MUSIC MAGAZINE AS Media Studies

Amelia Gould

DESIGN BRIEF:

To create a new music magazine that is designed to a specified audience.

BEAT MAGAZINE

BEAT MAGAZINE

IN WHAT WAYS DOES MY MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR

CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA

PRODUCTS?

THE PROJECT

We were set a project which was to design and create a music magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread,

which must involve both uses and challenges, popular and modern music magazine conventions that could be found today.

I then decided to go for a cross genre magazine called ‘Beat’ as I wished to involve different music types, a meet many customers

needs. I produced the magazine front cover, contents and double page spread entirely on Adobe Photoshop. In the following slides you

will be able to see how I managed to produce it all.

RESEARCH OF EXISTING MAGAZINES

Before I began designing, developing and creating my magazine, I decided to needed to research and analyse existing magazines on the market. These were; XXL, NME and Hip Hop Weekly. I chose these three as they all contain a variety of different music types (like I wished to do) and the layout to them all were different so I was able to get a variety

of ideas for my magazine and compare what I preferred on each. I also picked these three as they instantly caught my eye, which it what every

magazines tries to do.

ANALYSED MAGAZINES

NME

• The mast head is placed flush left at the top of the front cover over the top of the feature article photograph/image.

• In this edition NME have the mast head over the top of the artist (Mike Skinner) on the feature article photograph/image to make the brand stand out more.

• With the first look at the magazine it is clear that there is a fair amount of a variety of plugs and puffs on the front cover with are flushed right and left of the page.

• In this NME edition the impression communicated to the target audience is a mature, calm and sensible read due to the simple font type, the simple colouring of the font (black, white, red and the artist’s natural colouring).

• Even though they haven’t used many colours for the font what they have used is very effective because they use it in all the right places for the plug and puff to stand as much as possible (black/red on a white background and white/red on a black back ground)

• I think the main reason they have used the colouring of red on the front cover to match the mast head.

• On the front cover of NME the mast head, cover lines, plug and puff are all in capital letters making them high impact and can be read from a distance.

• The plug used at the top of the front cover and above of the mast head has been designed to catch the target audiences eye whilst the magazine is on shelf because it high lights within the magazine itself.

XXL• The mast head of this magazine is placed flush left at the top of the front

cover over the top of the feature article photograph/image. They have the artist (Wiz Khalifa) covering the last letter of the magazine name, which demonstrating to us it is a well-known and confident magazine that customers would recognise and be familiar with.

• By not having many plugs or cover lines it also gives off a tidy and mature look to the target audience because it looks as if has more structure compared to other editions the magazine produce.

• I do feel as if the feature article photograph/image has a lot to do with the mature appeal it gives off as well due to the way Wiz Khalifa and his girlfriend is standing as they connote that looking down at the camera giving off the impression of power, the way she turns her body towards his directions shows that he dominates the image, they are both touching each other showing possession as well as being a couple without even reading the plug on the front cover.

• Using a black and white filter on feature article photograph/image gives off a calm atmosphere between them both, a sophisticated read to the target audience and also gives the impression of maturity within Wiz Khalifa himself.

• What catches my eye the most about the image is all of Wiz Khalifa tattoos give him a dirty grungy look, where as his girlfriend looks clean and pure due to her only having half of a small tattoo visible.

• Wiz Khalifa gives off the impression of arrogance by looking down at the camera with his chin tilted up towards it. I also believe that the colour worn by them both says a lot of their personality because Wiz Khalifa is wearing a dark pair of jeans and a black hat which gives off a bad, mysterious and trouble appearance to him. Whereas his girlfriend is wearing white clothing which gives of a pure and friendly appeal about her.

HIP HOP• The mast head is placed at the top left of the front cover but is in a large

font size so almost takes up the whole width of the magazine.

• In this Hip Hop Weekly magazine they have the two artists (Nicki Minaj on the left, Maraih Carey on the right) on feature article photograph/image just slightly covering the bottom of the mast head, this then highlights to the target audience that it is a successful magazine.

• The mast head is coloured in a pure white to be able to still stand out against the many other colours used on the front colour, but to make it look different to the other text they have placed a shadow on the text.

• They have also used the same shadow effect lower down on the front cover with some puff, this highlights the importance of the information as it passed down from the mast head (magazine identity).

• The cover line is placed half way through the feature article photograph/image to highlight what the main article is for this edition of Hip Hop Weekly.

