FINAL - Front Cover, Contents Page & Double Page Spread

DRAFT - Front Cover, Contents Page & Double Page Spread

Evaluation Task 7

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

For my preliminary task, I had to create a school magazine front cover page and contents page. During this process I never really knew what I was doing. I didn't really have a plan. I guess I was just doing random things and trying to create something, bearing in mind I didn't have any skills in creating a magazine. I only had simple skills and simple knowledge of how to use simple programs such as PowerPoint. I knew how to add shapes, insert photos

and add text etc. I only knew the basics. Thinking back I notice that things were done so unprofessionally. For example, I took the pictures that I used with a bad quality camera and the images were not edited at all and they looked very dull. I also used very cringy shapes such as stars and do not know how, at the time, I allowed myself to go with such a childish look to a magazine. My colour scheme was very dull and boring and it doesn't appeal to me at all when I look back at it. The front cover and contents page showed no similarities and looked like two completely different magazines. I definitely did not have a target audience planned or researched which is why everything was just done so randomly. Without a target audience in media everything can go wrong as it is one of the main things to think about especially when making a magazine.

My coverlines were very boring. I obviously rushed it and did not even take time to think of coverlines which would actually appeal to an audience. For example, one of my coverlines were 'THE CONSTRUCTION SITE'. This didn't appeal to the audiences' age as it is something which is not exciting or appealing to younger people. I don't know what crossed my mind to use that as a coverline. A coverline should draw a reader in, and that certainly would not do the job as it is such a boring topic. I did not even include a barcode which is one of the key magazine conventions. Adding to that, I also did not add an issue number which is another key magazine convention.

Looking back at my title, which is 'HAMPSTEAD', makes me feel ashamed of myself as there is no creativity in it whatsoever. It definitely wouldn't catch someone's eye or attention if they walked into store. The title is very plain and didn't have anything to it, it was just the name of the school. 

For my contents page, I can also say that everything is very boring. My layout was very simple and I used PowerPoint effects on the photos. These were very amateur and simple effects, but also very childish. My contents page was nothing to get excited about as there wasn't much going on. I only added about 4 features which weren't interesting at all.

Overall, my preliminary task, was just childish and boring with no thought and plan put to it. I have definitely learnt a lot now and this is clearly seen when looking back at my work now. I have shown all my skills in my final product.

For my final product, I have definitely done everything that I did not even think about doing in my preliminary task. This includes actually sitting down and coming up with an audience who I wanted to target with my music magazine. I have put a lot of time, effort and thought into my final product and it has definitely paid off compared to my preliminary task. My music magazine was based on the UK grime genre. I chose this because I am part of that audience and know what a typical fan of that specific genre would want in a Grime magazine. I was at an advantage already because I already had knowledge of the genre and I knew what design and types of things I would include in my magazine. I did a bit of research such as what age groups my audience would be in. This was easy as people my own age are a huge part of the grime genre audience together with young adults up to around 26, maybe even older. I had a long thought of my magazine title and came up with 'SECTION'. I thought this would work out perfectly as it links to grime. For example, if someone saw my magazine, they would most probably think of the very well known, grime group called  'Section Boyz' which have invaded the Grime scene recently. 

During the process of my production, I definitely moved on from PowerPoint and went on to use Photoshop to design my music magazine. By now, I had developed a lot of skills in Photoshop which helped me make my magazine look a thousand times better than my school magazine and definitely more professional this time. For example, just the difference in the layout of the front cover between my music magazine and my school magazine was huge and such an improvement. The school magazine just looked so flat and almost dead, whereas, my music magazine front cover looked alive and actually looked like a professional magazine. For my final product, I also had to think about the type of language I would be using. In this case I used a few slang terms to connect with my audience. Colloquial language was important to think about in my music magazine as it would relate back to the audience and the audience is the key factor of making a magazine.

Finally, after finishing my final product I have come to conclusion that the most important thing for making a magazine is being thoughtful every step of the way. I noticed that taking time and actually doing research will help you understand fully the genre that you are working with. Rushing does not get you anywhere, as I learnt in my preliminary task and doing things slowly but effectively is important. Going back through what I done made me notice errors which I corrected and improved. Also, detail is a major key when it comes to making a magazine, I am very happy with my final product and the experience was great as I now have an idea of how it is to work in the magazine industry.

Evaluation Task 6

Evaluation Task 5

Evaluation Task 4

Evaluation Task 3

Evaluation Task 2

How does your magazine represent a particular social group?

The genre of my magazine is UK Grime. This means that the stereotypical target audience of this genre is mostly young teens and young adults aged around 16-26, both male and female.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                To attract my audience I told myself that I needed photos for my magazine that would relate to my audience. I went ahead and found my model which was in the age margin for who i wanted to target with my magazine. 

I also thought that if I wanted to appeal to my target I needed the model to fit in with the fashion style of people within the age margin but also within the grime genre. In my pictures throughout my magazine, shows him wearing a black hoodie, black bomber jacket, and a baseball cap. These are typical clothing items that a lot of our generation these days wear. This means that the magazine will relate to a lot of people and attract them. He is also wearing a gold chain and a gold watch. This shows that within this genre comes success which also motivates a lot of young people out there. As clothing and fashion is a huge passion for people nowadays, especially people within my target audience, I think that the fashion used in the pictures in my magazine will create a bond within the audience. 

