FINISHED!

I have now finished my music magazine.

Evaluation

Evaluation

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

I think for a music magazine to work it needs to include quite a few things. One of them being a interesting magazine name with a good font, I think this is important as its on the front on the magazine and that’s what your reader will see first so you want to make it as eye-catching as you can. Also I feel a well thought out and well photographed image is needed, the front cover is the most important part of a magazine as it’s the first thing you see, and you want it to be good as it’s persuading your audience to buy it. I think I have done this well in my magazine as a lot of audience feedback helped me to incorporate what people thought looked best.

Doing a general audience questionnaire really helped me to decide what the magazine needed to be like, as it allowed people to answer the questions and give me an idea of what people want to see in a music magazine. Determining what font I wanted to use for my masthead wasn’t hard a picked font I thought would work the best on a rock magazine and then from there is was taking the feedback and minimising the fonts down to one people seemed to like the best. When it came to taking the photos, I took quite a lot because I wasn’t sure what would work best on the cover and it also had to go with a rocky sort of theme. I think I have pushed the boundaries by researching colours and fonts and putting a lot of time into making it as great as it can be.

 • How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The magazine will represents young artists who like rock and heavy metal, and I think that I have represented them in the magazine using quite a few techniques. The pictures I took are all of teenagers and my use of language talks in the context that a teenager would understand. Also I feel there is a good ratio between pictures and text for every image there is text to go with it. I know that the people who answered my questionnaire were teenagers, so I think in their preference they would want something aimed in their age range.

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

I think magazines like Kerrang! Have already created this type of magazine in the market, as I know a lot of teenagers like these sorts of magazines so studying Kerrang! Helped me understand what teenagers and young adults would want out of a magazine. I think that companies would want to distribute my magazine because it’s cheap and you get a lot for your money, and because teenagers don’t have a lot of money it will bring in a lot of profit, it also includes freebies and a lot of information on the rock music.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My audience would be teenagers and young adults, ranging between the ages of 16-20 and it would be for any gender with an interest in rock music. The artists also range between those ages and are of any gender so the readers can relate to them.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I think the main key of attracted my audience was taking a really good image for the front cover and shape everything around that, a really good edgy picture is what grabs your attention, the picture itself is of young people who my audience could relate to. Wording is also very important on a front cover words like Exclusive! In a bold font are really eye-catching. I also gave the magazine a name that states very clearly what its about “Definition Rock” so automatically you know what its about and I chose a font that looked like it should be on a rock magazine, it was big and bold and it looked like something you would find on a concert poster etc. Other fonts I have used on the front cover look really rocky and they also look slightly cartoony and young, which helps a lot for the age group im appealing to (teenagers/young adults).

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

The program I used to construct the magazine itself was one called Serif, which is excellent for what I wanted to do; it was really easy and simple to do and I think I created some good pages front it. The only problem I had with it was changing it to a JPG file, it took a lot of time and I hadn’t prepared myself for that, so if I were to do this task again I would probably give myself more time to covert the file. But when I was creating layouts and drafts I using Microsoft publisher which Is good for creating a basic layout, I didn’t have any problems with it, and I was able to do that quite quickly and efficiently. When I took the images I used a digital camera, which was quick and let me take a lot of photos, I then edited the ones I needed to edit on gimp. This isn’t one of my favourite programs to use it takes a while to get used to and it can be very confusing, the finished picture is always good but it takes a while to get to that point.

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

I think I have learnt what programs are useful when creating a magazine, programs like Gimp I probably wouldn’t use again. Also I know what part of the action plan I should of spent more time on, I should I have left more time to present my final pages on Blogger, but I am happy with the general result.

Final Magazine.

Editorial-Contents Page

Hello readers, and welcome to the
One hundredth issue of Definition
ROCK! With exclusive interviews
and information on all the latest
tours and albums. Definition ROCK
has even got the exclusive interview
with Spoilt Deception the recently signed band, they are truly a rock sensation and this interview is a good way to celebrate one hundred successful issues.
Editor. Charlotte Worley

Spoilt Deception Interview Questions.

Interview Questions

How do you feel about your recent success entering the music world, after only being signed a year ago? Lorna: It’s all been a bit of a shock to us, we have only released one single and the fan base continues to grow. I’m really happy that our music has made such a good impact on people. But things are going so well now, I can only hope that the future will be even better.

So in the past year what have you been up to? Jake: Well mainly we have been performing our new single “Shout out” and I have had a lot of interviews, talking about the single. Lorna: And we recently did a shoot for Olly Sykes Drop Dead clothing collection, which was pretty awesome. It’s really hectic but we are enjoying every minute of it.