• The colours also give off to the audience it is a light hearted piece to read as they have used bright colours instead of a mixture of dull, boring and depressive colours which would give off more of a serious read to the target audience.

• I think it is for the younger audience because the front cover gives off the impression the magazine is full of lots of different information and is a bit mad and all over the place (fun and relaxed) due to the various font colours, the amount of different images over the page (red, yellow, blue, black, white and image colour – no theme or trend).

• There is a lot of puff used all over the front cover to show/demonstrate it all contains.

• The NME contents page gives off a fairly formal and calm impression to the target audience as

each different contents information is boxed off so they are kept separate from one another; this

could also helps to bring across the fact of all the articles being different within the magazine.

• The boxed off style design also gives off a tidy, organised and professional look to the magazine, this

style could interest more of the mature reader because there looks to be less ‘madness’ and more

of a serious read and the target audience will have more trust in what they will be reading.

• This could be a positive and a negative for the NME magazine as it will be able to suit a variety of

different target audiences but it may lose them also because the audience may not look within the

magazine and just assume that the impression they get from the feature article photography/image

is throughout the whole magazine.

• The title for the page is clearly shown as it is a large font and is at the top centre of the page, this

style design quickly informs the reader what this page is about (what is within the magazine).

• The NME magazine have also managed to keep the same theme style from the front cover with the

type of fonts used to illustrate the images of the page, the use of the colours for the contents text

(red, white and black) this idea does allow the reader to be able follow on from the front cover

easily as the pages do not change their appearance or look.

• The main part to the page in the image in the centre as it is larger than the others featured on the

contents, this automatically highlights to me that this article advertise is more important than the

others, therefore I would read it before the others as I would be interested in why NME have made

the decision. Once this is happens the reader will want to continue to read the rest of the

magazine. Even though the other images on the page aren’t as big the candid style images makes

you more excited to read on and the posed images are following the theme of the front cover so

the target audience know there is a range/variety to the NME magazine.

NME CONTENTS

XXL CONTENTS• The contents page for XXL magazine has been spread out over two A4 pages, both with very

different style set outs. The first contents page you come across in the magazine is ‘the A-side’ this page has been set out fairly similar to the front page allowing the theme of the magazine to run through the page.

• The image on the page is of the feature article artist but with a slight change to the posing of the individuals within the image. Wiz Khalifa manages to remain his strong and steady stance towards the camera but isn’t looking down at is as much as the feature article image on the front cover, this shows that may be he has less power than he gives off.

• The female next to him (his girlfriend) has completely changed her positioning and is now shown on the side behind him, revealing the rebellious tattoo amongst her arm. This tells us as the audience there is a more rebellious side to the innocent character she originally portrays although comparing her to Wiz Khalifa’s appearance she is seen as clean and almost ‘heavenly’ with white clothing (underwear) she is wearing, her lightly coloured hair and pale coloured nail varnish.

• The fact they she remains behind him shows he still has a lot of control over her and she looks to him for protection, with her hand still remaining on his chest he changes and places his hand on top of hers showing to us as the audience that there is a caring and lovely side to the hard faced, rough appearance we first get when looking at Wiz Khalifa.

• Like the feature article image on the front page the image used on the contents page is also black and white which gives off a calm atmosphere between them both, a sophisticated read to the target audience and also gives the impression of maturity within Wiz Khalifa himself.

• The images appearing on ‘the B-side’ are all in colour and don’t contain a filter and unlike ‘the A-side’ contains a variation of images (size, colouring, positioning, etc).

• Although there seems to be a lot more going on amongst this side of the contents in actually contains Just like the other side the contents titling are the same as each other (black, red and white usage). This helps to keep a theme throughout the magazine introduction as the front cover also has the use of black, red and white).

• The images on this contents have been separated by using black lines to create almost box shapes to show the different articles within. The use of boxed images helps to break the articles as well. The large page numbers and ‘plus’ text also catches your eye on this page as it has been set up to larger than the other fonts upon the page.

HIP HOP CONTENTS• The contents page for Hip Hop magazine is very different to the front cover as it contains a

lot less colouring to the page and contains a lot more order as there didn't really seem to be a lay out to the front cover.

• Although, the font used for the contents page has also been used to create the cover lines which gives across as steady flow throughout the beginning of the magazine. Also having repetition allows the reader/audience to feel as if there is consistency with the editing.

• The page has been set out into three columns, two larger containing some of the spreads within for the audience to read.

