Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel your have learn't in the progression from it to the final product?

Through my AS media coursework, I have gained knowledge and skill in a number of different software's and ideas relating to music magazines.

Through my development I have researched what was the best way to set out my front cover and make sure most of the page is filled out with something. As I didn't know how to construct a front cover of a magazine or even use most of the software, my preliminary task didn't appear to be a professional looking school magazine. However, I feel that as I developed my software skills through my media course, I have created a more professional looking music magazine. Compared to my preliminary task, I took my front cover main image on a plain background so it would be easier and clearer to add sell lines and cover lines which I didn't do for my school magazine as I hadn't researched or had experience.

       
I have developed my skills massively in Photoshop and InDesign so that I could create a professional looking music magazine. I have added effects and a number of different shapes and fonts to make my contents page look much more attractive to the audience as an indie rock music magazine. This has improved a lot since my preliminary task of making a school magazine contents page as I didn't have any experience in most of the software I had to use, so the finished result wasn't how a real magazine would look. Compared to my preliminary task, my music magazine contents page is filled with lots of information about the magazine and what is featured in it, whereas my school magazine contents page was plain and there was lots of empty space which you wouldn't usually see in a music magazine. The images on my music magazine contents page are more spaced out than my preliminary task and the ratio of text to images is more 50/50, whereas in my school magazine, there was a lot more images to text.


I didn't initially do a double page spread for my preliminary task, however I am happy with the final outcome of my double page spread as it is spaced out evenly and it appears to be a double page spread rather than two single pages. I didn't typically use my main image on the left hand side of the double page spread as I felt it looked better on the right hand side, and my audience/readers would still get to the see the image when flicking through the magazine.



Looking back at my music magazine, I wish I would've used a male as my front cover image or even featured inside as I found out that most people wanted both sexes to be featured in a music magazine.
Through my progression in my music magazine, I have learnt the importance of the different components on the page working coherently together as this presents the overall feel and look of the magazine and whether the audience are interested in purchasing my music magazine.

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

 

How did your attract/address your audience?

Who would be the audience for your media product?

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

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

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

Music magazine front cover final outcome

 

Music magazine contents page final outcome

Music magazine double page spread final outcome

Magazine outline drafts

Front cover plan

Contents page plan

 

Double-page spread plan

 

Clothing

For my rock music magazine I want my model to be in a plain, long sleeved black dress as this is the typical colour that a rock singer would wear for a magazine article. As shown below, Paramore are on the front cover of NME and are all dressed in black to portray a darker side and mystery in the band:









I don't particularly want any accessories with my model except for a guitar to make this the focus of the magazine and rock artists don't usually have any accessories on them.

Making my magazine

Today I added a puff to include a free poster inside my magazine which is red with black and white writing to make it stand out more.

I also added cover lines in black and red to make them stand out and included them in different fonts to show that they are different features in the magazine.

I added information in the bottom strap line box and wrote band names to show who is featured in the magazine. 

Making my magazine

Today i added the artists name and sub heading for the article explaining what will be in it. I made the writing red to make it stand out on the front cover and also made the font have a rock style to it which goes well with my magazine genre.

Making my magazine

Today I added a strap line at the bottom of my magazine to give a clearer sense of my colour scheme and it also breaks up the front cover. 

I also moved the image over to the right slightly to enable more space for text on the left hand side of my magazine. To be able to do this I had to smudge the edge from the original picture so the background colour is the same as the rest of the image.

I decided to add the price of my magazine on top of the barcode and the date at the top of the page, sideways under the masthead.

Flat plan

Page 1: Front Cover	Page 2: Contents Page	Page 3: New artists	Page 4: Poster	Page 5: Double-page spread
Page 6: Double-page spread	Page 7: Poster	Page 8: Latest releases	Page 9: Concert dates	Page 10: News
Page 11: Double-page spread	Page 12: Double-page spread	Page 13: Poster	Page 14: News	Page 15: Double-page spread
Page 16: Double-page spread	Page 17: Poster	Page 18: Album/single reviews	Page 19: Concert dates	Page 20: Competition/puzzle page

About my magazine

The title of my music magazine will be 'Illuminate', with red, black and white as my colour scheme for my magazine. I will choose this font for my magazine masthead as it is bold and will span across the top of my front cover which is my aim for the magazine:

My target audience for my rock magazine is teenagers to young adults as the rock genre is mainly liked by them and these type of people will be more likely to buy a music magazine. My magazine will have a blog and social media pages where it shares all the latest gossip and news to do with the bands and other specials featured in the magazine. This will ensure that my magazine gains a big following and more people will buy my rock magazine as it is familiar to them.

