My Evaluation Of My Media Music MagazineBy Ben Hope

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

My magazines front cover uses similar conventions to other magazines, because I have a main tittle that is bold and stands out, also I have a centralised image that stands out and brings more attention towards the magazines front cover.Both magazine have centralised images like on most magazines.Main titles are bold and stand out. I used a certain colour scheme in my magazine like most other magazine do, as shown above my magazine (left) uses a black white and red colour scheme, also kerrang has a red, black, white and yellow colour scheme. (my magazine has hints of grey because of the mixture of black and white).My magazine breaks conventions with the main image as my image was taken looking away from the camera (the reader) whereas most other magazines have the artists looking at the camera, I feel the way I have used the image is god for the magazine as it will make the reader wonder what he’s looking at and make them want to read his story, also it gives it a more youthful feel to the magazine by the way he is positioned facing away and in front of a brick wall which ties in with the audience the magazine is aimed at (18 – 20 year olds).My Centralised image is a mid-shot which is also represented in most other music magazine as most magazine have their main images as mid-shots.The cover line on my front cover uses similar conventions to other magazines as cover lines are supposed to draw attention to readers and make them want to reader the magazine and my cover lines are specifically aimed at young and talented people which also applies to other magazine, other magazines will use cover lines that are aimed at their audience.

Main titles are bold and stand out.

Both magazine have centralised images like on most magazines.

I have also challenged conventions by having a much plainer front cover as most rock front covers and magazine front covers in general have lots of different things on them which makes them In most cases messy and not very attractive, so I decided to make a much similar and much more attractive front cover which will hopefully appeal to the reader more than a messy front cover would. I feel that by making the magazine more attractive and having less content on the front will make readers want to buy it as it’s a change from the usual magazine.

Another convention I have challenged is the fact that I included an editor’s introduction to the magazine including a picture of the editor I realised most magazine don’t include this and I thought it would be a good way to link the editor with the reader to make them feel more relaxed and in touch with the magazine and content within the magazine.

I have used the same colour scheme on each of my pages (contents and double page spread) to make it look more neat and tidy and also look more professional, the way I have layed out the pages is similar to other magazine as well because I have put text on one side and pictures on the other, my contents page doesn’t have many photos and this is because I felt that the pictures I was going to put on weren’t really suitable for the page and just ruined the more attractive look that I was aiming for.

Front CoverThe way my image is showed breaks conventions as people usually expect the main person to be facing the camera but this will make the readers think about what he’s looking at, also I made the image reasonably big but not too big, I wanted the bricks to be shown in the background to represent his youth and the darkness and style of music included in the magazine.

The Name of the magazine is in a bold and stylish font to attract the readers to want to buy the magazine.

This cover line on the front page will attract the young and talented audience that my magazine is aimed at because people will read this and think they will get help getting noticed.

The magazine has a barcode because all magazines have one and it makes it look more professional.

In my magazine I used a colour scheme of black white and red to bring attention to the reader that it’s a rocker magazine as rock is more associated with darker colours.

A list of bands/ artists shows the reader what they can expect to see in the magazine if they aren’t young and talented then they may be interested in the other bands/artists included. Also they bubbles they are represented in looks rather strange and attractive in weird ways which may bring attention the bands when reader looks at the front cover.

The illuminated white text brings attention to the text showing how dreams can be accomplished as Sam and the band are hoping for a tour of Britain!

Final Contents Page This is the title of the contents, showing that the magazine is a weekly magazine.

This is a picture of the editor which will make the audience feel close to the editor and know what he looks like which may make some readers feel more comfortable about reading the magazine.

All the writing is standardised and on the same side, this makes it look more presentable to the reader, also shows what the main parts of the magazine are.

This is a picture of the front cover of the magazine to remind them of the content.

The guitar symbolises that the magazine will have something to do with rock and indie music as most rock/indie bands are associated with using guitars.

This opening paragraph gives the audience an insight of what is the main part of the magazine and what will be the main headline. Also the opening paragraph shows that this is the first official issue of the magazine.