• The other column is there to mention all the editors, directors, creators, etc. I believe this gives across to us as the audience that there is a sense of appreciation to everyone involved at that there is a strong team work and bond built with the magazine.

• But the fact the columns as sized differently makes the page look messy and un-organised, this look then matches the style and impression giving across on the cover; which was the rushed and unreliable contents, this then makes the reader believe the contents within isn't what they want to read or may not believe what they read as it comes across as gossip talk instead a regular music magazine.

• The use of the large numbering for the pages with the image allows the to catch your eye as well as the image itself, but also helps the article to seem important or more interesting compared to others mentioned on the page.

• The information on the contents has been categorised, this is completely different to any other contents I have looked at but I slightly prefer this as it allows us as the audience to pick what we would rather read first instead of finding out whilst reading the article/spread.

• The use of black, red and deep purple amongst a white background allow the right text jump out at you and catch your eye (red numbers). The all also contrast well together as well as give a strong, clean, cut and organised look to the magazine although other aspects do not.

NME DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

• For the Title of the double page spread the magazine have decided to keep up with the same font used for the front cover of NME, doing this creates a set theme throughout the whole magazine up until that point. This also creates a form of trust with the magazine and its audience as there is a steady flow during.

• On the double page spread the image used for it has taken up the left had side of the whole page which catches your eye instantly, I believe this is because of the light grey used for the back to contrast against the artists himself (Mike Skinner) as well as his clothing.

• The black clothing he is wearing makes the artist (Mike Skinner) look mature, smart and calm which then makes the read come across as serious tone rather than young and fun. I believe the pale and simple background also does this.

• The fact that the artist (Mike Skinner) is looking away from the camera makes him comes across as shy or uncomfortable to his audience.

• Mike Skinner is looking to the left which can portray that he is actually looking into the past, where as if he was looking to the right it was be as if he was looking into the future, meaning looking forward would be it would be about the present. Continuing to then read the Title of the double page spread “DON'T MENTION THE STREETS” shows that Mike Skinner is in fact looking into his past and doesn't want to hear about it, this is where the uncomfortable look has come from.

• The title for the spread has been created to match the background colour the image to the left so that it is clear it is together (has a connection) doing this also allows there to be a more high quality and mature look to the article for actually reading.

• Using red to high light the names mentioned in the sub text quickly catches your eye as it is a strong difference to the grey, black and white used amongst the two pages. The drop capital used for the beginning of the article has been created to stand out, as well as to match the font used on the title and front cover for the high quality finish.

• The article text has been split into three evenly sized columns, which are then separated clearly by using a thin, dotted grey line to keep up the mature, high quality finish. The use of the drop quote half way through the article allows the audience to have a break from reading as well as drawing you in when originally seeing the page.

XXL DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

• This double page spread within the XXL magazine has managed to keep up with the rest of the magazine style it has gone for in this edition.

• It has stuck it simple colours so they it remains simple, class and official looking to the audience wishing to purchase and read the magazine.

• The way the artist has be portrayed in the image they have decided to use for the double page spread says that he is 'well-off' due to the time of clothing he is wearing as well as the accessories that have been chosen to shown off for the article.

• Although, it is interesting that they have got Lecrae the artist) to look away from the camera so that there isn't any eye contact with the audience, this them implies that the individual doesn't hold that much power within the celebrity range at the moment, or he doesn't have confidence within himself and is therefore shy or it could even be as is he is looking to the future (ahead of this moment in time) this could be the answer as he is looking the what we see as right, which is said to be the distance instead of behind (left) which would be the past. The title of the article then helps to portray this by saying “LIFE IS GOOD”.

• This draws the audience in more as it is shown that more people these days prefer to read an article which is a more positive read to a negative and depressive set due to the times are now in.

• The image used for this article has taken up half of the double page spread, this allows it to clearly dominate the article as it catches your eye with the black background against his light grey clothing, even though it is still a subtle contrast for the audience to view. The title of “LIFE IS GOOD” then take up one size of the two columns used to contain the text about Lecrae.

• At the top of the page there is a side titling to the article which is slightly more detailed for the reader/audience to be informed in what they will be reading about before they begin. The main article begins with the drop capital faded into the background of the text which is visible at first but allows not difficulty of reading when wishing too.

HIP HOP DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD• This double page spread within the Hip Hop magazine catches your eye instantly with the use of

the colour upon the page, due to it not looking like any other double page.

