Evaluation of Foundation Portfolio

In what ways does your magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real music magazines?My magazine uses the conventions of a real music magazine as it conforms to the big masthead at the top of the page; I have developed it slightly by moving it to the left hand side, where it would normally be placed in the center or taking up the whole of the page width. I have used a big and bold font because this is what the audience recognizes as a good magazine with from the research I had previously conducted. I used ideas from looking at magazines such as “We Love Pop” and “Top of the Pops”. However, I wanted to challenge the convention of placing my masthead at the top so I could have a smaller but catchier magazine name. I used the name “cherry pop” so that it would have a clear indication of what genre my magazine was. I used “We Love Pop” magazine as a template on where to place my small masthead.

By placing it in the left hand corner, this gives me more room to place my cover lines and have a larger front image. Due to all the extra space, I had to think of a way to fill it up; therefore I used a puff advertising a free poster. My image was not very good quality for a magazine therefore I had to go and take more pictures, and this time used a different model so I could get a different type of image compared to the more serious one in my first drafts. I wanted my magazine to look more pop and this meant that I had to produce more colour and make it seem brighter. Therefore, I changed my model to one with a darker skin tone so that it would be complimented by all of the pink and orange colours which were my colour scheme. I also had the model wear lipstick which was a similar colour to the ones I have used throughout my magazine. I decided to challenge the conventional positioning of the puff from the bottom half of the page to the top right. This was both to fill up the extra white space which was due to my model being smaller to emphasize how big the masthead was, but also

because I wanted two of them to be together, highlighting more than one advantage of purchasing this magazine. Giving away a free product as well as a poster will increase sales as the consumers will feel that they are getting their money’s worth. To make it seem more official, I placed a barcode in the bottom left corner which is

following the conventions of music magazines as the barcode is placed in a corner or edge and never in the middle of the page. I had turned it on its side to develop this convention and to make more room for the bottom banner as it required a lot of space for the images. By placing it out of the way, it also doesn’t take away any attention from the stories on the page or what is being featured. At first I had tried to keep the ‘cherry’ theme consistent, hence placing small cherries next to the cover lines. After some feedback from peers, this was somewhat challenging conventions as it looked like bullet points, yet it made it seem unprofessional. Thus, I took the cherries and the separating lines away which make more space to increase the size of the

text and this in fact made the font sizes and style more consistent throughout the magazine. The bar at the bottom of my page was not big enough and as a result, I was again left with too much space to be filled. After doing more research into “We Love Pop” magazine, I found that the convention for pop magazines in general, are to have a bar at the bottom with minimal information but a small advertisement into more stories in the magazine, without having to do additional cover lines. This Taylor Swift cover has also used a puff to fill up the gap between her face and the cover stories which shows I am following the techniques of magazines and their layout in order for a successful magazine. My colour scheme of two pink shades, orange, black and white are consistent for my front page, contents page and double page spread. This makes it look more professional and also follows conventions as these colours are typical of a pop magazine due to their summery and positive vibe which they give off. My model’s pose is stereotypical of a pop magazine because it’s girly and fun which is what pop magazines promote due to their target audience of 11-17.

My contents page follows the conventions of “We Love Pop” magazine again as it has the big and bold title which introduced that this is where you will find the contents of the magazine. I have used cherries again to stick to my “Cherry Pop” theme for consistency which is similar to the top right hand corner of the example below where they have used their logo as their form of consistency. I am developing the conventions by placing the list of contents on the side of the page with the page numbers on the right hand side, contrary to “We Love Pop” placing them on the left. I have used their convention of have bold page numbers as this will make them

stand out more and this is crucial for the reader as they are looking for this information to navigate through the rest of the magazine. Due to placing a bottom banner on the front page, I didn’t want to do it for the contents page as well therefore; I placed a competition advertisement at the bottom, which is like a bigger puff. This is so that the reader again feels a benefit of purchasing this magazine which will maximize the sales. I have followed conventions by sticking to the colour scheme and also by placing the image in a similar position to that of “We Love Pop” and other well-known pop magazines such as “Top of the Pops”. I have followed conventions by placing the page number at the bottom of the page in the corner and again using cherries so that it stands out more. For my double page spread I have followed, challenged and developed conventions. I have done this by referring to the two following pop magazines mentioned above, and using their layout conventions and mixing them together.

I have placed the model on the right hand side of the page and made a questions and answers style text layout. I have arranged my model to have a side shot of her face so that it is similar to the “Top of the Pops” layout on the left. To make it look neater, I have placed the questions at the top of the page and then the answers beneath so that it is clear and easier to read. I have developed the conventions by using quote

boxes instead of puff-like quote circles. I have challenged the layout by replacing the side bar with additional photos include with a simple bar placed in the bottom left hand side which has a series of questions and answers which are easy to understand and are a bit of fun for the reader. They can also compare answers to see how alike they are to this celebrity. I have stuck to the colour scheme and think that I have laid the colours out so that they balance off each other and are not too concentrated in one area. My title is positioned in a similar manner and follows conventions as it is bigger than the rest of the text and the main quote of the story.