Evaluation – Double Page Spread

I have made sure to put the name of the band and name of the two people who are being interviewed on the page so the reader knows who they are and what the band name is.

I have added a few images of the two musicians being interviewed so the reader can relate to the way they look and dress, I only got pictures of the main two because I didn’t feel the reader would be as interested in the people who don’t get interviewed.

I have used the guitar picture again to emphasise the fact that it is a rock magazine and aimed at young musicians who want tips on how to make it in the “big-time”, you don’t have to be a young musician to buy the magazine as it contains other content for people who are purely interested in rock/indie music.

I didn’t enter a lot of text because I felt it would make the page look overcrowded; I also feel that a more simplistic look has helped me achieve what I wanted which was a stylish and well represented double page spread.

I have used this black to white fade across the screen because it looks more rock/indie than bright colours, also it looks more professional than having a bright colour for a background and I also felt that leaving the background white would be bland and boring.

I wrote an opening paragraph of who is in the band and then continued with another two paragraphs explaining what they want and hope to achieve from doing the interview.

The text is bold and stands out from the rest of the page to make it look more attractive and also it’s a dark shade to go with the rock/indie theme.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product is aimed at young male musicians who are interested in the rock industry, between the ages of 16-20; I feel that my magazine breaks conventions of usual rock magazine as I don’t use any pictures of older rockers or things associated with older rockers such as motorbikes and leather jackets. The magazine is mainly for young musicians who feel they are at a dead end in there attempt to make it big in the music industry, the magazine has the interview with “we have emotions” who are a rock band who have recently made it into the spotlight and are close to bigger things such as tours in big arenas such as the 02 and MEN arenas. It isn’t just aimed at young musicians it is also aimed at people interested in the rock/indie genre.

On the front cover there is a picture of a teenager from the band “we have emotions”, he suit the role of a rock band member as he has long black hair and has the same dress sense, he is sat on a bench facing away from the camera, this breaks the conventions of most magazines as most people on the front cover will be facing the camera, because he is facing away from the camera this will make the reader think what is he looking at and will make them interested.

Because Sam is the main feature of my front cover it draws attention to him as the more talented and main member of the band and young people may relate to this and feel that they can be like Sam and help their band members become as successful as Sam’s band. When people look at the front page they should automatically link Sam to a rock typed magazine as he represents a typical rocker.

The article explains how Sam is down to earth and can have a laugh, and not everything is serious, which represents that just because your aiming for big things doesn’t mean you have to be serious and focused and you can have a rest from focusing and have fun.

I think that many young band members can relate to Sam and will be able to put them selves in his shoes, this will attract more readers to read the magazine as they will want to read his story and be emotionally attached to his journey as they will feel they will have to go through the same things Sam has.

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

When I was looking through different media institutions I spotted Bauer media, I think my magazine would fit in with their type of music, I would describe my magazine as a close representation of kerrang with rock/indie music and a darkened lay out. I did come across other institutions such as IPC Media, I didn’t choose IPC as I didn’t think it would be a good link to my magazine as Sam represents a more rocker theme signifying that the magazine may contain more rock than indie music, where as NME includes more indie music than rock. Also my magazine looks more like a kerrang magazine with dark colours and white text to draw more attention to the text, because my magazine is mostly rock based it would be more fitting for it to be Bauer as they have more of a rock feel, on the kerrang front page foo fighters are the main picture who are a well known rock band, the fact that foo fighters are in the speech bubble at the bottom of my page represents that Bauer would be more fitted to distribute my magazine. NME’s magazine has Tyler the creator on the front, who is a young rapper, the fact that he is a rapper means that my magazine wouldn’t represent the style of music NME/ IPCMedia are aiming for.

