1. In what ways does my music magazine use, develop
or challenge forms and conventions of real media
magazines?

2.  The layout of my magazine front cover is set so that the main image is surrounded by cover
lines, rather than being disguised behind them; to avoid cluttering and maintain structure and
organisation. I did this so that the audience of the magazine could clearly see that this was the
main attraction/story of the magazine. Also, I have constructed the magazine so that the
tagline, and cover lines are in a mundane place in comparison to other music magazines. I did
this so that the magazine looks more professional and of a higher quality. Furthermore, I
arranged the main cover line to be the width of the magazine so that it is clearly emphasized
and easily noticeable that it is the main attraction, together with linking with the main image.
Finally, I made the magazine so that it follows the route of the eye technique. When looking at
my magazine you are initially attracted to the mast head, then to the main image and lastly to
the main cover line. As you can see in the image of my indie/rock magazine and the image of
a professional music magazine called ‘Q’; which follows a similar genre, they both are have a
similar layout. This is because some components are placed in similar places and are of similar
sizes. This is evidence of my magazine competing and challenging other media magazines of a
similar genre.
 The layout of my music magazines contents page has a specific layout so that the
main story/article takes up a large slot on the page. This allows the reader so
instantly see that it is the most important article. I have also arranged the page so
that all of the page numbers are in a column on the left side, together with the
most popular articles for the reader on the right side of the page. This gives the
reader the opportunity to easily scan to see which page they would like to visit.
Furthermore, the content page has been structured so that it isn't cluttered or has
any overlapping. I done this so that it is easier for the reader to scan and select.
You can see in the images that my content page clearly challenges the professional
‘NME’ content page. This is because they have a similar layout style to them. For
instance, the page numbers and main articles are both placed in similar places,
giving them both a clear, specific and easily readable style. Furthermore, the overall
shape of both content pages are rather similar, which further provides evidence
that my magazine challenges other indie/rock music magazines.
The layout of my double page spread follows a
similar style to other double pages, because it
is set so that a main image takes up one page
and the article the other page. My double page
spread is set out so that the main heading is
covering the top centre of the double page
which is rather mundane in comparison to
other music magazines. The double page has
quite a structured style and isn’t cluttered in
comparison to other magazines of this genre. I
done this because the musician in which the
double page is about is currently sorting out
his life; meaning the pages would reflect and
represent him at this current time. The cover
lines and the smaller images overlap the main
image because they’re related in terms of time
and place. The overall the layout of the double
page spread has been constructed so that it will
not only appeal to a young audience, but an
older audience too, due to the structure of
it.You can see that my double page spread
challenges other professional pages such as
‘NME’s. This is because they have a similar
layout, due to them both having the indie/rock
genre.

3.  The main image on my front cover of ‘Declan Douglas’ is a mid
shot. I chose to use this shot because I realised when
researching the music magazines of this genre that this is a
mundane/common type of shot to use. The reason for this may
be so that the audience can see the style of the artist via
clothing, face, hair, expression and body language with relative
detail. I edited this image using Photoshop, so that it matched
the colour scheme of the magazine. By doing this, I found that
it made the magazine look more professional. This type of
editing is also used by other music magazines so that their
magazines grab the attention of their audience. On the
contents page I used a mid shot as the main image and a close
up in the smaller image. I used Photoshop to edit the mid shot
by changing the image to a higher contrast and slightly
boosted the saturation allowing the image to be enhanced and
stand out more amongst the page. I also used Photoshop for
the smaller image. I removed the colouring so that it was black
and white, so that they connoted the personality of the artist in
the close up. These adaptions would be acceptable in a
professional music magazine because you usually see
alterations and editing to images so that they reflect the
artist/band/story in some sort of way. On the left side of the
double page spread I used three midshots to express Declan
douglas’ body language and facial expressions to the audience.
In all three of these images I edited the temperature,
brightness and saturation so that it gave the effect that the
spotlight in shining on him. I also removed the background on
all of these images so that the image of the ‘gig’ came through.
By doing this it makes the page look more professional because
a magazine such as ‘NME’ would have live pictures from the
concert/gig. The article image is a close up. I chose this shot
so that the urban themed background was visible, conveying to
the reader what sort of background the artist has come from.
The two close ups of each artist on the far right side have also
been edited in Photoshop along with the other images to
further compete with other indie rock magazines on the
market. I also found when researching this genre of magazine,
the artists usually pulled quite a serious face when posing. I
used this knowledge when taking the images so that the
magazine implemented extra professionalism.