• The colours they have used for the background of the article are thought to match the title of the double page spread “GIRL ON FIRE”.

• Although fire is sin as an rebellious and destructive thing the colours used to represent it cant help but create and warm and welcoming affect to the audience. It also manages to make the article look like a fun and enjoying read as it involves a variety of colours where as other may not.

• The image used for this article of Alicia Keys makes her come across as if she is looking into her past due to her looking to the left instead of the right which could represent her looking into the future. The look away for the camera could also imply she is shy towards the audience as she is revealing something she hasn't before, this is then backed up and confirmed with the “EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW” written above the title for the double page spread.

• To make the title stand out from the image and the article the text has been made white, which also catches the audience eye to be informed the play on words used due to the artist (Alicia Keys).

• The colours used for the text has then been keyed on the page.

• The dark pink is for the magazine name (HHW), the light pink has been used for the artist name (Alicia Keys), yellow has been used to highlight what the magazine have asked and the white has been used to show what Alicia's answer was.

• The images used upon the article side of the page have both been bordered with the same colouring and style on the whole double page spread to keep up the high quality finish.

DECIDING ON A TARGET MARKET

I wish for my music magazine to have a cross genre but will also appeal to a target audience who enjoy chart music. I chose this genre as it is music that I personally enjoy and there isn’t yet

a magazine on the market that is a definite mix of the two. My target market is for any class people and my magazine contains different artists in and out of the country and where it is a cross genre could also interest all different ages and genders because each issue and article

will interest a variety and could also help prompt different types of music to individuals who may not have thought of listening to it before (a new interest for them to enjoy) and make them wish

to read on a continue to purchase so they progress in their music range.

I also intend to make the pricing of my magazine slightly more expensive that some out in the market but making sure the magazine is cheaper than my main competitors. As I mentioned

above I will be interesting both genders I’d make sure my colour schemed varied so the magazine wasn’t looked upon as one dominate gender choice. This is for the magazine as well

as the customers sake as it will mean more interest due to it not being sexist.

DEVELOPMENT: FRONT COVER

Bold and eye catching masthead in a large font, which is only used for the masthead and placed in the top right hand corner. It is the largest piece of text on the page and partly covered by my feature article photo. A convention found on all magazine analysed .

I made sure that the feature article

photograph is the only image used upon the

front cover as I want it to be the only interest on

the page so I also decided to border it with the text

to show it’s importance and dominance (also over the top of the masthead).

Puff has been used as at the bottom of the

page underneath the cover line in smaller font and contrasting colour. Also making

sure it stands out against the black

clothing used on the feature article image.

Evident colour scheme of black and purple on a white background which I believe gives it a more mature and calm read. This is also a common convention used by other

magazine brands.

DEVELOPMENT: CONTENTS

I made sure the colour scheme is continued from front cover onto the contents page and continues to give the over-all magazine a mature and calm read as well as eye catching . I done this because it is also seen as a very common convention to be used within modern magazines.

There is one larger image on the page which refers to the

double page spread, a smaller image of feature

article as well another image on a double page spread

article.

Lots of text and information about the magazine content surrounding the largest image and with bold bright page numbers that matches the rest of the font colouring ye stands out on the white background.

Masthead reading “contents” has been

placed at the top of the page to suggest some

importance as it informs readers what

the page is about. This convention was used

on all three of the magazines I researched

and analysed.

DEVELOPMENT: DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

One large pull quote used within the interview/article to catch the eye of the audience, this was a convention of an

interview page.

A larger amount of text to image ratio upon this

double page spread as it was used on 2 out of 3 of

my magazines I researched and analysed. I made sure there wasn’t

too much text and was easy to read, due to it

being convention used in the magazines.

Name of magazine and page number in bottom corner. As the is a convention used upon all three of the magazines I researched and analysed.

CHALLENGE: FRONT COVERA large amount of text used around the outside of the feature article image as the magazines I looked at didn’t contain a lot of text and kept the background plain so that the feature article image was the stand out on the page and didn’t stand the risk of being dominated by the puff/text.

A fairly simple image was used for the

feature article as I wanted the colours used to match the

clour scheme for the font as well as stand

out on the simple solid white

background, XXL and NME both had

mise en scene.

The use of black and purple lines (matches the colour scheme) but challenges convention as the magazine I research didn’t use anything to separate text sections.

