Evaluation of my own music magazine production

Zoe Radford

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

On my magazine, the image takes up the whole background which is conventional of most, if not all magazines. The model is facing directly towards the camera, addressing the audience. A medium close up like this is a feature that is also common for a magazine front cover.

For the masthead of the cover, I used the word ‘Lisztomania’ which may be considered to be too long for a normal magazine. However, I believe the relevance of the title (it being the name of a song by an indie band ‘Phoenix’ – indie is the genre of the magazine - and the word Lisztomania is defined as ‘the need to listen to music’), means that this title was right.

As well as the actual title name itself, the colour scheme of the masthead and the whole page was chosen after I did research into magazines of the indie genre. I found that NME’s masthead used to be red in every issue (this has later changed to fit the colour scheme of certain issues) and Rolling Stone and Q have a predominantly red masthead. The red colour is bright, and attracts the reader’s attention. I chose a reddish pink colour for my masthead and main cover line – this was due to the fact that my magazine is aimed at mainly a female audience, and so the pink would possibly attract them, and the reddish hue would also catch their eyes, drawing them to the cover.

I have set to a certain amount of colours (pink, Bluish purple, yellow and white) and fonts on my cover, as this means that my magazine can maintain a house style throughout my magazine. I used a banner at the top which is also a clear convention of a lot of the music that I have looked at.

As with all magazines, a bar code, price and date was necessary in order for my cover to look authentic. I placed this in the right hand corner of the page, as from my research, this seems the most common place for this to go. I rotated it 90 degrees to allow the cover line along the bottom to fit.

For my own magazine, I used NME’s contents page layout as inspiration. Similar to NME, I used a bold serif font for the title, ‘This Week’ to challenge the usual conventions of an ordinary magazine with the title ‘Contents’. I included the date of the issue underneath this as well, again, similar to NME.

I have included 5 images on this page to conform with the NME layout, however, NME use up to 7 images on their contents pages. I decided not to use this many images, as I felt the page would be a bit crowded.

For the main image on my page, I used a shot from the shoot I had with the artist from my cover. This is unlike NME as they usually use a different image from a different article here.

In the bottom of centre third column of the page I have included a ‘plus!’ column which includes other features of the magazine (which is a usual convention of most magazines), however, I feel that the column is too wide for the size of the text. If I was to do this again I’d probably include another image to fill a bit more of this space to reduce the amount of white space and plain background in this column.

The images I have used on this page are typical of a music magazine contents page – images of my own that I have taken from concerts that I went to recently, and photos from the photo shoot I carried out especially for this production.

I have included little shapes that give the page an illustrated feel. I downloaded several brushes from photo shop, and in this case, I used little star brushes. This would be unusual to find on most music magazines, but similar to the font, the brushes have allowed me to appeal to the creative side of my audience.

I used a colour scheme on this page of just black and white for the text (black for main text and white for page numbers). NME often uses a red colouring for their page numbers to follow with their house style colour. I originally wanted to do this with the pink colour that is present throughout my magazine pages, however, it did not stand out enough against the images. The white and black is more legible, and so is more effective in this case.

I used sans serif fonts for the bulk of my text, as NME does on its contents page, however, the font I have used has a more artistic and hand written feel to it – this would be more effective in attracting my audience, who would hopefully have an interest in a more arty feel to a magazine.

Through out my research I looked at lots of different issues of NME, and when producing my final double page spread, I took inspiration from several issues to create it. I mainly looked at the issue with Jake Bugg on the cover, and also the issue featuring Dave Grohl. The lay out of these a double page spreads were quite similar, and I liked the simplicity of the layouts.

When writing the title for the article, I looked at the Jake Bugg issue of NME and their use of the title of a Bob Dylan song to make the article specialised for those who like that style of music. I tried to do this on my own by adding an Arctic Monkeys song title ‘Fake Tales of San Francisco’ and changing it to the ‘Not-so-Fake tales of San Francisco’. This will specialise the audience to an indie genre, and as the artist I have featured, and the entire magazine itself if of the indie genre, my audience would be compelled to read on.

