media evaluation for question 1.

1. EVALUATION
QUESTION 1

2. To create my magazine cover, I found
a cover similar to my own genre
and that used a main photo similar to
what I wanted and based mine
around that. The cover below is the
cover I used as a model.

3. COVER

4.  The model cover I used had a mid shot as the main photograph . My
plan was to use a mid shotof my model too. I originally took the photos
as mid shots, but also took close ups and long shots to have a variety to
choose from.
 The model cover I used had a mid shot as the main photograph . My
plan was to use a mid shotof my model too. I originally took the photos
as mid shots, but also took close ups and long shots to have a variety to
choose from. I thought a poster of this band would be a good reason for
someone to buy my magazine. Like my style model, I decided to place
a large cover line in the bottom left hand corner with the name of the
artist and the story that would be inside. In theory, this artist would
be well known and therefore, this story would draw the readers attention
and make them want to buy the magazine to get the exclusive. I found
a font that I thought went well with my genre of Indie/Alternative and
chose a colour. At first I wanted my main colours to be red but as the
model was wearing red I changed the colour scheme to blues. I then
decided that all blue was too bland and thought a pop of red would
work well so had this cover story as red to make it stand out against the
rest of the magazine. Like most popular music magazines, I had the
main image slightly overlapping the masthead and the target audience
already know the name of the magazine, therefore partially
blocking the masthead does not matter.

5.  I decided I did not want to include a puff as my style model did not
use this on the cover. The majority of music magazines have the puff
of a competition in a circle/bubble type shape, like the style model’s
"26 festivals to blow your minds",
and therefore I toyed around with bubbles
and circles in my work but I felt like it did not
fit with the style model of my magazine and
therefore went without one.
 I also followed my model cover slightly when
placing my storylines on to the cover, promoting
the stories from the inside of the issue. These
storylines help to encourage the target audience to
purchase the issue as a storyline may interest them.
I justified them down the left margin like on my
model cover and altered the colours so like on
the model cover, each one stood out against the
background but did not stand out too much as
I wanted to go for a minimal look. I think that
this helps the magazine cover look more realistic
as all covers include these.

6.  Also, like my model and every other music magazine, I included a barcode,
issue date and price. This is a usual convention of a magazine cover as they
are essential pieces of information for when the audience want to purchase
the issue.
 I feel as though my house style, fonts and colour scheme show connotations
of an indie/alternative type theme. I feel as though the blues and reds show
the music in the magazine is darker, less pop related and more edgy but not
as dark as rock.
 Overall, I feel as though my magazine cover follows the majority of music
magazine conventions and looks like a realistic product that would be sold in
shops.

7. CONTENTS

8. In order to create my own music magazine
contents page, I used a variety of different
contents pages to help me create a
realistic looking final product. I used one
more specifically though, to get the look I
wanted the most, and used others to help
with other ideas. Below is my main style
model.

9.  I included a masthead that was the same font as the one from my
front cover, so that there was recurring theme that linked to my
cover, creating a house style. I also included a band index down
the right hand side of my page. I did this as, although my main style
model does not incorporate this, many others that I have
researched have done this. It is to ensure that the readers can
easily navigate their way through the magazine, finding the artists
from the issue that they would like to read about due to the page
numbers next to each artist.
 I originally planned to have the main story as a bigger image,
similar to my style model but then decided not everything would be
evenly spread and it did not look the way I wanted it to look
therefore I made it the same size as every other main story.

10.  My contents page has various photographs linking to the main stories in the
issue and include a page number and a quick summary of the story to help
the readers find their way in the magazine. The font colours I have chosen are
the same colours I have used in my cover, to carry on the house style.
 The bottom of my contents page has a film reel of photographs I have taken
in the past at concerts I have attended. The ones I have chosen also link to
the colours I have used in my cover and throughout the magazine.
 I have included a box of other stories which I could not possibly fit into
photographs on the one page. I also used the font colours the same as the
main story fonts and the colours on my cover.
 My style model did not include the Facebook, Twitter or Instagram on the
contents and therefore I did not include it in mine either.
Overall, I feel as though my contents page follows many conventions of a
real magazine, and I have used a range of photographs on it. I feel like a
couple more images could have made it stand out better or if I made the
main image bigger but I did not think it worked and therefore, I liked it the
way it was.

12.  To create my double page spread, I followed usual conventions of a
music magazine double page spread.
 For the title of my double page spread article, I stuck with something
simple that briefly explained it- "Aria Daines". I stayed with the same font
that I used on the cover as it keeps my house style, matches the genre
and looks effective. However, instead of blue, I used red as my
background is white and I also wanted less blue on this one and
decided Red was also running through the theme of my magazine and
it also matched the tone of the clothing and hair of my model slightly.
 A common convention of a music magazine is the use of columns for
the article. I used five columns for my article and placed them on both
pages of my double page spread. Also, for my article, I stuck to my
house style with the fonts and the colour scheme. I made the Q&A
questions stand out by making them red and using a different to my
whole magazine, breaking the house style slightly. I put the answers to
the questions in black, yet with a different font for the same reason. This
means the audience can easily differentiate between the question and
answer whilst reading it.

13.  Also, another common convention of a double page spread is highlighting
important points of an article or interview, I included one important quote. I made it
stand out by adding a red block shape, breaking the house style once again, and I
used white text for the actual quotes. I feel as though this was quite effective as it is
the same colour as the background and looks like it may have been engraved out
of the shape somehow.
 Many music magazines use various images throughout the article, therefore I also
did this. I used one photo on each page, so they are not too close together. I feel
like the photographs make a border type look as it goes around three edges of the
pages. This makes the overall appearance of the double page spread better as the
text does not just seem plain on the page and is instead, bordering the
photographs.
 I also included page number in black to make it stand out on the white background
so that that it was visible and made it easy for the audience to navigate through the
magazine.
 I feel like my article does not follow conventions of music magazines too
obviously and therefore stands out a lot. It was my intention to not use a style model
and create something that I liked the idea of in my mind and that did not follow the
house style of my cover and contents, as it is an indie/alternative magazine and
therefore I did want it to be alternative to other music magazines.