4. Masthead
One example where I have followed conventions of a music magazine is by including a
masthead at the top of the front page, this is to establish the name of the magazine and to
make it recognizable to the audience. A masthead is what you would find in any magazine and
it is the largest and boldest piece of text on the page so it grabs the audience’s attention and
stands out the most.
The style of my masthead was influenced by NME and Kerrang!’s. I made mine using a bold
font that stands out and made it black. I followed the common convention of sticking the
main cover image over the masthead to show how the audience seeing the main image is more
important than them seeing the name of the magazine.
5. Main image
The main image front cover is the most important because its what the reader usually sees first and it shows what it will
feature and tells the audience the genre of the magazine. I used a medium shot of my model for my front cover
looking straight at the camera making eye contact with the reader, as the two other artists are as well, as I think this
engages the reader and draws them in.
I used a female on the front cover of my magazine which breaks the conventions of a stereotypical rock or alternative
magazine. When you see a female on a front cover of a magazine, they are normally trying to inspire female readers to
be like them and be appealing to the Male Gaze, by exposing cleavage or using provocative body language or smiling
and trying to entice the reader to buy the magazine. The girl on my front cover challenges this stereotype by not
revealing anything but she still shows some femininity with her volumised hair. She is fully clothed and wearing a
leather jacket which makes her appear edgy and fierce. Her body language is solid and straight in front of the camera
and instead of enticing the reader, she seems almost threatening and challenges the audience to read the magazine.
6. Colour scheme
For the colour scheme I have chosen to use 3 main colours: black, red and yellow. I
have taken inspiration from magazines like Kerrang! and NME. These magazines
show the conventional rock magazine colours and I wanted my magazine to follow
the same conventions to represent the genre of my magazine. I also did not use just a
plain white background, I kept my background colour grey as this was the lighting I
took the main image photo in because I wanted some clashing colours, which is a
convention in rock magazines. The colour scheme also reveals to the audience what
type of music genre the magazine is about.
7. Coverlines
I followed the magazine convention of using coverlines on my front cover that will help to sell
my product. Coverlines give the reader hints about what is featured inside and state the essential
articles so that they will know if it appeals to them or not. I also used different colours, and
made the information that will grab the audience’s attention big, and placed the information
below in smaller text. This gave some dimension to my magazine and was again influenced by
NME and Kerrang.
My mag NME Kerrang!
8. Banners
I added a banner at the bottom of my front cover as this is a convention I have seen used in
a lot of magazines. I have advertised posters and included images of which posters are inside
because this might appeal to the reader and convince them to buy it. It is clearly advertised,
just like the examples from NME and Kerrang. The banner can be placed at the very top, but
I wanted mine at the bottom because the reader would have read everything on the page so
the banner would be the last thing they see, so this can be used to sell my magazine if the
reader hasn’t decided to buy it already. In my magazine survey, the majority of people said
that they would subscribe to a magazine, so in my banner I advertised that you can subscribe
to get it monthly, and I included the price.
9. Barcode
I followed the convention of placing my bar code in the bottom right corner, as it is not the most
important thing for the reader to see because it normally goes unnoticed when a reader is
skimming over the front cover. I added this to give my magazine a professional touch because it is
scanned when being sold by the retailer.
11. Masthead & title
I followed the popular convention of putting my magazine masthead in the contents page so the audience
is always aware of the brand of the magazine. I placed it in the top left corner as this is the first thing the
reader sees. I chose to write “This Week” underneath it instead of “Contents” because I wanted to
challenge this convention as I’ve seen it in many magazines. This is also used in NME and also Kerrang,
but it is not used as the title. I chose to take inspiration from this because it emphasizes to the reader that
there is something new featured in my magazine every week, and will encourage them to buy it if they see
something they want to read about so they don’t miss out.
I used a font for the title that is easy to read and in black so its clear to see against the white background.
12. Images
My contents page is mainly taken up by pictures rather than text because the audience might think they are
more interesting to look at. I have followed the convention of making the biggest image on the page related
to the main article featured in the magazine, as this is what usually what the reader looks at first, so this will
help to attract the audience. I have taken photos of artists in different angles and took them in different
locations to make the page more appealing and exciting because there is variety, and this will show there are a
mixture of people that are featured, not just the same kind of artist doing a photoshoot in the studio. Each
image shows a certain mood, such as happy, joyful, powerful, and there is also an aspect of freedom in the
outdoors photo with the nature and leaves, which ties in with music representing being free. Instruments such
as guitars and drums are included in some images to emphasize that it is a music magazine, which is also used
in NME magazine. This also suggests the genre of music the magazine is based on.
