ENCORE

T H E N E W K I N G O F P O P

INTERVIEW WITH THE MAN HIMSELF NOUZ

£3.50

Evaluation My magazine front cover I thought went very well. I decided not to go with my original idea of making it very bold and colorful with lots of headings because this can sometimes look messy and not appeal to the eye as much than making it with little headings but a very strong photograph in the middle like I have done. My target audience for my magazine is older teenagers. I think this magazine is perfect for older teenagers because it is minimalistic which is what people at that age want nowadays because they don’t have time to be reading of front covers as teenagers are always multitasking with studying. The photo is a very strong and powerful one because the artist is looking straight down the camera with a serious frown on his face and the black background makes his face stand out. Through this image he is telling us that he is a very professional but serious artist. The body gesture of the frown is telling us that he may be quite angry, this is called kinesics and also paralanguage. This makes him look powerful because he is staring right down the camera as if he is looking at the reader and the frown gives him a serious look. It also goes well with the heading of “the new king of pop” because he looks like a big pop star as he is on the front of a music magazine. This is called anchorage, the editing I have done on the photo also makes it look very strong because his face stands out a lot and is the center of attention on the page, which is the effect that I was going for. I chose to have the photo in an MCU shot because I wanted his face to be the main thing that people look at, whereas if it was his whole body you wouldn't’t so much look at his face. When taking the shot I had the room in complete darkness and turned the flash on my camera. This way it would just capture his face and not the background, this then left me with the black background which is what I wanted. I decided to represent him very powerfully because this then gives the magazine a stronger brand image as the photo is a powerful one. It also attracts readers in to reading it. His cheekbones are one of the main features on his face and also makes him look very powerful because cheekbones are an attractive feature to the face. I am creating him too look intelligent and also very powerful. It is suppose to represent who he is as an artist. I wanted to keep the page minimalistic as I believed that this would stand out more and can attract a larger audience. The use of only two colors, black and white, allowed me to have this simple effect as it makes the page very eye catching with the large image in the back ground. This sort of magazine front cover is targeting older teenage boys that is interested in pop and rap music. This is due to the dark colors and the artist is a male. If it was targeted at older teenage girls you would expect to see much more vibrant colors and the image would probably be a women. I chose the name ‘encore’ because it means “again, once more” and is used by an audience in calling for an additional song. This gives the magazine the image of looking to carry on making magazines but also it is a music magazine. The general impression of this product is that it is very male orientated as it is very minimalistic. It also has the impression that it is a fashionable and trendy magazine that adolescent males enjoy to read. I chose the price of £3.50 because in my interviews that was a common price that people said they would pay for a music magazine. A lot of my interviewees said they they liked colorful front covers that had interesting headlines that catch the eye. I chose to go against these because when I came up with this idea I liked the concept of it being simplistic and it also catches the eye in a different way to most magazines. I chose the font of “DIN Condensed Bold” for the title because it is a very bold font that stands out very well. The way the letters are shaped with sharp edges gives it a strong feel to it and adds to the image of the magazine. For the cover line font I chose “Beirut Regular”. I believed that this font fit well with the style of the magazine because it looks “cool” and “trendy”. For the main cover line the font I used was “Bodoni 72 Oldstyle Book”. This font is a very clear and bold font that makes the cover line stand out strong and catch the eye. The target audience would enjoy seeing these fonts as they are interesting to read and they will catch their eyes into reading the magazine. They are also very clear so they can easily read it when they walk past which means it will again catch their eye and make them want to read it. The things that didn't’t go quite well is that I could have added more headlines and gone for a different look. With more headlines it can usually attract a large demographic as it is telling the people what they are going to read about. Another thing I could improve on is maybe adding more vibrant colors. In my interviews people said they liked to see vibrant colors but when it actually came to it I didn't put any in. Adding brighter colors would catch the eye of the audience. Another thing is that the photo may be a little out of focus when you zoom right the way in. This may have been because of the flash when taking the photo or it is too over exposed due to the editing. I could also have added a puff to the front cover in order to attract people to read it. This could be an extract from the interview which would give people more incentive to read it. Older teenage boys also like to see competitions that they could win so the front cover could have had a buzzword.