How does your music magazine represent particular social groups?My magazine represents youth as lively, energetic and fun which is exactly how I wanted them to be portrayed. It shows young teenagers to have an attitude which can take on the world and to never be ashamed of whom they are. I think this is really important to get across to my audience and to have teenagers presented this way because some older generations believe contrary to this. There is a recurring theme of bright colours throughout pop magazines which shows that this social group wants to stand out and from such a young age and want to be noticed. This shows ambition and vulnerability, which is why it is aimed at ages 11-17.

What kind of media institution might distribute your music magazine and why?Media institutions which may promote my product are other magazines such as Top of the Pops, Sugar and We Love Pop. By promoting and distributing my magazine they won’t only be bringing more customers to their own magazine, but will also be raising awareness of their company and possible subsidiaries. Another institution would be local shops and big stores. This is because if my magazine brand is well known, it will bring them into their store for purchasing and will follow up with them shopping in that store for other requirements. There is also the opportunity to place advertisements or vouchers for certain stores in my magazine which will encourage and persuade certain shops to sell my magazine because it’s providing them with benefits. Music labels and studios would also distribute my magazine because if someone visits the building or has a meeting, then they can have my magazine, as well as others for inspiration while they are there.

Who would be the audience for your music magazine?The audience for my magazine would be from ages 11-17 and stereotypically females, as my music genre is pop; which usually appeals to females more than males due to the surrounding issues such as fashion, gossip and role models. The audience that it is aimed for would be interested in the background stories of their favourite celebrities and how they can be similar to them. The language I have used is therefore appropriate to the audience as it is formal, yet quirky and interesting for the audience. This can be seen with advertising free lip gloss inside the magazine which not only helps with the purchasing of this magazine, but also appeals to the

age range, and typically females. However, it is not gender bias as there is a large ratio of the contents being male pop starts and this will appeal to both genders as girls will be interested due to physical attraction, yet boys will be interested due to aspiring towards that career goal but also as role models.

How did you attract/address your audience in the forms and conventions used in your magazine?

I attracted my audience by sticking to the most popular and basic conventions such as the big and bold masthead at the magazines front cover and contents page. This convention invites the audience in and also will help them remember the brand for future references which is important for sales and profit. I also kept the convention of having my main cover line towards the bottom center of the front cover which is essential in catching the audience’s attention. This is called the hypodermic needle effect, which is where you inject the audiences with interesting or shocking information from the cover lines, which leads them to want to read the full magazine. I have used an attractive female on my front cover to attract both males and females. If a male likes the artist featured, it’s a bonus for them to be attractive; however I have dressed her appropriately so that she is still fully clothed and this will be influential to females and create role models. For my contents page, I have stuck to the convention of having all of my stories placed to one side with numbers and adding a photo for the rest of the page. At the bottom I have placed a competition advertisement for the audience to have a day in a recording studio. This is an effective way of attracting the audience because all they have to do is send in a completed form and can get a professional studio day for free. This will influence the reader to go on throughout the magazine to try and find more opportunities similar to this one. For my double page spread I have attracted the audience by using lots of detail and incorporating personal questions along with questions to do with her music career. This creates variety in the interview and can be more interesting to younger readers who are aspiring to become artists also. If the audience learns more about the artist as a person they can feel more connected their music as they understand it on a deeper level.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your music magazine?

I have learnt a lot about the technology used behind the constructing of a magazine. I had struggled a fair amount getting used to using Photoshop, for example working out how to delete the background off of my images after using a green screen and then pasting the edited/cropped image onto all of my magazine pages. This was not required for the preliminary task as we had to use publisher. I had to get to grips with using a professional camera and placing it on and off of a tripod in order for my image to be focused and balanced. I used my camera on its natural setting as this is how I wanted my model to initially look, and then I would edit it on Photoshop and go from there. Editing would consist of changing the

contrast, brightness and touch up’s on her skin, hair and making sure the green screen which was originally used as the background was cropped out correctly, as this could bring down the professional quality of the magazine overall.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it (the preliminary task) to the full product (the music magazine)? From my preliminary task, I feel like I have learnt a lot more about the concept of layout and how to maximize the potential for sales. I have learnt even more about the conventions of layout and content but furthermore I have incorporated this into my magazine by using the rule of thirds, which I had previously no knowledge of. I can now see how alignment is crucial to how the text and content balance on the page and if it is slightly out it can throw everything out of proportion. The preliminary task was very useful in terms of getting to grips with the software and editing, but progressing onwards, I now have enough knowledge and experience with Photoshop that if I were to do this task again, I could improve it even more using new techniques and skills that I have learnt. The preliminary task used a random selection of colours and now I am aware that a certain colour scheme but be in place for it to look professional and neater. There must be appropriate language which is suitable for the age range of the target audience and that if they are a young audience, the texts and font are clear and easy to read for them.