Music Magazine - Evaluation.

For my Media Studies preliminary exercise I had to use desktop publisher and an image manipulation programme which is Photoshop. I had to use these two programmes to create a front page, contents page and also a double-page spread for a music magazine. The images had to be original and so did the text. All the images had to be produced by myself and there had to be a minimum of four images. I have used Kerrang! magazine issue number 1396 which was released in January 2012 for reference to compare my magazine. The camera I used to take my images is a Canon EOSD 1000.

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

Front Cover:

Throughout the pages I created for my preliminary task I used the conventions which music magazines that are produced to be distributed around the world use. On my front cover I used all the conventions which other magazines will also have used. My masthead on my front cover is in a large font and has a black outline around it. I produced my masthead to look like this so it would stand out against the rebellious background and it would also stand out if it was on a shelf in a supermarket. The magazine I was looking at for research was Kerrang! The masthead for Kerrang! Also stands out against any background because of the way it is. The masthead “High Voltage” on my magazine is surrounded by a glowing colour which also makes it stand out. “High” is surrounded by a black outline and also a blue glow. But, “Voltage” is surrounded by a black outline and also has a bright green glowing effect around it. With the writing been white I had to put an outline around it because it didn’t stand out without an outline because the background is mainly white with a bit of coloured graffiti. Underneath my masthead I put a sell line which is used to grab the target audience’s attention. The sell line is in a bold white font with a bright pink outline around it. I put the writing bold and the outline bright so that it would catch the reader’s eye when they are looking at the magazine. The Kerrang! Magazine that I have used for my research didn’t have a sell line underneath the masthead or anywhere on the magazine but I decided to use a sell line so that it would attract the reader’s attention. The sell line on my magazine is “Live life with voltage”. I got the idea for this specific sell line from Kerrang! This is because Kerrang’s sell line is “Live life with volume” and I decided to change it to “Voltage” so it’s not plagiarism and that it’s an original sell line which also goes with my magazine. The barcode for my magazine is in the bottom right hand corner of my front cover. The barcode is not that big because I didn’t want it to look out of place because of the rest of the front cover been covered in vibrant colours. The barcode on the Kerrang! Magazine is also in the bottom right hand corner. The barcode on my magazine is placed in a conventional place and underneath the barcode I have put my issue number, price and date. This is because it is the first place someone would look for the price when they pick up a magazine. The price, date and issue number are in the same colour as the glow around the “Voltage” from the masthead. I have chosen this colour so it stands out against the background and the readers will also be able to see it. The main cover line stands out extremely well from the rest of the magazine. This is because it is over the model who is wearing blue jeans so there is no colour behind it but even when the graffiti background is behind the main cover line it still stands out. The main cover line saying “Punk’s Not Dead” stands out against the background because of the bold green outline around it. The outline makes it stand out against the background because the background is white with splashes of colour which are quite dull. The “exclusive” is in a white font with a bright outer glow around it. The reason I put an outer glow around it is so it stood out from the rest of the magazine because I want the target audience to be drawn towards the magazine and bright colours. If I didn’t put the outlines and outer glows around the main cover line it wouldn’t be as effective because it wouldn’t stand out as much against the background and it also wouldn’t attract the target audience. The main cover line on the Kerrang! Magazine stands out against the white background and it will attract the target audience straight away. This is because it is in a bold font which is in a large text and is a bright red colour which makes it stand out compared to the rest of the magazine. The cover lines on my magazine are in a completely different font to the main cover line but they still have the same coloured outline. I have kept it the same colour so it shows consistency throughout my front cover and so it stands out against the background. The outline around the cover line makes the white font stand out a lot more than it would if it didn’t have the outline around it. The two cover lines are “Rockstar Confessions” and “Festival Frenzy”. I believe that the cover lines would attract potential readers as well because they will want to know more about the stories within the magazine. I also believe the cover lines will attract the potential readers because they don’t give a lot away regarding what’s in the article so if the readers wanted to know more they would have to buy the magazine. The cover lines on the Kerrang! Magazine I used for research stand out really well against the white background. The cover lines on the Kerrang! Magazine is in a bright red font which also shows that they have consistency throughout their magazine front cover. Underneath the headline of the cover line it says more about what is in the article. When I was creating my magazine I used a specific Kerrang! Magazine to get ideas. I got my “Rockstar Confessions” idea from that Kerrang! Magazine. At the bottom of my magazine front cover I have my teasing contents which include “free posters” and “this year’s hottest gigs” I think this will attract potential readers because it is something that people would want within a magazine. The teasing contents have a white background behind them and are all in a font which stands out because it either has a bright pink outline or a black outline which will draw the reader’s attention to it. I chose not to have a skyline on my front cover because the masthead is right at the top of the page and it didn’t look as good when I moved it to put in a skyline. I haven’t put a splash on my front cover because there wasn’t enough room for one and every time I tried to make room the layout of my magazine had to change and it didn’t look as good.

