AS Media Evaluation

In what ways does your music magazine use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real music magazines?

My music magazine challenges forms and conventions of a real music magazine by outlining and manipulating the masthead so its related to the name of the magazine, my music magazine is called ‘smash’ therefore I have added lines on the masthead to make the text look broken and smashed.

Throughout my research I have noticed that popular and real music magazines do not tend to manipulate the masthead design to adapt it to the title. I have also added some cover lines in circular shapes; this develops and challenges forms and conventions of a real music magazine as most magazines put their text in front of rectangular shapes or no shapes.  

Although my magazine develops and challenges the forms and conventions of a real music magazine, it also uses them. An example of this would be the puffs, a central image, cover lines, a masthead positioned at the top of the front cover, other images around the side of the cover relating to the cover lines and a main cover line which relates the main image. I have also used thirds in my magazine so readers know where they’re looking and so everything is organized, which is what most magazines do. My magazine also has the central image overlapping the masthead; this shows the importance of the image.

To create my music magazine I used a magazine that already existed as a guide. I used rock magazine ‘kerrang’ because I really liked the design and it is clearly laid out to capture the audience’s eye. I also figured if I used a magazine that Is the same genre as mine it might adapt better to the rock representation, which is where I got the idea of an electric guitar.

Front Cover:
My masthead uses forms and conventions of a real music magazine through the masthead, like other popular music magazines that are similar to my genre such as NME and Q I have used the colours red and white on my masthead. Like 'Kerrang' I have also added lines onto the masthead to create an effect that links to the name of the magazine, 'smash'. My layout uses the forms and conventions of a real music magazine as it only features one individual as the main image or focal point and also includes cover lines around the sides of the magazine. The cover lines uses the forms and conventions of a real music magazine as the cover lines i have used relate to the stories you would find inside. I have made the cover lines stand out and interesting to make the reader want to turn the page and read more. The barcode uses the forms and conventions of a real music magazine as its   positioned at the bottom of the magazine, which is what most other music magazines do. I have also used the forms and conventions of a real music magazine my highlighting the puffs by adding a circle shape behind the text. Finally i have used a header above the masthead which also uses the forms and conventions of a real music magazine.

My masthead challenges forms and conventions of a real music magazine because the masthead isn't abbreviated like magazines such as NME, also most mastheads use a red filler with a white outline whereas i have reversed this to make the white stand out more amongst the black background. The composition of my image challenges the forms and conventions of a real music magazine as its not centered and is a full body shot as most music magazines usually use a medium shot for their cover. I have also challenged the forms and conventions of a real music magazine through the positioning of my puffs as i have used three starting from the centre and finishing at the bottom of the magazine, this challenges the forms and conventions as most puffs are positioned at the top of the magazine, just underneath the masthead.

My masthead develops forms and conventions of a real music magazine because i have manipulated the masthead to adapt it to the title. I have also put the cover lines and puffs in a circular shape which develops the forms and conventions of a real music magazine as most other magazines put their cover lines and puffs in front of rectangular boxes, not circles.

Contents page:
My content page uses the forms and conventions as the title is the same font and colour as the masthead, only smaller so it doesn't stand out as much as shows its importance. The layout also uses the forms and conventions of a real music magazine, like NME the columns separate all the different topics and use relatable images that link to the topics. The contents page also use the forms and conventions of a real music magazine through color, it keeps to the same colour scheme as the front cover; black, white and red, which is what a lot of music magazines generally do. I have also used the use of thirds in the layout of my contents page which also uses the forms and conventions of a real music magazine.
                                   
My contents page challenges the forms an conventions of a real music magazine through the composition, most magazines position their content on the left side of the page and the relatable images on the right wheres i have done the opposite for my music magazine.

I have developed the forms and conventions of a real music magazine by having a range of different fonts and through the size of my images.

Double page spread:
My double page spread uses the forms and conventions of a real magazine through page numbers, they're placed in the bottoms corners like the majority of most magazines and reading materials. The colour is also very consistent as it links to the contents page and front cover. I have written a byline to tell readers who the article is written by and photographed by. Finally, i have used pull quotes to pull out pieces of interesting quotes that stand out from all the rest of the text.

