Evaluation - Question 7

Evaluation - Question 6

Evaluation - Question 4 & 5

My target audience is both male and female non-conformists. They would rather listen to alternative music (such as bands like Marmaduke Duke, The Hives, 2:54, Igoor, Sepultura and Cradle of Filth). They are also interested in unsigned music, not because they want to be hipster and know the cool bands first, but because they are genuinely passionate music. They don't wear fashionable clothes because they are popular, but wear what they like the look of and would much rather study artistic courses than academic subjects. They also prefer to go to concerts than going on a night out drinking.
 On my cover, I used very alternative fonts. The masthead is in a sans serif font but is very curved and quirky. This is a mid-point between two styles and this is shown to attract the audience as Niall said in my video that it looks quite rebellious. Also in my masthead, I used red and blue. The red can connote passion and love, whereas blue can connote sadness and tranquility, all of which are linked with passion for music. My coverlines are written in a handwriting style font, which contrasts with the fact that it is printed, which represents my magazine again being quirky and alternative.

On my contents page, I have a purple and yellow competition. Purple connotes luxury and wealth, which therefore will attract an audience as most wish to be wealthy, and yellow is known as an 'attention getter', having the same effect on readers.

Black is the colour of power and submission. With my double page spread being black, it will make it seem more dominant powerful and it could also symbolise the reader's submission to music. Naturally, it also connotes evil, which is often associated with metal music, which is what the double page spread is, with some of the photos of people in black clothes.

The font that I use for the word 'live' on my double page spread is a very bold, contrasting (as white on black background), sans serif font. This connotes strength and the contrast could spark excitement in the reader, making them more interested to buy the magazine.

My pictures connote two different things. The main cover being a friendly, casual looking boy who clearly cares about his image. The pictures of people on my double page spread car equally about their image as they have tattoos, but they wear darker and more supposedly forbidden clothes that are frowned upon by mainstream society.

All of this attracted my target audience. My target audience chose the photos, they chose the fonts and they gave their feedback. Here are a couple of screenshots from my Facebook target audience group showing how they helped in the design of the magazine.

Evaluation - Question 3

Because my magazine is an unsigned and underground magazine for bands with little recognition, this would mean it would be cheaper to pay for advertising (for bands making just enough from the music) because they are yet to live comfortably from profit. Therefore I would use an independent distributor who would charge less because they reach less retailers and more independent indie retailers. An example of an independent distributor is Central Books and an example of a magazine like this is Vice. The fact they would also distribute to underground indie (hipster) retailers would also mean that they would reach a more suitable audience than if they were being sold in megastores and supermarkets. My target audience are people who see supermarkets as too mainstream and don’t even look at magazines like Kerrang! And Q, so they would much rather shop in more independent shops. Some examples of shops that would sell my magazinewould be the cool underground shops that Vice is given away like The Custard Factory, and could also be sold at gigs and small shops. Also it would rely a lot on online sales. I would definitely use a multi-platform strategy, but only on a small scale. The magazine itself would be the main platform, with a website where you can order from, check the latest issues and get your adverts placed. This would be a good strategy for my target audience who don’t want to be shopping in places like ASDA or Sainsburys, but would rather be cool and shop online or in smaller less well known shops.

Evaluation - Question 2

Evaluation - Question 1

Double page spread.

This is my completed double page spread.

Contents page

This is my completed contents page.

Front cover

This is my completed front cover.

Completion of magazine.

I collected together all ideas and suggestions to complete my magazine. This included photos and fonts.

Photo choices.

This is me giving my target audience some photos to suggest for my double page spread.

Contents page.

Tonight I am going to a small local concert and have booked a camera to take some photos. I will include a review of the gig and possibly an interview with one of the bands.

Rough plan 1

This is a rough plan of my front cover. I will next add the cover lines, price, date, and issue and upload it again. When my photos are taken I will add the cover and arrange the cover features around the photo.

Logo making

I decided to make a logo to go next to my mast head, this is the logo in production.