Kerrang! magazine is the inspiration or my own magazine as it looks eye-catching and cool to the readers and engages the audience with lots of different articles that are included.
The typical conventions that a rock magazine normally follows is that men are mainly the image for it as there are more male rock bands and it makes the magazine look more like the genre of music. However, i want to have females in my magazine and on the front cover as i feel that more people will buy the magazine and create a female based magazine as there isn't one available.
In rock magazines, a free gift is usually included. Due to this convention being another reason why the magazines are best sellers, i will too include a freebie with my music magazine and clearly display it in the top right hand corner where it is visible to the readers, which is the conventional place to add a free gift.
The masthead on a rock magazine is usually placed behind the image and centered on the top of the front cover. I want to try to keep to this typical convention as it makes the image look 3-D and makes it stand out more. Magazines usually have the masthead behind the main image if they are a well-known brand and easily recognisable and this is what i want to portray. However, if the masthead doesn't look right i won't have the image on top.

I will add the barcode and the price on the bottom right hand corner so it is the last thing the audience sees on the page, this is a convention and ensures that the reader is drawn in by the content on the front cover and doesn't base there view on the price.

Results

As the pie chart shows, the most common name for my music magazine was 'Illuminate' rather than 'CXS', 'Experience' and 'Smash'. Due to my results I will choose Illuminate as my magazine masthead as it was the most popular in my questionnaire.

The most common choice which came out in my questionnaire was £2-£2.99. As this was the most popular price for my music magazine i will make my magazine, £2.99. This price is also similar to the price of other music magazines, so it follows the norms of a music magazine.

I asked what colour scheme would be best for my music magazine, and due to 'red, black and white' being the most popular choice with the people i asked, i will choose this as my colour scheme for my magazine.

I have decided to have 20 pages in my music magazine, as '16-20 pages' was the most common answer which came from my questionnaire.

In my music magazine i have decided to include interviews, new artists and concert dates as these were the most common wants in my magazine. As some of the other choices were also popular with the people i asked, i may include some of them to fill up my magazine with things people want to see and not have the same things on each page.

As my results came back with everyone who answered my questionnaire wanting  a variety of gender in my magazine, i will try to include both male and female models in my music magazine to make the audience want to buy my magazine more.

Due to my questionnaire feedback coming back and people wanting a gift included with the magazine, i will make a puff which states that a free gift is inside so that more people will buy my magazine as it would be more appealing to them.

Questionnaire evidence

I also asked people who don't have social media accounts so that there was a range of different opinions for my rock magazine.

Make up

 

I have decided to use a gold tint to the eye shadow as it has an indie feel to it due to the brightness and highlighting of the eyes. The eyes wouldn't be too dramatic either as I want the whole image to stand out not just the models face.






I would like to use red lipstick on my model as the majority of rock magazines with females featured have red lipstick and I think this works well as a common feature to a rock magazine. The red lips also make the front cover to a magazine more eye catching to the audience which would grab more people's attention wich would result in more sales of the magazine.

Many rock magazine models featured have a smoky eye or dark makeup to portray the genre of the magazine and make it clearer to the readers. The black smoky eye also presents a sense of mystery which would intregue the audience into buying the magazine to find out what it is about.

 

I have decided to use a lighter lip colour with the smoky eyes so it isn't too harsh as i don't want my rock magazine to be hard core rock. The lighter lip colour isnt usually the type of make up found on a rock magazine however i think it will work well with the dark eyes.  

Questionnaire

1. What name would you prefer for a music magazine?

• CXS
• Experience
• Smash
• Illuminate

2. How much would you pay for a music magazine?

• Under £1.00
• £1.00 - £1.99
• £2.00 - £2.99
• £3.00 or more

3. What colour scheme would be best for my magazine?

• Orange and white
• Blue, purple and black
• Red, black and white
• Blue, red white and grey

4. How many pages would be best for my magazine?

• Under 10
• 10 - 15
• 16 - 20
• 21 or more

5. What content would you like to see in the music magazine?

• Posters
• Interviews
• Latest releases
• New artists
• Concert dates
• Other? Please specify

6. Would you be more likely to buy a music magazine if there was more of a mix of men and women featured?

• Yes
• No

7. Should a gift or freebie be included with the magazine?

• Yes
• No

Locations

I like this area of park for one of my locations for my music magazine as it is an open area with not too much going on, so my models would stand out more in the image and the focus will be on them. I also like the area as it is predominantly black and white, but there is a hint of colour with the grass, so it isn't boring but still minimalistic, to co-ordinate with my theme. The area also looks quite indie as there are trees surrounding the area and with a darker lighting makes it look cooler.