As with the Dave Grohl issue, I decided to place the artists name at the top of the right hand page – it seems to be conventional for the text to be in 3 columns, so this is how I set it out.

As well as red being used across the front cover on issues of NME, it is also used across their double page spreads. Considering this, I used the reddish pink colour from my cover on the double page spread, to maintain the house style of the magazine. I used it on part of the title, on the divider, and also on the pull quote. I only used the pink and black fonts as I didn’t want to overcrowd the page, as the colours on the image are quite vibrant. I used the pink to reflect the girly side of the artist, and the black as it is the standard colour for body text in most magazines.

I used a sans serif font for the title, as this seems to be a convention for a lot of double page spreads. However, I then used a ‘type writer’ style serif font for the kicker, and a normal serif font for the body text. These fonts are also common across most double page spreads – a serif font for body text is one of the main conventions of nearly all magazines.

I also included a caption on my image, in the top left hand corner. The text is in white to contrast with the darker background. The caption has a tiny element of humour in it. NME often have humorous captions, but usually set their font on a coloured background. I did not do this as a coloured background may have distracted from the image.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Since I decided to appeal to a more female audience, I decided to feature a female artist as my main feature for the magazine. I have tried to represent my female artist through the choices I have made – a female, with an interest in indie music, and who also have an interest in fashion and art/ photography/ vintage things.

Before I took my own photographs, I took inspiration from existing female artists to consider the way in which they dress, and how they represent themselves in the media. The main girl band I looked at was the all female indie girl band ‘Haim’.

Across all of the images that they appear in, they are all dressed in a certain style – they have an unusual, quirky and indie fashion sense, usually dressed in either bold and bright colours (like the yellow jacket here) or darker clothes (like the leather jackets that they appear in quite often). Both of these have connotations of the strength of the girls – they are independent individuals, and by dressing my model in similar clothing. The leather jackets also suggest the toughness of the three – they are no ordinary girls.

Their posture and facial expressions also show their strength as women – their tendency to stare down the barrel of the lens almost feels as if they are making eye contact with the person who is viewing the image.

Also within their photographs, Haim always convey a certain element of youth – whether it is through their innocence (standing in poses where they lean on each other almost makes them look like small children with their siblings) or whether it is through the energy that they bring to a photo (through them jumping, or laughing).

Her expression is quite strong, and the fact that she is looking straight at the camera shows an embodiment of the power that female artists can have which I wanted to represent through my magazine.

The prop of the rose lemonade that the model is holding reinforces the feminine side of her. Because I wanted to represent the youth of the model within my magazine, this prop also meant that this was represented. The leather jacket that I put her in also connotates the tougher side of her, and the grungy side that indie musicians can have.

The representation of the model is also represented in the language I’ve used. On the title of this double page spread I used the phrase ‘Not-so-fake tales of San Francisco’. I wanted to represent female artists as being down to earth and not ‘fake’ as some women in the media seem to be represented as today.

Within the article itself, I have also included phrases such as ‘I’m not afraid to make mistakes and admit it.’ This also reinforces her ‘down to earth’ personality that I wanted to represent.

Again, this image is from the same shoot as the cover image, and includes the bottle of lemonade, and so captures her youth. Her blonde hair could also have connotations of youth.

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

I believe that ‘IPC Media’ might publish and distribute my music magazine, as they are also the distributors for NME magazine, which, through my research, I have found is quite a similar genre to my own (through it’s conventions and genre).

Also, IPC engage with over 26 million adults – 2/3rds of those are women. My target audience are females 16-25 which means that IPC Media may be interested in publishing my magazine as they mainly sell magazines with a female based audience, so my magazine would attract their audience.

As well as this, my magazine has a Unique Selling Point that IPC may be interested in; although there are a lot of music magazines on the market in the UK, and several of the indie genre, there are no indie music magazines that are directed more towards females in a way that my music magazine is. This may mean that it could potentially attract a whole new audience for IPC to engage with.

Here is a link to the IPC Media website: http://www.ipcmedia.com/

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

I briefly mentioned my target audience, but here is a deeper profile of the intended audience for my music magazine.

