3. EYEBROWS
MASTHEAD NME often use eyebrows above the masthead.
This is a conventional masthead They use this space to highlight key articles or
BUTTON
for the sub-genre of music that my features. Buttons are often used on
magazine is focused on. It is the front cover of NME
big, bold and shows the anarchy of magazine as a kind of
the magazine and the genre of „sticker‟ which draws the
music. NME‟s masthead is reader‟s attention to a
positioned in the top left hand particular feature.
corner which shows that the
magazine is directed more at a
younger audience. MAIN COVER LINE
The main cover line on the
MAIN IMAGE front cover of NME magazine
The main image is usually is usually much bigger than
centrally composed. The the other cover lines. It is
subjects of the photograph look often printed in a different
straight into the camera lens. font/font colour and is
NME often layer the main image centrally composed.
over the masthead as their
readers are familiar with the
magazine and the publisher is BARCODE
confident enough to do this. All magazines have a
barcode on the front cover.
The barcode on NME
magazine is usually placed in
COVER LINES the bottom right hand
The average number of cover
corner. It features the price
lines on an NME front cover is
about 4. They usually only use
All magazines share these in many different currencies
conventions but they are used in as the magazine is published
two fonts in order to keep the
internationally. It also
fonts on the front cover bold and different ways depending on the features the name of the
eye catching but simplistic.
sub-genre of the magazine. magazine.
4. MASTHEAD
My masthead is very bold, clear COLOURS USED
and simple. I created it in this NO EYEBROWS I decided to use the colours
way because it follows the I decided to go against the convention of black, white and purple on the
conventions of mastheads that NME magazine, which is to use eyebrows front cover of „Amp‟ as the
are used in existing music above the masthead. magazine is primarily aimed at 16-
magazines from this genre. 25 year old females. I feel that
purple is quite a feminine
STRAPLINE colour, but it can also be
I created my masthead with a accessible by males.
strapline as NME usually uses
a strapline. Mine is “Turn it
up!” which fits in with the MAIN IMAGE
genre of music (rock) that my In order to stick to
magazine focuses on. conventions, my main image
features a model who is
COVER LINES centrally composed and looking
I have used five cover into the camera lens. This
lines of the front cover of allows interaction with the
my magazine. I decided to reader; people are more likely
go against the conventions to identify with the model on
set by NME and use more the cover if they can look
cover lines as I felt that directly at them. This
the cover looked bare technique also makes the
without them. magazine more eye-catching to
potential readers.
BARCODE MAIN COVER LINE
My barcode is featured on the As this magazine is aimed at My main cover line is much bigger
bottom left hand corner of my
cover as opposed to the bottom a female audience of 16-25 than the rest of my cover lines
and is centrally composed. I
right hand corner. This is year olds I decided to use a
followed the conventions set by
because I thought it fitted in model that this audience NME magazine when creating my
better with the overall layout as
there was a lot of space here. would be able to relate to. main cover line.
5. One way in which my front cover uses conventions set by real media products from the same genre
(e.g. NME Magazine) is through the masthead. My masthead is very similar to NME‟s masthead. It is
big, bold, clear and placed in the top left hand corner. I decided to use a very similar masthead
because this is what my target audience is used to seeing with music magazines from this genre.
My cover challenges conventions by not using eyebrows above the masthead. NME always uses
eyebrows above their masthead to highlight a particular article that may be of interest to potential
readers. However, I felt that „Amp‟ didn‟t need eyebrows because of the extra cover lines I have
used. Also, the layout of the front cover of „Amp‟ magazine looks much more polished without
eyebrows.
6. HEADLINE LINES
NME always use the title “Inside Lines are used to break up the
On average, NME use around
this week” at the top of their contents page into sections.
contents page. This title is 6-7 photos on the contents They are faint, thin and black.
centrally composed, bold and page. I think this adds a unique
black. It is very simplistic. touch to NME magazine as it is
not used by many other music
magazines.
PULL QUOTES
Pull quotes are often used
underneath the photographs
for the articles and before the
short summary of the article.