Evaluation My contents page is successful because of the fact that I created the page with the idea I had in my head and how I did it on my mock up. I wanted to create a contents page that is very clear to read and has very appealing images that stand out to the demographic. The main color on this page is black, with the background on the title being black and the photos and fonts being mainly black as well. I wanted to keep this page simple like the front cover with the use of only three colors, this time black white and orange. I used the color orange for the page numbers and page breaks as this color stands out and I believed that it works well with the black and white. I wanted similar styles with the images that I chose because this way it will give it a similar feel across the page and I don’t want it to feel random when looking at it. This style was a pop star look and with the models posing in the images giving the artists stylish looks. I chose to put the photos down the left hand side of the page because we read from left to right, so when we turn the page we would instantly look at the images which would draw us in to reading about the articles and what pages they are on. I chose the font of “Big Caslon” for the title as when I increase the size of the text it makes it look bold and stands out and the font is classy and gives it a professional look. For the word “features” I chose the font style of “Bodoni 72 Oldstyle Book”. I used this font on the front cover for the main cover line. I chose to choose the same font to have some continuity, the only thing different about it is that it is not in bold. For the main text I chose the font “Bodoni 72 Book” this is very similar to “features” but it is slightly different. This font is a professional looking one and gives the magazine a strong and expert feel to the brand image. For the page numbers I chose the font “Apple Chancery”. This font is an old style looking font with the numbers having a curve look to them. I chose this font because I think it gives the page a good look to it and it is a formal. It also stands out from all the other fonts on the page. I put the sub headlines in bold writing because from my research the was a constant occurrence throughout magazine contents pages. It is done so that people are instantly drawn to what it says as its in bold and attracts the eye. I adopted this technique for my contents page. Changes that I would make to my contents page is that I could have had a color to the background instead of white. This may have made the page more eye catching but it could have made it look messy and un-professional. Another thing I could have changed was have different fonts to the first page in some cases. This could have given the magazine a different variety, but I wanted some continuity so decided to have some of them the same.

CONTENTS FEATURES

14

10

Max Elvery Revealed We tell you what Max is really like in

an exclusive interview!

10

Asha, what it was like to grow up in the rough part of town

Asha tells us how hard it was for her in her childhood!

14

Our Exclusive Interview with Nouz!

His life, career, childhood and fame!

3

Hall of Fame! 2015 hall of fame revealed with big

names of the music world!

50

CHARTS See who has topped this

weeks chart! Is it Nouz or is it Eve with their new

singles?

30

Online exclusive, watch all the interviews from this months magazine on our website

at www.ENCORE.co.uk 27

THE RISING STAR OF NOUZ

What a year this young man has had! Three Brit award nominations and two Grammy nominations, with winners still to be announced his year could get even better. The release of his debut album was a huge hit in both Britain and the US, selling 20 million records across the world. Nouz described it as a dream and said “I would never have dreamt of this and never thought I would be making music for world audiences.” Nouz is THE rising star in the music industry and is to have a massive future ahead of him. But we want to delve deeper into his past and upbringing to how ︎he got to where he is now. Nouz did in fact have a very good upbringing with a family that cared for him and loved him. His family was wealthy which had a negative effect on Nouz. It caused him to be a lazy person and expect everything to be given to him. This gave him a “cant be assed” attitude to do anything with his life. When he reached 18 ︎ he did not have a job and lived with his parents until 21 when they told him to leave

and go find a job. He was in and out of jobs and never had anything that could secure him down. Nouz always knew he was good at singing so he thought that he should start busking in the streets. This earned him very little money. A pub owner who asked if he would be willing to sing at his pub twice a week for £50 a night then spotted him. He was doing this for about 6 months when one night someone came up to him and asked him if he wanted a recording contract. Nouz said he was in shock and at first thought it was his mates playing a joke on him. He signed the contract and well….the rest is history. Nouz hasn't’t been hiding his love life either, having flings with other major artists such as Taylor Swift. This has caused him to have a bad name put against him but Nouz said to this that “haters gunna hate, I don’t care its my life and I love my fans!” Nouz has certainly had an amazing first year in music and is sure to cause more controversy in the industry but one thing we are sure of, he will certainly carry on making amazing music. ︎