CHALLENGE: CONTENTS

Very few pictures, and not a lot of text involved upon the page. The images are also cut out differently (one has no bordering, one matches background but contains a white border and the other remains with it original background as has been rotated on an angle. Conventions of the magazines I looked at included lots of images and text on the content page.

My magazine only has around 74 pages

whereas magazine have around 100. for

this I will make sure all the page contain a lot

a give the reader/audience what

they want.

The variation of colour and font size may challenge convention as content

pages are usually more simple and neatly

structured. But I do believe I have made it work with

the way I have set the images out on the page.

CHALLENGE: DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

The page doesn’t have a clear left and right side of the page a moulds together with the texts taken up more than half the page. Descriptive tone to the

introduction of the interview is more like the style of NME, I

do believe this way does break the convention but I

thought it fit the style of the page well as I wish for it to

contain a lot but still look neat and professional.

The whole colour scheming revolving around pink may only interest a certain kind of reader and could be seen as over powering. I did make sure a variety of tones were used to help.

The background for the magazine also breaks

convention as it isn't simple like the other article I

analysed (it is a crowd picture from artists’

concert) but I believe it has worked well with the colour

scheme as has blended well.

EVALUATION OF CONVENTIONS

Overall I feel I have met the conventions of existing music magazines more than

challenged them in the end. This is a point as it means my magazine is hypothetically likely to sell, however this could also be bad as it may look too similar to other

magazines which could make customers within the market may chose the other magazine over mine.

Like the three existing magazines I studied the tone and mode of address if my

magazine is mature and calm but also a welcoming effect yet still has an excitement to it just like NME and XXL. I then believe that this portrays the feature article image artists character but also

shows I am not just one selective music magazine (a cross genre). I wished to created a dominate tone to

the magazine and wanted to connote the type of customers I wish to interest. I used

the colour scheme and a simple feature article to do this.

Although my magazine does challenge some the conventions of the existing magazines. One way I have challenged is by using a minimum amount of images and text on the contents pages, Hip Hop and NME both use a lot of pictures, up I managed to balance my pages without cluttering

them and still keeping an exciting and fascinating tone.

HOW DOES MY MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL

GROUPS?

CLASSI attempted to represent individuals in society that are not quite working class but are regarded as original and ambitious figures. They may turn to creative outlets in life rather than working a stereotypical job expected by society.

Here you can see her clothing is

trying to appeal to the mass

audience that is in the society

at the moment with the dark

clothing with the statement

jewellery around her neck. This

look is available for any class of

society so could therefore

appeal to many. Although her

wavy hair gives across the

freedom impression as well as

the quirky pose doing the same.

AGEI have represent the youthful age in music, by my photographs having artists in their late teens to mid 20’s in them.

This was simply done by making

the poses quirky and fun to try

and appeal to the youthful age.

The large statement piece used

in the top picture in the

diamond which is what the

young generation is about,

showing off their money.

And the colours used in the

clothing of the bottom image of

Nicki Minaj adds a fun appeal.

GENDERI have represented both genders throughout my magazine in order to reflect my entire demographic consisting of both males and females.

By using a variety of picture on

the contents page it allows my

audience to be informed by

what they can read within my

Beat magazine. Although there

are many female images I still

feel the male gender would

interested as the contents text

down the left has mixed gender

interests. The picture on the

bottom right stands out too due

to the blue background which

statically in a male colouring.

I understand due to the

colour theme I have

decided to following

throughout my magazine at

first look it will appeal to the

female audience with the

purple standing out upon

the page. But I have made I

have used a bold and

dominate colour of black to

work with it throughout .

WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT DISTRIBUTE MY MEDIA

PRODUCT AND WHY?

Development Hell Ltd is an independent media company based in Islington, London.

The magazine are currently publish the market leading international dance music magazine, Mixmag along with the Mixmag ipad app, mixmag.net, Mixmag TV,

Mixmag Events and DontStayIn.com, the world's biggest clubbing social network. They have provided consultancy for some of Britain’s biggest publishers and produced tour

brochures for some of the biggest artists in the world.

The board of Development Hell is chaired by Peter Strong and comprises Managing Director Jerry Perkins, Editorial Director David Hepworth and Finance Director David

Joseph.

Development Hell limited, could be my publishing and distribution company as they currently publish mixmag magazine and would understand the market place and

how to communicate with and distribute to my target audience.

