how does your media product represent particular social groups?

  For my magazine project I have aimed to design a product for 13 to 18 year olds. In this particular issue I have made it especially appealing to girls as my feature article is more stereotypically girly. Psychographically, my magazine is aimed towards the pop-culture side of society and I've shown this through the use of colour, photos, and layout which are all similar to pop music magazines on the market today. Demographically, my audience would be the social group C1 and D. This is because 13 to 18 year olds generally aren't in high payed skilled jobs and have time to sit down and read a magazine.
  To represent my ideal audience, I used an image of a girl of around the same age range as the readers I was hoping to attract, this is so they can feel they relate to the magazine or model and so they would want to pick it up and read inside. I made sure that the clothes she wore weren't too dressy and her makeup didn't look too expensive or unachievably amazing because young girls may not be able to afford expensive products or designer clothes. Furthermore, I believe that having an achievable-looking model on the front cover wont give girls unrealistic expectations and I feel as though they'll identify with her and therefore they'll engage their attention to the issue and feel comfortable reading about someone who they see similar to themselves.
  A further way I have portrayed the 13-18 years old pop loving females is through the use of vocabulary. I have tried to use language that they would use themselves, and also made certain that I didn't use words that were too hard or easy to read. I want them to feel like they can identify with the issue and not feel patronised or blinded by intellectual words that they don't know the meaning of. Also, I kept everything short and tried not to write enormous amounts because this can be off putting for the audience I am aiming for and I don't want to steer them away. Shortening things and using appropriate vocabulary for the age group are ways of enticing the group of people I'm targeting and making them want to read on. Additionally, I have mentioned Hyde Park in one of my coverlines which is a festival that appeals largely to students and people of the ages 16+. This connotes that the age of my audience are teenagers who like pop culture and are up-to-date with what's going on.
  Lastly, the colour theme I went with was mainly pastel blue and pink. this is so that when my issues' features differ according to gender preference, I can rely more heavily on the colour typically preferred by thegender I am aiming for. In this instance, I have used a lot more pastel pink to typically interest females because this particular main article is more relatable to girls. The pink in the text also brings out the pink in my models lips. This is something that girls will notice and so I made it prominent when making my product.

  In this particular issue of TEMPO, I have tried to represent qualities that girls typically like. An example of this is when the feature article and contents page mentions about relationship advice. This is something that girls are typically interested in so this is why I included it into my product. To emphasise this more, I pulled out a quote from this section that clearly relates to relationships and boys. This technique is supposed to captivate their interest early so they feel an urge to read the article. Another example of representing the people I'm targeting is including a small section on Christmas. I touch upon "festive plans" so that it lightens the "girly" aspect of boyfriends and briefly adds a unisex topic. This is because overall, I want to appeal to both girls and boys, so moving away from a "girly" topic to mention something non-gender specific, I am therefore including both sexes and being a bit more general. 
  Other than these examples, I have made my magazine heavily music interest based and purposely haven't included a side topic of fashion or cars or sport so that I don't favour a gender and can appeal to a wider audience.

 My magazine front over    Billboards magazine front cover

     

  When comparing the main image of my magazine and Billboards main image there are a wide range of similarities and differences. Both are a mid shot of the model but appeal to two different audiences. Whereas my model allures teenagers of a similar age of the model shown, Taylor Swift attracts an older audience more appropriate to Billboards content. Again, it's a case of her similar age to the readers and therefore the relation the audience feel when they look at the main image.
  Both images are a midshot of the person. Many magazines do this so you can see the top half of the person and appreciate what they're wearing as well as notice their body language so the viewer can read into the models emotion. Both facial expressions are relatively neutral and hold eye contact with the viewer, this is to give a serious look and attract potential buyers by being alluring.
  Another feature they have in common is the plain background of the photos. This was done because distractions from an interesting background take the attention away from the person in the foreground which is normally the main attraction to a front cover. Also, they both have contrasting outfits on to their background. For example I have a lighter background and so the girl in the picture has a darker outfit on. Vice versa for Billboard. This is another technique used to make the foreground person stand out.  A difference in the images used is the body language. Taylors stance is more seductive than my models and this is to do with who they are trying to entice. My model is attracting young students and high school children so looks friendly and open with how she comes across. Taylor is enticing young adults so the pose is a lot more mature and serious. Also this could be seen as attractive to the masculine side of Billboards audience.