Evaluation

EVALUATION OF MY MUSIC MAGAZINE

Bold, eye catching masthead which appeals to the audience – it is

simply and easy to read.

Subtitle – gives a quick insight to what the magazine involves. Helps market the product with a punchy line to intrigue the reader.

The contrast of the white text on red background really help to make this stand out from the page. The audience see this and will be wanting to know more. It helps that it is on the left hand side so the audience can view this when it has been distributed to shops as they are stacked in a certain way.

Bottom banner which indicates to the reader/audience what they can expect to find in each months magazine.

The image of the two in the ‘band’ represent my target audience therefore should

help to sell the product. They are also both holding guitars which represents the fact it is

a music magazine.

I have stuck to the same colour scheme throughout the magazine, this helps the magazine become recognisable to the audience, unique to itself.

The left hand 3rd rule is used so the reader can instantly see what it inside this months addition

Clear indication of the what is on the page.

Reference to the magazine title

Subtitles making it quicker and easier to read, from glance

The contrast of the number of the text again help the reader to pick out the page number instantly

The images can relate to the target audience, they are able to share same experiences and interests with the magazine. They also make the magazine more attractive and appeal more to the audience.

Page numbers next to the pictures which relate to the text on

the left hand side.

This will hopefully appeal to the keen audience as it is a much cheaper option that buying it monthly. Especially if they audience are students ( which is what is targeted.

Main image which attracts the audience and notify them of who the page is about

Page numbers so the reader can find the page they want, from the contents page

The promotions and advertisements of the tour intrigue the audience. The use of the bold colours also help for this to stand out from the page to appeal to the

audience.

The names of the artists show the audience who they are, if they do not already know especially as they are a ‘new band’.

The use of the separate colours to help to show the quotes as they stand out from the other text

Reference to the magazine title

Introducing the band – this is in a bold large font so catches the readers eye

The question and answer format allow the reader to pick and choose which parts they read. The questions are in a bolder font therefore stand out from the text, making it easier for the reader to select certain parts.

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

When producing my magazine, I tried to follow the main conventions related to real magazines such as NME or Q. By a first glance you are able to tell that it is a magazine front cover by all the details included within the page such as – bold masthead, subtitle, barcode, price, addition date, banner, text down the left hand 3rd and finally the main image in the centre of the page. The main image is related to the music industry, shown by the guitars – this is almost a challenge of forms and conventions as most music magazines simply have the artist/band out of their natural association with music (mid shot of the artists, having direct eye contact with the camera).

FRONT COVER

CONTENTS PAGE

With the contents page, I have made it quite clear that it is a contents page, by stating it at the top of the page. Not only this I have followed some conventions that follow with this page. Both Q and NME lay the text of the contents in one column, NME however use the topic title therefore I decided to use this design. I have challenged the conventions as I have not come across a contents page with just pictures of the one side. Q do this in a similar way but theirs is much more spread out and has a a ‘Q review’ towards the bottoms which breaks it up. NME also use the subscribe to their magazine as a bold box at the bottom of the page.

The added ‘MAIN STAGE’ in the top right corner is another feature that most magazine use so another convention I have followed.


DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD


This page has very mixed conventions. Some follow in the steps of other magazines others do not. The question and answer format of text is a good convention of other magazine as the interview type is quite popular with celebs as this is what the audience want to read. On the other hand the way I have used two separate images on opposite sides of the page is unusual to see as a double page spread. However I do believe it breaks up the text therefore will appeal to my audience.

The use of the coupons and advertisements is again a convention of other media products. It allows the audience to be notified of offers and upcoming albums but with also adhering to the colour scheme. I have also added in the main number and magazine masthead in opposite corners, and in all music magazines I have researched they have done this.