These interest the reader and
make them want to read the
full interview/feature. PAGE NUMBERS
Page numbers are shown
in a white box with a
MAIN ARTICLE bold, black font. They
The main article or feature is are placed next to the
always placed in the centre of corresponding image.
the page. This is meant to draw
special attention to the article
and emphasise it‟s importance.
„PLUS‟ SECTION
This section shows all of the
components of the magazine that are
always featured (e.g. „On Repeat‟)
7. HEADLINE
Unlike NME magazine, I decided to use the same font and font design as I used for my masthead here. NME use a
simple, bold, black font on their contents page. I decided to go against this convention because I thought purple
would be more feminine and accessible to women.
PAGE NUMBERS
I have presented the page
numbers in the same way as
NME Magazine by placing
PULL QUOTES
them in a white box next to I used pull quotes beneath
the image that corresponds the images for my articles.
to the article. This is to interest the reader
in the article and make
them want to read it.
„PLUS‟ SECTION
I used a „Plus‟ section like
NME Magazine to display all
of the regular features that
would appear in Amp (e.g.
New music, Gig reviews)
MAIN ARTICLE
Like NME magazine, I decided to place the
photograph that corresponds with my main
article in the centre of the contents page.
This is to ensure that readers are aware of the
importance of the article/feature.
8. FOLLOWING CHALLENGING
CONVENTIONS CONVENTIONS
I followed conventions set by One way that I challenged
NME magazine by using a conventions was by using a
white box/image caption cut-out image as the main
with the images on my image on my contents page.
contents page. This box is NME magazine only use
always white and contains a square images on their
bold faced, black font with a contents page, but I decided
page number the corresponds to challenge this convention
to the image. as I felt that a contents page
with too many
boxed/squared images can
look quite boring if used
repeatedly. With the use of
both cut-out images and
boxed images, one has space
to experiment with the
layout of the contents page
FOLLOWING & DEVELOPING in each issue of the
magazine.
CONVENTIONS
Another way in which I used conventions set by NME
magazine is here in my „plus‟ section. This section of
the contents page is used to show the regular features
and the pages they are on. I developed this convention
by including one-off articles here as well as regular
features (e.g. The Vaccines on page 38).
9. STANDFIRST BY LINE
HEADLINE
A convention of all articles, in any All magazines usually include a
The headline is bold and
magazine, is a stand first below the by line in their articles. This
eye-catching. It is on the
headline. This tells us a little more tells us who the article has
right facing page.
about the article. been written by.
DROP CAP
Articles usually
feature a drop
cap. This is when
the first letter is
bigger than the
MAIN IMAGE others.
The main
image is placed
on the left FRAMED IMAGES
NME often
facing page. It
include framed
is a full bleed
images in their
image. articles. They
add a nice touch
to the overall
layout and design
of a double page
spread.
UNJUSTIFIED TEXT COLUMNS
There are usually 3 or 4 columns in NME FOOTER
NME usually use unjustified text for their
Magazine, depending on the issue. NME always have footers at the
article copy. This makes the article look
However, it is more common to see 4 bottom of their pages. These
somewhat „messy‟ and promotes the
columns in an issue of NME. show the page number, the
anarchistic image that NME stand by.
name of the magazine and the
issue.
10. HEADLINE
The headline for my article has been printed in a bold, clear, eye
catching font. I decided to use a font like this because it follows
COLUMNS
conventions set by NME magazine. I decided to use a white colour for
I decided to follow
my text as it contrasts strikingly with the black background and
conventions set by NME and
therefore it really grabs the reader‟s attention.
use four columns for my
article copy.
MAIN IMAGE
My main image is
featured on the left
facing page, like NME STANDFIRST
magazine. It is a full The stand first for
bleed my article slightly
image, although it goes against
may not be obvious conventions as it
as the black includes the author
background merges of the article. I
in with the decided to include
background of the my name here as
article. I did this in well as in the by-
order to go against line at the end of
conventions as my the article because
entire double page it makes the stand
spread has a black first text flow
background. better.
