The Final Front Cover

The Final Contents

The Final Feature Article

Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

For this product I chose to make a Rock music magazine, over the year’s magazines like Kerrang! And Metal Hammer have been going strong and reaching out to different fans of this certain music genre. When researching these magazines I found that there were many similarities which run through each of them.  When it came to creating my own product I wanted to have some of these similarities to show, however I would like to break the normal conventions which come with the term “rock music” I wanted to give my magazine a twist.If my magazine where to be sold in local newsagents or at a large retail scale I think it would compete against magazines such as; Kerrang! Rock Sound and Metal hammer. They have a readership which spans across the world.  My magazine would have to stand out against these three major magazines. Magazines like Kerrang! have been going strong for over 30 years and has a total circulation of 42,967 and has many other things which are part of the "Kerrang! company" for example, Kerrang! Radio, TV, awards, tour. It also helps sponsor festivals like Download.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

When looking at which companies would distribute my media product I thought that Bauer Media Group would be a great company that would distribute my magazine. Bauer Media Group was founded in 1875. The German company helps to distribute some of my main competitors, Kerrang and Q magazine. I felt that Bauer Media Group would be the best company to distribute my magazine.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

When I stared to make the school magazine I thought that it was a simple task. The school magazine was aimed at a younger audience compared to the audience which I chose for my music magazine. I used simple images which I thought where good enough to be posted on a magazine cover. This magazine did not really have a specific audience. I chose to make it for 11-18 years olds; it was also for a mixed gender group, hence why I chose a pale yellow and black colour scheme. I felt that this would appeal to both genders. A way in which I made some progress was using Photoshop. I felt that starting with the school magazine meant that I had a chance to practice my skills in Photoshop, for example, cutting out pictures, Using drop shadow and editing layers.

Link back to the cover for my magazine:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hwa6VMJhpqE/TZCBsD5SYMI/AAAAAAAAABU/ceTeRFSdtxc/s1600/untitled.JPG

Link back to the contents page:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dpwlVYUse7U/TdAgAouSkkI/AAAAAAAAAF0/LGQZTI1w9lo/s1600/Grace+Goodall+copy.jpg

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

When it came to creating the magazine I used the colour scheme of red black and white. Colours like red and black had connotations of blood, death, danger, darkness and anger. Theses connotations also link to the genre which I chose to base my magazine on. When you look at magazines like Kerrang, you can see that they base their magazine around the same sort of colour scheme. I wanted my product to appeal to my audience. So I created a big bold title. This would be used to try and attract members of my audience to buy this magazine instead of its leading competitors. To try and attract member of the public to buy my magazine I focused on naming leading rock bands and artists who might appeal to a person from my target audience. I added free posters and competitions. This would also be used to attract potential customers because people like free things and the chance to win something.

I gained many more skills in using Photoshop.  I used Photoshop in my spare time to edit my photography; however I learned more detailed things which helped make the magazine more professional.  I found out how to use the burn tool which darkened parts of the image which looked slightly too light. I also gained better skills in researching. I felt that after analysing many different magazine covers and their features e.g. titles, editors notes, dates...etc...  That I knew exactly what my magazine needed to be of a high standard.

Another way which I used technology was creating this blog.  This gave people around the world the chance to see the development of my magazine; this also created a chance for me to see what other people for different countries thought about the magazine. I used a website called “slide share” this meant that I could upload PowerPoint presentations to the blog; this separated my blog out so I wasn’t all text. For the photos I used a Canon EOS Rebel XS. I use this camera when I am taking photos for my photography portfolio. I have been doing photography for many years; I found this part of the project easiest. The camera gave me complete control for taking my images. The 12.2 Mega pixel CMOS sensors meant that I could stretch the image and I would not appear blurred.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My target audience was mixed gender groups aged 15 -25. I chose this age group so I could then relate the magazine to a wider audience.  People aged between my target years are more likely to buy my magazine. This meant that I would have more people who would be willing to buy this magazine If it was to be produced for retail. I chose the genres Rock, Metal and Screamo because they all link together in similar ways. I felt that using these three genres would also help me to reach out to more of the target audience which I wanted. I also chose these genres because I have been a fan of them for many years, this would be easier for me to talk about in great detail. Many people buy magazines to gain some sort of personal identity, using a model around the age of my audience and with the same sort of background means that they have something to relate to. This links back to the theory of Blumler and Katz, 1974. My audience will relate to the image which my magazine promotes. Using adds for free things, like clothing or festival tickets means that I am making my target audience feel like they have some slight ownership towards the magazine.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I aimed my magazine at a working class audience. I chose a working class audience because they tend to buy more magazines compared to a upper class member of the public. I felt that my product represented the working class very well, looking back, I used a male model who appeared to be working class. This meant that younger audience members who are from the working class families could relate more towards the person which the feature article was based around.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I used a young male model for my main image on the front cover. I also used females on the front cover. I thought that using a male might attract a more female audience. When looking at the representation of gender in magazines I think that music magazines are slightly different, for example when you look at R&B artists they are mostly male. However female R&B artists like Rihanna, can be seen a sex symbol which most people see as a bad thing because it’s not, stereotypically, what women are thought to do. When watching certain music videos, I found that women were used mostly to break conventions of what women are considered to act like. An example of a woman who breaks many conventions through music is Beth Ditto. She forms part of the Indie Rock band Gossip. Being a lesbian; Ditto is well known for her outspoken support of both LGBT (Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and transgender) and feminist causes. She posed nude for a magazine called "Love" not being a size zero she wanted to prove that being over weight can be beautiful. She also created her own clothing label "Beth Ditto" for plus-sized women. Many females who listen to the Indie Rock genre look up to her.