On the company website: http://developmenthell.co.uk/ they explain why they would be a good choice as they have experienced professionals from the British

magazine publishing industry

“Among the Development Hell team are some of the most experienced and respected operators in British magazines including The Word’s editor Mark Ellen, and

former Editorial Director of Q and Smash Hits, David Hepworth.”

WHAT DO THEY ALREADY PRODUCE?

WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR MY MEDIA PRODUCT?

GENRE AND TARGET AUDIENCE

What is my music genre for my magazine?

Hip Hop/R&B.

Who is my target audience?

My target audience was predominately female orientated, stretching from the ages of 14-24. However, I didn’t single out the male demographic because I wanted my magazine to appeal to all those who are interested in Indie style music and who go against the ‘normal’ or popular fashion and style.

QUESTIONNAIRE

After my analysis of existing magazine I decided to create a questionnaire that I got 30

people to answer to enable me to make a clear design brief on what my target

audience would want.

• My magazine will be a cross genre of pop, hip hop and R&B.

• The front cover will be neat and calm.

• I will make the feature article image the most eye catching element on the front cover.

• I will make sure the front cover contains a catchy cover line to draw the target audience in.

• The feature article image will be candid.

• The contents page will be neatly ordered and in page number order.

• The contents page will contain images or what is within the magazine.

• The article (mode of address) will be informal.

• The double page spread will contain more image than text.

• The interview with the feature article artist will be gossip based, but will also contain serious conversation, facts and music.

• It will have a light hearted tone.

• I will make it a gossip read or mode of address for my target audience.

• The theme and tone will be carried out throughout the whole magazine.

• My target audience will be between 16 to 20 years old.

• My target audience will be aimed more towards the female audience.

MY AUDIENCE

After researching further into how my target audience I can clarify my original synopsis successfully

outlines my demographic. My audience does consist of both male and females, ranging from 15-30

years old that like hip hop and R&B music. However, I now know that they’re open minded characters

that like to feel that they have some control in situations along with being passionate people that find

their genre of music aspirational. A typical BEAT reader may live in any part of the country living a fairly

busy student or modern life nonetheless make the time to appreciate things that matter to them. This is

key for my audience, they are alternative and challenge the norm and do what’s right for them not

what is conformed by the majority. Many will probably have student lives or busy business jobs.

HOW DID I ATTRACT/ADDRESS MY AUDIENCE?

HOW MY COVER ATTRACTSI believe my front cover attracts instantly due to the feature article image as the colours involved with the picture contrasts well against the solid white background. The colour scheme used on the cover also works well with the image as the image contains black clothing allowing the purple cover line and white puff to stand out easily. Also the masthead has played a large part in attracting as it gives off an interesting and modern effect to the target market and the way the font flows makes it come across as a smooth flowing magazine.

HOW DID I ATTRACT MY TARGET AUDIENCE?1. A recognisable

branded logo

masthead2. A puff

advertising a

‘special’ article.

3. A feature article

photograph of

teenage girl.

4. A array of

plugs informing

the reader of

additional

content.

In order to attract my audience I used bold vibrant colours, that all manage to dominate pages easily as they are a strong set of colours to use together yet they all work well and help to contrast off the solid

white background. This gives the magazine an strong, mature tone, relating to the name ‘Beat’ which is short and sharp.

MAST HEAD

I used a close up picture for the front cover in which my artist is starring straight at the audience, suggesting an ‘in your face’ confident attitude to help reflect what the magazine is about but doesn’t label one type and leaves the market unaware of

what they are going to read as it a cross genre piece. I also used my mode of address to capture my audiences attention, my language is laid back and fun

promoting events such popular artists in the charts at the moment in time. Although there is as element of dominance from the feature image there is still a shy side as

she grasps both sides of her face.

IMAGE

I always planned to set my magazine price at around £3.00 to £4.00 due to the dramatic price increased that was introduced within the last year. I thought a price

like this will allow enough profit as well as staying cheaper than my competition. I understand I don’t have a set age for my target market but I realise the likely age

range would be between 14-24years (an age group of mostly unemployed teenagers) to (people with jobs but also perhaps paying university fees) all of which

would by my magazine as a reasonable price.

PRICE

HOW DOES MY CONTENTS ATTRACT?

I believe my contents page attracts the target market by the instant titling of ‘Contents’ at the top of the page as the black and white work well to contrast off each other. The red colouring then used for the main bulk of the text makes it an easy and eye catching read against the solid black background. I do believe the variety of styles used to edit the images on the pages catching the markets eye as the larger image is mostly light pink repels strongly against the black and the rotated image attracts as it stands out to regular images you’d come across on a contents page.

