1. Evaluation of my Media Magazine By Dale Barber

2. 4 similar magazines to my magazine Kerrang is similar to my magazine because it features a wide range of musicians in the magazine. It is also quite a cheap magazine. The Kerrang masthead font is also similar to the font of my masthead because it has a slightly deteriorated look which gives it an underground feel. Metal Hammer is a similar magazine to mine because it always has a range of sub-genres. It is also a magazine that features less mainstream acts as well as mainstream ones as well. The colours of this image and the composition is quite similar to that of my front cover. Terrorizer is similar to my magazine because it doesn’t feature mainstream bands, instead it focuses on bands my target audience have some knowledge of, which raises awareness of these bands. The font of the lead articles is also similar to mine and is simple so contrast the image and masthead meaning it doesn’t appear like a gimmick and make it more professional. Rolling stone is similar to my magazine because it doesn’t focus on popular artists, it will often feature people who the magazine thinks is worthy to be on the magazine not just because they caused some controversy. This front cover is different to mine because it is more of a rock genre which is why visually they don’t look much alike.

3. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge conventions of real media products? My media product challenges conventions by having a very simple layout for the front cover, unlike Kerrang which does not have a simple layout; Kerrang always has more than one article on the front cover and often more than one picture. However it also follows a convention because Metal Hammer often has a sleeve which is just one singular picture and one lead article. So my front cover both challenges and follows conventions with the simplicity of it. My contents page definitely challenges conventions as it is a picture of broken glass with the articles written on each shard of broken glass. This is very different to how a typical contents page is set up because a normal contents page is very structured and has other pictures on it where as mine is not in an order and has only one picture making it an artistic and effective contents. My double page spread does follow conventions of a double page spread by using techniques like a drop cap and pull quote to draw readers attention to the article. Most double Page spreads do have a large image which either spans across the two pages or is an entire page like mine is. I used a very eye catching image and edited it to make it stand out to draw the readers attention towards the article. All parts of my magazine develop the conventions of a magazine because my magazine has parts which follow conventions such as my double page spread that is very similar to a normal double page spread; but my magazine also has parts that don’t follow conventions such as my contents page which is very different to a normal contents page. This makes it an effective and intriguing magazine which is different to many of the other magazines for sale, but similar to a few.

4. How does your media product represent particular social groups? My media product represents a particular social group by the model used on the front cover and on the double page spread. He is a very stereotypical “metal head”. He matches the profile of my target audience because he has long hair and is wearing a Pantera t-shirt which is a band that my target audience would know and most likely like because they are a well known band of the genre. He is also the same age as the target audience. He plays guitar and the guitar used in the picture on the double page spread is also a very stereotypical metal guitar, the shape and colour of the guitar is seen as a very metal guitar. The name of my magazine is also a name of a sub genre that they would most likely enjoy; the sub genre is called “thrash metal” and my magazine name is “thrashed”, this name would stand out to my target audience as it is a name that would appeal to them. The colours on the front cover would also stand out to my target audience because they are not really bright colours but they are not massively dark; instead they are dull colours which give the front cover a rather sinister feel that the target audience would like. Long hair Metal guitar Pantera t-shirt

5. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? The most likely publisher to publish my magazine would be Bauer Media because they have published Kerrang which is a magazine fairly similar to my magazine. The other main publisher for magazines is IPC which only have NME whereas Bauer Media have Kerrang, mojo, and Q so therefore Bauer Media is more suited to my magazine because it features similar magazines. I wouldn’t have an online magazine because not many people use magazine websites so my magazine would be more popular in a paper format. Also a paper format magazine is more likely to appeal to my target audience.

6. Who would be the audience for your media product? The audience for my magazine would be people who like metal music aged between 16-24 and who are working class. This would be my target audience because I have used a name and model that would appeal to this target audience. They enjoy the devil may care lifestyle and are likely to be fans of BC Rich, Dean and Jackson guitars. The general stereotype for a “metalhead” would be someone with long hair and a beard, and is someone who doesn’t follow trends or fashion.

7. How did you attract/address your audience? I attracted my audience by using a model who fitted the target audience, both in age and look. My target audience would be attracted to a picture of him because he is a very stereotypical “metalhead” and it would draw their attention as it is a very specific look and not a common one in magazines that focus on popular music. The name of my magazine would attract my audience because it is named after a sub genre called “thrash metal”. The broken font is also another convention of “thrash metal” because as the name suggests it is about thrashing and being anti-trend. I addressed my audience in the contents page by having articles with other bands of the genre and also including articles about gigs which my target audience would like going to. I used my pre-production questionnaire to find out what people like to see on a magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread. I then used the results to make my magazine one that was what my target audience would like. I also used bands on my contents page that my target audience would know of and most likely like which I again got from a pre-production survey.

8. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? From the process of making this product I have learnt some skills using the programme “Photoshop”. I have learnt different techniques on Photoshop such as the magnetic lasso tool, which I used on my front cover to get my model in front of my text. I also learnt how to change the levels on a photograph and also change the colours, for example on my front cover the image has been edited by me changing the levels and adding an orange tint. On my double page spread I have an image which I double layered and made the top layer black and white and then used the magnetic lasso tool to cut around the guitar and delete that part of the second layer so that the colour of the guitar was the only part of the image in colour.

9. Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? I have learnt how to use Photoshop and have learnt some skills that made my magazine look professional. Such as,I learnt how to use different layers and how to duplicate them and dissolve them, also I learnt how to edit photos and change the colours of them and the lighting. I learnt how to get part of an image in colour and part of it in black and white by having a layer and then duplicating it and making the duplicated layer black and white and then cutting out the area you want in colour using the black and white tool.I have also learnt how to use blogger and make and edit posts; and also add in in power points or word documents via issuu or slideshare. Below are two examples of photos where I have changed to colour saturation.

10. Front cover evaluation Masthead I chose my masthead because the broken glass effect matches the name: “Thrashed” Ithen put it behind the model because it is a generic convention of a magazine and makes it look more like a professional product. I had a selection of 10 fonts and chose this one because it matched the magazine best Main image My main image is an edited image that is appealing because of the strange colours, it is both bright and dull at the same time. The direct vision of the model makes it more sinister looking, making this image a stereotypical metal image. For this shot style and colour I was inspired by a front cover of a Metal Hammer. Lead article The lead article is just thename of the who the article is about. The font is a plain simple font which contrasts the broken font of the masthead. The plain white colour makes it stand out from the orange tint of the photograph. Cover line My cover line is basic and does not give away much information about the article, instead it creates an uncertainty about what it might be about and intrigues people to it.

11. Contents page evaluation Page numbers The page numbers that the articles are on, are on the outside of the centre where the thrashed logo is. masthead My masthead is in the centre of the broken to infer that it was thrashed that broke the glass. The broken glass font makes this more effective. It gives it the effect that the logo has broken the glass. Article name The name of the article is diagonally down and right of the page numbers and is written centrally. I made the article names slanted so that they would fit in each shard of glass and make it look more professional.

12. Double page spread evaluation standfirst Drop cap I used a standfirst to introduce the article properly and it gives a brief explanation of the article so the reader knows what the article is about and draws their attention to the article. I used a drop cap because it is a generic convention of a double page spread and makes a clear start to the article. Pull quote Lead image For my lead image I used this one because I thought it stood out well and looked like an image you would find in a magazine. I edited the image like this because I thought it made it look very eye catching and appealing and would draw the readers’ attention to the article. I used a pull quote to make it like a generic double page spread. I chose that particular quote because it talks about why the artist left the band he was in, which is mainly what the article is about.

13. Feedback on my blog The feedback on my blog is mostly positive and most people seemed to like my entire magazine. Two people said that the colour is too hard to read on the double page spread. So to improve my magazine I could make the font easier to read by making it a different font or a different colour.

14. Feedback from survey on SurveyMonkey The results show that people like the image and say that the whole front cover stands out. One comment says that the background could be different to have more texture. All comments say that it is a very different and interesting image and all say they like it.

15. Feedback from survey on SurveyMonkey The comments are mostly positive and they like the image and say its very different and eye catching. However they say that it is a little hard to read but the colour scheme is good. All comments say that my model looks professional and like a person who would play heavy metal which is what he is supposed to look like.

16. Feedback from survey on SurveyMonkey To improve, they suggested making it easier to read by using a bolder or bigger font. That was the only improvement suggested by everyone who took my survey. All who took my survey agreed it had a consistent house theme and that it was priced fairly.

17. Feedback from survey on SurveyMonkey Everyone who took my survey agreed that my magazine is aimed at 16-20 year olds. Everyone also agreed that they liked my use of photography. And they would all most importantly buy my magazine.

18. Feedback from survey on SurveyMonkey From the feedback I got from my survey on SurveyMonkey it is mostly positive feedback: for example, everyone thought my magazine was aimed at 16-20 year olds and everyone said they would buy it. However, people did say that I should have changed the font or added in a black highlight to make it easier to read. Everyone agreed that my model was right for my magazine and agreed it had a consistent house style.