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On music magazine front covers such as NME and Q a large masthead stating the name of their magazine is boldly evident in the top left hand corner. I have used this technique on my magazine front cover – the large masthead ‘RADAR’ is large and clear in the top left hand corner, therefore following the first obvious convention of a music magazine. I have also made it stand out by the use of unique typography and layering of similar styles of different colours so it jumps off the page. Eye contact from the artist on the front cover is something which is shown on both of the popular music magazines so is a convention I particularly made sure I followed when capturing the image of the artist for my front cover – making sure she looked directly into the camera, I also wanted my artist to reflect the emotion which is portrayed in the article, and this is probably something i could have improved on ie giving her more of a confident stance. The masthead and banner headline of NME is clearly identified and dominant and is in the same eye line of the competition banner "win VIP camping upgrade!" and has the same coloured background of the NME title. Similarly, my front magazine cover has a Splash on the same eye line as the main article headline which is one of the main dominant feature of the front cover, I wanted to make sure 'WIN' was in yellow as i found this was a popular convention on all splashes on music magazine front covers. The background colour is light pink which follows the house style of yellow, pink and black, I have used light pink as it is a neutral shade, if i were to design my magazine again I may go for more of a gender neutral colour. My dateline and price are at the bottom above the barcode, which is a popular convention of magazines in general and is helpful for when someone goes to scan something and can see it. The selling line is "NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS" which stands for NME. My selling line is 'exposing unsigned artists since 1982'. I wanted to capture my niche audience through the selling line as this may be the next thing the reader sees after the title and may help them decide whether to read on or not. The main image is very clear and posed of Vampire Weekend, the prop of the glasses helps to identify the artist with fashion amongst the target audience. Comparatively, my main image reflects the main audience of my theme which is alternative, unsigned and indie music as she is dressed quite differently and she is also is a main singer of popular dance-punk band which are against the music industries “rules” and are independent. You can tell this in her unique pose and deep eye line to the reader. They are a few main cover lines, they are "starring Vampire Weekend" and "TOP 25 BANDS MAKING AMERICA COOL AGAIN" this front cover is very extravagant compared to normal NME magazines. My main magazine also has main cover lines such as LCD Soundsystem interview. NME magazines have their own style compared to Q magazine, which has more of a classic style. The barcode is clearly established in the right hand corner of the page and is clearly seen but doesn’t overlook anything else. The barcode is in the same place on my magazine. The magazine has a kind of 3D look about it which makes it stand out. There is not many cover lines which helps to not over confuse the magazine. I also didn’t want to confuse my front cover by covering it with loads of different cover lines as I wanted to have 4 main ones maximum It doesn’t have a lot of structure, which throws it as more of a teen- young adult audience. Similar to my magazine..
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
On music magazine front covers such as NME and Q a large masthead stating the name of their magazine is boldly evident in the top left hand corner. I have used this technique on my magazine front cover – the large masthead ‘RADAR’ is large and clear in the top left hand corner, therefore following the first obvious convention of a music magazine. I have also made it stand out by the use of unique typography and layering of similar styles of different colours so it jumps off the page. Eye contact from the artist on the front cover is something which is shown on both of the popular music magazines so is a convention I particularly made sure I followed when capturing the image of the artist for my front cover – making sure she looked directly into the camera, I also wanted my artist to reflect the emotion which is portrayed in the article, and this is probably something i could have improved on ie giving her more of a confident stance. The masthead and banner headline of NME is clearly identified and dominant and is in the same eye line of the competition banner "win VIP camping upgrade!" and has the same coloured background of the NME title. Similarly, my front magazine cover has a Splash on the same eye line as the main article headline which is one of the main dominant feature of the front cover, I wanted to make sure 'WIN' was in yellow as i found this was a popular convention on all splashes on music magazine front covers. The background colour is light pink which follows the house style of yellow, pink and black, I have used light pink as it is a neutral shade, if i were to design my magazine again I may go for more of a gender neutral colour. My dateline and price are at the bottom above the barcode, which is a popular convention of magazines in general and is helpful for when someone goes to scan something and can see it. The selling line is "NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS" which stands for NME. My selling line is 'exposing unsigned artists since 1982'. I wanted to capture my niche audience through the selling line as this may be the next thing the reader sees after the title and may help them decide whether to read on or not. The main image is very clear and posed of Vampire Weekend, the prop of the glasses helps to identify the artist with fashion amongst the target audience. Comparatively, my main image reflects the main audience of my theme which is alternative, unsigned and indie music as she is dressed quite differently and she is also is a main singer of popular dance-punk band which are against the music industries “rules” and are independent. You can tell this in her unique pose and deep eye line to the reader. They are a few main cover lines, they are "starring Vampire Weekend" and "TOP 25 BANDS MAKING AMERICA COOL AGAIN" this front cover is very extravagant compared to normal NME magazines. My main magazine also has main cover lines such as LCD Soundsystem interview. NME magazines have their own style compared to Q magazine, which has more of a classic style. The barcode is clearly established in the right hand corner of the page and is clearly seen but doesn’t overlook anything else. The barcode is in the same place on my magazine. The magazine has a kind of 3D look about it which makes it stand out. There is not many cover lines which helps to not over confuse the magazine. I also didn’t want to confuse my front cover by covering it with loads of different cover lines as I wanted to have 4 main ones maximum It doesn’t have a lot of structure, which throws it as more of a teen- young adult audience. Similar to my magazine..
