Evaluation

My main image on my magazine is the most dominant. This is to portray the power and show the readers this is the featured artist.

The cover-lines are very important on a magazine as they show the readers what’s happening in this weeks issue

The background and the cover-line match, I did this to link the magazine cover together.

Telling the readers about competitions is an incentive for them to buy the magazine, thus selling more copies.

The price is very important as it determines whether or not it will sell. Most people couldn’t justify paying a lot for a magazine

Having regular magazines is a good idea. Most buyers prefer once a week to once a month

The top and bottom strips more or less sell most of the magazine, they’re the bits that on a quick glance tell the buyer what’s going on in a few short words, in music magazines they also show what bands are featured in the issue. The main job of the strips are to hook the audience. For my strips I used colours that fit with the background, the red at the bottom is the same colour as that on the flag and the black really stood out and was eye catching. With the black I have more chance of people seeing my magazine and buying it as it’s quite loud and in your face. I also found that if you stick to the rule of three you would be put up there with the big magazines instead of being considered an armature.

For my contents I wanted to keep it simple but stylish. I kept to roughly the same colour scheme as I did on my front cover so the consistency would continue throughout the magazine. I didn’t want to over crowd it as it would be to confusing for the readers, I also didn’t have a great time scale. I put a column In from the editor so it comes across as friendly and informal. I sub headed the categories so on a quick glance it’s easy and quick to spot what you’re looking for. The main picture on the contents is one of the main cover stories, one of the girls is the cover star so it links the front cover and contents page together. At the bottom left hand corner I put a subscription notice as it’s a way to make more money and make sure you have consistent readers each week.

For my double page spread I picked up a copy of Kerrang and had a look at what they had done to get some inspiration. From that I decided to keep it very plain and neutral. The picture I wanted forbackground was black and white to start with so I stretched it out. I tried to cut the artist out on Photoshop but after many failed attempts I opted for black and white. My heading and introductory comments are there to hook the audience into the interview. If they’re not great fans of the artist they might want to browse the questions.

All my heading fonts I got from Dafont.com as they have a wide range to choose from.

My magazine appeals to my social groups as I use hip and modern colours,

they’re bright and eye catching but also quite

bold and out there. Using blue, red and white I create a rock and roll

feeling which could be associated with the rolling

stones or sex pistols. I don’t use complicated words I use a range of

words young people could relate to and understand. I

only put stuff in my magazine that would

appeal and make sense, I wouldn’t put an ad in for a

new bathroom or time shares!

The main social group my magazine would be aimed at would be people into alternative music, so it would be people that are ‘scene’ or ‘emo’. These people dress very colourful and have big hair and most of the time piercings. People that read this magazine could relate as that’s what bands would be featured in this magazine.

My magazine could be published by IPC Media, who are the publishers of NME. NME is quite indie based and some of the artists in my magazine could be classed as indie, but the difference between relentless and NME would be

Relentless has alternative and heavy metal bands. If I couldn’t get IPC Media to sign my magazine I could

go to Bauer Media who have signed magazines such as Kerrang and Q. I don’t think I would have a good chance of getting signed with Bauer Media as Relentless and Kerrang are similar magazines with the same music genre. If I had to choose one company to sign my magazine I would go with IPC Media.

To attract my audience I used language that would relate to my readers, I used words such as merch and gigs. I also made this edition a very British edition because Britain is very in at the

moment.

I had never used photoshop before I started this task so it was a learning curve for me. After a couple of lessons I picked it up and was able to use it successfully. I enjoyed using photoshop as you can make a picture look totally different.

I had never had a blog before this task but I had always wanted one. I think they are simple and easy to use but are great to store all of my work and helpful for feedback from my classmates.

I love photography so using the cameras came natually. I used a tripod so my images wouldn’t be blury. I used red head lamps that gave off 800W to light my area because you need a well lit space when taking studio shots. I also used coloured gels in front of the lamps to give difference coloursa

I think I’ve learnt alot throughout this task. I’ve learnt about how to make a prfessional looking magazine and what magazines need to sell. I’ve learnt a lot of the technical names for things such as mastheads, plugs and kickers. I found about about the rule of three for my colour scheme and how to pick the best and clearest fonts. I also learnt how to use photoshop, as you can see with my college magazine I struggled abit at first, but after a few lessons on

how to use it I picked it up and I think it helps create a professional magazine. I also learnt how to relate to my target audience and genre but using the correct type of language, colours and

images.