Evalutaion Question 2

How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups?

 

 

My target audience for my magazine was 16-24 year olds, predominantly students. I chose this audience as I am part of this group and I thought I would be able to target this group well as I know what consumers my age are looking for. I decided to make a pop/chart magazine because I feel that a large range of people are familiar with this type of music and that this enables me to target a larger audience.

I aimed my magazine at both males and females and I have tried to incorporate themes and ideas into the magazine that appeal to both genders.

 

Mise-en-Scene

In terms of costume I think that I reflected my target social group because I had my model wear a brightly coloured top from Topshop. I chose yellow because it reflected my music genre of pop and because it identifies with my target social group as the younger generation are seen as happy and joyful and the colour yellow carries these connotations.

The fact that the clothes she is wearing are from Topshop, a high-street brand make her more relatable to the audience. She is not portrayed to be above anyone else but to in fact fit in. My model Gabby fits in with the target age group and I think that this helps to attract my audience to as they can relate to her. I looked at existing products of pop magazines and photo shoots of existing artists to see how they were styled and to see if I could incorporate these looks with my own time limit and budget.

When styling my model I didn’t only have to think about clothing I thought about hair and make-up too. I looked at existing magazines such as Billboard and Top of the Pops to see how artists had been styled. As I wanted to make my cover artist as relatable as possible I kept her make-up fairly neutral. I was inspired by a billboard magazine cover where the artist had neutral eyes and a pink lip colour.

 

These are the products I used:

•Collection Lasting Perfection 16 hour Powder

•Dainty Doll Blush in 002

•MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Soft & Gentle

•MAC Eyeshadow in All That Glitters

•Rimmel London Pencil Eyeliner in Brown

•Maybelline Mega Plush Mascara

•Revlon Lip Butter in Wild Watermelon
 

I decided to curl my models hair as it is a simple hairstyle that is relatable and easily re-creatable. I didn’t do an intricate braided style because although I think this would have fit in with my theme I still think the simple curled and pulled back style relates to the audience.

 

 

 How My Photo's Represent My Audience:

I got my models to pose in these particluar stances as I think they are interesting and they capture the readers attention. I got my cover model Gabby to look excited and use the props to show this excitement. I think this pose could be as if she is at a party, the use of the props shows spontaneity and happiness.
I got my contants page model Poppy to pose in a way that suggests she has secreats or gossip, or she told someone something she shouldn't have. I got her to pose like this because it links to the story I associated her with: 'Poppy Spills Her Secrets'. This story makes the reader interested, they want to find out whats these secrets are.

Audience Feedback – Representative of Social Groups

To get a real representation of how my magazine is taken by the target audience I composed a few questions and asked some people in the target group to answer them. I think this way I will get an accurate and realistic idea of how my magazine appeals to my target audience.

These are the questions I asked:

•What is you social grade/age and gender?

•Do you feel my magazine stories target you as a reader, if so why, or why not?

•Do you think that the images used represent your social group, if so, why or why not?

•Do you think the price of the magazine is acceptable for your social group?

•Answers From Audience – Georgina, E, Female, 14

•1. Yes, the magazine covers the topics I’m interested in. It’s colourful and looks interesting to read.

•2. Yes, the images are youthful and give me a visual representation of what age group they represent.

•3. I think it is an acceptable price to pay and would be within my limit to spend.

•Answers From Audience – Rachael, E, Female, 20

•Yes, very current stories relating to the kind of music I like

•Images may be directed for people slightly younger than myself but they are eye catching

• Yes, as I'm on a small budget so it is easily affordable

•Answers From Audience – Peggy, E, Female, 19

•Some of them do like the promotions and the music however some of it is a little too young for me

•No they are a little bit too young for me, because the girl is younger than me it does not appeal.

•Yes it is a good price

•Answers From Audience – Rosie, E, Female, 20

•The interviews with some of the artists interest me, but the other content is not really aimed at my age range. I prefer to read magazines about celebrities and real life stories. It’s a magazine I would have been interested in at a younger age.

•No, they do not appeal to my age range, I prefer pictures of celebrities I am interested in from the paparazzi

•Yes very good, at a younger age you could buy it with your pocket money

•Answers From Audience – Kekezza, E, Female, 17

•Yes, I feel the stories target me as a reader. I think this because it is aimed at '16-24 year olds, predominantly students' and I am within those groups. I feel the stories are definitely relevant and interesting to me.

•Yes, I think the images used represent my social group. I am very familiar with every image shown on the reader profile image board. I think the images on the front cover of the magazine and the content pages appeal to my age group, because they're eye catching! They include a lot of the things I'm interested in at my age, 17, e.g. musicians and iPads. I'd definitely pick it up off the shelf.

•Yes, I think the price of the magazine is acceptable for my age group. It is enough to show its a higher end, well made magazine, but still in the price range that a student, like me, could afford.

•Answers From Audience – Ivan, E, Male, 17

•Yes, because I am interested in popular music, and the contents page seems to address the things that interest me

•Yes, because from the images I can see that they are in the same age group as me, however, I feel that there could have been some images of males to balance it out if you are targeting males too as potential customers

•I think that it is a bit more expensive than I would be willing to pay as I do not have a steady income, however I have noticed the subscription offer which I would look into further prior to making a commitment.

 



My Response to Audience Feedback:

From my audience feedback I found that my magazine was received well by my target audience but it was preferred by the younger ages in my target audience as some of the images were not appealing to the older ages. Also to do with images I think that I could have included pictures of males to make my magazine more identifiable with the male audience.