My magazine will be aimed at all ethnic groups as it is mostly targeted for the people's passion for this music genre.

Evaluation Task 1

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

My magazine uses the conventions of a magazine but also developed in a way to make my magazine unique in my way. I do not challenge any conventions because i follow through with the conventions required in a magazine.

For my title, i followed to conventions of a magazine. I created my title using inspiration from current magazines. The title for my magazine is quite common in the magazine industry. I researched a lot of magazines and saw that the letters are most of the time close together. I then decided i will go ahead and use this style in my magazine. I used the magazine 'FADER' as inspiration for my magazine title.

I decided to go with a similar style and layout of the front cover of 'FADER' magazine. I placed the main title and the main coverline in the same places as the 'FADER' magazine as i liked the simple but effective look of it.

 I also added a few of my touches to it to make it look unique and not too similar to the 'FADER' magazine. These include colour. I used a different colour on the main coverline, whereas, 'FADER' uses white or black most of the time. I used colour as i want my magazine to stand out from all the other music magazines. I stuck to the colour scheme which was mostly black, white and grey but also a couple of colours from the clothes of the model such as orange.
 I also stuck to the convention of the title being big and bold to stand out to the audience and grab the readers attention. I also kept the original convention of a normal magazine and placed the bar code at the bottom left of my magazine with the price of the magazine above it.
 Another similarity between my magazine and a lot of music magazines, especially grime, is the medium shot of a music artist in the centre of the page of the front cover. 

Formative feedback - Miss Hunter

WWW: Ron - your recent updates are good. Your case study is detailed and thoughtful.


EBI: Some of your statements need more explanation. E.g you have said that a monochrome colour scheme links to grime - explain why they link.


Next steps: Publish all your recent work to your blog. Push yourself to complete your magazine and to begin your evaluation.

Photoshoot For Magazine

Inspiration For Magazine Photos

I chose these pictures as inspiration because i think these type of photos will appeal to my target audience for the grime genre. 

Also, i would like to stick to the colour scheme of dark colours such as black and grey as they suit the genre. Grime is a very underground genre and a lot of artists rap about very dark subjects and events that have occurred to them in their pasts. Grime artists express themselves in their music by getting their stories across to their audience. They tell stories in a very deep way which will get to peoples emotions. The dark colours link very well with the genre due to these reasons. As you can tell, in all of these pictures, the colour black is in use in the clothing. Some of the pictures are even taken in a black and white effect to go with the genre.
  

Audience Research

Case Study Part 4: Double Page Spread

The double page spread of this magazine about Miguel which is a very famous American singer. It takes up 6 pages in the magazine and each page has photos dotted around equally. This articles target audience is Miguel's fans which are mostly females because of his style of music. Miguel is a very successful singer so the audience want to read about his music success.

On the first double page spread, there is a medium long shot of Miguel. The fact that the target audience is mostly females, the article is almost trying to seduce them so they can read on. In this Mid shot, Miguel is topless underneath his jacket and is holding a bunch of roses. Roses and the colour red both show love and passion which is going to attract a lot of females in this case. Also, it seems as if he is throwing a rose at the reader. This stands out and will bring them in even more into carrying on reading the article. The colour red is also very eye-catchy and it contrasts the background, which is white and makes the whole page quite powerful. The colour white, which he is wearing, shows light, goodness and perfection which makes the article more bright and not boring to read and look at for the readers. Another thing that really stands out on the page is the title 'MIGUEL IS TRYING TO SEDUCE YOU'. Even through all of the colours, photo and symbols used to show this, the title is there to make it even clearer that 'Miguel Is Trying To Seduce You' and that this is the whole point of the article. The title is in black. It is very bold and the fact that it is in all capitals makes it stand out even more. It also contrasts the white background.

Under the main title there is a small paragraph of a summary of what the articles is going to be about. The font is quite small compared to the main title but it is big enough for the readers to read it. It is also not very long. They kept it very simple but effective because it says what it is going to be about in only a few words at the end, 'Sex, Drugs and Self-Empowerment. The font is pink which is a feminine colour. This goes to show that the articles is definitely aimed more towards females as pink is thought to be a very girly colour. In this small paragraph the names 'Miguel' And 'Ted Kessler' are in different colours to the rest of the paragraph. Miguel's name is in black which is bold and Ted - which is the interviewer- is in white which also stands out in front the shadow of the rose in the background which is dark. This different colour font in names is done to just make it easier clearer to see who is involved in this article, in this case it is just the two.

