Final Version- Magazine

Front Cover

Contents Page

Double Page Spread

Progression of Double Page Spread

Progression of Contents Page

Progression of Front Cover

Flat Plan of my Magazine

This was an official document which I had to create as every magazine which is created requires one. I looked first at a Kerrang one before I made mine in order to get a general view and feel for how they look and what the typical conventions are. I made sure to include a variety of adverts, posters and double page spreads and included a few special features exclusive to my magazine. An example of an exclusive feature is the 'gigs guide' and the 'album review'.

Photo Shoot Planning Document

Evaluation - Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Evaluation - Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Throughout this process I have used a variety of technologies which include:

Blogger is a website where users can create posts and blog on any topic they'd like. This magazine coursework was the reason that I had to create one of these as it makes it easier to share my work, this is because you just have to upload and create a post about it. Doing this also shows that media is a more modern topic as your work doesn't have to be on paper. I had never used Blogger before taking this course and whilst using it I have liked it and I feel like I may use it again another time.

Slide Share is another site in which users can design and make their own presentations and then take them to embed on other sites, such as for example blogger. I've never really used an online presentation creator before but whilst using this I found it very efficient in what I wanted to achieve, this is good as then everyone who needs it can use it.

Photoshop was the software that I used in order to create my magazine, I was quite familiar with the program before we started the coursework but there were a few new things I learnt whilst constructing my product. Using Photoshop to make the product was probably the best way we could and so it's good that we did, this is because of all of the tools that the software offers to users. One of the best tools which I learnt over my time creating this was the "refine edge" tool which is very convenient when trying to remove a white background and making it look clean, doing it by hand using the "pen tool" can sometimes look a lot more rough in comparison which wouldn't have looked professional.

Prezi is another website where users can create more interactive presentations. I felt like this site was nicer than slide share as the transitions between each slide were a lot cleaner and smoother. I hadn't used this site before we began but it was very simple to use and I got used to it very quickly. I also enjoyed using it because of the creative element it offers, this is especially when you can move images and shapes around to make your presentation visually pleasing and I feel this important when creating a presentation.

I also used a camera which the school provided. It was a very good camera offering high quality images, it was also very easy to use and upload photos you have taken through a USB connection. Although my images were high quality, they weren't as perfect as they could have been as I didn't have the best lighting in the spot used, however I feel that they were good enough for my magazine.

Evaluation - Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

I've made sure to include words such as "biggest" and "latest" which are selling words and make the audience interested and want to read the magazine. Language like this aims to draw attention to your magazine, especially if they're clear to read, bold and stand out. The colours I have used of dark greys a long with red and yellow allow for my magazine to stand out, this is because the colours are contrasting and therefore compliment each other allowing for easier readability. This is a key feature of my magazine as on the shelves it will now be easier to see words and furthermore will be eye-catching.

My cover stars can also be a main reason to attract my audience, this is because I have aimed to make my models as similar to what my readers may wear as possible. Doing this will make the male audience want to be them and although the female audience isn't my primary target they may find them attractive. I also ensured that in all the main photos I used I had them looking at the camera, doing this creates a connection between the magazine and the audience, this effect tends to be very effective.

The masthead on my magazine is bold and large to make sure to grab the eyes of my audience. To aid this as well I made sure to use completely contrasting colours on both "critical" and "mag", this was important to do as it makes sure that the audience can read it and bring their attention to it. I have also made sure that I put my magazines website on the bottom of the bar code, this allows readers who may not buy the magazine to at least remember it and look at it online if they were interested.

As for my contents page I have made sure to make all my text readable and made it so that it stands out. To do this I also followed my colour scheme which contains all the complimentary colours that I'll need, doing this also makes my magazine look consistent and therefore professional. My list of contents may have a lot but it is easy to read and is also in order and that's clear to see. I have included a large list of other bands in my magazine as this therefore will attract a lot more readers who will be interested in this genre. 

I have decided to make my photo stand out as opposed to the rest of the page by putting it in quite a bit of space, this is good as it shows off the key point of my entire magazine and readers who want to read about the band will like this. I haven't included any other images however as I felt that this would draw attention away from my contents list and I wouldn't want this. 

I have also ensured to put bright colours on my subscription box in the bottom right as I felt that this needs to be eye catching and therefore clear to see, this is a key point for my magazine so that I can ensure my audience can read all issues of it. Along with this I have included an editors notes section which includes page numbers to key points on the magazine which are highlighted in red on my contents list.

