Evaluation

[Question 1]
My music magazine makes use of several codes and conventions that can be seen on existing professional music magazines. I have also developed my magazine to an extent, in which it is suitable for my target audience. One example is the central image on the front cover, in which it has been enlarged to fit the page and more specifically, the girl band in the image are using direct mode of address. This attracts the attention of the target audience as it looks as though the girls are looking at the reader. In addition to this, I have also made use of anchorage text, in which this allows the reader to have a specific outlook on what the main image is about. I have also made use of buzz words such as, ‘EXCLUSIVE!’ and ‘Plus’ and the use of these single words adds emphasis to the page and this is also used as a feature to attract the audience. Sell lines is another convention that I have incorporated in the production of my magazine. The title is another feature that can be seen on existing magazines, in which it is at the top of the page, big, bold and stands out. By making the title appear on the page like this, it allows the reader to identify the magazine straight away. In addition, the name and font style of the title reflects the genre of music, due to the fact that the font looks edgy; the name suggests that there is a variety of music genres incorporated in the magazine and the name is reminiscent of a DJ. I have also made use of a slogan and this is common in most professional magazines; this is also used as an attraction to the reader. Another convention that I have made use of are puffs and these are used to attract the attention of the audience. In addition, I have also included a barcode, my magazine’s website address, the date and the issue number to add to the effect that it is a professional magazine, due to the fact that all of these features can be found on professional music magazines. Furthermore, I have used a colour scheme that consists of three colours due to the fact that if I were to use more than four it would make the page look messy and the reader would not know where to look first.
The contents page for my music magazine also uses a variety of conventions for professional music magazines. For example, I have put all the titles for the stories/articles with the page number in which I placed numbers on the left hand side of every page; this is so that the reader can easily find what page a particular article is on. I have also included several images relating to some of the stories in my magazine. Furthermore, I have also incorporated an editorial note, in which the editor gives a little note for the reader; I have also put an image of the editor next to the note. In addition, I have used one colour and a large font size for the page numbers, a different colour and font size for the subject that is on that page. I have also placed the text on the left, the images on the top right and the editorial note at the bottom, in which this makes the page look organised. Moreover, I have placed a title at the top of the page, so that the reader is able to identify that the page that they’re looking at is the contents page. The colour scheme and font styles are consistent throughout the front cover and contents page, in which this is also common in existing music magazines.

For my double page spread, I have also incorporated a range of conventions that are seen in the majority of music magazines. For example, in the top left there is an ‘EXCLUSIVE!’ sign in bold to indicate that the contents of the article can only be read in my magazine; by doing this it increases the amount of customers, due to the fact that the customer cannot read the article anywhere else. I have also included some background information about the feature in the article before actually going into the interview; this is common in most magazines. In addition, the interview is formatted into columns, in which this is frequent in magazines. Moreover, I have also included two quotations from the interview that have been increased in font size with two big quotation marks indicating that they are quotations. There are also two images of the feature of the article to brighten the page up and to also allow the reader to have a better understanding of the text.

[Question 2]
I have produced my music magazine so that it represents particular social groups, in which I have done this in many ways. For instance, I have incorporated different colours such as pink; yellow and blue which are bright and appealing to the majority of young people. My magazine is based on pop and R&B music; therefore, my magazine would appeal to mainly young people of all races that are interested in these genres. I have also included artists that the majority of young people would have an interest in, such as, The Pussycat Dolls and Chris Brown. These artists represent teenagers through the fact that they produce music that they can relate to and they are also seen as fashion icons. The assumptions that can be made about the interests of the social group through the content of my magazine are that they are colourful, funky, and fashionable and may aspire to be like the artists featured. Furthermore, the price for my magazine is £1 and this is due to the fact that most teenagers aren’t working and therefore I have made the price reasonable enough for them.

[Question 3]
The type of media institution that might distribute my magazine is I.P.C, due to the fact that the existing magazines distributed by the company come from a wide variety of genres. For example, they have magazines about golf, hair, guitars, homes & gardens; they also distribute popular magazines like Marie Claire and NME. Considering that magazines like Marie Claire and NME have been quite successful, it indicates that my magazine may also be successful too. As there are a variety of magazine genres published by IPC, this suggests that there a number of readership groups. By having a wider audience, this indicates that my magazine will have a large readership group, as it contains a variety of genres of music and this would appeal to more people.


[Question 4]

Before producing my music magazine, I thought of how I would make it, so that it would be available to a wider audience, in which the target audience for my magazine are teenagers both male and female between the ages of thirteen to eighteen of any race. They would also have to be interested in the pop/R&B genres and the artists that feature in my magazine. By having a wider range for my target audience suggests that more magazines will be sold. In addition, the price for my magazine is £1 and this is due to the fact that most teenagers aren’t working and therefore I have made the price reasonable enough for them.