IPC Media My Magazine Bauer

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my magazine is young males aged 16 – 20, I have chosen this target audience due to the amount of rock band content which will be more linked with males than females, also I have aimed it at younger males rather than older ones, as younger people would be more intrigued and interested in the story about Sam due to his age and the fact they can relate to Sam and his age and try and follow in his footsteps and try and make their band ( if they are in one) big and successful. People over the age of 20 may not be interested in the story about Sam, but they may be interested in other content such as articles on big bands such as Blink-182 and Two Door Cinema Club. Just because my main audience is young people doesn’t mean that people out of that age range cant buy the magazine, its just the fact that younger people will be more interested and more tempted to buy it.

Race is not an issue when looking at the audience as rock doesn’t single out skin colour as everyone can listen to rock music without feeling out of place, where as rapping is more associated with black people. All people can be interested in rock music and isn’t associated with one race. The magazine would obviously appeal to people who fit the stereotypical rock “look” (leather jackets, black hair and skinny jeans) but yet again just because someone doesn’t fit the stereotype doesn’t mean they wont be interested in the magazine. Because Sam is young himself, it will make it easier for the reader to connect with him, as young people usually find it easier to connect with other young people rather than older people, this was the main reason I didn’t include older rockers in the magazine as people cant really connect with them.

Sam is young and relatively new to the music industry so I found it important in the Q & A to use questions that relate to his age and to show how Sam made it to where he is, Because the magazine is mainly about how young people can make it, most of the readers who are interested in “making it” will be able to relate to Sam and want to read about how he made it and their future plans.

How did you attract/ address your

audience?

The “misty outline” to the bands included may attract readers to buy the magazine, they may be interested in certain bands and want to buy the magazine, the “misty outline” will emphasise the bands and bring attention to them.

Because the magazine is mainly about Sam and his band making it “big” I used a picture of Sam and also its aimed at young males so it will also attract them, the fact Sam isn’t facing the camera will attract readers as they will be thinking about why Sam isn’t facing the camera and what he’s looking at.

The cover lines on my front page may attract users to read on, the cover line is “Young & Talented? Want to get noticed? Want a chance? We can help!”, this will make the reader want to read because it will give them advice on how to get noticed and may lead them onto better things

The layout of my magazine will attract the reader that like more simplistic and neat magazine, I did this because personally I don’t like magazine with a lot of information on the front as it looks messy and in my opinion I think that it will bring more attention to the picture and more attention to the highlighted text as when there is a lot of text people don’t usually tend to read it because there is so much of it.

The colour scheme I used was very simplistic (black, white and red) I thought these colours worked well and would attract the more rocker reader.

My double page spread attracts people by using a page of images and a page of text, this will attract the readers because they get to look at the people in the band before reading about it, this helps them to relate to the way they band members dress/look and will make them more interested about how their look is associated with their music.

The font used on the contents page is very stylish and looks good, the way the page number and story title is bold and the content of the stories in normal text makes it look more professional, On my double page spread the text is more sharp and makes the magazine look more sophisticated as the text looks very professional and links in well with the one page of writing and one page of pictures look I went for.

The Font used for the front pages Title is rather unusual and will make readers attracted to the “funky” font also I used a different font on my contents page and double page spread to bring emphasis on the front cover, the font on my contents and double page spread is exactly the same and stylish to attract young people as young people are into the stylish and funky looks.

On the contents page I have a picture of the editor which will make the readers feel that he wants to be close to the readers and listen to their ideas, the opening paragraph is the editors view on the magazine and makes people aware it’s the first official issue which may make people want to read, also emphasises that Sam’s the main person and the main interest in the magazine.

Audience Feedback.To get audience feedback I produced a questionnaire and asked 30 people five questions about my magazine.