FRAMED IMAGES
JUSTIFIED TEXT
FOOTER I really liked the use of a framed image in
I decided to go against
My footers have been designed in a very the article from NME that I annotated, so I
conventions set by NME and use
similar way to NME‟s footers. The page decided to take this convention and
justified text for my article copy.
number is always on the edge of the page develop it by using four framed images in
I think that this makes my article
with the name „Amp‟ next to it, and then my article. There is a lot of text in my
look much more clean and crisp.
the issue of the magazine. I have followed article, so I think that the use of a lot of
NME‟s conventions in designing my footers. images balances it out slightly for the
reader.
11. CHALLENGING CONVENTIONS
I challenged conventions in my double
Another way in which I challenged conventions was
page spread by not using image
by using a completely black and white colour
captions for the photographs that I
scheme for my double page spread. The entire
featured. This is because I feel that
background and all of the backgrounds in the images
the photographs are quite self
are black, and all of the writing is white. This is
explanatory and require no further
something you definitely would not expect to see in
explanation. They are posed in a studio
NME magazine as they usually use an array of colours
and were obviously taken for the
to separate sections and highlight key information.
purposes of this article.
FOLLOWING CONVENTIONS
I followed conventions set by NME I also followed NME‟s
magazine by using a very similar footer. conventions by using
The page number is always on the edge of small, framed images
the page, the name of the magazine is in my article. These
next to it, and the issue of the magazine is images have a white
printed, too. border around them
and are often placed
at a slant.
13. Representation in the media is not reality; it is the
media producer’s idea of reality.
Amp magazine is an Indie/Rock/Rock-Pop magazine aimed at 16-25 year
old females. To read more about the audience that Amp is aimed at, view
my blog post by clicking here
AMP READER PROFILE
Jessica is nineteen years old. She goes to University where she is studying English
Literature. She lives in halls, has a solid group of friends and is very influential
amongst them. She also has many other friends who are a mixture of different
people with a range of interests. One interest that Jessica shares with all of her
friends is her love of music. She is very loyal to the bands and artists that she
follows, but she also loves to discover and recommend new music to her friends.
Jessica is passionate about music and loves technology, too. Jessica owns an
iPhone and loves listening to music on-the-go and downloading new applications.
14. Mise-en-scène refers to everything that appears before the camera
and how it is arranged (e.g. Composition of the
photo, props, costumes and the model).
The model‟s hair is short and
can be styled in quite a
„rocky‟ or rebellious way. It
goes against typical
conventions set by the media
that females should have
The hat that the model in this long, luscious, flowing hair.
photo is wearing seems to be This reinforces the sense of
quite quirky and diversity in the readers of
individual, although it is available Amp.
to the mass market. Readers of
Amp are likely to experiment
with fashion and are not afraid to The model is wearing
go against conventions. quite a lot of costume
jewellery in this photo
which is relatively
inexpensive but makes a
statement. This sums up
Amp readers; they aren‟t
interested in exclusivity
or expensive things, but
more individuality.
15. “If you haven‟t heard of powerful electro-pop
duo „La Roux‟, then you must have been living
under a rock for the past few years.”
One representation of Amp‟s audience that my article copy constructs is that they are quite
knowledgeable about the genre of music that they listen to. The feature article on Elly Jackson
opens with the statement above which clearly reinforces the fact that readers of Amp take pride in
knowing about the music they love.
Of course, reminding your audience of what
they already know isn‟t likely to sell many
copies of any magazine. In order to keep
the readers of Amp interested and coming
back for more, I thoroughly researched Elly
Jackson before writing the article on her.
This was to ensure that it would be full of
interesting facts that the readers may not
know about Jackson, such as her love for
folk music, or the fact that her parents
were both actors. Readers of Amp magazine
are obviously into their music and like to
know as much about their favourite artists
as possible.
