Music Magazine: Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? One of my main aims when starting this project was to create a unique publication, so although I used conventions of real media productions to signpost the genre of the magazine and its attitude, I tried to include more signature elements as well to make it recognisable and to stand out against other magazines. I used the conventional attitude for this genre of music and its publications- to live life loud, to the full, etc - but developed it by adding a passion for the construction of music (instruments, influences, genre-specific styles and techniques) by including articles that focus on this on my contents page. The extreme colours and editing on the front cover also represent the 'hard-core' attitude that many similar magazines have, but as many subdue these colours with blacks and greys, I tried to keep my publication as bright as possible, challenging this conventional style and setting my work apart from other magazines - this is also shown through my use of white in the DPS and contents page.  

How does your media product represent particular social groups? As my model is young, and the artist she represents also, young people are represented as creative and represent the attitudes of the magazine. However, as my magazine is for an alternative style of music, I have tried to make the audience feel they are represented as alternative and individual too. I have done this through the music taste of my artist - older, more obscure music rather than mainstream or well known inspirations - which the audience may know, and which may not be featured in other magazines. The focus on gigs creates an image that the audience will frequently attend them, representing the reader as fun-loving and cultutre-driven. Also, the focus on the production and essence of the music shows the reader as creative in possibly wanting to persue playing instruments themselves or composing songs. My magazine does come across very teen-orientated, which is disappointing because I initially wanted it to be accessable to more people than just a young audience. However, I feel that the focus on the music rather than the artist and live music/gigs may draw additional, possibly older, readers if the magazine gains a reputation for specialising or excelling in this area. On another note, I chose the style of music that my artist sang to be alternative in that she does not sing pop or ballads like many female artists and her music has a much rockier, harder edge that other alternative female artists such as Florence and the Machine. This challenges the regular image of women in music, which I also tried to do with her costuming in the photo shoot. By asking her to wear a t-shirt, jeans etc I represented her as down-to-earth and a regular person, whereas many women in music are shown to be larger-than-life divas or godesses.

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

I feel that the institutions that publish similar magazines to my own, such as IPC Media, that publishes NME, or the Bauer Media Group that publishes Q and Kerrang! may publish my magazine. However, it is similar to what the sell currently so an independent or lesser-known publisher may more interested - this may not be possible although due to the expense involved in publishing.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I feel that those most interested in this magazine would be young people (15-25?) with an interest in music greater than what's just in the charts. They may go to university - they will be independent regardless, as this is one of the values of my production - and possibly be interested in the creative arts due to the technical musical focus in some of the articles and alternative design and photography. They may wish to live spontaneously, with lots of fun and no consequences. Despite having a female featured on the cover, my magazine is fairly gender neutral; I have tried not to include factors that appeal only to one gender. My ideal reader would have a wide music knowledge, including mainstream music, obscure and unsigned artists and an appreciation for older or classic music. Their music knowledge would include internet sites where the 'buzz' about artists are such as PureVolume and Hypem and be members of these as well as well-known and established sites for projecting music such as MySpace.

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

From my original plan for my contents page, I learnt that some things are not possible to do on MS Publisher, which I created most of my work on. I originally wanted to do a diagonal 'slash' across the page with one side being a feature photo about the main article, and the other listing the articles in the magazine - features, regulars etc. However, in practice I found that this was going to be impossible to create without using Photoshop or a similar product, which I'm not very proficient in, due to text boxing and allignment in Publisher. From photo manipulation, I improved my skills in Photoshop, but they are still basic as many of the things I need to learn from it come from frequent use, and I am not experienced enough with the programme to use it at ease. However, manipulating photos meant that I learnt how to use the effects in this programme and Picasa and, after manipulation, how to decrease the size of the finished file. For signature fonts, I used websites such as dafont.com to find them, so I learnt a lot about downloading and installing specific typography.

