Evaluation - 2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

On many indie and alternative music magazines, the social group represented is slightly older than mine, around the mid 20’s. The band and artists featured on magazines such as Q are often shown in quite a rough way; they aren’t made to look pretty unlike artists on magazines such as Rolling Stone where the artists are usually made to look better by airbrushing. This could be because they want their magazine to be more about the music and be independent, that’s what indie is all about, and to appeal to the audience they need the artists to represent this indie image. Many of the current indie magazines represent males, there are more male artists featured in magazines like 'Q' and 'NME' than there are females, but females are still in represented in the magazines. This could be because stereotypically, males are more likely to buy indie magazines than females because that rough, ‘don’t really care about their appearance’ attitude is related more to males. Females are stereotypically thought to be interested in looking good, makeup and clothes.
My magazine represents a particular social group of young teenage males and females. On my cover the main image is of a male indie artist. The image is made to look quite grainy which gives it a more indie look, the figures hair is swept to one side and is quite messy and his clothes are casual, all of this represents young teenage males as they are known to be quite laid back and messy. He is slightly younger than the artists represented on real music magazines, but as my magazine is aimed at 15 – 20 year old, mostly males, it makes it easier for the audience to relate to the artist. George is holding an acoustic, not many of the indie music magazines I looked at had their artists playing an instrument in the image on the cover, for instance Q magazine has a cover where the artist Dave Grohl is blowing fire out of his mouth.

I have also used an image of a female artist on my front cover which is why my magazine represents both genders. She too looks quite ‘rough around the edges’ with baggy clothes and messy hair, which represents her as indie artist rather than the stereotypical female artists that are made to look pretty, especially female pop artists such as Katy Perry. She looks quite awkward in the way she stands which is a look often used in indie magazines to make the artist appear different than average.

The images I have used on the contents page are of stereotypically indie bands. The image of the vaccines makes them look dirty, with something spilled down some of their shirts. They are all looking at the camera and they all have different expressions on their faces, one of the artists looks miserable, and another is grabbing his band members head. Their hair is messy and clothes are dirty and wet, giving the image that quirky look that relates to indie bands.
The image of George on the contents page also has him playing acoustic guitar, his clothes and hair are the same, and he is sat on a beanbag. This gives the image quite a laid back, casual look, and in magazines such as NME the contents pages tend to be full of text and images, and the images are usually of the band standing or performing on stage which is a more hectic look than my contents page.
On my double page spread I used an image of George looking directly in the camera with a slightly puzzled look on his face which is quite a conventional look for indie artists. He is wearing a hooded fleece pulled halfway over his head and a plain grey shirt which continues the simplistic style of my magazine. His hair is slightly messy and he looks quite awkward, which many indie artists look like to make their image quirky and memorable.