I felt that the magazine came together really well.  I found new skills which meant that I could create a magazine which was of high standard. I kept e record of what needed to be done which meant that the building of my magazine was structured well. Overall I thought that my magazine was very successful.

Audience Feedback

 One I had created my magazine to the highest standard i could, I asked a group of people which the magazine was aimed at. I felt that getting different types of feedback would give me some idea into what they thought about the magazine itself. This would also help highlight any problems the potential customers had, for example, if they didn’t understand certain slogans, or if they thought that the colour scheme clashed and was not clear enough to read.To start off with I asked a mixed gender group aged 16-25 what their opinions of the front cover,Feature article and contents  was. I asked them to write down what they thought. Here are some of the comments which I was given:

“You can tell by the colour scheme and the style of the photo that this magazine is based around the rock music genre. If I had seen this magazine cover with covers from well-known magazines I would say that it was at the same high standard. on the other hand i think a better model could had been used for the front cover photo.“ - Ashley Maplethorpe

“I thought that the red, white and black colour scheme followed a tradition which many famous rock/metal magazines have today. I felt the dark colours give it its dark appearance.  I felt that the magazine has been related towards the metal genre  in the smallest ways, for example, the outfits which the models in the photographs took, that type of fasion is linked towards that music genre. I loved the layout of the contents page, i thought that using half the page for image and half for text was different to what you would normally see in magazines. “ - Matthew Fouracre

"When i was first shown the cover for Broadcast i thought that is looked very professional. The layout reminded me of other rock music magazines such as Kerrang! and Rock Sound. The photos which were used looked like there was some time and effort spent on them. If this magazine was on sale, i would pay for it"

- Stephiie Hart


Here are some of the results to the questions which i asked my audience:


Do you like the colour scheme?

Did you find the fonts easy to read?

Do you think that the magazine appeals to males or females more?

 

When asking members of my target audience what they thought of the magazine i felt that the magazine was received well. The feedback i was giving will help me to improve the cover, feature article and contents.

Front Cover

Front cover

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This is a rough example of what I would like my front cover of "Broadcast" to look like. I wanted my title to take up the full length of the page.For example, the way Kerrang! Makes the title stretch across the full page, many other Metal music magazines did this.

other magazines that focused on many music genres like, NME  had a small title which was tucked away in the corner of the page, I felt that this did not catch a readers eye because it was too small to read, I want my title to stand out. this is why I chose a bigger title.

The colour scheme which i am using for the front cover is; black, red and white. This colour scheme will run throughout the magazine with the addition of other dark colours. When looking at other rock magazines I found that these three colours where the most common ones which are used. I felt that they matched the genre very well.

Here are some examples of my choice of title in different colours, I asked members of my target audience which one they preferred. I found out that many preferred the white text in the black box.  



Contents

When it came to the contents page, i wanted to do something completely different to what other magazines are doing; I looked at examples which were taken from Kerrang! And Metal Hammer. I got my idea for the contents page from the magazine Rock Sound.  I wanted to use one main image of the model that was in the feature article. Using a black square which would cut out some of the picture, I could then add text onto that square. Smaller images could be used around the other image. These would link into other stories that are part of the layout.

Contents

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I found creating the contents to be the most time consuming part of the project. I wanted to make sure I got it perfect. I used the same colour scheme throughout (black, red and white)  The image took up most of the page, this would create a different style of contents compared to that of Metal Hammer or Kerrang!

Feature Article

Presentation1

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To give my feature article a more professional look, i came up with the idea of creating a logo which would be put on the top corner of a page. I used a font which gave the initials "BC" a more gothic appearance.

For my feature article i decided to create a British Metal band using a friend as the lead singer.  I felt that coming up with my own band meant that i could ask more questions which would make my article more detailed.  While looking at magazines like Kerrang! And Rock sound I found that many of the have similar layouts, for example an image took up one page or half a page, when creating my feature article I wanted to have an image which look over half of the A3 sized page. E.g.

