For our media studies main coursework task we have been asked to create a front cover, contents page and a double page spread for a new music magazine. The genre i have chosen to make my magazine is rock and so I am looking at magazines such as Q and NME. This coursework task is a further development of all the skill that I have picked up and learnt from doing the preliminary task.
these are the links to my preliminary task:
these are the links to my preliminary task:
http://sdcmediaRebeccaPolling.blogspot.com/2009/10/project-brief.html
http://sdcmediarebeccapolling.blogspot.com/2009/10/photographs.html
http://sdcmediarebeccapolling.blogspot.com/2009/11/blogpost.html#comments
http://sdcmediarebeccapolling.blogspot.com/2009/10/flatplans.html
http://sdcmediarebeccapolling.blogspot.com/2009/10/photographs.html
http://sdcmediarebeccapolling.blogspot.com/2009/11/blogpost.html#comments
http://sdcmediarebeccapolling.blogspot.com/2009/10/flatplans.html
Target Audience
I used the media website http://www.nrs.co.uk/ to look at other magazines within the same genre as the magazine I will be creating. In doing this I have been able to find the exact figures and details that I needed to know for my magazine to be successful and the target audience I will need to be aiming for in order for this to happen. For example my magazine will be a similar style and genre to the magazine Q. I looked at the general monthly periodicals on the NRS website for Q magazine and found that it has around 444 thousand class ABC1 readers. The main age group that reads this magazine are people aged between 15-44 with about 572 thousand people reading it per month. With the majority (513 thousand) of readers being male. When I looked at the general monthly periodicals for NME magazine I found that the figures showed similar statistics to Q.
I took this into account when thinking about the demographics for my target audience. I have decided after looking at these two magazines to aim my magazine at both men and women. My target audience age range will be ranging from 15-44 as it is clear that this is the main audience for my magazine's genre. As well as this there are also Socio-economic factors, lifestyle and psychographic factors to consider when thinking about the target audience for my magazine. It will be aimed at ABC1 readers.
I took this into account when thinking about the demographics for my target audience. I have decided after looking at these two magazines to aim my magazine at both men and women. My target audience age range will be ranging from 15-44 as it is clear that this is the main audience for my magazine's genre. As well as this there are also Socio-economic factors, lifestyle and psychographic factors to consider when thinking about the target audience for my magazine. It will be aimed at ABC1 readers.
Name: Tom
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Occupation: University student
Music interests: Rock/indie rock
Cultural background: White British
This is the average person that I would aim for when making my magazine. This is after taking into account all the facts and figures that I have looked at from both Q and NME music magazines. I think I will try and narrow the age group for my magazine to give me a clearer target audience to aim for.
Analysis of existing magazines
This a cover of NME music magazine. It is the same genre as the magazine I will be creating and so is a good one for me analyse. There isn't a huge amount of colour used on the cover of this magazine. I feel that this has been deliberately done as rock music is often associated with dark colours such as black and red, they have also used white to make the writing stand out. The title of the cover star band is the biggest writing on the front cover. It is, in fact, even bigger then the title of the magazine. This shows that the band are the most important thing to the magazine and will instantly attract the attention of any fans of the band Muse, or regular readers. They have chosen a sans serif font for the cover of their magazine. This implies that it is not a formal magazine. They have however used a serif font for the highlighted section on the cover. I feel this has been done to make the words stand apart from the rest by using a serif front. The image takes up the entire front cover and the band members are partially covering the name of the magazine. This again brings the main focus of any possible buyers, to the band/cover star of the magazine. The main story is obviously about the band Muse, but they have then put their main sells on the top right hand side in a medium sized font and then other sells are at the bottom left showing they are not as important and are also in a small font. They have also used a strap line at the top of the magazine to show the importance of another story and to catch the attention of any festival goers. Every feature on the front cover of this magazine is done with the target audience in mind. The big picture of the band is the most likely to attract their target audience as it instantly grabs the attention of any fans. The way that the writing is set out all over the cover and some going diagonally across the page, gives the impression that their is so much to read in this magazine about you favourite bands that they hardly had enough room to fit it all in. It gives the impression that they have crammed as much in to one magazine as they possibly could so the target audience will think they are getting more for their money. It also makes it exciting and eye catching with the use of different fonts and the,supposedly, random variation between black white and red.
