The document summarizes the development of a student's music magazine project from the preliminary design to the final product. Key changes included adding borders, changing fonts and colors to be more professionally aligned with the genre of music, including more detailed contents information, and rearranging elements like subtitles and photos based on conventions seen in research of other music magazines. The student learned new skills in researching publications, using design software, and developing a more polished final product.

1. Evaluation Ben Stanway

2. Conventions This is my front cover for my music magazine as you can see the picture is not the most conventional as it has a black and white medium close-up for the photo for the background. This is not done on many music magazine but I wanted to do it as I think black and white colours can link with the genre of the music magazine. I got the idea of the picture and the border going around it from a picture I liked on Google of Dizzee rascal. I used this picture for a prelim which I did for my front cover and I liked the way it was set out. The title which I used is conventional and I got the idea from one of the kerrang covers. I liked this because I thought the title standout out and added a conventional title to the magazine cover. Kerrang is also a rock magazine so I thought it was a good idea to use the same idea. I added a barcode to my music magazine which is very conventional because all music magazine have them they do this to make them look professional I also wanted my barcode on the side which is conventional because most magazines barcodes are on there side. The border at the bottom of the page which I used is also conventional because magazines such has Q have them to show the reader that there are more artist in this weeks magazine. Another conventional thing I have done is put the sub headings down the left hand side which a lot of music magazines do such as blender.

3. Conventions For my contents page I have gone for the conventional style of having the information down the left hand side and having it in sections. A lot of magazines use this style because it sets the information out clearly and makes it easy to read. Magazines such as king size use this technique and that is were I got the idea from. Another conventional thing I have used is the title at the top which many magazines use but the one I liked the most was NME which I tried to imitate because the title was made bold and I thought it stood out well on the page. The pictures I have used are very conventional because most magazines use pictures on there contents page but I liked how kerrang pictures stood out because they had a mini border around them and made them stand out, this is not always conventional because most magazines have there pictures with out a border. The black and white colours keep with the front page because I wanted consitency.

4. Conventions I have gone for a conventional double page spread which has an interview form a music artist on and pictures of them on the pages. I decided to go for this approach because a lot of music magazines do this and I thought it would work well. I have also decided to go for another conventional thing which music magazines use when doing an interview which is picking a quote from the interview and making it bigger to make it stand out and catch the readers eye. The pictures I have used are also conventional and I got the idea from the music magazine radar. The title I used also came from the magazine radar. I thought it linked the picture with the interview and linked both pages together which is very conventional because a lot of music magazines do this. I have tried to keep the colour scheme the same all the way through which a lot of magazine do to make them more professional.

5. Representation I am representing my music magazine at people ages 14 to 20 to people who are interested in the latest indie/ rock music. I have aimed my magazine at both genders because they have all types of indie/rock music inside. I have decided to aim my magazine at both genders because I think it will sell more copy's with both genders buying it than just one. The reason I have aimed my music magazine at ages 14 to 20 is because that is the age when people start to develop there own taste in music and most teenagers start to enjoy indie music and start going to gigs etc, I have put onwards because my magazine also has old rock music in such as kiss and guns and roses which older people like to read about also. I have aimed my magazine at any class of life because I thought it would sell more copies if I did this because if the magazine looked to higher class lower class may not buy it and vice versa so I have gone for a neutral magazine. My magazine is for all races because it has all types of rock music in not just the latest bands. I have used images which have normal surroundings so that the viewer can relate to the images and not think that the artists are better than them and make the audience think they are the same. The main images of the artist I have used are of a teenager because I don’t want the teenagers to think that with the colours being black and white that the magazine is for older people.

6. Music Mags Music mags exclusively supplies a selection of over four dozen leading music magazines to more than 1,400 music instrument in the U.S. music mags make it easy to make there magazines well known because it gives them free racks to display there magazines. Music mags publish a lot of individual music magazines which focus on one type of music and this is what my music magazine is like. With my music magazine focusing on one genre of music this company may be the right choice to distribute my magazine because it doesn’t distribute mainstream magazine it distributes individual magazines. Another good thing about this is that if customers go onto music mags website they will see the magazine on there and may go out and buy it which gives the magazine more advertising.

7. Factory Media Factory media is the leading sports media owner in Europe it was formed in December 2006 through three established publishing houses action sport media, permanent publishing and 4130 publishing. It reaches over a million consumers every month through a mix of video media, prints and online websites. The brand publishes magazines in England, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Russia. they also help to promote there magazines by advertising on there website and in shops and try to promote there magazines as much as possible to get there magazines more known. If this magazine distributing company wasn’t all about sport and used music magazines I may have chosen this company because it distributes there magazines all over Europe and make there magazines as well known as possible.

8. Distributing my magazine Another option which I could do would be to give my magazine away for free in clothes and money shops. If I give my magazine away in the stores which can link with my genre of music this could be a good idea to get my magazine well known. A disadvantage of this thought would be that my audience may feel ripped off if the magazine is free for a few months and then they have to start paying for it. My final option is digital publishing which could appeal to my target audience because a lot of them use computers regularly but a disadvantage would be that people may not think it is worth reading because it isn't published in shops like the bigger music magazines. Looking at all the options I have decided to go with music mags to distribute my magazine because I think that with it being for individual music it would fit my music magazine well and would advertise it correctly.

