Music Magazine Evaluation
Our objective was to create a front cover, a contents page and a double page spread for a new Music Magazine. However, before we did this we had the preliminary exercise to create a front cover and a contents page for a College Magazine. For my research, I looked at several different music magazines such as Kerrang! and NME to find the key conventions to make my magazine look professional. Whilst doing my research I decided that for my Magazine i would like the genre to be rock, due to them being the most popular music magazine types and how big the audiences are for these magazines too.
The name of my magazine is Resistance, I came up with this name due to the fact that I obviously would want the magazine to be successful and therefore hard to ‘resist’ so I decided to call it ‘Resistance’ there are also no other music magazines with the same name or a similar type of name, so it’s original. When it comes to the layout of the magazine I would compare it mostly to Kerrang!. There is a lot going on, on my front cover which is what the Kerrang front cover usually tends to be like. At the top of the page I have placed a banner headline which is showing that you can now get tickets for Leeds Festival 2011 and that this weeks issue is the christmas special, the font is in grey writing and a dark red background, whereas as the banner headline at the bottom of the page has black writing but with a brighter red for a background which reads examples of different bands which are featured inside so they both contrast with each other. I have placed the masthead at the top of the page, just under the banner headline, and also taking up the full width of the page, I have put it in a font which stands out a lot and the colour is black, despite this being a Rock magazine there isn’t much black being used on the page, this is because I have made my magazine a ‘Christmas Special’. Underneath the masthead I have a placed a slogan reading ‘Resistance is not futile’ I chose this slogan as futile means incapable of doing something, therefore, by me saying resistance is NOT futile I am interpreting that my magazine is successful and meets it’s targets. I have also placed my masthead behind the main image of my models, I did this so the photo stands out more as they are the main focus of this weeks issue of the magazine. Unlike many other weekly magazines I have placed the date and the issue on the contents page, I did this because a lot is already going on, on the front cover and adding some more text will make it look messy. The price of the magazine is positioned at the bottom the page just above the other banner headline, I have placed it on top of a white box which is where the barcode is also placed. The only other headline on my page is in the centre more to the right which reads ‘Us and the Lung’ which is the name of the band. Then, ‘we wouldn’t change ourselves for ANYONE!’ which is a quote I have used from the interview to give an idea on what will be included in the article. The background of this headline is black, with the writing in bright white, this makes it stand out to the reader. The photo of my models takes up the majority of the page but I have made sure that nothing is covering their faces and although several things are over the picture it still stands out more than anything and is clearly the main focus of the page. The colour behind the models is green which fits with the Christmas, also one of the models is also wearing a red t-shirt, and green and red are usually the colours associated with Christmas. On the left hand side of the page starting from the middle I have placed puff reading ‘3 GIANT posters’ with a white background and black font, this contrasts with the main headline of the page as they’re opposite. Underneath the puff I have placed three photo’s of real bands which I have photographed myself showing that the ‘3 GIANT posters’ are.
In my contents page I have placed the masthead at the very top of the page starting from the left and finishing just past half way of the width of the page. The font stands out a lot and the colour I have used is the same house style as the front cover, I have used continuity by doing this as the only green I have used on the contents page as well as the double page spread is the same green as the front cover. The issue number and the date has then been placed underneath the title of the page in a white font. Covering the whole length of the page on the left side and just under half of the width of the page I have made it black then the other half white, I gave the edge of the black a ripped effect so it looks like the page has been ripped in half, this makes everything stand out much more because it isn’t just a plain background. At the bottom of the page is a photo of the band on the front cover, who are also the band for my double page spread. However, using Photoshop I managed to cut around their heads and place the photo on the contents to make it look as if it’s 3D and the background of the contents page is exactly what was behind them. The only Banner heading I have used is at the bottom of the page, on this I put the website of the magazine, the email address and the telephone number. During my time of researching other music magazines I found that some, on their contents page added a short paragraph of the editors views on the band and how it was meeting them, they do this in every issue of Kerrang. So I decided to use the same sort of idea. In the top right hand corner of the page I have added a photo of myself, to show that I am the editor then below is my opinion on how it was to meet and talk with the band. The below the text I have placed my signature, which is in a different font and size from the rest so it stands out as my own part of the contents page.
