Final Post

This is my completed Media coursework. It includes the research, planning, application and evaluation, to create a music magazine.

Evaluation Q7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from this task to the full product?

Since creating my college magazine I have learnt new skills and collected new ideas which have helped me to improve and create my music magazine. I now have a better understanding of the layout of magazines, and how the use of layers can help a magazine to engage the reader. I have also learnt that lighter colour schemes such as grey, blue and black are more visually engaging than black and blue. This also increases the visual appeal of my magazine. I have also increased my knowledge of the conventions of magazines, with my music magazine having a much stronger brand identity than the college magazine. I also used a more colloquial mode of address for my music magazine, and I am therefore more likely to engage with the target audience.
I have also learned to use more programs with my main project, such as Adobe Photoshop and SlideShare, than I had with my college magazine which has allowed me to express my ideas more creatively.

Evaluation Q6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have used a variety of programs and technologies in creating my music magazine, some I had used before and others that I had not. By using them I have improved my project and feel confident in using them in the future to help with work then.
I completed this project on two computers; the Apple Mac which was used in lessons and my own Acer laptop which I used at home. I took all of my photos with my Canon Digital ixus 9015 camera.

These photos were cropped and edited using Adobe Photoshop CS3, a program that I had not used before and now feel confident using.

The research, final magazine and evaluation of my magazine were all posted onto a website called Blogger, a blogging website which sets out all the work I have done for my project. This has given me an interactive platform to show my music magazine.

My music magazine itself was made using the program Adobe inDesign CS4, as was my student magazine for the preliminary project. I had never used this program before, and I found it a very useful creative tool. It allowed me to convert my ideas that I had for my R&B magazine into a real magazine. I learnt about the different layers a magazine uses, as well as how to layout the piece.

One example of a program I had used before was Microsoft Word. I used Word to type out the text of my double-page spread, as well as to write the treatment, action plan and evaluation, as it is the easiest program when writing text. This text was then copied over to Blogger and posted online.

I also used Microsoft PowerPoint to create a presentation on ‘How to create a questionnaire for a music magazine’, which I then turned into an interactive production using SlideShare.

In order to get people to complete my questionnaire, I posted on my Facebook and Twitter pages in an attempt to gain more feedback.

I created the questionnaire using www.surveymonkey.com, which collects the information. I then turned this feedback into graphs using Microsoft Excel.

As you can see, I have used a variety of technologies and programs to create my magazine, with this experience making me confident and capable with all of them.

Evaluation Q5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract my target audience, the mode of address for double-page spread is spelt in the way it would be said by an R&B star (eg. want to > wanna) in order to make the magazine appear youthful and cool. It is also important to ‘hook’ the potential customer with the front cover, as 70% of people buy their magazines in the spur of the moment. For this I have chosen the main image of a self-assured artist to connote that this magazine features popular figures. The colour scheme is very calm and inviting, whereas had I chosen stronger colours such as black and red the magazine could have been viewed as aggressive. I have also used a puff in order to entice more readers to buying the magazine, as the choice of which festivals to go to is a common dilemma for teenagers who do not have lots of disposable income. I also asked my target audience throughout the magazines production what the thought of it, and the analysis of my final magazine can be seen below.

Evaluation Q4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for my magazine is predominantly teenagers of both sexes aged 16-21. The unique selling point against its competitors is that it focuses on up-and-coming or breakthrough artists rather than more established artists, meaning it is more likely to appeal to alternative personality types. That being said, R&B is quite a mainstream industry, so this will hopefully bring in a wide range of customers. One could argue that his magazine would appeal more to young black people, or people of an urban background, but I am hoping to target a mixture of races and social backgrounds. I will keep the price at a relatively cheap, competitive level, as the audience for this magazine will have a limited amount of disposable income. They will either have to rely on money from their parents or a part/full time job so they will want a magazine that is affordable. They are likely to be the sort of person who enjoys lyrical music, and wears NewEra flat caps and sweatpants. Their free time is likely to be spent playing basketball and going out socially.

