Evaluation: Question 2

How does the media product represent a particular social group?

I decided when creating my reader profile that RIFF would be targeted towards teenagers/students who are into the rock/metal scene. Because of this, for the most part, I based the pages of RIFF on real pages of Kerrang! Magazine, as the target audience is the same.

The colour scheme that I used throughout my magazine firstly reflects the social group. Black, white and yellow are the main colours that run throughout my magazines, as well as red, which are the most common colours used in rock magazines. The guitar neck in the masthead is also something that the social group can associate themselves with, as well as the rock bands mentioned, such as Fall Out Boy and Bullet For My Valentine.
  However, out of the front cover, I think that the images are what reflects the social group most. In the main image, the model has styled hair, eye make up, such as quite heavy eye liner, and a lip piercing. Although this might stereotype a typical rock fan, I think that it is perfect for the cover, as just by looking at the model, it is recognisable as a rock/metal genre magazine.
  I also included free posters in RIFF, which would definitely appeal to someone heavily influenced by the music scene, and a fan of rock music; which leads to another stereotype of a rock fan having posters all over their walls. However, I think this is certainly true, especially a teenage rock fan. Although there is no sign in the main image that she is an artist, her style associates her with rock music, which was what I was going for initially.
  The competition to win a guitar and a PlayStation also represents a specific social group, which I included as competitions like this are often featured in Kerrang!, and because of a similar target audience, I thought that it was appropriate.

For my contents page, I feel that the images reflect the particular social group the best, as the model featured in the photographs is a fan of metal music herself. 
  Although one would have to extremely closely, the septum piercing (bull ring) on her nose is another aspect that represent the social group, as stereotypically, fans of rock/metal music are also fans of piercings (of course not true for everyone!).
  Similar to the front cover, the bands that are mentioned on the contents page heavily reflect the social group, as it is the type of music that they would listen to. The language used also reflects this, such as phrases like, "Down Rachael's Rabbit Hole," represent the adolescent and immaturity of the social group that RIFF is targeted towards.

The way the article is written, in my opinion, reflects the social group, as I specifically wrote it to try and sound like someone from this group, as this 'artist' is. Again, immaturity is shown through the title, 'Rachael in Wonderland,' and the 'band's' name, 'Demonic Shadows,' reflects the genre of the music and the type of person who would listen to it, and read RIFF. 
  The colour scheme here again is targeted to a specific social group, as they are similar to the colours found in Kerrang!.

The second page of my article features a photograph of the artist. The mise en scene of the image would hopefully appeal to the social group, and the model's outfit also. 
  I also thought that creating an artist that had a drug addiction would be appropriate for RIFF, as the readers are teenagers/students, who may have used, or might be pressured into using drugs/alcohol. This can then provide a positive example, and an overall moral; not to take drugs.