For my media coursework I had to create a front cover, contents page and double page spread of a music magazine, using image manipulation software.
I started off by researching some existing magazines which were like the one I wanted to create, I researched the conventions and expectations that a music magazine should have. Looking back and comparing my magazine with the researched products I think my media product follows most major conventions of 'music magazines' in general, as well as some conventions from related sub-genre magazines. An example of following conventions would be the fact I have a main magazine title which also works as an ident through the magazine, this stands out from the rest of the magazine and follows through the rest of the magazine. I also have a masthead, incorporated into the title on the front cover, this shows the issue number and date; this is found on most magazines. I also have a house style/colour scheme which runs through the front cover, contents page and double page spread; the colour of the main title and some detailing, 'dark red' gives a meaning of 'hotness' but gives a more 'serious' meaning than a bright red, this links to the fact my magazine has the hottest new music news but is also really serious about the music. My front cover challenges the house style I have running through as it incorporates a teal colour to highlight the main feature of the magazine; this teal does not continue past the front cover at all. The main fonts and colours however do follow right through the magazine. An example of a subgenre convention is the more straight up layout, this is more likely to be seen in an 'indie' or 'alternative' music magazine as oppose to pop magazines which have a less organized layout throughout. My magazine also follows conventions with the ‘bottom banners’ which run along the bottom of the contents page and double page spread, this would also follow on into other pages, it allows the reader to easily find the page number they’re on and also reinforces the website address. A major convention which is on all magazines is also the barcode section which also has he price and website on; my magazine has this in the bottom right of the front cover, this is a usual place to find the barcode so follows the layout expected by the audience. My magazine also has straplines on the front cover next to the smaller headlined features; these are often used on magazines to briefly show the reader what is going to be in the magazine. My images throughout the magazine also follow the conventions of music magazine images as they are bold images and look professionally took, as oppose to photos took quickly on a mobile phone; this helps give a more serious look to the magazine. On my double page spread I used a lead, this is the first paragraph to a story telling you roughly what the story is about, and this is in a different colour to the main story so the reader can easily identify with it. I then have a drop cap which shows where the story starts and adds interest to the story. I also have some large anchorage in the form of a quote which goes across the full double page spread and has a deck of three lines, this links into the story and attracts the readers attention as they will want to know what it’s all about and subsequently read the story. I have also included some quotes throughout the story to add interest and make it less ‘block’ like with just writing, this appeals to the audience I was aiming at and also gives the ideology of a more fun story.
My music magazine, Rocka represents a 'student' social group with a demographic between the ages of 16-24, who are majorly on the D-E range on the socio-economic group scale, as they are manual, unskilled workers. I have represented this niche audience by offering a competition to win free tickets on the front cover, this may appeal to students who typically don't have much money, so it gives them a chance to go to gigs for free – this entices them into looking at the magazine. Also, as my magazine is only £4.50 monthly this is affordable for students who may not have any main form of high income. It also represents a 'serious music fan' market as it includes in depth articles in an organised fashion which gets straight to the important points. Also, the magazine only features the best bands around so people who are 'into' their music would be attracted to this magazine. My magazine probably aims at the psychographic group number 3, these are inner directed people who believe in being their selves and may also include experimental people and people who are socially conscious. I think this as my magazine is for quite a niche musical audience and also delivers all the latest news, so people who like to know what’s going on in music would buy it.
An example of a media institute would be a similar institute possibly to the likes of Q magazine, Q magazine's distributor is Bauer Media Group. Although, it may be a wise move to go to a different institute and go into competition with Q magazine as I think my magazine has a lot more to offer and contains a more specific type of music to some of the mainstream pop/rock that Q often features.
I have attracted my audience of 16-24 year old students by using a large dominant main image on the front cover. This would appeal to younger people also as the person ‘Joey T’ is smoking; this may entice the target audience as many students do in fact smoke their selves, the way I also made it a close up sort of ‘rough’ photo may mean that students can relate with it and be more attracted to the magazine. I have also used quite dull but bold colours as I didn’t want to give off a sort off ‘rubbish pop-y’ ideology, I wanted my magazine to appeal to more serious music fans. I have also got the large ‘competition’ badge on the front cover, this is quite a dominant feature as it’s one which is most appealing to my niche market; looking through magazines from a glance on a shelf the ‘possible Rocka reader’ may catch sight of the ‘free tickets’ logo and be immediately attracted to pick the magazine up. Then on the contents page I have used some large images to split up the writing and have also added in a list of included bands, this means that the audience can look through the contents page to see if their favourite bands are there; and if they see their favourite bands they’re more likely to buy the magazine. On my contents page I also have the ‘readers quote’ saying; “I love how Rocka gives me the edge over all my friends” – having this quote appeals to the physiographic I have previously mentioned of people who are socially aware and like to be in the know first. On my double page spread I have used a large photo to dominate the majority of the double page spread as it will reach out to ‘fun loving’ students who like to see bands who don’t take theirselves seriously outside the music, it shows that anyone can make it and be a band; these ‘celebrities’ are just normal people really – this sort of ideology could appeal to students who are possibly in bands their selves.
When taking my images for my magazine I used my Canon 500D DSLR camera, I learnt a lot about how to get the best effects and quality from this when taking photos for my magazine. I adjusted the colour and light settings to create photos which fit in with the style of the magazine. Although on the front cover you can see there is some rain visible on the photo as it was raining slightly at the time, it’s a shame my camera caught this in. I then uploaded the photos onto my computer and did some initial editing of the photos on photoshop individually to enhance them, during this process I learnt a lot about how to edit things like, skin softness, eye colour and hair colour. To actually make and design my magazine I used a mixture of multiple image manipulation software packages, I mainly used photoshop and photoscape. I used photoshop for adding all my images onto the pages as it was easy to use the layers and different effects. I then used photoscape for all my writing as it gave it a more professional finish, I found this programme much more easy to use as it’s like a less complex version of photoshop and I found it much easier to add everything together on here. Whilst using photoscape I learnt a lot about how to give writing borders and how to get the text to look smooth using anti-aliasing tools. I think that overall my actual magazine has quite a professional feel from using this technology. Although, from doing this work I have began to understand that making a professional magazine must take a lot more effort than I first thought; and there’s a lot more to it than I imagined.
To measure the success of my music magazine to an unbiased audience of 16-24 year olds I set up a poll on this blog and did a tally of 30 students of my college. The results all came back in the majority favour that I wanted, from this point it would seem my magazine has achieved what I wanted when I started the project.
Looking back to my preliminary task of making a college magazine I think I have come a long way in understanding how the conventions of magazines work and how to best attract the target audience. I have also come a long way with learning how to use technologies such as photoshop and photoscape. I have also researched a lot more for this project than the preliminary, this could be a reason for my better understanding of magazine design now. I have also got to grips with more of the media terminology involved. As well as this I have learnt how to manage my time much more effectively and I have being able to complete all my work on time to the deadline.
Overall,
I am pretty pleased with my final music magazine product although there are things I would have done better if I had the resources and skills needed. But looking at the fact I’m a media student and not a big magazine editor I think I’ve done an alright job of it.
