Music Magazine Evaluation

MUSIC MAGAZINE EVALUATION

Chloe Woods

Who Would Be The Audience For Your

Media Product?

Target Audience & Genre• The target audience for my

magazine is aimed at mainly teenagers between the ages of 15 to 20 and individuals who enjoy listening to the genre of rock music. My magazine will mainly be aimed at students who would be interested in going to the gigs of the type of artists featured in the articles, therefore they might be interested in this type of magazine.

• My magazines genre is rock and is not aimed at a specific gender. It will be a unisex magazine so that there will be a wider audience as a different artist would be featured on each cover so it will not always be aimed at females. The artists featured on each issue should attract both male and female audiences.

Target Audience & Genre

• I started off using other magazines to help develop my ideas for my magazine and understand how to approach making a rock magazine and how to appeal to my target audience. From analysing three other magazines, I was able to understand how they addressed their type of target audience and therefore how to address mine.

Target Audience & Genre

How did you attract/address your

audience?

HOW I ATTRACTED/ADDRESSED MY AUDIENCE

To attract my younger target audience, I used less formal, colloquial language to relate to the reader and approach

them with a casual, friendly tone. I also used different punctuation and the use of exclamation marks to sound more enthusiastic and create a fun, lively atmosphere.

HOW I ATTRACTED/ADDRESSED MY AUDIENCE

When considering how to attract and address my audience, I chose the name of the magazine to be ‘Pandemonium’

meaning wild, noisy and chaotic to create a loud, rock vibe that would persuade the reader to take an interest and buy

this magazine.

HOW I ATTRACTED/ADDRESSED MY AUDIENCE

The choice of colours also influenced how I attracted my audience as I used a typical rock magazine colour scheme of red black and white which contrast well with each other and

stand out against the lighter background, therefore attracting attention from the reader.

Analysing Front Covers, Contents Pages &

Double Page Spreads

To help with my research into how to attract the audience of my magazine I looked at three different magazines relating to my genre, Kerrang, NME and Metal Hammer.

For each magazine I analysed each front cover, contents page and double page spread to help understand how and why they used certain features.

Front Cover Analysis

The overall connotations and denotations of a loud, noisy environment on this Kerrang front cover suggest that the target audience are people who enjoy listening to loud, fast music, it also gives the impression that they have a laid back, care free attitude as portrayed from the individuals on the front cover. The facial expression shown also shown by the

main person links in with the idea that they are trying to create the impression of a loud noisy environment as it looks like he is shouting.

The use of the megaphone suggests the idea of sirens and loud noises, this idea is also suggested by the circles that are projected from the middle of the page echoing the volume of noise coming out of the megaphone.

The target audience would be drawn to the bold vibrant colours used throughout the front cover. The bright eye catching colour scheme appeals to the them as it is aimed at individuals who are into listening to loud rock music.

The position of the man in the middle of the photograph has connotations suggesting he is the main person in the band and is of most importance.

Front Cover Analysis

In the photograph they are not particularly wearing bold bright colours so does not give out a loud noisy impression of hard-core rock music.

The implication of importance is shown by the photograph being shot with a slightly low angle shot creating the impression that you are slightly looking up at them, as if they are more important than everyone else.

They are wearing subtle darker toned clothing that contrasts with the off-white background that has been used; this therefore makes these colours stand out much more without needing to be too colourful.

The bold white text also emphasises the importance of the main cover lines. The same bold white text has been used on ‘Look! Free Franz Ferdinand CD’ to also express importance.

The overall connotations and denotations of this issue of NME, unlike Kerrang and Metal Hammer, suggest less of a loud, hard core rock vibe but do however suggest a more serious tone due to the facial expressions of the group on the front., suggesting that they may have an older, more mature audience than Kerrang.

Front Cover Analysis The plug at the top of the cover is bright white

instead of red like all the other text therefore draws attention to itself and therefore the magazine as a whole.

The typography that has been used is a thick bold font which combined with the bright colours, attracts the attention of the reader drawing in people to buy the magazine.

A bold red font has been used for the masthead that is not one solid block colour as it has slightly darker patches of colour in it which gives a slightly rough edge to the text.

The overall appearance of the main member in the feature article photograph gives off a rock vibe to the magazine as he appears to be playing guitar on stage in front of a crowd.

The overall connotations and denotations of this issue of Metal Hammer give the impression that their target audience are more into hard core, classic rock music, The individuals facial expression and overall appearance of being on stage helps portray this view.

Survey

Research

Continuing with my research on the audience for my magazine I had to survey 25 people to find out what sort of fonts, layouts and colour schemes they would find interesting on my magazine. I asked people within the target audience age of different genders and conducted 11 questions to ask them.

40%

20%20%

20%

What sort of colour scheme could be used to attract your attention?