What artists/bands inspired you to become a rock artist? Lorna: Well I know my dad brought me up around his favourite bands, guns & roses, iron maiden and queen, and I have always believed their music is amazing. But as an artist bands like paramore inspired me, mainly because their lead singer is female, but what im seeing recently are so many bands are loosing their rock vibe that they had in their first albums and they are becoming more poppy. Jake:  Yeah I don’t want our music to change I want people to know the music we do and know what we like to sing and that our type of music will never change.

When is the album coming out? Lorna: Well we just released the first single and the album “Loudspeaker” will be out on April the 25^th, which we are really looking forward to, a lot of hard work went into the tracks. I just hope that people are as positive about it as they were about shout out, because I want people to enjoy the music as much as we do.

Is there any songs or albums you really like at the moment? Lorna: I’m really in to Mumford & Sons new album “Sigh No More” it’s very different music  and it has a slightly rocky vibe, but I think anyone with any music taste will really enjoy their music. The lyrics are really beautiful and their songs are all about something, and it’s really nice to listen to. Jake: I really like Skendreds new song nobody, it’s a really good metal hit and anybody who really likes heavy metal will enjoy this track.

Photo's

These are some of the photo's I took for my front cover and double page spread...

Double Page Spread Drafts

This was my first draft for a double page spread, and I have laid it out so everything looks presentable and easy to read. I left a whole page for the main image, because its going to be a fairly big picture and whoever is going to be interviewed is the highlight of that particular issue, so you want it to stand out and I want the artist name to be layered of the image so you instantly know who it is. I wanted the interview itself to be in columns so its readable and so I could fit other images into the interview as well.

This double page spread I tried making the interview sections bigger, instead of incorporating more images, but still keeping the main focus of the main image on one page. But for me this doesn't work as well as the first, as I think there should be a balance between images and writing, so that there isn't to much writing.

For my double page spread I'm going to use my first draft, because when I look at the two that one stands out the most, it has more to it and there is some variety to how things are positioned. This is good because people want to be excited by what they are reading and that doesn't help if the layout is boring.

Contents Drafts

This is my first draft for a contents page, the contents page usually consists of a lot of columns which I have done but I placed everything at angles to make it look more interesting, instead of it looking so boring and simple. The images and the captions I put to each other to give a taste whats in the magazine. I put in an editorial because this is vital in any magazine and it's welcoming the readers and telling them a little bit about the issue. The sections for the contents itself is farely basic, but it has to be so you can clearly read whats in the issue and I didn't want the whole page to look like it was all over the place.

This is my second contents draft, I find this one to be the busiest out of the two, this is very different from my first draft as all the sections are different sizes and placed differently. I put the editorial near the top by the page title as it's more noticeable there and I think it is more likely to be read if I put the editorial nearer to the top. I noticed that Kerrang! changed the sizes of the images on their contents page, so I thought I should see what the outcome looked like. I don't think it works that well as to me it makes the whole page seem overcrowded and a bit overwhelming.

I have chosen to use my second draft as my contents page, I did this because i think more thought went in to it and its different to other contents pages. I think that i will be able to fit more information in to it, which is good as a contents page needs to provide a lot of information.

Front Cover Idea's

This is my first draft of a front cover, I positioned the masthead at the top because I wanted the name of the magazine (Definition ROCK) to be behind whatever image I used as my front cover. Also because I wanted the title to be main attraction and the thing that you notice on a magazine, I placed the banner at the bottom of the magazine so it wouldn't draw any attention away from the title. I wanted the band name to be on top of the image and in the centre of the page and to be a fairly big font size to draw your attention to the band, and I positioned the cover lines so they were near the top and visible to persuade you to buy the magazine. A lot of Kerrang magazines put their images at the bottom of the page and I like how they are all next to each other and not all over the place.

This is my second draft for a font cover this one isn't that different from my first one as things are mainly the same but positioned differently, the masthead is positioned in the same place and in the same way. But I placed the images so that they were all in line together, but the cover lines were under each image, which is probably better as you know what the images are about. However I do think this draft looks neater but I don't like how there is less room for a wider photo and it isn't as striking as the first draft. Also again I placed the banner at the bottom for the same reasons, because I think it is too distracting at the top of the page.

I have decided that for my final front cover I have chosen the first draft, mainly because it looks like a rock magazine and I can picture how everything would be laid out. It also seems more out there and would come across as a more striking magazine than my second draft, which is what I want. I really want the reader to notice it more than any other music magazine.



