AS Magazine Evaluation

MAGAZINE EVALUATION

Molly Smith

MY FINAL PRODUCTS

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

Barcode

Masthead

Main image

Main Feature

Sub Features

Direct Address

Issue Date and Price

When designing my magazine I used elements of magazine conventions however I decided to make my magazine more simplistic. From research I am aware that most magazines cover their front cover with plugs, quotes and smaller images to attract the audience to their magazine however I find this can sometimes be very overwhelming. I decided to make my magazine minimalist . I copied the layout of ‘wonderland’ magazines as while I was doing my market research this particular magazine stood out to me as it wasn’t cluttered. It had very little on the front cover which made it more intriguing for me to look at.

Page Numbers

Masthead

Main Image

Magazine Logo/Name

Category Heading

Website

Quote

Columns

Issue Date

Much like my front cover I wanted to stick to the minimalism. I only used a few conventions as I found it looked nicer on the eyes than the cluttered different coloured columns in ‘’Q’’ magazine. I have continued my black and white colour scheme as this then creates a magazine identity.


Large Main Image

Drop Capital

Stand First

11 pt Text Size

Direct Address


Columns Pull Out Quote

Attractive Headline

Looking at the conventions of a double page magazine spread I noticed that other magazines do not conform to all of the conventions I feel this is because much like myself the way they present their pages is individual to their company. It could potentially be the reason why the audience buy their magazine.


HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?My media product represents the social group of teenagers and young adults who listen to “indie” music. I have achieved this through my images, layout and by using informal language. I think I have met all of the aspects of an “indie” music magazine and have represented the particular social group well. I found with the indie genre the cloths are almost unisex there are no extravagant outfits. I tried to maintain this by dressing my model in a shirt, shorts and boots I think this outfit represents the gender neutral aspect of my magazine.

WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?

Bauer Media may want to distribute my product. Bauer Media is a division of the Bauer Media Group, Europe’s largest privately owned publishing Group. They offer over 300 magazines in 15 countries, however only 3 of these are music magazines in the UK. These three magazines all have a male target audience. This means there is an open market for my magazine as it is targeting females which is an asset for Bauer Media as this will bring in a different audience and earn the company more money.

http://www.bauermedia.co.uk

Another company which may be interested in distributing my product is Time Inc UK. Much like Bauer Media they own music magazines who’s target audiences are male so again my magazine would be beneficial for Time Inc UK.

Time Inc Uk only have two music magazines which means that they may benefit more from my product as there is less of a market from music magazines. My magazine however may have some of the same audiences and NME meaning the two magazines may compete.

WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?

http://www.timeincuk.com

Shop at • Topshop• Forever 21• H&M• Urban

Outfitters

WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

Target Audience

Influenced

WomenSpend money on• Music• Latest items e.g.

Phones• Going to the

cinema

Go to gigs/festivals

16 - 24

Educated

Knows which music they

like


My target audience for my magazine is women. I have noticed most music magazines have a male target audience. Some examples of these are NME, Mojo and Kerrang.

TARGET AUDIENCE


I feel however the target audience would still be much like NME with additional mainstream audience however unlike NME my audience will be more focused on women.

I have incorporated some fashion and gossip into my magazine making it a hybrid magazine and more appealing to the female audience. I have also added a competition to win a date with a male artist this helps identify that it is a female target audience.

My age range is 16 - 24 however other ages may also read it. The demographic I am targeting is people that enjoy being up to date with new and fresh upcoming artists however do enjoy the more mainstream artists.

TARGET AUDIENCE

HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE?

Gender My magazine is aimed primarily at female audiences but could also target males that like the same music genre and artists.AgeThe age for target audience is 16 -25 I feel they are the age group that will be the most interested in my product. I have used a woman from that age group to as the audience will she is pretty which means she appeal to both genders. Girls will look up to her and boys will find her attractive.GenreThe genre is indie music The audience is made aware of this from the names on the artists on the magazine.


ColourI have used black and white colour scheme to make the magazine more gender neutral. This opens up my target audience.Other ArtistsListing other artists means that although the audience may not like the artist on the cover they may like some of the others listed.


I have used he same font for my front cover as I have in my title to create a brand identity.By giving the audience a competition it entices them to read more.

I have continued to use the same font for the masthead as this is the feature of the magazine which will be in every issue so it helps the audience identify that this is a key feature. The enlarged quote draws the audience in they want to know what it is that made the artist say that.



The constant colour scheme makes it more appealing to the eyes. The black and white contrasting colours make a bold statement which stand out to all genders.

Throughout the process of creating my music magazine I have learnt many skills which can help me in later life and throughout my time at college. This task helped me expand on my knowledge of programmes such as Photoshop and Indesign . It has given me a better understanding of how to edit and enhance photos for my target audience (16-24).

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?

Whilst making my music magazine I used two main programmes ; Photoshop and Indesign. Photoshop helped me enhance and alter my image. I used it to remove the background of my front cover and to fix any imperfections on my model.

Indesign was very significant to production as it showed me on separate layers how my contents and double page spread would fit together. I enjoyed using indesign as I found it left the images with a very professional look


I learnt the importance of having a high quality camera and good lighting. I found in my contents page the lighting wasn’t very good which meant that it made the image very granulated and it was very hard to edit the image to look like a professional magazine photoshoot.


I learnt that you must always save your files whilst working through them to minimise loss. Unfortunately I had to learn the hard way as I was not saving one of my pages when I accidentally turned my computer off losing a days worth of work. These files are very large so I learnt to also have a few memory sticks handy because although they are useful they are very easy to lose.


LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT? I have learnt how to use Indesign to a better ability. I also learnt to take lots of photos ensuring I have a lot to chose from as in my preliminary task I only took a few snaps meaning I was very limited on my choice of images and had to compromise by using old images.

Ii found that over editing makes the images look odd with the text that goes with them. Softening the image emphasizes the sharpness of the writing and draws your attention away from the image

I have learnt that less can sometimes mean more. I found that putting too much writing clutters the front cover and makes it appear less appealing and eye catching as a front cover with very little writing.

LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

AS Magazine Evaluation

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