Final front cover, contents page and double page spread

my first DPS mock up and why I changed it

This my original idea for my DPS, I decided to change it as I didn't feel it fit in with my magazines style, I also was not happy with the layout of my page as I felt it was too messy with bulky writing, however I did like the image and the way it was positioned on the page, which is why I decided to use it in my other DPS that I constructed, I like the way it finished in the side of the page making it look more interesting, doing this also meant that I could have used more space to show information on the page 

I also didn't like the colours that I was using and how the black or any other colour I chose was swamping the page in darkness, even with a brighter colour it overpowered the rest of the page and didn't look good enough for me to be happy with it 

As you can see each page is different which shows I did try to change it to see if I could make it better, but in the end i was not happy with it and decided to start again, producing what I think is higher quality, more colorful and creative DPS  

DPS layouts

Front cover process

DPS process

Contents process

Question 6: What have I learnt about technologies in the process of constructing my media product?

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Question 7: Looking back at my preliminary task, what do I feel I have learnt in the production from it?

Question 7 from Maxhward

Question 5: How did I attract/address my audience?

Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Who would be the audience for your media product?


What type of job do they have?

My target audience varies from 15-30 year olds, this means that some will be unemployed, some with part time and others with full time employment, the majority however will have some form of employent, as my magazine is aimed at anyone between those age groups it is not aimed at a certain type of occupation of the reader, so it will have a large of variety of audience with a wide range of jobs. The readers of my magazine will range from a 16 year old apprentice to a 30 year old office worker

What type of house flat/house do they live in?  

As my audience is young they will either be living with parents if they are in education at school/college/uni, staying in student accommodation or be staying in a house/flat with friends at university, the older age of my audience from around the ages of 22-30 will be have there own home, either with a parter, friends or on there own, this will probably be rented housing as at this age it is very expensive to buy a home as they will probably not be earning enough money to fully own a property

How do they dress?

My audience will all have different tastes in what they wear, this could be partially due to the music they listen to, and as my magazine features a wide range of artists in each issue then it will have many different type of people will all different fashion senses, the vast majority will shop and high stores like Topshop/Topman wearing designer brands that are well know such as Fred Perry, Nike and Adidas. Some how ever will have more unique fashion senses shopping at independent stores that supply a smaller audience     

What do they value in life? 

Many will value obvious things like family, friends and loved ones, however they would also value possessions that are important to them personally, they would also value themselves and their ambitions as many of them are young and yet to achieve their dream job. Other obvious things like money are important to them as it is one of the things in this world that people want, and also want as much as they can get of it. Music is also something my audience values as it has been a big part of western culture for the last 60 years it has been implemented into there lives and it has become something personal to them

How do they spend their free time/money and socialize?

These 3 things are either similar or involve one another. most people in my target audiences age range find it difficult to go out and socialize without spending money and others would struggle to if they don't have a job, nearly all of the people in my audience would be busy in the weekend either at work, school or studying. This means they would be going out in the evenings and mainly at weekends, people over the age of 18 and probably a few 16-17 year olds will be focused on consuming alcohol at the weekends, as this can be done at many social events such as bars,  pubs, clubs, friends houses or with family, these are all places besides the last one were money would need to be spent, young people also spend money on things like food/household items if they are at uni or have their own place, many young people go to gym which normally requires a monthly membership fee that are not usually cheap. My target audience would also spend money on festivals as they are clearly interested in music and would go to many as music would be important to them 

What car do they drive or aspire to drive?

Most of my target audience would be able to drive as well and own a car, as they have jobs and can afford to run a car, however the vast majority would be on wages that would not be adequate to support an expensive car as they would have other important things that money would be going to like food and rent. My target audience would likely to be driving average cars that are seen on the road a lot ranging from about £5000 to £8000, for example a 17-18 year old who has just passed would be looking to buy a hatchback car like a Citroen C2 however a 25+ year old might be driving something slightly more expensive. My target audience would however like anybody else aspire to drive the most expensive cars money could buy, a luxury car that costs ridiculous prices, many car brands that would pop up would be Bugatti, Mclaren, Aston Martin and Ferrari or a car that they truly like, e.g. people are in to classic cars hoping to own a rare, old classic all their lives, something like a 1969 Dodge Charger 

What phone do they own?

