Magazine evaluation

From the very beginning of my project, my aim was not to break the conventions set by existing magazines, but I was to use them as a guideline to influence me in my decisions when trying to create my own magazine. What I had found from my research, looking at similar magazines for which I wanted to emulate the style of e.g. Q & NME, is that Q often create magazines of a minimalistic style, which is in stark contrast to NME who

often create very ‘busy’ magazines , meaning that there is a lot going on in their front covers i.e. Lots of pictures, and text etc. My initial thoughts were to create a magazine similar to that of Q –minimalistic. So I felt to help me do this

I was to chose a simple colour scheme, black, grey & white. However, upon creating my draft, we felt that this was the wrong decision to go with, so I changed to a coloured magazine style.So during the creation of my magazine I tried not to break any conventions for

a magazine. So to do this, I kept my masthead at the top of the page, included a large front cover image, and cover lines to inform the reader as to headline features. I also kept the barcode and price small in the corner. I also followed the conventions on other pages aswell, i.e. Contents page - large inside story, headings etc. This continued on my double page spread where I included two large pictures featuring my artist, and a large heading at the top.

One of my first tasks to perform upon the creation of a magazine was to think of a magazine name that would represent my magazine, and what sort of magazine it was. However, I also felt it would be vital for the magazine name to be short & ’snappy’ so that it would be memorable to the audience. This was a result of researching various music magazines, and looking into detail about the magazines for which mine was the inspiration of, NME & Q. As it is plain to see from these two magazines, both are short names, which has been identified as that it stays in the mind of the customer, if they have a short name e.g. NME stands for New Musical Express.

However, the problem occurred to me that many magazine names are already in use in various different countries around the world, the magazine name obviously has to be unique. So I felt I would go for a name which was still associated with music, especially the genre, but represented what happens during many concerts. So I chose ‘Amplified’. This is mainly down to the fact that I thought it represents the louder music of the music industry (as my magazine focuses on Indie), but I also feel that it represents the meaning of making something louder, not only through music, butin addition through message.

Looking back to my first slide about breaking any magazine conventions, again for my page layouts I copied the conventional style set by existing magazines. As you can see by looking at the screen grabs below, I didn’t want to ‘risk’ it too much by experimenting with an unconventional layout. The reason was because during the draft stage I attempted two or three different page layouts which frankly were awful. So I decided then I was to stick with the conventional way of doing things, although throughout my magazine design and creation I have always wanted to create a simple magazine – not too dissimilar from Q. Looking at my front cover, I have used just the one image, with the cover lines around the outside of the photo. The reason behind that was because I didn't want other photos taking away from the effect I was trying to create with my main model. Moving onto my contents page, this is the page where I attempted to push some boundaries. This is because I tried to contest two different styles, modern, and retro. The modern feel was enhanced by the grey and white – clinical background. Contrasting with the retro feel of the Polaroid images, and the slanted guitar neck guiding my content list. Finally my double page spread

Where I wanted one close up image to dominate the page, which I feel I have done very well. I have also outlined the main body of the text with grey boxes to help make it stand out. Again I tried to follow conventions by putting the text into columns which is typical in many magazines.

From my research & planning, I thought it would be best to create a magazine for the indie genre of music. This is because I felt there was plenty of other similar magazines out there on the market which could inspire me in the creation of my own indie magazine. What I also discovered from my research was the frequent use of iconography in many magazines such as NME. So I felt I would try and

Incorporate the use of iconography into my own magazine. In the end I thought that because I still wanted to keep the casual look with my model, I thought of making use of a large speaker, with my model playing the guitar whilst sat on top. I also managed to incorporate some iconography into my

logo/ident. I created a logo in the same style as a guitar plectrum, but I initially thought it looked boring, so I added six red (to keep

the continuity with my new colour) lines to represent a set of guitar strings. I feel that this helps enhance the message of the genre which

my magazine is about. I also instructed my model to wear a t-shirt to try and enforce the indie style, I asked him if he could find a white t-shirt to try and not detract away from the iconography., yet still try and reflect the genre.

Throughout the majority of my magazine I have used the same style font for all major text; masthead and headings of each pages, and a different font for my cover lines. The main reason why I used a different font for my cover lines was because when created my mock ups I did use the same text, and I felt that it clashed too much with the masthead. You can see in the different print screens below where the set on the left show my cover lines which are in the same font style – Myriad Pro. I thought this font stood out on the page, but didn't dominate too much taking away from the desired effect of the main cover image.The set of print screens on the left are all my headings for the different pages. This particular font (called ‘Lobster’) was found on a website called “dafont”, where you can chose from a wide variety of different fonts. The reason why I chose this font was because I felt it looked stylistic, and enhanced the feel of the magazine I was attempting to create. I also felt that it stood proud above any other text, or imagery and dominated the page that it was on e.g. Front cover. I also thought many other fonts were too boring and didn’t represent the feeling of the magazine in the right way. These other fonts could be seen in a previous blog post.

FRONT PAGE CONTENTS PAGE DOUBLE PAGE SPREADFor my front page, I wanted to give an immediate impression as to what genre my magazine was, because this would be the first thing a potential customer would view. So I thought I would try and Incorporate the use of iconography into my own magazine to try and emphasize the genre of my magazine. So I included a large speaker for my artist to sit on whilst playing the guitar. This is because I felt it still gave the impression of an indie magazine, however give off the impression of a laid back, easy going magazine. I also felt that my use of lighting

enhanced the use of the speaker andguitar, because I shot the photo with one light focussed on the speaker, and a down light over the model.

