Magazine Final Evaluation

The magazine which I have designed has used a sufficient amount of code and conventions which other magazines use.

The title is placed at the top of the page to indicate to potential customers the name of the magazine “Underground” as this use of a unconventional name for the magazine produces a slight curiosity and overall will make an impression due to this retro typed name. The magazine title was created to show how indie music started mostly away from the lime light and played out of sight or ‘Underground’ as other main stream music magazines produce more popular genres of music leaving indie music to be unheard from, lately this has shifted and indie music is beginning to become more popular with time this is one of the reasons i produced the magazine on this genre of music as it is today on the rise.

The title has also been created using three different colours, this allows the title sync in with the other pages throughout the magazine and not to be isolated away. The front cover title is in bold text due to the rich colour scheme making it more attractive to target audiences eyes.  The magazine has other conventions such as anchorage text, buzz words and others. The anchorage text helps hold the view of potential customer as placing the other stories in smaller text around the main image teases the customer into wanting to take a deeper look and find out more on the story. Buzz words across my magazine are not used as much, I have only included a couple buzz words, one is “Free” in my research I have found that most mainstream music magazines ultimately use these words to attract in customers with ‘Freebies’.  

My Main image is placed directly in the middle of the page; this is to be the second most noticeable convention on the front cover. The main image of the magazine has been altered in many ways, the reason why the magazine is in black and white makes it a more effective image for the front cover even though it’s quite bland and dull yet this might attract the target audience due to the manor which has been produced in as the background is a blur of colours to represent ‘Life in Black and White’. I have used three different colours within my magazine, Red, White and Black as most music magazine which I have studied has a colour scheme of three to four colours. The colours which have been chosen balance out each other.

The contents page carries on the house style which was made present on the front cover. The main image upon my Content page is of the person on the front cover, I wish to establish that he is the main artist within my music magazine and wish to state that to the customers so that they know he is going to be the next best thing in the music industry. The title of the magazine is also included on the magazine’s content page I have done this due to the fact that it keeps the image of the magazine to stay professional. Another convention I used upon my magazines content page was buzz words, much like on the front cover I used the buzz words to advertise and offer different sections of the magazine such as the ‘Features, News and win sections’. Another convention I used on my contents page is including the graphic feature to advertise how to subscribe to the magazine.

The Double page article has also continued the colour scheme as the use of red and black colouring creates a boundary between the main image and the title of the page. The titles are coloured this way to completely separate it from the main image. The main image upon my double page article take up across the entire double page article as this shows that only the artists upon the pages will be talking about.

The artist ‘Rickie Merton’ which I have used as my selling point for my magazine “Underground" is of a young age, he can personally relate to the target audience whom are aged between sixteen to twenty one as himself is quite a young artist showing that he can mix within the styles and trends which the audience will be using. The artist is also a top musician in the music industry in this moment of time so his face upon a magazine would instantly cause a spree of buyers. The style of my artist is dressed in an quite a unique way, I have placed him in a thin coat with a pink shirt, this style suits the way an indie pop artist would realistically look, as most of these artists go for an unconventional way of dressing.

The Media institution which I am picking to publish my magazine is Bauer Media. Bauer Media produce famous music magazines such as Q magazine and Keerang. This institution I believe would establish that the magazine is intending to become a

My magazine in production gave me many challenges as at first I was surprised that cameras had such a difference, as using a digital camera meant I could easily upload the photos which were taken straight away to the computer for editing. Photoshop was also a big game changer for my A level work as I could easily remove a green screen background from my main image and incorporate a better and more professional back drop, this is a tip which I have picked up while doing A-level work. Photoshop also allowed effects to enhance the images used for my magazine.

The task given to me allowed me to make to think at a higher level for going to  more of  A-level way of thinking instead of the GCSE branch of thinking which dramatically changed my attitude and skill to work. The task also allowed my skills in photography and Photoshop to increase due to the higher expectation which i was being face with.

Final Magazine

Firstly i have changed the name of the magazine, this is due to the original name not really sounding like the genre of my magazine. The magazine title was changed to Underground due to the fact that Indie Pop/Rock music is often played in the least expected places. The bands mostly start off from the bottom and rise to the top such as the band 'Mumford and Sons'. The whole concept of the color scheme has been changed to a Red and Black, this gives my magazine a much more broad and coincides hand in hand with the indie rock side more, yet the magazine is overall indie music. The Content page has also been changed as i believe the first draft of the content page was fairly poor so i created it to be in a more collage than the original professional way. Thirdly the Double page article has been adapted to the new color scheme.

Planning for Photographs

The images which I planned for my magazine had to be done in a professional way.

My photos were all taken within a class room, in front of a green screen so that I would be able to edit the pictures easily with Photoshop and other editing programmes. I took the photos within a class room for two reasons, one that the classroom is fitted to the standards of a studio, and two that I could have at hand a professional standard camera.