Colour Chart :)

This is a colour wheel, that I have chosen to explore and experiment with different colours, as I am not completely certain on what colours would look best in my magazine. Usually quite dark colours would be associated with a rock magazine, but what I have found is that a lot of modern rock magazines, use a wide range of different colours, from light blues to florescent greens. The colours I would like to choose are yellows, blues and violets, mainly because Kerrang has used this colour combination many times and the outcome looks really good. Also any colour goes with black so I can easily encouparate it in with the title

Final Font

 

 

I chose this font for the name of my magazine as to me it caught my eye and was very different to a lot of the fonts I had chosen as a possibility. Its a very bold font, and it has a all over composition means that it will fill out the space really nice and is big enough to draw the reader in.

Font& Colour Scheme Analysis.

I chose these fonts because I thought they would best fit a rock magazine. Ones I especially like are the ones that have a black background behind the lettering, like the second one down, I find them to be big and very striking and I also like how they are mainly all capital letters. Out of all of them my least favourite would be the third one down as to me it is the least rocky font and it doesn't catch my eye, so I doubt any readers would find the font very striking. One of the fonts I do like is the fifth one down to me it looks like it should be on a magazine, however one problem I do have is that I have seen this font used on a lot of music related products, for example "Guitar Hero" so for that reason I doubt I would use it on my magazine. A lot of the small fonts look really good like six and seven, however it wouldn't fill the space very well, and really my final font should be big and really use up the space well, as it will be the font representing my magazine. My favourite out of them is defiantly the second from bottom, I like it as it is different and the way the letters are all presented, one in black, and some letters are more together than others. It emphases the rock better than other fonts which is what I wanted, because rock to me needs to be presented as a heavy hard hitting word, as that is what the magazine is about.

Questionnaire

What age are you?

• 14-16
• 16-18
• 18-20

Are you male or female?

• Male
• Female

What would you like to see in a music magazine?

• Upcoming Bands
• Music News
•  Band Interviews
• Concert Information
• Music quizzes/puzzles

Would you purchase a copy?

• Yes
• No
• Maybe

How much would you be willing to pay for it?

• 0.70p
• 1.00
• 1.50
• 2.00

How Often would you buy a copy?

• Weekly
• Monthly
• Whenever it catches my eye
• Never.

If there is any other things you would like to see in the magazine please make some suggestions....

Readership Figures.

 

	Title	Publisher	Jan-Jun 2010	Prd/prd change	Yr/yr change
1	Empire	Bauer Media	179,064	-7.8%	-7.7%
2	Mojo	Bauer Media	91,678	-6.9%	-6.2%
3	Q	Bauer Media	89,450	-5.7%	-10.7%
4	Total Film	Future	76,088	-6.1%	-10.5%
5	Uncut	IPC	74,067	-1.9%	-3.2%
6	Classic Rock	Future	70,323	-1.3%	0.0%
7	Metal Hammer	Future	44,034	5.4%	-4.3%
8	Kerrang!	Bauer Media	44,013	7.0%	1.8%
9	New Musical Express	IPC	33,875	-12.0%	-17.3%

 Doing some research on http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/news/1022008/MAGAZINE-ABCs-Kerrang-high-note-music-film/ I found this graph which shows us the top music and entertainment magazines, and what year change has taken place, with the drop in purchases. Although there is one or two magazines I can pick out which are not specifically to do with music, it gives us a rough idea of how popular music magazines are. It is interesting to know thought that film magazines are still so popular like Empire, which is top, however the bigger percentage drop's I have noticed are music magazines. Music magazines like Kerrang! however actually haven't had that much of a percentage change, again I find it interesting to see that magazines with the same publisher seem to be nearer each other. For example the top three magazines all have the same publisher (Bauer Media).

Textual Analysis...Front Covers.

What I first notice is masthead which has a very large font and the white on black makes it's more noticable, what I have noticed it that Kerrang! usually uses a black or white font, and they are farely simple colours but they are very affective, also it creates the effect of shattered glass, which I like as it's invidual and because Kerrang is such a well know magazine, it's more appriciated for being more individual. The banner on this magazine, gives you a taste of whats in the magazine and it uses quite bright colours to highlight it, which is good because the banner is usually quite small. The general use of colour's are very bright the uses of black, constrasting with the red and yellows, making everything really stand out. What I do like is that usually the pictures on the front cover, really grab your attention, like this one the way they have positioned him and his hand gestures, are like inviting you to read the magazine and against the white background makes everything on top of it, really grabs your attention. The main headline is vertually in the middle, which is usually in your direct eyeline. The font is very different to the others again, it looks a bit rough and torn and the general way it's positions and presented makes you want to read it. The pictures are positioned in the corner of the page and are really clustered together, but the images make you want to look inside and read, because they arnt simple, they are also well known artists. But I get the impression maybe those artists would appeal to a slighly older auidience, even though a lot of aspects of the magazine tell me that it's for teenagers, usually the front cover is of a modern rock band and also a well known band.

