Music magazine evaluation

Music Magazine Evaluation

Hannah Atkinson

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

real media products?My front cover follows all of the conventions of real media music magazines and would fit in on the store shelf with all the other music magazines. It has all of the traditional items that should be seen on the cover such as:•Selling line•Masthead•Graphic Feature•Kickers and cover lines•Headline and anchorage•Secondary Lead•Menu strip•Barcode

I also decided to follow the traditional colour scheme of white, red, black and yellow which I think looks best for the genre of music that I was using for the basis of this magazine. On the cover the more important and sell-worthy items have been either written or outlined in yellow as it seems to be the brightest colour on the page.

The type of shot that I used for the photograph is a mid-shot which is another convention of all magazines as generally you will only see close ups or mid-shots.

Another element is choosing two fonts that will carry on throughout the magazine as the two main fonts that regular readers will start to recognise and start to associate with Chamber. The two separate fonts also help define between, for example, the kickers and cover lines.

Masthead

Selling line

Anchorage

Kicker

Menu Strip Barcode

Secondary Lead

Headline

Cover Line

Plug

Graphic Feature

Rule of Thirds:When it comes to the rule of thirds technique my magazine fits in with the codes and conventions. The masthead is in the top third along with the selling line. The head of the model will fit into the bottom of the top thirds and then the middle thirds like mine. I’ve also used the left third to be the main placing for my copy as my kickers and cover lines are placed there. Also the barcode is in the right third which is the generic placing for it.

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

real media products?

My contents page follows all of the conventions of real media music magazines. It has all of the traditional items that should be seen on the contents such as:•Feature shots•Feature section•Regulars section•Editorial•Contents logo•Graphic Feature•Subscription Banner

I’ve carried on the colour scheme of red white and black and used the same fonts as I did on the cover to give my magazine an identity that all magazines eventually gain.

To give the contents page a busier more fuller look I decided to go with the white background and the pictures to build up the blank space around the text. The large photographs are the first things that you look at as a reader and as they are the main feature articles of the magazine they are the parts that the audience will be most interested in.

Feature Shot

Feature Shot

Features section

Regulars section

Editorial

Contents Logo

Graphic Feature

Subscription banner

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

real media products?

My double page spread follows all of the conventions of real media music magazines. It has all of the traditional items that should be seen on the page such as:•Section Header•Flash•Sidebar headline•Discography•Factfile•Introductory text•Inter shot•Feature shot•Pull Quotes•Headlines/Quotes•By line•Page Numbers

Once again I have carried the colour scheme on from the cover through the contents page and to my double page spread to keep the magazines identity on going. Instead of having a few main images I decided to have one full length photo emphasize who the article is about. How I have placed the article follows how other magazines have done it by placing it in columns and highlighting the questions by putting them in a different colour to the main text.

Section Header

Flash

Sidebar Headline Discography

Factfile

Introductory Text

Inter shot

Feature shot

Pull Quotes

Headlines/Quotes

By line

Page Numbers

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

As my target audience is teens who listen to pop/punk I have used names of bands that they will like to listen to as I found this out through my research. To help represent this audience for the artists that I created I dressed them in the way that stereotypes them as a part of this genre. This way the teens can idolize them and aspire to dress like them and be like them. They will see music artists as someone to look up to and guide them into the world of pop/punk if it is something new to the reader.

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

I’ve decided to go with Bauer Media as it sounds the most promising media institution to distribute my magazine. It currently publishes other big music magazines such as Kerrang! and Q Magazine, and it offers over 300 magazines to 15 countries around the world.It also distributes radio stations and online magazines which means they get my magazine to a great level and even be as good as Kerrang! and Q Magazine.Bauer employs around 6,400 people and has a 2008 turnover of 2.08 billion Euros.Bauer Media is part of a mega-corporation as it has as it is a division of the Bauer Media Group.Bauer Media's Latest NRS Data (Apr 2010 - Sep

2010)

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My target audience is both male and females who are in their late teens and are in their twenties who are interested in pop/punk music and the emo culture. They would either be students or working so they could afford to have money to spend on magazines. And all of them have access to the internet which will be good if the magazine got it’s own website.To show all of this I created a Readership Profile.

How did you attract/address your audience?

My target audience would like the colour scheme chosen as red and black are the type of colours emo and scene stereotypes are into. The layout is also busy and eye-catching but with a clean style that is easy to read and glance at. All of the images I have used give off a positive feeling and the layout of it looks organised. With these combined together it gives off a confident and controlled feeling which all students look to have in their lives. Some of the images are more playful and gives a light-hearted feel to the magazine. Throughout the magazine it holds a rock and roll feel through the photos, the use of instruments give of this feel along with some of the poses that the models are creating. The font that I have used for the masthead is similar to the type of fonts you may find on some car logo which ties in nicely with the leather jacket that Kate is wearing on the front cover. I also address the audience through the text. In the interview, for example, I write with colloquialisms to make the reader feel like they are being addressed personally and that they are apart of the interview.

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

Throughout the process of making this magazine I have learnt more about how to use programs such as Photoshop and how to create a blog.On my front cover and double page spread I created the effect of the text running off the page on the masthead and title. This makes the reader follow the line and turn the page to see where it leads when in fact it leads no where, in essence it acts as a “page turner”. To create thisI simply used the clone tool and cloned the end of the last letter and created the line. This is part of my house style which is why I carried it on from my front cover and on to my double page. It adds on to the look of the text and makes it seem like Chamber is going to last forever.

On my blog I integrated videos, uploaded images and PowerPoint's that I had created to show all my work through. When you go on my blog this is the screen that you will immediately see. It displays my latest blog which happens to be the front cover of my magazine.I created most of my work by using PowerPoint which I then uploaded on to a document sharing site so I could embed the PowerPoint into my blogs.

I would launch a website for Chamber similar to the one that Kerrang! has. It would have extra content that didn’t make it to the magazine and more exclusive interviews with celebrities but in video form. Also there would be features such as the best music video of the week and to find that out people would have to vote in a pole and anybody would be able to vote. There would then be a follow on feature with an article about the best music video of that week. Another part of the website could be a forum for any of the readers to voice their opinion on certain topics or just to post a message to the magazine. One topic could be asking the audience what they would like to see in the magazine so they have a say in what goes into the magazine and this would also appeal to them more as they chose the article.I would also set up a page on all the major social networking sites so that people can voice their opinion through there as well as through the website.

Looking back at your preliminary task (the College magazine), what do you feel you have

learnt in the progression from it to full product?

The college magazine helped me figure out how to get the best out of programs like Photoshop and let me figure out more about my blog. Looking back at my college magazine I feel like it looks poor compared to my music magazine. I learnt that the front cover needs to be busier and have a lot more content. Also I learnt how to set up a better contents page. When it came to making my music magazine contents page I realised that I needed more columns and sections like a feature and regular section. The way I set up my contents page makes it seem like there isn’t much content in the magazine which will put the audience off. The front cover is more aesthetic rather than following the conventions of using the left third and the top third to display the main parts of the magazine. I learnt this and changed how I set up my magazines when it came to creating my music magazine. However, on a positive note I managed to create a house style and continue that from the cover onto the contents. I chose two simple but different fonts to have as the main fonts for the magazine and used the same effects on the text but I changed the colours around depending on what background they were placed on so they stood out the most. Learning all of this I took this and made use of it in my music magazine.