This is my AS Media music magazine evaluation, which i spent a lot of hours working on so hope you enjoy looking through this and could be helpful for some of you. Thanks

1. AS Media
Magazine
Evaluation

2. Q1. Who would be
the target audience
for your media
product

4. Ideal Reader breakdown
 Young male between the ages of 16-30
 Huge fan of the genre rap/hip-hop
 Dream of becoming a rap/hip-hop artist
 Avid social media user
 In their downtime loves listening to rap/hip-hop as well as writing
their own lyrics
 They also like entering rap battles as a way of trying to reach their
ultimate dream

5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY44zvhWhp4&li
st=PLYj-wtYtHpFyzYtaVPLrqcyuI1xlGP_dM

6. Q2. How did you
attract/address your
audience?

7. Eye contact
Issue no., barcode,
price
Masthead
Main feature of my
magazine clearly visible
Features in my
magazine Same fonts used
Colour scheme
Shot type
Serious face and
stance
Information/competitionsColour of clothing
Banner (no outline)

8. Age:
My target audience is between the ages of 16-30 and my
model fits that age category and I have done this so that my
target audience can relate to him and how he became
‘break through artist of the year’
Gender:
My magazine is predominantly aimed at males and I’ve
displayed this as my target gender by using a male model as
well as having features in my magazine all about male
rap/hip-hop artists
Genre:
The genre of my magazine is rap/hip-hop. This is portrayed by
not only the features in my magazine through using famous
rap/hip-hop artists but also through the colour scheme as
red, black and white are the main colours associated with
this genre

9. The word ‘twitter’ is larger
so that consumers see this
and are intrigued to what
the box below it has to say
as many of my consumers
are regular twitter users
and then once they see
about competitions are
more enticed to read on
to find out about the
competitions
The masthead is the largest
text on the cover so that it
stands out the most as it the
brand image. I also chose
the font to be balloonist SF as
it is all capitals and makes it
stand out more to the reader.
The white colour of the
masthead stands out very
clearly against the grey
background
The main feature lies in the middle of the page once
again in white text to visibly stand out so that this is
one of the first things that the consumer will see
when looking at the magazine hence why it is in the
same design as the masthead and in a larger size
than the rest of the text on the cover bar the
masthead
The use of both black and red colours of
different artists names stand out to the
reader especially as the masthead will be
the first thing they spot then, it is just above
the masthead and these names might also
entice the reader to see what features
these artists have in my magazine as
they’re popular to my target audience
(use of intertextuality)

10. This heading matches the
house style with the
masthead as it is the same
colour and same font as the
masthead creating
consistency between the
two headings
These three subheadings were
placed in red text and slightly
larger than the rest of the text on
the cover bar the main heading
so that they stand out a lot more
on the page and makes it easier
for readers to see the break
down of my magazine
The use of the picture of
my cover star
emphasises the main
article and might
influence the reader to
flick to the article. As well
as changing the
transparency of this
picture makes the text
stand out better for the
reader
I put this in to try and promote my
magazine in the social media world as I
know the majority of my readers use sites
such as twitter as well as promoting my
twitter competition through making the @
domain in a larger text because it draws
the readers eye to that part of the page
before all of the other text in black on the
page

11. Poster image of the main feature
draws in readers when flicking
through the magazine as it is
different to other page design
features in the magazine
The use of red for questions
in a different font
(Balloonist SF) contrasts well
with black for answers
which are in the font (abc
font)
Key quote on the page as the text is
larger than the rest on the page and
visibly would be the first thing that would
catch their eye on that page
I applied a footer to a page
which includes the logo for my
magazine to show my Brand ID
on each page as well as making
it easier for the reader to identify
the page which has this main
feature of the magazine on

12. As you can see from the screenshots of my front cover, contents and double page spread I
have stuck to using the same colour scheme by using the colour white for headings, then
black and red for the rest of the text and remained consistent with this over the 4 pages.

