Main Task Evaluation

The brief for my main task of my AS Media Foundation Portfolio was to create the front cover, contents page and double page spread of a new music magazine. To achieve this I decided to focus on the front cover of the magazine first and then had to research and analyse existing music magazines and discover their codes and conventions. This was achieved by looking at three different existing magazines in print from different institutions with different target groups. These were NME, Kerrang and Rolling Stone. From these magazine splashes I found that despite each being a different genre they all adhered to the usual conventions of music magazines. This came in the form of sell lines distributed across the splash with artist’s names within them, a main image to represent the artist being featured and the institution of the magazine as well as a large easily distinguishable and recognisable masthead. I used these within my own product with the rounded, block, electrical font and lightening bolt in red and yellow as my masthead which connoted electricity and energy which reflected my institutions name, ‘’High Voltage’’ (which 100% of my feedback says relates directly to a music genre) as well as having a listing of sell lines down the left third which means that in a retail situation the potential reader could see the contents of the magazine at a glance and by having the artists names there it will spark a fans interest by seeing the names and attract my audience into consuming my product.

However, I have also challenged the conventions of the usual rock genre magazine in the sense that looking across the real media publications of rock magazines I have found that they are significantly male dominated in the sense of their readership and also the featured bands. Within my magazine I decided to challenge the ideology of the typical stereotype of a male orientated magazine by making my main article be focussed upon a fictitious all-female rock group under the guise of ‘’Taboo.’’

I then moved onto researching and analysing a contents page of an existing institution’s product which is in print which was Kerrang. The main thing I noticed from their contents page was the overall layout of having pictures dominating the main area but with the full contents list down the right hand side. This influenced my initial decision on the layout of my own contents page in which I used the same ideology for the layout. I was also influenced by the theme of the images on their page which all seemed to have white borders and from a quick glance they resemble Polaroid camera images. This was another convention which I adapted into my own contents page.

Next I analysed a double page spread from an existing institution. From this I learned that the connotations of a double page article was to have one large image at the head of the text and a large heading of the featured artists name. I then noticed the subheading of something relating directly to the article. The text was then laid out appropriately beneath that in columns. From this I used the ideology of the strong main image at the head of the article which is in close proximity to the heading and subheading.

The social groups I have reflected the ideology of through my magazine are that of my chosen readership of young socialites. This is done by keeping a very young vibe with the colour scheme of red, yellow and black with white, green and purple accents for the overall magazine which 100% of my audience, who fed back through my polls, decided was representative of my magazine as a whole. It also represents the younger generation through the use of relevant and upcoming bands on the sell lines instead of, for example, 70’s and 80’s bands. I also represent the female gender. The use of the female main artist represents them as strong and equal to men which have so often been overlooked in rock music magazines.

The institution I would choose to publish my magazine is IPC media for the simple fact that they sell a wide variety of magazines to a wide spectrum of customers all over the UK which would mean that my magazine would have a greater opportunity to build a strong and large audience. IPC media is also the institution whom publishes NME which is a very recognised brand which is fits in with my genre of magazine which means that being linked by association to this brand could boost my own magazines reputation.

My target audience for my magazine is young socialites whom are heavily interested in music. My main group I targeted was the 13-18 age groups which 80% of the feedback on my poll said my magazine represented. To do this I first had to address their wants and needs which were to have an up-to-date and weekly magazine with all the popular new bands in with plenty of advertising for gigs and albums. They also needed a magazine which not only had the content they wanted but also a reasonable price as in the 13-18 age bracket money is an issue and not many students can afford to pay more than a couple of pounds a week for a magazine. The monetary side of their needs was catered for in my use of a cover price of £2.50. Their want for relevant artists and plenty of gigs was demonstrated on my contents page where I reserve seven pages for live reviews of gigs in England by popular bands that week and I have allocated a further seven for gigs which are upcoming in recent weeks which could perhaps inform fans of the featured bands about these tours so they consume and invest in that area of music too.

Through constructing this product I learnt about using Photoshop effectively. This came from cropping and lassoing the original picture for my front cover. This was done by using the lasso tool to delete the originally white background from behind my three models and insert a purely black on to fit it in with the background of the splash. However, I found that whilst using Photoshop’s magnetic lasso tool, which attaches itself to the edges of an image automatically, it tended to cut off parts of the hair of my models or parts of their arm. This was corrected by using the automatic lasso tool which meant I was in control of where the cuts would happen which ensured that my models now stayed intact. I also used an image editing program downloaded and provided free of charge by Google, called Picassa, which aided me with the contents page and cropping and fitting the pictures into white frames which makes them appear to be old-style Polaroid cameras pictures which are lying scattered down one side of the page. To create the text and logo for the masthead I used a font generator online which meant I could gain a custom font other than the usual ones from a publisher programme which helped to give my magazine some real stand-out identity. The logo which I created is one which can easily be differentiated from other magazines.