16. The main artists featured in my
cover lines are predominantly My cover clearly uses the rule of
female. Florence and the thirds. The image is centrally
Machine is very popular amongst composed and the cover lines
young women, as well as Lana have been placed on each side of
Del Rey who is a the page. The background is
young, upcoming female artist black, which is quite unassuming
that readers can relate to, and and simple. This shows that my
Elly Jackson is a well target audience like a clear, crisp
established artist in La Roux. cover that immediately shows
them exactly what they can
Although Amp magazine is expect to see inside.
aimed at females, it is not
based or produced around
female artists. Obviously many
females like male artists as Because Amp is aimed primarily
well; therefore I included some at a female audience, I tried to
young, successful male artists use more female friendly
in my cover lines. Ed Sheeran colours on my cover. I feel that
is relatively new to the British purple is a feminine
music scene and it is already colour, that is also accessible
clear that he has a very large by males, unlike pink which
female fan base. This sends a would probably put any
clear message that Amp is not potential male readers off.
a feminist magazine; it does
not promote „girl power‟ but is
simply aimed at the
young, female market.
18. Future publishing produce special interest
magazines on an international and
national scale. They pride themselves on
providing niche markets with the content
that they desire. I felt that „Amp‟ would
be a perfect magazine for Future to
publish as it is an indie-rock magazine that
is aimed at a female audience. With their
expertise in providing top quality, special-
interest magazines, Future is the perfect
publisher for „Amp‟.
To visit Future‟s website, click here
19. As I mentioned previously, Future publish special-interest magazines. Some
of their existing publications include...
Classic Rock magazine provides entertainment to a very
specific audience by focusing on bands/artists that were
active from the1960s through the early 1990s. They also
feature new artists that they think are noteworthy in order
to keep readers up to date with new music.
Official Xbox mag website
Official Xbox Magazine is
clearly aimed at a particular
audience who enjoy gaming
on their Xbox. Future is the
perfect publisher for a
magazine like this because
they know how to market Classic Rock‟s website
special-interest magazines
and what the target
audiences are looking for in
that magazine.
20. Amp magazine will be available nationally and
will cost £2.40. I decided that Amp would be best
published nationally as opposed to internationally
because it is geared towards a UK audience. It
features many artists from the UK, as well as
some from the United States, but I feel that as a
The only currency featured on new publication it would be suitable for the UK
the front cover barcode will be market alone. If the magazine were to become
GBP (£), as Amp will be very popular in the UK, it could be published
published nationally. internationally.
My magazine will be printed on matt paper as
opposed to the glossy paper that most magazines
are printed on. This will lower production costs, as
matt paper is cheaper, and allow potential readers
to identify Amp with NME magazine which is quite
similar. This means that less advertising will need
to be used throughout the magazine as money is
saved in it‟s production. Only 28% of Amp magazine
will be used for advertising purposes.
22. As I have previously mentioned, the intended audience for Amp magazine
are young women living in the UK, aged 16-25. However, there is room for a
crossover audience of males and older or younger women.
The audience for Amp magazine are likely to shop in popular high street
stores such as Topshop, H&M and Urban Outfitters.
These shops sell clothes that are considered quite „indie‟ and „different‟
although they are available to the mass market. They allow shoppers to
create their own looks out of the pieces that they offer, and promote
creativity with fashion.
Amp‟s main audience will be likely to consist of young Caucasian women
with a crossover audience of many other ethnicities.
23. As you can see from the above images, the outfits that Amp readers wear are not
prescriptive; they can be easily mixed and matched. Band t-shirts and high-waisted shorts
are popular, as well as skinny jeans and messy hair. The „indie‟ look is usually recognised
by the „skinny jean‟ style.
24. The audience of Amp magazine are motivated and
intelligent. Their interests are self-formed; they know
what they like and what they aspire to. Amp readers are
young, creative and passionate about doing what they
love. Many Amp readers will be in full time education, be
that college/sixth form or university. They might aspire
to complete a degree and go on to get a satisfying job.
Some Amp readers may be so passionate about music and the arts that
they aspire to enter a job in the creative industry. They want a job
that they will enjoy and something that is fulfilling and challenging.
They are not as interested in how well-paid their job might be, rather
how much they enjoy it.
As Amp is aimed at a young audience that are likely to be in full time
education, some of the advertisements could be used for University
open days, NUS discounts, etc.
25. Amp is aimed at a young female demographic in the UK. The young
people that read Amp magazine are likely to come from a working
class/middle class family with a Social Occupational Class (SOC) of B or
C1. The younger section of the audience (16-18 years old) are likely to
live in a family home with their parents and siblings, and the older
section of the audience (18-24 years old) are more likely to live in halls
at university, in a shared house or in their own flat.