I would like to take pictures of my model(s) with the trees and in a woody area as it would be a cool location. There is a lot of colour in this area and it is bright so the quality of the image would be high due to the natural light that will be displayed in my images.

I have taken an image of an alley which i will use for some of my images for inside my magazine as it has an indie rock feel to the location, which i want to portray through my magazine images. I like the area as it looks urban so my models would fit in to the location with their clothes and the genre of my magazine. As the area is quite dark it may be harder to get a clear and distinctive image, however i think the area is coherent with my genre so i want to keep this location.

I think this alley area would be a good place to have pictures of my models as there is corrogated iron shutters to give it an edgy look which i was aiming for and the models would be the focal point of the image. The lighting isn't the best because there are no street lights down there, so i would have to go earlier in the day so the image is to the best quality. There is also a rock/indie feel to the location because of the brick work from the houses which would be coherent wiith the look for my magazine.

Target Audience

A target audience is a specific group of people who are interested in a type of media text for example, people who read 'Kerrang!' magazine are their target audience.

The target audience for my music magazine will be teenagers and young adults as I feel these people will be the most interested in the indie rock type of music which my magazine is based upon. There isn't a specific gender which my magazine will be aimed towards as both men and women would be attracted to a female orientated front cover image as it is different from the conventional rock magazine, which is mainly male artists.

 

 

 

The target audience for my music magazine will wear dark, indie clothing which will be of a similar style to my models of my magazine, so that they can relate to them more. The clothing is coherent with my chosen genre to make the magazine flow more and for it to be more eye-catching to my target audience.

My target audience would shop in places such as Urban Outfitters, Topshop and vintage shops as these places would suit their styles.

They would be interested in guitars and art to express their creative side and themselves.

Chosen genre - Rock

I have chosen to do a rock genre for my music magazine because my model, Tiana, has mainly a black dress sense so this would go well with the rock genre in a magazine.

The main conventions of the rock genre is:

• The images are usually black and white and of an older musician
• The text should be in simple colours e.g. black, white or a single colour which goes with the theme of the magazine
• Each issue changes the main colour scheme to make them different
• Barcode is usually on the bottom right so it is the last thing that the reader sees
• There is usually a prize or free gift to be won, this is placed on the top right hand corner so it is easily spotted by the audience
• The masthead is usually placed behind the main image and centred on the front cover

The target audience for the rock genre is mainly young adults between the ages of 20-30 years old.
The main publishers of rock magazines are: Bauer Media which publish 'Kerrang!', and Sonic Publishing who publish Rock Sound.
The main publishers both use black and white as their main colours on the magazine, with one other colour to break it up and make that edition unique. The contrasting colour is usually red as it is a bold colour and portrays aggression.


The Offspring

 

'The Offspring' are an American punk-rock band who consist of:

• Dexter Holland; lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist
• Kevin Wasserman; lead guitarist
• Greg K; bassist
• Pete Parada; drums

The image has been taken in an industrial area with dark blue corrugated iron in the background. This is coherent with the bands clothing as they are mainly wearing dark blue and black casual clothing. This image doesn't show a clear contrast between the band and the background so it isn't as effective because the image doesn't make a statement. They are wearing dark glasses to look cool and looking directly at the camera to engage the audience.

The main target audience for 'The Offspring' is young adults and teenagers both male and female. They appeal to both men and women as they are mainly focused on their music and how their style is portrayed, rather than their look for a female fan base due to attraction.

Bastille

'Bastille' are an English rock band consisting of:

• Dan Smith; lead vocals, keyboard and percussion
• Chris Wood; drums, beats and backing vocals
• William Farquarson; bass, keyboard, guitar and backing vocals
• Kyle Simmons; keyboard, percussion, bass and backing vocals.

 

The style of Bastille is indie rock as they appear to be wearing mainly black clothing with puffer jackets. The image below isn't the conventional rock image as they are smiling slightly and the image seems to be inviting. The image has been taken against a white background to make them the focus of the image. The band are looking directly at the camera to hsow eye conact and make the audience feel closer an more on a personal level. For my front cover I will take my image against a white background so that the people/person will stand out more and be the centre of attention in the image.

The majority of Bastille's target audience is young people between the ages of 16 to 31, with very few older people being a fan of them. This may be because they have only recently in the last 5 years become popular and people starting to recognise their name and music. The band are also more popular with females than males, which could be because women are more attracted to the appearance of the band and focus on this as well as their music.