The contents page has linked the masthead which is clearly identified on the front page onto the contents page, followed by "this week" which is used in every weekly issue of NME, emphasizing they are current events. I have also used a similiar convention but have used 'ON THE RADAR' instead which can be used every week and i think this is a short and effective statement which summarises the magazines main purpose in finding new 'unsigned' artists on the musical 'radar'. I have also linked my masthead to my front cover title of “radar” and have gone for a similar look to the contents page of NME who have used white text highlighted with a background; I believe this to be a popular convention used in indie music magazines which therefore would adapt to my chosen audience. The main image is a picture of Kasabian singing in a church which highlights the paragraph of text below it, this is probably one of the main articles in the magazine as it is highlighted as the central image and text. I have chosen the same type of design and have focused on one specific feature and centralised it, giving it a separate page number in the centre of the image for the reader’s eye line. The usual music magazine convention of black highlighted text is used in the main topics of the contents for example "news" and "reviews". The "band index" is situated to the left of the contents page, NME have little things like this in magazines which provide a lot more information than Q or any other music magazine and helps the reader navigate around the magazine easily. I haven’t used the highlighted text feature in my contents page but I have opted for a more modern feel by using catchy titles to add interest for the reader such as “I’M ON FIRE” which is a title used for an article which describes an unsigned artist which has started working on an album with Kasabian, this instantly makes the reader think of an accident or death subconsciously and makes them read on, i have also tried to use intertextuality here as this is a title of one of Kasabians popular songs which the audience will identify with as Kasabian are a popular indie/alternative band.
There is a Puff/Advertisement for subscription is at the bottom of the contents page, cleverly placed here as the reader is more likely to look at the contents page as it is the page they go to quickly find an article, therefore more readers will see this.
How does your media product represent different social groups?
I think my magazine would attract C1 = higher skilled manual; C2 = Lower skilled manual; DE = Semi and unskilled manual. A major competitor of my magazine (NME) attracts 79% ABC1*. I believe my magazine is more based on unsigned music rather than major “indie” bands such as Joy Division, so I think I would attract more of a younger audience with my magazine which are mostly lower skilled manual or semi-skilled as they are not very far in there career, My music magazine stereotypically represents particular social groups, namely the indie alternative university student particularly who enjoy gaining knowledge on music and finding new unsigned bands to listen too therefore it is important my magazine is up to date with its artists and news, such as gigs and upcoming CDs and singles for example.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Bauer media is one of the main distribution companies in terms of magazines, they are a worldwide media empire offering over 300 magazines in 15 countries, as well as online, TV and radio stations and their business is built on influential media brands with millions of personal relationships with engaged readers and listeners which I believe is important when distributing a magazine.
They distribute Q, which is The UK's biggest selling monthly music magazine. They distribute Kerrang! Which has more of an indie rock music genre but have the similar kind of audience to my magazine ie. Age range and social class, where Q is aimed at 68% ABC1 which I have similarly targeted my magazine at.
The Bauer media website states “the magazine sits at the heart of a cross-platform brand that discovers great music of substance for its consumers. The Q brand has developed a worldwide reputation as a trusted and premium quality voice of musical authority amongst fans, musicians and the music industry alike” showing the magazine discovers new talent and is a trusted voice of musical authority amongst fans. I would like my magazine to reflect a similar kind of ideology therefore would appreciate a trusted distributor which manages the selling of this magazine to distribute mine.
IPC media is a leading magazine publisher in the UK, IPC who have produced over 60 iconic media brands, with print alone reaching almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men – almost 26 million UK adults – their websites collectively reach over 20 million users every month, Allowing for more convergence and synergy of the music magazine by creating an online website to attract a larger audience, which would be an important aspect I would think about if I were to distribute my magazine due to the ability for early adopters to access information quickly on the online site and interest in consumption eg. I could create an online shop for consumers to buy band merchandise.
