Evaluation

My music magazine Cross-Fade challenges and develops forms and conventions of real life media because it is a Dance and DJ genre magazine but the use of colour and costume suggests that the magazine may belong to a rock or indie genre like NME or Kerrang!. I analysed in detail three front covers of existing music magazines which were mixmag, Kerrang! and NME to establish and gain knowledge of conventions in music magazine to give me a greater understanding of what I would use for my own. For my own front cover I followed the forms and conventions of real life media products by giving my music magazine a big bold masthead that stands out clearly from the rest of the magazine as this is what is going to catch the readers eye first following by the image. I wanted to include a free mix CD in my magazine as this would entice my target audience to want to buy it even more. I place the text promoting the free CD in the top right hand corner this is called and EAR in media language. When I got feedback from other people on my music magazines front cover I asked them what genre would you say Cross-Fade is and when I typed my results up in a graph 9 people out of the 15 I asked got it correct and the other 6 thought different genres such as rock, hip hop and indie. For the people that didn’t get the genre right I asked them why did they think it wasn’t dance and they all said it was the use of black and red making it look like it belonged to a different music genre such as NME. Cross-Fade is commercial to make money. It is horizontally integrated within IPC media. IPC media saw a gap in the marked for Cross-fade to make money from young people and dance music.

I also researched three contents pages of existing magazines to establish how a contents page is set up and what sort of things are seen in them such as an editors letter, images and text promoting things in the magazine. The three contents pages I researched were also mixmag, NME and Kerrang! I discovered that each genre of magazine had a different way of setting out there contents pages. For example mixmag’s contents page I thought looked very colourful and the image was very funky and artistic, the image would catch someone eye. The layout of text was very plain and simple to read. I liked the idea of mixmag’s contents page and took some of there ideas and adapted them for my contents page. I included three images on my contents page so it didn’t look plain and dull only including text. It has 10 main features spread out onto a number of pages and has 25 pages in it. I think that 25 pages is average for the price of £2.10, I think that my target audience of young people would pay that much for what it includes.

I used the same model on my front cover to be on my double page spread he is the main feature in the magazine. I had one picture of my model taking up half of the page and included a pull quote which is a convention of a double page spread. The background and colour scheme matches my genre as it is very abstract and the use of lots of colours represents dance music. I did three different double page spreads drafts because I couldn’t decide which front looked more effective. I decided to go with the original one of black and blue because I think it goes with the background.

My music magazine focuses on particular social groups such as young people interested in new upcoming artists trying to make it big. The magazine promotes new artists and the main image and feature in the magazine is a new artist trying to get more well known. My magazine also promotes a weekly competition to try and win tickets to see a well known band, this is beneficial to particular social groups like young people as they don’t have spend loads of money to go to a good gig. I wanted my model to wear stylish, fashionable cloths because young people like nice cloths and hair, it also promotes the clothing line G-Star as this is written on my model t-shirt.The artist is represented as a fashionable young person this represents the social group of teenagers.

The main target audience for my magazine is young people aged between 16- 26 this is because young people are more interested in new music and the music I am promoting though my music magazine. Because my magazine promotes so many good offers like a free CD and competitions each week young people are more likely to buy it. The target audience is for both genders as it doesn’t just promote things that men will like, the music that is being promoted anyone can listen to and like.

I have tried to attract my audience through the front cover as this is the first thing they will be looking at. The contrast of colours by using a black, grey and white jagged background this contrasts with the cover lines, sell line and mast head. The red and blue works very well as they are both very powerful colours. The red glow around my main image makes it stand out more and gives it dominance. The name cross-fade is a type of equipment DJ’s use so people that like that type of music genre will instantly know what the magazine will be about. The mast head is in big bold jagged writing which will catch the audience eye. I think that the bands that I have mentioned in my magazines front cover are well known bands/people which will attract/appeal the audience to buy it.