13. I feel that I have attracted my audience in on each of these pages by having my model
make eye contact with the reader as they’re looking directly back at the reader

14. In terms of addressing my audience I feel that the text of the
masthead connotes to the audience what my magazine is
about as firstly the genre of hip-hop/rap tells the truth as different
artists tell the truth on feelings towards other artists and their own
incidents and upbringing in life (which is why I chose the word
truth to be the name of the brand). I chose for the masthead
font to be in all capitals as it creates a real emphasis on what the
magazine is about and it is about telling the audience the truth
about what is going on in the hip-hop/rap world.
I feel that my magazine makes readers in my target audience
aspire to be like my cover star especially the white males in my
target audience as they know just like I do how hard it is for a
white male to successfully break into the hip-hop/rap industry
and seeing a young white male as the cover star will make them
pick up the magazine and read the interview to see how they
can aspire to be like my cover star ‘Cal-g’.
Addressing my audience

15. Q3. How does
your media
product represent
particular social
groups?

16. Gender
 For my magazine I chose the genre of rap which is a predominantly
male influenced as the most well known and ‘best’ rappers are all
males
 Taking that into consideration with my music magazine from my
research the majority of rap genre enthusiasts are in fact males
 So for my magazine I decided to make it appeal more to males
 One way that I achieved this was through choosing a male model
as the main feature of my magazine

17. Gender
 I also focused on appealing to
males by placing features in my
magazine about other artists
 My model is also appealing to
my target male audience by
wearing similar colour clothes to
them as he sporting a black t-
shirt which is very common of a
member of my target audience,
as well as a baseball cap in the
picture for my double page
spread

18. Ethnicity
 The rap industry is predominantly associated with black male artists
 A main stereotype of rap is that whites are seen as inferior in the
sense that they’re not as good rappers
 There are very few white rappers the main one being – EMINEM
 However in my music magazine I decided to challenge that
stereotype and had a white male as my main model and feature for
my rap artist
 I decided to do that so that it enticed my audience more and
intrigued them as they wouldn’t be used to seeing a white male on
the cover of a rap magazine

19. Ethnicity
 I also did this to appeal more to the young white males who are in
my target audience so that they could inspire to be like my model
and perhaps see the chance to be like my model

20. Age
 My main target audience are young adults so
between the ages of 16-30
 In my magazine I made it appealable to them
by using a young male model as my main
feature
 This use of a young model as the main model in
my magazine gives my target audience
somebody to aspire to be like and perhaps
idealise
 This could be because my model fits into the
bracket of the age range of my target
audience so they can relate more to my model

21. Q4: In what ways
does your media
product use, develop
or challenge forms
and conventions of
real media products?

23. Those 2 other magazine covers were
ones that I used in my research and
planning as I liked some aspects
from both however did differentiate
mine from both magazines so that I
can perhaps be a rival to either of
these publications
On the next few slides the colours represent if I’ve used, developed or challenged forms and
conventions:
Red – Challenged Orange – Developed Green - Used

24. Comparison with NME
Used same colour scheme as I feel that
these 3 colours best represent the genre
of rap/hip-hop
Both our masthead and main feature of
the magazine are in the colour white and
both contrast well against the
background
However I thought that I would change
the position of my masthead in relation to
NME’s as I feel it needs to be in the centre
of the page as it is the Brand’s ID
I thought that I would change the fact
that their cover model is not making eye
contact with the audience whereas I
made sure that the image I used would
make eye contact with the reader

25. Comparison with Vibe
I liked the idea of my cover star
covering over a few letters of my
masthead so chose to keep that the
same
However I thought that my image
wouldn’t be that close up as I felt
that the arms being shown and the
position that they’re in shows the
seriousness and asserts the
dominance of my cover star
My background colour challenges
forms as most rap/hip-hop
magazines either have black or
white backgrounds and mine being
grey will make it stand out more to
readers when placed in the isle with
other similar publications