 

Pierce the veil

'Pierce the veil' are an American post-hard core band who feature:

• Vic Fuentes; lead vocals, guitar and keyboard
• Mike Fuentes; drums and percussions
• Jaime Preciado; bass guitar and backing vocals
• Tony Perry; guitar

 

This image has also been taken against a white/grey background to make the band stand out more. The band appear to be looking down at the camera which could show that they are powerful and serious about their music. They all appear to be wearing black and white to make the image seem minimalistic and sticking to the conventional colours of rock bands. The band appear to have serious faces as they are a hard-core rock band and want to upkeep their reputation.

Star Image

Star image is how a celebrity is seen through the media or in the eyes of fans and audiences. The celebrity would have a public persona which is obviously recognised, which is used as the star's image. the image would be used in advertising as it is relatable and easily recognisable to audiences.

The stars are made to appeal to the audience so that the record companies receive more revenue. The companies shape the stars into what they believe the audience want.

Miley Cyrus's star image has changed from when she was a singer/actress on Disney Channel to a pop singer now.
Her management have shaped her into being unique and out-there rather than a girly singer like all of the others. They wnated to give her something that people will associate with her and make her more recognisable to a wider audience. As before only Disney Channel fans and tennagers would know who she was.

 

 

Miley Cyrus has changed into a more edgier dress sense to escape from her 'Hannah Montana' roots which she was most famous for.

The vast transformation caught many people's attention and made her what everyone was talking about, so everyone knew who she was. This changed the type of audience she had as it wasn't just the music people were interested in anymore.

 

Nowdays she doesn'e care what she wears and has been spotted on several occasions wearing bras, latex clothing and mesh to stand out from the crowd.

She is now seem promoting/highlighting:

• Drugs
• Alcohol
• Sex
• Explcit performing
• Partying

Her music was changed from pop/rock/country songs to more of a hip hop/RnB style to guve her more fans.

Initial ideas

I have chosen to make the price around £2.35 as my music magazine will be published on glossy paper so the readers will get what they pay for. Music magazines are also around that price so i am basing my price on the typical cost of a normal magazine. Also people wouldn't begrudge paying this price if it is only once a month.

I have chosen to do a monthly magazine, so the content isn't repeated as much, as more happens in a month than individual weeks. There can also be themed months, for example, a Halloween special in October.

I am making my magazine informal as my target audience is aimed towards younger people, this way they will be able to relate to the magazine more, as the majority of it will be written in colloquisms or slang words.

I have chosen these colours as initial ideas for my music magazine as they are bright and eye-catching to the readers. The colours I have chosen to put together also compliment each other and will make the magazine stand out even more.

I think i will choose 'CXS' for the masthead of my music magazine as it is short and catching. It also looks appealing to the readers as i will make the masthead join together.

 

NME magazine annotation

 

 

The colours on the NME magazine are kept minimal with only red, black and white being the colours on the front cover page. The masthead and the most interesting facts or articles are in red, with the rest of the text in black and white.

The text is plain to make it clean and easier for the audience to read from far away or close up. This makes the magazine seem more sophisticated and formal as there is no 'out there' style on the magazine front cover.

The main image is a mid shot of Liam Gallagher who is dresses in black and white to make the front cover flow. He is looking straight at the camera to engage the audience and make the magazine more personal to the individual reader.

The barcode and price are strategically placed in the bottom right hand corner as that is the last place people look on a magazine, so the readers would be more interested in the content of the magazine rather than the price.

 





 

The colour theme of red, black and white is carried through to the contents page to make the magazine flow more as a whole. This carries forward the idea of a more formal music magazine because of the minimalistic design.

The masthead is placed in the top left hand corner so it can easily be spotted by the readers of the magazine. The masthead incorporates the logo of the magazine to familiarise the readers and make sure the magazine pages flow well together.

There is a band list which tells the audience who is featured in the magazine so it is clearly displayed, and easier for the audience to read.

There is only one image on the contents page, whereas normally there is at least three. As there is only one image on the contents page there appears to be more text which can seem overpowering and people are less likely to engage with the magazine if the majority of the page is text.

The subheading are bigger than the information text, to make sure the audience know where to look, say if they wanted to look at the posters, there is a clear subheading displaying all the pages featuring posters on it. This makes it easier for the reader.

 

The double page spread is even more simpler than the front cover and contents page, with the page focussing on black and white colouring. The page is set up with the image on the left page and the text on the right hand page.

The masthead is big and bold to stand out on the page and make it clear who the article is about, with the masthead taking up half of the page.

The images from the front cover page and the double page spread flow together as in the front cover image, Liam Gallagher is holding sunglasses and in the double page spread image he is wearing them. This reinforces a familiar theme and person to the magazine to engage the audience.