There are likely to be more Amp readers living in major cities in the UK
such as London, Manchester, Cardiff, Glasgow, etc. because they tend to
be more cutting edge and trend-setting than other parts of the UK.
To view the information for Amp
magazine, click here
26. In order to get feedback from members of my target audience, I
interviewed them and recorded the interview as an audio file on my
phone. I asked questions about the cover, the contents page, the double
page spread and the magazine in general. The questions I asked are
below… QUESTIONS ABOUT THE COVER:
1) What are your initial thoughts when you look at the front cover? Who do you think
this magazine is targeted at?
2) What do you like about the front cover?
3) What would you change about the front cover?
4) Would you buy this magazine based on the front cover?
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CONTENTS PAGE:
1) Do you think the contents page fits with the style of the front cover? Is there a
theme running throughout?
2) Do you like the layout of the contents page?
3) What would you change about the contents page?
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD:
1) Would you read this article?
2) Do you like the layout of the double page spread?
3) What would you change about the double page spread?
FINAL QUESTION:
Overall, what do you think of Amp magazine?
27. To listen to the feedback that I got from
Rosie, click the link to the right. This will take
you to my blog post with Rosie‟s feedback
Rosie is a 16 year old female who fits the image
of my target audience. She likes indie/rock/folk
music and is currently studying A Levels at
college.
To listen to the feedback that I got from
Rathina, click the link to the left. This will take
you to my blog post with Rathina‟s feedback.
Rathina is also studying A Levels at college. She
is 17 years old and likes rock/folk music.
29. As you can see from the reader profile here
, Amp is aimed at young women who are very
passionate about music. As Amp is a national
magazine, it is easier to think of the typical reader
on a national scale. It is likely that readers of Amp
will also enjoy listening to XFM Radio Station, reading
NME, going to concerts and keeping up with the
latest technology (e.g. iPhone, social networks).
HOW DID I MAKE ‘AMP’ RELATABLE FOR MY
AUDIENCE?
An example of how I made sure that the readers of
Amp magazine would be able to relate to the product
and it‟s contents, I wrote my main article on Elly
Jackson from La Roux because I believe that the
young women that my magazine targets would be
able to identify with her. She is a young, creative
woman who has a clear passion for music.
30. How have I attracted my audience?
As you can see from the front cover of Amp magazine, I
have used a female model in order to attract a female
audience and female-friendly colours such as purple for
my text. The model on my front cover is from the same
demographic as the target audience for Amp magazine.
How have I addressed my audience?
One way in which I have addressed my audience is
through the featured articles on my contents page. Ed
Sheeran has a strong female fan base, and the
advertisement for a Schwarzkopf Live Colour XXL
competition is fitting as my audience like to
experiment with personal style, which is likely to
include changing their hair colour. Schwarzkopf is also
quite a cutting-edge brand.
32. One of the first pieces of
technology that I used to
complete my coursework was
wordpress.com
Wordpress is a website that anyone can use to create a blog. You
choose the url that you desire (e.g. sophieasmediacoursework) and
“.wordpress.com” will be added to the end of it to create the url for
your blog.
In order to create my fully functional blog, which can be seen here
I had to separate my posts into categories and arrange these categories
into a menu. My categories include “Home”, “Preliminary
exercise”, “Research and planning”, “Construction” and “Evaluation”.
I found Wordpress quite user-friendly and easy to get around, although I
did encounter a problem initially. Instead of creating categories, I
created pages and so my blog wasn‟t functioning properly. With some
help from my teacher I was able to correct this mistake and continue
with my coursework.
33. In order to edit the photographs that I took
for my magazine, I used Adobe Photoshop CS5.
As I am familiar with this programme, I found
it easy to navigate and use.
Photoshop is a piece of software that is used
widely in the creative industries, and
especially in print media. It is used to
manipulate images and enhance them.
I had access to Photoshop CS5 on many of the college computers, and I
also have the programme installed at home. This was useful as I was able
to save work to my USB and continue with it at many computer ports.