Kerrang! Analysis

Kerrang! Analysis

For my second magazine analysis I chose to do a recent issue of Kerrang! Magazine, which is the most popular rock magazine, it hold the kind of informality with knowledge that I would like in my magazine and it also has a section about unsigned bands that I could use to give me tips on my magazine, as it’s all unsigned music.

The Kerrang! Masthead is big, bold, sans serif and on this issue, black. Despite the fact that it isn’t gender specific, this suggests masculinity and the ideology that men are dominant in this genre of music. Also on the cover of this issue is reversed out cover lines. It is a Halloween issue so it is a more gruesome cover that others. One technique is used as part of a reversed out cover line. It is a competition to win, and it is on a red background that is supposed to represent blood dripping down the cover. On one side of the cover, it shows the kind of posters that are inside and they are all of popular new bands that appeal to a young audience, which suggests that this magazine is aimed mainly at teenagers.

The contents page for Kerrang! Is very well constructed. The competition I mentioned in the previous paragraph is part of the contents page, so it is the first thing you see when you open the magazine. This makes the magazine and it’s writers feel more friendly and personal, because it makes the reader feel like they are directly being given something straight away, which will make them want to buy the magazine even more. Underneath that is a message from the editor that he puts there every week, which has the same desired effect as having the competition there. It makes the reader feel more personally acquainted to the editor and more likely to buy the magazine. For the actual contents section of the contents page, it is very clearly laid out. Everything has a subheading like “news” or “albums” and it is very easy to find your way around the magazine. Once again, there is a lot of very bold, dark lettering which again shows the idea of masculine dominance.

For my double page spread, I have been thinking about reviewing a small, local concert I may be going to, so I have decided to analyse the live music section. The captions to all the photos are making jokes, something which may make the reader fonder of the magazine or may make the reader more at6 home, which is once again more likely to make them buy it. There is also interviews with very successful bands, which could make the reader feel like it is a very successful magazine and he/she has the potential to be a very successful person if they read it.

These are all reasons why Kerrang! Magazine is a good magazine to research and analyse, and to look up to when actually creating the magazine.

Weather forecast

I checked the weather forecast for the day of the photoshoot to decide where to do it, inside or outside. It will be raining so it will be inside or under shelter. Tomorrow I will meet with one of the band to discuss where we will do it.

Magazine name.

I decided on a name for my magazine. It is for unsigned, British alternative bands so I decided to call it Alternative GB.

Models. What?

The day after I spoke to the model about the day we are meeting, I met him to discuss what they will wear. We decided that wearing plain or patterned casual clothes is the best idea. Nothing too high profile to go with the unsigned music idea.

Photoshoot organising. When?

This is a screenshot of me talking to one of my models about when we are meeting up to do the photo shoot.

Organisation (Facebook group)

This is the Facebook group I made to get suggestions and ideas from some friends. I added the friends who are into this style of music and who are involved in media. I will take into considerations their opinions on the photos I take and the layout of the magazine.

Organisation (photoshoot)

I organised meeting up with a band for a photoshoot for the front cover and potentially for the double page spread. I did this post on October 25th which meant I was a day ahead of schedule, but have had to reschedule meeting the band because I couldn't get a camera.

Prezi to show my target audience

Copy of Target Audience Research on Prezi

This is a prezi to show my target audience and the extremes of who could read the magazine. This magazine is not gender specific and is for non-conformists and individualists.

Timeline

This is the picture of the timeline that I will be using to organize and keep track of my progress throughout the main task.

Play Music Analysis

For my music magazine I decided to research and produce a magazine for unsigned bands and artists. I researched into this type of magazine and noticed that the features are very similar to that of a general music magazine. The first magazine I decided to look at was Play Music.  Play music is slightly different to other music magazines because it is free, but the general features are similar. It has a puff line which says “Britain’s best free music magazine” which makes it appeal to its target audience well. Like other magazines it has a competition (in this case to win a guitar) which will make it sell more, making readers believe they will gain more than they lose from buying this magazine. The masthead of this magazine is in two different fonts. It is all lower case and in black and white. The first font for the word “play” is in a serif font and looks like paint has just been splattered and formed the words. It is also a font that could be associated with Halloween or dark emotion which works well with the black cover and metal band on the cover. The contents page is written on a torn piece of paper and says “Set-list” at the top. This is something associated with live music which anchors down the theme even more. On the double page spreads there is a decent ratio of text and pictures. It is very easy to read as every page has black text on a white background. Also there are facts, figures and recommendations which readers are likely to trust considering the writers and reviewers are experts. The cover stars are a band called Gallows who are all dressed in matching suits and look very smart. This may convince male readers to buy the magazine because they want to be smart and sophisticated like the band are.

