Evaluation

Evaluation of Music Magazine.

These are my final pieces for my Music Magazine.

The Process: The first task was to create a college magazine which allowed me to gain an overall understanding of what a magazine involved and the conventions which are expected of a magazine. I found that all magazines had to have a large main image taking over the splash of the front page, there had to be a kicker(s) and teller(s), at least another (but smaller) image, a masthead, barcode, date, price and cover lines. This then helped me to develop and plan my college magazine easily. However, this also allowed my development of a music magazine to be quicker as I only had to look at the specific conventions of a music magazine then apply them to my final design. After I'd finished the preliminary task, I made a draft of each page of my music magazine - a front page, contents page and double page spread. This was just to give me a general idea of what I already knew about music magazines and a basic plan to refer back to for my music magazine. Then, I decided to focus on researching and developing an idea for my front page. This involved finding images of front covers of music magazines and analysing what their similarities and differences. Basing my front cover on these ideas, I took some photos of my main band, designed a masthead, thought up some band / artist names and article titles, then experimented with them on photoshop, positioning them differently on my front page. I then decided to research double page spreads and wrote an article of the cover band of Mute. After editing pictures and experimenting on photoshop again, I finally created my double page spread. As the final adjustments were being made to my double page spread, I also started to research contents pages. However, time was running short so my contents page was slightly rushed, but after experimenting slightly, I finished my final contents page. Overall, after plenty of research and experimenting, I finally finished my three pieces for my music magazine.

The preliminary task really helped me understand and practice the use of conventions in magazines before hand so that when it came to making the my music magazine I was able to do so quite easily.

Forms and Conventions of Music Magazines: I believe my music magazine is easily recognisable as a music magazine from the conventions that are familiar. For example, one of the key features of a music magazine is to have the masthead clearly positioned at the top left corner of the front page and often have red integrated within its design. The splash of the front page also needs to include a barcode - often accompanied with a date and price - as well as smaller images, a kicker (which can also be anchorage as the title of the main image - in this case Mute - is anchored by the image of the female by having tape across her mouth). There are numerous conventions for a front cover to follow, and I believe I have explained and included them all in my blog dedicated to the front page. However, I did challenge the convention of having all images looking directly at the camera. There is only the lead female of the main image looking away from the camera which demonstrates that she is wanting to defy conventions. Another difference in my front cover from a real music magazine is that the barcode is often positioned at the bottom right third of the page, whilst I decided to position it on the bottom left third of the page. This happened by pure coincidence as I found that I couldn't have my artist of Spotlight situated on the opposite side of the page due to the kicker of "Mute" and the teller of "They're not so quiet" as they would block the artist. It also made the page look too busy in the left third so I decided to swap the barcode with the image of Spotlight. To show that I have an understanding of the conventions of a music magazine, I decided upon including a skyline banner at the top of the page advertising that there are posters and exclusive interviews which are sell lines to the audience as this makes them want to buy the magazine more. For the Contents page I demonstrated that I understood that for the contents page to follow the expected forms of a music magazine, it had to include the date, a title of Contents (to let the readers know that it is the contents page), at least one image, the logo of the magazine, subtitles and page numbers of the articles/pages within the magazine. However, I did also use an editor's letter as I believe it allows the readers to feel addressed directly and included within the production of the magazine - because without them, the magazine wouldn't be successful. I found that this technique was only used in a few music magazines and (from my preliminary work on magazines in general) in a lot of other genres of magazine, such as fashion. I also discovered that the contents page is never actually the first page that the readers see inside of the magazine, due to the number of advertisements before it; therefore, I decided that my contents page would have to be on a page higher than p3. I still allowed the colour scheme to remain consistent throughout all of the magazine. This is to keep the colours consistent and to make the magazine constantly linked. The red I used because this is a standard, expected convention of a music magazine. Black was used for the text as it is easier for the reader to read a lot of text when it is black text on a white page, especially when there is a lot to read. I also integrated yellow within the magazine as I believe it allowed certain elements to stand out more from the page and also attract more attention. White is also a main colour, due to the fact that most pages are white so is a common background colour throughout, however I did use it for the text in my double page spread as well as the subtitles on my contents page to help anchor the background colour.
Target Audience: 13 - 20 year olds. This is because the artists/bands featured in this magazine are modern and young, therefore more appealing to a younger audience. Their music taste may be quite varied, but people who are more interested in pop / indie music would find this magazine more appealing. A secondary audience of 20 - 30 year olds may be possible for this magazine also, as they may be interested by new modern music. I doubt anyone over the age of 30 would wish to purchase this magazine as it is informal and almost comic which is something which you wouldn't associate with busy-working business people. To attract my target audience to the magazine, I would make sure that the magazine was readily availible in places that this target audience are most likely to go, such as the supermarket or smaller newsagents. After seeing the front page and perhaps sneak previews of the contents of the magazine, they will (hopefully) be interested as they would feel it relates more to their age group. I would also appeal to my audience by including a website address (for example: jammag.co.uk) which would show an example of web 2.0 allowing the audience to become included with their opinions when making the magazine. The front page image is a selling point for those who are interested in the fun, informal magazines with fun, informal bands. For example, the front page (main image) includes one member of the band playfully holding a guitar over his head as if he would hit the lead female singer with it. This would suggest that the band is fun and playful therefore appealing to those who would wish to be similar or are similar.

