Evaluation of music magazine coursework

Evaluation of Evaluation of Music MagazineMusic MagazineEvaluation of Evaluation of

Music MagazineMusic Magazine

James ChristmasJames Christmas

In what ways does your media product use, develop or In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I have used a masthead which is placed at the top in large letters to attract readers, as well as a dateline underneath like Kerrang! And most other magazines have, however I have used a dateline, unlike Kerrang!

My dominant image is a group shot which takes up most of the page, as does Kerrang!’s dominant image.

My cover lines and strap lines use rule of thirds, leaving the middle “third” clear to show the dominant image.

Like Kerrang!, I have placed a brief list of what else to expect in the magazine headlined “PLUS:”

As many magazines would, I have made the barcode very small and out of the way of the features on the front cover.

I have challenged conventions by placing the price in a “pug” to stand out (as well as a special free gift).

I have also used a minimal amount of colours for the text and backgrounds on my magazine as Kerrang! Has only used black white and yellow.I have used black, white and different shades of red.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My contents page breaks conventions in many ways.

For example I have placed my list of contents on the left half of the page, headed with large numbers whereas Kerrang! has placed them in the right “third” like a rule of thirds.

My contents page also breaks conventions by having a ripped barrier at the top and bottom. The top holding the dateline and headline, the bottom with contact details and the page number in the corner.

However, I have placed a note from the “editing team” welcoming the reader, just like Kerrang! has.

I have only used one photo of a feature in the magazine whereas Kerrang! has used four. I chose to challenge this convention so the reader could focus more on what's inside the issue.

I have also challenged conventions because instead of just a list of page numbers and what the feature is, I have made each feature on each page as a coverline accompanied by a strap line.

I decided to include the addresses of how the reader can “get in touch” with the magazine though the web, and social network sites such as twitter and facebook to relate to it’s audience.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My double page spread is an interview with a fictional band in which each

individual member has been photographed and placed casually

around the spread, unlike MOJO which only has one photo which dominates the

right page of the spread,

The headline of this spread is the band’s logo which follows conventions by having a stand

first and by line underneath.

I have followed conventions by placing an extremely small logo of the magazine next to the page number in the bottom

corners.

I have followed the convention of placing the article in columns of three to make it easier to read. MOJO has done this with two columns.

Like the contents page, I have placed the page number and magazine logo in the bottom

corners, as well as the facebook, twitter and web addresses which

has broke conventions.

Once again I have broke conventions by including a black border for the top and bottom to look aesthetic and

relate to it’s style.

How does your media product represent particular How does your media product represent particular social groups?social groups?

My media product represents the rock genre to be younger and more

rebellious as I have done this by representing the images of the artists

to look more relaxed and casual in their photos. I have written the

interview on the double page spread to sound as casual as possible as they sound like they are having a laugh like good friends while still

explaining the direction their life has gone which hopefully would relate to

the magazine’s audience.

Not only do the artists sound younger and informal, but I have made the cover lines and strap lines sound

more informal and quite exclamatory while using colloquial language.

What kind of media institution might distribute your What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?media product and why?

From my research I had looked into IPC Media and Bauer as ideas for who would publish my magazine. I decided not to choose either of them as the genre for my magazazine being rock would create competition for magazines they already publish (i.e. NME for IPC Media and Kerrang! For Bauer)

I finally decided to choose a publisher like Anthem Press who’s magazines already include Music Tech Magazine and Guitar & Bass. While these don’t focus on artistes and who and what is in the charts today (like my magazine would) they focus on the technologic side of music so they already have knowledge of this industry.

Who would the audience be for your media product?Who would the audience be for your media product?

My target audience for this magazine would be from teen to young adult (preferably in their early 20s to early 30s) as that is the

majority age for those who enjoy rock music.

The gender would probably be mostly for men, but there could be features that would also appeal to women as well, depending on whether or not they like the bands that are

featured in the magazine.

The social class band of the people who would buy this magazine would probably be in the C2, D and E category as they could only be starting off in the workplace and

earn very little.

The physcographical audience would also be more likely to reformers as they may be less controlling over how much they spend on their needs so they would have enough

to buy this magazine.

How did you attract/address your audience?How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted and addressed my audience by creating a “rebellious” styled looking

magazine. The font is mostly in sans-serif font which look less formal and I have made headlines, big and bold in capital letters to

stand out, and bring a bit of “danger” to the piece.

I decided to have to background of the contents and double page spread to be

messy lined paper to bring a adolescence or “school or college” theme to my magazine

which relates to the audience as being young and rebellious.

I decided to include the contact information via twitter and facebook which also brings a sense of youth and informality to teen agers

of this modern era.

The images of the artists are posing casually to once again bring informality and perhaps rebellion to the magazine which hopefully

relates to it’s audience.

What have you learnt about technologies from the What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? process of constructing this product?

The technologies I have used for this product include Adobe Photoshop and InDesign which I feel I have progressed more in adjusting texts and pictures to create my

magazine. As you can see above the stages of how I created my masthead which included me rotating individual letters, creating scratches through them and adjusting

shadow settings to make them seem more 3D.I have also made use of Photoshop In adjusting colour settings for images to make them

seem more aesthetic.

What have you learnt about technologies from the What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? process of constructing this product?

Adobe Photoshop has also helped me in gaining effects for the various photographs I took from the college cameras. I used it to remove the background of some of the photos of

the artists by carefully deleting sections around them. It also helped me adjust the colour settings to make each

photo look an urban styled photograph to suit the genre. Not only did Photoshop do this but I also used my Apple iPod

touch as I simply used the “Pixlr-o-matic” app on the various photos I took off the college cameras to adjust the colours,

tones and effects such as scratches and a border to look like a Polaroid photo.

What have you learnt about technologies from the What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? process of constructing this product?

Other technologies I used were the college cameras and scanners which I found extremely useful. I used the cameras to photograph some volunteers to pose as the “artists” featured in my magazine at college. I also used a camera to photograph a firework sparkler to use as the

lit fuse for my dynamite in the masthead (as you can see the process of being made two slides previous to this).

I have found the scanners helpful in creating the ripped black border at the top and bottom of each page which was done by me ripping a black page and scanning it. I felt this suited the

“rebellious” and “dangerous” style. I also used the scanner for my fiery background as I painted an orange and yellow background on a piece of paper, scanned it, and adjusted the

colour settings and used the “blur tool” on Adobe Photoshop. I found this a useful alternative from setting an object on fire and photographing it, due to health and safety.

Finally the scanner allowed me to scan in the traces of the facebook and twitter logos I had used so I could open them on Photoshop and colour them in quite roughly to, once again, suit

the “rebellious” style.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full you have learnt in the progression from it to the full

product?product?

Since my preliminary student magazine, I feel I have learnt a lot more than I did in creating this music magazine and have developed skills and

knowledge that I don’t think I had while creating my preliminary magazine. I feel that I have learnt

how to use Photoshop and especially InDesign more confidently and creating special effects for text, images and shapes. Also I feel that I have

been able to take photographs with a much higher quality and better framing and using

scanners to scan in physical objects to appear on the computer to be included in my magazine.

For this magazine however I had to create a double page spread which was something that

wasn’t needed for the preliminary magazine so I felt it more of a challenge to write an article and position it around various images but I felt I had

accomplished it in the end.