Finished Product Analysis

Final Front Cover Design
When producing my final product, I had a lot of decisions to make that would affect whether or not my magazine would appeal to my target audience.
The target audience for my magazine I had decided would be young readers and teenagers around the ages of 11-16 years old. I had to keep this in mind when creating my final product so that my work would be as effective as possible.
When choosing each aspect of my magazine, I referred back to the research I had made on teen pop magazines, so that my magazine would follow the conventions and would be appropriate for my readers.
The main thing I noticed about the teen pop magazines that I researched was that the front covers were all very bright and colourful, which would appeal to the eye of younger readers and would appear very attractive and stand out on the shelves amongst magazines with a blander colour scheme. I decided there and then that I would try and make my magazine front cover as bright and attractive as possible so it was in-keeping with the conventions I had looked at.
I also had to make sure that I kept the average conventions of a music magazine the same (masthead, headline, plugs, main image, ect), so I referred back to my earlier research to do so.

The first thing I chose about my magazine is the background colour. I wanted a bright and bold colour that would stand out from the page, and would make the magazine look attractive, and would fit in with the bold and bright colour scheme that I was going for. I chose a bright purple colour, because I hadn't used the colour anywhere else in my magazine, and it was a bright and attractive colour, which I think would attract my target audience and make them want to pick up my magazine. I also had to pick a colour that could be seen as gender neutral, although from my research, it was shown that the majority of readers for a teen pop magazine were going to be girls rather than boys.

I placed my magazine masthead in the top left hand corner of my cover, which is conventional of most magazine front covers that I have looked at. I made the majority of the masthead black, as there was lack of this colour on my front cover, and I thought it would stand out from the purple background. I chose to make the first letter of the masthead a different colour though so it would make it look more attractive to my audience. I chose yellow as it contrasts with the black lettering of the rest of my masthead, and the purple background colour. Another convention I'd noticed when researching most magazines, is that they featured a strapline of some sort, so I thought it was only right to include one of those in my final design. I had the idea to include two straplines, rather than one though to really let my audience know what my magazine was about. These are located right across the top of my magazine, and just underneath the masthead. I made the one across the top 0f my magazine (which reads "your one and only stop for the latest in pop") stand out from the page by using a yellow and pink font. This made it look attractive, and noticebly different from the other strapline underneath my masthead (which reads "britain's top teen pop magazine"), which was just in a plain black font, so that the audience would relate that strapline to the masthead. I thought adding these two features to my magazine would help the audience understand what kind of music genre they would expect to find inside the magazine, if the rest of the front cover was not a good indicator.

I wanted the main focus of my magazine cover to be the main image used, so I tried to make it as large as possible, which I found was also one of the conventions of any magazine. Because of the genre of my magazine being teen pop music, I wanted to make the image I would use be really bright and colourful, so that it would not only be attractive to my audience, but it would also relate back to the content of my magazine. I chose to use three models dressed in fairly bright clothes, and all dressed in different colours, so that they would all be noticed from each other and would stand out on the page. I chose to edit out the background of the original image and add in a white background to make the colours of the image really stand out and pop, so that the image would work to its full potential. I also made the models in the image look up, with the smallest model in the middle (which was convenient being the only female) and taking the shot from above. I think the shot works as it is flattering as the angle works really well. I didn't want to use too many other images on the cover, so I used one other smaller photograph in the bottom left hand corner of my cover. Because all of our images had to be original, I had to improvise when creating artists for my magazine. I used a medium close up image of my model, and I again edited out the background of the image, which made the image more noticeable. I chose not to add in any other background colour, and just added it over the top of my purple cover background. I added a bright headline over the top, in fairly small font so it would not be too dominant of the page, but would still be readable. I also added a plug detailing the page number of the said article.


Final Contents Page Design

Final double page spread Design

Final Magazine Drafts

Possible images I may use in my music magazine

Drafts of My Music Magazine Front Cover, Double Page Spread and Contents Page

Deciding upon a name, genre and audience for my magazine
The next task in the project was to come up with an original masthead name that would be inkeeping with the style of a contemporary music magazine. At this stage, I have decided that I am going to create a pop music style magazine, due to the lack of available pop focused magazines available on sale in the general market. I want my name to be catchy and memorable, and also sound fun and endearing, as this is the image I want my magazine to follow. My magazine will be aimed at the young teenage generation of readers, so the layout and style of my magazine, as well as the artists and content featured in the magazine will have to be age appropriate. It is very important that the masthead of my magazine appeals to the audience that I am aiming at.
After researching different connotations of the word 'music', I came up with four possible masthead ideas for my magazine;

Harmony
I like the sound of this masthead, however, I think that it would not be easily remembered.

Melody
This is my favourite choice of a masthead, as it sounds fun and is short and snappy, which is in-keeping with the style of my magazine. Along with the word 'magazine', alliteration makes 'Melody' catchy and would make it easily memorable to the audience.

Fusion
I think this particular masthead idea wouldn't quite work, as after thinking about it, the name seems to connote a more dance and club feel, which is not the style of my magazine at all, and would not appeal to my target audience.