Issue No.100 3 ︎

Evaluation

My double page spread went well I believe. Originally this was not the design I was going for nor the colors I was going to choose. I was also going to put the text into columns but I decided not too last minute because I wanted to go for something different. Once again I chose to use a maximum of three colors and these colors are black, white and orange, the same as the contents page. I put the main image very large and to the left side of the page. I put him this large so it shows him as the main figure head and that he is the talking point of the article. I made my model\artist have a very distinct look and pose to his face when taking the photo. I wanted to make him look classy with the white shirt and tie and I wanted him too look attractive with his pose and make him look like the sort of artist that attracts women. With the black background it makes his face stand out more which catches the eye of the reader. I made the font of the main cover line orange because it shows well with the black background and stands out. The words “the rising star of Nouz” catches the attention of the reader because they wonder who he is if they haven’t heard of him, and if they have heard of him they will want to read about his past and how he has got to where he is now. I also made the words “rising”, “star” and “Nouz” larger than the other words. This is because these are the most important words in the sentence, so to make these stand out is important because they are what attracts the audience to reading it. Also the word star connotes the fact that he is a major artists and links with the referral of him being a “king” on the front cover. I chose the font of “Baskerville Old Face” for the main cover line. This font is a strong font to use as a main cover line because it is a very bold font that looks classy and fits in very well with the theme of the magazine, being a pop magazine that attracts teenage demographic. In the main text I wrote about how my artist grew up and about his private life. This was because these are what people asked for in the interviews as they said this is more interesting to read about. I included things such as his privet flings with other artists, this is because young teenagers of today enjoy reading about these things and like rumor gossip. I wanted to write about his life growing up but I didn't’t want to make it cliché with how he had a tough time growing up, so instead I chose for him to have had a good young life but include a twist which makes it more interesting to read about. The font I chose for the main text was “Apple Symbols”. This is because it is a professional font that is easy and clear to read. You need it to be clear to read otherwise people would not be interested in it. I put it at font size eleven which is also clear to read. Improvements to my double page spread was firstly I could have more text. Although it doesn't’t look like it right now but there is quite a lot of writing there its just in small font, but if I was to make a change I would write more. Another change I would make was have a different color background. In my mock up I put a grey color and thought that this worked very well but decided to change it to black for the main thing. This was because, again, I wanted continuity throughout but also the image I chose didn't’t go well with the grey but went perfectly with the black. Also the image is a little out of focus which could have been dealt with when editing or taking the photo. My main target audience for this piece of work is late teenagers, roughly around the age of 16-20. To attract this audience in I have used the correct methods that will catch the eye. A lot of teenagers look for simplistic things and when they see a simple, but effective, music front cover it will cause them to be interested in reading it. Due to this I decided to create my front cover simple but effective. This meant have very little cover lines, but ones that are effective and a very powerful, striking image. This demographic is a very hard one to get across to because todays teens are always multi tasking between school and social life, meaning you have to try even harder to get across your point or in this case try even harder to make your magazine appeal. So with short simple headlines it grabs their attention easily and quickly, meaning they become interested quicker. My mythical ideal consumer would be a teenage boy, who is highly into fashion and likes to look good, likes pop music and is interested in gossip of today. This is because this fits in perfectly to what my magazine is about. After finishing my magazine products I asked several people on their opinions including strengths and weaknesses. The overall feedback that I received from my front cover was that it is very stylish. Most of the people I asked said that they would pick it up to read it and that it catches their eye very well as the image is very striking. Most of the males that I asked said that because the image is not sexualized (as in the man) it makes them want to buy it more and a percentage of females said that they find the colors used are boring and it doesn't’stand out much for them, whereas males said that the blacks stand out for them more as they can relate more. All teenagers that I asked said that the fact that there is not many cover lines is a good thing because on a shelf it would stand out from the rest which would lead them to be more intrigued into reading it and also the lack of cover lines simplifies the page which at this age they want because they want to know what they are reading. They also said that the price of the magazine is a good one because it is affordable and good value for money. All of them said they liked the masthead and that the name of the magazine was a very good one. They said the font used for the masthead was a good choice because it stands out and catches the eye. The feedback from my contents page was that it is very clear and easy to read which is perfect for a contents page. Teenage boys said that they liked the colors used and especially the orange because it stands out and is “different” to the norm, but said that it works very well with the black and white. The response to the layout of the page was also very positive because they said its very easy to read as everything is laid out left to right which is the way of the eye. They said the images are very good and catch the eye in way that they are black and white and also different types of size for the image. All the responses about who it is aimed at was that everyone said that it is uni-sex as it has both images of men and women. The general response was that it looked very professional and easy to read. The feedback I got from the double page spread was that a percentage of both males and females like the masthead to it and they like the way that I have sized different words to add effect and meaning to them. Some of the feedback was that they thought the image wasn’t as powerful as the front covers and contents page. I think this is because there wasn’t much editing on the photo and he is also squinting which means his eyes are not as big and powerful. Another response back was that some of the people thought that there was not much text in which may put someone off reading it. Generally the males preferred the color scheme with the black and orange again. This is because black is predominantly a male orientated color with too is orange whereas females would prefer to see bright vibrant colors like pinks and purples. The overall feedback from all three pieces was very positive, although some people said that the color black was overused and that I could have changed it up a little but I wanted continuity throughout.