COMPANY TO DISTRIBUTE MY MAGAZINE

As it would be a new magazine and unfamiliar to everyone, I think a bigger company that has been very successful in magazine distribution would be much more useful than a smaller, less well known company. Therefore I would chose Bauer Media Group. They are a huge company who distribute worldwide (15 different countries). Not only do Bauer produce magazine but they produce on other media platforms as well, such as Radio and Television. This would be extremely useful as they could help market and advertise my product through all the other media platforms – For example via radio 1 as they have a target audience similar to mine. Hopefully by using Bauer as my distribution company, eventually my magazine will be as successful as Q or KERRANG.

HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODCT REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS

The fact that within my magazine there are only images of my targeted age group represents their age. They can relate to the images and share interests and experiences with them. The social groups which would be represented would be the elder teenage social group. Within all the images they are dressed normally, no outrageous clothing or mad hair styles so the represent the mass population of teenagers/early 20 year olds.The types of things that were mentioned within my magazine would also be of interest of the social group my magazine was aimed at for example fashion tips/ festivals/ rizzle kicks/ boyfriends and girlfriends.

TARGET AUDIENCE OF MY MAGAZINE

The general audience for my magazine would be late teens, early 20’s. I don’t think the magazine would be suitable for young teenagers as there may be some aspects they are not related to, i.e subscribing, festivals or fashion tips. On the other hand I think it is too young for late 20’s as they may not be as interested in a young new band or winning tickets. I think my magazine would appeal more so to females, as it talks about new boy bands and fashion tips, however I do think I may appeal to the males of the odd occasion due to the winning of tickets.

TYPICAL BUYER OF MAIN STAGE MAGAZINE

19 YEAR OLD FEMALE STUDENT

ENJOYS LISTENING TO CHART MUSIC – RADIO 1.

INTERESTED IN THE LATEST FASHION & CELEBS

NOT SO INTESTED IN POLITICS, NEWS.

HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADRESS THE AUDIENCE OF YOUR MAGAZINE?

Throughout my magazine I have tried to use minimal text, much more images. I think this appeals to my target audience as they do not want to be reading a lot of text such as in a newspaper. Obviously for the double page spread I had to use quite a lot of text however by making it into a question and answer based page I was able to cut down on the text a lot.

The images I have used the audience are able relate to such as the image at the festival – many of my target audience will have or will want to go to festivals so can share interests and similarities with the image.

The price of my magazine is at £1.99. I have made my magazine this price as I feel it would be suitable for the target audience. It is likely that they will be in either full time education/ college/ uni/ new job therefore will not have a huge amount of money to slash out so I decided to make my magazine a relatively cheap one. Also from earlier research made through a questionnaire it was found that £1.99 was the preferred price. Within my magazine there are offers and prizes to be won which I think also attracts my target audience as they will always be looking for these offers and giveaways.

The technology used in the process of constructing my product

To construct my magazine I used Adobe Fireworks. I used this program as I have previously used the program so am aware of all the different tools available. I find it such a useful program as you are able to edit images, add different shapes, interesting backgrounds, shadows and much more. I have learnt that using a professional program such as Adobe results in a much more successful end product.

The camera I used was the Panasonic FZ38. Although this is a very good camera and will obviously result in better quality images I think the main way to get the best representations out of your photographs if how you take them – shots, angles and the mise-en-scene.

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

My preliminary task was produced in Microsoft Publisher whereas my final product was constructed in Fireworks. There are clearly a lot of differences between the two programs and looking back the one program produced a much more professional look. Publisher did not have the punchy, bold look a magazine should have therefore I have learnt that to produce a successful magazine, you have to use a program that has all the tools that are needed to edit images, and to create a bold appealing magazine.

I have also learnt that research is key! For my school magazine (preliminary task) I didn’t really research into school magazines so I was producing it on my own opinion and thoughts of a school magazine rather than looking into real life school magazines. For my final task I did research therefore found it much easier to portray the true conventions of a music magazine.

The final aspect which I have learnt is that taking more images pays off. You are able to choose from a range of images and pick the best ones. In my preliminary task I took only the images I needed, and no more whereas in the final product I took a variety of images, using different shots and angles which I was able to use the best photographs.

Entertainment & Humor

Evaluation