This a cover of NME music magazine. It is the same genre as the magazine I will be creating and so is a good one for me analyse. There isn't a huge amount of colour used on the cover of this magazine. I feel that this has been deliberately done as rock music is often associated with dark colours such as black and red, they have also used white to make the writing stand out. The title of the cover star band is the biggest writing on the front cover. It is, in fact, even bigger then the title of the magazine. This shows that the band are the most important thing to the magazine and will instantly attract the attention of any fans of the band Muse, or regular readers. They have chosen a sans serif font for the cover of their magazine. This implies that it is not a formal magazine. They have however used a serif font for the highlighted section on the cover. I feel this has been done to make the words stand apart from the rest by using a serif front. The image takes up the entire front cover and the band members are partially covering the name of the magazine. This again brings the main focus of any possible buyers, to the band/cover star of the magazine. The main story is obviously about the band Muse, but they have then put their main sells on the top right hand side in a medium sized font and then other sells are at the bottom left showing they are not as important and are also in a small font. They have also used a strap line at the top of the magazine to show the importance of another story and to catch the attention of any festival goers. Every feature on the front cover of this magazine is done with the target audience in mind. The big picture of the band is the most likely to attract their target audience as it instantly grabs the attention of any fans. The way that the writing is set out all over the cover and some going diagonally across the page, gives the impression that their is so much to read in this magazine about you favourite bands that they hardly had enough room to fit it all in. It gives the impression that they have crammed as much in to one magazine as they possibly could so the target audience will think they are getting more for their money. It also makes it exciting and eye catching with the use of different fonts and the,supposedly, random variation between black white and red.
This is a cover for Q music magazine. Again in is the same genre as the music magazine I will be creating. This magazine cover is similar to NME in that there isn't a huge amount of colour used on the front cover. This magazine cover is much simpler than some of the other covers I have looked at for this particular genre of music. It is not cluttered and gives the impression the stories inside the magazine and also the cover stories have been much more carefully thought through. This is purely because of the presentation of the cover. The picture has been directly linked to the writing about the band. The image shows the Kings Of Leon kicking through a sheet of glass and the story to go with this is 'Kings of Leon Break Through'. This captures the readers attention as it makes you curious about what it is that the Kings Of Leon have done. It also adds excitement and interest to the cover. The title of the magazine is in red and white in the top left hand corner. The use of colour against the greys and blacks of the rest of the magazine make it stand out, and the size of it also helps this. The band on the cover of this magazine are partially covering the magazine's title. This shows the magazines confidence that the target audience already know the name of the magazine and also shows that the band are the main feature of the cover.
They have played around with different fonts using a sans serif font for the main story and serif fonts for the other two main sells and also the writing on the bottom left hand side. This all leads the readers mind back to the main story as the writing is spaced out and the fonts different and broken up. It subconsciously leads the reader back to thinking about 'breaking through' which is the theme the magazine have chosen for Kings Of Leon.
This is the contents page from a typical Q magazine. The colours used are quite dull as they do not wish to distract the reader. There is a big picture of one of the featured bands on the right hand side of the page. This is to interest the target audience and make them want to read that particular story. It is also so that the page will look more interesting and visually attractive to the target audience. Whereas if it was plain white and black the target audience would find it dull and boring and could result in fewer sales. The magazines stories have been sectioned into different categories. This is so that it is easy for the reader to quickly find the story/s that they want to read. The cover stories and main sells have been made to stand out by either being bold or larger font or put in a different colour. The overall design of this contents page is for the convenience of the reader. It has all specifically designed around the target audience so that it draws their attention to certain stories and at the same time is easy for them to navigate and find the pages they are looking for.
This is an inside double page spread taken from NME music magazine. It is a very busy page with a lot of different fonts. It is similar to the cover of NME magazine in the way that it presents it's information. It looks like as everything has been crammed onto the pages in order to fit everything in the article on the pages. It also looks as though everything has just been thrown onto the page in a slightly careless manor.
One side of the double page is taken up with a large picture of the subject matter of the article. The right page is scattered with smaller images to break up the writing so that it doesn't 'scare' the reader. It stops the article from looking like a solid block of writing and makes it look more appealing to the target audience. The images also help to draw the reader in to reading the article, as most people will look at the pictures before reading the article.
