1) The document discusses conventions used in music magazine design such as attention-grabbing covers, prominent mastheads, direct eye contact in photos, and teasers of article contents. 2) It compares conventions between the student's preliminary design and final magazine cover, showing improvement in photo quality, font selection, and background design. 3) The student reflects that undertaking the project improved their skills with technologies like Photoshop and InDesign, but that procrastination left them rushed.

1. Ross Butterly AS Media Studies Practical Portfolio Music Magazine Evaluation

2. Conventions: Tools of the Trade No matter what the genre or who the audience, music magazines the world over utilise the same repertoire of tactics to make themselves stand out on a shelf and draw in readers. Kerrang! is a good example of this within my chosen genre. Typically boasting loud, attention-grabbing covers, it makes for a good demonstration of these conventions…

3. Conventions: Front Cover Masthead: Taking up a sizeable portion of the upper page, the masthead is almost as obvious to the passing eye as the cover photo, and bears Kerrang’s signature font. Cover Photo: Dominating this cover, and effectively seizing consumers’ attention, is the instantly recognisable masked face of Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor. This presence of a famous name in the genre is bound to attract buyers. Direct Mode of Address: The subject of the main photo is looking straight at the camera; in effect, looking straight at the reader. This assists in finding and holding consumer attention. Other Features: This mention of other contents of the publication relies on the main photo to draw in readers, then further entices them to buy the magazine with the inclusion of other artists they may be interested in.

4. Comparison: Front Cover Strap Line: Small and out of the way compared to the primary attention-grabbers, this extra feature raises awareness of other contents and can be used to frame the main photo. Masthead: Both are large, placed at the top and framed with a background strip of colour for extra contrast. Main Photo: As well as making use of direct address, these photos are cut and placed in such a way as to lay over the top of the masthead. This makes the subjects appear almost to be raised off the page, further enhancing their attention-grasping ability.

5. Conventions: Contents Page Editor’s Note: Intended to be among the first things read by buyers, this foreword from the editor has a personal tone that further entices readers to look through the publication. Quote: At the risk of being taken out of its context, this quote from a well-known musician serves to capture readers’ interest and lead them to read the article from which it was taken. Pictured Features: These specific features, each with an associated picture, description and page number, command most of the page space and are intended to entice readers to look at their associated articles. Feature List: This list separates features into specific types so as to allow readers to easily what will interest them most. Its use of well-known names invites consumers to read more.

6. Comparison: Contents Page Contents List: I have made use of the same kind of list to draw attention to specific articles, but have used less items compared to the average Kerrang issue, which will include more material. Editor’s Note: Inspired by the thought of how effective editors’ notes seem to be at their task, I have included one in my own work for the same purpose. Main Photos: Whereas Kerrang’s contents pages typically use multiple photos for what are expected to be the issues’ most popular features, my page has used just one to place emphasis on the main feature.

7. Conventions: Main Feature Title: Often a quote taken from an interview, in which case it is chosen so as to summarise the article, this title uses large fonts to draw attention to itself and lead readers to skim the article itself. Extra Feature: In this case, a list of new tracks being produced by the band has been added to give readers something of a taste of the upcoming release. Features like this will be included for the purpose of adding some variety to the feature. Photos: Chosen and edited to suit the visual style of the piece, these photos each have a small caption to put them into a measure of context. Article: Taking up rather little space compared to the photos, the article itself need not make use of a large font to be readable.

8. Comparison: Main Feature Title: Both articles’ titles make use of very differing fonts, eye-catching placement and large sizes to draw readers’ attention and entice them to read the articles themselves, as well as an opening paragraph to lead involvingly into the rest of the feature. Photo: As always, direct address is a must if reader attention is to be taken and held. The photos are large, commanding a lot of page space, and the subjects are well-lit to enhance their aesthetic appeal on the page. Article: Again, the text of the article itself is very small, so as to make more effective use of what space is available while still being properly legible. My article is clearly a lot longer than the norm, though it is not uncommon for feature articles in the conventional style to take up more than two pages.

9. Target Audience: Stereotypes? In conceiving ideas for my publication, I intended to create a magazine aimed at rock and metal fans of all kinds. I wanted to keep myself from homing in on a specific target audience in order to avoid catering my work to a narrow stereotype within the genre, as opposed to the tendency of similar media texts to be crafted to appeal to a very specific target market.

