colours make a very gloomy and interesting atmosphere. It makes me personally want to read on, it has been edited very well and looks just like any magazine i would view in a shop.


5) What do you think about my contents page including the imagery, text and layout?

The contents page looks very high tech, this does match drum and bass quite perfectly because there is a lot of technology involved with music. I like the way there are pictures for each page description, this makes it less boring to read and keeps me attracted to following your magazine.


6) Who would you say was the target audience for my music magazine if you didn’t already know?

I would guess that anyone who likes drum and bass is a target audience for your magazine and these are usually teenage boys and girls and sometimes the older people who listened to it in when they were teenagers too. This would be males under the age of 40 mainly.


7) Do you get a deeper insight into this music genre from looking at my media product?

By reading your double page spread i can understand how hard it is to become known in the drum and bass music industry and it is inspiring to see people trying to follow their footsteps. I think this music genre will rapidly expand in the upcoming years.


8) How often would you like my media product to be released?

I think the magazine is an awesome idea and a lot of things happen in music scenes, therefore i think if you was to make a new magazine each month a lot of people would be interested to hear new rumors and happenings.


9) How much would you be willing to pay for a purchase of my media product?

I think your magazine is just as good as any professional magazine so i would be willing to pay as much as they are, this would range up to £4.


10) If you could improve anything on my media product what would it be?

I would make the front cover less busy and include a little bit more of the interview on the double page, this would definitely improve your media product a lot.