5. Front Cover
Mastheads are used to usually ensure the audience of the genre of the magazine. I
have made the masthead in an easy style and font for the audience to understand.
By placing it across the top centre of the page, it is clear to the audience that it is of
similar styling to other magazines. Also the masthead begins in the left third, so if
its placed on a shelf, the public will also be able to recognise it. I chose the font style
because its quite easy and simple to read.
The main image is the first step in the magazine to clearly demonstrate the genre of
the magazine. The model is jumping in mid air with hair all over the place to try
and give the genre of pop to the audience. Most leading magazines e.g.
NME, Kerrang use the main image as the focal point to put across the genre of the
magazine. I have followed this convention to try and show the audience that the
genre is ‘pop’.
6. Contents
The main title ‘Contents’ is usually placed at the top of the page to grasp the
audiences attention. I have used this convention as I placed it in a similar position as
most magazines do. I placed it there to show that I have looked at other
magazines, and have taken inspiration from other magazines.
I chose to have the main images on the contents page placed in the left third. Most
magazines place their images around the centre piece of the page. I have challenged
the conventions of image placement to get more articles on the contents page. By
placing the majority of the images on the left third, I was able to place more Features
and Regulars in the columns in the centre of the page.
I have chosen to also place a regular feature of all types of magazines on my
contents page. An editors note. Some magazines place an editors note on the
contents page without an image. I have used an image of the editor along with the
editors note. Therefore I have developed this convention by adding a image with
my editors note, whereas some magazines don’t use one.
7. Double Paged Spread
The use of the Stan-first is a feature used by all magazines to introduce the persona
they are doing the DPS about. It is a chance for the audience to get a brief summary
of the artist and the article. I decided to place this in my magazine because of the
context of the interview. Its mostly conversational so the audience could do with a
detailed piece of information about the artist. I have used the conventions of this
format in my magazine to give the audience a better overview of the artist.
The main images on the DPS are the main thing on the DPS. The images capture the
model jumping in mid air. I chose this style of image to continue the genre of pop
throughout the magazine. The two images are spaced out on separate pages. They are
not clustered on one page. In many magazines, the DPS pictures are not spaced out to
the extent that they are in magazine. Therefore I have challenged this convention by
not cramping them with text and other features.
8. Upon the start of this project, I made my target audience to be 14-18 year olds of
both genders who are interested in Pop music. To attract this target audience I
have tried to portray the articles and images in the style of Pop. I tried to use
articles which usually 14-18 are interested in. Also through the imagery, they are
quite active with a young theme running through them, which I aimed at a
younger audience. The uncluttered approach to the magazine gives the audience
a clear and calming read through the magazine. The clothing and calmness of the
DPS interview allows the audience to relate to the artist as he is dressed casually
which goes with the questions and answers in the magazine. By showing how
casual and cool the artist will allow the audience to aspire to be like him, from
whichever walk of life they come from.
9. This was my original mood board for my
target audience.
The target audience is 14-18 of both genders, who enjoy music
from all decades but of the Pop genre or are familiar with
Greatest Hits from artists in the last 20 years. It would be for
social classes C1,C2. It will offer all the latest pop music gossip
and news, also with some exclusive interviews with some of
our country's biggest artists from the last 20 years and it will
also promote new acts in the world of pop. Using motion
imagery will also contribute to the Pop genre of the magazine.
10. For the audience feedback piece of the project. I gathered 4 friends to answer
feedback questions with detailed answers. I felt this worked well because to was
clear to see their thoughts and could get clear reasoning behind their thoughts.
I asked the following questions:
Would you be interested in buying the
shuffle magazine by looking at the front
cover?
Would you say it’s fairly priced?
Does it remind of any magazine covers
you’ve seen in the past?
Is the contents page clear enough?
What are the best features of the contents
page?
By looking at the contents page what are
your thoughts about the genre of
magazine?
Is the DPS clearly laid out?
Is the choice of imagery similar to the
genre?
Finally, looking at the DPS cover and
Here is the YouTube link for my Focus Group: contents, would you be interested in
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpNRlItQ-Q0 buying the magazine?
11. The Colour Scheme: The yellow and green background gives a calm feel to the
magazine. By using the gradient tool on Photoshop, although the colours were quite
mild and calm, the use of the tool enabled me to add an amount of funk to the
background.
The Imagery: The Images are active and funky. I planned to take these types of
images to attract the target audience. Also I feel there is a similarity between the
genre of the magazine and the images as they are both associated with young and
funky themes.
The Text: The conversational language in the DPS is very un-complicated and un-
sophisticated. I tried to ensure that the language would not clash with the young
styled pictures and background. I think that the youthful, clear language will allow
the target audience to read it without struggling as 14-18 year olds aren't fans of
reading large amounts of text.
12. The use of blogger.com has enabled me to upload all of my work to a website
where it is stored safely on the internet for everyone to see. This has helped me
along because I have not had to buy folders and file all the work manually. Also
if the work has not been completed, you are able to save your work and
continue it the next time you sign in. Blogger seems to be a really good way to
work through the magazine work.
Adobe Photoshop is a programme that I have never used before until I began
this project. Thankfully, the preliminary exercise gave us a chance to get to
know Photoshop and what it can do. The technology on the programme is
second to none and is a fantastic way make creative projects like Magazines and
Leaflets. I think Photoshop is a fantastic way to create magazines .
Survey Monkey is another feature I used throughout the project. We used it to
gather feedback from our surveys. We were able to post them onto our Facebook
accounts where we could ask our friends to take the surveys anomalously.
Although this is a good idea, some feedback was not appropriate to the
questions, maybe this is a flaw in the website.
13. From the preliminary task, I learnt a wide range of skills which I took through
into my full project. Skills like using drop shadow to enhance the text on the
slides. Also skills associated with making the images more clearer and refined.
These skills were vital in the designing and creating of the project. I think
making a magazine and a contents page gave us a clear idea how to layer the
different layers and where we should place the text and images. Also taking
our own imagery helped as it would be in much better focus than some we
took from the internet.
