‘Noir’ music magazine evaluation

Jasmine Tye

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

Using forms and conventions of real media products- my music magazine represents a culture of music, film and art. By having and creating a non-mainstream, individual approach to the task initially I feel this works towards my advantage. Typically a music magazine would include features such as reviews and articles, interviews and photographs. Although I was only able to create a front cover, content page and double-page spread, I used my ability to include photo’s and an interview within my dps, also as many resources I could to deliver typical features of a music magazine. When visualising what I thought was a suitable masthead design for my magazine, I wanted the mixture of music, film and art to be presented. A masthead allows the reader to associate the name with the house-style and genre of the magazine, it may also encourage readers to purchase the magazine if they are attracted to the masthead. Personally I think ‘Noir’ works well with my target audience and the aspect of my magazine being creative and imaginative.

Developing forms and conventions of real media products- in order to meet the demand of the design for my music magazine I developed forms and conventions of real media products. The masthead is one of the most important features of the whole magazine; I decided to give my music magazine the title of ‘Noir’ which reflects creativity, thus relating to the concept and content of the magazine. It is the title piece or logo of a magazine which used to refer only to the place in a magazine, usually near the beginning, where its address and contact information are published as well as the staff box. Main image/content…

Challenging forms and conventions of real media products- skyline, contents layout, poster style

Masthead: this makes everyone aware of what the title of the magazine is.

Main Image: this image was chosen for a particular reason; it also links to the artist’s star persona.

Page Numbers: this helps to navigate the reader.

Image & Caption: the picture emphasises a certain theme; whereas the caption supports it.

Front Cover on Contents Page: this maintains house-style and theme of the magazine.

Website: this attracts more publicity to the magazine, also the features within.

Standfirst: in larger text the standfirst introduces the article.

Lead Image: this dominates the DPS, making the audience more aware of what Jack’s appearance represents.

Drop Cap: the first letter of the first word of the main article is larger.

Columns: the Noir DPS is a two

column DPS, flush left.

Copy & Body Copy: the words written by the journalist, Body Copy is the main text.

Pull Quote: this ties in with the lead image of the artist.

Tone & Register: the descriptive language used by the journalist to appeal to the target audience.

Title: this introduces the magazine article of the interview with the music artist ‘Jack Potkins’.

Pull Quote: this ties in with the lead image of the artist.

Copy & Body Copy: this continues from the body copy from the previous DPS page, the white on black theme ties in with the Noir front cover style and gives a sense of house-style.

Tone & Register: the descriptive language used by the journalist to appeal to the target audience.

Italics: this article ends with upcoming events to do with the music artist, this could encourage readers to find out more.

Lead Image: this dominates the page as it’s the background, making the audience more aware of what Jack’s appearance represents.

Features: features such as cigarettes imply the magazine is for a teenage/early adult target audience.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

There are many social groups which are dedicated to particular music magazines; NME has a wide range of social groups who enjoy the main house-style of the magazine and genre of music featured within. My music magazine was intentionally aimed at a social group who enjoy music, film and art, from my research I found there were very few magazines where the house-style was based around music, film and art. Image is everything in the music industry, which is why I carefully constructed the front cover to be heavily image-led. The first thing a customer will be attracted to is the main image on the front cover of a magazine, within seconds the reader decides if the magazine is appealing enough to them or not; therefore the image should be the strongest and most attractive. A bands image is carefully manipulated to represent them in a way that is appealing to their fans. My aim was to portray my model, Jack as being fashionable and appealing to my target audience. I represented Jack as an image that my target audience can relate to in light of their interests, the way in which I presented him as being influential.

The photographs of Jack featured in my music magazine, Noir offer a constructed representation of the artist’s personality by the connection the reader has with Jack. During the photo shoot I took many different photographs of Jack in varied angles almost so that the audience can gain a broader perspective about him as a music artist.

In what ways do the photos of your band offer a constructed representation of the band’s personality?

The colours, contrast and features of each photo represent Jack as a music artist. The way I constructed the photo-shoot shows that I wanted readers to understand Jack’s personality, also imagine what his music would be like.