Almost everyone my magazine is aimed at would have a phone, most of which would want to own the latest phones, in todays society if you own a phone more than 3 years old its worthless and awful compared to the latest ones so people are constantly on the hunt for the best mobile device with the latest technology. Many phone brands that people would have would be things like Apple, Blackberry and Samsung 

How do they listen to music?

There are many ways my audience will be able to listen to music, one of the main being on their phones with such things like the MP3/MP4 built into their phone, on itunes if they have an apple product, via apps like Soundcloud, some of the audience would buy CD's but the music market is now dominated by downloadable songs 

      

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Here are my 4 interviews with some of the people my magazine is some aimed at:

Emily - A 16 year old sixth form student who works at McDonalds 
James - An 18 yeard old sixth form student who is unemployed
Tom - A 17 year old sixth form student who is unemployed 
Elliot - A 16 year old electrician apprentice

These people are ideal as they all vary in employment, age and answers in the interview 

Question 3: What kind of media institution would distribute your media product and why?

Question 3 by maxhward

Question 2: How does your media product represent different social groups

Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms of conventions of a real media product?

Created with Padlet

Final DPS

After feed back from the first DPS I produced, I decided to change it as there were still parts that needed improving, I myself was not happy with how it turned out either so I decided to make adjustments, as you can see they are both very different, the bottom one uses more interesting ways of displaying the text and images resulting in a far more creative and professional looking product 

Final front cover

Final contents

DPS codes and conventions

DPS analysis

The first thing you see is the title, its in two different sizes to possibly show the importance of different words, its also two different colours, pink and white, which make a big difference to the page and make it look a lot more interesting, the two colours also really stand out on the grey background of the page so it catches your attention. The title is also a question, which means that the answer will be somewhere in the text making you read the whole thing just to find out the answer. The piece of text below the title briefly explains what the article is about and highlights words such as names important words to the article, they are also written in pink which stands out more than the other text.

The picture is very fitting to the article as it matches the colour scheme and is very simple, it takes up a whole page and is very easy to see, it also catches your attention as he is looking straight ahead making eye contact with the reader making the reader more engaged and feel that the article is specifically aimed at them.

The text on the article has been written in a very simple but clever and effective way, the questions being asked are highlighted so that the reader can know exactly where they are and what is being asked straight away, as they are easily visible and can draw your attention straight away. There is a drop cap in the first paragraph to show the reader where the main bit article starts and to show that part is important to the entire article. The writing page also has a border around it made up of bright white circles, these could be used to attract attention to the page and is also clearly there to act as a border indicating that the article and main focus are inside of it. 

DPS page furniture

Contents page layouts

Contents page key conventions

Layout - usually set out in 3 or 4 columns that is structured and flows well across the page with lines or images separating each part 

One main image - relating to the main article of the magazine that catches your eye first

Top of the page - logo, name of the magazine that usually stands out, issue date and the word 'Contents'

Colours - usually follows the same colour scheme and house style as the front cover

Photography - main image related to the front cover and main feature with smaller images related to other articles

Page numbers - that aren't in chronological order relating to the content of the magazine 

Pug/starburst - with subscription information about getting the magazine regulary 

Contents page research

 



When making a contents page there are many key conventions that need to be taken into consideration. Below are some images of contents pages of existing music magazines, I will use these to help me when it comes to creating my own. I will be mainly concentrating on contents pages from popular music magazines as these attract the most people to buy the magazine

These examples of contents pages are all from popular music magazines but are very different. Magazines such as Vibe and MOJO are very image dominated, with very small amounts of text were as magazines such as NME and Kerrang include more text but still do however have a lot of images, In my opinion these look very cluttered and scruffy, making them harder to read. Vibes contents pages on the other hand are very clear and look a lot more professional, as well as this, it also only has one image which stands out very clearly, this is showing the importance of the person and makes them out to be the main focus of the magazine

Front cover design idea 2

front cover design idea 1