For my double page spread here I have made completely sure to highlight every question in this article, this makes it easier for the audience to know what it an answer and what is a question. I have also boxed a sentence at the end pointing out the tour dates and highlighted to go to "page 56" for the "gig guide", this is important as it allows my target audience to know information that they're interested in. I have also made sure to use a main quote from the article on the header as this will make readers interested into knowing what the guide to getting "over failure" is. I have used a lighter background on this page along with dark text, this emphasis' the specialty of this article as it is the opposite of my other pages. 

I have made sure to also use a language that is easy to understand for a typical reader of my magazine, this is a key feature as it makes my article readable for any person interested. As well as focusing on the language I used a drop capital at the start of my entire article, this is a key convention of music magazine articles and articles in general and helps the reader to know where to begin. I have also, once again like on my contents and front cover, featured a section linking the magazine to my magazines website, this allows the audience to have a link between themselves and the magazine as it's gives interactivity. 

Everything that I have done in this magazine is to ensure that my audience is completely up to date with all the latest news and information on bands in the genre, very similar to what Kerrang and NME do and is an important feature in making a successful magazine. I think overall I have done a good job at doing this.

Evaluation - Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

To show what my target audience would be I have included a variety of pictures and brands to show what my typical reader would be interested in and be like. The images I have used mainly appeal to a younger audience and this is because my target audience is young. I have created an identity for my audience just through a use of common interests in music tastes, fashion interests and hobbies. However there will always be an older audience as well and therefore shows that these interests also appeal to them, this is good as it allows acceptance for a wider audience range. I believe my magazine has met the needs of my audience as they will want a truthful and serious rock genre magazine which we offer.

Evaluation - Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

First before I choose I must take into account as to what I feel my magazine would need in order to do the best it can. This isn't always easy to do as a lot of different publishing companies offer a lot of different services. Mainly I have looked into Bauer media and Time Inc. UK and this is because they both publish similar magazines to my type and this shows that mine would fit in and
theoretically be just as successful. 

Personally I would like my magazine to feature both in a published form and also in an online form, this way it will reach a larger audience than opposed to if it was just published alone. This is especially true with less people going out shopping now and preferring to do things online. I'd prefer to have a fair amount of advertising to begin with and knowing these institutions I know that they will be able to do this successfully.

Time Inc. UK (previously known as IPC Media) is the UK's leading magazine publisher and are responsible for NME magazines publishing, this is a magazine that I feel is similar to mine. Time Inc. is a very large and well known company and if I were to join them then my magazine will definitely benefit well. Also this institution is partly web based but is also largely published in magazine copies, this is exactly what I'd like my magazine to be.

On the other hand Bauer media are Europe's largest privately owned publishing company and is a worldwide media empire. They are responsible for publishing Kerrang magazine which once again is a magazine that's a lot like mine and since that magazine has had so much success in this institution I'd like to this that mine be successful to. Bauer are also responsible for a lot more well known brands as I realised from my research as I knew a lot more of them, some examples are 4 Music and Q magazine. Bauer are also largely associated with radio and TV, this can help with advertising as it can get out to a much larger audience.

Overall I think I'd most like to go with Bauer media as my publisher. Mainly because of the large links that they have at their disposal in terms of advertising; which will help my magazine out considerably in the start and throughout. Personally I wouldn't choose to go with Time Inc. UK as I feel that they may not do as good a job with getting my magazine known and this is because they don't that the most well known brands as Bauer does.

Evaluation - Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation - Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

For my media product I aimed to try to get as many of the typical conventions from rock magazines as possible, especially in my front cover and my contents page. My front cover has a lot of attention grabbing point such as for example the giveaways and the free posters that I featured.

Since my magazine was aimed at the rock genre I aimed to get a grey scale and dark colour scheme a long with bright reds and yellows, the reason I mainly used these colours is because I know that they're very popular with rock magazines and this is because they're contrasting and so therefore allow my magazine to stand out easier. Also there's proof that these colours work well because if you look at magazines such as Kerrang and NME you can see that they stand out clearly as the colours are very contrasting, both to the image and the background colour. This is key if you are wanting your magazine to stand out to your audiences in shops and stands.

As you can see from my magazine I have aimed to try and recreate the colour scheme, however I went for a darker background as opposed to a lighter background. I feel like mine works better as with darker colours it allows for more contrasting when using bright colours with, in my case, the Reading tickets sticker and the extra bands footer bar. As well as using red on the footer bar I have also separated each of the bands and musicians with a white slash as it contrasts from the black text, this makes it easier read for the audience. Also one of the key conventions in magazines are that the main photo must overlay the masthead, this is done to show a higher status for the band, actor or model on the front cover. Overall I feel like I kept closely to the conventions on my front cover.

