Magazine evaluation

Magazine Evaluation.

Emma J Rickwood.

5 magazines similar to mine, and publishers.

Kerrang!

Bauer publisher.

NME

Bauer publisher.

Terrorizer

Miranda Yardley

Bauer publisher.

MOJO!

Jan Wenner.

Rolling stone.

The font, I found from Photoshop as an original text called ‘myraid pro' this creates a relaxed but bold feel for the genre It mixes well with the picture choices to, as it doesn’t stand out enough to take all attention from the images but enough just to drag some attention from the audience to the information put there in the font chosen.

Reasons for naming my magazine 'REVERSE' is because as its aimed at students and not the educational and 'boring' side of life its aimed at their invidual interests.

The font then plays onto the image of the boys, the reason for being over top is so it stands out again,  as the boys take up most of the room. The colours used work well together and aren't too dull and still keep in within the lines of the genre.

The flashes are there to give out information to the audience, this works well as they are clear, and easy to follow. Some also link to the images so there’s even more information to gain.

Front cover

analysis.

I had to use the techniques of layers on Photoshop so that the title was in front of the image of the boys. This was also used for each individual things on the magazine, the background layer was the main image of the guys so it didn’t over take anything but it kept a cool easy-eye catching background.

All together the structure of the magazine gave of the exact feel and theme I wanted it too. With the edgy but relaxed ‘cool’ image the boys give of, and the other flashes and subheadings (etc) all together they work really well. Its easy to follow and isn’t over crowded for too much for the audience to read.

The font I used for this works really well as I decided to go for a style that looks like it has been engraved into the guitar to give out an edgy looking style.

The main picture of the guitar allows the audience to know that the magazine is based upon music and instead of the typical choice of having a band or celebrity on the contents to advertise peoples interests the choice of a guitar is very individual and different.

The dividers and the top and bottom of the magazine allows the contents page to link with the front cover and the rest of the magazine. The fact it has ‘reverse’ on it allows this relation to be carried on from the front cover to the contents. The black box’ that divides it from the pictures means that its clear to see and can tell that that its separated from the picture.

For the image, I edited it a little so it stood out more but also fitted in well with the dividers and the text. I learnt this on Photoshop, I changed the brightness and contrast so it was more relaxed and more dull to fit with the rest.

Contents page analysis.

I think for the magazine itself and the audience the structure is very well put together, reasons for this are, its easy to follow and read and its clear of what the page is suppose to be, even though it’s very individual and not like most magazine contents pages.

Using the images diagonally I think was a very individual and different thing to do. It set of more of an interesting way of presentation to the audience. Also with the title ‘WOLVES’ on top of the image layer also projects a more interesting way of introduction.

The pull quote is also good for the audience as it gives of a quick idea of what the interview may include. Reasons for using the font and colour is because it sets well with the background and images. The colours blue, grey and black are used quite a lot so using the blue stands out against these but also matches well.

The whole constructing of the Double page spread is very different to most magazines, this is very individually constructed with the slightly rotated images, and the cut off writing gives of the edgy look. The colours are all mixed well but it’s not over the top and isn’t crowded by the brightness and colour mixing.

The colour choices of the font has kept, depending on the clothing colour in the images, the background colour and the pull quote colour. The reason for using around three different colours is vital as a mix of many can become to much and slightly drift from the genre of the magazine. The font size used it very professionally done, as its big enough for readers to see but small enough to fit but not looking out of place or too much. The font for the title and pull quote is used to stand out against the images and background.

How does your magazine product represent different social groups?

In my magazine its based upon a punk-y/indie sort of genre, its quiet relaxed so doesn’t involve a really metal, hardcore scene. I think the main cover does look a bit more rock but as you come to the contents and the interview its more relaxed and can actually involve other social groups for example indie, scene and punk.

Who would be the audience?

For my magazine, I have aimed for the audience to be a young both male and female. Reasons for both sexes is because it being a music magazine, both male and female can listen and read to the same sort of music. The genre is punk/indie so its easy for younger people to listen to as its a lot more modern and understanding for their age. Most bands included in this magazine are very new to the music industry so they would be fairly young, this will also cause a good relationship for the magazine and the reader.

How did you attract your audience?

To attract my audience the appearance of the front cover is vital, for a teenage look-in it needed to be bold and very eye catching as most magazines are similar. Unlike most, I didn’t flood the front page with writing but included enough information of the right length to attract and engage the audience.The photography of the band ‘wolves’ was also a must to draw more attention from teenagers/young adults, the choice of the boys was easy to make too as being young, musical attractive guys, girls would want to read about them and young male musicians would be inspired by them. Their genre of music also makes them a lot more interesting as it’s a very popular genre in the youth culture of England.

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

After looking at the magazine and the whole task itself, for the ‘arty’ side of it, I have learnt a lot due to Photoshop and the internet. Through Photoshop I have learnt a various amount of techniques to use for construction a ‘real-looking’ magazine. It has helped me to finalise each individual part of my magazine, from font and colour to structure and size.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt from it in the progression of your full task?From using Photoshop on a daily basis I

learnt the basics and the more constructive but harder things to do which all worked well from my magazine. From working on this programme a lot I have learnt many different things which have come in handy on working on each tiny part of my magazine, from resizing and rotating to colour editing and the layers. All together it makes a really well structured magazine by using and learning all the different techniques Photoshop had to offer. The amount of camera and photo work that also had to be involved also came in handy. As I done photography I knew the basis but actually constructing the images for a magazine project helped me to engage my mind of what sort of things professional magazine artists had to do.

Most responses for my first question on survey monkey were good, the opinions set were the reactions I wanted the audience of the magazine to have.

The audience were able to notice the genre of the magazine including it being an ‘indie/punk’ sort of scene.

They also picked up on the layout including that it wasn’t to packed with information but there was enough to tell what was involved in the up-coming magazine and what it was based on.

All answers were again, positive. They were able to pick up on the models not just the image, but the way that the boys were presented and how they related to the magazine.

The comments from the public on this question were all good, again, they picked out its individual side, as it is very different to other magazines and their contents pages.

The views and comments were exactly how I wanted the magazine to be and how I thought it turned out.

The comments show that the contents page is very individual with different elements that catch the audiences eye in every single place.

This question was really simple, and asked for a simple answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’. 100% answered yes which is a really positive answer as information in a magazine is vital and whether there is enough, there can sometimes be problems that there are too much. Going by the answers in this survey, my magazine involves enough information for my target audience but not too much so that it is over flooded and crowding the pages with it.

This was a very important question, because my contents page was so different to others and the use of colour, text and the image I didn’t want the contents page to look confusing or too over the top. Also one answer was able to notice that the look I was going for was the ‘scratching on the guitar’ which I was uncertain about to begin with as I didn’t think that it looked clear enough and looked too staged by Photoshop.

All the rest of the answers were very simple but still helpful.

The double page spread that I aimed for I wanted it to be very relaxed to give the audience who are reading and looking at the band to think that, they are very casual and ‘chilled’. Due to the answers I can see that this is the response that the audience are receiving from my magazine, they clearly state that it’s a fun piece and that it allows the reader to get an insight of what the band truly are within their private life and musical side.

Some comments have stated that my magazine is very much individual, although there are many punk magazines in the industry, I wanted mine to stand out and be very different, which is good because it’s the response I was given from the audience. All the comments are very positive from this question and allow me to see their own opinion which is all good.