Evaluative Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media project’s aim was to appeal to a certain social group, specifically between the ages of 16 -25 years of age. In setting this target audience I feel that I have met the required specifications in order to appeal to this audience in different ways.

My front cover was designed to appeal to my target audience through the use of its dark yet bold colour layout, similarly to Kerrang!’s colour format, as well as its informal writing style. As well as this I made sure that my front cover was focused on things, which were relatable to the people who would read the magazine, such as specific bands, clothing and events. The clothing worn by my models and the poses they did shows the relaxed nature of the band, as well as appealing to my target social group, which was grunge and alternative music lovers. Through my research into my target social group I had found that people who listened to grunge music tend to wear thrift store clothing to represent their separation from conventional and mainstream clothing. This helped me to style my models in a way which my target audience would find relatable and allowed my media product to represent the type of music and its audience.

In my article the representation of the social group was portrayed through the main image and subsidiary images as well as the article itself. An example of this in my article is the way the answers are written, as its relaxed and humorous tone makes it easy to read and represents the age of the singer. This allows it to be relatable to my audience as well as inspirational. The article represents the social group as the band itself became famous through the Internet, which is a reflection on today’s youth as being more interactive and involved with different media formats and technologies. This idea that they became famous through the Internet is more common among bands today with the likes of You Me At Six and The Blackout becoming famous through online videos. Magazines such as Kerrang! And Metal Hammer focus on bands like these and promote them, which is what I’ve tried to do through my magazine. The images used in the double page spread reflects on the social group as being enthusiastic about music through their poses, however their relaxed mannerisms reflects of the attitudes of the band and the audience. Their clothing again appears casual and is stereotypical of a grunge band.

 

The contents page represents the social group through its images and portrays the band as being fun and enthusiastic. The titles in the contents page shows what people of my target social group want to read about and is a good social representation.