26. No strapline as I feel
that my masthead
already informs the
reader of just what this
magazine is all about
I chose to develop the convention of
using a banner as it is common to see
the banner at the top of the page
however I decided not to give it an
outline which is a common feature of a
banner
A barcode, price and issue
number are must haves on a
magazine cover so I
decided to keep this
traditional convention
Mine like many other music
magazines have features from
artists clearly stated on the
front of the magazine to
attract readers in
Most magazines have a
button which adds extra
information and I have
chosen not to have that on
my magazine

27. I challenged the convention of an image on the contents
page as in my research into the music magazines
especially in the same genre as me I noticed that none
had applied the same effect to their images on the page
like I had. Most of them have a few images on the page
however I thought that I would have another image of my
cover star on the page and make that as a main feature
of my magazine by having my main feature also appear
on the contents. For this image I decided to make it look
like my image was fading into the background by
changing the opacity of my image from 100%-50%

28. Q5. What kind of
media institution
might distribute your
product and why?

29. Truth Magazine
 Truth magazine will be issued monthly and priced at £1.90
 I have chosen the price of £1.90 as NME magazine costs £2.20 and Vibe
magazine have a subscriber offer which is 6 issues for £9.95 which works
out at around £1.60 each issue
 I feel that by pricing in between these two magazines which I have
based my magazine on I can attract more of the similar target
audience which we all share to mine thanks too firstly the price enticing
them and then the content inside hooking them onto repeat purchases
of my magazine
 I have also chosen to issue my magazine monthly on the basis that I
can create better content on a monthly basis and keep my magazine
fresh as well as allowing lots of time for development of the issue and
time taken for stories

30. Mobile Apps
 I feel that I can really reach my target audience through the use of
a mobile app as nowadays pretty much everyone has a phone with
a app market and for my magazine I feel creating an app with
updates and upcoming news about what features are appearing in
future issues can keep the audience enticed as well as eager for
each new issue to come out each month
 Music magazine app which is downloadable on any app market so
that my viewers can keep up to date with all the latest information
on upcoming issues and the competitions we run.

31. Social Media
 This is the easiest way for my
target audience to find my
product as from my research
but especially in my ideal
reader profile they’re avid
social media users and
creating a Facebook group
and a Twitter page which
really make it easier for my
product to be reached and
found by many people and
keep up with regular updates
and competitions from my
magazine

32. Merchandise
 Due to me knowing my likes and dislikes of my target audience as
well knowing what they like to spend their money on I could
perhaps sell certain merchandise to my readers to create more
brand recognition
 These could be in the form of hoodies or headphones as these are
two items that I know that my target audience definitely have and
would spend some of their little disposable income on

33. By just displaying my logo on
merchandise such as this can increase
my brand recognition and can attract
more readers to purchase my magazine
which since I’m opting to rival Vibe would
help me a lot in rivalling them
Merchandise

34. Distribution of Truth magazine
 I think that what’s best for my magazine is if I chose InterMedia
partners to distribute my magazine
 They also distribute Vibe magazine, despite displaying many
similarities with Vibe I’d like to rival Vibe as I feel that my content in
my magazine can attract more consumers away from theirs and
add more to my target audience
 InterMedia partners own many companies one notable company
which could help my magazine is WAPA-TV which is a radio station
this could help distribute my magazine by regularly playing rappers
which feature in my magazine as well as giving shout outs to my
magazine to broaden my awareness of my magazine and increase
distribution sales.

35. Q6. What have you
learnt about
technologies from
the process of
constructing this
product?

36. Firstly what I did was import my image into InDesign as this allowed me to then plan where other
conventions would go on my cover. So next was my masthead and I decided to have it dead
straight in the middle however then decided that I wanted my cover star’s head to cover some of
my masthead to make it stand out even more on the page. So I went back onto Photoshop and
got the original photo and applied the magic wand tool to the image so that I only had the head
from the image I then saved and transferred it onto my front cover applying it over the original
image so that it covered the part of the masthead which I was hoping that it would and did.