Once adding the image i could then use a quote from the text, as many articles already do, this would be used to draw the reader into the article.  This would then give the feature article a more of a professional look. since i am using half the page for the image, i am going to add another page on to my feature article. once this magazine was made it would be placed behind the double page.

This is an example of the 3rd page will look like.  When I was doing my research I found that many feature articles were bulked out with many different sized images. I wanted this to be one of the main features for my article.

This is the interview which will form my Feature article

A new screamo band hits the British music scene.

Its 2011 and we have exclusive access to one of the hottest up-coming bands which are planning to take the UK screamo scene by storm.  We met lead singer Jack Patterson and made him part of the Broadcast team.

Fear of Falling formed in 2008. The five-some, Jack, Danny, Nathan, Matt and Jarrod, all met in Newcastle College where they become close friends.  FOF have been together for 4 years, maybe you’re asking yourself why you haven’t heard of them?

Lead singer Jack told us

“We loved being a small band… playing for friends it local pubs was an amazing achievement for us! Every weekend we played our hearts out… we were approached by a recording label that had been tipped off about us. We were all shocked; I didn’t take it seriously at first.”

“When we finally got signed some of our fans didn’t like the idea of becoming a successful band. So at our latest show we, as a band, made a promise to not become a group of stuck up arses like many bands today.”

“It’s different… I mean I never thought we would become a band who has this many fans, will still play shows in my parents’ garage.  I loved playing small shows, but I really can’t wait to join the tour with Funeral for a Friend”

“I wanted the lyrics in my songs to hit our fans hard. They are so very personal to me. I have had some problems in my life and instead of turning to self-harming I turned to writing. I know people will think I’m soft, but everyone has there own way of coping. I became good friends with a fan of ours… her life was crap and she turned to self-harming and drug abuse. I thought to myself ‘what’s that going to do?’ ”

We decided to ask Jack some questions and here they are;

What was your reaction when you found out that someone wanted to sign Fear of Falling?

“Well we were all confused at first I mean 3 years of being a no-body to coming someone if scary! We got back Nath’s house and talked about it for hours, yeah we let fame kind of take over in them hours but seriously… it was the best surprise in awhile!“

We heard that the band when through an emotional time how did you all over come that?

“Loosing someone you where close to isn’t something you can get over so fast! I mean we all still miss Tom (Tom Young ex drummer) Danny and Tom were friends since they were 5… I mean that’s hard. Danny didn’t take it well. We all miss him. We gained a skilled drummer just like Tom; Matt is a great guy, we are all happy to have him!”

For all you growing female fans, are there any girls on the scene?

“(Laughs) I was told to be careful when answering this question! I am single along side Nath, Jarrod and Matt… Danny is (pauses) taken (laugh again)”

Is there something we should know?

“He would eat me alive if I told you!”

Okay, so you won’t tell us the gory details about your love lives, so tell us how you’re feeling about touring with Funeral for a Friend…

“I have been a huge fan of FFAF since they were small! I was like a fan girl when I found out they were willing to take us on tour! It’s like “WTF!” Danny had to slap me across the face. (Laughs) they are very talented guys! ”

We have all seen the new video, how was shooting in the snow for you?

I get asked every time if it was real snow! And it was! We all got dressed up in suits and everything! We were working with a great director as well.  We came up with the idea of the video while we were recovering from an ace house party (laughs) it was Matt’s idea to wait till it snowed. My parents have a huge contrary house so they allowed us to record the video there...  

 

! What was it like diving into an icy lake? Looked cold!

Errmm... It was a little cold (laughs) my best friend played the part of the woman in the lake! I was more worried about her she had to stay under till I got to her. The first time we ran through it, it took me 5 minutes to take off my shoes! She was freezing when we got her out! I felt so bad. She got the flu afterwards, to pay me back she sneezed on me! I had to take off my suit jacket and waist coat before they wanted me to get in. To b very honest with you I was scared of losing a toe or something

The people at Broadcast thought your friend was very attractive! Were there any sparks during that kiss?

“Broadcast! You’re so nosey!”

BC: “indeed we are!”

Jack: “(laughs) we dated when we were 7 or 8. I stole her ice- cream and we have been inseparable basically ever since. I don’t know maybe it will be one of those childhood sweetheart things... when we had to kiss the first time, we both looked at each other and burst out laughing, for like the next few takes we just couldn’t stop laughing every time we had to kiss.

Can you tell us anything more about the video?

“When playing in the main hall Danny swung his guitar around and smacked Nathan on the head... we he passed out and fell to the floor I fell over him! It all happened fast and they were behind me so I didn’t have any idea that Nathan was out cold!  He came back with stitches and a bald spot on his head! That’s why he just stood still for most of the video! We were all worried about him! My mum was just worried about the blood on her white rug! When he was better she chased his round with a scrubbing brush! God I love my mum!