The title of the article is blown up and bold in a serif font as is the pull quote in the centre of the right hand page. The article itself is written in is a sans serif font. A drop cap is used at the start of the article this is a navigation element so that the reader knows where the article begins.
Again the colour scheme doesn't overload the reader, only blue whit and black are used. Although it is an electric blue to liven up the page a bit and make it more interesting for the reader. The language used in this article seems as though it is aimed at a target audience of 18-25. The reason or my thinking this was that the pull quote taken from this article says: 'Of course we are a sexual band. We are the teenagers and that's all they think about.'This suggests a younger target audience is being aimed for especially with this particular article.
The left hand side of the page is halved. This has been done to lure readers into new articles in the magazine and to keep their interest so they will read the rest of the magazine and then hopefully buy the next issue of the magazine.
The page is clearly sectioned into different categories, with the main image on the left page the article on the left hand side of the right page and a new article luring the reader in on the right side of the right page. The way in which the title expands across both pages instantly joins the two pages together and it is instantly clear that the image and article are linked. This all tailors towards the target audience. As well as making it a visually exciting and interesting double page spread, it also simplifies everything down so that it is easy for the reader to pick and choose what they want to look at.
The left hand side of the page is halved. This has been done to lure readers into new articles in the magazine and to keep their interest so they will read the rest of the magazine and then hopefully buy the next issue of the magazine.
The page is clearly sectioned into different categories, with the main image on the left page the article on the left hand side of the right page and a new article luring the reader in on the right side of the right page. The way in which the title expands across both pages instantly joins the two pages together and it is instantly clear that the image and article are linked. This all tailors towards the target audience. As well as making it a visually exciting and interesting double page spread, it also simplifies everything down so that it is easy for the reader to pick and choose what they want to look at.
Flat Plans
Above are the flat plans that I have created for my magazine. At the top is a copy of the flat plan I have drawn for the front cover. When deciding upon the layout for the front cover, I was constantly referring to the front covers of other magazines from the same genre as mine. I have noticed that often with the front covers of rock magazines, they are very busy. Often a lot appears to be going on. This is because it is eye catching and shows that this magazine is bursting with everything you want to know about rock music. I have tried to layout my front cover in a similar way. I have positioned things, such as the text and images, so that they overlap and are going in different directions, for example diagonals. I will also use the main image as a way to conveying this.
My contents page I have tried not to make to cluttered. I think it is important for the contents page to be clear and easy to read, otherwise readers won't be able to find specific articles they are looking for. Again I have looked at other magazines to help make the right decisions, so that I end up with the most effective outcome.From looking at other magazines contents pages, such as Q, I have seen that different articles have been broken up into different sections. I also noticed that either one large image is used or a couple of smaller images. this is to break up the writing so that it is easy to navigate and so that there doesn't look like a huge amount of text and put readers off.
I have tried to keep the layout of the double page quite simple. My reasons for this are that I don't want it to be confusing for the reader. However, I also wanted to make sure that the main text didn't end up as a big block of writing, as this can often put the reader off. Because it is a rock magazine I was careful to break up the text with pull quotes and images to make it less daunting for the target audience and to make them want to read it. Through looking at other magazine of the same genre I noticed that they often have an image on one page and the main text on the other.I stuck with the conventions of a rock magazine for this as I felt the appearance plays a big part in attracting the target audience. the double page spread for my magazine doesn't conform fully to the layout and appearance though. I looked at an example of a double page spread earlier, taken from NME magazine. Although the basic image and text layout is similar, I have kept my page fairly minimal in extra details. I have made the contents page and the front cover have the appearance of bursting with information like the front cover of Q magazine for example. However I have kept my double page spread fairly simplistic, as it is a relatively formal and I wanted it to be clear that it was the main interview.
Fonts
Above is a selection of fonts that I found on www.dafont.com. I looked though lots of different font styles in order to find fonts that, I thought, would best suit my magazine. The fonts above are a selection that I chose from for the fonts used on the magazine cover, subheadings, main text etc. I was very particular when it came to choosing the fonts that I would use for my magazine. The reason for this was that in order for the magazine to successfully attract the target audience, everything including the font, had to be tailored towards that particular target group of people.