IPC Media distributes my main competitor in terms of a similar audience and age range, which is NME. IPC media describes NME to be a truly unique multi-platform media proposition. Across the magazine, nme.com, NMETV, NME Radio and the brand's live events and awards, NME reaches over one million music fans every week. NME is the longest published and most respected music weekly in the world (there award winning website NME.com has grown to become Europe's most successful music website, with over 4 million unique users across the globe) therefore we have proof that synergy is very important to attract every consumer possible in today’s society. IPC media says “We take pride in helping partners execute in their markets and in using our content in different ways – on television, advertising campaigns and special editions. A flexible philosophy enables personal service and for each client and partner our teams offer a bespoke service.” Showing they care about synergy in a magazine and distributing it properly and carefully independently with the
Who would be the audience for your media product?
the indie alternative student particularly who enjoy gaining knowledge on music and finding new unsigned bands to listen too therefore it is important my magazine is up to date with its artists and news, such as gigs and upcoming CDs and singles for example. Similarly to NME, my magazine would attract the indie consumer with slightly less rock than what NME present in their magazine and fill this gap with more alternative, unsigned artists. My magazine would attract more females then males due to the artists they represent, unlike NME which aims for Men aged 17-30 and use more male indie bands in interviews etc., which will help my find a gap in the market. The median age would be a bit younger than NME ( which is my main competitor) aiming for a media age at 19-20 with NME at 23. In terms of Value Life Styles, my magazine would attract mostly groups driven by needs 0(survivors and sustainers) who will buy the magazine weekly. Because of the audience being mainly young students, the teasing contents on the contents page represents a student audience by involving ways to buy the magazine even cheaper and how to win free gig tickets therefore catering for an audience which probably have quite a low income as they are living stereotypical student lifestyle. It will also attract groups who are inner directed (i-am-me, socially societally conscious and experiments) as the magazine has a lot of unsigned artists who are not familiar with many people, therefore it is up to the reader to listen to the artist on their behalf and decide if they like them or not, making them experimental. In terms of the ‘Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ I think my magazine would attract mostly the esteem group, people who need self-esteem and status, and respect and admiration of others as they will not be at a part of their life to need to succeed. I don’t think my media products would effectively represent those in the A or B demographic categories because they may not be able to relate to the attitude that comes across in the images. Stereotypically the A/B category exists of those who are highly regarded in society – the rebellious attitude that comes across in my products may not effectively represent their attitudes as people.
How did you attract/address your audience?
Due to my magazine being BC12DE which are unskilled workers, students, semi-skilled manual workers and casual labourers and the age demographics which are between 16-23, which will have a low income or are not willing to spend a lot on a music magazine, I have priced my magazine at £1.50 as this feels like an affordable price for a magazine of this specific audience. The demographics suggest that music will be an important part of their lives to provide them with the need to be part of a certain social group or to raise their self-esteem and social status, therefore this is why we have attracted our magazine to this particular audience. I have used special offers/competition on my front cover which connects with the audience I am aiming at; this is to win a new album special studio report. Making music is a large aspect of society and there is a lot of students who are trying to make it big in the music industry from all genres of music, therefore they will be interested in this.
Audience Feedback
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Through the production and development of my music magazine, I have thoroughly learnt how to work Photoshop to make my magazine look as effective as possible. Without Photoshop I don’t think my magazine would look as professional as it does. I realised that paying close attention to details and carefully laying out the artistic aspect of it, whilst working towards a well-planned and completed artistic concept was what I mainly had to think about throughout my development. I believe that taking the time to formulate a strong concept is extremely important to the success of my magazine and trying out different things over and over again to find the best idea for my music magazine.
Although I had used Photoshop before on making my school magazine I found it more challenging second time around, this is because editing the photographs took longer as I had to focus on the quality and using other tools to make the photographs up to a higher standard as i needed it to look like a professional magazine which could be sold against competitors like NME. When taking the photographs for my magazine I found how it was difficult to find a image which could work in my magazine, because I had to consider the lighting, shadows, the quality of the image and other aspects like how much eye contact the image would be making with the reader. Luckily, some of these problems could be fixed using Photoshop. Throughout making my magazine I learned many new skills on Photoshop, for example I learned how to adjust lighting, brightness and contrasts as well as variations, this allowed me to change or play with different options with colours of clothing or even eye colour and change what kind of "look" i wanted to have such as if an article expressed sadness and the past i could make it black and white and high in contrast. Because the articles used in my magazine where about positive experiences such as collaborating with other artists i used bright colours and change the exposure and colour balance slightly so it looked less dull. I also experimented with filtering which meant the effect of the picture changed I used this tool a lot during the making of the product.