HOW DID I ATTRACT MY TARGET AUDIENCE?

1. A bold

and eye

catching

contents.

2. Variety of

pictures to

show variety.

4. Prizes to

be won to

interest

target

market.

3. Set theme

to follow

throughout

the

magazine.

HOW DOES MY DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD ATTRACT?

I believe my contents attracts purely because of the use of pink all over the both of the pages, as this is a very uncommon way to set out a double page spread because usually it hasn’t worked well together. But I feel as if with this article is has due to the artist is about, the covering line which then informs that information and then the different toning used to allowing the texts to stand out from each section. The way the image has been cut out and taken is attractive as it is a clear action shot which works well with the article. Also the background image used is uncommon because it isn’t a simple block colour and contains an image of a concert crowd. The way it has been blurred allows the article to still be easily read.

HOW DID I ATTRACT MY TARGET AUDIENCE?

1. A bold

and eye

catching

title.

2. A large

and powerful

article

image.

4. A matched

themed

background to

article (concert

audience).

3. Set theme

to follow

throughout

the

magazine of

text (pink).

FRONT COVER IMAGESI dressed up my sister to take pictures for my feature article photo. We had a lot of fun and I am pleased with the outcome. The use of her poses and clothing allows her to match the colour scheme and help fit the magazine style I wished to go for. I took

some mid-shots and some close ups but decided to use a close up for a better effect with connotations of loud, confident character she is portrayed as on the front cover.

With all the picture I made sure I had the statement jewellery involved.

CONTENTS IMAGESI wanted my inside pictures to vary from my front cover, feature article photo so again

using my sister for one of the images, and then decided to use images from a Nicki Minaj Concert I went where Tyga was supporting. I am very pleased with the outcome of these images and they fit the house style of my magazine well.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD IMAGESLooking at other double page spread I was aware I needed a strong image to go with the article so I made sure I had a few images on Nicki Minaj to be able to get the right

look across. I then also planned to use another image as the background of the article so I thought I should use one off the crowd, which is shown below. Although the

image contains a lot of colour it is still simple to a point.

PLAN OF PRODUCTIONThis is the design I decided to use for my final front cover before production, this made the production process much

easier. Over all I felt I stuck to my design very well, the only change I had to make was the position of the barcode as I thought it looked better at the bottom after filling in all the text. I also changed the positioning of the cover line

slightly As I felt it looked more professional flush right.

PLAN OF PRODUCTIONOverall I think I stuck to my original plan quite well as I have kept most of the positioning the same. Although I have removed an

image and replaced it with more text and enlarged the other two images upon the right hand side of the page. I also change the positioning of all the page numbers as I felt it didn’t look right the way I had planned and the image in the top

right has been rotated also.

PLAN OF PRODUCTION

I also felt overall I managed to stick to my original plan for my double page spread, as I positioned the title in the same place and later added a subtitling of information about the article. I also lowered my pull in quote so that it fitted correctly

around the image I ended up using for the spread.

WHAT HAVE I LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?

PHOTOSHOP

To create my Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page spread I used a software

called Photoshop, this software allowed me to create exactly what I wanted. I was able

to use the cut tool several different ways; the magic eraser would cut out/erase larger

errors of the same colour I no longer required (this tended to be background colouring).

The general erasing tool was then ease to use when wanting to edit certain sections the

magic eraser could not get too without removing parts of the image required. I was able

to have a choice of fonts to use on the pages, I could then also import different fonts

from the internet as well as other software's. I was also able to re-size, reverse and rotate

images so that any image could be used upon a page. To make things easier for my I

would also create new layers for each section I added to each page so if something was

wrong it could be easily deleted without effecting anything else on the page.

Having a shaping tool allowed me to create different shapes on all the pages and a line tool meant I could section off different texts so that I could easily identify different sections.

The cropping tool is just like what you would find on other software's Photoshop made it more accurate and simple so you could have it to how you wish (not just boxed crop but curved as well). The filling tool then meant I could colour in the background or blocked

shapes quickly with them all being able to have the colours I designed them to be as the is a detailed toning bar where I can choose to exactly tone of I colour. When uploading a

new page I was also able to choose grey scale or not which meant it anything appearing on the page would be in black and white, although I didn't end up using this selection It

gave me the simple use of colour on the front cover and contents page.

