My evaluation

What conventions
have I used, challenged
or developed?
• There were a few magazines that I based my
magazine style on. These magazines are: The
Wire, Clash, Dazed and (although not a music
magazine, it featured many musicians) Sneeze.
By using these magazines I picked and used
different types of features that I liked and
developed them even further.

Conventions that I
used
• One convention from some of these magazine that I
used was the fonts I used in my magazine. When looking
at these magazines I noticed a trend that there fonts
were all similar looking because of the way their fonts
were spaced. At the time of noticing this I did not know
that this font type was called ‘Fixed Width’ fonts and
after some research found some fonts that I really like
that had this style of each letter having the same width
space between each letter. After playing around with
where I should place my masthead (originally planned
to put two thirds down my masthead) I decided that it
suited the top of the cover page which again plays along
with another magazine convention with it being
centered and at the top. Compared to the three
examples I think that my masthead (NOTION) fits into
this convention well and looks very similar to the
mastheads that inspired me to use this type of font.

Conventions I developed further
• One magazine convention in the magazines that I
looked at and developed further was the minimalism
the magazines cover pages that I looked at. The
magazines that I was inspired by had very little cover
lines and splash features, Which makes you concentrate
on the artist that is on the cover page and makes you
wonder who they are. Or if the artist is well known, the
artist will attract the target audience by just appearing
on the front page. However all of the magazine covers I
looked at had at least 5 cover lines/puffs/ splash
features one them. When in the process of planning my
picture I knew I wanted to have three cover lines. Three
was the minimum I decided I could have because the
artist on the cover was upcoming so not a lot of people
would know him, and I also thought that I needed to
add some of these techniques to show that I had
knowledge of normal magazine conventions as well as
not wanting it to look so minimalist the cover was
uninteresting.

• Conventions I wanted to challenge and separate my
magazine style from was found in my double page spread.
In my double page spread I wanted to stray away from the
symmetrical and structured stylings double page spreads
usually have, and I think this was seen in my pull quote,
splash line and sub heading. As you can see I used three
completely different fonts with contrasting coloured
backdrop boxes behind the text (Most colours were
sampled from cover/contents pages). By using these
colours and fonts and making each text unique, the
double page spread had a mismatched feeling to the
whole page. I think this quality is quite effective as not
only would it draw the attention of the reader due to its
unique design, but it also reflects the artists individuality
by almost mimicking the imperfect “messy” hair of the
artist. When researching my magazine I found that all the
magazines had a very structured design, even those like
Kerrang! (who target their magazine to rebellious rock and
roll fans). Although it looked good, there was rarely
original design ideas which is why I chose to break
convention and create a relatively unstructured design
Conventions I challenged

• When researching music magazines, I found that the magazines
that I was attracted to were magazines with medium close up
shots taken in a studio, with a bold colour as the background. This
style of shot I have used and developed has been the style I have
used throughout my magazine. My cover page and double page
spread are of very similar shots which I like as it creates a sense of
continuation and makes the magazine feel like its has come full
circle from the beginning covering all the topics and news that
were important but less important than this new artist, who is on
the cover page and contents page. As well as this I have developed
this convention further by using a picture of a different artist with
their back turned to the camera. This evolution of the shot is very
effective as the patches on the back of the jacket is a music
reference, as well as the jacket being a good place for the contents
of the magazine to be arrange round.
Conventions I developed further

Conventions I used
• One convention that I followed was choosing
the colours of the fonts and backgrounds colours
in my magazine. By this I mean that when
researching my magazines I realised that the the
colours these magazines used tended to be
sampled from the image that was on the page.
For example the magazine “Dazed” had its
masthead the same shade of purple that the
subject in the image was wearing as lipstick. By
doing this is it made the page look more natural
rather than just seeming like the editor chose
random colours for the colours scheme. The most
obvious example I have in my magazine of this
technique is on the the cover page where the
masthead is the same brownish colour than the
Carhartt logo on the sweatshirt the artists is
wearing.