The artist which I had to choose had to be blonde and dress in an unusual style, so using a friend as the model for my magazine I found that it was easy to coordinate how he could look for the magazine.

The props which I used for the production of the magazine such as the guitar was brought in from home, I believed that to get a more professional look that a musical instrument would make the magazine look more attractive for my target audience. The final piece of work which needed to be done was to arrange so that the photo-shoot looked good. The class room was also fitted with a light which enhanced the photos I had taken for the magazine, this light made the photo much more professional. 

Magazine Final Proposal

The genre of my music magazine will be of an indie pop background; this is due to the fact that indie pop is a rising form of music in society and is considered a mainstream genre. The title of my magazine however is ‘Underground’ relating back to the well-known form of ‘busking’ as it mostly takes place in public areas such as Underground stations. ‘Underground’ is a term today meaning a genre in music and other forms of media intended for an elite audience, that is often characterized by its high levels of originality and experimentation, and does not conform to typical standards, trends, or hypes as set by the popular mainstream media, so I've stuck true to the original idea of indie pop being a underground based music genre as it quite unpredictable. My magazine will be set for those of the ages between sixteen to early adulthood this is due to my targeted audience being quite young with a liking in the indie pop genre, the audience should also have some kind of income at this moment in life either they are working part time/full time or are even studying, due to this I have put my magazine at the price range of £2.00 as it is medium priced and is not over the given budget of the target audience, in my questionnaire I asked the question “What is the most you would pay for a magazine” the most popular choice was £2.00 so I choose this amount to be my magazines selling price.
“Underground” will be published fortnightly this is due to the fact it allows students to recuperate their budgets for the magazine and also means that the company can spend their time to work on a more though out magazine, as it can be properly planned and focus on certain stories instead of rushing for a deadline meaning that the magazine would be unprofessional and soon will run out of material to publish, the question “How long should my magazine be published” also featured in my questionnaire this was answered by a mass amount asking for the magazine to be published “fortnightly”.
I have decided to create this type of magazine due to the fact that I have a passion in music, even though I am not pressuring a career in music I still wish to keep it as a major part of my life, Indie music has been the soundtrack to my life for some years and now I wish to use that genre of music to help me in designing a leading magazine.
My magazine will have a double page article which will be on the main image which will be printed on the front of the magazine of a major artist. My magazine will consist of mentioning other leading bands which are either on tour such as “Vampire Weekend” and other top leading indie bands or artists.
The ideologies which my magazine will present is a future for students, as the magazine is called “Underground” it will be there to help out new artists trying to chase their dreams for a music career, “Never giving up” is a major importance to the magazine, as on the double page for my magazine I will mention how the artist “Is overwhelmed with support, and will never give up trying to cement their position in a musical career”.
My magazine will use buzz words and other useful techniques to try and to attract customers, the use of the word “Free” and “New” will surely grab the attention of the target audience. I will use major artists to help publish my magazine as I will be using them as a forefront to gain the support of their fan bases.

(Draft) Content Page

(Draft) Front Cover

Link to the Presentation.

Link To Presentation

Mood board contents page

Music magazine content page mood board from StephenCraharrington

Music Magazine Mood Board

Music Magazine Mood Board

Firstly when we look at the magazines, we find that mostly all of the camera shots were of a mid-shot, this shows that the magazines obviously wants to interact with the audience, this makes the impression that the artists are oblivious of others and only focused upon the audience. The fact that we notice their body language shows that they are confident in their self and want to be an interaction in the audience’s life. Most of the magazines show their artists to be quite laid back and just relaxing or posing, this again shows off their body language creating an image in the readers mind before they have even read about them.

The artists in the mood board are shown to be stereotypically dressed to their pacific genre of music, for example grime and rap is usually seen as a ‘thug’ type of music, when we see Eminem in his front cover we find him dressed in a vest, this is typical of ‘thugs’ or the genre.

The overall representation of the magazine is that the artists are confident in creating a image in the audiences mind before their article has even be read, for example Jay-z is showing off his clothes implying that he is rich and is of a wealthy nature. The magazines try to advertise their popularity as they get the current ‘best thing’.

The font of the magazines seem similar, due to the fact that most of the magazine consist of a bold (anchorage text), they are the center point of the magazine as most people are attracted and drawn in due to simple sight of the story within the magazine. The boldness often highlights that the story is of importance.

Red is used frequent in these magazines, this is to drag the attention as it usually indicated that something is important, For example the title blocks of NME and Vibe on a single occasion can be seen in a reddish colour indicating that this is a main indicator to buy the magazine. The use of a white background also occurs in some magazines, this is to show purity or that they lighting up the plain, as they fill in a blank canvas.