Media Institution (Distributing and Advertising): To distribute my media magazine, I would first make sure that my target audience was aware that the magazine actually existed. To do this, I would advertise my magazine on internet chat room sites (such as facebook, myspace etc...) as most people in my target audience have accounts on these internet sites and I would also rely on word-of-mouth and the shop in which it is availible from to promote it. JAM magazine would be availible to be purchased in shops such as Asda and Tesco as well as small newsagents. Perhaps to promote the magazine in the first place, I could include a free copy of the magazine in a newspaper such as The Sun or The Daily Mail. JAM would be horizontally integrated with IPC media who would help to distribute the magazine around the UK, as my magazine would be UK based.

From this task, I have learnt that the process to make a magazine is challenging! From planning, to taking pictures, to the positioning and to the final product, it involves a lot of consideration as to what the audience will want from the magazine and what they will expect to find. Sometimes there is a need for change, for something different to happen, but the magazine industry is successful due to the fact that it appeals to the audience who are interested in the content. There are many similarities between the music magazines, yet the differences make each one unique. For example, whether the text inside is formal or informal, or who the artists on the front cover are all contribute to who the magazine is appealing to. To make a magazine successful, you need to have the right people who specialise in using the correct equipment / programmes (such as cameras or photoshop) to make the image or presentation of the magazine look the best that it can.

Contents Page

This is my first draft for my contents page. I decided to use the image of my front cover to illustrate the page as well as make it easier for the readers to find the articles that they want from the front page. However, I have also included the features (such as Mute) in the text of the contents page. For the colour scheme I used red (to tie in with the conventions of a red music magazine logo), yellow (because it makes things stand out more and also ties in with my front page as I used a lot of yellow on that) and black (because black is a very common colour for text in magazines). I kept the font style consistent for the main bulk of text but used different styles for the Contents to make it stand out more from the text, and also for the numbers with the arrows to make them also stand out from the black text. I used red not only to make the subtitles more prominent, but also for the page numbers to keep everything linked within the page. The logo of the magazine is included at the top left of the screen as most contents pages that I have analysed have included their mastheads as well as the date and title of contents. Another feature which I have decided to use in my contents page was the editors letter in the contents page. This not only addresses the reader directly but also tells them a bit about what's included in this issue as well as thanking them for buying the magazine.

