2. In this essay I’m going to evaluate how I performed in media and how I came to my final
magazine.
To follow conventions is to follow a certain genre of magazines looks and what specific things
they use which separates them from other magazines. So what I wanted to do was to try and
follow these conventions so my magazine had the best chance of working and looking
professional. This is so I can challenge other magazines out there, which is the same genre as
mine (Dubstep) but to try and change it so it looks different but so it surprises the audience
making it intriguing and interesting.
The sort of things I took into account from a music magazines conventions was the big
headline which can be seen on any magazine. This is to introduce something and to catch you
eye straight away. Also a main image is used on most magazines to draw you in and to show
you what the main story is.
3. The sort of magazines I usually buy are very much like the one I created , colourful vibrant and
something which is a bit different. The typical age group to go for the magazine I have created
is usually teenage years heading into early twenty’s with the odd older generation getting a
taste.
The genre of music I have chosen is mainly Dubstep and a slight introduction of Dance/electro
this was because it’s the fastest growing genre of music with artists such as Skrillex, Nero and
Modestep getting more airtime than ever before on mainstream radio. The magazine is aimed
at both male and female and any race as this is a genre of music which brings people together
in clubs and differentiates them from everyone else, as Dubstep is not a mainstream genre
unlike R&B/HipHop.
I feel its for both sexes as the genre of music is very appealing to both unlike 1D for example
which is aimed at female audiences as they are an all male group but Dubstep is for both sexes.
The information and written work in my magazine is easy for all ages to read and understand
as it explains in full detail, this is so people who might be getting into the new genre will
understand.
4. The age range I’m looking at is 14 to 25 as most people have been brought up in their own era
of music listening to their own style of music and unlikely to change, but I chosen 25 as these
people are still young and open to new sounds as the 90’s was the beginning of hard-core
electronic music.
I also believe that the colours I have used are very appealing to the age group I have chosen as
they are bold and very eye catching, the colours also stay in your mind for example
Mcdonald’s you can remember as being yellow and red. I felt using the colours
orange,black,white and green where great colours as they fit perfectly with the genre of
magazine I have chosen, as they are vibrant and contrast each other making them stand out
this could also be link in which the genre of magazine I have chosen as Dubstep stands out
from other genres.
The photos I have chosen are very much of what Dubstep artists look like performing, as most
of them are standing behind a mixing desk playing the music they have created. This doesn’t
leave much time to move around stage. This is the reason I chose the pictures I did.
5. I believe the stories which I chose were excellent as it gave insight on the artist and what he is
like as an individual. But also because I need a good stories to make people to buy my
magazine this means the stories need to be interesting and have a sense of purpose, for
example gaining knowledge of what the artist is like. I made it very clear on my magazine so it
was readable for everyone as the story is on the right hand side in clear rows. There is plenty of
information about the artist and it fills up all of the space. I filled it with a lot information
because people nowadays like knowing all the of the information. Overall I think I have
represented my social group in a very positive way and can be clearly distinguished.
6. There are many different institutions which could publish my magazine but some are more
likely than others due the genre of magazine they normally aim for. An example of some
institutions could just sell music magazines and some lifestyle magazines. The 2 places which
would be likely to publish my magazine WUB would be Bauer media and ICP.
Bauer media is a massive media company which has under its belt some of the greatest
magazines out for example Grazia,Closer,FHM,Kerrang and 4Music. They are Europe's largest
privately owned publishing group and have over 300 magazines in 15 countries as well as
online, TV and radio stations.
There are multi-platforms media based groups with magazines and radios. Their objective is to
connect audiences with excellent content through both multi touch brand platforms, whenever
and however they want. They also span over 80 influential brands.
This would be a perfect company to publish my magazine as they are very interested to create
connections with many different types of audience s and a Dubstep magazine would do just
that expanding their music genre magazines introducing new opportunities.
My second media publisher is ICP media they have more than 60 iconic media brands they
also create content for multiplatform across print,online,mobile,tablet and events. They are the
UKs leading consumer magazine publisher they engage with 26million UK adults almost two
thirds of UK women and 43% of UK men. They reach over 25million users each month. The
sorts of magazines they publish are mainly lifestyles but they do publish the NME magazine
which is possibly the UK’s biggest music magazine they also do world soccer and What Digital
Camera.
7. This would also be a great publisher as they have many connections all over the UK and are
very proud of what they have achieved I think my magazine would be a great investment for
them as its one of the fastest growing genres of music and if they take this into consideration
they could jump on that fact and make some money.