I have decided to use the font on the top right hand side for my magazine title on the front cover. This font is called Birth of a hero. I think this is a font that is not only appropriate for the music style but I also feel that it will be appropriate for the target audience and will capture the attention of the target group successfully. It is bold and eye catching, similar to other rock magazine cover title fonts.The font that I have chosen for the contents and all the subheadings on the contents page, is on the top left hand side.The name of this font is An Unfortunate Event. This is because it is big and bold but at the same time will not detract attention from the main focus of the page, which will be the listing of the different articles in the magazine. It has the same slightly hap-hazard style that a lot of the rock magazine I looked at had. This gives it the feeling of being explosive, bold and expressive. It suggests to the reader that the music and articles in this magazine will be bold,loud and opinionated. For the title of my double page spread I will use the font that is second down on the right. This font is called you are loved and I have chosen it because it is big and bold. This will make it eye catching for the reader and has the same eroded style as the title font. I think this will link the magazine together. For the main body of text on my double page spread I will be using the text font Cambria Math. This is a serif font. I chose to use a serif font for the main body of text in the double page spread because it gives the article a more formal appearance and therefore the shows that it is a serious interview. This also allows sections of text such as pull quotes to really stand out as all pull quotes will be in a sans serif font. I have used the font harting for the the sub-heading underneath the title of my double page spread. For informative text, captions etc I will be using the font mangal. This is a sans serif font. The reason that I have chosen this is because I feel that is a more informal font. This will appeal to the target audience as it presents the appearance of less writing therefore it is less daunting. Throughout the process I have constantly been checking other magazines of the same genre to make sure that I make accurate decisions and make sure that I stick to the conventions of this magazine genre.
I have also been careful to check with people from the target audience which fonts they would deem appropriate and what fonts they would most like to see in a magazine. I have taken all of this into account when choosing fonts for my magazine and have tried to make sure that when putting the magazine together, the fonts will be used and placed so that maximise interest and capture and hold the attention of the target audience.
Photos
This is the photograph I have chosen to use for my front cover. Before I took this photo I was careful to choose a good setting. Somewhere that had good natural lighting but also had a simple and plain background. This was so nothing would take away from the main focal point, the woman. I chose to do her make up as dark and smokey. The reason for this was that it is in fitting with the rock music style and it is also quite dark seductive and mysterious. I have perposefully taken the photo from an angle so as to only capture one eye. I did this because having just one eye on show seemed more powerful and striking It also uses eye contact as a way to caputre and hold the target audiences attention. I have used eye contact in all of my images for this reason. It is also deliberate that she is not smiling, this is to create a more dramatic effect. I also looked at other magazines in the same genre as mine, this helped me to decide how best to go about taking the photograph and visualise what I wanted the final outcome to be. All of the rock magazines I looked at had very dramatic and eye catching images for the front covers. This, I decided, was a key theme and something they all had in common and so set that as a target when preparing for taking the photo.
This is the photograph I have chosen to use for my contents page. Again I deliberatly chose a plain background. This elminates any background mess and makes the photo look more professional. I went for darker make-up again as I feel it reflects the music and the rock image. I felt that the contents page should be equally eye catching and interesting as it is one of the first things the target audience will look at when they open the magazine. The setting is not visable in this image, this is because I didn't want the image to be too take away from the rest of the page. I wanted the page to fit together harmoniously and I didn't feel that this would happen if I had a large distracting image, so I tried to keep it simple. I made these decisions after looking through other rock magazines and deciding what seemed appropriate. It is quite an eye catching picture as although there isn't really any use of bright colours, it is still bold especially against the black of the contents page. A lot of the rock magazines I looked at use dark and eye catching image throughout. This symbolises a typical rock musician and so is visually attractive to the target audience. By sticking to typical rock magazine conventions I hoped to attract my target audience.
This is one of the two images I have chosen for my double page spread. I deliberatly chose a darker background for this one. The reason for this is that the combination of the dark background and the lighting of the woman makes the image very eye catching. It has the effect of single out the woman and inatantly making her the main focus of this image. I have kept the theme of dark eye make-up as these photographs are ment to be of a rcok musician, so I have chosen to keep the make up bold. This is an important image as it is one of the photos for the double page spread. I was very careful to plan exactly what I wanted the photo to look like before taking it. My reasons for this were that because this is an article on the cover star this has to be visually attractive and exciting for the target audience in order to make them read it and want to make them buy the magazine again. Half of her face is in shadow and I feel this gives the image a sence of mystery making the target audience interested and intrigued.
