Evaluation

By Isaac Marsh

I have used buzz words such as ‘Free’ to grab the readers attention. This buzz word has been placed at the top of the magazine because when its being sold in shops sometimes you can only see the top of the magazine so word such as ‘Free’ will encourage people to pick it up.

The house colours of my magazine are black, white and burgundy. The white and black contrast each other to make them stand out more. I chose burgundy because it’s the colour of the main signifiers jacket.

I have made sure that the wind turbine is still recognizable in the background this is so anybody living in the area where the picture is taken they will recognize it and are likely to pick up the magazine.

The reader will be able to identify what edition it is and from the month tell if it’s the latest one.

Anchorage text has been used here so people know that the picture is linked to the text above and will be able to identify that the picture is from Kasabians tour. Also I have placed a small black border around the image so it stands out more and doesn't’t blend into the main picture.

I have placed the title of the band in the middle of the page so the reader will know that the person in the picture is part of the band and with it being in the center of the cover it will be one of the first things that the readers looks at. The made the title the only text on the page which is italic to make it stand out even more.

The area around my main signifiers face is empty this is so people will be able to recognize him or will now know what he looks like so in later editions people will then recognize him.

Text is evenly spread out to prevent the front cover from being overloaded and informs the reader about other content that’s in the magazine so If they don’t like the main signifier they still have a reason to buy the magazine.

I chose this image to be on my front cover (main image) because George (person in the photograph) is using direct address which will grab the readers attention. With George being on the left side of the picture it gives space next to him to add text and since is body is turned slightly to the right the getting to the reader to read the text next to him after they have looked at the main image. I have included the wind turbine because it’s the main attraction of my town Swaffham so If anyone lives in the local area will recognize it and then look at the magazine. The background of the picture is slightly blurred out so the reader focuses on the main subject which is George. The background is only slightly blurry so the readers focuses on the main subject but can also identify what's in the background of the picture. I choose this background because it suggests that the main subject came from just a regular estate and that anyone can become a famous musician which gets the reader to identify with the main subject more. The picture was taken when the sun was behind the clouds this gives a dark shadow over George giving the connotations that he's not a pleasant person or that he's very serious. I made George match the codes and conventions of a traditional alternative rock band member. I have done this by having my main signifier in mainstream clothing such as jeans and a tee-shirt. Although I decided to add the jacket with his sleeves to give him some character and not a bland personality. The white tee-shirt is there to prevent anyone from getting offended since alternative rock bands very rarely try to make a offensive statement to get media and it contrasts with the rest of the background making it stand out . Also my main signifier is male and white which dominate the alternative rock genre meaning George is an accurate representation of your average alternative rock band member. With George fitting the codes and conventions of a alternative rock member if someone was to pick up the magazine and look at the picture on the front page they would be able to tell what music genre it is. If any fans of alternative rock see the magazine there will be more likely to pick it up if the main signifier fits with what there used to seeing. I have represented George as you average alternative rock band member and the cross arms and staring into the camera is to represent him as a serious and strong person. The clothing he's wearing is something you would see most people wearing to present him as a normal person and that audience will be able to identify with him. This is the same for the background as its just a picture of a housing estate in the background to make it so that it looks like George comes from a normal background and he managed to become a rock star making the audience think they can become a rock star as well.

The masthead is contents so the reader knows what page they are on and has the edition plus date incase the front cover falls off they will still be able to identify what edition it is.

For each section I've added see through boxes this is to make the text stand out more and the reader will be still able to see the picture. Each box is the same size to make the page look professional and balanced.

With the text I have used two different colours to make it stand out more. The coloursused are the same as the house colours on the front cover this is to keep the magazine consistent.

Overall the contents page doesn’t have much information this is because the picture is the main focus and is there for the reader to look at. Plus most magazines only have a single page contents where as a I have double page dedicated for it so there is more room making it look like less information. If this picture was on a single page you wouldn’tbe able to appreciate the image because you wouldn’t be able to see it very well.

I choose this picture for my contents page because it catches the essence of a concert in one picture. People raving, flashing lights and guitarist on the screen is what you would see at most rock concerts. This means that when the reader looks at the image they will be able to identify that it’s a concert and with the guitarist they could tell specifically that it’s a rock concert. The reader will be able to identify with the picture if they have gone to any rock concerts or a concert. With the picture taken from my perspective it makes the reader feel like there at the concert and for a second they can escape from reality (escapism). The picture has a lot of open space so I can add text without ruining the picture. In the top right corner there's a glare from when the sun was setting which I can use to put my title of the page next to it to make the title to stand out more.

Title takes a good portion of the page to grab readers attention and clearly Identifies the band in the picture. The black banner is to contrast the white title text to make it stand out more.

I have positioned the text close to the edge of the page to encourage the reader to turn the page. For both text boxes I've used anchorage text so people know that the text is about the band in the picture. I’ve placed a faint white box behind the text to make the text stand out more against the background so the consumer will be able to read it.