In making my music magazine I have learnt a number of new skills. I have learnt how to use Photoshop successfully in doing so I have learnt how to edit pictures professional changing the gradient and contrast of the colours. I also have learnt how give my pictures and text special effects like an outer glow making the pictures appear more professional. I have also learnt how to use blogger were we have posted blogs about our music and college magazine. I used Microsoft publisher for my double page spread as it would be more suitable then using Photoshop as the double page spread is mainly text. I edited all my images in Photoshop and were happy with the outcome that I got.

From my preliminary task I have learnt how to use Photoshop more easily and effectively. I now know how to make images bigger and smaller and edit the look my images like giving it an outer glow and changing the colour brightness. I have also learnt conventions of real media products, in my college magazine I didn’t concentrate on what the text font was or were I placed it. The text colours do not stand out enough as everything is the same colours. It isn’t eye catching and is very simple and plain. Now in my music magazine I concentrated more on how it looked and how well it suited the genre. I made mind maps on the colours and texts I wanted to use so that when it came to putting my front cover together I knew exactly what I wanted. I also thought about costume and props because it is a young persons magazine I wanted the model to look fashionable and modern so young people could relate to his style. I got my model to wear a pair of headphones I did this because it is a music magazine and seeing the headphones portrays this.

Feedback

When I handed out my questionnaire I produced the question what do you like about my music magazine Cross-Fade and are there any improvement you would make. This is the feedback I got from fourteen participants.

“Good colour layouts, colour and images which make it look professional but I wouldn’t buy it because it not my type of music”

“Eye catching”

“Colourful- like”

“Bright colours make it look like a dance magazine, looks less formal making its audience teenagers”

“Not very eye catching”

“Gets attention/ colourful, shows what’s in the magazine”

“I prefer the blue background and the jagged text of title”

“It stands out making it noticeable. You win tickets. Doesn’t say any articles featuring in the magazine”

“Front cover- very good looking person on the front. Good colours”

“Good layout- nice looking guy”

“Its great”

“I like this front cover it is not simple but not over loaded, it looks like an interesting magazine to read”

“Good colour scheme. Nice use of pictures”

“Colour scheme works well- attractive and eye catching. Represents genre well and effectively”

Questionnaire feedback-graphs

Double page spread final copy

This is my double page spread I have used the same model as I used on my front cover as I wanted him to be the main feature in my magazine. I have only used one picture of him which most music magazines wouldn’t do they would use a range of pictures but I like the way I have set out the picture and text and the picture looks more dominant.

Contents page final copy

This is my final draft of my contents page. I wanted my contents page to mach the style of my front cover. I produced the yellow stripped lines Photoshop and cooperated them into my contents page to give it more of a jagged edge like the genre of my magazine. I took all the pictures myself, I used a picture I took at a gig and used it for my contents page as it matches the theme of dance music. I have used two models one male and one female to display that it is a uni-sex magazine so anyone can buy it. I have 10 main features in my magazine ranging to 25 pages which is an average size for a magazine. At the bottom of the page I have included contact details for Cross-Fade so readers can get in touch directly with the magazine if they have any problems of ideas they wish to share with the producers.

Front cover- final copy

This is my final copy of my music magazine front cover. I think represents the target population of young adults effectively because it has a young person on the front cover wearing fashionable up to date cloths. The mise-en-scene of my front cover represents the genre of a dance and DJ magazine because of the use of colour. The black, grey and white background contrasts with the red glow making the main image stand out and have more dominance. The sell line and cover lines star music well known popular artists and bands young people would enjoy to listen to as well as new artists. I have included a free CD on my front cover as it entices the target audience to want to buy it more. The price of my magazine is £2.10, I think this is a fair price for the amount of pages and the things you can receive when purchasing this magazine such as the free CD and competitions. I am happy with what I have produced and the standard of it as I think it looks professional and I think my target audience would like to buy it.