My target audience would be predominantly females, of the age group 16-25. They would listen to indie rock/ indie pop music, and enjoy discovering new bands and going to small, intimate gigs. Their favourite bands would include bands like The Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, Jake Bugg, newer indie pop bands such as Phoenix, Two Door Cinema Club or Peace, and also older bands such as The Smiths, The Cure and The Clash. They may also be quite artistic, due to the more artistic features of the magazine (such as the photography) but they would find music a very important aspect of their lives, listening to it every day. They would probably also read other magazines like NME or even Vogue (as they would have an interest in fashion too). I looked at all these images which are associated wit the indie genre, and this helped me to think about what my audience would be interested in, and therefore, what components they might be looking for in a magazine.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

There are many things that would attract my intended audience to my magazine;

The name of my magazine ‘Lisztomania’, as I mentioned before, was chosen because it linked directly with the indie genre of the production, and also because of it’s meaning (‘the need to listen to music’). I think this would attract my audience, as my audience would be quite specialised – they would be probably be familiar with the song with the same title, and would link the magazine title with the indie genre of music.

Also, the price of £2.50 will appeal to my audience – the majority of my audience being of the ages 16-21 will mean that they are students. A lot of magazines are much more expensive (for example Vogue magazine is over £4), and a cheaper magazine would attract a younger generation, who may not have the money to pay for something more expensive.

The image on my front cover shows the model looking directly at the camera. This makes her seem as though she is addressing the reader, and it would grab the reader’s attention because of this. The model is also wearing a leather jacket and quite a bit of jewellery. This may attract a female audience who is interested in fashion.

The cover lines that I have placed on the cover include big names in the indie music industry such as The Strokes and Peace, and on the strap line, I have included Noel Gallagher, Pete Doherty, Arctic Monkeys and Foals. This would definitely attract the audience, as they would have a strong interest in indie music, and therefore these artists/ bands would make them want to buy the magazine to read these articles.

For my cover lines and strap line, I have used a font (named ‘Skinny’) that I downloaded from www.dafont.com. This looks handwritten, and has an illustration feel to it, which would attract my audience, as they would have an interest in art and the graphic design side of magazine production. Also, the use of words like ‘Exclusive’ would catch the reader’s eye – if it is an exclusive feature, it won’t be in any other magazine, and so the audience will have to buy this magazine in order to read it.

On my contents page, I have also included illustrated components. I drew small stars in photo shop and placed them into position on this page. I also drew small arrows which I used on the strap line on the bottom of the front cover and double page spread, to notify the reader that the interview carries on, on the overleaf.

Again, on this page, I included images of several existing indie artists (my own photographs from when I went to concerts this year). This would attract my audience, as they would want to see what the article about some of their favourite indie bands includes. I have also included an image of some vinyl for one of the smaller features of the contents page. This would appeal to the side of my audience that likes vintage things (such as records and vintage photography, which is why I edited this photo to look like it has film grain on it).

This photo was taken by me when I went to see Jake Bugg in February.

The use of language also directly addresses the audience . The conversational phrases and use of rhetorical questions (such as for the article on the right ‘romance brewing between Love’s lead singer Holly and Indie legend Miles Kane?’ This would make the audience feel more involved in the magazine, and would make them feel curious to know the answer (which would compel them to read on).

Also, the simple layout would not put the audience off – a page that is too crowded with words could potentially make the reader lose interest, where as the inclusion of the 5 images, and the not too overpowering amount of text would keep them wanting to read on.

For the title of the magazine, I decided to use an Arctic Monkeys reference (reference to the song ‘Fake Tales of San Francisco’), again, to try to attract my audience – they would be familiar with this song title, and so straight away, this would make them want to read the article, as it has something to do with the indie genre.

I edited this image of my model by cross processing it on photo shop – I altered the colour curves to make it look more vintage (like it has been taken on a lomography camera). This would appeal to my audience’s interest in photography.

Within the article on my double page spread, I have included language that would possibly attract my audience, as because the artist is young, she would come across as relatable and down to earth, which would compel the audience to read on. The use of slang words such as ‘cos’ would reinforce her youth, which would make her more relatable to the audience of the age range 16-25.