Contents Page:

On my contents page I have achieved to get all of the conventional features within it. The first conventional feature I have got is several images. On my contents page I have two images. The first image is of a model which is darker than the rest of my images in my magazine. The image shows that the model belongs to this genre of music because behind him is the graffiti background which may represent rebellious behaviour and he also has a plug which is generally associated with the Rock ‘N’ Roll genre. The second image is in the bottom left hand corner and is quite bright. I have put that image in because it goes with the editor’s letter. The image in the bottom left hand corner also represents the Rock ‘N’ Roll genre because of the piercings she has and the way she represents herself. The features on my contents page stand out against the background. I have put a black box behind it which has the opacity of 66% so you can still see the background through it. “Features” stands out against the background because it is in the same colour as the “Rockstar Confessions” on the front cover but is in the same font as “Punk’s Not Dead”. The contents of the features are in a bright pink font which also stands out against the background and is in the same font and colour as “Bring Me The Horizon” on the front cover. The news section is in the same font as the “Features” section and it also has the same colour outline. I have made sure they all are in the same font and colour to show consistency throughout the magazine. The contents of the news section are still in the same colour and font as “Bring Me The Horizon” on the front cover. I have a reviews section but I have changed it so it is “Live Reviews”. I have done this because a lot of people read the live reviews when they get a magazine especially if it is about some of their favourite bands. All the colours and fonts throughout the “Live Reviews” section are the same which also shows consistency throughout my magazine again. Next to each article which has been listed on my contents page is a page number next to it. The page numbers are in the same font as the font that’s saying what the article is. I have done this so when people look they will see the page number straight away. I have added a editors letter in right at the bottom of the page. The editors letter includes what’s in this edition of the magazine and is in a white font which stands out against the background and the white font has also been used on my front cover. The Kerrang! Magazine I used for research has also got all of the conventional features and they all stand out so people will know where they are. The fonts are the same as the front cover which shows consistency throughout that magazine as well.

Double-Page Spread:

When I started my double-page spread I used pages 6 and 7 of the Kerrang! magazine for inspiration. On my double page spread I have a large outline on the first page of my double page spread. The headline for my double page spread “I’ve Got A Secret” is lyrics from a song called Chelsea Smile by Bring Me The Horizon. The reason I chose this is because the star Hollie has done an exclusive interview about her past and its exclusive so it’s the first time she has let out this secret. The “Secret” part of the headline is in a big scroll font which makes its stand out. The “Secret” part of my headline is in the same colour as the “Rockstar Confessions” on my front cover. The “I’ve Got A” part of the headline is above the “secret” and is in the same font and has the same outline around it as “Live Life With Voltage” which is on my front cover. The main image on my double page spread is on the left hand side and is in the bottom right hand corner. The image is still on the graffiti background which I have used throughout my magazine. The image is quite dark but her hair stands out and also represents which genre of music she listens to and is part of. This can also be shown by the Ramones t-shirt she is wearing. The Introductory paragraph is on the same page as the image and the headline. The introductory paragraph is in the same font and colour as the “Bring Me The Horizon” writing on the front cover. I chose that font so that it stands out against the background and will also attract readers when they open the magazine on to the double page spread. I have put a drop cap on every answer so that it stands out and attracts the reader’s attention when they are reading it. I have put the photo credit next to the page number on the right hand side of the double page spread. I have put it next to the page number at the bottom and I have done it in the same font as “Bring Me The Horizon” is in on the front cover. I have also done the by-line in the same font as the photo credit and is above it next to the page number on the right hand page. The Pull Quote in the article is “I was out every night smoking, drinking and taking drugs”. I decided to used that as my pull quote because it is interesting and more people will be interested in reading something like that. It is in the green colour which is used on the “Features” section of my contents page but is a different font. The Kerrang! magazine uses all of the conventional features on the double page spread and it all stands out and is easy to read. There is a large image which represents the genre of music and it has a large headline and drop cap. The colour scheme isn’t exactly the same all the way throughout the magazine but it still has colours which were used on the contents page and the front cover.