There isn't much text on the page because the picture is the main focus. I have placed the text and the title away from the band members faces so the reader can see there facial/body expressions to allows the reader to build up an image of each band members personality.

The two text boxes are the same size and are equal lengths away from the edge of the page this is to make them symmetrical so the double page looks more professional. The title text is position in the middle of the page so it will be the first thing on the page the reader will see so they know which band is in the picture.

I choose this picture for my double page spread because it gives each of the band members there own personality just from the picture. The person in the bottom left has his hands behind is back which gives off the impression to the reader that’s he's quite laid back. The person in the middle is higher up than the other two making him look more important and will quite easily be identify as the lead singer. Also with him not looking at the picture is suggesting that he's better than the reader giving of the impression that he's quite full of himself. Last of all the person on the right has his hands in his pockets and is looking directly at the camera suggesting that he's quite a serious person and just gets things done. The background of the picture is a couple of houses to emphasize that there just normal people that come from a regular housing estate giving the impression to the reader that they could be them and will identify with them more. The clothing I choose for them to wear links with the background because the clothing their wearing is just everyday clothes normal people would wear making the band look like your average teenagers/young adults. I made sure to give space on the left and right side of the picture to allow space for text.

Representation of band members on my magazine

My magazine represents all the band members from Gravity Cap as being everyday people as they are all wearing jeans and either wearing tee-shirt, jumper or shirt. The backgrounds for both pictures are just pictures of houses to suggest they come from a normal background and are not to different from the reader. To do this I have stereotyped what most people look like between the ages 16-24 so the band appeals to the most amount of people. With the band members looking like everyday people to make the audience identify with them more and feel like there just a group of friends who picked up so instruments and formed a band. This will give the idea that even they could pick up an instrument and start a band with their friends.

Codes and Conventions of Alternative rock bands

Majority of alternative rock bands don’t wear any obscure clothing they will normally wear everyday clothes typically being jeans and a tee-shirt. The tee-shirts they wear are either bland or have pictures on it which wouldn't’t offend anyone so its prevents making a statement which the media could use and have backlashes on the band. The alternative rock genre is dominated by white males is rare to see female or black band members in the industry. The backgrounds of pictures of alternative rock bands are normally quite bland or have everyday areas such as a housing estate. This to give the impression that there everyday people so the audience will identify with them and that they can become them.

Audience for my magazine

My magazine will be aimed mainly at males or females aged between 16-24 who have small or large friend groups. This is because my magazine includes lots of information on less well known or upcoming bands so it can be used for socializing. Also they will be information about upcoming festivals and concerts which will appeal to this age group since there more likely to go to them. The magazine will be aimed at people who are either hardcore fans of alternative music or just fans of it because the magazine will include obscure and well known alternative rock bands. To make the bands appeal more to teenagers to young adults I created a survey on what name I should give the band and got people from my six form college to answer the survey which everyone in the six form fits the age bracket of 16-24. Everyone that’s on my magazine is aged between 16-17 so the audience between 16-24 will be able to identify with them and the magazine will appeal to them.

Audience

• Living in the UK as this is where my magazine will be distributed.

• Has interest In Alternative rock either new to genre or a hardcore fan as the magazine will just be on alternative rock genre.

• Aged between 16-24 as most of the bands will be between this age so the audience will be able to identify with them.

• Either male or female as popular bands like Imagine dragons have about a 50/50 ratio for male and female fans so people genders would be interested in the magazine.

My audience talking about my front cover

My audience talking about my contents page

Issues my audience had with the magazine

• Use different colour font- The problem I had with using a different colour font was it would be harder to read and wouldn’t grab the readers attention if they couldn’t read it.

• Contents page picture- I was very limited at what pictures I could take at the concert and would have been impossible to of got one near the front so I had to make do with what I had. If I had more time I would of moved the title to compensate for the double page but would also mean that the text would of needed to be rearranged as well.

Bauer Media Group

Bauer Media Group would be the magazine company that I would like to publish my magazine because they already have a successful rock magazine (Kerrang) and 600 other magazines this shows they know how to produce a successful magazine. With producing over 600 different magazine the company has quite a loyal fan base so anything they publish will attract some attention which could help get my magazine started. They also take a key interest in their audience and are always researching them so they will have good knowledge on appealing to the target audience making my magazine more successful. With the revenue of the company going up currently the methods they are using currently are successful so they are more trustworthy (demonstrated by the graph below) . The Bauer Media group would want to publish my magazine because they don’t have a alternative rock magazine so there missing a gap in the market which they would want to capitalize on.

More Info

Advertisement

With Bauer Media Group being a well established company they will have the money to help pay for advertisement of my magazine to get the publicity it needs. They won’ t just have money but also the knowledge to get a successful magazine running as they already have 55 magazine going strong. Also they own Kiss (radio station) were we can advertise the magazine because the radio station is aimed at people between 15-34 year olds so it’s the ideal place to advertise the magazine. This is because majority of the people listening to the radio are the target age for are magazine and since it’s a radio station a music magazine being advertise is relevant to music.