In my contents page I decided to also keep close to the conventions as I felt like it would work better than if I were to move away from them. The entire page has not much blank space and even though there's a little bit at the top I feel like this works well and compliments the entire page. There is a lot of information in the contents and all of them are numbered, also I have made sure that they're all in a nice list style so that it makes it easier for readers to follow along and find the page that they want. I made sure that I only use one photo as it lets the audience know what the main point of this magazine is, this therefore compliments the front cover with the band on there. As you can see I have also continued my contrasting colour scheme in order to keep my magazine eye catching.

For my double page spread I decided to change up my colour scheme a little and keep the entire page in a grey-scale theme apart from the image itself, which although I have desaturated, I haven't completely made black and white. However I have continued to stick with conventions and not stray too far from them. For my article title I ensured that it was an opposing colour to the background, the reason I did this was to once again create a contrasting style which allows for easier readability, this is important as you will want your audience to be interested in the story.

Although this page does have a bit of blank space in the top right I feel like it needed it otherwise it would've felt over filled and looked messy. I also ensured to keep my page numbers in the same place as my contents page as this will make it look more professional. The quote I used 'That's how you get over failure' was a very important choice as it is something that everyone wants to know and so therefore this gets the audience to read through the article. Also I used light grey boxes around my questions to make them stand out and make it easier to understand for the reader, to aid this I also used a drop capital at the start of my article which is a typical convention of magazines and so is important for a reader to know where to start.

Now over all three sections of my music magazine I believe that I have adapted to fit the typical conventions of such music magazines and have therefore made something that I believe is good and that I am proud of. Everything throughout is consistent and the article is rather interesting.

New photo needed

Whilst in the process of creating my contents page I noticed that I didn't have a fitting image and so I decided to get one of the main artist in the band 'Vince Cage'. The reason I did this is because it would only be fitting to use the main star since the magazine is centered around the band. Also doing this shots makes a creative place for viewers to find out where the interview page is as the photo will have a page number over it.

First draft for contents page

First draft for contents page

www.criticalmag.com

Issue number: 6

Issue date: 05/02/15

We talk to Vince Cage about his new UK tour – Pg 26

Editor’s note- This week, we specialise all around The Northern Lights, possibly the nicest band in the industry. They haven’t only brightened up our days with their new album, but Vince has kindly given up his time to talk to us about the bands big UK tour (see p26). We also got a sneak preview into the upcoming festival line ups and give you our list of upcoming bands to keep an eye on (see p57). I hope you enjoy this issue and make sure to let me know what you think.

David –Editor

This week in critical mag!

4- Latest News

7- Nirvana

12- AC DC

15- All the latest info on Blink-182

21- Paramore

24- Win signed tees

26- We go backstage with Vince Cage

29- 30 Seconds to Mars

34- Alex Turner talks

37- “The 1975 are a bit hit and miss I think”

41- Bring me the horizon

44- Our ‘new bands’ guide

47- Enter our giveaway

56- Gig list

First draft for front cover

First draft for front cover

Masthead- Critical Mag (Black and White, opposing colours so they stand out on the backgrounds)

Main image overlapping the masthead as it’s a typical convention of a magazine.

Bold and clear main cover line talking about big story to entice readers. “Northern Lights – Biggest UK Tour Yet”

Cover stories ideas:

·         Exclusive line up details for Leeds

·         Enter our giveaway for a free iPad

·         Win a free Northern Lights album

·         Win free tickets to Reading

·         We go backstage with Vince Cage

·         Who are Northern Lights?

Costume and Prop research

For my costume and props research I mainly looked into bands with three or four members, a few I looked closely at were Arctic Monkeys, Green day and Blink-182. The reason I did this is because my band were mainly aimed at the same audience as these bands; this would then help my choose costume and look of my band. As I looked into these bands I noticed that a lot of the time they're just wearing casual clothes such as tshirts or coats, with this in mind I made sure to note down that I'd have my pictures in similar clothing. Also in most of the pictures no props were used, this I felt would look better as there's nothing to distract away from the actual band themselves.

As you can see from this image I chose to make sure that my band were all going to be in coats as it makes them seem very casual and that's how I wanted them to appear. I think doing this will appeal to my target audience well as lots of my audience will wear casual clothing and so this will relate to them. Also this image of the Arctic Monkeys is an example of what I aimed to recreate with my band.

Photoshoot

Photo of magazines in a shop

Taking this photo has helped with the planning with my magazine, this is because it has shown me that in order for my magazine to appeal to the audience on the shelf it'll have to have some bright colours which contrast with the background colour. For example in this photo the AOR Rock magazine has a black background but uses a shiny bright red and gold to stand out in comparison with the Mojo magazine next to it with a grey-scale colour scheme. However of course if all the other magazines were brightly coloured then the grey-scale magazine will stand out clearer. Also as you can see at the top of the image the Classic Rock magazine is hidden at the back, this means that it is key to make sure your magazine stands out to the audience.