13. Layout
For the layout of my contents page I decided to use a greater ratio of images to text because my audience will prefer to look at
images rather than text because they will be more attracted to pictures of artists that will be featured instead of reading about
them, and since my magazine is aimed at 16-25 year olds they may not want to do a lot of reading. Therefore I have followed the
conventions used by NME and Kerrang of using more images than text. I stuck with the convention of using my bold masthead
and the title at the top so the reader knows what the page is about. The contents page of NME uses one column on the right
hand side and headers so the reader knows where to look when they want to find something specific. Kerrang! displays its
contents in 4 columns on the bottom half of the page. For my magazine, I chose to use one column because it is easier to read
because it goes straight down, making it easier to follow. All the contents are listed in red boxes because it immediately draws
your eye to it. The text on top of it is white, making it easy to read and there are page numbers next to them so the reader can
quickly skip to a page if something interests them.
The main image on the page is from the exclusive interview in the magazine so this tells the audience that it is the main feature,
which will attract them to read it. There are several images underneath to show the audience what else is included.
Above the column of contents, I added a box with social media icons, which are very recognizable to the audience, telling them
that they can follow Fuse magazine on these platforms, and I also included the magazine website where they can go for more
information.
14. Page numbers
I have used page numbers on my contents page, just as magazines like NME and Kerrang. They are
placed in the corners of my images and in the contents column so they are easy to see. This is a useful
convention because the reader can easily look at a number and quickly flick to a page if they want to
read about something that interested them.
16. Headline
My headline is at the top of the page is this is the first thing the audience is drawn to. My
Headline is ‘Who’s That Girl?’ because the interview is with a breakthrough artist who isn’t
too well known. This challenges the headline used in NME as it says the name of the band
the article is focused on because they are well known, therefore it is used to attract people
who are fans of The Vaccines. This also challenges Kerrang! which uses a quote from the
article as their headline, as I placed my quotes in different places on the page.
17. Colour scheme
With the colour scheme for my double page spread, I decided to keep it simple by using
green as a staple colour and also black and white. I used black, white, yellow and red for my
front cover and contents page, but I decided to switch to green for the double page to make
my magazine appear more interesting. I didn’t want to use too many colours because i thought this would
fit better with my target audience. I kept my background white, just like the example from NME, and I
chose green and black for my text colours as they are the easiest to read. The NME magazine also keeps
it simple by using minimal colour and only using blue as a staple colour to show that it is aimed at a
sophisticated target audience.
18. Images
The photos of my model for my double page were shot outdoors, which creates a free
and relaxed mood with the natural surroundings. The main prop in the images is the
guitar, which shows the type of music the artist creates. I used different shots and
angles taking these photos, such as close ups, medium shots and long shots. My target
audience is teenagers so I made sure I had a range of photos I could add to my
double page to keep them interested, as they might prefer looking at images than
reading the text.
19. Layout
In a lot of magazines, I noticed that there is a bigger ratio of images to text so I used this
convention while making my double page spread. I used one big main image on one half of
the double page to show the musician the article is centred around. This is also done in the
examples above from NME and Kerrang. On top of my main image I used a pull quote from
the interview to attract the audience to read the text on the first page, as they will look at the
images before reading the text. I added more pictures to the page with the text on because
younger audiences would find looking at photos more appealing.
The interview text is in 3 small columns as I thought this would be the neatest way to display
it, and I coloured the interviewer’s questions in green, and the musicians answers in black to
clearly distinguish who was saying what. I added another pull quote to the middle of the page
so the interview didn’t look like one block of boring text.
20. How does your media product
represent particular social groups?
21. Age
The people I have photographed for my magazine are
teens aged 16-17. The media has a huge effect on society
and it influences peoples opinions and views on youths
today. Media represents teenagers in a very conventional
way as they are stereotyped by their personality, sex, and
appearance, and a lot of the time they are portrayed in a
negative way, for example, being lazy, rebellious and
having low morals. However, I have challenged these
stereotypes in my magazine.
The girl with the guitar is a musician which shows us that
she is very ambitious, which challenges the stereotype that
teenagers are reckless and don’t care about setting goals
for their life. She is in an outdoor setting with leaves and
nature surrounding her, and the camera angle is at the
side to show her looking out in front of her, which
suggests a peaceful state of mind. The girl in the 2nd
photo is smiling, and also has relaxed and casual body
language, she is facing the camera but she is leaning to
one side to show an aspect of youthfulness. This works
against the stereotype of teenagers being crazy, out of
control ,and rebellious characters.
22. Gender
Images of both males and females have been used in
my magazine.