How does your media product
represent Particular social
groups?
• My social group that the magazine is aimed at is an average age of
20.The stereotype of my target social group is that they grew up listening
to vulgar distasteful music. This negative stereotype seems to be a knock
on effect from the teenager stereotype and that these new adults should
start acting their age instead of listening to their rude music and going
out, getting drunk and having sex. This view is generally believed in the
older generation as they have consumed the medias one sided and
dramatized version of the truth. The media uses this violent, irrational
teenager/young adult stereotype in media outlets such as TV programs
and biased news stories that show only the negatives behaviours of the
young generation. My magazine has challenged this stereotype by
creating a magazine that focuses on celebrating the individuality of the
reader and breaking the social norms (such as clothing, music and
attitudes). By celebrating these original and different styles my magazine
turns the stereotype of a young adult on its head by promoting new or
overlooked bands from the avant garde/ indie rock scene as well as
shedding light and knowledge on other less popular music genres.

groups?
• While making my magazine I had to keep my target social groups of
young adults into account. This is because I didn't want the magazine to
be childlike or basic like younger teenage magazines (such as Top of the
Pops), however I did not want the outdated older style magazine such as
Mojo where the target audience is older males. I realised that by looking
at magazines that I was interested in and friends and family who are
around my target age were interested in, I could create a design that
would appeal to the target audience. When looking at these magazines I
realised a style of minimal text and a very image heavy ‘look book’ style
magazine was what my research leaned towards. Not only this but the
text that was used tended to be very short and to the point. This style of
magazine has had influence on the way I have created my magazine so
that it reflects my target audience however instead of the short brief
text, on the double page spread I have gone for a longer informal chat
styled interview. This is because my magazines mission statement was to
shine a light on talented musicians. This positive informal ”chat” also
challenges the stereotype of ”the violent youth”.

groups?
• Because my social group is a very small audience because of the age
range but also because there is a very niche audience who are overtly
different and original I have had to make sure things such as what the
artist looks like and is wearing in the images. By using a model who has
very wild and individual hair immediately blares originality, on top of this
the artist is wearing a Carhartt sweatshirt. When editing the cover page I
made sure to keep the small logo (in the bottom of the image) as only
people who know what Carhartt is will react and be attracted to the
magazine. Carhartt is a clothing brand who is increasingly getting popular
within the younger generation and is being worn by many people in their
own way/style. Another way I represented my social group is in the
contents page. The image I used as the background included an image of
a male wearing a denim jacket with a Beyonce reference on the back.
Although my magazine does not relate to musicians such as Beyonce, the
use of an artists merchandise (who is known to have a nearly whole
female audience). By the jacket being worn by a male the stereotypes
and social norms that is usually attached to music genres is being
broken. By celebrating and highlighting these individualities, I have
represented and mirrored my social group and mission statement in my
magazine.
Although my magazine only features
male models, I do not think that I have
not catered for my social group of both
genders. This is because the clothes that
the models are wearing are unisex pieces
of clothing. This is important to realise as
my magazine is a lookbook style where
the clothes also are apart of the story and
not just the text that accompanies it.

How do you attract/address your
audience?
I tried to appeal to my audience in many different ways. For
example in production when taking my photos I tried to take images
that interested me and as well as looking similar to the magazines I
researched. This is because I wanted my magazines to look like they
belong in the same genre that the magazines I researched were, as
this was the type of audience I was aiming to target with my
magazine. By getting my models to pose in a similar way this
created a magazine style that (from my survey analysis) my
audience would be interested in as well as something that would
interest me. When taking my photos I used quite a high key lighting
setup as well with a fill light to create a small chiaroscuro lighting
effect on the models face. This creates a dramatic and serious tone
to the magazine, this dramatic tone is also seen in my contents page
with the model looking to the side and also in my double page
spread with my model looking fairly serious. This create a sense of
mystery to the artist who is being interviewed and makes the target
audience want to know more about them. This is because my target
audience are the type of people who want to learn about the music
they listen to and not just listen to it on repeat.

audience?
Another way I tried to appeal to my audience was through the price of
my magazine. From my survey I found out that most people would want
to pay on average £4 for a magazine. This price would attract my
audience as for a monthly magazine £4 is a very cheap price. A cheap
price would attract my target audience more, as on average teenagers
and young adults are usually working minimum wage part time jobs
whilst still in education, therefor a cheaper magazine would appeal
more to them instead of a £8 magazine. Because my magazine does not
target one specific economic class I think £4 is also a good price as it is
affordable to anyone no matter what background. Another way I
targeted my audience was through what is included in my magazine. In
my survey most people were more interested in reading interviews with
the artists, therefore to appeal to the wider audience I included an
interview with my artist so that my magazine would be more popular.
When typing up my interview I realised that my tone was quite formal
and felt quite robotic and forced when reading it. So I changed the
mode of address to quite informal, almost like the interview is a normal
conversation with a friend instead of for a magazine