The first thing I did was a little research on the type of magazine cover I wanted to create. Since I wanted my design to look professional and look like a real magazine, I thought it was a good idea to look at established designs of universally recognized magazines such as NME and think about how they would go about developing the magazine through technologies such as Photoshop.
After I had done my A4 drafts I opened a new A4 document in Photoshop CS5.1. The next step was to decide on my layout. The main aspect I focused on first was the background colour/pattern and the main picture and article. I opened a new layer and copy and pasted my photograph of the main artist on the front cover, as i knew that everything else would be easier to handle beause the main layout had been set. I then used the Magic Wand Tool and selected the outer edge around the body of the person, then I refined the edge by changing the radius, amount of “feather”, contrast and how smooth it was to make my photograph look as realistic as possible. In some drafts, I used the quick selection tool when it was a little harder to select specific parts of the photograph. I found that having the body of the photograph layered onto an edited background which reflected the image was a popular convention of music magazines especially NME magazines, so i wanted to make sure i used this, especially as this is one of the first things the reader engages with.
I then used the transform scale to make my model page height to increase audience as this was the main focus of the magazine therefore needs to catch the readers eye. I then added text over the image for the article headline; I used a pattern overlay to illustrate "GOES POP" which connotated POP quite obviously. I used the drop shadow effect to create a yellow shadow underneath the word “sound system”. I then added my magazine title into the document my opening it into a new document then copy and pasting it using the marquee tool into the same page. I placed this into the top left hand corner as this is where they conventionally go on magazines. I then focused on the articles surrounding the page by using the rectangle tool (and the circle tool for the splash) to create a background for the text. I then added another layer then started adding the text to the shapes where necessary and aligning them effectively by transforming scale and rotation usually by the freehand option.
I used similar tools whilst creating my contents page and double page spread, such as aligning my text to create a similar look to the contents page, for example the background colour of the text used for “radar specials”, “reviews” and “news” I also used the Magic Wand Tool to get the outline of the person in the photo as I wanted this to stand out, I then used the smoothing and shift edge tool to make the “artist” look like they were jumping out the page.
I used the rectangle for the subscription box on the contents page to clearly show this was a different section of its own and show it is a usual part of the contents page. I used the same colours to create continuity as well as using similar fonts.
On the double page spread, I aligned the text in a “box” shape in 3 rows consisting of a small font so it looked quite professional and is something you see in a lot of music magazines, I used a font took from dafont.com to create the 'LCD' and then used a pattern overlay which i thought connotes LCD quite well. I also changed the style of 'Soundsystem' and I chose this font from Dafont.com which is a site where you can download free fonts. I used the custom shape tool to create the Aztec pattern behind the artist. I liked the look of those as it almost made it look like the photograph was jumping from the page and also denotes the fun indie pop genre and reflects the artistic qualities of that genre.
Before: First planning
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
The preliminary task that I had to do was to create a school magazine, the front cover and contents page, when making the magazine the programs I used was Photoshop, but it was different from making the music magazine because the photographs I’d taken needed more work to be closer to the standard of a mainstream magazine. I felt has if I’d learnt more about the program when using Photoshop the second time as I had learnt the basics the first time round, this allowed me to try out other tools which could make the magazine more realistic. I learnt how school magazine doesn’t target a specific audience besides the students, staff and school executives, these types of audiences range from a widely, aged and gender. This shows that the contents, photographs and articles in the magazine should appeal to everyone that has a link to this school. In comparison to the music magazine, the audience that the magazine is targeted for is a particular type .For example, the magazine that I created is a indie/alternative genre, this would have a selected audience from ages to genders, also the content in my magazine is based around indie culture, industry and the artists, which unlike the school magazine won’t appeal to everyone. In addition there is a difference in the messages that are sent out from the magazine, such as in the school magazine there is no focus on personal image, style or icons and less work is put in to making the perfect person feature on the front cover. On the other hand the main focus on music magazine is to portray a person or music icon as someone who is to be aspired to be like, working on my music magazine and researching I learned the work that go through to keeping the image of a celebrity ‘perfect’. One of the things that I had to do which differed from the making of my school magazine was on Photoshop using the spot healing tool, which touches up any blemishes on the skin to make it seem to the audience the this artist has no imperfections, this shows the manipulation that the photograph editors go through in creating a new image which is not necessarily true. However, this is necessary in the music industry to keep the artist with an image that portrays to be flawless; this makes them an icon for the audience. .
