The document provides details on the conventions and design elements of a music magazine. It discusses using eye-catching covers with bold text and imagery. Color schemes, mastheads, issue numbers and barcodes are also mentioned. Various articles and upcoming performers are featured. The purpose is to promote young and aspiring musicians. [END SUMMARY]

1. Hannah Clark 12W

2. Conventions of a Music
Magazine:
 Busy and expressive front
covers
 Eye catching imagery
 A set colour scheme
 Bold text for emphasis
 Masthead
 Cover line
 Issue Number and Date
 Barcode
 Taglines
 Various other articles featured
throughout the magazine

3.  Primarily my music magazine has been inspired by various different
globally recognised magazines already selling on the magazine
market. The central one that really caught my eye was VIBE magazine. I
consider the colour scheme used to be really effective, because of that
I decided to use the same colour scheme however in a different
context. I enjoyed the effective simplicity of VIBE magazine through
studying its codes and conventions.
 Although I highly admired the fonts from VIBE, Q and Mojo to name a
few, I decided I wanted a font which was slightly unique to the other
magazine fonts. That‟s when I decided to look to the internet to
download unusual new fonts for my magazine.
 All the writing featured in the magazine is for the majority formal
however with parts of little chatty colloquial language. This keeps the
feel of the magazine friendly and user friendly.
 What I feel CLASH challenges is that the features aren‟t globalized
celebrities such as Madonna and Eminem but famous smaller mostly
British acts like the Streets and MGMT. They also give a lot of limelight
to upcoming performers who aren‟t so well known to give them
recognition. This gives the audience a sense that CLASH cares for the
wellbeing of the audience, has a honest purpose and not majorly
interested in media attention. This catapults CLASH away from the
norm.

4.  One of the central purposes of my magazine to me is to
promote and represent, young aspiring musicians trying
to break into the music industry and be noticed.
 For example, my front cover, contents and double page
spread all feature a young, different upcoming performer.
The alcohol, cigarettes and unkempt clothes demonstrate
an image of individuality. I am pleased with my work as it
clearly signifies just what CLASH is about.
 My general audience would be from around the ages of
18-25. The reason for the starting age of 18 is because
some of the content revealed in the magazine may not be
seen as appropriate for a younger audience.
 The core selling point of CLASH is that it steps away from
the stereotypical mainstream music and steps outside the
box. This is what gives CLASH its unique edge.
 My magazine would attract a unisex audience. The colour
schemes and fonts used appear relatively masculine
however the performers and content contained inside
appeals to both male and female equally.

5. Ideology - The primary Ideology behind my magazine is for it
to signify, up and coming performers struggling for
recognition in the present time. CLASH makes it clear that‟s
their core focus and present CLASH consumers would realise
this automatically from the language presented, acts
presented and promotion schemes featured towards the
young artists. CLASH acts as a role model to all aspiring
performers and people who enjoy a slightly alternative edge of
music and interests.
Purpose – The purpose of my magazine is primarily to
entertain however it‟s to also to inform the CLASH
audience of new performers on the market. Also
Introducing smaller performers with great music to the
audience which Is catering to its specific target audience.
I used reasonably formal language in the double page
spread of my magazine because as students being my
primary audience, stereotypically they would be educated
to understand that type of vocabulary.

6.  In order for it to be distributed successfully, CLASH needs to be taken
care of by distributors with impressive connections. Although the
magazine would need to keep its primary purpose of promoting young
aspiring musicians trying to break into the music industry. Also to keep
smaller bands in the public eye to raise their awareness. As that‟s what
the target audience is looking for.
 IPC Media would be the perfect distributer for CLASH as it has all the
connections needed to make it a major success. IPC distributes a huge
range of magazines globally small and hugely successful, a real diverse
mixture. IPC Media would be interested in CLASH primarily because it‟s
unique and brings something to IPC‟s collection that it doesn‟t already
have.