To keep my products (splash, contents and double page spreads) feeling as though it is all directly related to one institution and had one particular style I carried several design features throughout. The splash used bold red and yellow font in a stencilled style for the sell lines which I directly related to the contents page by using the same font and colourings for the heading of the page, and this directly related to the double page spread in the stencilled font used for the heading of the bands name as well as the red and yellow text style being used for the main body of the article. I also carried through the initial colour scheme of black backgrounds with mainly red and yellow text with white accents throughout the three items. In addition, I used the iconography of the lightening bolt through the three pieces playing up its connotations to the name of the institution; ‘High Voltage.’ I also created an identity for my fictional artist by carrying the green and purple logo and the font used for the acts name from the splash and onto the double page spread to create a continuous identity for the band. The use of having both subheadings (both the one on the front cover and the one on the double page spread) in the same font and colour also helps to continue the identity of the band.

When gaining audience feedback for my magazine I found that when asked what I could change for my magazine in order to improve it the main this which could be done better is the original images I took. For this I could have used a better camera to ensure the quality and focus of the image was of a better standard. I also think that the images lack iconography which relates them to the music genre. To improve my representation of a music act, and if I redid my main task, I would make better use of the mise-en-scene to make the focus of the magazine more apparent. This could be done by adding musical instruments into the images such as having a drum kit in the background or having one of my models holding or posing near microphones or guitars. The iconography of this would make the aims, genre, purpose and target audience of my magazine more apparent which in turn could make my product more effective in the sense that it could attract a wider, and larger, audience into consuming my product.

During the progression from my preliminary task of the college magazine to my main product of the music magazine I think the biggest difference which can be seen to have progressed is the overall standard of my product. The preliminary task had little to no editing done with the image whereas I feel the overall presentation of my music magazine is a lot stronger than my college magazine. I have also developed within my written analysis and research and planning stages with me going into more depth and using more appropriate terminology when talking about the products.

Final Double Page Spread

Double Page Spread Mock-Up

Final Contents Page

Contents Mock-up

IT draft for my contents page.

Final Front Cover

Double Page Spread Analysis - NME

On this double page the first thing that stands out is the large black masthead which catches the audiences attention. The quote is one which has been pulled from the main body of text and is used specifically to gain audience interest. The font here is made to look like cuttings from a newspaper.

The strapline gives more information on the feature whilst also leaving enough out to make the reader want to carry on with the article. This is in a much smaller and less eyecatching font than the title with Lily Allen's name in a bolded red font to catch the audience's eye. With this being in red it highlights the main topic of this article.

The picture of Lily Allen dominates the right hand side of the double page. The way in which she is looking at the camera represents the masthead directly. The masthead gives an air of confidence and the postitioning of the image connotates this, The way this is done is the way she is staring directly into the camera and the hand positioning gives an impression of uncaring.

The text itself is in small black font which is easily distinguishable from the white background. It is laid out in columns on the page which makes the layout less crowded.

Contents Analysis - Kerrang!

This contents page is structured in a way which makes it easy to decipher and understand in a short glance which is it's aim.

The main colour scheme is white, yellow and black which has connotations of danger and energy which is inkeeping with the genre of the magazine. The use of the solid, white background keeps the layout, which is in theory busy, looking fairly uncomplicated.

Within the layout of the contents page is that of a series of blocked images. Beneath these are short snippets of the features to entice the reader into reading more. This is combined with a quote from an artist in the top right corner which is also used to create reader interest since it usually involves something which is deictic when taken out of context of the article.

The full list of regular features is to the far right of the images and shows all the regular features. Here a fairly simple font is used except this simple font is synonymous with Kerrang magazine and recognized by the regular readers.

The use of the yellow exclamation layered onto the main image with the news of a competition on it is used to create reader interest and make them want to read the magazine. Where it is placed creates a stark contrast between the dark, mainly black, image and the bright yellow of the exclamation bubble draws the readers eye to it.

Images: II

These are the images produced from the photo shoot.

Images

For my images I plan to take some of a fictional band I have created called 'Taboo' whom will be a three-person, all-girl, rock band. For the pictures I intend to have them looking like ''normal'' teenagers as it will inkeep with the article I am going to write which shows them to just be average teenagers who are lucky to make money from what they do with their friends. This will come through in the way I intend to have them looking as if they are just three friends just playing about in front of a camera. Because of this there will be no props or special costumes, they will just be dressed in natural clothing.

For the models I have chosen my three friends: Thoma, Kelly and Dana. Thoma is posing as the singer and bass player of the band, Dana as the drummer and Kellyas the guitarist. This si shown in the way Thoma is going to be in the foreground of the pictures a majority of the time so the focus is on her.

Cover Mock- Up

This is the IT draft for my front cover.