Despite being my second final draft for my contents page, I have decided to have it as my final contents page for my music magazine. I changed the colour of the subtitles to white instead of black (the writing in the red boxes) because it looks more aesthetically pleasing and follows the conventions of typical music magazines as it ties in with the colour of the background. Another change I made was including the date at the top of the page because all contents pages have this so therefore, I needed to too. The contents title has been made smaller and positioned next to the masthead of my magazine instead of obscuring it. This allows my masthead to be in full view. However, when I moved the contents title up, I realised that there was a large blank space and seemed to split the page unnecessarily. To prevent this, I just shifted everything up slightly allowing the page to seem more framed by the white background. Overall, I'm happy that my contents page follows the typical conventions found in a music magazine. There would be more than one contents page if this was a real magazine however, because that is what readers expect from music magazines. On the next page I would follow the conventions of including many multiple images from bands / artists featured inside the magazine accompanied with the page number that they can be found upon.

Double Page Spread

The above image is one of the drafts that I did after I'd done the below ideas for my double page spread. I thought I'd experiment with having one large image on one side (which can also be used as a poster) and having one side filled with text. In this case, I used the same article throughout all the double pages (of an interview) which presents an informal view of the magazine and of the band. However, the reason why I didn't want to use this as my final double page spread - despite liking the left side of the page - was the large white space in between. I wasn't sure how to fill this in and after debating and experimenting with some smaller images, decided it wouldn't work. The logo of the band is seen clearly at the top of the page which is the same image used on the front cover of my magazine. I kept the colour scheme consistent, using yellow, black and red; Yellow and black to tie in with the colours used in the bands logo, and red to tie in with the conventional red colour associated with music magazines. However, because my band of Mute is the main feature of this issue of the magazine, I would probably have two double page spreads and a poster, which I would probably use the left hand side of this page for.








This is one of my first attempts at creating my double page spread. Originally I had no image beneath the two boys on the left of the page, but then I realised that I'd accidentally erased one of their feet, so I had to cover it up...Therefore, I chose that image because I believe it added more depth to the photos so that they weren't all static. I'm happy with this as my first draft. The type of article I chose to write was an interview with the band members and is informal and relaxed which allow the readers to find it easy-reading as well as being able to relate more to the answers that the band have given. I used black text on white background as it is standard in most magazines, but I also used bold to make the question that the interviewer asked stand out. Not only does this seperate the answers, but it also allows the reader to skip to the question that they're more interested in. To make some quotes stand out, I used red and made the font larger - so even if the reader was only flicking through the pages of the magazine, they could get some idea of what the band are like and also what the article is about. I think I would like to improve this by possibly placing a box around the smaller in-depth image, possibly yellow, as well as placing the magazine's logo of JAM by the page numbers at the bottom of the page. The yellow banner at the bottom of the page also works well as it ties in with the banner on the front cover of the magazine as well as with the logo of the band.

This is my final idea for my double page spread. I altered the box around the smaller image as well as included my magazine's logo with the page numbers at the bottom of the page. I also moved the subtitle which accompanies the boys on the left side of the page further up as I believed that it looked as if it was describing the smaller image.

Contents Page Research - Mojo Magazine

The above two images are taken from Mojo Music Magazine. They have chosen to set their contents page over two different pages. The colour scheme for the first page of the contents is green, white and red. I wasn't sure why they chose green as the background, but if the magazine was produced in December then I would assume that they chose red and green for a christmas related theme. The bulk of the text is white to make it easy to read a lot of text on the green background whilst the page numbers are made to stand out in red. All of the font style is the same as the masthead to keep the font style consistent. However, the quote is in a different style to the rest of the fonts which makes it stand out more. Red lines are also used to help make the cover story more of an attraction. Mojo, the name of the magazine, is the largest text at the top of the page. An issue number, date and locations of the main headquarters of the magazine is also included at the top of the page. The image used appears to be photoshopped and includes two young males looking away from the camera. A profile shot has been used to allow the audience to see their style in clothing. They seem casually dressed and the colours that they have chosen for their shirts (of blue and black) suggest that they are male colours and that they are easily seen against the green background. Page numbers as well as the Mojo logo are included in the bottom right hand corner and is consistent throughout.
The second image has more images than the first of the contents pages. It has three images which have page numbers and captions to help the audience find the correct page number easily. Black and white images also suggest that these people are not as important however they feature members of staff who have helped to make the magazine. The masthead in this contents page is black and not white but is still at the top of the page. Black text has been used on a white background to make reading the text easier because the audience are used to reading black on white. A red colour has also been used to help group certain articles under titles to make it easier for the audience to find the articles which they are more interested in. Gold has also been used to make finding the page numbers easier. Again, the same font as the masthead has been used to keep it consistent throughout the magazine. The text is written informally and casually giving the impression that the magazine is appealing to a younger audience who aren't interested in having a formal presentation of text. Images are cartoon and in the style of Scooby Doo because of the article title "Where are you?" and other captions are used to help describe the pictures and page numbers which encourage the reader to investigate within the magazine.