Tune
I think this masthead connotes the idea of classical music, rather than pop music, so it would not be a good choice for my magazine masthead.

My chosen masthead for my magazine is Melody, as I feel it is the best of the names I have researched and will project the right image about my magazine.

Conventions of a teenage pop magazine
Because the task requires me to create a believable and realisic music magazine, part of my research has to be on teenage pop music, and how i could possibly present a magazine based around it.
The first thing I researched was teen pop artists. This included names such as Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Avril Lavigne, Taylor Swift and the Backstreet Boys. These are all considered to be 'teen idols' and are definitely artists which young teenage readers can relate to, and will enjoy reading about.

Pop music magazine cover
The first thing I notice about the front cover of this magazine is that it is bright and colourful and attracts the eye straight away. A bright blue background has been used,


















Pop music magazine double page spread
The first thing that I notice about the double-page is that one page is almost entirely taken up by the featured artists photograph.












Font ideas
Now that I have picked a good masthead for my magazine, I need to find a stylish font that will display it in a way that is suitable for the idealogy of my magazine.


This font is fun and attractive and would make a funky masthead for my magazine. The bubble style of text is in-keeping with the fun, teen-pop idealogy of my music magazine.





I think this font is perhaps too plain for a teen-pop music magazine.

This would be another good font to use for the masthead of my magazine. Again, it uses the bubble style font and is in-keeping with the teen-pop music idealogy of my magazine. However, I think that maybe it isn't bold and attractive enough to use as the masthead of the magazine.

First draft of my front cover

First draft of my contents page

First draft of my double page spread

Analysis of Magazine Contents Pages

Contents page of Q magazine





















Contents page of NME magazine

Analysis of Double Page Magazine Spreads

As part of my main portfolio task, i have to create a double page spread of a music magazine to accompany my front cover. To gain a better understanding of the layout and techniques used in creating a successful double page spread, I have analysed a few double page spreads from popular music magazines.

NME Magazine Double Page Spread
This is a double page spread from NME magazine. The first thing I notice about the spread is that it is very colourful and attractive, and would definitely be eye-catching at first glance. I think this reflects the audience of the magazine, which is generally aimed at a younger audience, probably 16-25.
The first half of the fouble page spread is covered by a large photo of the band, which I've noticed is a big feature of double page spreads, as it gives the audience a big insight to who the band is. The photograph of the band that is used, is quite colourful and busy in itself, and is quite natural which is in keeping with the style of the magazine.

Kerrang Double Page Spread
This is a double page spread from Kerrang magazine. In contrast to the Nme spread, this spread is very












Q Magazine Double Page Spread

Foundation Portfolio Main Task

The main task that we have been asked to perform is the creation of a new contemporary music magazine. I will need to create a front cover, a contents page and a double page spread, which will include original images, and will follow the conventions of a music magazine. To help develop my ideas and gain a better understanding of a music magazine's conventions, I am going to analyse NME and Kerrang magazine using the LIIAR format. I have chosen these magazines because they both focus on two different genres of music, so appeal to different audiences.


Kerrang Magazine

Language- The language used in Kerrang magazine is similar to that of NME magazine in that it is relevant to the audience. The language is fresh and current, and is informal so that the readers will relate and respond to it, rather than formal language that is hard to understand.

Institution- Kerrang magazine is published by Bauer Consumer Media, which produces around 238 magazines worldwide including other well known titles such as Heat, Take A Break and FHM.

Idealogy- Kerrang magazine focuses on the alternative genre of music, and this is reflected on by the front cover, with the use of dark images. The artists featured on the cover are wearing all black, which reinforces the idea of the magazine focusing on alternative music. The artist are also made to look very pale and ghostly, which again reinforces the same idea.

Audience- Kerrang magazine is aimed at young people probably aged between 14-25 years old, as the music featured is current and modern, which I don't think would appeal to a more mature audience.

Representation- The representation of Kerrang magazine, is a reflection of the type and style of people that read the magazine. The artists and shots of the artists that are featured in the magazine, and on the cover especially, are a often dark, and feature heavy metal and rock artists. The cover stars are usually a prominent band of the time the magazine is being issued, and their style is iconic as it is what the readers will aspire to look like. Also the bands and artists featured are usually of the rock-metal genre of music.

NME Magazine

Language- The language used in NME magazine is rather informal, as it is a young magazine. The language used on the front cover is short and snappy which gives out all the information needed to know, but without using too much text.

Institution- NME magazine is published by IPC Media, which is one of the leading UK consumer magazine publisher. Apart from NME, IPC Media also publishes popular magazines such as Marie Claire, Now and What's On TV. According to their website, "Almost two in every three UK women and over 45% of UK men read an IPC magazine. That's almost 27 million UK adults."

Idealogy- NME magazine aims to report on the current goings on in the music industry, especially with new and upcoming bands.

Audience- NME magazine is aimed at young people aged from 14-24 years old, as the magazine features contemporary music that would not appeal to older readers.