Black Red WhiteBlack Yellow WhiteBlack Red BlueBlack White Purple

40%

40%

20%

Bold

Large

Colourful

This research helped me develop lots of ideas on how to approach my magazine as each question had a purpose to provide me with answers to what my target audience and the public would want from a magazine of my genre.

20%

40%20%

20%

ChattyFriendlyLoudFormal

What type of tone would you prefer the magazine to have? Eg. Formal, informal, chatty, loud, friendly?

What type of fonts would attract your attention?

Bold, large, small, plain or colourful?

Survey

Results

Most of the participants

said they wanted bold,

large fonts used instead of

small plain ones indicating

that these style of fonts

would stand out more and

attract the most attention.

The majority of the participants said that they would prefer a magazine front cover with lots of text instead of one with barely anything on it.

Out of the four colour schemes provided, 40% went for the

colour scheme of black, white and red. I chose to stick with this colour scheme because

clearly it is want the audience would want and it fits in with

typical rock conventions.

Each participant said that using big bold numbers for the contents page would encourage them to take a look at the article, therefore I used these to attract attention.

What have you learnt about

technologies from the process of

constructing this product?

What I’ve learnt from technologies

Through the process of constructing my

magazine I have learnt how to use different features and skills on Photoshop and also how to use various camera angles and techniques to get a

good quality photograph.

Polygon

lasso tool

Magic wand tool

Blur tool

Blend tool

Cutter tool

Magnetic lasso tool

Low angle

shot

Close up

shot

High angle shot

I created a draft to plan out roughly

where each feature would go

and used different fonts to get an idea of which

fonts might look good.

As I then started to learn more

about Photoshop I then decided to change some of them and add different filters and effects to

them.

PLANNING MY MAGAZINE Drafts

I also created a draft for my

contents page, but ended up

changing some of the layout as I started to add

the text and photos.

I moved the layout of the main article

photograph to make it less

dominant on the page, as it

is the main feature on the

front cover.

PLANNING MY MAGAZINEDrafts

PLANNING MY MAGAZINEDrafts

I kept the finished double page spread almost exactly the same as

the draft I had made, moving things around slightly and altering the fonts

I was going to use.

I had not decided whether or not to keep the lines around the edges of the columns and the photographs but once I had added

in the article and photos I decided it was better to keep them around the photos to

make them stand out and to fit in with conventions rather than have them around

the article.

CREATING MY MASTHEAD

During the process of creating my masthead, these were some of the designs and ideas I had thought of using. I eventually decided to use a darker shade of red to attract attention to the

cover, instead of having all the texts in a darker colour.

I started off with a simple black design which I then built on using the different effects found on Photoshop. I decided a bolder font would work best as it would attract the most attention.

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Design Ideas

Front Cover

CREATING MY MASTHEAD

I decided to use the font ‘Perpetua Titling MT’ and added numerous effects to get it looking how I wanted it to. This font gave the overall front cover the look I wanted it to have once I had used this font and made it thicker and bolder to make sure that it stood out against the rest of the page.

Final design

Once I had chosen which font to use I then needed to decide on a main colour for the masthead. I decided to use a slightly darker shade of red to stick with the typical colour scheme of red, white and black. This colour also contrasts with the light background therefore stands out against the rest of the page. I used various

different effects such as an inner and outer glow, bevel, stroke and a drop shadow to give the masthead a more interesting look and to make it stand out more.

Front Cover

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CREATING MY MASTHEAD Final

design

Front Cover

This was the final design I chose to use as my masthead..

Using the facilities of Photoshop I was able to edit the lighting of this photograph, to make it look more vibrant and

bright as this was the photograph I decided to use for my front cover feature article photograph.

FEATURE ARTICLE PHOTOGRAPHSPhoto

graphs

Front Cover

EDITING MY PHOTOGRAPHOnce I had chosen a photo to use for my feature article photograph, using Photoshop I used the

‘Polygon Lasso Tool’ to place to photograph in front of the masthead so that the photograph stood out as one of the most prominent features on the page.

I only drew around the top half of the photograph so that the rest of the photograph was behind the remaining text that was on the page.

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Once I had done this, I then selected the option to ‘Layer via Copy’ this enabled the part I had drawn around to become a separate part of the main image, therefore allowing me to move it.

Lastly, I just had to drag the layer down until it was higher up than the masthead layer, making the masthead layer underneath the feature article photograph.

Front Cover

By learning and using this Photoshop technique, I was able to place the photograph in front of the masthead, without putting

it in front of the rest of the text. This makes the photograph attract more attention as it stands out more, especially against

the darker colours of the masthead. This also could suggest that the magazine would be well known, so the title doesn’t need to

be the feature that stands out most to the audience.

EDITING MY PHOTOGRAPH Final

edit

Front Cover

CREATING MY Contents Page

Contents Page

Drop Shadow: The use of a black drop shadow makes the title stand out against the white background of the page.