Double page spread I.T Draft

Contents page I.T Draft

Front cover I.T Draft

first half of double page spread image and text ideas

Second front cover draft

This is the second draft of my magazine Cross-Fade. from my previous front cover draft i have changed the text down the right hand side and have made more appropiate coverline stories to go with the type of magazine. i have moved the free mix CD text to the top right hand corner making it an ear. i have given it a background giving it more of an attractive eye catching look emphasising the main image, the glow around it supports the genre of dance music. i prefere thsi copy of my magazine cover as i think it more eye catching then the last. However i am going to change the text font into a more jagged text and i am going to change the blue glow to red as i think the blue was to matched with the text making it stand out less.

Pictures

first draft of contents page

This is my first draft of my magazines contents page after getting feed back from my front cover i decided to change this as well and add more colour as the colours match the front page. i am going to add more features and pictures to make it stand out more and look eye catching

Second Draft

This is my second attempt of my music magazine. i liek the masthead font and colout and the main image stands out. after getting some feed back of what people thought i decided that this draft was not good enough as it looked more like a poster of fashion magazine. i decided to change the layout of the cover lines and have more of a variety of colour.

music magazine ideas

Some ideas for name, fonts and colours for my music magazine.

First attempt of music magazine front cover

As i hadnt taken any pictures for my music magazine first deadline this was all i could do. i do not like it as it does not look proffesional and the fonts are to word arty.

mood board

this is a mood board of ideas for my magazine. the genre is dance/dj so i have put pictures of decks and headphones on to show the type of genre. i have also put some fonts on that i thought would suit the genre of magaizne.

hand drawn double page spread

hand drawn contents page

Hand drawn front cover draft

Mind Map

This is my mindmap of ideas for my music magazine it includes names, genre, targert audiennce and artists that i might want to include in my magazine

NME double page spread

This is the double page spread for the indie music magazine NME. It follows the convention used for double page spreads as it includes a selection of images and some written text. The text and the images are of the band Florence and the Machine. On the left hand side is the main image of Florence this image tells the audience who the double page spread is about. The image used is big and bold with lots of bright colours giving it a bright and funky edge reflecting the magazines genre. The ‘ear’ Live suggests that the pictures and text are about a gig that Florence was singing at. The left hand images are of Florence singing with other various artists presenting the idea that Florence is a well known popular artist as she is singer with other well developed artists. ‘Call of the wild’ is in big bold writing catching the readers eye and making them wonder what the text is about.

Kerrang! double page spread

This is the double page spread for the indie/rock music magazine Kerrang!. Double page spreads are usually used for interviews, in this double page spread it is a interview for the artist Lilly Allen. The mise-en-scene of the cover is rock we can see this through the colour black and the font used. It uses a pull-quote this is a quotation taken from the interview and is made larger in a separate area. this convention is used so the reader knows what to expect in the interview they are going to read. This double page spread doesn’t follow the normal conventions of a double page spread. After doing some research into conventions of double page spreads i found out that usually they use a range of different pictures this one only uses one. However the picture they have used is effective as the pose used shows dominance and attitude. This pacific pose links in with what the pull-quote is saying "people think I’m an attention seeker".

Kerrang! contents page

This is the contents page for the music magazine Kerrang!. Kerrang! magazine has an ideology where rock music and culture is important. An example of media language that shows this is the images displayed in the contents page and the bands stated like AC DC. Kerrang! also has a website and email address to display other things that isn’t shown in the magazine such as videos, there website uses web 2.0. The institutions purpose is to make money commercially. The content of the magazine is mainly entertainment as it displays a lot of interviews with bands.

The contents title is displayed in the top right hand corner this is called an ear. The date and issue number is also displayed under the content’s title. The colour scheme is black and white so the yellow stands out more. The contents of the magazine is displayed down the right hand side of the page making it clear to the reader what exactly is in the magazine.

The images are very dominant as they represent the genre of the magazine. They are all displaying rock music this is displayed through body language and tattoos. Each picture also has a page number so the reader knows exactly were the picture is in the magazine.