The mastehead is always done in the same way in Q magazine, which in my opinion acts as a trademark, and the white against red always seem's to catch your eye no matter what's on the cover or how busy it is. 

     This image is quite busy compared to some Q issues, I think this is because of the headline "Kings of Leon Breakthrough" and it's trying to impact how big this break through is. But in some ways it is farely simple, Q always has a plain background and usually has something to really draw you in, like in this one the shattered glass. Q always has really creative images, and the image is the main focus, this is probably why the front cover lacks slightly in headlines.

     Q dosn't have a variety of coverlines, there are usually about two or three which, in a way is the downside, but the main image is very powerfull so in my opinion it makes up for the lack in coverlines. I like the use of arrows by the coverlines, it implies there is more inside, you should buy it and read more.

     There isnt a banner in this issue of Q, when usually there is a banner on the top or bottom part of the page, there isnt a variety of things telling you what's inside.

My first thoughts on the magazine are that it's very bold and presented quite strongly, and I really like how everything shapes around the main image, they do this in quite a lot of the classic rock magazines. The Masthead (Classic Rock) it's big and white, so it really catches your eye, and it is a very classic font, the stars make it look very old and as all of the artists shown are old rock bands, it really goes with the theme. Another  thing that I like about the masthead is that its behind the image, I really like the overlapping technique and I find that Kerrang! and Q both use it also. The colour scheme is Farley simple, rarely classic rock will use a lot of bright colours, but the colours go really well together and bring everything in, I like how just the positioning of everything on the page can really draw your attention in. The banner "Jimmy Page at the Olympics-Exclusive!"



                                     

                      

Magazine Comparison.

Magazine: Kerrang!
Price: £2.10
Sections: 9
Pages: 70
Pages per section: The pages are varied between 3-6 pages per section.
Sample of advertising: Fall Out Boy (CD) This advert looks Farley simple, and uses quite plain colours, which are not very striking and i don't find that's it's the sort of thing that would catch a readers eye. Something positive i do find is that it is on the first page as you open the magazine, so it is the first thing you see.
Articles: Nine inch nails, velvet revolver, heaven and hell, i find these article names go with the rock theme of the magazine, as kerrang focuses on rock music, they are quite dark names but are certainly things you want to read.

Magazine: Q
Price: £3.99 ( This is quite expensive and i think that this magazine appeals to more wealthier people)
Sections: 18
Pages: 146
Pages per section: The pages are varied between 1-4 pages per section.
Sample of advertising: Auidi (car advertisment) This advert to me looks very expensive and is stretched across a two page spread. The car is very expensive and i find that they think that the readers have money, because of the price of the magazine, so they are trying to appeal to the people that can afford the car.
Another Advertisement was the Samsung phone advert, which i find quite clever as it's a play one words the slogan (slide into mobile entertainment) goes with the phone as its moving form a different place in each snapshot
Articles: Mika, Gorillaz, New To Q, Q Quiz, Last Requests, I like how they incorporate the magazine name into some of the article names.

Magazine: Q
Price: $3.90
Sections: 13
Pages: 170 ( I noticed that in this 2009 issue there is more pages than in the 2010 march issue)
Pages per section: The pages are varied between 2-20 pages per section.
Sample of advertising: Citroen (car) This again is quite an expensive car, which i am finding is quite common in Q magazine and the magazine actually has quite a lot of advertisement in it.
Typical Articles: Who the hell is the dice men, Elbow, I find these to be quite random words that you wouldn't usually see as article names, which makes you want to read it. 

Magazine: XXL
Price: £3.95
Sections: 10
Pages: 146
Pages per section: The pages are varied from 1-10 pages.
Sample of advertising: Nissan (car) a Farley expensive car, again i think this is a simpler magazine to Q, where a lot of expensive advertisements make up the magazine and appeal to the wealthier readers. Mainly the magazine consisted of a lot of clothing adverts they looked very eye catching and quite expensive.

Action Plan. Music Magazine.

3rd January 2011

• Textual analysis.
• Magazine comparison.

10th January 2011

• Continue With Magazine Comparison.
• Research readership figures.

17th January 2011

• Auidience Questionaire Poll

24th January 2011

• Drafting.

31st January 2011

• Page Layout.

7th Febuary 2011

• Photoshoot.

14 Febuary 2011

• Final Pages and Feedback

21st Febuary 2011

• Continue with final page and auidience feedback.

28th Febuary 2011

• Check and and alter any changes.
• Start Evlauation.

7th March 2011

• Finesh Evalutation and Music Magazine.

Music Magazine.

I have now finished my student magazine and I am now going to start creating a music magazine.