Evaluation Q3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I think that an institution such as Time Inc. would be the best institution to distribute my magazine. Time Inc. are a subsidiary of the media conglomerate Time Warner, and as a company publish over 130 magazines. Their UK-based front is called IPC Media. I chose these because they are the UK’s largest distributers with a 20% market share, which would mean they could provide stability and financial backing for my magazine. They already distribute various other successful music magazines, such as NME, which shows they are capable of doing a job. They also distribute the most successful R&B music magazine in the US/UK, ‘Vibe’ which shows that they have the experience to manage a music magazine. The main difference between my ‘Beats’ magazine and ‘Vibe’ is that my magazine focuses on new, breakthrough artists rather than more established artists in Vibe, so I do not believe they would be in competition, more that they could work off each other depending on the interests of the reader.
I also considered the Bauer Media Group, a large German publishing company based in Hamburg. They are a private publishing company which has been owner by the Bauer family for over 125 years, and publish the successful music magazines ‘Q’ and ‘Kerrang’. They also have a worldwide weekly readership of 38million. I decided against choosing the Bauer Media Group because their music magazine experience seems to be more in the rock/heavy metal category, and they have a lower UK market share than IPC Media.

Evaluation Q2 - Does your media product represent a particular social group?

I have chosen to compare this image of Jay-Z from XVibe magazine with the front cover of my magazine to explain how my magazine represents a particular social group.

Whilst the poses that Jay-Z and D-MONEY are striking are different, they both suggest confidence. Both of their facial expressions are neutral, however it is their body language which suggests confidence. Both men are wearing relatively plain clothes, with the accessories being the main expensive features of their dress. D-MONEY is wearing FCUK shades, Dre Beats and a Rolex watch, and Jay-Z is wearing a solid gold chain, a Rolex and a personalised NewEra hat. Their hairstyles are similar, and they are the same ethnicity which helps to connote the idea of D-MONEY being an R&B star. Overall I believe that my image does not represent a normal teenage appearance, as I do not believe that average teenager would dress with such expensive accessories. However in terms of the representation of an R&B superstar, I believe that the representation is quite similar. This confidence from D-MONEY helps to promote the magazine, with fans identifying with his personal self-confidence as a performer which will endear him to them.

Evaluation Q1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Before I began creating my music magazine I analysed a series of professional music magazines in an attempt to understand the forms and conventions that they use. There are certain characteristics that can help a potential customer identify that they are looking at a music magazine, such as a strong brand identity. Given the rising popularity of music on television and on the Internet, magazines have been in decline in recent years, meaning that only the recognisable brands such ‘Q’ and ‘Kerrang’ have been able to survive. These magazines have strong, recognisable mastheads, so I chose an irregular font with a bright colour in an attempt to make the masthead stand out as in with ‘Q’ magazine.

The font I chose for my masthead is called ‘Urban Jungle’, which I downloaded off www.dafont.com. Given that the genre of my music magazine is urban, specialising in R&B, the use of an urban font connotes the sort of lives that the artists in this magazine may have lived, growing up in tough, urban areas. The title ‘Beats’ itself allows the reader to link to urban music, as well as the popular headphones of the same name, which many urban artists wear as they are designed by music legend Dr. Dre. Some examples of content that I use in my magazine are interviews and song reviews, which are very important features of any music magazine. After analysing various R&B magazines such as ‘Vibe’, I noticed that the colours that are used for the front cover are bright, contrasting colours, which is why I chose grey and bright blue to contrast against each other.
A large main picture on the front cover is also a common convention for music magazines, either as a close-up of a singer’s face or a picture of the artist in a set pose, which is the one I decided to do. Urban musicians tend to come from poor backgrounds and become very rich, so there is tendency for these artists to flaunt their expensive accessories. In order to connote this, my model is pictured wearing expensive glasses, a Rolex and a set of Dr.Dre style beats, as this a convention of an urban artists behavior. I also use a series of cover lines in order to draw the audience in to purchasing the magazine, as well as a puff to spike their interest. The titles of the cover lines are all puns or common phrases, giving the magazine a relaxed feel. I chose the font ‘Freshman’ for the text, as it gives the text an athletic, calm appearance.
A typical contents page features information on the content in the magazine, separating the content with the page numbers that the content falls on. Music magazines such as ‘Q’ feature an editorial from the main editor, a common convention where the editor talks directly to the reader about what they think of the issue. There is usually a small picture of the editor next to the text, something which I put in my magazine also. The contents page is also the first page in the magazine where the page number is shown, as magazines do not show the page number on the front cover. I have also kept the ‘Beats’ logo in an attempt to emphasis the brand identity, and have continued using the ‘Freshman’ font for the writing. The content of my magazine is shown in the contents page to be in groups such as reviews and competitions. Some magazines choose to spread the content instead of grouping it, but I decided to follow the example of magazines such as ‘Q’ and group the content through the magazine. The house brand colours of light blue, grey and black are continued from the front cover.
For the double-page spread I have chosen to do an interview of a music star, the most common convention of the main double-page spreads in music magazines. Again the font and colour scheme have been continued from the previous pages in order to promote the brand identity. The masthead is the largest font on the pages, a common convention of double-page spreads. The masthead title ‘D-MONEY drops by’ has an ambiguous meaning; firstly in the literal sense that he has come to do an interview, and secondly the use of the word ‘drops’ is a common urban music term which means to release a song. The use of a pun or ambiguous meaning title is another convention of music magazine titles. The tagline and opening paragraph keep the same font as the title to separate these from the rest of the text. For the interview itself I chose to use a more standard font so that it is simpler to read. The interview is split into columns which is also a common convention, along with with a link at the end of the interview to another part of the magazine to engage the reader.