Contents Page Research

This is my first attempt at drafting my Contents Page, before I had done any research on contents pages and just using my previous knowledge of Music Magazines. After browsing through some music magazines, I realised that I'd have to make some drastic changes so I took some photos of some contents pages and analysed them.



This is the contents page for the music magazine The Word. It doesn't appear to use the standard convention of red logo for the name of a music magazine however it does use a red colour to help bullet point some of the favourite articles selected by The Word editor. This particular contents page seems to rely more heavily on text rather than pictures which can be clearly seen from the next contents page, however, it does use some images to break down some of the text. One of the images is of the editor which accompanies his letter on this page. The larger image suggests that this magazine is unusual as it isn't often that you would find a man kissing a monkey! Most of the images on this page are strange and don't really relate much to the theme of music. A common colour used is blue which suggests that this magazine appeals more to the male audience. The date is at the top right hand side of the page just underneath "contents". To allow the target audience, which I think are between the ages of 20 - 30 years, they have included a website address for them to check out as well as a teaser of "Subscribe! Special Offer!" to entice them in to buying more magazines. I believe that the target audience are young males between 20 and 30 as the magazine has a strange sense of humour which is more leanient towards this age group.

This contents page is taken from Q magazine. It includes the typical red logo of "Q" throughout the page, first at the top left hand corner by the page number and also next to "Q Review". This contents page relies more on images to allow the readers to find the page that they want faster as they will recognise the image, see the page number and flick to that page. It makes it easier and quicker for them to get what they want out of the magazine, however, it does also have a lot of text to not only describe more about the articles on that page but to also allow different titles of the articles to hopefully interest the readers. The font style is constant throughout this page and the titles of the articles are in capitals whilst the description is smaller and beneath the title. Page numbers to the articles are situated to the left to allow the reader to read the page number first and also for it to be found more easier than having to read all of the article title and description. The date of this particular issue is placed at the top left of the page and takes up a little square of room. Dr Who figures are also used which are related to this particular issue (the dalek and cyberman). These pictures are also accompanied with the red page number to allow it to stand out on the white background. Black text is used to make sure the writing stands out from the white background and is also what the readers are used to reading from.

Front Cover

Above is my original draft for the front cover of my music magazine. I drew it by hand to give me a rough idea of what I wanted and where I wanted it. I followed the typical conventions of a music magazine which include the name of the magazine and logo in the top left of the magazine, a banner (which is used a lot in certain magazines), a large main image, a smaller image, a barcode, date, large title / name of the featured band, price and other article titles inside the magazine. However, after taking some photos I realised that the main image would have to be altered dramatically, so that is a lot different to how I originally planned. The positioning of certain elements such as the smaller picture and article titles have moved too, which can be seen in later images created on photoshop.