Kerrang magazine annotation

 

 

The magazine front cover displays different colours on the page, with green, yellow, orange, white and black, to highlight the halloween theme of the magazine with its associated colours. The magazine appears bright and eye catching to the audience, which will catch their eye, so that more people are likely to buy it.

There are many different types of font to keep the audience engaged and the magazine appears more eye-catching as there is so many interesting things on the page.

Even though the main image is partly covering the masthead, the magazine front cover is still recognisable to the regular readers and any other people that might want to read the magazine. This is because the magazine is so popular and well known to music fans that people automatically know what the magazine is about due to the distinctive and bold masthead.

There are many smaller images of the posters which feature in the magazine to encourage the potential readers to buy it if they see something that interests them.

 

 

 

The colours on the contents page are kept to red, yellow, black and white colours, with the colours which are in the images on the page (pink and orange).

The masthead of the contents page isn't as big as normal mastheads which brings more attention to the content in the magazine.

There is a message to the readers of the magazine from the editor to make it more personal for the audience and let the readers know that the magazine production are greatful and happy that the audience is buying their magazine.

 

 

There is a clear red, blue, black and white theme to the double page spread with associations with blood. This connects with the overall theme of the magazine being a halloween edition, with the text type and blood colouring to make the magazine flow more.
The contrast in the interview text (the red and white writing on black background) makes the double page spread stand out more to the readers as there is a clear distinction between the colours on the page.
The masthead has a horror theme to it which makes the pages flow and easily relate to each other.
There is a pull quote from the interview done with the band, to interest the readers and draw people into reading about them because the pull quote is something interesting and sometimes unexpected from the band they are interviewing.
The page is split up into two parts, with the main image on the left hand page and the interview on the right hand page. As the main image is on the left page, it makes sure when people are flicking through the magazine that the article and image are seen and draw attention to the page.
There is a subtitle clearly placed at the top left hand corner of the magazine double page spread, saying 'News', as it is clearly visable to the readers and follows the halloween theme with cobwebs on the text. This ensures that the audience are aware of what they are reading.

Q Magazine annotation

The magazine front cover has a clear colour scheme of red, black and white. However, because it is a special edition as it is its 20th anniversary the outline is gold to make it seem superior and unique.

The colours on the page work well together as white is placed on a black/dark background to make it eye-catching to the reader.There is only one red piece on the front cover, which is the masthead or name of the magazine. This makes it more effective as people will know straight away which magazine they are looking at.

The main image is of a man who is looking directly at the camera with a sturn face. This image relates to the main article in the magazine as underneath the image is the name of the man. By having the man look straight at the camera it makes the reader feel the magazine is more personal and aimed towards them as it is making a point as to looking at the audience to draw their attention into buying the magazine.

Most of the cover lines appear to be on the left side of the magazine front cover as the main image is on the right hand side. As all of the text is the same size and type this could come across as boring to the reader or just more professional than all of the other music magazines that can be found around. By having the taxt and the writing on separate sides of the magazine page this makes sure the reader is looking at all of the page not just one side which appears to be more eye-catching. 

I think the use of the number '20' is unique and interesting as it clearly says it is its 20th anniversary so has tried to come up with ways to make this a special edition. The '20s' used on the page are considerably bigger than the rest of the text to make them stand out more, whilst still having the same text type which makes sure the front cover flows more. 

The colour scheme of black, red and white is carried through to the contents page which is good as it makes the magazine flow more, and people can relate to it as the same magazine as it is in a certain style. As the main colours on the contents page are black and red, the only blue and yellow sub-headings are catching and unique to the page. This makes sure the reader looks at those articles on the contents page as it draws attention to the audience.

There are three images on the contents page to show the different types of people who feature in the magazine, and how the magazine appeals to everyone. The images are mainly black and white also, to make them go with the contents page colour scheme.

The cover lines are on the left hand side of the contents page and the images on the right hand side. The most important information is on the outside of the page, so when people flick through the magazine they can quickly see where they want to go to read an article that interests them.

The masthead of 'Q' is carried through to the contents page in a smaller version to make sure the audience knows the magazine they are reading and it makes it flow more.



This double page spread shows the main image of the band on the left page and the interview on the right page. The colour of black, red and white is also carried through to the double page spread, however there is a tint of blue in the image which could show a calmer side to the band.

The name of the band is in bold letters to clearly highlight who the article is about and give the audience better knowledge. The lettering is centred on the right hand side of the double page spread whihc makes it even more eye catching as it is positioned on its own.

There is a small image of a front cover from previously on the double page spread to show how they was on the front cover before and refresh people's memories.

There is a pull quote from the 'U2' interview to draw people into reading the article, as they have put the most interesting or unexpected quote in larger writing.