Most of the articles are based on interviewing the artists; this is to give an insight on the lively hood of the artists and to show what they are currently working on or what problems they have overcome, this can be often used as a uplifting story which inspires the audience, this could lead them to buy the magazine again. Moving on the magazines articles are usually serious showing that they are yet again confident in what they do with their choices in life and what they will be answering during the interview.

Title Blocks

Title Block One




Title Block Two




Title Block Three





Title Block Four










I have chosen to rename my magazine in due to the bad feedback i received in class for the naming of the magazine. My peers felt it was in the best interest of my magazine to change the name, this is due to the fact that they felt the magazine would seem more of a boxing magazine due to the words 'Knockout' they didn't feel it represented the indie pop genre so discussed with me a potential idea. My magazine name has been changed to "Underground" this is due to the fact that indie music was quite Unknown. Major stars often busked before they turned famous in places such as London's underground rail road in stations across the capital. I feel this name suits the magazine and give a more professional look.

Title Block Evaluations

Firstly from the title block we can tell that the magazine must relate to the group known as ‘the Rolling Stones’ the group are known for the Rock band skills, so most likely the magazine will relate towards the fact that it is based on Rock music.The Red shows power as we can mostly relate the colour red to being overpowering, the white lined around the lettering causes the title to seem bevelled. The font shows us that the magazine is informal in a way as the magazine title seems to be almost drawn, as the font looks sketchy if you will. Rock fans or people whom had a interest in ‘the Rolling Stones’ are going to be interested within the magazine.




The magazine known as KERRANG has a great design to it, this could show how it too is used for a rock magazine as loads of cracks and breaking of the letters may show the mentalist of a rock band. The Black boldness of the title shows how important it is upon a page as it, the font used for the magazine is slightly informal, as it has cracks and such located across the font, this is done to show the more chaotic side of the magazine as it is aimed for rock bands. Nothing can really be said for KERRANG, only that the word is greatly unusual most likely for the rock fans to enjoy. Rock fans mostly at any age, but by majority maybe 20-27




Mojo is a magazine based on Classical Rock music as mojo was mostly used back in the 60’s and 80’s where it was used by hippies and rockers at events based with classical rock. The magazine uses a black background with a white lettering this highlights the title and makes it a significant image upon any page being highlighted and such.Uses a fairly relaxed and informal font as it may try to catch the eye of the audience when being bought off the shelves.This shows that the magazine is fairly relaxed and is based on classic rock.

Survey Results

Survey analysis

1.       The first question which I asked in my survey was ‘Do you believe my magazine should be accessible online?” as this would have a fairly big impact upon the industry. The Majority of people said that the magazine should have an accessible online page.

 

The second question which I asked was ‘How often do you get a magazine?’ this is to find the time period which I should release my magazine at. I found that a magazine released fortnightly would be preferable as most people agree that they get a magazine fortnightly.

 

 Question three I asked ‘What’s the most you would pay for a magazine’; this will determine the amount which I set my magazine at. The fact that most magazines in today’s terms are around the £2.00 mark I was pleased to find that half the survey chose that it was the sufficient amount for a magazine.

 

I took the interests of others into account as on the fourth question I asked ‘What is your favorite genre in music?’ Pop was the highest genre as it took 75% of votes while the other two surprise contenders are Rap and Western. The genre which will be upon my front cover is determined through what the audience wanted.

I finally asked ‘Who is your favourite band’ i got four different artists/groups yet three of them, which were the groups all had over three members within the band. This could show that upon my front cover I should include a band that has more than three members. All of the bands have quite unusual names such as ‘Imagine Dragons’ or ‘BlessTheFall’, the artist that is going to be used shall also have a quite unusual name upon my front cover to coincide with the main artist of the magazine. 

Magazine Focus Group

Target Audience Profile

Gender: Male

Name: Shahabaz Khan

Age: 17

Hobbies:
Basketball, Singing, Football

Likes: 
Punjab MC, John Newman, NME Magazine

Dislikes:
Union J, Rolling Stones Magazine

Bio:
Shahabaz usually buys a magazine fortnightly; this is to catch up on the talent which is surprisingly popping up across the world. He has released to me that it does give the magazine an advantage over others, due to the fact that it isn't the same thing every time, and that the different stories which are collected to make the magazine interest him instead of reading something which happened previously in the last issue. Shahabaz spends his free time trying to prefect his musical talent, at the current point in time he is held up with work from sixth form so the only way he can get away from work and into the music is by the magazines he reads.

Gender:Female

Name: Madeleine Gibson

Age: 15

Hobbies: 
Singing, writing/composing music, playing guitar.