The next double page spread is where the article actually starts. The layout is quite simple and the writing to photo ratio is quite equal. This is done so the readers do not get bored of too much reading and if there was just writing on the page they would automatically think that it is boring. The photos give the article a more fun and live experience. There is writing all the way down the left side and all across the bottom of the page, but the photos are all bundled up mostly on the middle and the right side of the double page spread. The writing is laid out in columns so it is easier for the reader to follow. In the bottom left corner of the page there is a black box which stands out and straight away catches the reader’s attention. The editor has picked a quote and put it in the box with white font so that the reader views it before reading the article. The quote could suggest that it is an important part of the interview so it will make the reader curious and look for it in the article and maybe read on from there. The article uses simple black font which stands out on the white background. The bold black title 'TOPLESS' stands out and also links to one the main topics of the article which is 'sex'.

On the right there’s 4 different photos of Miguel, all different sizes and are set up overlapping each other. The first one is of him crowd surfing which shows the interaction between him and his fans. In the photo, everyone is trying to reach for him. This shows how much his fans love him and that he loves his fans back as he is interacting with all of them. In one part of the article it shows another way of his interaction with his fans. "I FUCKING LOVE YOU, MIGUEL!". The word 'fucking and 'love' show how passionate his fans are. He replies "Love you too, baby" to that fan which, again, shows how much he loves his fans back. The fact that he uses the word 'baby' makes it seem as if he knows that person but it just shows the connection he has with his fans and how we makes the feel good and welcome. This also interacts with the reader as it shows what type of person he is and presents his personality in a positive way. The other 2 photos of him on stage express his passion for music and singing. In the photos he looks very passionate by the way he is jumping and dancing while holding the microphone. This just shows that he is not just there to get his performance over and done with but to also leave a fun and unforgettable experience for him and his fans. The last photo is of his album cover, 'Wildheart', which is also quoted in a pink box on top of the photos which gives information about them.

On the last double page spread, the editor used a similar layout as the one before where most of the page is columns of writing but also a few photos aswell around the page. This time there is a long shot of Miguel walking down a street on the top left corner of the page, which covers about half of the page. The clothes he is wearing follows the colour scheme which shows that the colour scheme is constant throughout each double page spread. The colour scheme is clearly white, black and red. In the long shot, he is wearing black shades, a white shirt, black and red striped trousers and classic black shoes. These colours are very classy and show he is a classy guy but also shows the consistency of the colour scheme used and that the magazine is very organized and sophisticated. The bold black box with the quote is used again to catch the reader's attention, so they can view it first and then try to find it in the article so they can read on. This makes the reader really interact with the article and makes them feel like they are a part of it. The quote used is about 'sexuality'. This will have an effect on the audience as they are females and sexuality is a big thing for them. The last photo is a close up of Miguel and he is looking towards the camera. It seems as if he is looking into the readers eyes. This is used as a way to make the reader feel like they have interacted with Miguel as it is the last picture of him from the article.

Case Study Part 3: Contents Page

The contents page is spread across two pages instead of being very organized and shown in a list. This emphasizes the fact that it is a fun magazine and it isn’t trying to be like every other magazine, it is unique and different.

The contents page mostly contains articles about more popular music bands and artists. For example '50 Cent', 'Miguel' and 'The Maccabees' are shown because they are popular and this is done to draw in the readers to carry on and explore the magazine. On the other hand, if it was a more unknown music band, people would not be as interested to read on.

Also, there are little sentences under the articles which draw readers in a lot. For example on '50 cent' it says "the MC and businessman has had quite a time of it recently. Ask him all about it". This makes the reader want to read on because they want to find out what 'quite a time' 50 cent has been having. Also, "ask him all about it" welcomes the reader and makes them feel part of it as if they are actually going to ask him questions.

The page is covered in photos of music artists and different bands. This makes the magazine more lively and exciting for the readers and also attracts their target audience, especially if someone sees one of their favourite artists or bands.

The use of colour is very important for the contents page and helps a lot to attract readers.

• The colour black is used mostly for the contents sub titles. This is because it stands out and is very bold compared to the background colour which is white. This is the use of contrast to make things stand out more.
• The page numbers of the contents shown in the page are in big, colourful circles. The colours used are clearly very bright and fun. For example, blue, red, orange and yellow. These colours help the contents stand out and are very clear in the page.

Case Study Part 2: Front Cover

The title ‘Q’ is attractive and will stand out to the audience, as it is only one letter.  It is short and sharp. The use of the capital letter gives it more energy and attracts the audience further. It also has a bright red square behind the letter ‘Q’ which makes it stand even more to attract readers.

The cover lines are mainly band names and musicians such as ‘The Maccabees’ and ’50 cent’.  This shows that it is very straight to the point and simple. It shows the readers what they want in an easy and quick way to read. Also, it attracts people that see artists or bands that they like and listen to and straight away they become interested in the magazine.

The language used in the cover is formal and straight to the point but effective enough to draw the reader in. For example, ‘PLUS!’ draws readers in as it is in capitals and the exclamation mark is almost as if it is shouting to get the reader’s attention. Also, the word ‘PLUS!’ is bigger than the other writing which makes it stand out to the audience.

The average price of a magazine is about £3.00 but ‘Q’ magazine is higher than average at £4.20. The price mirrors the target audience as they are young adults who are interested in music and can afford to buy it.