Evaluation Question 3: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

 IDEAL READER:

The ideal reader for my magazine would be a young girl who is interested in chart based music and fashion. My cover star helps to demonstrate my ideal reader, because she looks happy and she is wearing a dress which fits into the chart based music/fashion hybrid genre. My target audience should aspire to be like her, as she is an idealised version of the reader and also looks happy and seems to be a perfect role model for young girls who enjoy pop/chart-based music. The cover star appears to be mainstream, as the clothing could appeal to a variety of people and a positive facial expression means many people will aspire to be like the cover star, this also allows a wider audience and makes the magazine appeal to as many consumers as possible.

MODE OF ADDRESS:

By knowing my ideal reader, I have created a mode of address and relationship between the magazine and the audience by using quite short simple words that will appeal to the young target audience. This creates a positive relationship between the reader and the magazine, because the reader will find the magazine easy to read, and allowing them to enjoy the magazine.

Cover Star

The cover star is used as an inspiration to the reader and targets the reader as an individual to draw them into the magazine. My cover star is successful in representing particular social groups as she is the same age and gender as the ideal reader, which helps to attract the reader and allows them to see how they should aspire to be.
The image helps to represent the mainstream social group, as the cover star is shown to be a popular artiste and allows the reader to see that being in the mainstream social group will bring happiness, because of the positive facial expression that the cover star shows.


My cover star is wearing a dress which would be suitable for a party or concert, this shows that the cover star cares about her looks, and shows that the social group associated with the magazine are represented in a positive way. My cover star is wearing plain colours which makes her less noticeable, which shows that the ideal reader does not need to feel the need to 'stand out from the crowd' so the reader looks up to the cover star as a role model.



Taylor Swift is an example of an artiste that will be featured within my media product. On the red carpet Taylor Swift is seen as an elegant and powerful artiste that young girls would aspire to be like. She is wearing a long white dress which represents her importance, also the connotations of white are purity, innocence and beauty, which makes her a suitable role model for young girls. With her hand on her hip she seems more powerful, which makes her look 'the part' of a red carpet experience. Taylor Swift also has her hair neatly done up and a positive facial expression, which makes her a positive role model for young girls, as they will want to look as elegant and be as happy as her, therefore aspiring to be like her.

This differs from the image of Taylor Swift performing live, because she no longer seems to be the elegant, innocent lady she seemed like on the red carpet. In this image her hair is not neatly done up, but instead her hair is wild and seems to be un-brushed with curls falling over her face. This appeals to the audience, because it shows she is having fun while she performs and also makes her seem like a positive role model. Taylor has also got a short sparkly dress on showing Taylors 'other side' and showing the audience that she is fun which will make her music and the live experience more appealing to younger audience's. In this image the artiste is also wearing boots, showing the country side to her music which represents particular social groups by showing her background and allowing the audience to connect with the artiste and her lifestyle.

Throughout my media product the cover star is shown to be a positive role model. The star is also seen to be happy in each image which represents the particular social group for my media product as well behave individuals with a positive attitude. The artiste is also seen as a 'sweet' and 'innocent' young girl, which represents the audience in a positive light, and gives the reader a positive role model and someone to look up to. I have also tried to make the main star of the magazine appear similar to the ideal reader, for example the star has quite subtle make up on creating a 'girl-next-door' look which the audience should aspire to be like, because they will want to look like her, because she is on the cover of a magazine, and her success makes her a positive role model, which will encourage the audience to try to do the same.