Evaluation.

The brief was to create a front page, contents page and a double page spread of a new music magazine. It included using our own images and other original sources and ideas. To gain insight into the brief and to increase my understanding, I researched some of the music magazines currently on the market and I also looked into different genre’s of music magazines and looked at how each one used conventions in different ways. I used Blogger.com to present all of my ideas and thoughts.

The genre I chose was indie/alternative as it is the kind of music I am interested in and thought that my influences from this genre could help me in my magazine. I used the codes and conventions from other magazines from my chosen genre to keep my magazine conventional, as I didn’t want to challenge any conventions. As well as using the conventions of indie/alternative magazines, I analysed some as well, including NME, Q and Mixmag. I chose NME and Q for my analysis’ as those magazines fit into the indie/alternative genre and they are they magazines I took inspiration from. My front cover includes many conventions such as a puff, a barcode, an issue number, price and a tag line. I tried to place these in the usual places you find them on magazine such a NME, for example the barcode, issue number and date all at the bottom on the front cover in a box.

As well as looking into the conventions used on the front pages, contents page and double page spread, I thought about how the magazine was delivered to the audience. I think that my magazine targets people of the social group D or C2 as it is mostly appealing to students or perhaps people in secondary school. I think that the bold, blocked font I have used on the front cover and contents page appeal to the younger audience as it is quite modern and fresh. The black and white is very sharp, yet with the pink my magazine still has a warm feel. From the beginning of the project I had always had the teenage demographic in mind, so from there I decided to make the target audience for my magazine students aged from 16+. I originally wanted to make my magazine appeal more to males because after looking at reader profiles of indie magazines they are the gender that read these types of magazines the most. However, after I had thought about my idea for the double page spread and front cover, I realised it was more likely to appeal to girls. I chose my colour scheme according to this and chose to use conventional colours black and white, but also with the pink and browns running through. 

I also thought about which institution might want to distribute my magazine. I looked at IPC and The Bauer Media Group who publish NME and W magazines. I looked at these publishing companies because the magazines they publish have the same genre and same target audience as my own magazine. I think that either The Bauer Media Group or IPC would be likely to distribute my magazine as it involves a new ‘solo singer’ who has recently left a band, so they would be able to promote the artist first because the story is really fresh and new. I would like to think IPC would distribute my magazine because they are a very successful international group and would be good in terms of advertising and promoting my magazine.

It is very important that I attract my target audience straight away with the front cover as that is the first thing they see when they buy a magazine. I used a very colourful image which I used for the full front cover rather than cutting around the image and inserting my own background. I think having my artist against the brick wall is appealing to my target audience as typically students are ‘out all of the time on streets’ and it is quite a back to basics theme. The image I used is very conventional and is a medium long shot, this means you can see all of the artists clothing. My artist is not really dressed up and is just wearing a hoody and jeans, which relates to my back to basics theme and also links her to the target audience as it is something that students of 16+ would typically wear. The image I used also created my colour scheme as they are very neutral colours. I used the bold block capital font for my mast head as it immediately catches readers attention. I named my magazine ‘Aftershow’ because it links to gigs and it suggests that the stories will include information from the latest gigs, which links well to my strap line of “#1 gig guide.” The other articles on my front cover are again in block capitals keeping with the continuity. The other images I’ve used on my cover are polaroid pictures and also in black white, not drawing attention away from the main image. I think the use of polaroid is also quite significant as they are quite ‘vintage’ so it keeps with the indie genre.

My contents page and double page spread are also conventional and follow the house style of my magazine. My contents page is very similar to my front cover as I used the brick theme on top of a pink background. I made the bricks quite opaque so that it didn’t dominate the whole page, but also made it noticeable to the audience. I have used the same font styles from the front cover to keep the magazine continuity. I used conventional headings on my contents page like ‘features’ and ‘reviews’. I also added a Gigs heading as my focus of the magazine is to be a magazine that is known for gig information. I also included an ‘Exclusive’ section which promotes Arctic Monkeys. My double page spread includes the story of ‘Evie’ who has left a band and has become a solo artist. I found it hard to keep the continuity on my double page spread as I changed the whole style. It still includes the same colour scheme and artist etc, but doesn’t have the same fonts, so it makes it look very different when compared to my front cover and contents. I think the interview is very conventional and questions and answers are written in different colours. If I had more time I would definitely change my double page spread as it does not keep with the continuity at all and looks like a different magazine. The colours are very dark compared to my front cover and contents pages. I think the image does reflect the story because she has become a solo artists so she is now on her own and the photo shows her stood in a field by herself.

To create my magazine I used the program Adobe Photoshop. I think the program was very difficult to use and I think it may have impacted on the design of the magazine. With lots of tools and effects to use I thought it was very complex and as it was my first time creating a music magazine, I didn’t feel that I could experiment with these as I didn’t want to ruin my work. I had difficulty getting used to layers on my magazine and this caused me to group things together, which is a disadvantage as it was difficult to alter them if changes needed to be made. Although I do think it was hard to use, I did like the photo editing effects it included as it helped me to make my images look quite vintage. From completing the preliminary task of the college magazine I knew what a conventional magazine needed to include and that did help me and I feel that after completing that task, this task was more successful. Overall I  am pleased with my front cover, contents page and double page spread, however I do think that a lot of improvements could be made to my double page spread to create more continuity.