Inner Glow: I used an inner glow on the title to make the title look less plain and black, but still making it look bold and effective.

Stroke: Using the stroke feature allowed me to balance out the

colour of the text against the white background.

Therefore using Photoshop effects, I added a black stroke to the numbers so that the darkness of the black still contrasted with the red to make it stand out but fitting to the shape of the numbers rather than just being square shaped.

CREATING MY Contents Page

I had contemplated whether or not to add a black box around each of the page numbers to contrast with the bold red fill, I decided not to use this as I thought it didn’t fit in with the rest of the page and looked too boring just to have a black box around it.

Contents Page

Page Numbers

PhotographsWhen editing photographs for my contents page,

I used the same range of tools that I did to later create my double page spread. I did this to get rid of the bottom half of the photograph, firstly using the Clone Stamp Tool to clone the original colour of the background to place over the dirty marks of the whiteboard, making it look more professional. I then proceeded to use the Polygon Lasso Tool to cut around the two people so that when I got rid of the rest of the background, I did not interfere with the rest of the photograph. I then selected ‘Select’ ‘Inverse’ and then cloned the white background onto the area that I needed to get rid of.

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CREATING MY Contents Page

Contents Page

6.

CREATING MY Contents Page

Contents Page

Photographs

After going through the editing process of removing the bottom section and removing marks that were on the original background, this led to this final photograph which I then used

for my contents page.

To make the artist name stand out, I tried various different effects and fonts to use for the name on my double page spread to make it stand out and improve the appearance of the overall double page.

CREATING MY DOUBLE PAGE

SPREAD

Double Page Spread

CREATING MY DOUBLE PAGE

SPREAD

Double Page Spread

When adding in the article to the double page spread, I had to rearrange the text to fit it around the pull quote so that all of the text was visible, I did this by splitting the text into separate boxes so that it was easy to manoeuvre around the shape of the pull quote.

FEATURE ARTICLE PHOTOGRAPHSPhoto

graphsWhen editing photographs to use on my

double page spread, I used various Photoshop tools to edit out the bottom of the photograph. I started off using the Polygonal Lasso Tool to draw around the bottom half of the individual so that editing out that area wouldn’t affect the photo of her. I then went onto ‘select’ ‘inverse’ so I was able to edit the rest of the image without affected the area I had selected. Once I had done this, I used the Clone Stamp Tool to select an area that I wanted to clone, I then proceeded to clone that area onto the sections that I wanted to get rid of.

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Double Page Spread

FEATURE ARTICLE PHOTOGRAPHSPhoto

graphs

Double Page Spread

When editing photographs for my double page spread, I used a slightly similar process to what I did with my contents page photographs, using similar Photoshop techniques.

In what ways does your media product

use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

How my magazine used forms & conventions

By placing the feature article photograph in front of the

masthead I have used typical conventions that other

magazines, such as Kerrang and Metal Hammer have used, suggesting that the magazine is well known therefore does not need to be the dominant

feature on the page.

Front Cover

The colour scheme of black red and white that I have used continues the conventions of typical rock magazines, the colour scheme connotes a sense of dark, seriousness that is stereotypical of most rock artists. It also gives the reader an insight to what style and type of artist the individuals on the feature article photograph are. This typical colour scheme also contrasts with the lightly coloured background that I have used.

How my magazine used forms & conventions

Front Cover

How my magazine used forms & conventions

Front Cover

I have used typical

conventions of real magazines

on the plugs and puffs by using a slightly different

font and style, for example the top half of the plug is

in bold, distinguishing between the

artists name and the rest of the

text. The rest of the text is also

written in italics, this makes it look

slightly more interesting so it is

not just plain.

How my magazine used forms & conventions

When created my contents page, I used

typical NME conventions for the title as I felt they had an effective purpose of being in a bold black

font, contrasting with the plain white background,

therefore decided to use a similar design.

Contents Page

How my magazine used forms & conventions

I also decided to follow typical NME conventions by setting out my contents in the style of a conventional NME magazine, this gave the contents page a

clear and concise layout inwhich it is easier for the reader to follow.

Contents Page

How my magazine used forms & conventions

I used typical big bold red page numbers for my contents page to attract attention to the page and draw the reader in, I also added a

bold black line around the numbers to attract further attention, standing out against the rest of the page.

Contents Page

How my magazine used forms & conventions

1. In most magazines the use of a drop cap and pull quote attract peoples attention to read and take an interest in the article, this is why for my magazine I chose to include both of these features due to this reason.

2. These features also give a more interesting layout to the page, with the pull quote breaking up the chunks of text, making it easier to read and also enticing the reader.

Double Page Spread

How my magazine used forms & conventions

I have used typical features of a double page spread such as including date and by-line, stand first, drop cap and including the time and location

of when the photos were taken to add extra information to the article.