Question Two - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The magazine I designed is stereotypically aimed at teenagers aged 14 and over and people who listen to rock, metal or screamo music. This is because that is the genre that my magazine focuses on and I have used different ways of showing the specific genre it is related to. The representations of particular social groups have been shown throughout my magazine because of the graffiti background. The graffiti background shows rebellious behaviour which could be linked with the specific genre of music. On my double-page spread there is part of the article which mentions “I was out every night drinking, smoking and doing drugs”. This particular quote also links back to the rebellious behaviour and the reason why I have aimed the magazine at the age of 14 and over. The way my model is dressed on the front cover also represents the particular social group that my magazine is aimed at. This is because her hair is a very vivid red colour which stands out and makes her noticeable. Bright coloured hair is linked with the genre of rock because a lot of the rock stars have bright coloured hair. For example My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way and Hayley Williams from Paramore. The way my model is dressed shows that she is associated with the rock genre because she is wearing a leather jacket and has quite dark eye make-up on which represents been a rock chick. The top she is wearing is a “Ramones” band shirt which also shows the genre of music she is interested in because they are a Punk Rock band. All the clothes the model is wearing all represents the particular social group which my magazine is associated with.



Gerard Way





Hayley Williams



On the contents page I have two images of models which also represent the social group which the magazine is associated with. The image of the male portrays the social group really well because of the way he is dressed and the piercings he has. He is wearing a denim jacket and a checked shirt which is associated with the rock genre. He has a plug in his ear which is stereotypically linked to the screamo music genre. This is because a lot of the bands which are in the screamo genre have plugs. For example Matt Nicholls (drummer of Bring Me The Horizon) has a plug in each ear and the band he is in is a screamo/metalcore band. He also has his nose pierced and his lip pierced which is also linked to the screamo genre. For example Oli Sykes (front man of Bring Me The Horizon) has his lip pierced. The graffiti behind him also represents the social group the magazine is about. This is because it shows rebellious behaviour. The girl model in the bottom corner is also wearing a checked shirt which can be linked with the specific genre again. Her hair is also a representation of the genre the magazine is based on because Hayley Williams (front woman of rock band Paramore) was blonde.

On the double-page spread the model (Hollie Dearing) still has her bright red hair and is still wearing the same clothes as she was photographed in on the front cover. The graffiti wall is still behind her which shows rebellious behaviour and can also be linked to the article. In the article is mentions drugs and smoking which can be heavily linked with the metal genre because you hear about a lot of rock stars which are in rock, metal or screamo bands that drink, smoke or take drugs.

Matt Nicholls



Oli Sykes





 

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

 For the distribution of my magazine there are several majors which could possibly publish my magazine. However, Bauer Media wouldn’t be able to publish it because they are the major that publishes Kerrang! And that would be too much competition for both of the magazines. Conde Nast is a major which publishes magazines like Vogue which is fashion so they might not want to start distributing and publishing rock magazines because they have a specific type of magazine that they already publish. I personally believe that the best major to publish my magazine would be IPC Media. This is because they only have one music magazine which is NME and “High Voltage” would be a completely different genre of music so there wouldn’t be any competition between both of the magazines.