Photoshop enabled me to edit, improve and encourage my photographs of Jack to connect with the house-style of my music magazine. I feel that my strongest photo complimented black & white; therefore I used it as my front cover image. The image which is produced on the front cover of any magazine needs to be the most appealing so it can attract potential readers.

For the contents page I replicated the front cover of Noir so the audience can reflect upon what the magazine’s house-style is, also what the purpose and features of the magazine are.

How does the use of pull quotes and writing (copy) in the DPS reinforce this representation?

I chose the pull quote “I gave up Uni because making it big was all i could think about-there would be nights where I would just lay there and think about how my life could be turned around” to be placed on the photograph of Jack as it creates the effect of him personally speaking. This informs readers what he has done prior to his music career, from my research I found that readers are particularly interested in what a music artist’s life consists of and how they live it. Moreover this reinforces the representation of Jack as it suggests he isn't perfect; the audience could relate to this. In addition to the pull quote, the copy presented on the double-page spread consists of two columns which makes it more easier to read. I also included an introduction to the interview as it prepares the readers what to expect throughout the magazine.

I chose the pull quote “I am just an example of the new house-music dupstep revolution, I’m here to give you your daily dose of dubstep” as it reflects upon the cosmopolitan lifestyle which readers expect Jack to lead. ‘Daily dose of dubstep’ enthusiates the pull quote and makes it more appealing to the house-style and target audience. The copy on the turnover fits in well with the design and layout which suggests even this could be linked with the representation of Jack as a music artist. All language and imagery in magazines is mediated. It is specially selected to portray or represent a band in a way that would appeal to the target audience of the magazine.

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

There are two major magazine publishers in the UK:

Bauer Media publishes brands such as closer, Grazia, heat, more!, Pop, cocosa and Yours, which are typically aimed at women. Brands such as Empire, Kerrang, Mojo and Q are typically aimed at men. Each brand varies from the availability from a magazine, radio, TV, online or mobile. Bauer Media might want to publish my music magazine as it is aimed at both genders, suggests being non-mainstream and a varied house-style of music, film and arts. My music magazine would also attract a more creative readers as the publisher currently does not offer anything similar to this; therefore this would attract more subscribers.

IPC Media publishes brands such as Look, NME and MarieClaire. The company quotes “IPC Media produces over 60 iconic media brands, with print alone reaching almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men – almost 26 million UK adults – while our websites collectively reach over 14 million users every month. IPC's diverse print and digital portfolio offers something for everyone, with a focus on three core audiences: men, mass market women and upmarket women.” However, this magazine publisher may not want to publish my music magazine as it’s broad approach to satisfying the mass may not meet the demand for ‘Noir’.

www.ukmagz.co.uk offers a larger section of magazine publishers. It’s top ten magazines consist of FHM, Digital Photographer, Glamour and GQ. The website also quotes “UK Magazines provide you with the information about art, music, movies, food, travel, concerts, movies, videos, CD's, lifestyles, reviews and essays on music, television, films, books, video games, sports, comics, travel, Internet and almost about every topic.” As well as publishing my work on blogger.com, I decided to publish my final draft of my music magazine ‘Noir’ online. I published the magazine on issuu.com as the site offers a broad variety of cultures which my magazine links in with, the website is also open to anyone who wants to display their work online. When gathering information and researching other magazines, I found there were many publishers which had a similar house-style to ‘Noir’. However I did not come across a magazine which consisted of a music, film and art culture.

Who would be the audience for your magazine?

One of my main aims of my music magazine was to make sure the target audience could link their typical lifestyle in with ‘Noir’. Similar interests enable the reader to engage more; for example if the reader can relate to the particular article within the magazine, they are more likely to read further in the magazine or be more reluctant to purchase another of a different issue.

Audience Feedback

My music magazine has been designed for a specific target audience; Music, Film and Art being the main reason my magazine has been designed for a specific target audience, it filled a gap in the market. Many creative people who are interested in one of the three are more likely to be interested in the other two.