Music Magazine Mock-Up

Photoshoot for Music Magazine

These are the pictures from my photo shoot, with some of them featuring in the main magazine.

Potential Magazine Advertisers

Music Magazine Mock-Up

Research into Music Magazines - Questionnaire

Which of these colour schemes do you think is best for an R&B-style music magazine?

What content would you like to see in the magazine?

What would be the most you would pay for this magazine?

Are you subscribed to any other music magazines?

How often would you like to see this magazine published?

Analysis of Front Covers, Contents Pages and Double Page Spreads

Front Covers

This front cover is taken from ‘Vibe’ Magazine. The name Vibe suggests to the reader that this is a music magazine, with the central image connoting the magazine has a rap/hip hop/R&B theme. The masthead is the largest writing on the page, which the font colour matching the secondary colour of Kanye West’s jumper. West is the dominating central image of the piece as a medium close-up. This closeness acts as a visual lure to entice fans of West to buy the magazine as their eyes are drawn to this one. The background colour of the magazine is also the same colour as the primary colour of West’s jumper. By using colours which do not contrast with West’s clothes, it makes the central image blend with the magazine and when combined with the shading gives a 3D edge to the piece. The main cover line of the piece is situated to the left of the image of West, and is aligned in a similar angle to West’s head which informs the reader that this is the main article. The font colour scheme is a contrasting mix of blue, black and white, which helps to separate the different cover lines and lures. They are also a mix of different font sizes, with the larger fonts suggesting these articles are the most important. This front cover does not show the price, barcode or issue number.

This front cover is from ‘NME’ magazine. The name NME (when pronounced it sounds like the word ‘enemy’) suggests that this magazine is going to be controversial, which will attract the target audience of the magazine, which are predominantly rock fans. The central image of this magazine is a long shot of Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty. Unlike with Vibe magazine, where the main image was placed in the centre, this one is placed slightly to the right due to the layout of the magazine. The cover lines and lures for this magazine are placed in the bottom third of the magazine, with the main cover line placed in the central third of the magazine. The main colours of the front cover are black, white and red, which follow the magazine’s brand style and maintain the same colours and the font as the masthead. Underneath the main cover line of the front cover, a quote from the article is used as a lure. This front cover also features various puffs which offer the reader various prizes. This magazine features the barcode in the bottom right hand corner at a landscape angle.

This front cover is from the ‘Q’ magazine. The magazine gets its name from the word ‘Cue’, which it originally was going to be called (as in the sense of cueing a record, ready to play), but the name was changed so that it wouldn't be mistaken for a snooker magazine. The single letter name makes the magazine seem bold and foregrounds it. Like NME, the front cover of the magazine uses the colours red, black and white which gives this magazine a gothic theme. The tagline ‘The UK’s Biggest Music Magazine’ suggests this magazine is successful, popular and interesting. The central image of this front cover is a medium close-up of singer Cheryl Cole. Cole is the main focus of the magazine, where she is pulling a sexually alluring pose in an attempt to attract men to buying this magazine. Her lips are a deep red colour which connotes passion and also links to the main colours of the brand theme. The main cover line is situated in the bottom third of the magazine, with the writing changing colour as well as the spacing between letters increasing. This gives the effect that the writing is leaping off the page which foregrounds it to the reader. The other cover lines are situated to the left of the magazine, with a puff located on the central right of the front cage. This magazine is unusual in the sense that the barcode is not positioned at the bottom. Instead it is placed below the masthead, along with the price and date.

