2. Conventions
Whilst I was creating the front cover, double page spread and contents page I looked at other
magazines that were aimed at Indie music fans and tried to challenge the conventions. I tried to do
this to prove that all indie magazines don’t have to have the same conventions to look good.
Magazines like NME and Q use a little section of the top right corner of the page so I decided to
change it a little and have it so that it took up all of the top of the page.
I then decided to look at other magazines and look at their other conventions. These conventions
are things like the image of the artist is usually in the centre of the magazine and they are on a light
background or a dark background. I decided to carry on with this convention and have my artist on
the front of the page on a dark background. I decided to do this as this is one of the biggest factors
in the magazine cover. Another convention is that the magazines usually have the headline in the
middle of the image but slightly lower down. I decided to do this a little but spread it out and then
have the name of the band to the left of the headline. Most magazines also have other things like
what's featured inside on the cover on one of the sides. I decided not to do this and have quote at
the bottom of the page instead. This is usually by the artist name but I decided to move it. Also
magazine has a plug, I decided to carry on with this convention and use a plug to the top right
corner but slightly under the masthead.
The final convention that I could see was that they had other contents such as other stories down
one side of the page, I decided to carry on with this convention by placing another story and some
of the other bands that will feature in the magazine.
3. Representation
In the past I have brought magazines such as Q, NME and Kerrang. After reading these magazines I
was inspired to do a magazine that goes along with the themes of Indie and Alternative music.
These magazines are aimed at people that are of the older teen category. As of this I decided to
aim my magazine at people aged 14-18.
I chose Indie/Alternative. I did this as I think this is one of the most popular music genre’s. I think
most teens listen to pop music and chart music so by doing indie it also adds a little something
different. I will also be making my magazine for both genders so that I wont be singling anybody
out.
Most teenagers nowadays use slang or informal language instead of formal language, because of
this I decided to use language that was informal so that it would be more appealing to people the
ages 14-18.
To make sure that my product was aimed at all types of people in the age category I decided to pick
colours for my house style that would represent both genders and made sure that they were equal
so that it didn’t look like It was aimed at just one genre. I originally picked a colour scheme that
would represent just the male gender but I then decided that I will change it a little and use colours
that would also seem suitable for the female gender too. Also the gender I originally picked was
suitable for a rock/metal magazine so I again decided this wouldn’t be suitable for my magazine so
I decided to change it.
I also decided that my pictures would contain the colours of the colour scheme. I also decided that
I wouldn’t have the artists dressed in typical gothic clothing as this wouldn’t fit in with the genre.
Finally I think the picture on the front cover needs to fit in with the double page spread and the
headline on the front page also needs to fit in with the double page spread. The story also needs to
fit in with the genre off the magazine because if it didn’t then the people wouldn’t buy it.
4. Institution
Firstly, I think that the kind of media institution that would publish my product would be a music
magazine publisher. I think this because it is what they do and because I believe my product would
attract buyers as my magazine is aimed at teenagers. It also contains quite a few images which
would be easy on the eye and attract many potential buyers.
However, even though I think that magazine producing companies may want to publish my
magazine, they may not have the space of the market to produce this magazine due to other
products such as Q, NME etc.
I have searched for a magazine publishing company on the internet and this is what I found:
the website is called www.musicmags.net. As you can see from this screenshot below that this
company produces many different types of magazines. I believe that I may have to find a different
producer as they already have my genre of magazine.
5. Audience
From my research of the magazines Q, NME and Vibe I was able to identify the genre and target
audience for these magazines. From the magazine Q I was able to tell that it was a magazine aimed
at people who like to listen to indie music and people aged between 15 and 30. I could see this
through the language used and also the colour scheme of red, white and black. The text that is
used is informal and appeals to teenagers and people who aren’t of a higher class.
My research gave me the idea to go along with a magazine that was aimed at people who liked to
listen to the music genre of indie/alternative. For example, I used the magazine NME for inspiration
throughout all of my products. I took ideas from the way they laid out there pages, photo’s and
structural ways.
By using the colours purple and black I thought that this would represent the media genre through
the dark colours. However, I also used yellow to contrast with the black as it shows danger and fits
in with the name ‘Riots’ as they are dangerous and violent so will be more appealing to the buyers.
In doing this I believe that my magazine is aimed at a niche market through the
colours, layout, photo’s and article that I have used. I believe that I have achieved aiming my
magazine at older teens who like indie/alternative. I also think that it could appeal to people who
listen to rock as the colours are quite dark and appealing to this category of buyers.
6. Development of technology skills
I believe that I have developed my technology skills in a number of ways.
Firstly, my ability to use Adobe Fireworks has improved vastly. I am able to identify different tools.
For example, I know now how to merge different layers together and group them making it easier
for me to access different sections of the magazine easily. At first I didn’t know what would happen
when I merged the layers together but now I understand that once I have merged the layers I can
edit them together instead of having to locate them and then edit them one by one.
Another skill that I learnt was how to edit pictures so that it blends in with my background colour.
For example, in my contents page I placed some images at the bottom of the page, to get them
blending in with the background colour I had to remove the white from around them and the place
them on the purple rectangle. Doing this then helped me with many other sections of my products
such as the masthead on the front cover.
7.
8. Progress from prelim task
Firstly, looking back on my prelim task I think that when I designed my first front cover I didn’t do
much drafting and stuck to the one layout whereas in my music magazine I have tried a few
different layouts for my cover, contents page and double page spread. I also think that in my prelim
task I only used two or three different colours and didn’t move away from those colours, but in my
music magazine I picked a colour scheme but realised that it wouldn’t work out so have moved
away and tried different things which finally got me to a better position to finish of my products.
Furthermore, I think that I have developed my research skills as in the prelim task I only looked at
magazines that fitted in with that genre. However, when researching for my music magazine I
decided that I was going to look at magazines such as Vibe as it is aimed at people who like rap
music. This meant that I could then look at all the conventions and make sure that I didn’t use
conventions for different magazines. I think I also developed my planning skills and was able to mix
these with my research skills. I was able to do this as I researched other magazines and looked at
the type of things they used such as the images and was then able to plan the type of images I
wanted to take.
Thirdly, I was able to develop my skills in using Fireworks. In the prelim task I didn’t really explore
all the things that they had to offer whereas in the main project I looked at all the different tools
and then explored the software meaning that my final product was much better as I was able to
get the full capabilities of each effect used. Overall, I got more confident throughout the project
and was able to use the software much better.
I think overall my ability has improved. I am glad that I wasn’t made to do the main task straight
away, after looking at my prelim task cover compared to my music magazine cover I think that if I
was made to do the music magazine first then the product wouldn’t be as good and wouldn’t of
turned out like it is now. I am very pleased with my production and how it has worked out.
