Question seven - Skills Development Evaluation

Question Six - Technologies Evaluation

Question Five - Target Audience Evaluation

Question Four - UK Tribes/Indie Scenesters

Question Four - Evaluation

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The demographic I wanted to focus my music magazine at was the young alternatives or hipster scene which I tried to portray in my target audience mood board. I feel I have created a magazine that successfully represents this social group and lifestyle. They can also be known as the ‘butterflies’ this social group is known for not conforming to any mainstream conventions, they have an equal split between the sexes and love anything alternative.

Experimenting with art, music and fashion unites the Young Alts, who are dipping in and out of scenes like there’s no tomorrow. Tribe members are likely to gravitate towards Leading Edge Tribes once they’ve figured out what they’re most interested in, but for the time being Young Alts are happy to get stuck into as much media as they can – from reading Penguin Classics on Kindle, streaming ‘Girls’ on Netflix (even the boys) and checking out the latest music on Spotify. Skater, Emo and Hipster trends are most commonly tried and tested by the Young Alts, it’s about keeping an open mind.

They are a group that are ultimately finding themselves. The hipsters fashion is very different and each young alternative have their own quirky sense of style, you’ll be sure to find them in stores such as Top shop, Urban outfitters and Zara who are big names associated with this particular social group. The usual items of clothing you will find them in would typically be the trade mark black supper skinny jeans - which you can buy from almost any retailer, ripper knees or no ripped knees; Next is the old band T-shirts usually sold as band merchandise or specifically sourced out from Ebay and Amazon e.g. Artic Monkeys, David Bowis, Guns N' Roses, Joy Division etc.Finally, for shoes a nice pair of Doc martens or converse will most likely be worn too, which can be high or low tops, YOU DECIDE!

Most of the brands for this specific type of music and fashion scene stick to a similar look and theme - as shown by my brand mood board. A lot of the brands have a very minimalist look, with a predominant colour scheme of either black, white, red or even all three - with perhaps a splash of another colour now and again. The colour scheme for modern minimalist magazines isn't always black white and red but all magazines tend to stick to the usual rule of 3-4 colours. Magazines who are an exception to this rule are usually gossip magazine that are filled with different colours on the front and throughout. There image and brand needs to successfully represent their targeted audience, so through the analysis of these brands it allowed me to identify repetitive behaviour within their marketing campaigns and advertisement which helped me, again, to create and develop my own magazine aimed at the same targeted audience with a look that I feel effectively portrays this social group within society and be a product they will look at and want to purchase.

The same can be said about the Fonts used for the this image and genre of music. As my magazine is of the indie rock sub-genre of music, known as the alternative music scene I want an effective font to portray this, with a kind of uniqueness. My favourite out of all of these fonts is Bebas Neue a sans serif font which is clear but also, I felt, quite a bold a ‘rock’ like font which would successfully make my cover lines, and titles stand out but is still very clear and easy for to read.

Whether someone has money to spend or a few pounds to their name, everybody loves a brand. With the likes of Gucci and Vivienne Westwood being at the top end of retailer fashion to the more affordable but still very fashionable brands like Adidas, Nike and converse all of us at some point will be wearing a known and popular name. I feel the way I tried to emulate the look of these brands was a persuasive selling point as my target audience will associate it with being a serious but in trend music magazine that will provide them with all of the current music gossip and info but also adding to their indie scenester image.

My magazine I feel represents this group successfully, incorporating the indie/alternative style. I made sure my product incorporated different indie genres and artists from Folk e.g. Ben Howard to more Indie rock e.g. the kooks to suit the different sorts of music they may change too. As well as this I tried to make my product seem gender neutral, I avoided any colours that could be gender associated for example any pinks or blues. The overall look of my magazine I feel portrays this stylish, alternative group with an edgy and minimalistic look. 

Question Three - Institution Evaluation

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

When considering the different options of publication I need to decide what would be the best option financially, what publisher would have the best resources and what would best support my magazine.

My choice would be Time Inc. UK. I have chosen this publisher as it is one of Britain’s leading publisher of print and digital magazine and one of the world's leading media companies, with a monthly global print audience of over 120 million and worldwide digital properties that attract more than 120 million visitors each month, including over 50 websites. Time Inc. UK are the publishers of over 60 magazines including 'NME, Nuts, Marie Claire' and others. I feel they would be the best choice in deciding how to publish my magazine as they are a reliable brand and have the funds and resources to ensure my magazines stays running. 

Due to their large portfolio of so many different magazines they publish, Time Inc. UK does not just have one specific audience; they are able to cater to a large number of people and their interests. Because of this, I think this publisher would have no problem in publishing my own music Magazine. Although already the publisher of NME I feel my magazine has a wider audience and appeals to both men and women where as NME could be argued to be more male orientated. I feel my magazine would broaden TimeInc's magazine readers with introduction of an indie/indie rock magazine and the social group that follows and could also attract a younger generation. I feel there is a gap in the market for this type of magazine and would be very successful on the shelves.

TimeInc.UK biggest rivals are Bauer - who may be another option but due to being the publisher Q magazine I feel TimeInc. would be more appropriate as Q is too much of a similar product to my own magazine Amplify. I feel TimeInc. would benefit my magazine a lot more compared to what Bauer would have to offer. TimeInc. already advertise some of their magazines on the Television, which would mean being able to help the marketing of my magazine, reaching a wider audience. Another important aspect of the media right now is that print is on the decline and the world of online media is ever expanding; I feel with all of TimeINc.UK's resources regarding content marketing, targeted local print and digital advertising programs, marketing and support services and much more, my magazine would receive all of the support and the financial backing behind it, it would need to be successful.

My 2nd option would have been to self-publish my magazine. If I were to self-publish it would be a lot harder to keep competitive with other brands and rivals, it becomes a lot easier when you have someone backing your moves and who also has the same motivation and drive that you have for your magazine to become an iconic magazine.

Question Two - Representation Evaluation