The contents page is where I feel have managed to communicate the genre well. This is because I feel that impression when I look at it myself. This is because after my draft I felt there was something lacking, either imagery or something to communicate the indie genre of the magazine. So I decided to take some new close up pictures of one of my guitars. After which I decided to use the neck of the guitar to help separate the contents list on my contents page. I feel this helps enhance the message of the indie genre an adds another element to my magazine contents page. I also feel th-

at other elements on my contents e.g. Logo with the 6 strings, and the Polaroid effects helps to keep simplistic and personal feel about the magazine.

My double page spread was the page where I felt it would be hard to communicate the genre well. This is due to the domination of the required text to inform the reader of my featured artist. However, again I included my guitar based, plectrum style logo to help keep the continuity of the magazine. In addition I also used another medium close up shot of my artist playing the guitar. I didn't want this picture to dominate the page, I just wanted to use it as a reminder to the reader about the genre of my magazine, and I feel this one particular image does the required job well.

After researching various existing magazines, and the articles within them, I identified a frequent occurrence between various articles in differing magazines. This was that the magazines, whether it was NME or Q, represented artists or band members with an attitude, this was especially the case with new up coming artists featured in magazines where I noticed that they seemed to create riveting stories about their past, to try and entice the audience into choosing that magazines. This was something I was keen to incorporate with my artist in my magazine. So to try and create this mood around my artist I had to shoot my photos, or even enhance them on Photoshop to try and give my model that sense of arrogance about them. So as I proceeded with my photo shoot, we tried all sorts of different angles with the lighting to try

and achieve that certain shot. Which I felt I did with the image shown, bottom left of this slide. For this one shot I had one light behind my model only, and this helped me cast the shadow over the front of his face, aiding my to achieve that moody look with my model, and try and persuade the

reader that the artist does have a dark previous past to him. This particular photo can be seen on my contents page. In addition on my

double page spread, where the main f focus was to be on my artist I wanted t to different, contrasting sides to him. This is something which was helped with one photo being a close u up, and the other being a medium close up shot.

The colour scheme I initially chose was to keep the magazine as simple as possible, so to keep this I chose to use a simple black and white colour scheme. However after I had created my draft, we discovered that my magazine lacked vibrancy because of the lack of colour. So after discussion with my teacher we decided that I was to use a similar colour scheme, but add one certain colour to give it the extra sense of style it was lacking. We also agreed that I was to use a colour images for my photos of my model. After looking at the colour palette, I decided that I was to use the third option –black, white and red. This is because I thought it would be a good idea to use a colour that would match with the iconography in the image – the guitar. As

you can see from the final product below (right), you can see that it is a lot more inspiring than the draft version (bottom left). I feel that I have kept to the colour scheme well, and that I have used colours which match with the iconography and the model. For example my sub -headings are the same colour as my models shirt. I feel that this stands out on my black to white background which helps emphasise certain aspects of the front cover.

Comparing the similarities/differences using examples from existing magazines

The main convention followed by many magazines is the placement of the masthead for their magazine. It is always situated at the top of the page, and usually takes up around 1/4- to around1/3 of the entire front cover. As you can see from the existing magazines shown below (NME & Q), you can see that their mastheads do only take up around ¼ of the front cover. You also notice that the logo/ident, is in keeping with the main colour scheme of the magazine (usually because the masthead colours set the main colour theme of the entire magazine). When you compare these existing magazines you can see that I have tried to follow the conventions set by them. This is because I wanted to ‘play it safe’ - especially with the front page, and felt if I followed the conventions closely I wouldn't be far wrong with my end result.

I have also followed the tradition in that the main colour of the masthead is carried throughout the magazines. This is to help with consistency and to enable the magazine to flow well.

Following on from the front page where I wanted to follow the traditional conventions set by magazines, on the contents page, I had a few ideas I wanted to try out. This resulted in me challenging the conventions set by magazines such as Q or NME. One of their traditional contents layout can be seen on the examples shown below. Here we see that the magazines have a fairly simple layout with contrasting colours to help features stand out. Again we see that the main colour from the logo is carried over to this page, emphasising the colours of the brand trying to get the reader to remember the colours to increase their brand awareness. If you look at my magazine, far left, you see that I have followed the convention in that I have carried over the colours of the brand, and included a logo in the corner to emphasise the brand identity I am trying to create.

I have challenged the convention in that I have gone with a dark background, so I can use contrasting colours to make my text and images stand out. I have also used a guitar neck as a border for my contents as I feel it has a good effect on my contents page.

With the double page spread I have followed the conventions set by existing magazines, therefore many similarities between mine and current magazines can be found. If you look at the example from NME at the bottom of the page, you see that their image takes up around half of the page, and that their text is set out in columns with a quote in the middle of it. If you then look at my double page spread it is very similar, despite the fact that I have gone for a close up image of my musician. Originally I felt that the close up was too dominating so then added the smaller picture (bottom left) to take away some of the dominance of the close up image. You can also see that I have also set my article up in columns and included a enlarged quote in the first column to keep the reader interested, and to help persuade them to read on.