Title

I came up with the title Broadcast for my magazine. I asked a group of people if they would choose which style of the title they preferred;



"i prefer the second style because it stands out more compared to the rest. it also goes with the genre of the magazine."  Shaun Liddle


“Out of the four titles I was shown I liked the second one first. It looked like it belonged to a rock music magazine." Teri Morning

"I liked the third one because it looked hand written. I thought that this would suit the genre best."  Zoe Wilson


When it came to picking a title, i thought that the first one would look better with the other features that will be used on the front cover. With this title being a simple style it means that there can be other fonts used on the cover which will not leave the cover looking busy.

Layout for Music magazine

This is a rough example of what I would like my front cover of "Broadcast" to look like. I wanted my title to take up the full length of the page. For example, the way Kerrang! Makes the title stretch across the full page, many other Metal music magazines did this.

other magazines that focused on many music genres like, NME  had a small title which was tucked away in the corner of the page, i felt that this did not catch a readers eye because it was too small to read, i want my title to stand out. this is why i chose a bigger title.

Questionnaire

Target Audience

When I looked at magazines like Kerrang!  And Rock Sound I found that they were aimed at the same audience that I wanted to aim my magazine at. I wanted to aim my magazine at rock fans because i have read rock magazines for a young age. i felt that i knew more about this genre than any other music genre which is around today.

I want to aim my magazine at an audience aged 15- 27. I felt that chosing a wider audience would meant id have more ptential customers that would buy the magazine if I were to sell in a shop.

I asked a few members of my potential audience to tell me what they would like a rock music magazine to consist of;

“I think that the magazine should have a dark colour scheme, this would make it appeal more towards the rock genre. The bands that are advertised should be well known. I think that there should also be free posters of bands that have  featured in other issues of the magazine."  Jamie Paul.

Competition

There are many different types of music magazines which are sold in shops today. I chose the genre of rock music to base my magazine around. I think that the major competition I would had would come from well known magazines like Kerrang!, Rock Sound and Metal Hammer.

Music Magazine

Genre

i have chosen to do a rock music magazine. I chose this genre because its something i like and therefore I can create a magazine in this style, before creating a magazine i looked at some style models in the form of; Kerrang!, Rock Sound and Metal hammer. These magazines look into all the different genres based around rock music. Each magazine is aimed at male and female rock fans ages between 15-35 year olds. The most common rock magazine is kerrang! which has a wide readership. Magazines like Rock Sound concentrate on the smaller bands however they do feature some of the music industaries biggest bands.

While looking at these magazines i noted down some things which i would like to add into my own magazine cover, contents and main story, for example; a list of bands featured in the full magazine, main story and main image to be in the center of the page, bar code and smaller images. This is common in most magazines in gives the readers a better insight into what the magazine offers.

If i were to sell my magazine, Rock Sound, Metal Hammer and Kerrang! would be some of my biggest rivals. They feature some of the biggest bands and festivals such as download and sonisphere. I hope to create a magazine what will be of the high standard which these magazines have created.

Feature article and contents pages.

After i looked at the style models i noticed that there was no real difference between there feature articles. The feature articles all range from 2 to 4 pages. the colour scheme its kept the same throughout, however i seen a different between their contents pages. Magazines like kerrang and Metal Hammer had very busy content pages. i found that Rock Sound's contents page was less cluttered but looked more proffessional.

Kerrange! Contents



Metal Hammer contents

 

I found that Kerrang! and Metal Hammer magazine  have many similar features on their contents pages, for example, title and masthead, Editors Response, smaller picture of the front cover and main images. An editor’s note features on both contents pages. This is the part where the editor says something about the production of the magazine. I looked into the main features so I knew what I could have to use as part of my own contents. This would help me in creating a magazine which looked professionally done.






 Metal Hammer magazine cover

Rock Sound magazine cover

When I looked at the front covers of rock sound and metal hammer magazine i found that they only used two main colours. The use of only two colours gave each magazine a more professional look. I felt that my magazine would look as professional if I only used a few colours. They each have barcodes, date and price. They also advertised free gifts and posters. Their covers only had one main image on them I thought that this was more affective because it did not look so cluttered.

Layout

Over the time i have looked at magazines and i have found out a few things which help make up a magazine cover,contents page and feature articles. The images are examples of magazines which do this:

• The colour scheme on both pages has to be kept the same throughout the making of the magazine. This will make the magazine look more professional and not make it look so confusing.
• The cover photo should be ambitious. You can experiment with different possitions,lighting,backgrounds and styles.

• The font you choose to use should stay the same throughouth the magazine, again this will give a more professional look towards the magazine. 
• The front cover should not have many images on it.