10. My Models My models, Simone and Leah, were each aiming for a “rock chick” look to bring some personality to the personas I had created for the purpose of the work. I was very pleased with how each managed to accomplish this in her own way, drawing attention to their appearance and away from my somewhat substandard photography.

11. Publishing: My Chosen Institution The publisher I have decided would be most likely to distribute my publication is Bauer Consumer Media. I have chosen this institution because they are responsible for the distribution of a pair of respected music magazines in the United Kingdom, Q and Kerrang!. This expertise, especially involving a publication so close to my own chosen genre, makes Bauer an ideal choice.

12. Audience: Reader Profile Name : Demetrius Age : 17 Sex : Male Occupation : Student Hobbies : Writing, Gaming Favourite Artists/Bands : All That Remains, Children of Bodom, Disturbed, Rammstein, Rise Against, Scar Symmetry, Symphony X, 3 Inches of Blood Favourite Albums : Children of Bodom “Blooddrunk”, Rise Against “The Sufferer and the Witness”, 3 Inches of Blood “Fire Up the Blades”

13. Audience: Demographic Profiling G.R.A.S.S. Gender: Male Race: Mostly Caucasian Age: Mid-teens to 20s Socio-economic Status: D to C1

14. Audience: Psychographic Profiling Young and Rubicam’s CCCC 1 – Mainstreamers 2 – Aspirers 3 – Succeeders 4 – Reformers 5 - Individuals My audience would likely fall under the Individual category. While they will almost certainly have an appreciation for well-known, almost mainstream names within the genre, they must also be willing to investigate unsigned, relatively unknown talents.

15. Design: Technologies Used Google Images: Location of suitable images for use in my research Wikipedia: Research of companies and institutions which may relate to my publication Blogger: All students have kept blogs to track their research

16. Production: Technologies Used MacBook: Used to edit my photos and create my magazine pages Digital Camera: Used to take my photos Tripod: Used to stabilise my camera and improve the quality of my photos 2x Softbox: Used to light my photo subjects professionally

17. Production: Technologies Used Adobe PhotoShop: Used to edit and cut my photos Adobe InDesign: Used to create my magazine pages DaFont.com: Used to obtain unique fonts for use in my work

18. Retrospective: What Have I Learned? Undertaking this practical project has been a very fun experience, hampered only by my terrible habit of procrastination. Though the scale of the workload intimidated me at first, I found myself becoming more and more comfortable as I learned to use the various technologies I would need and set about gathering ideas. I have enjoyed watching the quality of my work improve with these skills.

19. Retrospective: What Have I Learned? This development is best demonstrated by comparing my preliminary task to my final front cover… Photo: White patches can be seen surrounding the prelim’s photo which give away the substandard cutting. No such mistake can be found in the final cover’s photo. Feature Titles: The prelim’s fonts, while varied, look rather basic. The final cover makes use of much more unique, appealing and genre-suitable fonts. Background: The prelim’s background is one solid colour; while suited to the style, this is rather boring to look at. The final cover uses a much more appealing radial gradient of black and white.

20. Retrospective: What Have I Learned? As can be seen, it doesn’t take a trained eye to see how much I have improved from the preliminary task to the final piece. The prelim was rather rushed, as it was merely a tutorial which had to be completed quickly so we had more time to spend on the work proper. Having had much more time to devote to the final piece, I have been able to think through its design and allow my creativity to show through.

21. Retrospective: Final Thoughts Personally, I feel I have succeeded in creating a magazine which looks genuine, professional and would appeal to its target audience quite effectively. I have never undertaken such work before and I take a great deal of pride in what I’ve accomplished. Strengths Weaknesses - Photography: Despite my inexperience, I feel the majority of my photographs were very well lit and composed. - Design: I very much enjoyed unleashing my creativity on the final pieces. DaFont in particular was a wonderful asset. - Technology: Learning how to use the necessary technologies was quite fun, as was the photoshoot. - Procrastination: The bane of my work! My awful habit of repeatedly putting tasks off ultimately left me very rushed for time, and my project as a whole will only have suffered for it.