The Contents Page

Features

Your contents will be split into two main sections: regulars and features.Your features section still needs to be selling your magazine- think of it as a more detailed front cover. You need to decide if you are going to focus upon one main artist or if you are going to feature a number of them equally.

In my magazine I will be focussing on a number of different artists on the contents page but with the main image being that of 'Taboo' who are the cover stars and the main feature of the magazine.

Regular Features

You need to come up with a series of regular features that will appear in your magazine that relate directly to your musical genre. Use ones that are common and essential (e.g. reviews), but also try to include any new ones that you can think of that will make your magazine stand out (e.g. Smash Hits! printing of song lyrics is a good example of this).


In my magazine I will include regular reviews of recent gigs by bands fitting to the rock genre of the magazine. I will also use a feature each week to showcase a new band who may just be a small local band whom are gaining popularity which the magazine feature will aid. I will also use a weekly 'quiz' with a member of one of the bands usually featured in the magazine, this will be purely humerous and something for the readers and audience to engage with. I will also do album listings of CD's coming out in the future as well as reviews for the new releases of the week. There will also be a gig listing for across the country as well as free posters in the centre.

The Front Cover: IIII

Coverlines.

Remember that your front cover is trying to sell your magazine- you need to tantilise your reader. You should be hinting at what's inside the cover in a way that entices the reader into buying your magazine. So try to think of headlines for the smaller stories that will do this.

-Tokio Hotel: The Germans Invade.
-Avenged Sevenfold: A man down.
-My Chemical Romance: The fresh chapter.
- HIM: We almost gave up altogether.
- Aiden: It's All Or Nothing.
- Mindless Self Indulgence: Jimmy cancelled Christmas!
- The Used: Inside Bert's house.
- Marilyn Manson takes it too far.
-You Me At Six- The Boys Are Back In Town.

The Front Cover: III

Features

Now brainstorm possible artists who could appear on your front cover. You will need to think of artists who are going to appeal to your target audience and about whom you have a story to write about (ie. they will be in the news for a particular reason.) Give reasons for your suggestions.

*Avenged Sevenfold:

A comemorative feature would be included about the sudden death of their drummer, Jimmy ''The Rev'' Sullivan at 28 due to as yet unknown causes.

*My Chemical Romance:

Their new album is due to be released in the Spring. The feature would include an interview with the band to promote the album. This would help target my audience specifically since this band is well known through the target group, whether they like the band or not.

*Tokio Hotel:

Their new album has just been released and they are about to begin a European tour, plus they won several awards at prestigious shows in the past year and they continue to get bigger. This could be an ''exclusive'' since they haven't yet done a full magazine feature in the UK yet as their main success until now has been in main-continent Europe however, this is changing rapidly.

*A fictional all girl rock band under the name ''Taboo''

This would hit the objective I had set to use more female input in the magazine as I noticed a gap in the market for this. This would include a full feature and interview with the band who just hit the number one spot in seven countries with their debut album, ''Traumatic'' and the single, ''Darkness = Zombies.''

Main Feature

You will need to pick one of these who will be your main feature {ie. with their picture on the front cover} and also select artists from the rest whose names will appear on the front cover [ie. who have articles written about them inside.} Try to think of future cover stars too. Give reasons for your suggestions.

The main feature of this would be ''Taboo'' who would have a double page spread with an interview. This would be an 'exclusive' since they are an all new act. The article would touch on topics to do with their new fame and they, themselves.

Future cover stars would include people such as Tokio Hotel whom are gaining sucess and getting more well known through lesser mentions in the magazine, HIM whom are planning a new tour after their album gets released as well as Steel Panther who are quickly becoming a huge act. This would cater to my audience and also help to cement my magazine as the magazine who brings you new music first.

The Front Cover: II

Masthead

You need to design a masthead for your magazine- it needs to be clear, bold and eye-catching.

My magazines name will be: High Voltage



Possible tag lines:

* Making the rhythm and reason collide.
*All about the music.
*The number one music weekly.
*Always first on the scene.

The Front Cover: I

Colour Scheme

Start off by thinking of possible three part colour schemes that you would like to have on your front cover. You need to think about how your colour scheme will appeal to your target audience. They will need to represent your musical genre in some way. Try to think about how different colours affect each other- what are their connotations? Come up with more than one scheme, as you will be hoping to release more than one edition of your magazine.

-With choosing a rock genre I have looked at examples of magazines and I have found that they usually use a dark base colour with bright or eye catching brights as accents.

*Black, orange and white. (Connotation of energy.)
*Black, purple and white. (Appears to be royal.)
*Black, yellow and red. (Electric, this links to the idea of the magazine being called something such as High Voltage or Amped.)
*Black, neon green and pink. (This is a mish-mash of two contrasting shades and in my mind leads me to thinking about alternative music and the name Taboo as a magazine possibility.)