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

Over the course of this coursework, I have used many different technologies in order to produce the final outcome, and also to display my research and planning.

First, I created a blog on www.blogger.com to display all my research, planning and final product. I had never used a blog to record my thoughts before, but blogger allowed me to do this efficiently and neatly, and I could access it everywhere I went – even from my phone. This meant it was incredibly useful in the development of my ideas. Throughout my time using blogger, I learnt how to use it efficiently, and I learnt how to organise my work so it tells a journey.

For some of my research I used the internet – one of the most used pieces of technology today. Websites such as www.google.com www.dafont.com and www.nme.com proved really helpful when I was doing my research for my planning. I found that the internet was vital in the process of constructing this product, and it helped me to not only conduct my research, but without the internet, I would not have even been able to present my work using blogger. I learnt that without the internet, a lot of things that this project relied upon could not have been possible.

To create my magazine, I used Adobe InDesign – a programme used by professionals to construct music magazines (even the likes of NME, a well established and popular magazine, use this programme). I had never used this programme before, and so I found it initially difficult to get to grips with. However, once I got into it, I learnt a lot about how to professionally layout my magazine.

I believe that this programme was perfect for creating a music magazine , as any other software, such as Microsoft Publisher, would not have allowed my work to look as professional as the final product was with InDesign. Once I got the hang of it, I was able to create my magazine with ease. I found this programme quite easy to use, and through using this for my project I have learnt a lot about how magazines are made.

In order for me to take my photos , I used my Nikon D3100 DSLR camera. This meant I was lucky as my photographs were of a high standard. I use my camera quite a lot, and so technologically, I was quite used to the workings of it. However, I had to consider the lighting etc, as professional photographers would do in a real music magazine photo shoot. I was very pleased with the outcomes that I produced using my camera, as they looked quite professional (due to the quality of my camera).

However, to improve my shots even more, I used Adobe Photoshop to alter any imperfections . I used tools like the spot healing tool, the clone stamping tool (both to clear skin or remove obstacles from the background) and I also altered the colouring of the images using the colour curves (to cross process an image and to alter the brightness and contrast of the images) and the filter tools to add a slight grain to one of my images to make it look aged. I had previously used Photoshop before, but I had forgotten how to use it! This project gave me a chance to revive my skills, and also learn new ones (from Photoshop tutorials etc).

Overall, I felt I have learnt quite a lot about the actual creation of magazines, especially by using InDesign. Being able to use this programme has really allowed me to have a view into the way that professionals would do it. I think if I was asked to produce another magazine, I would be able to do this easily from what I’ve learned on how to use the technological programmes. I have been able to develop my editing skills, and also my ability to produce something that actually looks professional.

These are a couple of my images that I edited in Photoshop. By just using basic tools such as the spot healing tool and altering the colour curves, I learnt how to successfully edit my images in the way that I wanted.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Looking back at when I first created my school magazine for my Prelim task, I feel I have learnt a great deal.

When creating my prelim production, I only used Microsoft Publisher, which resulted in the magazine looking quite unprofessional. The layout was not correct, and the fonts did not contrast with the backgrounds that well. Over the progression from my prelim to my music magazine, I feel I have learnt a lot about the layout of magazines – images need to be eye catching and lighting needs to be sufficient, fonts need to contrast well with backgrounds and be legible, and even things such as the size of fonts need to be of a certain size in order for a magazine to look professional.

I feel that everything from the masthead to the language I have used has improved greatly – the font I have used on my music magazine is more professional looking, and is of a more correct size. Also, my use of InDesign to create the final product gave me the tools I needed to produce something professional looking. I have learnt how to effectively use Photoshop and InDesign correctly, and if I was asked to do this task again, or create another magazine, I think I would be able to create a production of a similar quality.

I learnt about how fonts and colour schemes can carry messages and connotations that you wish to convey, and also how important they are in appealing to a certain audience. For example, the pink font for my music magazine mast head was used

Creating a music magazine on InDesign was a completely new experience that I have learnt from, and I feel that I am very pleased with my final outcome .