Evaluation My magazine final pieces represent particular social groups in the way that because my front cover model is Asian it represents them as becoming more westernized and becoming the norm in society. If you look in the past at old magazine front covers its rare to see an Asian on the front of a magazine front cover, especially if it is a music magazine front cover. This is why my magazine front cover represents them in a different light and shows them as being just as famous as a white British male or American. The audience for my media product would be older teenagers as I believe that they would be attracted to this sort of magazine because it stands out and it’s a pop magazine which is a massive industry in the world of music right now. I attract the audience because my front cover is minimalistic and the image stands out and catches their eye because it is very striking. Also with the cover lines they want to read all the gossip of todays world due to the demand on social media and if say everyone was tweeting about it they would want to read about it to find out themselves. Looking back at my preliminary task I have believe I have learnt many things through the progression to my final product. Firstly the color used in my preliminary was very boring and it didn’t really all go together. Also in my preliminary piece I had no color in the background and as I went through on my piece and researched more into magazines I started to realize that most magazines have some sort of color in the background or instead have more colors around to make up for it. This helped me decide for my main task that it is better to have a color in the background as it makes the magazine stand out more. Also the fonts used in my preliminary are poor and I have learnt in this process what are good fonts and bad fonts to use in a magazine and this helped me decide how many and which fonts to use for my final piece, because all the small things in the font make up what the page is, for example the curves on the letters give it that extra effect to attract readers in. My media piece challenges other forms of media because firstly appeals to a large audience in which from my audience feedback they like it. It is also made by someone who is that age, which means they understand the needs of what older teenagers want these days compared to other music magazines that are made by older generation which may not understand the needs of today for teenagers. Other music magazines do not have the design that I have gone for as the general music magazine will have lots of cover lines and stories on it compared to mine, which has only two. The distribution company that would distribute my magazine would be IPC Media. IPC Media distributes over 60 media products and reaches out to 26 million people across the UK. They distribute to a range of audiences which is perfect for my magazine because I need to be able to reach out to the teenage demographic. I would use this because it allows my magazine to be distributed to a wide range of audiences, also by using this form of distribution it allows the product to expand quicker as it is making more sales. The way I attracted my audience was that first I chose to use a young artist as the demographic would be able to relate to him as a young person. I then also chose to keep the page minimalistic as this would stand out for them. I chose dark colors, but colors that stand out like blacks and greys, as you would not usually see these on a music front cover. The cover lines also attracted them because it was about gossip and about an artists private life, which in my interviews the people said they wanted. To conclude I believe that my final three pieces went accordingly and I think that they all came out how I wanted them too. All of my final pieces look professional and I believe that they all appeal to my target audience, older teenagers. A few aspects of it I would change, for example the exposure of my font cover main image, this may be because of the camera flash or the lighting of the room, but it is still a very striking photo, so I am happy to keep it the same.