Females are usually portrayed stereotypically in music
magazines by having to deliver society’s expectations
of femininity to fit in with the theory of the Male
Gaze and to want female readers to aspire to be like
them. They are presented by having long styled hair,
exposing skin, such as cleavage, and using provocative
body language. I challenged this stereotype with one
of my female models who is also on my front cover.
Instead of revealing anything, she is fully clothed and
wearing a leather jacket to make her appear “edgy”
instead of “sexy”. Her body language is simple, she
doesn’t look like she’s trying to show anything off, yet
she still looks powerful. Instead of smiling, she looks
quite threatening which challenges the reader to read
the magazine.
The male photographed is wearing casual but indie
type of clothing, suggesting that he isn’t mainstream,
and the type of music he is playing is indie/alternative.
He is playing a guitar which shows that young males
today are able to write their own songs and be
successful, making them people to look up to.
23. What kind of media institution might
distribute your product and why?
24. IPC Media is the UK’s leading consumer magazine and digital publisher with a large
portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year and has more than 60 iconic media brands.
They publish many magazines to fit a wide range of audiences, such as home and lifestyle,
sporting, and beauty. It also publishes music magazines similar to mine, such as NME.
NME serves an engaged audience of 16-24 year olds, and it is the longest published and
most respected music weekly in the world.
I think that IPC Media would be the best to distribute my magazine. Since it already
distributes well know brands such as NME, so they will have already have experience and
dependable consumers who may be interested in Fuse magazine.
www.ipcmedia.com
25. Who would be the audience for
your media product?
26. The target audience for my magazine would be similar to audiences
who read:
I researched the readership of these magazines to find out
information about the type of people they are, for example, what
hobbies they have, their average age and social class. This gave me
ideas for who will be my target audience.
27. Target AudienceGender:
My magazine would appeal to both male and female audience. Girls may be drawn to the
magazine more because of the powerful female figure on the front cover, but I think it
will attract anyone who wants to read about the indie/rock genre. This is reinforced by
statistics shown from my research that the percentage of Kerrang! readers are 45.3%
female and 54.7% are male. This tells me that both genders will enjoy Fuse magazine.
Age:
The age for my target audience is 16-24 year olds as my magazine uses some colour to
attract the teenage audience, but isn’t overdone for the young adult audience. The model
on the front cover image appears to look more mature than she is, so this will appeal to an
adult audience as well as teenagers. Fuse magazine includes things a young audience would
be interested in, such as news and gossip about well known bands, interviews with artists
and posters because a lot of teenagers like to put posters on their walls. It also advertises
social media, which is used by most people of this age.
Class: My magazine is priced at £3.20 and it is released monthly so it is affordable for
working class and middle class people.
Hobbies/interests:
My audience enjoys listening to music on iPods/phones or through medias such as
Youtube and Spotify. They enjoy bands like Two Door Cinema Club, You Me at Six,
Mumford & Sons, and Paramore. They like spending time with friends and going to the
cinema, doing sports, and shopping. A lot of their time is spent watching films and TV
shows, and finding out about new artists/bands to listen to and new shows to watch.
29. Images
One of the ways I attracted my audience was by the
use of images. The front cover image is of a teenage
girl but she looks more mature due to the dark
lighting used in the studio, so this appeals to an older
audience. The clothes she is wearing, e.g the leather
jacket has an edgy and rebellious feel to it so this
would be appealing and relatable to the teenage
audience.
In my contents page I included pictures of people
with instruments. One of the photos was from a
concert, and I thought this would be appropriate for
a music magazine because gigs and festivals are most
popular among teenagers so this will appeal to the
young audience. Since my audience are influenced by
music I included an image of a teenage girl with a
guitar, which suggests she writes and performs her
own songs, and could inspire the reader to want to
be like her.
30. Fonts
Throughout my magazine I used fonts that are easy to read as the audience would
prefer to read something if it is in a clear font. For my masthead I used a bold and
clear font in black as the reader’s eye would be immediately drawn to this.
The list of contents on my contents page are clearly readable against the colour of the
background, I used a mix of colours because this will attract the teenage audience. The
page numbers listed are clear to see so the reader can easily flick to any page if they see
something they want to read about. With the interview for my double page spread, I
made sure it was easy to read because there is a lot of text on that page, I also used
dark colours which stands out the most against the white background.
31. Freebies
A convention I have seen used on many magazines is a banner across the magazine
advertisting free things included inside, such as posters, so I used the same idea for
my magazine, and I also advertised that there are posters included on my contents
page. I showed a preview of what posters are inside, so this will appeal to people
that are fans of these artists. Posters would appeal most to the teenage audience
because they are most likely to stick posters of bands and musicians they like on
their walls.