My double page spread challenges the forms and conventions of a real magazine through the image, i have featured a female on her own and not in band band, which is unusual for the alternative rock genre as most of these music magazines feature a male on their own or a woman in a band, very seldom  do they have a female on their own.

My double page spread develops the forms and conventions of a real music magazine as i have included a header bar at the top telling readers that the interview is exclusive and they wont find the same information anywhere else.

How does your music magazine present particular social groups?

My magazine represents particular social groups as it has a woman on the cover holding an electric guitar, this suggests it’s a rock magazine and therefore a particular social group would be people who are interested in rock music. As for the female on the cover, you don't usually see women on covers of rock magazines because there aren't many female, rock artists so you could say the female in the central image represents all women interested or involved in rock music.

What kind of media institutions may distribute your magazine and why?
A media institution that that might distribute my music magazine is IPC media as it distributes magazines in the same genre as mine such as NME, they also distribute other magazines other than music magazines such as 'TV times' and 'look'. Therefore they might be a successful distributor for my music magazine because they carry a wide audience range as they distribute a variety of different magazines. They're also popular distributors meaning you would get more people of an audience. However, as this is my first magazine and I'm an independent distributor it would be a lot more effective and cheaper to distribute my magazine online through a website. Another reason to distribute my magazine through the internet is most of my audience (teenagers and adults) are a lot more likely to read it on a website as they're able to access it through many different platforms and will be able to use social media by blogging and tweeting about the magazine to give the magazine a bigger audience.

Who would be the audience for your music magazine?
The audience for my music magazine would be people who enjoy rock music for everyone of all ages but mostly teenagers and adults.

How did you attract/address your audience in the forms and conventions used in your music magazine?
I attracted my audience in the forms and conventions used in my music magazine by including puffs eg. 'win tickets to the smash awards', 'free DVD inside' and 'free posters inside'. To make the puffs stand out I have highlighted the words 'win' and 'free' in another colour, this is effective because even if people don't like the magazine they might still buy it because there's free stuff inside and the audience feel like they're getting something out of it which is effective for you as it means more people are buying your magazine.

I have also made the main cover line bold, capitalised and bigger compared to all the other cover lines as fans of the artist (the main cover line is the artists name featured on the cover of the music magazine) will see the name and instantly pick it up, this also applies for the main image.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your music magazine?
During the process of constructing my music magazine I have learnt many technologies through the use of Photoshop, this includes outlining, shadowing and adding glows tot he text to make it stand out and giving it a sense of depth, I have also done this to the circular shapes behind the cover lines to give it a sticker effect, almost like its peeling off, by doing this I feel like I have made the music magazines appearance more fun as well as eye catching.

I have also learnt how to use the magnetic lasso tool, the background eraser and the magic wand tool to remove unwanted background, select parts of an image and to refine edges. These tools were especially useful when I was editing my images when removing the green screen. I have also used other tools on Photoshop to edit my images such as colour adjustments to change the brightness and contrast of the images used. I have also used the colour replacement tool whilst editing my images, I used the colour replacement tool to change the colour of the guitar, it was originally pink so I changed it to fit the 'rock' genre more therefore changed it to silver. I have also changed the colour of the models dress using this tool to try and fit the colour scheme better.

While constructing my music magazine I feel like I have developed my understanding of using thirds, especially on the contents page and my understanding of colour schemes, to help me do this I analysed the colour schemes of pre-existing music magazines. While constructing my music magazine on Photoshop I also used layers which helped me arrange the composition of my music magazine.

Looking back at your Preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it (the preliminary task) to the full product (the music magazine)?
Looking back at my preliminary task I feel like I have progressed a lot in comparison to my full product. In my preliminary task I think my colour scheme and use of different fonts was very basic and the composition was also quite basic as none of the forms and conventions/layers overlapped, I feel like the preliminary task was too organised and not a lot of risks were taking whilst creating the product. Also my use of images during the preliminary task were not that good as the quality was bad; they were too underexposed, the angle of the images was also very poor, for example in one of the images a girl is sitting at the computer with her coat on and the image was taken behind her.

Whereas In the full product I feel I have used an interesting range of fonts, colours and text with an interesting composition, but still using thirds. The use of images in the full product are also better as I have used a wider range of angles as well as better quality images.