Likes: 
 Rammstein (Rock Band), Tina Turner, The Royal Concept (Indie band), Rolling Stones magazine

Dislikes: 
One Direction, Newspaper styled magazines

Bio: 
Madeleine Gibson is a new singer, she currently sings on the street to allow people to hear her musical talent. She is a new singer and is always reading magazines to find out what to do and how to get into the music business. She has a talent and magazines which are upon the streets today should give her the chance to show what she can do.  She has a broad musical type and only dislikes boy bands. Madeleine would be a key target for my magazine as I would give her the chance to be spotted and offer herself as an up and coming star.

In conclusion both of these young teenagers have an interest in music; the target audience don’t have to be talented within the musical genre as they can simply just listen to it to get into their ‘Zone’. My magazine as said will provide those looking for music jobs can now find their way.

Planning a Music Magazine

Planning a Music Magazine

Firstly I’d like to point out that my magazine is aimed towards the teenagers. This is due to the fact that they are the new talent coming in and out, I wish to give them an opportunity to actually plan their life out from this magazine as jobs and other such places will be offered so that young people can find job offers. Music is one of the only ways we can communicate with the teenagers today, so the magazine will be a way of trying to communicate with them and make them feel at home. I initially was going to make my magazine an indie pop magazine, but I have changed to just pop as it is a much more common music choice and is also mostly heard by the teenagers today, I may actually include rap due to the mass amounts of new musical talent trying to get into the business of rap. The magazine I’m going to create will have a fortnightly appearance, every couple weeks gives the magazine a chance to inhabit new stories and gives the audience time to recuperate and get some money, due to the magazine being made for teenagers from the ages of 14-21 we know that they will be mostly busy with education, work or even hobbies so a fortnightly magazine gives them the advantage to check out the newest magazine and continue to get it.

As my magazine is only for teenagers and that their income is very low I will place the magazine at the price of around £2.00 this is due to it being a small and efficient amount so that the teenagers can pay for it. I wish to create my magazine to be in a more of a glossy way, this is because I think it will appeal to more teenagers due to it being in a more informal way, a magazine which is glossy will also appeal due to the fact that it looks more appealing.

Questions for my Focus Group

1. Do you believe the idea of offering jobs in a music magazine is fairly good for young teenagers?
2. Is the Price of the magazine efficiently at its best?
3. Do you believe young people would take enjoyment in buying my magazine?
4. I’m going to create a webpage for my magazine; do you believe this will help the company?
5. Finally I’d like to point out that my magazine is being created in more of a glossy way, do you think it should be that 

Institutional Research

Bauer produces mainstream magazines such as Zoo and closer, this could show their interest is not in one particular target audience this could because they aim their magazine at most middle ages people, this is due to the fact that the magazine may have a age content for those above the age of eighteen. Niche magazines are also produced these are ‘Rail’ or ‘Ride’ Bauer produces magazines for people whom are mostly middle aged, this is due to the fact that we see magazines titles such as Zoo and Closer which both are made for people above the age of eighteen and less than fifty, even though it’s a big difference in age the magazines are made for them ages. The Bauer magazine company produces the image of adult entertainment as they have magazines such as Zoo and Closer which create the magazine company to look based for more of an adult look.

IPCMedia produce yet again mainstream magazines, but there are far more niche magazines which are also being produced, an example of a niche magazine is country life as not everyone has heard of the magazine and it is mostly sold within a rural area not a built up city place. Target audience is a very big question on the magazines being produced as mostly it is rural parts of the country due to having country side magazines produced. IPCMedia magazines are aimed for country folk, as a vast amount of their magazines are aimed for people whom live or work in the country this is due to the fact that the magazines such as ‘Country Life’ Or ‘Sporting Gun’ another big target audience is women, of any age as also a big amount of magazine are made for the enjoyment of women such as ‘Woman’s Weekly’. IPC magazine have a more country look as they have magazines which range from maintaining guns to country life, this is fairly known in the country side. The magazine also publishes webpages, a example of this is ‘Mouse Breaker’ This gaming website is widely known and is made for men to play online games.

Immediate Media produces great amount of Mainstream magazine, these are known as ‘Top gear’, ‘toy box’ and so forth. These magazines can be seen as targeted for children, this is due to the fact that the company produce a varied amount of children magazines, this could be the main target audience but other magazines such as ‘GolfMagic’ are obviously for middle aged men. Immediate magazine have a much younger target audience due to their magazines being mostly created for the entertainment of children of a young age. Another target audience is for older women, this is due to the fact that a lot of knitting magazines are being produced by the company. Immediate magazine has a very more professional feel to them as they focus their two main target audience more efficiently; this is because they maintain their ideas for magazines instead of having a wide range which they cannot really keep up with.

Finally we come to Development Hell magazine company, these produce niche such as ‘Mixmag’ and ‘Stay in’ which are fairly unknown by the magazine community. We have Development Hell whom produces the niche magazines; their target audience is fair to say around the middle aged area as their magazines are varied. Development Hell has an image which is fairly easy to maintain this is due to the fact that being a niche magazine not much has to change