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

I feel that my preliminary was quite strong, because I struggled slightly with the design of the music magazine more, whereas the preliminary was always very clear in what the style should be. I think this may have been because the context of the preliminary was very clear and specific and the music magazine had lots of scope for a range of styles. From this, I learnt to be more decisive as, although I am pleased with the final product, I feel that I spent too long dithering over the design of my magazine and changing it too often resulting in a different style that I had originally intended and myself occasionally losing sight of why I was using the design in this way because I wanted it to look pretty. It is difficult to compare my prelimary and main production as they are so different in context and readership, but I feel that my music magazine was more appropriate to the task set than my preliminary, which included irelevant things to the school. During this project, I have learnt more about how to use and apply skills on various computer programmes, and how to source relevant information from the internet.

Music Magazine: Audience Evaluation

This is one of my classmates, who does not take Media Studies, assessing my work. I chose here because she would have an unbiased view and she does not have the smae taste of music as the magazine promotes - this means that if I question her about whether she would buy it, only the magazine's style, attitudes and first impression will be factors in her decision. I was really impressed with how much she had to say, as I only had a few questions written down as prompts and I ended up having to cut down the video beacuase it was over 20 minutes long. I wanted the assessment to be more of a conversation than an Q&A assessment so that I could discuss my opinions and intentions and learn from what she said about my work.  Icut the majorityof this discussion because it was irrelevant to the evaluation but have kept in all her reses to my questions and opinions about the key concepts. Most of our conversation is off-the-cuff so may be repeated or unclear.

Music Magazine: Finished Product

These are printscreens of my final product. They were taken from MS Publisher so the dotted boxes surrounding many of the elements do not show in my hard copy. 

I have tried to include as many elements that I originally planned as possible. I have kept a consistent house-style, which is similar to my initial plan in the colour scheme. However, I have changed the fonts as the initial font was too difficult to include seamlessly in the production. I chose the font for 'Unichord' as it represents the magazine's focus on music rather than artists and has a bold, recognisable image. I chose the font for the main title to be impactful and combined with the striking colouring, achieves this effectively. I included a typical feature of this genre magazine through the 'colour blocking' around the coverlines in the 'Plus!' section. I tried to ensure that the colour scheme of the front cover reflected and linked to colours in the photo, which are saturated in te editing process to emphasise the extreme attitude of the publication.

I created continuity in my magazine by using the 'Unichord' font for the contents title and the front cover's colour scheme. I had contained different images but after I learnt that all the images I include must be ones I have taken, I searched through my photos and included random photos - they are related to the features in my head - to represent the variety of content in the magazine and emphasise the attitude of sponteneity and fun that the publication has. I chose photos from live gigs on the features and regulars 'bands' to reaffirm the high emphasis on live music the magazine has so that first time readers would easily get this impression.

I repeated some of the fonts in other parts of the magazine to create continutity in the DPS, but used a different font for the 'Francis Champion' title to differentiate from the rest of the publication and create an 'image' of the artist. I included lots of photos, as I have learnt that this is a common feature of this genre magazine and to ensure the spread doesn't seem too serious, as my target audience is quite young.

Music Magazine: Development

When constructing my plans for my front cover, double page spread and contents page, I did not consider the logistics of creating them. My main problem has been ahereing to the layout I set and fitting everything in whilst still keeping a professional look. Because of this, I have had to alter some of my desgins.

Contents page:

I did really like my initial plan for the contents page and felt it created a signature, individual style but when making it, I found that it was pretty impossible to create on MS Publisher. In a mock-up document, I attempted different ways of doing it, such as creating a 'staggered' diagonal with photos because my original positioning of them according to the plan, which meant that there was little room for text or the photos were too small. However, my main problem was text, as publisher does not all text to allign diagonally so when I added any words, it did not look good. The only way to create this contents plan successfully would be to make it in Photoshop or a similar programme which isn't really an option as I am not very experienced in using such programmes and the finished product would probably be very messy and unprofessional. I do feel that if I were to produce this design, however, I think it would be very successful in what I want to achieve.