This is the second photo I have chosen to use for my double page spread. I have taken a full body shot and included some background detail in this photograph. I have done this so that it is different from the other image on the double page spread. I wanted some variation between the two images so that they weren't to repetitive and they would keep the target audience interested. I wanted to insure that the target audience had something visually interesting to break up some of the writing on the page and make it more captivating. Though I have used a plain wall again I have included some extra scenery. This photo shows where she is sitting and is a slightly sexier image as she is dressed in a silk shirt and stockings. This will appeal to both male and femal readers as females will see the fashion side of thins and male readers will be more interested in the sex appeal. I have continued with the dark eyes as a link to the front cover image. I have also been carful to position her in such a way as to make it look professional and so that the light casts a nice shadow.
This is one of the two images I have chosen for my double page spread. I deliberatly chose a darker background for this one. The reason for this is that the combination of the dark background and the lighting of the woman makes the image very eye catching. It has the effect of single out the woman and inatantly making her the main focus of this image. I have kept the theme of dark eye make-up as these photographs are ment to be of a rcok musician, so I have chosen to keep the make up bold. This is an important image as it is one of the photos for the double page spread. I was very careful to plan exactly what I wanted the photo to look like before taking it. My reasons for this were that because this is an article on the cover star this has to be visually attractive and exciting for the target audience in order to make them read it and want to make them buy the magazine again. Half of her face is in shadow and I feel this gives the image a sence of mystery making the target audience interested and intrigued.
This is the second photo I have chosen to use for my double page spread. I have taken a full body shot and included some background detail in this photograph. I have done this so that it is different from the other image on the double page spread. I wanted some variation between the two images so that they weren't to repetitive and they would keep the target audience interested. I wanted to insure that the target audience had something visually interesting to break up some of the writing on the page and make it more captivating. Though I have used a plain wall again I have included some extra scenery. This photo shows where she is sitting and is a slightly sexier image as she is dressed in a silk shirt and stockings. This will appeal to both male and femal readers as females will see the fashion side of thins and male readers will be more interested in the sex appeal. I have continued with the dark eyes as a link to the front cover image. I have also been carful to position her in such a way as to make it look professional and so that the light casts a nice shadow.
Photo editing
Before After
This is the photo I have chosen to use for my front cover. Firstly I cropped the photo so that there wasn't any extra bits of wall etc detracting from the photo. I then used the clone tool and the spot healer tool to get rid of any imperfections. Doing this allows the audience to focus on the picture rather then being distracted by any image flaws such as spots etc. The next thing I did was to alter the lighting levels. This allowed me to even out areas that were too dark or too light. I then added a blur layer to soften the image and give her skin a smoother appearance. After this I decided to turn the picture black and white. I heightend the contrast slightly aswell to give it more impact and to make it more eye catching to the target audience.
Before After
This is and image I took for my contents page. The first thing I did to this image was to use the clone tool and the spot healing tool to even out any small imperfections. I then darkened the whole image and enriched the colours slightly to make it more eye catching. I enchanced her eye make up aswell to make it darker underneath her eye. This then makes her eyes the main focal point of the picture. Finally I added a blur layer to the image. This was to give the image and especially her skin a soft and even look. It also helps to add a healthy looking glow on close up images.
Before
After-1 After-2
This is a photo I have taken from my magazines double page spread. The first change I made was to use the clone tool and the spot healing tool to get rid of any small imperfections. I then darkened up the eye and lightend the highlights and darkend the shadows very slightly. After those alterations I had after-1. Although I liked the more natural look of this, it didn't seem quite eye catching or dramatic enough for a magazine. I went on to heighten the contrast and the saturation. this brought out the colour more and also gave more a dramatic shadow to the image. The finished product is after-2, this is the one I will be using for my double page spread.
Before After
This is a before and after shot of a photo taken from my magazines double page spread. I have removed distracting details from the photo, such as the mirror and cropped out any other unecessary parts. I have also altered the lighting levels to even the photo out slightly and bring out any subtle tones, for example in her hair. I then used the clone tool and the spot healer tool to remove any imperfections. Finally I added a blur layer to the image to give it a slightly softer effect, to smooth out any harsh lines and to soften and perfect her skin. This I feel gives the photo the more polished look you might expect from a magazine.
