Evaluation of Music Magazine

Final Cover:

Contents page:

Double Page Spread:

Evaluation

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

Whilst researching existing music magazines (both rock magazines and magazines of other genres such as pop) I noticed that almost all magazines had the several conventions in common, such as:

Masthead, main image, bar code, cover lines, main cover line and dates / issue numbers, thus these features are conventional to music magazines. I therefore ensured that I placed each of these conventions on my magazine.  I also researched the Kerrang! Logo, finding that it was black and white (two colours that contrast very well) and has an exclamation mark. Additionally it also had a cracked glass overlay effect, giving the impression that it’s a rock/metal magazine due to the aggressive nature. Furthermore the mast head (logo) often spread across the whole of the cover page. When designing my logo for ‘Smash’ I considered these features, meaning there are many similarities between my logo and ‘kerrang’s’. The word smash also portrays rough and aggressive connections, thus could be linked to the rock genre.

Throughout many magazines, including kerrang, rock sound and classic rock, a black and white colour scheme was very common. This was most likely due to how effectively they contrast, but also this tends to prevent the distraction of colour. Many people prefer the simplicity of simple colour combinations over multiple colours.  Again I decided to include this on my cover page.

The main image on most music magazines (both on covers and article pages) are either a medium shot of a band, or a medium close up of an individual. As I used an image of an individual I used a medium close up. Although I also used a medium shot on my contents page to show what the person of the image was wearing (as it was a stereotypical outfit you’d expect to see a rockstar wearing), an example of codes used on a magazine. The main image of magazines also usually look directly to the reader, providing a more personal interaction with them.

The front cover also has plugs and puffs which are used to grab the attention of and intrigue the reader. Almost all magazines, of all genres, use these forms of convention as they can be applied to any article or magazines content.

Whereas Kerrang tends to cover both rock and metal, my magazine challenges this by solely covering rock. Also Kerrang’s covers tend to be very messy, with many pictures and captions crammed into a small area. Although this does relate to the aggressive nature of the rock genre, it looks very unappealing. As such I’ve decided to tone it down slightly in comparison to Kerrang, with less images and strap lines.

However, as there are different types of rock music (such as classic rock) I also used images of very different people. Unlike kerrang ,for example, who use images of people who are very similar, I used an image of a more gothic, hardcore fan of modern music, and two images of more indi, classical rock fans.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

One of the images in the magazine portrays a stereotypical Goth, which is shown through the way in which he dresses and his appearance in general; characteristics such as very long hair, and attitude (hand gestures) for example. This targets people who listen to heavy metal and hard rock, as these are the genres of music this stereotype listens too and attributed with. In addition, the main image on the cover portrays a pop music artist. Although this is less obvious than the last, the dress sense and features such as hair style are very typical and average. This would suggest that this person is an artist in a more common genre; such as pop. Likewise his taste in music and clothing is more similar to the average persons.  However, I didn’t not use any images of females, which would have helped to represent and appeal to both females and males. I would therefore include an image of a female if I was to do this task again.

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

A magazine publication company such as Future Publishing would publish this magazine. The company already has a large range of music magazines, including several rock ones, therefore already has an audience and market for this type of magazine. A magazine production company undergoes the process of creating a physical magazine from an idea / plan. Digital music is much more popular, nowadays, than physical music (CD’s, etc), and e-books are also becoming more popular. Therefore a company may choose to product and sell digital magazines too. This would be much cheaper (as there is no physical materials needed), but could make just as much profit. These e-magazines could also be sold at a cheaper price (as they production costs are lower) and the business could still make a larger profit- the lower prices would also encourage more sales. Money for producing magazines is often self-funded, or paid for through profit the company.  

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My magazine is aimed towards people between the age of 15 and 30, as people between these ages tend to have more of an interest in the ‘rock’ lifestyle. The images of the people throughout the magazine are fairly young, therefore are more relatable to the reader. Due to the magazine been aimed towards this age group, the readers would probably not have much disposable income, falling intro income bracket B or C. As such I priced the magazine at a realistic price for these readers at £2. Being as the price is fairly low, this should also prevent people from been discouraged from buying the magazine. However, I now realise that I hadn’t displayed that on my cover. As before, the images throughout the magazine are presented as tidily dressed, supporting the previously mentioned income bracket.

My magazine tends to appeal more to males than it does females. There are no images of females though out, which is something I would consider using if I was to redo the task. This would better appeal to females, who are just as common in the rock music genre. Although there is a lack of images of females, the magazine is still aimed to females to some extent.  The magazine isn’t limited to particular ethnic groups, but is completely in English. As such, it isn’t aimed to people with a lack of English knowledge. 

How did you attract / address your audience?

People who have an interest in rock music would also enjoy this magazine, as this magazine solely covers this genre. By representing the stereotypical fans of the rock genre I was able to address the audience. Being as there are different types of rock, I was able to use images of people who appear to represent different types of the same genre. Whereas one image portrays a typical goth- who would most likely prefer more modern rock music- the others portray people who seem to be fans of more classic rock. This magazine therefore attracts to both types of fans, despite been of the game type of music.

By simply having an effective cover, people will become intrigued and interested. The simple colour scheme of black and white, although not exactly eye catching, does look professional. By having this colour scheme throughout  the magazine is consistent. The target audience is teenagers and people in their twenties, people of this age tend to not be hugely interested in considerable amount of text thus there were several images used too.

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

Using Photoshop regularly for the design of each of the pages of the magazine, I now feel confident with using the program. Not only did I use it to simply place photos onto a page and move them around, but I also: experienced layers and the order In which images and text can be placed, I edited the Images by removing backgrounds and resizing them, adding relevant filters and effects, used various tools such as the quick selection tool, pen tool and type tool. It was through use of these tools I was able to make improvements and necessary changes to my work.

In addition to using Photoshop, I also used blogger, a blogging site. It was trough using this site that I was able to display clearly changes made and the order in which they were made. This means that the whole process of creating my magazine can be shown, the research done to create said work and what my intentions were whilst creating the magazine.  By combining this site with Slide Share, I was able to link any work done offline, in programs such as Word and Publisher. This is how files such as the layout draft were shown. This therefore shows the whole process of creating my magazine.

Whereas in the first task (the school magazine) I was fairly inexperienced with Photoshop- using it one only a few odd occasions- I gained a lot more experience with it in this task. I also understand better how a magazine can be aimed towards certain groups of people and audiences, through representing people of particular groups, for example. Likewise, I gained the knowledge of how a magazine can interact with its readers through having images of people looking directly at the reader. Use of puffs and straplines can be hugely effective. Using brighter and more varied colours, whilst still using a certain colour scheme makes the magazine more visually appealing- something which I feel I’ve improved greatly upon in comparison to my last task. Another way in which I’ve improved in terms of appearance is by been much more accurate and precise when cutting the background of images. Whereas in my first task the image was very poorly cut out with a very rough outline, I took more time when doing this in this task, so the outcome looked much more professional and appealing. Likewise, I’ve edited some images so they better suit the style of the magazine, whereas on the first task I didn’t.