Magazine Evaluation

By Beth Watson

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

Masthead

Main Image

Price/barcode/date

Lead article

Cover lines

Banner

Strapline

I placed my lead article on the left third, over the main image. This Kerrang! Cover with Slipknot does the same. I also included a tagline to draw people to the article, similarly to Kerrang!.

I placed my masthead at the top which is something a lot of magazines do, and placed my main image over the masthead. This Kerrang! also does the same thing. I gave my masthead an outer glow with lots of noise so it was like sound waves of music.

My cover lines are placed on the left-third so that the reader would be able to see them on the shelf before picking up the magazine. Most magazines do the same, like this Kerrang! Unlike this Kerrang! though, I placed cover lines above and underneath my lead article. This was because if my lead article was any higher it would cover the face of the main image.

I added a banner at the bottom and put ‘Free posters’ in there, like this Kerrang! does, because they aren’t a big enough thing to be a cover line but are still something that attracts readers to magazines, for example I used to base whether I bought a magazine or not on its posters. The majority of my readers were also Kerrang! Readers therefore I thought I should add some similar detail.

Like this Kerrang! I put all my articles down the right side and pictures on the left so when the reader opens the magazine the first thing they see is what's in the magazine.

However, I chose not to add an editorial note and placed contact details instead because I thought they were more important. I also chose my main picture to be of the lead article to reinforce and emphasise the artist unlike Kerrang!

At the top of my page I added the masthead so people would remember what magazine they were reading and to maintain house style. I used ‘contents’ as a title also but slightly smaller.

Similarly to this Kerrang! I placed my main image on the left however Kerrang!’s goes all the way across both pages where as mine doesn’t. I chose to design my layout like this because it fits in better and it didn’t need to leak across so the reader can focus on the text. Also Kerrang!’s image doesn’t matter that it does because the image under the text doesn’t matter, the main picture you’re focusing on is still on the left.

Also like this Kerrang! I placed my pull-quote in the text so the attention is drawn towards the interview not the image. The only difference is Kerrang! placed there's right in the middle of the text so the text goes around it, where as I placed mine in a box so the reader would be more drawn to it and want to find that quote in the interview.

Unlike this Kerrang! I placed my stand first as part if the text. This was to direct the reader to the interview and encourage them to read on. I also chose not to use a drop cap in mine like Kerrang!

2. How does your magazine represent particular social groups?

I wanted to present my artist as a female screamo artist like the lead singer of Rolo Tomassi, Eva Spence, who also features a lot in Kerrang! which my magazine is similar to. She also is young and quite new to the scene which is how I wanted my artist to come across.

When doing the photo-shoot I asked my model to come across as a solo screamo artist who loves her music and doing something new as there isn't many solo screamo artists. I thought this would be appealing to my readers (16 – 21 year olds who love everything to do with music) and also because my artist /model is in this age range.

Eva Spence

My artist

My pull-quotes reinforce the artists representation by saying “its lonely” which enhances the fact she’s a solo artist. Also my pull-quote on my DPS draws the reader in as it suggests the artist used to be completely different.

My photos effectively portray my artist as a solo, screamo singer by her being alone on the contents and her screaming into a mic on the DPS which is how I wanted her to come across. She is dressed in clothes that would be associated with the rock/metal genre.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your magazine and why?

I think Bauer Media would distribute my magazine because they distribute Kerrang! which is the magazine I based mine on and my audience thought my magazine was most like. They would distribute it because its similar to kerrang! which is very popular, but is more focused on up and coming talent with a little about bigger bands.

I think Bauer would be interested in publishing my magazine because not many people find out about new bands via magazines so there’s a market for it. This comes from both personal experience and my survey , most of the time I find out about new music through friends so tried to incorporate this into my magazine.

4. Who would be the audience for your magazine?

This shows my main target audience is 18 – 21 but can range from 15 to 21+.

This shows my target audience is both male and female. Both of these points fit in with my reader profile.

This is the reader profile I made before creating my music magazine. From this I incorporated the festival side of things into my magazine as the results from my first survey showed people went to and enjoyed them.

I also added a lot about gigs, mainly a gig guide as my target audience saw a lot of gigs in a year so they’d want to know who’s playing and where.

The competition I added was for a guitar because I play guitar and know it’s a great thing to be able to win.

5. Audience Feedback

ExcitingLOUD

Well-designed

Original

6. What have you learnt about technologies?

To get feedback for my music magazine I posted pictures and link the my questionnaires on Facebook. More people go one Facebook than any other social networking site and I have a wide range of friends so could get different feedback.

7. What have you learnt?

This is my college magazine from the beginning of the course. I think I’ve improved greatly, especially on my layout and adding cover lines. Also made my music magazine more interesting to look at where as my college one doesn’t really stand out.

I also think I’ve improved in picking mastheads and adding effects to them so they stand out and fit with the genre. My college magazine mastheads are plain and boring.

A2I would love to carry on to do A2 media studies. I have really enjoyed the creativity of creating a music magazine and using Photoshop is fun. I’ve also liked learning how to use Photoshop to create my magazines. In general I cant wait to start A2 to see what we’re doing and get creative!