Question Four - Who would be the audience for your media product?

Throughout my planning and research I always concentrated on the rock/metal genre and always looked at Kerrang! magazine for guidance when I was creating my magazine. The reason I chose the rock/metal genre is because it is the music I listen to and the genre is becoming very popular so I thought more people would buy it because of how popular it is becoming. The genre is also well known worldwide and is very popular in America. This is because some of the best rock/metal bands are from America and whenever bands tour they always go to America which shows that they have fans worldwide. The rock genre is usually stereotyped as rebellious behaviour and wild hair colours. This links back to my front cover because my model has bright coloured hair and it also has a graffiti background. The graffiti background can be seen as rebellious because it is against the law and people still do it. The top the model is wearing is a “Ramones” top. This also links back to the rock genre. The model looks like a rock chick because of the clothes she’s wearing especially the leather jacket and her eye-makeup also shows that she is associated with that genre.

Question Five - How did you attract/address your audience? 

I attracted my audience by using vivid colours and aspects which would attract the target audience. I put several different bands on the front cover which are quite famous within the metal/screamo genre which would attract people that listen to them bands. The bright colours which I have included on the front cover and throughout my magazine will attract the readers because the magazine will stand out against the other magazines surrounding it and the bright colours will attract the reader’s eye. The sell lines I have used stand out against the model and the background and they are in a bold font. The sell lines will attract the target audience because of what they are about. One sell line is “Rockstar Confessions”. This sell line will attract the target audience because they will be learning new things about the rock stars that they listen to. The “Festival Frenzy” sell line will also attract the target audience because they may be going to one of the festivals that are included in the article so they will want to know what bands have been released and what is happening at the festivals. The main headline says “Exclusive Punk’s Not Dead”. This will attract the target audience because it is an exclusive interview which no one will have seen before so they will get to see a lot about the band that is featured. Right at the bottom of my magazine I have a conventional feature which is teasing contents. The teasing contents include free posters and gigs which are happening throughout the year. This will attract my target audience because it will include bands which people are interested in. The teasing contents have a white box behind the writing so it stands out and should initially attract the target audience. On my contents page I have continued with the bright colours and the same fonts. This shows consistency throughout my magazine. The writing stands out more on my contents page because the background is darker. I have still used the graffiti background but I have put dark boxes around the text so it stands out more. On the contents page I have added in a competition which will attract the target audience because they may be interested in winning the competition. The double-page spread still has all of the conventional features you would expect to see on a magazine. The colour scheme is still the same and the article is an exclusive interview about Hollie Dearing’s life which none of the target audience will know about.

Question Six - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

When I started creating my music magazine I had only used photo shop once before and I had to learn how to use each tool and what the tools were for. I used the quick selection a lot because I used to crop the background out from around the images so they could be placed over my graffiti background. The quick selection tool is easy to use and it helped me a lot throughout the process of making this magazine. After I had used the quick selection tool to cut out images I started to use the blur tool. This came in handy for when there was rigid edges around the image. I used the blur tool on every image that I cut out apart from the one on the front cover. The blur tool makes it look like you have just taken the image and put it onto the magazine. I used the transform tool a lot as well because I had to rotate and scale images a lot throughout the magazine because I had to get them to fit on the magazine and also so the text would fit around them. I used the rotate image a couple of times to see if the image or text would fit better onto the magazine but I generally used to rotate it back to how it was when I started. I decided that I wanted to do my double-page spread on Photoshop because I became more used to use it and I have used it more than I have used Microsoft publisher. All of the text throughout my magazine is on Photoshop and I did all of the colours on Photoshop. My entire magazine was created in Photoshop. I used the sharpen tool on my front cover because my model’s hair was quite dark on the front cover and I wanted her to stand out so I made it brighter. I also used the levels on Photoshop so I could change the brightness of the picture. I did this on the picture on the contents page this is because I wanted it to look like it was dark because it could have been taken after one of their gigs.

