2. FRONT COVER
I have included many features typical of a pop music magazine in my front cover. I used a white
masthead with the bevel emboss effect to add depth which gave the magazine a look of
professionalism. I also added an outer blue glow to make it stand out and catch the reader’s eye. I
ensured it was large and placed it centrally to signify its importance. I added a banner at the top
of the magazine which included pop artist’s names which is used to entice the reader into buying
the magazine. I used an outer glow to attract the reader's attention as it makes the banner stand
out. I also added a circular graphic effect and added a drop shadow to give it depth. The circle
stands out the page because the text within it contrasts with the blue background within the circle.
A second graphic effect I added was the star at the bottom left of the magazine. I used a pillow
emboss and yellow colour to add depth and to emphasise the star. This star is used to draw the
reader’s attention to exclusive content within the I decided to use a pink gradient as my
background to appeal to the young female readership as pink is a colour highly associated with
young females. The left third has a house style to add a slick and professional look to the magazine
front cover. The colours alternate between a light blue and yellow to make the text stand out off
the page. I also added a thick black stroke to added further attention to the left third information
and attract the readers further. The headline uses a pink font to keep intact with the pop genre. I
used a bold and clear font to get the message across of an exclusive story. I placed the barcode
in the bottom right of the magazine and decreased its size as it lacks importance. I added poster
previews at the bottom to add a further professional feel to the front cover and give the reader
something to look forward to inside the magazine. My main image is a close-up and involves my
model making eye contact with the camera. A combination of the two makes the reader feel
involved as they receive eye contact.
3. CONTENTS PAGE
I used a fading blue gradient as my background on my contents page to appeal to
the young female readership. For my masthead, I ensured that it was bold as this is
integral when attracting the audience. To do this I added a pillow emboss with a
high amount of depth to make it stand out the page. I used a pink colour on the
masthead to make it relevant to the genre of pop. I added an opening paragraph
to give the reader an insight into the double page spread. I added an outer glow to
this bold text to make it stand out and catch the reader’s eye. I added pink
rectangular boxes around the supporting images to make them stand out and
provide a more slick look to the images. The page numbers are all in the same
colour and font style. This is in order to add professionalism and a slick look. I used
nail varnish as one of my images included because it appeals to young females who
seek make up advice, which is usually included in pop magazines.
4. DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD
My double page spread included many conventions of a pop double page spread. Firstly
a baby pink lateral gradient enabled the background to be soft and not too harsh on the
eye, which gives it and automatic pop feel but isn’t too over the top. When composing
my article inside my double page spread I ensured the use of rulers which helped me to
mark out where to place my columns and how far apart they needed to be in order to
look neat and tidy. I used an opening paragraph with a large drop cap with which I
decreased the opacity to add a sense of transparency and depth. The font I used for the
article was size 11pt. Which is similar to many music magazine articles. I used a pink font
colour to reflect the genre and the font ‘raavi’ to make it look formal and professional. I
used two pink rectangles to separate the quote and the opening paragraph. This adds to
the slick and tidy look I consistently use in my double page spread. The quote is in a slightly
larger font and placed in italics to add emphasis and draw the reader in. I placed it
centrally inside the article to display its significance and importance. The article heading
reads ‘Tascha H’ and is in an informal and rounded font to appeal to the young female
readership. The short and snappy sub heading underneath it is used to attract the reader. I
added a pink stroke to convey the genre of pop further. The main image is a medium
close up and takes up most of the left side of the double page spread. I added a shadow
to increase depth.
5. CONVENTIONS AND FORMS
• To ensure my music magazine was a success, I used multiple conventions of
a music magazine in a clear way. For example, a masthead, a left third,
poster previews, cover lines, page numbers, headings, sub-headings,
graphic effects.
• I adopted my own house style to add a professional look when editing these
conventions. I ensured that my magazine was unique by manipulating these
conventions so that they appealed to my target audience, for example
using a left third involving vibrant colours.
6. REPRESENTATION OF SOCIAL GROUPS
• My magazine mainly represents people that enjoy the genre of pop. This
tends to be the younger generation and more specifically, young females.
• I mainly represent the working class as these are mainly the people who will
buy the magazine. To do this I appeal to these people and their families as it
is younger people who are mainly attracted to this type of magazine.
7. MEDIA DISTRIBUTION
• The most suitable institution to distribute my magazine would be a relatively
medium sized media institution as they would be able to appeal to a wide
range of people and therefore it would be necessary to have a medium
sized distribution centre
• However eventually when my magazine grows it would be more suitable to
change to large institution as they would be able to mass produce my
magazine more easily and then supply them to a larger amount of people
when the popularity of my magazine grows
8. READERSHIP AND TARGET AUDIENCE
• My music magazine has a clear target audience. It is aimed predominantly at females and
the younger generation, possibly people aged between 13 and 25
• This is a suitable age group as op is a modern genre which is always producing new music,
hence why the target audience is young as young people are mainly in tact with modern
technology and releases.
• To make it relative to my target audience, I used images that appeal to females as well as
text that appeals to females. An example of this is the line ‘free make-up advice’ which is
paired with a picture of nail varnish. This would appeal to the target audience as it is relatable
to them.
• To attract them further I used conventions that would be associated with young people and
females. Vibrant colours such as pink and yellow are associated with young people an
females, hence why I included them in my front cover. Furthermore I used clear and simple
text which is easy for the young target audience to read.
9. CONSTRUCTION OF MY MAGAZINE
• To construct my magazine I used adobe Photoshop which allows me to use
a range of effects and styles which I could manipulate to achieve the finish I
was aiming for. I have learnt a number of skills when composing my
magazine, for example the emboss tool underneath blending options
allowed me to add depth in all the text I created. This was essential to
making it stand out and appear as if it is coming out of the page. I also used
skills I had learnt from my previous preliminary task such as the magnetic
lasso tool which enabled me to cut out images and use only the parts I
wanted to. By learning a number of techniques during my preliminary task
and learning new skills during the main task, I was able to construct a high
quality end product within photoshop.
10. PRELIMINARY TASK
• I have made clear and evident progress from my preliminary task mainly due
to the progress I have made within Photoshop. Due to spending many hours
on this program I have learnt a number of new tools and techniques to
apply to my main task which helped me to achieve a high quality end
product. As mentioned in the previous slide, the most useful tool I discovered
was the emboss tool under blending options, which enabled me to edit text
and add a slick and tidy look. I also learnt how to manipulate certain ‘glows’
by increasing and decreasing the ‘noise’. These techniques enabled me to
improve on my preliminary task and to add quality to my final production.
11. AUDIENCE FEEDBACK
• I asked 20 people what they thought of my front cover, contents page and
double page spread, below are quotations I picked out.
• ‘The banner looks very professional and looks like something you’d see in a
real music magazine’
• ‘Your double page spread does look very good. The organisation of the
article and the shadow on the main image makes it look very good. Maybe
the image could be slightly larger.’
• ‘The way you boxed off the images on the supporting images makes it look
very organised and also you can see clearly what the genre your magazine
is representing.’
12. REFLECTION
• The audience feedback I received was extremely positive and motivating. It
showed me that that the graphic effects seem to be the first thing that
catch the reader’s eye, which is very encouraging as this was one of my
purposes. Furthermore I spent a lot of time and effort to ensure that a
professional look was achieved and this was shown by the comments made
on my banner.
• If I was to construct this magazine again I would take my audience
feedback on board. This would mean that I increased the size of my main
image on my double page spread as this was the only constructive criticism I
received. This would be in order to add more of a personal edge to the
double page spread.