This is my first draft of my front cover - although there are some slight changes I would like to make. Originally, the main image was moved down, but I positioned it slightly over the masthead to follow the typical conventions of a music magazine. It also allowed me more room to narrate my second image which is of the artist Spotlight. Although, I do want to swap the yellow SpotLight with the "Why I'm actually really shy ..." as I don't believe they look linked with the image. The reason why I chose to have a red background and yellow outline for the picture was to help to link the article titles with the picture. Another reason why I chose red, not only for the picture, but for the masthead too was because other magazines use red in their masthead too, therefore following music magazine conventions. I have included a banner running along the top of the page exclaiming interesting and appealing features for my target audience of 13 to 20 year olds. My magazine appeals to this audience due to the image of young people who are all dressed in the style of teenagers. I also asked the female member of the band to wear pink to emphasise the fact that she is a girl compared to the boys and I also believe it allows a contrast between the band as well as other images / features of the front page. The name of the band "Mute" appears like something similar to a comic because of the font which is the effect I wanted to create as it seems fun. With the main female member of the band having tape over her mouth, it helps to reinforce the band's name of "Mute". The image overall also helps to give the audience some idea of who the band are and what they are like. For example, the male to the right of the page seems more playful and comical compared to the male to the left who seems quite moody and cool; I made the girl the main focus of the magazine because of the tape on her mouth and also because the colour of her coat is more eye-catching for a colour to attract the audience. The price of £2.20 is easy to afford for the target audience as well and is the average price for most music magazines.

Above is another stage of planning for my front cover design. I swapped the Spotlight title with the "Why I'm actually really shy" which I believe works better. I also changed the bottom to all yellow rather than red and yellow as I believe it looks a lot better and shows that they are linked to the same story. The yellow behind it also represents and reinforces the name of 'SpotLight'. The quote by "Nina Choo" has also been added on to the front cover to try to break down some of the mass of white in that top right hand corner. I think to improve, I would like to take away the box around the artist 'Spotlight', perhaps move the members of the band lower to show off the logo of the magazine and also make the date and price of the magazine smaller.

Above is my FINAL FRONT COVER for my music magazine. I am very pleased with the stages of progress I've made and the improvements I've made along the way. To improve from my previous idea, I changed the artist for Spotlight to another young female and continued the yellow outline around her which shows that she is Spotlight. I also made the barcode slightly bigger and made the date and price smaller. I also changed the other articles inside, so instead of it saying "Nina Choo" I now have names of bands in a yellow box to link the colours of the front page together. I also moved the band members of Mute down to allow the logo of my magazine to be in view. Overall, I think my front page follows the typical conventions of a music magazine, however, if I had the chance to change anything about this page is probably to alter the font on the banner at the top of the page and also to improve the edges of the female as it seems obvious that she's been photoshopped.

Some Images for my Music Mag

Here are some of the images I took to include in my music magazine. These are all related to the band Mute which my magazine is covering. Unfortunately, one of my male band member's didn't show up on the day I was taking the photos, so I had to use the same male to pose for both the drummer and guitarist. In the double page spread, I'm going say that the two males are twins which will explain why they both look the same. I experimented with tape to help reinforce the band's name: Mute. The members are young to appeal to my target audience of 13 to 20 year olds. Their clothes are trendy and casual to suggest that they are laid back and modern. It also makes them more likeable to the target audience as it shows that they are similar in the way they dress and in their music taste. My main genre of music which JAM Magazine is influenced by is Pop and Indie which are just two of the most popular genres for my target audience. I will edit out the background on Photoshop later on, as I think it looks too busy and doesn't tie in with the effect I want to create. The girl is wearing pink to emphasise her gender and the boys are wearing block colours of black and white to show that they're opposites (similar to ying and yang) and that they're different people. It also suggests that they're not as important as the girl singer as she stands out more because of her colour and is often positioned in front of the boy(s).

I also took some pictures for a friend for her music magazine. So, because I needed to change my image for the artist Spotlight, I decided to use one of those instead. I had the choice from the following below. The one I chose was due to the fact that she was looking directly at the camera (which images on the front page of a magazine do) and also because the overall shape seemed to fit ideally with the corner of my magazine.