Double Page Spread

How my magazine challenged forms & conventions

On my double page spread, I have challenged forms and conventions by slanting the positions of the other photographs, in most magazines if they are including more photographs from the photo shoot, they will be aligned straight instead of at an angle.

Double Page Spread

How does your media product

represent particular social groups?

My magazine could represent different social groups as I have tried to have a wider range of target audience. For example my magazine consists of a unisex element, I have used typical rock magazine colour schemes and would use a different artist each time, with the content of my magazine appealing to both male and females. Therefore attracting a wider audience and representing various social groups. My magazine is mainly representing and aiming at middle class individuals whilst also having elements of representing working class individuals. I have included subscription offers on the contents page which may appeal more to the working class as they could be put of by the costs.

How my magazine represents particular social groups

How my magazine represents particular social groups

My magazine represents both working class and

middle class. This is represented through the

outfits that the artists featured on the contents

page are wearing, the main artist is wearing a buttoned up to the top shirt creating

more of a smart appearance whereas on the left the

artists are wearing slightly more casual clothes,

representing more of a working class.

What kind of media institution might distribute your

media product and why?

• IPC Media works with more than 60 iconic media brands and creates content for multiple platforms, across print, online, mobile, tablets and events.

• As the UK's leading consumer magazine publisher IPC Media engage with 26m UK adults - almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men. They have three publishing divisions; IPC Connect, IPC Inspire and IPC Southbank. IPC Inspire, has a wealth of leisure brands including lifestyle brands such as NME, which is a magazine that my target audience are likely to read.

• Due to the fact that IPC Media distributes NME magazine, I thought it would be best to use this company to publish my magazine. NME’s huge success could also mean I have a big chance of Pandemonium becoming a success.

• Also, because they are such a big company, there should be more advertisement options so by allowing a company to publish my magazine it would work out to be cheaper than if I were to do it independently because I would have to pay for printing, advertising and distribution costs.

What kind of music institution might distribute

your media product and

why?

• The kind of distribution methods I would be using would be putting copies of my magazine in various popular retail shops such as newsagents and WH Smiths as a lot of people would go straight to a newsagents to buy a magazine.

• I would also distribute my magazine to large supermarkets such as Tesco’s and Asda as a lot of people would also go to supermarkets to look for magazines or may just notice them as they are shopping, therefore this is why I would distribute my magazine to shops like these, to attract a wider audience.

• Another way of distributing my magazine would be to put copies of it online as a lot of other magazines now do, and by using internet distribution it would my attracting my younger target audience because most young people spend a lot of time on the internet so may be more likely to read my magazine this way.

What kind of music institution might distribute

your media product and

why?

Looking back at your preliminary task,

what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Student Magazine Vs Music Magazine

My preliminary task was to create a student magazine using Photoshop.

Front Cover Comparisons

The overall quality of the photograph

has improved from the

transition from student

magazine to music

magazine due to the camera used, overall

mise-en-scene and

preparation for my music magazine

photograph.

Photograph

Front Cover Comparisons

The overall conventions of my music magazine are a lot more realistic to real

magazines than my student magazine was. For example including a barcode, which I had

not previously though of.

Also the use of the plug at the bottom including some context to what is in the

magazine typically represents a lot of real magazine, this is also not included in my

student magazine.

Conventions

Front Cover Comparisons

For my student magazine I had created the masthead without researching any other styles of magazine, however by doing this research for my music magazine I was able to understand that

my masthead needed to be big and bold with contrasting colours to make it vibrant and stand out.

Through the process of creating my music magazine and using Photoshop, I think I have improved a lot on the quality of masthead that I can make.

Masthead

From constructed my student magazine to my music magazine, I learnt and

improved on the types of fonts to use on the front cover. When making my

student magazine I used more plain, simple fonts rather

than using more interesting fonts that helped attract

attention to the page such as ‘Bookman Old Style’. These fonts attract attention to the front cover and contrast well

with the lightly coloured background.

Student Magazin

e

Music Magazine

Front Cover Comparisons Fonts & Texts

Student Magazin

e

Music Magazine

Contents Page Comparisons PhotographsFor my contents

page the quality of my photographs

for my music magazine has

increased since making my student magazine, due to the camera used

and overall experience of using

Photoshop. The overall layout of

the page has also increased due to

the research I had done before

creating the music magazine.

Student Magazin

e

Music Magazine

Contents Page Comparisons Photographs

The quality of my Photoshop skills has improved massively from the transition

from student magazine to music magazine. I learnt

how to use the tools a lot better therefore improving my final

result.

Student Magazin

e

Music Magazine

Contents Page Comparisons Contents

The overall design of the contents of the

music magazine is a lot better and more realistic to a real life magazine than my

preliminary task was. This demonstrates

how my skills of using Photoshop have

improved throughout this process.