1) What would you say the age range is for this magazine?(i) 15 – 18 – 7 people (ii) 18 - 20 – 16 people (iii) 20+ - 7 people 2) Do you think that the colours used match the type of magazine it is(rock)?(i) No – 4 people(iii) Yes – 26 people 3) If you seen this magazine in the shop would you be tempted to buy it?(i) No – 5 people(ii) Maybe – 11 people(iii) Yes – 14 people 4) If you didn’t know what type of genre the magazine was, would you have guessed it to have been a rock magazine?(i) No – 3 people(ii) Yes – 27 people 5) Would you find this magazine easier to look at and read compared to others?(i) No – 3 people(ii) Yes – 27 people

The results of the audience feedback suggest that my magazine will be successful because;

• the age range match the one I set for the magazine.• people agreed with the colours used in the magazine and matched the genre of the magazine.• Most people said they would be tempted to buy my magazine.• The results show that the magazine has more of a rock theme which is the type of magazine I aimed for.• Finally people said that my magazine was easy to look at, which is also what I wanted it to be.

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

Before creating my music magazine I had never used quark and only had basic knowledge of how to use Photoshop, over the period of time we had to create the magazine I gained some important skills to do with the different pieces of software which enabled me to create the front cover, contents page and double page spread for my music magazine.

When I began using quark I had no clue how to use it, whilst creating the magazine I gained important skills such as how to place image on the page, how to split the page into columns for my double page spread and even simply things like inserting text. Quark was very hard to get to grips with as I had never used it, but when I finally got into it, it became easy I mainly used quark for my double page spread and to export the files into PDF’s.

When using Photoshop I had previous experience of using it, I did gain some new skills however. I created most of the pages in Photoshop, I used it to create the whole front page and contents page and also to crop/edit all pictures on all pages including the double page spreads. In Photoshop I had to use the tools such as the quick selection tool, the magic wand, crop tool, the text box and obviously the move tool also I had to be able to create layers and duplicate them. I had to use duplicate the layers so I could delete the backgrounds so the images didn’t have a background as it would look very unprofessional to do that, also that linked in with the magic wand and quick selection tools as I highlight the backgrounds of the images and deleted them using these tools as it was quicker and faster than drawing round each image.

I found working in quark and Photoshop very good as it was much more helpful and helps you be more imaginative and creative which is important when create a magazine. Photoshop was the programme that assisted me the most, it helped me create the image I had in my head of what I perceive to be a good magazine. After completing my magazine it was clear I had gained new skills in quark and Photoshop as I had created a magazine of a high standard.

If I had to say what improvements would be needed is that I needed a lot more images than I actually took, also I should have took pictures of more than just two people as it would give me more variety when explaining how the readers can connect with the people from the band, apart from needing more images I would say I’m happy about all aspects of my magazine.

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

Before I started making my music magazine we were also told to make a college magazine, we had to create a front page and contents page for Priestley College. The college magazine was set as a preliminary task and was only done to get us more familiar with the software we were going to use for our music magazine which was Photoshop and Quark.

Because I had little or no experience with these programs before the preliminary task, you can see clear improvements between my music magazine and the preliminary college magazine, The magazine I created for the preliminary task wasn’t very good as it had a mix of different colour and was very bare and didn’t look presentable or professional.

I don’t feel I did very well in creating my college magazine I don’t think I used the programs as well I could have, the front page is very plain with no detail or editing and the contents page isn’t presentable at all, but then my music magazine shows a great deal of improvement in the use of the programs. I struggled the most using quark as I had no experience using it and had no idea what the tools did, but Photoshop was a bit easier but I still struggled using these for the preliminary task.

Comparing my final music magazine with my preliminary task you can see the difference in effort and understanding of the use of Photoshop and quark, the music magazine I created is of better quality than my college magazine which is clear to see. You can clearly see the progression of using the programs by just glancing at the two different tasks, the music magazine looks a lot more professional which also represents my progression in Photoshop and Quark.

In progression of the time I have spent using Photoshop and Quark I feel that my skills have improved a lot and I feel it has helped me produce a better standard of work, I felt a lot more confident using these programs after the preliminary task and I feel that I have tried my hardest to learn and make my music magazine a lot better than my college magazine. Overall making my music magazine was really successful compared to my college magazine and I am pleased with how well and professional it looks.

College MagazineMusic Magazine