audience?
When I was making my magazine I wanted to include music and
fashion that was “offbeat” or different from the norm, however
in the final product the clothes worn by the model are plain or
relatively normal. Although this is different to what I put in my
mission statement, I still think the clothes the models are wearing
would attract the audience I am aiming for. This is because of the
brands (on the cover page and contents page) but also because
they are clothes that no matter who they are, young adults and
teenagers all have comfortable and basic clothes like hoodies and
denim jackets in their wardrobe. This allows my magazine to
appeal to a wider target audience than just the one I initially
targeted. Yet it will also appeal to my audience due to the
branding of the clothes and what the magazines includes
(upcoming artists, live gigs etc).

What kind of media
institute might distribute
your product and why?
• Institutions are organisations that
are responsible for the marketing,
production and distribution of media
texts. There are many large magazine
institutions such as: Bauer media
group, BBC, British Sky Broadcasting
and the British Board of Film
Classification.

When doing market research for pre existing magazines and their
distributers I found out that Dazed & Confused had created its
own distribution company called Dazed Media. This institution
also distributes 6 other magazines that all focus on celebrating
the youth culture as well as all art forms including music. I
decided that this was the institution I would like my magazine to
be distributed by, this is because “the title became a lightning rod
for cultural provocation and the magazine became a movement,
growing into the agenda-setting publishing powerhouse Dazed
Media”. By describing their success at selling their magazines to
the younger culture as a movement suggests that success was
massive and having a huge viewership. This would be greatly
beneficial to my magazine as their would be a “pre-sold”
audience for my magazine to be unveiled to, because the social
group represented by the magazine is very similar to my
magazines social group. Dazed media is also a multi modal
institution this means that as well as being printed, my magazine
would also be distributed by digital forms. This creates an even
bigger opportunity for my magazine to have an immediately
larger audience. This is especially true for my social group of the
younger generation who have been brought up with technology,
and the increasing sales of digital copies of media and the decline
of hard copies. The only disadvantages to having a distributor
who works with very similar magazines is that my magazine may
not get a lot of traction as the audience feels like they do not
need another magazine with the same type of contents. This
could cause my magazine to make a loss and could be dropped by
the institution. However this seems unlikely as there are already 6
magazines in the same genre.

What would be the
audience for your media
product?
• Within my magazine I think that it is relatively clear
what type of audience it is aimed at if you look closely.
The bold colours such a reds, browns, greens and
blues work well together and creates a very bold
magazine. This boldness reflects the audience that I
want to read my magazine. My social group that I
targeted were people with their own identity who
aren't scared to wear a bold colour or be dressed in
something that ‘normal’ styles dictates should not
allow. These people are the audience who I think
would be interested in learning about new and
overlooked musicians in the avant garde/ indie rock
genre. The clothes my models wore were things that
they liked to wear, this was important to my project as
again it reflects the type of people that would want to
read my magazine. The clothes were also relatively
unisex with only a hoodie and jacket being shown, this
creates a feeling that both genders are able to buy an
enjoy the contents of this magazine. All my photos
were taken in a studio, this could suggest that my
audience are creative and that they are confident
enough in their ’avant garde’ look to model it for the
world.

What would be the audience
for your media product?
• There is very minimal writing in the
magazine. This is because through my
magazine research I found that the target
audience would rather have stylized
images and less text. This is clearly seen
in my contents page. However I chose to
include some writing in the double page
spread to challenge the stereotype of
rude teenagers. It also adds another
dimension to the magazine and every
magazine I looked at had at least a small
interview with the musician in question.
The audience to my magazine are very
passionate about their music, however
are always open to listen to a song if it is
recommended by someone they trust,
and Notion is that someone. My
magazine attracts the attention of people
who want to further their knowledge of
the genres they like and even the genres
they haven’t explored yet.

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

Before starting the project, my knowledge of
Photoshop was very limited. However
throughout the process I learned and
developed my skills so that when making my
magazine it became an easier and smoother
process. For example I learnt that by using
the clone stamp tool I could edit out
unwanted colours and hair in the images of
my model
I also learnt that the eye dropper tool
was very useful in keeping a colour
scheme, and was really useful when I
found colours in other images that I liked.
I learnt that layers were very important when
adding and editing different aspects of my image.
By layering my image it allowed me to edit the
model while keeping the background the same.