On Photoshop you are also able to change the capacity of an image on the page so you can fade it out into the background so that it is more subtle to the eye, with this you could also change how it

fades (into pixels, darkness, lightness, etc.).

For me to able to get this as accurate as I could whilst creating I was able to zoom into the page I was working on to as close as I wished by using the keys 'ctrl' and '+', this meant that the page

selected enlarge and not the rest of the screen like when not using Photoshop. Although Photoshop contained a lot of different tools to help me create my final front cover, contents and double page

spread it allowed me to make each page as much of my idea as possible as I didn't not receive help from the software and I could use it to how I wished. Even though I was slow at using Photoshop at

the beginning because I was unsure of everything and what it could do I soon become comfortable with it as was able to do a lot more than what I first anticipated.

I used the text box tool to apply text, used a lot on

my front cover and content page as there

were many small plugs and cover lines of text

I used the ‘move’ tool a lot of the time during production as I often had to adjust the position of text or pictures for example. This was very helpful.

‘blur’ tool to add a design to each page of my magazine, this helped develop a strong house style throughout my magazine

‘Magic lasso’ tool, this was useful when cutting out

my feature article photo. Although difficult to use at

times, it was much needed.

WHAT HAVE I LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION OF MY PRELIMINARY

TASK AND MY FINAL PRODUCT?

PRELIMINARY TASK

For my preliminary task we had to produce a school magazine, including a front cover and content page. I initially went around the school grounds

taking pictures with a friend for the feature article photograph. This was a lot of fun and I used Photoshop to cut it out in production.

I only had three items of text on the front cover which were either blue or white and contrasted the red masthead, this was something I developed on

when designing and producing my final magazine as I was more familiar with the Photoshop tools.

As I didn’t really know how to cut out with the lasso tool, it was very roughly and badly cut out. I decided to cut the person out of the picture because

the brick wall background was boring and inappropriate.

COMPARISON BETWEEN FRONT COVERS

Very limited

amount of

text and

information

Lots of text in bright

colour and

information to cover

in any negative

space. Also contains

a cover line upon

image.

Well cut out

feature article

photo so that the

magazine looks to

a high standard.

Feature article

photo is not cut

out accurately,

lowers quality of

magazine.

Plain

background, no

sense of house

style. To strong

and cheap

looking.

Boring and simple masthead.

Creative and

effective masthead

that will watch the

audience eye and

stand out on the page.

Simple background

but involves a lot of

information and

interesting image

upon front cover.

COMPARISON BETWEEN CONTENTS

Very limited information, same picture used on the front cover so nothing new any eye catching.

Lots of text, all in a different bright colour sticking to

the colour scheme and

repelling strongly against the

background of white.

And eye catching masthead which informs what is

on the page

instantly.

Bright bold pictures both

about the feature article artist, the

double page spread about

Nicki Minaj and others.

A boring masthead and no date or reference to magazine name.

Again my background is plain and un-interesting. Also the colours used for the text is boring

There is no structure or specific order to the text upon the page either.

Competition stands out from the rest of the

page but still manages to stick to the colour

theme intended.

WHAT I HAVE LEARNT FROM BOTH TASKS

Overall I feel that all my new products are all significantly different to my original ones in many different ways. I think that the ways that they are

different has improved the quality of all of them. For example, my Photoshop skilled have developed a lot and I am much more familiar

with the tools used to make an effective and strong magazine.

In contrast to my preliminary task, my front cover, content page and double page spread are vibrant and have the right conventions to

capture the attention of my target audience.

I think it also helped to have a lot of research about my target audience and a genre of music to focus on when designing and

producing my full product, this meant I could create a house strong house style too.

I think the most improved aspect of my magazine is my content page, I improved this significantly and my full product is now exciting, bold and vibrant. It holds a lot of information and carries a strong style as well as

capturing the genre of music it is based on.

IMPROVEMENTS

In terms of improvement, despite being happy with my finished magazine I think I could have improved on my positioning and scale. I often struggled

throughout production to fit the amount of content I wanted onto one page, my content page is a good example of this as I needed to include a

lot of information in order to follow conventions of existing magazines.

I am most pleased with my double page spread, contrasting my content page which I felt was perhaps lacking in images, contained lots to read as well as lots to look at. On the other hand it is a double page meaning I had

more space to fill and I think I utilised this space very well, as it is the most balanced out of all three pages.

Over all however I am very pleased with the outcome of my full product and I am proud of how my skills and knowledge have developed based upon this.