List- Tec/software I've used

• CANON EOS 1300D DSLR camera (18mm Dc III Zoom Lens)- This assignment was the first time I had got hold of a high quality camera to take pictures so I had to learn what settings I would need to get a clear crisp pictures for my magazine. Also learned how to blur a picture for a particular effect.

• Galaxy Ace 3- This was my main tool to communicate with people either to get people ready to go take photos or to see what people thought about my media work. It was also used to take pictures if at the time I didn’t have CANON EOS 1300D DSLR camera.

• Laptop- Outside from school and home I used my laptop to research when I didn’t have access to my home computer or a mac.

• Windows PC/ Mac- Throughout the assignment I learnt how to use a mac since I had never used one before and became comfortable and adequate at using one to benefit me. At home I used my personal computer to research and produce media.

• PowerPoint- This was the main software I used to record and write up the research I had found.

• Photoshop- Was the software I used to create my front cover, contents page and double page spread. Through using this software I learnt how to edit photos ( increasing the brightness of the image).

• Internet- The internet was what I used to research, communicate with people and store my work.

• Memory stick- To transport work if the files were to big to go through the internet because they would take to long to transfer.

• Edublogs- Was the site I used to upload and present my finished work to. This was the first time I had used a blog so I had to learn the fundamentals are making a blog and how I would present my work.

• Slideshare- Was a site I used to upload my power points to so I could then place them on my blog.

• OBS (Open Broadcaster Software)- Recording software I used to record myself talking about my work.

• Hyperx cloud 2 (headset)- Microphone used to record my voice.

• Sony Vegas pro 13- Software I used to edit the videos that I had recorded.

Software/Tec I made the most progressive with

Mac- Before this assignment I had never used a mac so it was my first time using one. I had to learn how to use one which was very different from a Windows computer. Throughout the assignment I asked other people to explain how to use certain aspects of the Mac if I didn’t know how to use it or used the internet to help me. Now I can use the Macs confidently and don’t need help using one.

Photoshop- This was the first time I had use Photoshop although I had used other software for editing images for example fireworks and paint but they had less features than Photoshop. To help me get used to Photoshop I spent a few hours finding out what all of the buttons did and all the different ways you edit the image for example changing contrast of the image. After producing my magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread I now know how to edit images and place text for different purposes to a basic degree with Photoshop.

Blog- I had never used a blog before either for social interactions or presenting your work on. I had to spend a lot of time using blogs to find out how they functioned and how you could present you work on it for example how to in bed a PowerPoint into a blog. After successfully presenting my work on a blog I now feel confident using one.

My prelim task

Looking back on my prelim task back now I think overall I did very good job at creating a realistic school magazine. The hardest obstacle I had to overcome was being able to use photoshop and taking good photographs to use for my magazine front cover. I think I managed to overcome this problem to some degree with using photoshop for my front cover although I did use Microsoft publisher for contents page which if I had another chance to go back over the task I would of created it in photoshop as the program is better than publisher its just harder to use. Pictures used for both front cover and contents page I wouldn’t change as the pictures are very effective and are very high quality. Overall I found the task challenging since I had to use and apply new skills but once I had got the skills the task wasn’t that much of a problem. The skills I gained from the task help me create a professional looking music magazine.

Link to prelim task work

Limitations

The main limitation I had was my lack of knowledge on how to use certain software and devices for example I had never used a mac before. Another limitation was getting people to take pictures of for my magazine and organizing when and where we would meet up. The computers at school had some limitations so we couldn’t access some sites and we couldn’t access the computers all of the time. This meant we had a limited time on the computers and often had to email work home so I could do what I wanted to at school because the computer wouldn’t allow me for example I couldn’t always upload work to my blog. The task we were given restricted my creativity since I had to do a magazine I could’t do a music video for example. The area I live in made it so I can only do certain types of music genres for example I live in the countryside which Is dominated by white British people so it would be difficult to find someone suitable to represent a rapper.

What I would of done differently

I would of got Photoshop on my computer at home because this would mean I would’t have to spend time learning how to use a mac plus I would have more time to edit images and wont be limited to how much time I can use the computer. If I could of got a high quality camera of my own then I would have had more opportunities to take pictures for my magazine. For my contents page I would of used a better camera if I could take the picture again because the picture is slightly blurry since I used my phone camera. I would make sure my work ethic was the same as it is now at the start of the year because at the start of the year I didn’t meet all of my deadlines and wasn’t working at my full potential. If I was more focus would of give me more time to edit and improve my work I had already done. Also If I had more time I would of redone my contents page because I think the single portrait picture on one page with text/ text boxes around it to make it look better and more professional.

What I am going to do differently next year

• To make sure I get the work done by the deadline and even better if I could get it done earlier to get it handed in so I can get more time to improve the piece of work.

• When I start the next year that I'm 100% on task and getting on to prevent me from dragging behind or having mass amount of worked piled up.

• If I can get the relevant software on my home computer as well meaning I can do everything I want at home as well as school giving me more time.