As this design wasn't possible to achieve, I have planned a new layout for my contents page which is much more achieveable. I am disappointed that doesn't stand out as unique as much as the previous design, but I feel that I can still create an individual feel through the typography and images. This plan, on the right - click to enlarge, has a very coventional layout and has space allowed for the editor's letter and multiple images.

House-style and front cover:

Deciding on a front cover image that represented the attitudes of my publication has been difficult. Here are some printscreens of my front cover in development - possible styles, fonts, colours and images.

Music Magazine: Contextual Research

Publications that inspire my own work include NME, Q, Mojo, Kerrang and music platfroms such as Orange Unsigned Act, Myspace, PureVolume and Hypem. These all specialise in alternative or classic alternative music, meaning they have a lot of the same values and attitudes as my magazine. I researched similar publications to my own to see if I can learn anything from them to include or consider when creating my coursework:

Contextual research
Front covers:


These two front covers are from similar publications to what I want my own to be. They have differing focuses and audiences, but their style and attitude are what I wish to create.
Genrally, it can be said that Q focus much more on mainstream music and NME on alternative like my own, but Q is still relevant through it's heavier concentration on the music than other magazines, a feature which my questionnaire showed I needed to include in my own work.
Q's cover is much more 'slick' than NME which is styled in a very young, rebellious way, but Q remains edgy and different from other publications through it's colour scheme and photography. These factors create a different image of Cheryl Cole, who is usually represented as a 'pop princess' , through the dark colouring and contrast with red, creating a dramatic effect which is supported by the uncharacterist photo - encouraging the audience to buy this issue as they may think they will see a 'darker side' to Cole or read about her in a different light. Both magazines feature a red colour scheme which is intergrated into the photo of the artist, suggesting that the music or attitude towards life is intense, high-energy and passionate and that this is reflected in the artists. If Q has 'slick' styling, NME is rough; possibly to attract a younger audience or to reflect the more alternative genre of music. The typography on each cover is bold, but the 'paper clipping' font on NME's cover, and the angled text, suggest sponteneity, re-affirming the 'edgy' attitude of the publication.

Double page spreads:

 In terms of content, I would rather my double page spread be like the Kerrang! example because it contains more text and information. I resolved to include a lot of information in my editorial to be able to explore ideas about the background and inspirations of the artist and how this influenced their music because my questionnaire showed that this is important to the audience. The length of the NME editorial wouldn't allow me to do this without it seeming rushed or not flowing very well. However, in terms of styling, I prefer NME. Although each represent their respective genres effectively, I think that the NME spread looks more professional and is impactful in its simplicity. Like the front covers, the two publications use a red colour scheme. The NME spread is a continuation of the front cover's styling, creating continuity. This is something I should consider when creating my own DPS and front cover as it will make my magazine look more professional and have a clear link between the cover article and the feature on the spread. Although I want to include more than one photo on my double page spread, I think that the amount of images used in the Kerrang feature creates a bit of a cluttered look. However, the way the bar running across the page is edited around the photo creates an impression that the artists are coming out of the page, emphasising the larger-than-life attitude of the magazine as well as creating a cleaner, professional effect. The dark colour scheme with the contrasting red and purple signposts the genre as dramatic, dark, intense, powerful or rebellious, as does the clothing of the band, suggesting that they also have these qualities and creating a classic 'rock star' image for them. In contrast, Lily Allen's styling in the NME DPS is very everyday, almost ordinary, suggesting she is down-to-earth and 'one of the people.' When creating my double page spread and styling my model, I need to consider whether I want to create an artist that is relateable or someone that the audience can idolise as the extreme, unreal image they use.