7.  The typical audience for CLASH magazine “Holly is 19, young, vibrant and full of
would be 18-25. The age range Is of a life. She performs in a band called
rather small range however I think it‟s the Southern Mission in her spare time
most appropriate and appealing age for whenever she‟s not out socializing with
CLASH as other ages might not be friends.
interested in the content of the magazine. Holly isn‟t a huge fan of having loads of
 I would say that CLASH magazine would technological devices but has an
appeal to just as much males as females extensive music collection on her most
and vice versa. The content has something prized possession, her iPod.
for everyone. Holly's musical heroes are the band
 I would imagine the ideal CLASH reader to MGMT and Passion Pit, bands fairly
fall under the category of a wide range of unknown from the mainstream world .
social classes. However social class C1 and She enjoys going to regular gigs are the
C2 as a majority however CLASH caters for bar Thekla, a boat conversion in her
every social class. hometown, Bristol with friends on regular
occasions which features unique edgy
 The Idea reader would have the social bands however at times plays more of a
values/mind sets of innovators as they mainstream feel of music.
would be risk takers and seeking new and Holly carries a confident persona and has
different things, setting their own targets to a strong ambition to reach musical
achieve what they aspire. fulfilment by playing at The Thekla one
day with her band.”

8.  Gender – Unisex - completely equal
 Age – 18-25
 Work Status – student
 Common Interests –
socializing, performing, music, partying, concerts/gigs
 Music Genre – Indie, Alternative
 Preferred TV Channels – MTV, Kerrang, 4Music and House Music
Channel
 Preferred Films Genre- Comedy, Drama

9. On the scale of Maslow's
Hierarchy of Needs I feel
that my magazine would
sit appropriately on the
„Self Actualization‟ stage
as an CLASH reader is a
dedicated performer full
of creativity and
spontaneity. However it
would also sit
appropriately on the
„Esteem‟ layer, as aspiring
performers they are
confident, aspire
achievement and crave
the respect from the
music industry.

10. Being repetitive about Masthead in bold
the word „exclusive‟ rebellious font
gives the audience the symbolizing the edginess
impression that it really of CLASH
is exclusive to CLASH
readers only and the A main central
information contained image of the focus
will only appear in of the magazine.
CLASH. The main feature
and „star‟. The way
the photograph was
Using a bright vibrant taken suits the
Red signifies power cover well as it
and youth. Very eye keeps the celebrity
catching. central and focused.
The glare of eye
contact is very eye
Quote from the
catching would
magazines star focus
helps to attract
to try and emotively
potential buyers.
grasp the audiences
attention.
Price and Barcode

11. Red colouring used to
purposely contrast
Logo and special font
against the black and
of the magazine
white colouring scheme
featured throughout.
to catch the eye.
A „monthly‟ section
Large photo of primary of the magazine to
story featured in the demonstrate to the
issue of the magazine. audience what is
Emphasises the featured monthly in
importance of the CLASH. This is shown
story. separated from the
main „exclusive‟
focuses of this
months issue of
The image the
CLASH. The purpose
main photo
of this is for the
portrays fits in
regular users to
perfectly with the
identify to.
genre.
Numbered index to show
the audience what the
magazine contains.

12. Name of person
who's featuring
the double
page spread. I chose for the
Big bold and photos in my
vibrant in order magazine to
to stand out be edited in
and catch the black and
audiences white to stay
attention. in kept with
the colour
scheme.
Questions written
in another colour in
a slightly larger
font so the
audience can have
a clear image of
what the page will
consist of without Pull Quote –
reading the whole gives
page. audience a
idea of what
the article will
contain
Colour Small picture of the artists new
scheme single and tour tickets release
suits the date ensures audience that
house style CLASH is sticking to their aim
of trying to get young aspiring
performers a chance and some
kind of recognition.