Due to technology being the main premise of
this coursework it has been key to work with it
and learn about the different software the more
I worked with them.
The two main software's that I have worked
with were Indesign and Photoshop. These
softwares are crucial to my coursework as I
designed and created my magazine on them,
allowing me to edit and arranges my images and
texts to create something I am proud of.
By learning and expanding my knowledge of
Indesign and photoshop I have been able to
create a more professional looking magazine,
especially compared to my preliminary task.

When conducting market research I had to
learn to use a new technology called Survey
Monkey. Although I have never used Survey
Monkey before I found it very quick and easy to
create an effective survey which collected
helpful data. It was also easy to get people t
answer the survey because of being able to link
the survey to my social media.

Working with a range of technology
has often been very useful as for
example it has been quick and easy to
conduct market research through
advertising my survey on social media
so my results become more reliable
due to not only my friends answering
my survey but other people whom I
wouldn't’t immediately have asked.
However there have been some
downsides to technology. Working
with large files, and having multiple
programs open at once have meant at
some periods of my work have been
very slow due to my computer crashing
or having to be restarted, because of
this sometimes I have lost work and
lost time because of this. Overall I
think that technology has been a
massive help as it allows multiple types
of programs and media texts to be
connected at once. This technical
convergence can be seen at my blog
where a range of programs have been
combined in a website.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you
feel you have learnt in the progression to the full
product?

Here are my preliminary task
designs. As you can see they are
very simple (especially my contents
flatplan) and are not very appealing.
This is when I did very little research
for magazine ideas and had little
knowledge on the software's I was
using. My task was to create a
magazine that appealed to students
so that they would read it. Looking
back on my task, I think I have
definitely improved my
photography skills, editing and
colour schemes.

Looking back at your preliminary task,
what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression to the full product?
Here are my preliminary task designs. As you can see they are
very simple (especially my contents flatplan) and are not very
appealing. This is when I did very little research for magazine
ideas and had little knowledge on the software's I was using.
My task was to create a magazine that appealed to students so
that they would read it. Looking back on my task, I think I have
definitely improved my photography skills, editing and colour
schemes.

One area that I have greatly improved is my research skills. At the start of the year, I was
unsure about institutions of media and what distributing magazines really entails. I also
think my knowledge of magazines and knowing their target audience has improved as
well. By this what I mean is that by conducting my audience research it has made me
understand how magazines tailor everything down to their fonts towards their audience
so that they will buy the magazine. I have also tried to do this to attract my audience, by
thinking about colour schemes, what to include in my magazines and how I want my
models to look in the images. The audience I was tailoring to was the people who took
my survey as I already had a picture in my head on what their interests were.
For my final product I used social media to look at photographs and models to find
inspiration and techniques that I could use in my images. This research has allowed me to
imitate and refine the ideas I liked and thought the audience would like so that my
magazine reflects my social group as much as it can.

Throughout the process I have been constantly researching and
refining my results to find the type of shots I wanted to take for
my magazine. This research has allowed me to improve my
photograph skills. This is because going to take my studio shots I
already roughly knew what type of shots I wanted/needed for my
magazine. I also used a proper lighting setup which I think makes
the image look a lot more professional (with the chiaroscuro
lighting on my models face). Compared to when I took my
preliminary photos this was a massive improvement (due to only
have a short amount of time to take the photos, little planning
meant we wondered round until I found somewhere & someone I
wanted to take a photo of). I also found that my editing has
become a lot subtler and more natural. This can easily be seen
when comparing my grainy unnatural colour of my model from
the preliminary task, to the second model who looks more natural
looking. By improving my photography and editing skills I have
been able to produce a lot higher quality images for my magazine,
which in turn creates a better looking magazine.

As my editing skills became better, my knowledge of what
the tools available in Photoshop also improved. For example
I found that some of my photos were almost too bright from
the studio lights, therefore I had too adjust the exposure,
and colour balance so that my model looked more natural
and darker than the original lighter image.
I also learnt that by using the quick select tool and
lasso tool allowed me to get rid of bits of the white
background that was still visible in the hair of my model, the
clone stamp was also helpful to fill in these gaps and made
the parts of his hair that looked unnatural seem normal.
Although this process was sometimes tedious it made the
hair look a lot better and the magazine more professional
looking as no white pixels are visible in his hair.

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