Planning and evalutaion of the article
Above are two examples of rock magazine interviews. The article on the left is from Rock Sound and the article on the right is taken from NME. Both of these articles are interviews but they are not presented as transcriptions, they are more in-depth articles with the key points summerised as quotes throughout the articles. An interview can make the reader feel more connected to the article, as the muscians personality is able to filter through.
Reading through both these articles it is clear the magazine is aimed at young adults. The use of descriptive language paints a clear and vivid image in the readers head and clearly shows that it is for more serious music fans, that are interested in the artist and their work. The use of verbs and thought provoking language is also a means of capturing the target audiences interest and holding it. Through unveiling things that are unknown about the artist and using bright, vivid words to relay facts it is possible to keep the audience interested and engrossed in the article. They are fairly formal interviews with captivating detail and some playfull humour. Both paint a clear picture of the surroundings before lauching into the interviews. This seems to be a running theme throughout all of the articles I have read from popular rock magazines such as Q or NME.
The two articles above are taken from my magazines double page spread. The one on the left is the first draft of my final article. After reading through some rock magazine articles I decided the best writing style would be an interview. I decided to do an interview with embedded quotes rather than a transcript interview as I felt that this made it a more formal article and also to fit it into the rock magazine conventions.
I wrote up the article for my double page spread and went through it to check for any mistakes and anything that could be added or taken out. I then asked a couple of people from my target audience to read through it and give me their opinions. The main thing that my target audience and I felt needed to be changed was the presentation of the article. I decided to add in a photo and some pull quotes. I also highlighted the pull quotes in red to tie them in with the other page from the double page spread and to make it look more like a rock magazine and to make it stand out.
The pull quotes and the photograph also seperated up the text so it didn't look like such a huge block of writing. The reason I did this was that it then made it look like less writing and so was more likely to attract the target audience, where as before they may have been put off by the amount of text on the page. The article on the right is after the changes have been made.
Evaluation of finished magazine
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B5WUAYNvqSRQY2UxZWNjOGYtYmQyMi00NDkzLTlkODktNGRiYjhiMWE5MWZi&hl=en
Above is my magazine cover
Above is my magazine cover
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B5WUAYNvqSRQOGJmNzc3YTAtMzFiNi00MWQ5LTg0NjYtNjM5NDhmNzNiNWJj&hl=en
Above is my contents page
Above is the first page of my double page spread
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B5WUAYNvqSRQNjIxMzVkZmQtMTk3ZC00MWIyLWE5MDEtZjMwZmNhMzk4ZGI4&hl=en
Above is my second page of my double page spread
Above is my second page of my double page spread
conventions
When I started to create my magazine, I decided to keep in line with rock magazine conventions. The reason that I decided to do this was that it would be clear to anyone that saw the magazine that it was a rock music magazine. On my front cover for example I have done a similar thing to the front cover of the Kerrang magazine below.
I have done the dark eye make up and a close up image with the coverstar making eye contact. As instead fo having the whole band my coverstar was just the lead singer, I wanted to find a way of making the image as interesting and eye catching as it would have been with the band, but without falling away from rock magazine conventions. I looked at lots of different rock magazines and a close up image seemed to be a reccering theme for solo cover stars. I decided that this would be the best way to make an eye catching front cover as the larger close up image, with the dark rimmed eyes made the eye contact from the coverstar to the target audience stronger and made it feel like a connection when looking at it.
One thing I did do that I think differs from other rock magazines was to make my cover image black and white. I made it very contrasting, strong black tones against strong white tones. The main reason that I did this was that strong contrasting colours stand out. They are instantly eye catching and unavoidable, but the good thing about black and white is that they aren't overly dramatic so they wont put the reader off in the same way that bright contrasting colour might by being to demanding on the eye of the reader. I felt that this would make my magazine stand out from others on the shelf in a newsagents. It was also in keeping with the rest of the colours on the magazine cover and it also allowed me to have a running colour theme throughout the magazine.
social groups
My magazine is a rock magazine and so is aimed at rock fans. In order to make the magazine successful I had to use apropriate images and language to attract the right social group. As rock has progressed and become mainstream over the decades, it has also had an influence on fashion and social attitudes. Rock music is seen as being music with attitude. Rock fans are often people that don't want to conform to normal everyday life like everyone else, they want to be individual.