I’d say this magazine appeals mainly to industry insiders and music business owners as the adverts are for very expensive hi-tech equipment, despite the fact that the magazine itself is free. Obviously because it’s free, it will appeal to everyone. People who are classes E-C on the jicnar sale will like it because it’s free, groups B and A will like it because it is aimed at high end, rich, professional people. This magazine isn’t particularly gender specific, as always the rock genre is enjoyed by both males and females. This is a kind of magazine that appeals to people at different life stages too, it appeals to kids, people who have a musical career commitment, people living single who like to spend their money on themselves, people without kids or people who want to get their kids into music, and people interested in specific types of music. The ideal reader for this magazine is someone who owns a music business, like a recording studio and like to buy as much hi-tech equipment as possible, they are experienced so are 40+ and know exactly how the music industry works. They are class B on the jicnar scale and like to treat themselves. They drive an expensive car and like to eat out at fancy restaurants or go to conferences.

Evaluation

What was the purpose of the research? What did you learn during the research stage?

I did this research to give me knowledge on how magazines appeal to specific types of audiences and how to identify the type of person who is likely to read the magazine. Also, this research showed me examples of techniques on how to attract a potential reader to the magazine just by the cover and how some of those techniques can be gender specific (colour, size of masthead etc.)

What was the purpose of Photoshop and InDesign to produce your front cover and contents page?

Photoshop and InDesign are relatively simple ways of getting the picture and layout you want accurately. I used Photoshop to make a collage of  techniques used on front covers which was a very efficient way of doing research. Also it is very easy to position everything you want on both applications. Photoshop was used for the front cover and InDesign was used for the contents page, and it had guidelines so you can position images and text exactly where it should go.

What did you learn about new digital technologies during the project? (Be specific, name tools etc.)

This was the first time I had used InDesign so it was useful to learn how to cut images out of their background and position the in proportion to the surrounding text. I was also very inexperienced on Photoshop as well and realised how easy it is to modify an image, cut parts into other images and more.

Set yourself three targets that would help you improve when approaching your main task.

• Analise fonts and colours of text in magazines more.
• Do all the research I did previously for the music magazine but repeat for the double page spread to get a good idea of how each section of a magazine works.
• Spend more time working on the front cover (getting the right picture and getting text positioning spot on.)

Finished Front Cover and Contents Page

To the right is my completed preliminary task magazine cover. The masthead is written in a classic American college font which would attract college students to the magazine. I have a reversed out cover line which is going to be another factor as to why people would want to read this magazine, and competitions. People feel like they're getting more for heir money if there's a chance o win something. I designed the cover myself and I took the photo myself. The only thing on the cover that I didn't produce was the bar code. I have included all features of a standard magazine, an issue, date, price, bar code, and more.

To the left is my mock up contents page. As expected it has the usual features of a contents page that I found in my research. All the contents pages I saw during my research had corresponding images, the green boxes are there to represent those images. The "COLLEGE ARTS" title would be in the same font as the front cover masthead and all text would be centered as well as in different fonts.

Introduction

The main task is to design and produce a music magazine. (In my case, an alternative unsigned magazine). I have to do a front cover, contents page and a double page spread. The deadline is Friday 30th November.

Rough sketch of ideas

This is a photo that shows a rough sketch of ideas I made. It shows where I will position the cover lines and the main photo along with other important features such as the bar code. This plan is subject to minor changes.

Appealing to my target audience

How will I ensure that my magazine successfully appeals to my target audience?

