Evaluation Question 2 - DRAFT

How does your media product represent particular social groups? 

My magazine is mainstream collectively, with elements from different genres, however it is more pop orientated with regards to the artists that have articles written about them inside, who feature, especially in the issue I created. The reason as to why I have done this is because I feel for this genre of music there are larger fan bases, and it is much easier to please an audience.

The content of my magazine is similar to Q in the way that it presents a range of artists, however differs, due to the style of music and the genre of artists included. The colour schemes are dissimilar, and the fonts used aren't as bold, as in my opinion Q is directed more at a male audience, where as mine is female. For example, bands such as The 1975 feature in Q magazine, whereas if you were to associate an artist in my magazine you would go down the Ed Sheeran route, as he perceives to have more of a fan girl base than The 1975, however with regards to looks, and outer appearance, my band are similar to Little Mix.

My magazine is targeted more at a fan girl social group, the group which specifies in girls especially who follow music artists and celebrities to excessive extents, and attend their solo gigs, and go to any events possible that they can. In some cases this means that fans travel globally just to have a shot at either meeting their idol, or seeing them live, for the twentieth time. This usually occurs with in the ages of 16-26 which is also my target market for the magazine, so in my opinion I believe that it will sell, as the fans will be sold exclusive interviews about their favourite artists.

My band (Tessellation) are represented with the gaze theory attached, however, I didn't rely on this theory to create particular images due to my audience being females. A quote taken from UK Tribes says that girls have an "unwavering devotion to mainstream pop icons" so therefore meaning they will act as role models to younger generations just like Little Mix do, as they are the current version of the Spice Girls from when my generation grew up.

The photographs I produced with in my magazine don't use the 'gaze' effect to a large extent, however there are elements of it represented through facial expression so that they look aesthetically pleasing to the eye. I do believe that the clothes I dressed them in, to an extent were representing the mainstream genre, however the photo I used on the contents page included one of my artists wearing an indie shirt. I challenged the conventions of my genre, as I took a risk in what my model was wearing. However I believe due to indie fashion being more mainstream at this current time period, I decided that along with explanation as to why I used it, it would work.

The layout of my pages reflects more of an indie genre, however I decided to do this as in my opinion I believe that it reflects a mainstream edge, as every page is different, however there are small characteristics which link each page together, which to an extent challenges the conventions. This therefore meaning it challenges my base of social group I am targeting, as they usually would read pages which lots of colour, and lots of stuff going on across the page. I decided against this idea, to make my magazine individual, as well as increasing its formality and presentation levels. I didn't think that a busier layout would be impossible because my Photoshop skills are of a good standard,  I just didn't think my band would pull of this style as well as other bands perhaps could, as they aren't a 'typical' girl band, with the stereotype strapped across their name.