On my double page spread I have split the page into two by having photos of each band member individually, taking over the whole of the page on the left, I have split it into four separate boxes, with the backgrounds of each photo being the same green as the front cover and contents page. On the top left photo I have placed some text (not covering or touching the photo of the band member) in the corner which states the names of the band members in order of the photos. I did this because I think it shows the members as individuals and not just as a whole band. By stating the names and pairing them with the photos it also helps during the interview, as all of them speak and you know who’s speaking. On the other side of the double page spread Is the masthead three other smaller pictures of the band, an introductory paragraph of the band, and the start of the interview. I have placed the masthead at the top of the page which is in a clear formal font and in black so it stands out to the reader. Due to the magazine being a christmas special and the main colours I have used are green and red, I have placed a thing red banner below the masthead and above the introductory paragraph to separate them, I have done this also between the introduction a quote from the band taken from then interview and the start of the interview. Even though the purpose of this was to just simply separate them it makes everything on the page stand out and look professional as the same house style is continued throughout. I have used a different font for the interview from the title as it tells them apart more. However the quote from the interview which is quite large is in the same font to the interview, this looks professional as you can see that the quote belongs to the interview, I also made the speech marks of the quote bigger to it stands out more. The three images that I have used on the double page fit in very well with the interview as they’re just of the band having fun, by reading the interview you will find the band are serious about what they do but also want to have fun, and you can see that by looking at these photos. Throughout the text of the interview I have underlined the questions I asked so the reader can see a distinctive difference between the question and the response, I have also added a sentence under the photo at the bottom of the page reading, ‘turn the page for the rest of the interview’, I did this because I didn’t want the reader to this the interview was very short, and therefore maybe they have wasted money.
To represent my targeted social group (teenagers/young adults) I have made sure my front cover stands out enough to attract their attention, I achieved this by mentioning festivals and several other bands they may be interested in. On the contents page I have stated the specific bands mentioned in my magazine and added my own personal opinion on the band which could maybe encourage the readers to have a positive opinion on them too. On the double page spread I mainly used imagery to show the bands personalities through the fun pictures, therefore encouraging opinions again. I have also begun my article with a quotation from the interview, which will hopefully engage the reader which will make them want to find out why and where they said the specific quote in the interview.
I have decided I want my music magazine to be published through the Bauer Media Group mainstream institution because I think it will make the magazine become increasingly popular and attract an audience that will hopefully want to buy the magazine regularly. As already stated, if I had to compare my music magazine to another magazine it would be Kerrang! It’s published weekly like mine and would attract the same sort of audience.
As my magazine is targeted at the ages of 15 to 24, and to both male and female, I have taken into consideration what is needed in a rock magazine to do this. The reason why I chose this age group and the genre of rock is because these type of people are sometimes more dedicated to what they like than other groups. The rock/indie scene is fun and wild is this is usually what this age group tends to be like. So therefore the age group will be targeted at the E group in the National Readership Survey, casual labourers and the unemployed. It will also specifically appeal to this group as the magazine is weekly and only £2.20. I did a questionnaire on 10 students, 7 of them saying that by looking at the magazine they thought it would be priced around £2.50, so by me making the price lower it will be cheaper and attract more people to buy it.
The whole reason I wanted to create a christmas issue of my magazine was because it was winter when I created it and because it’s a very good way to use continuity through the colours of red and green. It was also very convenient for the background to be green where I took the pictures so I didn’t have to take the time to have to edit the background. During the preparation of planning the magazine I decided that I wanted my magazine to be targeted at both sexes, and I think the christmas theme shows that, the band also consists of male and female members. When I asked 10 students what gender they think my magazine is aimed 1 person said male and the other 9 said both genders, so I think I have successfully proved that the magazine isn’t aimed at a particular sex.
I used adobe Photoshop to create my magazine and blogger to post all of my planning on as well as my final product. I found it very easy to post on blogger regularly as you can go into much more detail about what you did by just generally explaining it. It’s very straightforward. I think that since the preliminary task of creating the college magazine I have definitely improved my skills and knowledge to create a successful magazine. However, during the preliminary task we didn’t have to do the double page spread, so for the music magazine it was the first time creating one, but I made sure to do several drafts to improve. When I had the task to interview 10 students regarding my music magazine I had some very useful feedback. When I asked the question ‘What stands out to you the most, the front cover? Contents page? Or double page spread?’ 60% said the front cover, 0% said the contents page and 40% said the double page spread, from these statistics I thought that maybe I should of spent more time on the contents. Another useful statistic which I took into consideration what the fact that 30% rated my magazine with a 10 out of 10, 40% were 9, 20% were 8 and 10% were 7, although the rate with the biggest percentage was 9 the lowest rate was 7, to me I wanted to aim higher, so I would want at least 50% being an 8 or a 9.
2375 words.