37. Original photo image and head being
removed from the image

38. For my contents page I started by adding the image that I would like onto the page and then
I decided that I wanted it to be more of a background image and not distract the readers
away from the features, exclusives on my contents so I decided to change the opacity of the
image from 100%-50% so that 1 it was still visible but faded well into the background as well as
making the writing stand out on the page more clearly (screenshot on next slide)

39. Changing the opacity of my image meant that I could still use black writing as I was able
to write in black of the faded image, however just to make my writing stand out more
over my image I changed the writing into all capitals

40. For this I placed another image on my contents page
but I put the image on changed the transparency
from 100-75% and then I thought that I’d add a feather
effect to it so that it looks like the image is slowly fading
which links to the first image as that has got the faded
effect. So I changed the feather width from 3mm-
25mm which gives it like a white fade.

41. Firstly for my DPS I decided that I’d have
effectively a poster image of my main
cover star as one of the pages then a
interview the other page. For the image I
decided to crop the image as there was
a lot of plain background space which
just wasn’t needed in the image for the
poster and then I placed it onto the left
hand side of my DPS.
Next part of my page was to add a footer on
the bottom of the page for this I cropped the
‘T’ from my masthead and resized it so that it
would fit in the black box. I next decided to
write the features in my footer into the space
required and I decided that I wouldn’t apply
a fill to my words and just have a white outline
on them which made it stand out better
against the black background.

42. Q7. Looking back at your
preliminary task (School
Magazine), what do you
feel you have learnt in the
progression to the full
product?

43. Comparison

44. Front cover analysis
I feel that I have really improved
my magazine work from my first
draft school magazine on the left
compared to my finished music
magazine cover on the right
Reflecting on my school
magazine and responding to the
feedback on my school
magazine really gave me an
idea on how to improve my
standard of work and in the next
few slides I will be explaining
some criticism on my school
magazine

45. School Magazine Cover analysis
Looking back at this magazine cover I
noticed that firstly I should’ve chosen a
photo of my cover star which actually
makes eye contact with the reader as
that is what hooks the reader
As well as that I also know that I have put
too much information my front cover,
there is too much writing in which the
reader probably wouldn’t read as they
like short and concise information which
tells them key snippets

46. School Magazine Cover analysis
Despite keeping to a colour scheme which I did
in fact keep the consistency of colour scheme in
my actual music magazine I think that the
writing in green was a silly choice from myself as
looking at it now it is really hard to read and
doesn’t contrast well with the cover photo
The banner at the bottom of the page is quite poor
from myself the idea was there however I
should’ve placed the writing in the middle of the
box as there is too much green space at the
bottom of the banner box however changing the
opacity wasn’t a bad option

47. School Magazine Contents analysis
Just like my banner on the front cover I have seemed to of chosen to
use a banner to make the heading ‘contents’ stand out however
looking back at it now I probably shouldn’t of placed a green
background behind the heading as besides the colour matching the
scheme it doesn’t fit or match the background and my heading
would’ve stood out quite well due to me changing the opacity of the
image anyway.
I shouldn’t of placed the school logo as it is onto my cover as just like
the green background it doesn’t match the style of the background
image. I probably should’ve removed the background of the logo and
placed an effect on it to make it stand out against the brick wall of the
background of my image.

48. What have I learnt?
 Looking back at my school magazine to what I have produced for my
music magazine I feel I have made progression and can show this by
stating what I learnt to make sure that I did create a better publication and
these are:
 The importance of eye contact in the front cover image, colour schemes &
fonts matter and can help create Brand ID
 Not apply so much writing on the front cover (keep it short and concise
whilst reeling the reader into the story)
 Importance of the image that you’re taking hence why for my music
magazine I created a shot list of images for my magazine whereas for my
school magazine I did only take 1 image
 I have also seen an improvement in my manipulation of images on
Photoshop, InDesign