32. What have you learnt about
technologies from the process of
constructing this product?
33. Google Chrome is the browser I have used throughout
this project. Without being able to use search engines
like Google, I wouldn’t be able to complete research
that I had to do when I needed to find out about
magazine publishers and magazine readership.
One of the websites that was an important part of
this project was Slideshare. I used this to upload
my PowerPoint presentations to my blog, since
Blogger doesn’t support these files. It was my first
time using it so I learnt how to set up an account,
upload my files and embed them onto my blog
using the HTML code.
34. Using Blogger was essential to the whole project as this is what I created
my blog with to upload my magazine analysis, research, planning, final
product and evalution. With everything uploaded to my blog, all my work
could be viewed online to anyone. I had never created a blog, but I found
Blogger easily to use as it was clear to see how to make a new post, change
the titles and layout of my blog, and publish my work.
Photoshop was the most important programme in this project as I
wouldn’t have been able to create my magazine without it. There
are similar programmes I could’ve used, such as inDesign but I
thought Photoshop was the best because i’ve had a bit of previous
experience with it and it gave me all the tools needed to create my
magazine. I had never edited a picture on Photoshop or created
such a thing like a magazine before so I learnt how to change the
brightness/contrast, use the lasso tool to change the colour of
something specific, the stamp tool if I wanted something to blend
in, the colour picker tool to select a certain colour for something I
had used elsewhere, and the text tool. I also learnt how to create a
clipping mask, which was useful for resizing some of my images.
35. Taking photos & hardware
A main part of this task was taking my own photos for my magazine, and to do this I
used a DSLR camera because this allowed me to take high quality photos which are
essential for my magazine to look professional. I learnt more about taking photos, and
how to zoom and focus the camera, and also I learnt how to work with studio lighting.
There wasn’t enough memory in my user area on the college computers to save all my
large files so I had to use a memory stick to store all my work. This was much easier than
emailing my work to myself, and it was handy because it meant I could transfer all my
work to my home computer just by plugging it in.
I used a desktop PC to do all my work at college as they included software I needed for
production, like Photoshop. I used my laptop at home to catch up on work that wasn’t
production.
36. Looking back at your preliminary task,
what do you feel you have learnt in
the progression from it to the full
product?
37. Planning
I learnt that planning is essential in a project like this and
it is important for producing a good quality final
product. I planned each stage up to creating my
magazine so I knew which direction to take everything
in.
I created layout and flat plans of my magazine so I knew
where I wanted to place everything in production. I
changed a few of things from these plans because when
I was putting everything together I could see what
looked good and what didn’t.
My photography planning helped me decide what kind
of shots I wanted to take, e.g. Close ups, medium shots,
and it let me organise things like what I wanted my
models to wear, the locations, and the props. This was
useful because I could get down to taking the photos
straight away instead of wasting a lot of time deciding
what I wanted to shoot.
I did not do any planning for my College magazine so I
had no idea how I wanted to structure it or what to
include.
38. I created a Style Sheet to help me with the design of my magazine, and I planned my
colour scheme and the type of fonts I wanted to use. The colour scheme planning
became very helpful as I could just look at this when deciding which tones of colour
worked with others. I looked at fonts online and chose the ones I thought would suit my
magazine, and I got to experiment with which fonts worked well and which didn’t.
39. Research
For the preliminary task, I already knew the audience for
my college magazine would be college students which are
aged 16-19 but I did no research into similar magazines or
asked what things the target audience want to read about.
For my project I conducted a lot of research: publisher
research, reader profiles, an interview and a survey.
The publisher research helped me to learn about other
companies portfolios of products, and what type of
markets they reach out to.
I I looked at magazines similar to mine, such as NME and
Kerrang! to see which conventions I should follow and
what to include that would appeal to my target audience.
I I created a survey using Survey Monkey and sent it out
to get feedback that told me more about my audience
and what I should put in my magazine to appeal to them.
40. Production
Since my preliminary task I have improved with my
skills with the photo editing software I used,
Photoshop. While creating my college magazine I had
little knowledge of how to use tools on Photoshop, but
during the process of making magazine I have learnt
how to do things such as: how to put the masthead
behind the person on the front cover using the lasso
tool, creating clipping masks, adding text, adding shape
boxes, and being able to adjust brightness/contrast and
saturation on images.
Overall I believe I have progressed from the use of this
software as at the beginning I wasn’t experienced with
it but now I am much more confident with it, and I
have been able to create a professional looking
magazine using it.