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

When I look back at my preliminary task I realise how much of an improvement I have made when I have been learning how to use Photoshop properly. When I finished my preliminary task I thought it was really good but now when I look at it I see all the things that I could have changed to make it better. In the progression I have definitely learned how to use Photoshop better and also how to edit the photographs for better effects. When I did my preliminary task I knew how to use the quick selection tool, the blur tool and the text tool but now I pretty much know how to use every tool in Photoshop. When I started my preliminary task I just took an image and didn’t edit it and put it on my front cover. On the front cover of my magazine I have edited the levels on the photo, put a black shadow around the photo and sharpened her hair. I have learnt how to add effects to the text like an outline and outer glows. When you learn how to use Photoshop it becomes so much easier and you can also do more to your work which makes it look better. The tutorial we had on Photoshop made it so much easier for the Music Magazine and also my peers showed me different tools which I could have used throughout my magazine. Looking at my magazine I think I have used the majority of the tools on Photoshop which has helped me make my magazine look how it is now. Even when I did the drafts they were not as good as my final product because I have progressed throughout the process and if I had the chance to I would go back and change things on my final product because you realise that you can do different things to the images, text and the layout which makes it look more appealing for the target audience.

Final Music Magazine.

Final Front Cover. Contents Page Draft and Double Page Spread Draft:]

This is my final magazine front cover. I like the way I have set it out and the background because it represents rebelious behaviour which can be linked to the rock music genre. The colour scheme is throughout the magazine which shows consistancy.

I would improve this contents page by adding more text. This is because I have had to space the text out which takes up more room than it should. I like the image in the bottom corner because the text goes around the image and her hair stands out against the background.

I would improve this double page spread by changing the image. This is because you cannot see alot of her face but I had to choose this image because I did not have any other images which would have gone in the space. I like the way the writing is spaced out. This is because there is alot of text but it is broken down by the subheadings (questions). The questions have a blue outline around them which makes them stand out.

Final Front Cover.

This is my final front cover. I didn't change the size of my image on the front cover. This is because it fit on the page really well. My masthead 'High Voltage' stands out because it has the black shadow behind the writing. The masthead stands out because of the outer glow that is around the writing and they both have a different colour around them. The subheadings on the front cover are also in the same font as the masthead and also have the same glow around them.

Final Images - Front Cover

 I took this image of the model on a graffitti wall. I decided this would be my final image for my magazine front cover because the graffitti wall and the model both contrast well against each other. This is because the model is wearing all dark clothing and the graffitti wall is white with different coloured graffitti. Personally I think this is a good image because the graffiti stands out against the image and graffitti represents rebeliance.

I went on photoshop with my original image and put this black shadow around it. I decided to do this so it looks darker which will represent rock music. I also used photoshop to make the models hair go brighter than it is usually. I did this because her hair will then also stand out against the background. The black shadow around the image makes the graffitti stand out more than it already did. This is the final image which i am using for my magazine front cover.

Music Magazine Front Cover Images.

This is the first image that I chose from my images to have on the cover of my music magazine. This image is really good because the background shows rebellious behaviour which can be linked to rock. The model stands out well because of her bright red hair and the clothes she is wearing. If the camera was zoomed in more on the model and cut more of the background out this picture would have been fantastic for a mazgazine front cover.

I like this image for a music magazine front cover because of the way the model is sat. I like the way she is sat because you can see some of the graffiti wall behind her and the colours off the wall stand out. The models clothing makes her stand out because her clothes are dark but the wall is pretty much white. I won't be using this image for my front cover because i used flash on the camera and it has ruined the image.

I could have used this image for my front cover. This is because the model stands out and it shows all her facial features. The way the model has got her eye makeup may represent that she listens to rock music and is associated with that genre. However, the background would not be suitable for the magazine front cover because you can not see alot of the graffitti wall. Not been able to see the graffitti wall made me decide not to use this image because the graffitti wall represents rebelience which can be linked to the rock/metal genre.

This is a really good image which may also represent the rock/metal genre. This is because it shows off her eye makeup which is black and is quite bold. It also shows off how bright her hair is. The leather jacket could also represent the rock image because some off the rock singers wear the leather jackets to represent what genre they are making music for.