8. When doing my research I used many different types of magazines for inspiration. These
where NME,Kerrang and Q.These are the sort of magazines which are aimed at a mass
audience as they aim towards the mainstream genres of music. Looking at these magazines I
could easily tell which genre of music it was portraying and aimed towards. I could tell this by
just looking at the colours and the way they are laid out and what pictures have been used.
From my research I wanted to make sure that when looking at my magazine you could tell
what genre it was aimed at. This is by looking at the layout of the pictures colours and
structure. Looking at the colours and decisions I chose I think I managed to do this as the name
of my magazine also makes it very clear to see what genre of music it is aimed at.
Overall looking at what I have done and the genre of music I chose it is definitely aimed at a
niche market although Dubstep is growing rapidly its still not as big as other genres such as
HipHop .
9. Looking at the other magazines I was able to get an understanding of what was needed to attract and
address my audience in the best way possible.
Things such as the magazine name attracts the customer as it gives them an indication of what the
magazine I like and what genre it is aimed at. My magazine is called WUB straight away I can tell this
is a Dubstep magazine as this is the sound (stereotyped sound) which is used in that genre of music
and heard in most Dubstep songs. The colour I chose was white this was so it stood out from the
green background this gets the customers attention straight away.
Makin the main image cover the whole front page also attracts your audience as you can tell what the
artist looks like straight away without have to pick up the magazine. Also adding a photo story or a
headline gives the image some information to intrigue the buyer so they will buy it and read on. The
main image I chose was a male dressed in ordinary clothes this was so people could relate to him and
he wasn't seen as some extravagant artist.
I think that I have addressed the audience extremely well as on my double page spread I have shown
them some answers from an interview as well as some background information on the artist. This was
so they could get to know the artist and see what he is like. I think all the processes I have done have
influenced how well I have addressed the audience from the photos I have chosen and what articles I
have decided to put in the magazine. This is because I feel the contents I have chose is highly
interesting and gives them information about gigs,reviews,headlines and the latest gossip. I also think
the way I have placed all my content on one side of the double page spread allows it to look clear and
10. Extremely easy to read. It also catches your eyes as it draws you into the information. Overall I
think I have addressed and attracted the audience to the best of my ability by using the correct
colours and images to attract people to the genre of music I have chosen.
11. I think from this project I have learnt a lot about many different software's ,this will help me in
future projects.
first thing I have managed to get to grips with more was macromedia fireworks, things I have
managed to become better at are things such as using different tools like the magic wand tool which
can get rid of areas of a picture without having to do it all by hand. For example in my work I had to
delete some parts of my photos so they couldn’t be seen. At first I struggled with this but after a
while practicing I was able to delete the background without deleting the parts I wanted.
I've also learnt a lot about different angles and they portray different meanings when taking a
photo. Things such as lighting I also took into account. I researched many different magazines from
NME, Grazia and Vogue to pick up different techniques to use in my magazine. I managed to get
my main idea of NME with my main image of someone doing a pose staring into the camera. I took
this at a slightly lower angle to make it look like you are looking up at them to give him a sense of
dominance. The lighting I used was there to light him up to make it look like he had a spot light was
on him.
Websites I used in my projects were slide share and blogger. These were used to get my work onto
the internet so all my work could be stored in one place. Slideshare allowed me to transfer my
power points on to the internet. At first on blogger it was difficult to get to grips with the layout as I
am so used to social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter. But after a while I got to grips
with it and I was able to navigate and upload information with ease.
12. Looking back on my preliminary task I feel that I have improved dramatically and learnt many
things through the process. Things I didn’t learn much about where technology this is because I
have already used the programs before.
There are many things I have learnt in making my actual magazine, I have learnt that everything
needs to be planned to enable you to get the best possible magazine. To do this I made many power
points filled with different types of fonts , colours, layouts and images. I got a variety of each type so
I was able to pick the best one possible for my genre of magazine. To get the best layout I made
different layouts I then looked at some magazines in my genre to see which one matched the most I
then chose which layout was the best.
I also did this with fonts, I had a variety of different fonts I then looked at other magazines and
picked which ones looked the most suitable for my magazine. I chose my house style at the start
using the colours which showed up most on Dubstep magazines. I found that I have learnt a lot
from all these as I feel I am now able to take these tips into future projects.
I've also learnt a lot about how to aim and attract my target market by using these correct methods
by choosing the right colours,images,layout,fonts and story lines to attract the audience into reading
my magazine.
Overall I think I have personally gained a lot of knowledge from making the magazine and have
also created a fairly good magazine as I have managed to create a magazine which follows all genre
conventions and has the correct colours, fonts and images.