9. Audience I have decided to aim my music magazine at people ages 14 to 20 who are interested in the latest indie/rock music and old rock music such as kiss, guns and roses etc. I have chosen this age range because of the similar things I said in the representation section. In my research I could tell that magazines such as Q and rolling stone are for all types of music because of the different artists in the magazine. The colours I have used represent the audience I am looking at because black and white are colours which can be associated with the rock/ indie music genre. From the research I did I like music magazines such as kerrang because the music genre there music genre was about was what I am interested in , I liked the bold titles they had which was black and white and I thought they stood out to there audience so I tried to portray this for my target audience. With the genre of music I am looking at being indie/rock I have chosen artists names on the front of my magazine which are in this music type. The also thought my title of my music magazine, Modern rock shows the audience what music is inside the magazine just from the title alone. The pictures I have used are mainly about the main artist in this weeks issue but I have also used a picture from a gig to show the audience that the magazine is not just about the one artist. I have used fonts which are more edgy so they can relate to the genre of the magazine for the audience.

10. Attracting Audience One way in which I am going to get my magazine well known is to do some advertising to attract my target audience. With my target audience being people aged 14- 20 who are interested in indie/rock music I may advertise on social networking sights which a lot of teens go on such as bebo, face, and myspace. This advertisement will be seen by a lot of my target audience because most teenagers go on these sites and will notice my magazine. I have used a picture of a young cool girl so my audience can relate to the magazine. The interview inside my magazine is all about a teenage girl trying to make it big, I have done this because teenagers may want to become a rock star and will want to read about how she has become such a star. The pictures I have used have also tried to attract the reader because they are set in her house so it still makes her look normal and not an upper class celebrity. I am also going to make my magazine known is to advertise it on shop websites and shops such as Topman and river island where a lot of teenagers who are interested in indie music go to get there clothes. The front picture I have used is a medium close-up I have done this because so it grabs my audiences attention and I thought that if there is to much going on in the front cover they may not bother with the magazine because all teenagers get bored if there's to much going on.

11. Technologies from the process of constructing this media I have learnt many new skills from processing my music magazine. The first thing I learnt was about what different camera angles would work well for my music magazine. I did a PowerPoint on what different photos which would give me an idea of what photos I wanted on my magazine. I looked at close-ups medium close-ups and long shots which I didn’t know much about before I started to make my magazine. I have learnt that there are such things as extreme and medium close-ups which are used to show a certain part of a persons body or to get the a persons face and body in a shot, which I ended using for my main picture on my front cover. I also looked at different lightings on pictures and colour and black and white photos which I ended up using both. I have also learned how to search for ideas differently because I first started using Google but ended up looking at particular music magazines websites such as rolling stones and kerrang these are big music magazine companies so I thought it was a good idea to research on there particular websites. Another form of research which I did was primary which I brought a music magazine which was Q to see what was inside there magazine to get a better idea of what I could put inside mine. Others new skills I have used are to use website such as blogger where I have learnt to make a blog and publish posts on my blog. I have also learnt to work with slide share which have helped me to put the power points I have done onto my blog. With learning these to websites I now have accounts for them and can use them for different things as well as for research on my music magazine. Another website which has been very helpful is da font where I have downloaded different fonts to make my music magazine better. This site is also going to help me with other things projects because there are a big variation of fonts on the site which are easy to download. I have also learned to use a brand new software which is fireworks. This is the software which I have made my music magazine on. It has many different functions which have allowed me to learn new skills such as layering, changing colours of pictures to brighter, darker or even black and white. I learned these skills by basically messing around on fireworks with my pictures and fonts.

12. Front Cover Prelim To Final Product This is my final music magazine and my prelim which I did at the very start. I have developed me music magazine a lot from the prelim. I have added borders around the edge of the page which I learnt to do from layering on firework. I think that this makes the picture which I have used on my magazine stand out a lot more than on my prelim. I have also added a price on my music magazine to make it look more professional which I found out a lot of music magazines have form the research I did. The fonts I have used for my masthead and sub headings are totally different to the ones on my prelim I have tried to use fonts which can link to the genre of music my magazine is. I got these fonts from da font a new website which I learnt about my doing the project. On my prelim I have used two pictures which I didn’t think looked very good after I had finished my prelim so on my final front cover I used one picture which Is a medium close up instead of a two shot which I used on my prelim. Another thing which I have changed from my prelim is where the subheadings are placed I have put them going down the side instead of in the middle. I have done this because most magazines are set out like this and I wanted my magazine to look as professional as possible. The border which I have done at the bottom of the page for my final product is also something which I added from looking at more music magazines because I wanted to add as much information as possible and thought it was a good idea because it doesn’t take up much space and can still get the information across. One thing I have kept the same from my prelim is having a barcode I added this on both designs because most magazines have them, but I wanted it In a different position because I think it looked more proffesional placed vertical than horizontal.

13. Contents Prelim To Final Product This is my prelim and my final product for my contacts page. I have developed my final product a lot from my prelim. I have used a border on my final product to make the page stand out and kept consistency from my front cover. On my prelim I didn’t put that much information on so for my final product I wanted to add more information about what is in the magazine. I also added sub heading titles to split the sections up in the magazine where on my prelim they all went straight down the page. The fonts I have used are also different to my prelim, I changed these because I wanted the fonts to try and link with the genre of music the magazine was about. I thought the fonts I used in my prelim where unprofessional and looked tacky. The colour scheme I used on my prelim has totally changed on my final product because I wanted it to be darker with it being a rock magazine and If I would of kept with the same colours as my prelim it would have looked more like a pop magazine. I have put borders around my pictures on my final product whereas on my prelim I just stuck them on the page. I did the borders around the pictures to make them stand out more and knew how to do this as I learned more about fireworks. One thing I have kept the same is the title how it is on top of another colour to make it stand out more.