4. By comparing these images to the
edited images on the magazine you
can see the difference it makes and
the good effect it has on the
magazine.

5.  The language I used in my magazine was specifically
made to be persuasive, exciting and enthusiastic, so
that the audience became interested and upbeat
about reading the magazine. I done this, because I
found in my research that most other music
magazines of the indie/rock genre such as ‘NME’ used
it. An example of this is on my front cover, where it
reads ‘Be the first to check out the latest artists and
bands!’ This language encourages and intrigues the
reader to look further into the magazine. The overall
language of my magazine is written in an informal
way, thus attracting the attention of a younger
audience. I done this because this is my targeted
audience, so I will be able to challenge and compete
with other indie/rock magazines on the market.
Furthermore, I found in my research that by having an
informal approach, it gives the audience a more
personal feel. Also, throughout my magazine I used
language such as, ‘new’, ‘exclusive’ and ‘upcoming’.
These sorts of words have a certain affect on the
reader, because they make them want to find out
more. This technique is also used in most music
magazines. The mast head on my front cover,
‘Addiction’ which is the title of the magazine was
chosen to symbolise that the magazine may become
addictive to the audience. On the other hand, after
hearing feedback on the magazine I have realised that
this could be portrayed in a negative way. This
regards current affairs with the music industry’s
artists and bands sometimes getting involved in drugs
and alcohol abuse. Finally, throughout my magazine I
have used exclamation marks to enhance the
language. I decided to do this because I found that
other music magazines done this to give the
impression of a more enthusiastic tone to the
language.

6.  My magazine challenges the typography forms of
other music magazines, because I use a variety of font
styles and sizes throughout my magazine, which
represent the genre of my magazine. Professional
magazines such as ‘NME’ do this because it appeals to
their audience and makes them more fascinated about
the magazine. As you can see my mast head on my
front cover, ‘ADDICTION’ is very big, bold and written
in capitals, together with having a unique style which
shows the letters being forms by shapes of guitars.
This works to the magazines advantage because it
symbolises the indie rock genre extremely well and it
also catches the eye of the audience. The main cover
line, ‘THE REVOLUTION’, also has a big, bold font
which takes up the entire bottom of the magazine.
This makes the reader immediately see it and become
interested. This font style is also used on the content
page and the double page spread to show the
audience that this is the trademark font of the band.
The typography of the rest of my cover lines are
arranged so that each band that is mentioned also has
their own font style to represent them throughout the
magazine. On some of the fonts throughout the
magazine I have highlighted so that the style of the
font is further emphasized, thus becoming more
appealing to the audience. I have also used a border
around the font. For example on the front cover where
it mentions ‘BAND LINE-UP’. I placed a bold border
around this so that it has more of an opportunity to
entice the audience to look at it, rather than
elsewhere.

7.  The colours I have used for my music magazine are blue, black and
white. I chose these colours because from my research I found that
most magazines of this genre usually have black and white then one
other colour, which is most of the time red. An example of this is
‘NME’ and ‘Q’. I decided to go with the blue instead of red, because
this conveys a new and fresh image on the industry, thusly making
my magazine unique which challenges other magazines on the
market. These three colours, I believe have a fantastic effect when
the audience comes to see it, because it will set the magazine apart
from the rest, allowing it to stand out amongst other top,
professional magazines. I feel that these colours work well together
because the white and black clearly stand out amongst one another.
Furthermore, with the added bold, bright, electric blue implemented
throughout the page, it catches the eye of the audience and entices
them to read the article. I chose to keep the same colour scheme
running through all the pages so that it became clear to the
audience from the first issue, that this is the traditional and
trademark colours of my magazine. If in the future I was to continue
to create the magazine, then I would probably not use it throughout
the entire magazine, but instead use a variety of colours to
represent the bands, artists and other components.