I used Photoshop CS5 to edit the photos I took.
To see how I edited the main photo for my
contents page, click here
34. Adobe InDesign is used to create page layouts. I
used this programme in order to create my
front cover, contents page and double page
spread.
I have never used this programme before, so I
initially found it quite difficult to use. As with
any new programme, I did find it quite
frustrating at times. However, after a class
tutorial with our teacher, things became more
clear.
We were shown how to complete simple tasks using InDesign, such as
setting up a new page with the correct measurements and margins. We
were also shown some interesting ways to edit the text in order to create
a masthead, and how to place an image.
Overall, I found Adobe InDesign to be a nice programme that was very
useful in creating my final pieces. It has been especially constructed to
help in designing magazine and newspaper layouts, so it was extremely
useful to have access to at college.
35. I used the studio at college to take the photographs for my
magazine. The college allows all creative industry students
to hire out the studio to complete work, and they also
allow equipment to be hired out. In order to take my
photographs I had to hire out the studio, a Nikon DSLR
camera and a tripod. In the studio, I set up the black
backdrop that I used in my photographs and the lights.
We have hot lights which are attached to the ceiling
and more that can be set up on stands. I used 3 of the
lights on the ceiling and 2 on stands. Whilst in the
studio, we had to be very careful and practice good
health and safety. The hot lights get extremely
hot, hence their name, and there are often a lot of
wires around. Therefore, we had to make sure that we
were careful with the equipment.
36. In order to create the slideshow that
you are currently watching, I used
Microsoft PowerPoint which I have
access to on all college computers and
all home computers.
When arranging our photo
shoot, myself and my friends kept in
touch through text messages and
phone calls. We decided when the best
time to do our shoots would be and
what pieces of clothing/props we
would each bring.
38. I have learned many skills in completing this
coursework. The main skills I feel that I have
learned are to do with using new software,
such as InDesign. When I started the AS Media
course I had never used InDesign before and
had no idea how to get around it. However,
after tutorials in class and practical work
through creating my magazine, I feel that I
know the programme well enough. If I had to
used InDesign again, I would be much more
confident.
I have also developed my skills with working in a group. In order to
come up with the initial idea for Amp magazine, I worked with 3 other
people in my class. We bounced ideas off each other and came up with
the concept of making an indie-rock magazine for 16-25 year old
females. I feel that group work really helped in completing my
coursework; it is extremely useful to have people around who can share
their ideas with you, and who you can share your ideas with.
39. IPC Media is one of the largest publishers in the UK;
the print they produce reaches almost 75% of UK
women and 42% of UK men. The main audiences that
IPC Media focus on are men, mass market women and
upmarket women. In 2001 IPC Media was sold to Time
Incorporated which is the magazine publishing branch
of Time Warner; this means that IPC Media is part of
an international corporation.
40. Bauer publishes in the United
Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, the United
States and Mexico. Bauer publishing have always been
very successful on the UK magazine market.
To read more about Bauer publishing, click here
Future is the publisher I have chosen to
publish my magazine, „Amp‟. They produce
special interest magazines on an international
and national scale. With their expertise in
providing top quality, special-interest
magazines, Future is the perfect publisher for
„Amp‟.
To visit Future‟s website, click here
41. I have learned many things about manipulations in the media whilst
completing my coursework. One thing I have learnt is that almost
every image that you see in a magazine/advertisement has been
manipulated using Photoshop. Images are often airbrushed and edited
to enhance them and make the people in them look „perfect‟.
42. Another thing I have learned whilst completing
my coursework is how media producers
manipulate representations in their media
products. In order to sell a product, it has to be
clearly aimed at a specific audience and in
doing this, the audience has to be clearly
identified. For example, people who like rock
music are often represented as anarchistic and
rebellious in the media. You can often recognise
a „rocker‟ in a media product by the clothes
that they are wearing; they tend to wear dark
colours, have messy hair and wear eye-liner. Of
course, this representation becomes a
stereotype that simply isn‟t true or accurate.
People who listen to rock music are all
different, and although there may be some
dark, messy haired rockers out there, not every
rock appreciator is like that.