Contents Page

This contents page is from ‘Vibe’ magazine. The main feature of this contents page is a large central image, rather than the usual central feature which is the text. The woman in the picture is sitting in a relaxed, provocative position which relates to the cool theme of the magazine. The woman is R&B superstar Ciara, which is a ploy used to increase the sales of magazine as people enjoy reading about celebrities they like. Ciara’s legs are placed in a ‘V’ position which is shadowed in the background by the ‘V’ of Vibe magazine in the usual house style and font. The layout of the word ‘CONTENTS’ stacked on top of each other means that all of the text is on the right-hand side of the page, meaning that the picture has the space on the left and along the bottom. The sections of the text are split into two groups; features and fashion. This allows a potential customer who is browsing the contents page to view the main articles that make this magazine unique as well as the standard articles which feature in every magazine.

This contents page is from ‘NME’ magazine. Whereas for the previous magazine the picture was the main feature, this magazine has the text and content as the over-riding feature for their contents page. In the top left-hand corner is the NME brand name to remind the reader what the magazine is. The phrase ‘THIS WEEK’ at the top of the page acts as a lure, leading the reader into reading the information the contents page is providing. It also informs the reader that this magazine is published weekly and it regularly features new articles and ideas. In the centre of the page is the major article, featuring a paragraph from the article which will draw the reader into that page. The colour scheme used on this page is predominantly red, black and white, which relates to the brand style. The contents are situated on the right-hand third of the magazine, similar to Vibe magazine above. They are also divided into groups like in Vibe, however for this magazine there are more groups such as News, Radar, Reviews, Live! and Features. Along the bottom there is an advertisement from the magazine to save money when pre-ordering NME, which is a clever ploy used to increase sales. In the bottom right-hand corner there is a box claiming that NME is ‘The UK’s No.1 Gig Guide’, which is used as a unique selling point to attract customers from rival magazines.

Double-Page Spreads

This double page spread is from ‘Kerrang’ magazine. The colour scheme of the magazine is predominantly red, white and especially black which relate to the gothic fan base. The interview with My Chemical Romance is claimed by the magazine to be a ‘world exclusive’, a unique selling point against other magazines. The title of the piece is a quote from the interview, acting as a lure. It again features the house style colour scheme of Kerrang, making it stand out on the black background. The text is arranged into two columns on the right page, adding more importance to the pictures which are arranged on the left page and across the bottom. In the tagline, the text states that MCR ‘invite Kerrang to their recording studio’. This makes the article seem personal to the band as well as showing it to be unique, coupling the effect with the ‘world exclusive’ claim in the top corner. Along the right-side of the right page there is a list of questions the band have answered in a short format, which makes the reader feel closer to the band.

This double page spread is from ‘Beatweek’ magazine. In a contrast to the other double page spread, the colours are much less severe and calmer. This is because the ‘Kerrang’ magazine represents a music style that is more emotional and aggressive than ‘Beatweek’, which features R&B music that is predominantly calmer. The main colours are white, grey and beige which are very calm colours. This represents the laid-back approach of the Black Eyed Peas as well as the style of the magazine. The use of a rhetorical question as the title of the article is meant to engage the reader, to lure them into reading the article to find the answer. The picture of the Black Eyed Peas covers two-thirds of the double page spread, following the rule of thirds with text in the final third. The contrast in the colour of the picture shows the reader that Will.i.am is the main focus of the blog, as well as reminding the reader of where they will know him from. The introducing paragraph is positioned over top of the picture as this foregrounds this text as the start of the article. One part of the text is emphasised by being surrounded by a black text box, showing that this quote from Will.i.am is the main theme of the article. The questions are emboldened so the reader can differentiate between them and the answers. A pair of arrows are used to show the beginning of the article, with the use of this image being similar to the ‘fast-forward’ symbol that will subconsciously remind the reader of music.