13. I feel that CLASH has many different valuable aspects which attracted my
audience to CLASH.
 The key colour scheme I used was very simple yet effective. The
colours included signified to me power, success, youth yet maturity. All
of these are aspects of which I wanted to convey into CLASH and are
aspects which I felt would strongly appeal to my audience.
 The fonts that I decided to use I feel would appeal to my audience as
its unique and diverse which is something a CLASH reader would
highly value.
 CLASH has a very specific genre, alike almost every magazine on the
market today. The performers I included in CLASH were of a very wide
variety with very little mainstream acts. A CLASH reader would be
drawn towards interested, new, unheard of acts and like to rebel
slightly against the norm.
 The photographs presented in CLASH are including a young performer
and a person who enjoys music, which you can clearly appreciate from
just the images. This would appeal to the audience as they would share
the same interests as „Gemma Clark‟, featured in the images.
 The advertisements used in CLASH are all featured around promoting
the up and coming artists and competitions for the audience. CLASH
isn‟t full up with mainstream advertisments which is something the
audience would appreciate.

14.  At the beginning of this AS course I had never had any experience with Photoshop which I found a
slight barrier at first. However with the practice of the preliminary task it enabled me to make errors,
learn from then, gain new skills and slowly became accustomed to the program. I came across and
learned the purpose and how to use these tools and studied if they would be appropriate to create my
own magazine. I became very well accustomed with tools such as; Magic Wand Tools, Brush Tools,
Brightness & contrast tools and gradient tools, just to name a few.
 Something that struck me was how much hard work, creativity and dedication actually goes into the
magazine process. I also learned of how much of a competitive market that magazines are in. With the
rise of popularity of the internet, magazines and newspapers and becoming less and less popular as
they can simply access the information, free of charge online whenever they desire.
 The process of making my own magazine, even though I knew it wouldn‟t be an easy task, took a lot
longer than I predicted. It took a while even with practice to become accustomed with all the tools
available and to make the pieces look as realistic as possible.
 For my preliminary task I used a basic standard digital camera although you can‟t tell with the creative
editing I done. When using a professional camera for my final piece I recently purchased I realised the
value of a good camera and how much of a impressive difference it can make on your images.
 I learned throughout the process that you could download out of the choice of thousands of fonts, off
the internet and use them using Photoshop on your work. This enabled me to have the choice of a
much wider variety of fonts.
 Overall throughout the process I have learned an excruciate amount on Photoshop and the whole
process of making a magazine and gained a lot of information on the magazine industry as a whole.

15.  Throughout the whole AS process of making a magazine, I feel that my knowledge of all
aspects has improved massively.
 When first beginning the course even though I‟m a very regular consumer of a broad range
of magazines I‟ve never really analysed and paid attention to the conventions presented in a
magazine. In depth research and studying various types of magazines has significantly
broadened my knowledge. I first of all really struggled on how to give my work the
professional looking edge I was aiming for. Thorough research and gaining inspiration
enabled me to overcome this. Research is a fundamental element in composing a magazine
which is something I now appreciate.
 A major skill that I have gained through this part of the course is how to use Photoshop. In
the past I‟ve had very little if any experience in the Photoshop, photography and editing
department. This has broadened my knowledge vastly and now have the skills and ability to
use a number of tools and create a number of pieces on Photoshop.
 At first I didn‟t understand and have much knowledge magazines and on the magazine
industry. This project has really opened my eyes to all the various aspects you need to
consider before yourself creating one.
 Looking back in contrast I‟ve really .began to comprehend how my skills and knowledge have
improved massively. The preliminary task provided me with practice and helped me greatly
in order to create my final piece.

16. For my preliminary task I composed a school magazine. It had a very feminine, girly tone
to the cover. The colour scheme I used in hindsight wasn‟t very carefully thought out, if it
caters to the audience it was required to.
Colours are universal
and would appeal to
Poor quality of
picture focus
Preliminary Task
Final Piece a broader audience. School magazine
Music Magazine The background
image didn‟t
More professional compliment the
edgy looking chosen fonts and
fonts which more colour scheme. The
appropriately text is visually
suits the genre. harder to read than
my final piece.
For my preliminary task I used
the standard fonts provided
by the computer. In order to
give CLASH a look of its own I
downloaded fonts from
dafont.
The Structure was
photography very basic and
didn‟t have the
used is edited
professional
very naturally
looking layout
to keep up needed.
with the
professional
look