Black is a colour often associated with rock music as it is a dark colour representing a darker side to people and can be associated with being a maverick or being rebellious. The images I have used are in keeping with this feeling of individuality and being expressive and loud about their opinions. This is also clearly indicated by the Q magazine cover I posted earlier in my blog. It shows the band Kings Of Leon breaking through a sheet of glass on the front cover, demonstrating rebellious behaviour and attitude. The images I have taken for my magazine are appealing more to the darker side of rock. I have used dark colours and makeup to display the elements of rock music and have used strong eye contact in all of my images to make the social group feel a part of the rebellion and included in the music.
There is a large target audience for music magazines that usually ranges from 15-44. However I have decided to refine that age group down even further to give me a select and specific group to aim for as this then has more chance of attracting potential buyers. The language I have used in my magazine isn't very formal and is often directly addressing the target audience. The reason for this is that the target age group for this magazine is from 15-25 and they aren't interested in reading loads of formal text. The reason they buy rock magazines is because they want to find out about the music and feel included in what is going on. I felt it was important to address the target audience directly in places to hold their interest and also deliver the information they wanted to know in a relaxed informal manner. This eliminates the issue of the target audience being put off or feeling inferior by large amounts of writing that they don't want to read.
distribution
The shops that would stock my magazine would be places such as supermarkets and newsagents. The reason that I feel my magazine would be benefit these shops is that it is a mainstream rock magazine like Kerrang or NME. They are all stocked in these shops because they are mainstream music magazines. They have a big target audience and are aimed at an age group with a large dispoable income. This is why I would opt to have my magazine distributed from large chain stores like supermarkets.
target audience
See blog 2 for more information on target audience.
attract audience
I have designed my magazine so that It will be not just visually attractive to my target audience, but also attention grabbing after they have picked it up and started reading it. I carefully selected the title of my magazine because I knew that this would have a big impact on the success of the magazine. I named my magazine intro... because it is short and catchy, aswell as having a music theme linked to it as an intro is the beginning of a piece of music. It is obvious from the title and the image on the cover what type of magazine it is just from looking at it. Which is one of the end results I was aiming for. The title takes up the whole width of the top section of the page. I have done this because it is eye catching and also because most of the music magazines that I have looked at have done this. I felt it would be recogniseable as music magazine to do this for my magazine aswell. Kerrang is a good example of the layout I chose for my magazine title.
See below.
In terms of mode of address, the language I have used comunicates with the audience on an equal footing, as you would speak to a friend. I wanted to write it as though my audience were having a discussion with a peer, and not being lectured to or made to feel they were reading something immature. I hope that the conversational style I have written in will encourage readers to write in and feel included, meaning I would then be able to focus more closely on their interests.
technical learning
I have learnt a lot through creating this magazine. I had not used InDesign before and found that it successfully enabled me to transfer my ideas onto my magazine.
I didn't have many problems with using the software and it enabled me to design all of the elements for my magazine. I found it really helpful to be able to see what the finished magazine would look like by clicking a little icon that removed all of the little adjustment boxes. This meant I didn't have to waste time printing copies to see what needed to be changed.
One problem that I found with using InDesign was that it was quite confusing to upload images. All of the images had to be in a certain format and there was a specific way to upload them onto the pages. I found this a little time consuming at first but once I knew how to do it, it became easier.
progression
Since the preliminary task I think I have gained a better understanding not only of how to use the software, but also of all the magazine features. Looking back at my preliminary work I can see that I have improved on the design elements, the overall presentation of the magazine is clearer and more eye catching. The rock magazine that I have created is much more visually attractive and it is clearer what genre it is from. I have stuck fairly closly to the conventions in order to design an eye catching and genre specific magazine. Research has helped to give me an insight into the design side of magazines, it has also helped me to know what content should and should not be put in a rock magazine. I am now aware of the different styles of articles that are placed in certain genres of magazines and how important wording is in order to capture the target audience. Language was very important and was one apsect of my magazine that I found myself conastantly changing. After I had written up things such as headings, sub headings and article descriptions I got a few people from my target audience to read through it and tell me any changes they thought necessary. I was also careful to make sure I had a set idea before starting anything especially when it came to writing. My reasons for this were that I didn't want to waste time trying to think of what to write like I did in preliminary task, I wanted to be abe to write it up and then spend more time checking it and making necessary changes to benefit my magazine. This has helped me to improve and have a better outcome for this magazine then I did on my preliminary coursework.
Feedback
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Feedback
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