This document analyzes the cover and contents of a magazine created by the author for a class project. The magazine is modeled after classic rock magazines like Classic Rock, Uncut, NME, Q and MOJO. The cover uses a black, white and brown color scheme, headshot image of a female artist and mentions of music festivals, all of which follow conventions of the genre. Story topics and additional band listings on the cover also emulate techniques commonly found in real rock magazines.

1. MEDIA EVALUATION
Rachel Gibson

2. FINAL MAGAZINE COVER & CONTENTS

3. IN WHAT WAY DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR
CHALLENGE CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
COLOUR based my magazine similar genre magazines like
I
Classic Rock, Uncut, NME, Q and MOJO.
SCHEME I used a black, white and neutral brown colour
scheme for my contents and cover. A lot of rock
magazines use a similar simple colour scheme,
using one colour alongside black and white to draw
attention to certain things. The colours also relate
to the music in these and my magazines, as they
are moody and dark conveying the mood of the
music rather than a bright colour which would give
the wrong impression. A good example of this
being used in real media products is this cover of
Classic Rock, using almost the same colours as my
cover as this is the closest example of my
magazine. It also has red and yellow in the top left
with the Free CD feature, similar to the small area
of red and yellow on my cover from the Reading
and Leeds logo. Other examples of a similar colour
palette to my cover are a few MOJO covers using
black and white with a light brown colour and NME
which uses this brown colour alongside It's red
black and white house style.

4. COVER IMAGE This cover of classic rock
uses a similar style
For a classic rock genre most magazines use a black image to me as there is
a lot of contrast and a
and white image like I have used. The most common
mostly dark background,
type of image used is a head shot of the artist looking with the most attention
directly at the camera, drawing the audience in. The going to the face of the
black and white image reflects the music genre, as artist.
the audience see the artists as timeless, similarly to
the way a black and white photograph is seen.
Usually the rock artists have a serious or slightly
angry looking expression, conveying the mood of the
music as the lyrics and instruments in their music can
be about serious things and have a loud and heavy
sound. Most of the people are front men or
individual artists, and are most commonly men. I
have not challenged the codes and conventions by
not using the main member of the band, but I have
by using a female artist as the main focus of the
cover. The photography of the artist reflects the way
the audience feels about them and draws them in; a
magazine which challenged this convention the NME
cover I looked at in my analysis, where the artist was
looking away from the audience with his eyes
covered with sunglasses, seeming quite obnoxious.

5. STORIES AND PUFFS
I have used similar style “plus” feature on
the cover showing a list of various other
bands in the magazine. I have used the
same colour format as NME by alternating
the colours between white and my accent
On this cover of NME magazine there are the
colour, making the feature more interesting
logo's for Reading and Leeds festival. I have also
and make it look more professional as it is
put these icons on my front cover, as this interests
often used on magazine covers. The text
the type of group I want to appeal to.
alignment is also the same, using different
The main story on this cover, for The Libertines also mentions sized and spacing of the different band
Reading and Leeds festival, and the subheading below says names so they are all in line, again for a
“the first interview in five years” which is similar to my professional look similar to real products.
subheading, “reunite for the first time in 10 years”. The
artists in this genre of music often make comebacks from old
bands and also take breaks from making music and appearing
in the media, unlike artists involved in pop for example, Katy
Perry.

6. ...STORIES AND PUFFS
I chose to do a feature for “100
greatest songs of the 21st century”
as many rock and classic rock
magazines do feature lists, either
“of all time” or of a specific type.
On the left there are a few
examples of this from NME and
Classic Rock. I chose to focus on
songs of the 21st century because
the magazines which feature “of all
time” or “greatest ever” are aimed
at an older audience such as
Classic Rock, whereas more I also put in smaller
specific and recent lists are in more text about a free
young audience magazines like CD of the top 20
NME. As my audience likes both tracks. This relates
old and new music, there is a mix to the audience as
of artists and time periods on the they prefer the
cover to draw them in with the quality and
range of music they are into. The meaning of having
21st century is when they were the music on CD
born so they have a lot of rather than just a
knowledge of what they like in this bad quality
period. download. Classic
Rock and Uncut
also offer free CD's
in issues of their
magazines.