[Question 5]

During the production of my music magazine, I thought of ways in which I could attract the target audience; I have done this in many ways. Prior to actually starting my music magazine, I created a questionnaire to find out more about the audience, in which I asked questions such as, ‘how old are you?’, ‘what is your favourite colour?’ By asking questions such as these, I found out what colours most people like (e.g. Yellow, blue and pink), in which I incorporated these into my magazine and what age range they belong to. By having this information it allowed me to incorporate these ideas into my magazine. The main image on my front cover is that of a famous well known girl band, The Pussycat Dolls, in which they are using direct mode of address; they would appeal to both male and female members of the audience, as most females would aspire to be like them and the males would be attracted by the sex appeal that the group have. I have also offered readers the chance to win tickers to meet music artists, in which this is a good way to attract and entice the audience to purchase my magazine. In addition, I have used bright bold colours to catch the reader’s eye immediately. I have also included a puff and inside it reads ‘ONLY £1!’ and this is also used an attraction, as it is a reasonable and affordable price for the age range of the target audience. Moreover, I have used buzz words such as, ‘EXCLUSIVE!’ and ‘Plus’ and this attracts the reader. The word exclusive in a big and bold font attracts the reader, as it suggests that the article with this heading can only be seen in my music magazine; the use of the word ‘Plus’ suggests that there is a lot more to be seen inside of the magazine. In addition, the language used throughout my magazine isn’t slang but its simple and understandable to the audience.

[Question 6]
From the process of constructing my music magazine, I have learnt quite a lot about the technologies, in which I used to create my music magazine. For example, I have learnt that there are different programmes that are used to produce items such as magazines or posters; for the production of my music magazine, I used Adobe Illustrator, where I was able to use different tools. This includes text of different fonts and effects, shapes, paint filling, image resizing, designing a layout with different colour schemes and rotation. Moreover, I also made use of Adobe Photoshop, in which I used this to modify different images; this programme also has a variety of tools. For example, the programme had the eraser and background eraser tool, image resizing, airbrushing and different image textures. An example of an image that I altered on Photoshop was an image on my double page spread, where I erased the unwanted areas like the background, using the background eraser and I also resized the image so that it could fit onto the page properly. I also used a digital camera and created a blog for my work. I have learnt how to frame pictures on the camera and how to upload them onto the computer using a USB; from setting up my blog I learnt how to post my work/images and lay it all out to look organised. From using these varieties of tools frequently, I was able to become more familiar with the programmes/materials and understand how to use the tools to my advantage.
Moreover, I made use of voting polls on my blog to gain audience feedback, in which I was able to have a better knowledge of what they would like in the magazine and what improvements could be made. The new technology helped to improve my work in many ways. For example, I was able to adjust certain elements such as the colours and font sizes. Also, I was able to add more elements such as images.

[Question 7]

Finally, in the progression from creating my school magazine, which was the preliminary task to creating my music magazine, I feel that I have learnt a vast amount of skills. At the beginning of the course, in which I had to produce a school magazine I was unsure and not very familiar with how to use adobe illustrator/Photoshop, due to the fact that I didn’t know where and what certain tools were and how to use them. However, after using the programmes for sometime I became more familiar with where and how to use the tools, in which I was able to create a more presentable and detailed magazine. In addition, I learnt how and where the elements of a professional magazine should be, for example the main image on the front cover, the title and the anchorage text.

On my blog, I created three polls to find out the audience’s views on my work. I asked what they thought of my music front cover and contents page and my overall portfolio. I found out that the majority of them thought that my overall portfolio needed some improvement. From being given this feedback, I responded by making some improvements to the front cover and contents page by adding more features that would attract the audience. For example, I adjusted the colour so that it would appear brighter; I also enlarged the font size so that the audience could see the information clearer. Furthermore, I also added more images so that it would be more appealing to the audience.

Music Magazine:Double Page Spread

Music Magazine: Contents Page

Music Magazine: Front Cover

Music Magazine: First Draft of Double Page Spread

This is a print screen of my first draft of my double page spread. There are many ways in which I could improve it, for example, I could make the text smaller so that I have space for images; this would make it look more appealing. I could also include a sub-title underneath the title so that the audience know what the article is about prior to reading it.

Music Magazine: First Draft of Contents Page

This is a print screen of my first draft of my contents page. There are several ways in which it could be improved. Firstly, I could include more images so that it would look more appealing and the audience would have a visual understanding of what certain stories are about. Moreover, I could also include an editorial note,as this is common in most professional magazines and it would give an insight of the editor's comments and views of the magazine and also give some information on what the next issue will be be about.

Music Magazine: First Draft of Front Cover

This is a print screen of my first draft of my music magazine front cover, in which I have analysed and considered many ways in which it could be improved. For example, I haven't included many sell lines, therefore I could add a few more so that it would be more appealing to the audience prior to them actually purchasing the magazine. I could also include a puff,which is common in most music magazines; this could make a particular feature of the front cover stand out more than other features. I also need to include the issue number and the date, so that the audience are aware of what issue they are purchasing and the release date of the magazine. Finally, I need to include price and barcode, so that the audience know how much the magazine is and a barcode due to the fact that it is common on all items that are purchased by the audience.