Representation- The artists used on the cover and inside the magazine, are a great reflection of the type of people who will buy the magazine. The artists featured in NME magazine are generally of the indie rock era, so the readers of the magazine will be those that listen to the music, and follow the style of the NME artists. The images used in NME magazine are often natural photographs, such as gig photos, which reflect the artist's often laid-back approach to music and the clothes and style they follow.

Mojo Magazine
Language-

Institution- Mojo magazine is a monthly magazine produced by Bauer Consumer Media in the UK, which produces over 238 other magazine titles worldwide, including other well known titles such as Closer, More, Zoo and Empire magazines.

Idealogy-

Audience- The music featured in Mojo magazine tends to be older and aimed towards older readers. The artists featured are usually classic rock icons such as Syd Barrett featured in this particular cover.

Representation-







Q Magazine

Language-

Institution- Q magazine is a UK monthly magazine, published by Bauer Consumer Media, which produces around 238 titles worldwide, including well known titles such as Bella, TV Quick and Grazia magazine.
Idealogy-

Audience-

Representation-






Rolling Stone Magazine

Language- The language used on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine isn't necessarily more formal than the other magazines that I have researched despite it's sophistication. However, instead of using single words and phrases to describe the activity in the magazine, there is a slightly larger amount of text used, which is affective as it isn't overpowering. The language used is Standard English, so it is easily understandable to all, rather than using slang that some readers may not be able to relate to.

Institution- Rolling Stone is a bi-weekly magazine based in the US. It is produced by Wenner Media LLC which produces other titles such as Men's Journal and US Weekly.

Idealogy- Much unlike the other music magazines that I have researched, Rolling Stone focuses on other subjects than music such as politics and popular culture, and it is not unusual for a popular actor, celebrity or even famous politicians to be featured in the magazine, or on the cover.

Audience- Rolling Stone magazine is much more sophisticated than other music magazines that I have researched, which would make it appealing to older readers, however due to the fact that they include popular and current figures on the cover and featured in the magazine, creates an appeal to younger readers, as they are being shown something that they are interested in, and are more likely to buy the magazine.

Represention- Rolling Stone is seen as being much more sophisticated than the normal music magazine, and this is reinforced with the polished cover including posed cover shots and interesting fonts. As Rolling Stone not only focuses on music, but politics and popular culture as well, the magazine reflects this.

Evaluation of Preliminary Task

In what ways does your Media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My media product follows the conventions of a real product of the same medium as it is presented in the same format of a real magazine. My magazine includes all the stylistic conventions of a magazine, such as a masthead, a main photo, a headline, a barcode, a price, a date and plugs of other stories. This makes my magazine look effective and realistic.

How does your Media product represent particular social groups?
The social group that I have tried to represent in my media product is young students, as it is a college magazine. My idea to make a 'party special' magazine, featuring stories and photos from college nights out was my way of aiming my magazine more at students rather than the teachers and parents involved with the college. I made sure the image that I used portrayed a night out, with my model being dressed up and glamourous. I think this helped portray the right message about my magazine, as the model is happy and smiling. It represents students as being happy and cheerful and having good clean fun rather than the usual stereotype of students getting drunk all the time and causing trouble.

What kind of Media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The institution that would distribute my magazine would be Wyke College itself as it is a magazine designed to give students information about goings on around college and the like. I have included the college's name in my magazine masthead so it is clear by whom the magazine is distributed by.

Who would be the audience for your Media product?
My target audience that I have tried to reach out to through my magazine would be young students studying at the college.

How did you attract/address your audience?
I used a variety of different techniques to make my magazine appeal to my target audience. I tried to use bright colours to make my magazine stand out so it would attract my target audiences eye and make them want to buy and read the product. I tried to use quite an ordinary yet original masthead font so that it would be unique, although would not overpower the main image used on my magazine, which I wanted to emphasize as the main feature of my cover. I only used one image on my magazine front cover, so that it would be the main focus, rather than using a few images and the cover seeming too crowded. I chose a colourful and eye-catching image for my front cover, so it would attract my audience and would make them want to see what the product was all about. I also made sure that the photo was appropriate for my target audience and would reflect the main headline of my magazine. Another very important feature of my magazine is the main headline, which I tried to make as colourful and bold as possible. I made the font rather large so it would stand out on the page, and placed it overlapping the main image so the audience would know that the headline related to the main image. I chose a bright pink font which would connote the party idea and would also stand out against the image I had used as well as the turquoise background I had picked. I used a fairly ordinary font but just made it large so it would stand out. For the rest of the smaller features of my magazine, such as the plug headlines, I used bright and smaller fonts to make the text stand out against the background.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Creating my magazine I have learned a lot about the kind of process that real institutions go through when creating a product like mine. I had to use some fairly new software that I had not had much experience using before, such as Adobe Photoshop, which was an interesting task as it made me able to learn something new, which I would be able to put into use in the future. It was a good practise opportunity, before I completed my main task for my exam, so that when that time came, I was able to use the software needed without much difficulty.

Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I have learnt that it takes so much more work than I had thought to produce something like this, and to a high standard. I went throught the trial and error process a few times and through this I have managed to create a professional looking product that my audience would want to buy.