Contents pages:


As with the front covers, Q's cover is much 'cleaner' than the stundent's, Pure Scream, which uses a much messier style to appeal to the younger audience and represent its genre focus. I feel that there is too much writing on the Q contents, and the additional information isn't necessary in some places. Both contents pages feature large, relevant images to break up the text so I shall make sure to include this in my own work. Pure Scream uses the same manipulation technique as Kerrang!, in that the text is edited around the photo, which overlaps in some places to create the same impression - the music is so big and extreme, it's coming out of the page. In contrast, the Q contents is quite boring but the consistent font and colour scheme create a standarised style, as if it is the same each month, meaning that it would be easily recognisable to readers because it is familiar. An issue with the Pure Scream contents is that, although the layout may be the same, the central image would need to be changed to keep it relevant to the features. This could cause problems in the colour scheme if the photo's colours mask the text at all. I also want to include an editor's letter to create a more personal feel to my magazine, which neither of these examples include, which could cause problems with my layout.

In my own work:
Out of these examples, NME is the closest to the genre I am planning to focus on, which is shown in the language. The graphology is simplistic but creates an alternative style, a balance I want to create in my own work to make my magazine seem professional and individual. The pull quote used as the title in NME's DPS is effective in drawing the reader's interested and I am planning on using it on my front cover. In my opinion, my target audience wouldn't be interested in the prestige of the magazine, so I will not be including puffs like the Q front cover ("The UK's Biggest Music Magazine").

From this research, I have noticed typical conventions of this genre including statement fonts; dark colours conrasted with bright, especially red; the model having eye-contact with the reader; label-like block colouring for subheadings and headings (eg. NME's circular 'stickers', Q's artist coverlines and Kerrang's "I was tripping balls" header); intense colouring and imagery and angled text and photos. All of these features create the attitude of the magazine and I plan to include some to reflect the values of my own publication.

Music Magazine: Photoshoot and Manipulation

Now that the focus of my magazine and what kind of artists will feature had been decided, I had an idea of what kind of photos I needed to take.
From my preliminary activity, I knew I needed to use a better quality camera so I borrowed a friends and decided to shoot outside to reduce 'graininess' as much as possible. I wanted an environment for my photoshoot that represented my artist, so chose an urban setting to show that their music is 'real and gritty.' The area I chose wasn't as much like this as I would have liked, but included graffiti and a run-down fire escape, so fitted the requirements well enough.

On the actual photoshoot, I took over 200 photos, but here is a (severely condensed) slideshow of the best ones:

After taking them, I chose some photos to manipulate to explore the ways I could display them in the magazine.
Here are some of my manipulations (click to enlarge):

 In this photo I increased the shadows and contrast within the picture to emphasise the griminess of the environment, and therefore the artist's style and attitude. Doing this also increased the brightness and clarity of the grafitti behind the model, again highlighting the urban environment.
Click [here] for the original (pre-manipulation) photo.

 For this photo, I played around with the saturation levels to give a washed-out look. This is probably my favourite manipulation because it does everything I aimed to do in the first photo and through this makes the grafitti and the model's eyes and hair stand out more than the monochromatic background. I will try and include this type of manipulation in my publication and try this technique on other photos to see how it works out.
[Original photo]

 In this, I attempted to draw all attention to the model by increasing the light and brightness of the photo - causing the background to become white like a photography studio. It did create a dramatic effect that I liked but the angle of this photo isn't very good so the effect is lessened by the fact you can't really see the model's face. I think this could be a successful manipulation effect on the right photo so I will attempt it on other images.
[Pre-edited image]

 I didn't use any particular technique for this photo, but wanted to create the kind of image that might be used on the artist's album cover instead of a poster in a magazine. I played around with the levels of colour, contrast and light in this image until I was happy with the effect. I like the almost-posterised effect of this image and could imagine this as an album cover.
Click here for the [original image] and my mock-up of it as an [album cover]

For this last manipulation, I tried a more subtle approach and re-touched some of it. For example, I removed any slight skin blemishes that the model had and changed her make-up slightly to fill the water line of her eyes. I also removed some strands of hair in her face. The changes aren't really noticeable, which I'm proud of but I found this a time-consuming process that was ultimately pointless but might consider it for any close-up shots I use.
[Unedited image]

Music Magazine: Editorial Plan

Editor's letter:

• Length: short so people will not get bored and to free up space on the contents page
• Tone: informal - personal to reader, makes them feel included and valued by the publications - use direct address, lots of pronouns
•  Keep up the ‘edgy’ attitude of the magazine through language use - superlatives, intensifiers etc
• Things to mention: changes in the magazine, features this week, what’s coming up, goings-on behind the scenes, etc
•  Ending in the signature (and possibly photo) of editor to enhance the personalised feel and connection with reader
•  Features this week: Talk about how exciting it was to talk to the focus artist, as well as the opportunity to speak to any other artists and the creation of other features this week
•  Coming up: exclusive tour access to someone very famous, talk to myspace music heads to get an insight into what’s new and popular
• Magazine goings-on: new art director, should soon see some exciting new changes to the design/layout etc of magazine

Double-page spread contents:

Format: Q&A format, but with input from writer in between to avoid a scripted conversation feel.

Core purpose of article: to promote new album

Possible topics: Artist's inspiration, how she feels about her sucess, what she plans to do next, her rise to fame, development of album etc

 

Possible questions to ask:

 

Questions to answer (introduction/establishing paragraphs):  

 

• What is your album about? Does it have a personal meaning to you?
• Is it any different from your previous music/songwriting?
• What do you feel about your album?
• How do you feel about your success?
• When does it come out?
• Where will it be available?

Questions to answer (album promotion):

• What is your album about? Does it have a personal meaning to you?
• Is it any different from your previous music/songwriting?
• What do you feel about your album?
• How do you feel about your success?
• When does it come out?
• Where will it be available?

 

Music Magazine: Reader Profile

For a magazine of alternative music, specialising in unsigned bands:

Gender:	Unspecified, no audience bias
Age:	17-25
Interests:	Music, fashion, gigs, discovering new music, the internet (youtube, myspace music, twitter)
Music preferences:	Indie, alternative
Artist examples:	Florence and the Machine, Kate Nash, The Scarlet Harlots, Kings of Leon, Jessie J (even though all these artists are signed, they represent ‘what music should be’) A variety of genres, but all alternative to the charts
Personality traits:	a want to be separate from the crowd/ to be independent, likes to have fun and enjoys networking with people both in real life and online
Beliefs:	Music should be ‘about the music;' free living/freedom of speech (through music);
Where they meet friends:	Gigs, online fan-bases of bands, festivals and other exciting, 'non-mainstream' activities
Likes:	Being individual; going to gigs and festivals; Orange Unsigned Act/Myspace music/Hype Machine/Pure Volume; the exclusivity of knowing music other people don’t
Dislikes:	Things that are popular, Simon Cowell, TV talent shows, chart music, their parents because they strive for independence

Music Magazine: Initial Designs

These are my rough plans for the layout of my magazine (click to enlarge any of the images):

Front cover:

When thinking about the genre of music magazine I want to create, I imagine the style and layout of the magazine to make a statement, especially on the front cover - to catch the reader's attention and set it apart from the other magazines. My questionnaire results found that this is what potential readers want and are attracted to so I hope that my large, statement headers will do so. As the layout of my front cover is left aligned, I plan to take photos that are mainly right-aligned to create balance. As you can see written on my plan, my initial idea was to have the model leaning against a wall or tree which could create a laid-back or 'edgy' image of the artist depending on how I frame, manipulate or angle the shot.
I plan to have the masthead in a very distinctive font to create a recognisable style for the magazine and to have the main header, the pull quote, in a very bold and heavy sans serif font to create as much impact as possible. Other fonts, in the subtitles/date/issue number, will be a different sans serif font to create variety whilst still making sure that all the text is easily readable.

Contents page:

I hope that by using the diagonal on this page, the 'edgy' feel desired will be created because it is an unconventional technique. This will also create a unique feel to the magazine and act as one of the signature features I planned to create.
For the contents page, I want to have a variation of fonts - bold, impactful ones for headers and easy-to-read sans-serif ones for the smaller texts. The header fonts I decide to use should reflect the attitudes and values of this publication as this is what will draw the eye and give a first impression of the magazine.