The model;

The model will have to be someone who doesn't just dress in the latest fashion but prefers to look their own way. It will be someone who is a similar age to the target audience (mid to late teens) and they will be photographed in either the studio or in the drama hall. This will help the magazine appeal to my target audience.

Layout/Masthead;

The cover will be vibrant so represent the vibrancy of the arts. This will include some diverse colours that contrast others. the masthead will be big and bold to connote confidence and ability. Also I will most likely have the cover model slightly covering the masthead which will connote confidence further. 

Language;

The magazine will have informal language. I won't use slang or shortened words such as 'ppl' but I definitely won't be using low lexical choices. It will also use specialist words to do with arts that people like mainstreamers might not understand.

Content;

There will be a decent balance between pictures and text. An academic magazine would be more likely to have more text than pictures whereas this will be much more picture based to get the feel of art across much more. It will include articles on how to improve your arts skill and on general college arts news.

Extras; 

I will try to include college advertising and will include a chance to win something. This could be something like free recording or free entry to a museum.

Audience Profile

It is very important that I get an idea of my target audience before planning the contents of the magazine.

• Jicnar - C2, D and E. In a college there is an array of students, but very few are higher class than having a part time job. It will appeal to arts students and more.
• Psychographics - Aspirers and individualists. Being a media and arts magazine, I will need to attract people interested in al kind of arts, music, film, art and more.
• Age range - 16-20
• Life stage - Obviously students

My audience profile:

My magazine will be a media and arts magazine so will appeal to a number of different people. 

The kind of person who will read this magazine is someone who is interested in non conformity. They don't like to follow the crowd but prefer to be comfortable in what they enjoy and who they really are. Their music knowledge goes further than the top 40 and they would much prefer going to a museum, play, or concert as opposed to a night out on the town.

Initial Research

I researched some student magazines to see what techniques previous students had used on successful covers. This collage is of snippets of different covers and shows why different sections were good.

• The top left photo shows The Kooks (current alt. rock band) on the cover of a student magazine, which means fans of the band will be interested in reading the magazine.
• The centre top photo is offering advice to older students. This is the age they go to uni and it is a very important time in a student's life, so they will want all the advice they can get.
• The top right shows two things. It mentions Blackberry mobiles which is relevant to the youths and students of today who want the latest technology. The second offers advice on how to make money on campus. As university is expensive and a lot of money is spent on socialising, this will turn out a big draw for the magazine.
• The left middle photo shows quite a 'cool' cover model. He obviously spends a lot of time on his image which is shown in his hair, but not to a massively high extent which is shown in his beard. This is the kind of guy that students aspire to be like. His image gives off confidence and style which may indicate a good social life. 
• The centre cover shows a student magazine with the main article about an American football team, which will attract the sporting students. Although this is very specific and shows exactly what it needs to show, it has a very finite and specific audience.
• The centre right picture shows a very alternative style of image on a person. He is wearing make up and has piercings. This kind of magazine will appeal to other alternative style people, the 'social stereotypes.' This will widen the magazine audience.
• The image showing the words "University Application" shows them written in a scruffy handwritten kind of way which will appeal to students more. It is a lot less formal and goes along with the whole idea and theme of a student/college magazine. This wouldn't work on a magazine like Gentleman's Quarterly.
• The bottom left photo shows a cover line saying "She's 15 & pregnant." This is gossip which is something associated with youths and college students, which means it will appeal to and attract most students.
• The bottom right photo mentions the popular singer Mike Posner. This is something teenagers would like. A lot of young girls fancy him, and a lot of young singers aspire to be like him. This will become a main selling point for the magazine.

below shows a cover with its conventions;

Preliminary Task

The first task I will be doing for my coursework will be to design and make a front cover and contents page for a student/college magazine. I will research into other popular magazines and find out why they do so well and do something similar with this to attract students.

HELLO!

Hello, my name is Dom Beale and I am using this blog to display my A Level Media Studies coursework. The posts I make will be towards magazine articles and covers. This is your (the examiner) way of keeping track and viewing my coursework.