Double page spread:

I plan to use a conventional layout for my double-page-spread in order to fit the content I wish to include in easily. This will allow me to write more for my editorial and therefore be better quality. From my questionnaire, I learnt that I needed to include fairly indepth information about the music itself, rather than the artist and 'gossipy' style information so this what I will need to concentrate on here. Despite the conventional style, I plan to take photographs that represent the individuality of the artist and magazine. I also plan to use statement fonts for the headings.

Here is my initial house style plan, which I feel represents the target reader's attitude and expectations of this type of magazine:

• I chose the fonts because they have an 'edgy' style that sets them apart from other magazines- I learnt through my questionnaire that readers want this
• I added courier and arial because there needs to be an easy-to-read font for the main text to make accessible to the reader. 
• In terms of the colour scheme, I thought that the bright colours would create a striking effect against the black and white so would again appeal to the wants of the audience for its design to stand out against other magazines.

Music Magazine: Questionnaire and Results

 

The people I sent questionnaires to varied in their magazine consumption. I sent it to both people I know buy music magazines regularly and those who hardly ever do. By doing this, I ensured I got an idea of what readers might want from my magazine if they saw it on a shelf and knew nothing about it, as well as what regular readers might expect. When writing it, I tried to include questions that will help me write and design my front cover, contents page and double page spread as well as the general house style of the magazine. I also included specifics such as price and rate of publication (weekly, monthly etc) so I wouldn't have to worry about them later.

From sending out this questionnaire, I have learnt:  

•   a £2-£3 price bracket would be most popular, however people would be prepared to pay more depending on the content
• All my results showed readers would be interested in a magazine featuring alternative music and specialising in unsigned bands - In general, most leaned towards a higher focus on unsigned 
• Results show the audience cares most about interviews and exposure for new music in a magazine such as this than promotions and competitions. Regular features that were rated highly in importance also include gig guides, album and single reviews and audience opinions/feedback page. The questionnaire also showed people wanted articles about music itself, not just the artist so I aim to include an article such as this, as well as the regular features in my contents page 
•   Everyone said they would want a variety of features, and lots of them so I need to keep this in mind when writing my contents page
• The questionnaire also showed that content is key - people are prepared to pay more if the content is good, and will buy a magazine specially for the content, even if they do not usually buy it. I must make sure my content is worthwhile and interesting so that more people will be attracted to it - including people who don’t regularly buy my publication or music magazines in general.
• In terms of design, many people wanted something that would have a different look to other magazines (an edgy/extreme style was preferred, as well as quirky and personal) and the use of colour, layout and typography was important in attracting them. I must think carefully about the style of my front cover and house style of the magazine when planning and creating it if I want attract as many people as possible
  ·         The questionnaire also showed that people wanted the front cover image to have eye contact with the audience, so I must make sure this is the case with the photo I choose.

·  How this effects my initial ideas: The results of my questionnaire show that my initial ideas would be popular, but I may have to change some elements, such as including a greater emphasis on the workings of music rather than artists. I must still keep a focus on live music through features like gig guides and gig reviews and include audience input through feedback pages. The requirement for lots of varied features means that I can explore my initial ideas through the headings on this page. When thinking about design, I must make it eye-catching and unique - the questionnaire showed that an 'edgy' style that I thought about in my initial ideas would be appropriate for this publication but I want to include features that would be 'signature' to the magazine to create a personal effect.

Music Magazine: Initial Ideas

I want to create a magazine that will

• Introduce people to new music, as well as providing information about known artists
• Have a heavy emphasis on live music and initimate gigs, local festivals
• Possibly specialise in unsigned or unknown bands
• Be 'a print-based MySpace'
• Include lots of audience input - letters, reviews, guest articles, feedback pages
• Have an genre focus indie/urban/alternative music
• Be styled to be 'edgy'
• Appeal to lovers of alternative music as well as young people
• Encourage an attitude to 'live life loud'
• Stand out against other magazines