First draft for double page spread

Drawing of my first draft of the double page spread.

We go backstage with Vince Cage and the rest of Northern Islands.

"That's how you get over failure."

Vince Cage is a man of many talents and has always been motivated to do more and more for his band 'Northern Lights'. He and the band have been entertaining the public since 2008 where they got their first record deal and raked in $50,000 in their first year. Ever since then they have stayed true to their fans and promise to keep on producing and making people happy.
As Vince and the rest of the band were preparing for their UK tour we managed to catch up and ask him a few quick questions about him and how he deals with being a rockstar.

Many people like you want to get into the rock music industry, have you got any tips on how to promote yourself?

"Mainly I'd say get your name out, and I mean get it out, everywhere, to the bus stop, the local cafe, hell even your postman. If you want people to know who you are then you've gotta get recognition from the public first, then you'll be getting that record deal you've been dreaming of."

How would you define a rockstar?

"I'd have to say someone who not only creates rock music, which would be the obvious choice, but someone who also looks the part. I think it's key that rock music producers make it clear to the public that that's what they do. I tried my best when I was first starting, as did the rest of the band, and many people asked if creating rock music is what I did. How you dress is a massive part of your personality. "

Does Vince Cage ever have a relaxation day?

"Without a doubt! Every saturday me and the guys like to just do something all together in where we can relax or just have fun together. This not only helps us relax, but allows us to become better friends. Being friends is extremely important since you may be stuck on a bus with them for 3 months, and believe me you don't want to be sitting around a bunch of people who you don't like for that time."

Is it stressful when recording a new song?

"It can be, but me and the guys like to take our time instead of doing it all in one sitting and getting worked up. It's key to just keep a cool head since you might just be producing something you end up hating. You've gotta be relaxed when producing music."

Do you think it's important to maintain communication with your audience?

"Yes, maybe once or twice a day we'll keep our fans posted with what we're up to, this makes them feel connected to you and that's what I want to be. But however, you want to keep a cloud of mystery otherwise your character goes out the window."

Have you ever experienced failure?

"Unfortunately yes, however that's life and I like to keep as motivated as I can. The worst failure you can experience is when you have spent hours writing out and planning a new song and then you end up hating it and then scrapping it, but just never look back on bad things that have happened, always look forward to better, greater things. That's how you get over failure."

Do you think that the internet has killed the rockstar?

"Sadly, I think it has. Since you can find pretty much everything on the internet now, there is no demand for 'rock stars'. People just like to look around the top layer of the internet for new music and never go further. If you dig deep enough you'll still find rock stars all around the internet, new and old."

Northern Lights kick off their tour of the UK in London on February 14th. For full details make sure to check out the gig guide on Pg 56.

Typography

I chose these fonts as I felt that these best showed what my genre is about. I aimed to get a grungy, rock font to use for the headline. For my main bodies of text I'll probably use an easier and more clear font, such as Verdana or Arial. I think these fonts are the easiest to read and that's what I'd like to have when it comes to me double page spread story or my contents page and also for feature stories on my front cover. 

How women are represented in rock magazines

Female representation in rock genred magazines is a lot more positive than compared to a lot of other genres like for example in rap, hip hop or pop.

The band "Paramore" is a good example for the positive showing, this is because the bands singer is a woman and so where this would usually be criticised, it isn't so it's a positive representation. Paramore have had lots of success over the years, this definitely shows that it's not only men who make it in the rock genre.

In this magazine as you can see lead singer Hayley Williams stands out in the front of the cover with colour, this is because everyone in the background is in greyscale clothing and this also shows that she's the main element of the band. As you can see they allow her to wear whatever she wants and don't 'doll' her up like many other genres in loads of make up and pink dresses, this shows that she's allowed to be who she wants. Also the band is specialised around Paramore as you can see from the top left, this is a very positive representation for women in the rock genre as it shows she's made it big.

Evanescence are another band who have a female singer and possibly created one of the biggest songs in rock of the 21st century "bring me to life", this was such a song because of the powerful vocals from the singer Amy Lee. This song just shows completely that it doesn't just take men to create a number one hit, but that women can definitely also do it.

The front cover of this Kerrang magazine features a large picture of Amy Lee giving a big headline with the bands name across the front. This is a typical convention of a rock magazine since it's very eye catching, this is very good since it shows they're treating her like any other rock artist and not treating her like an individual just because she's a woman. They also put a tagline above the band name saying "Amy Lee bares her soul", this will appeal to fans of the band as she may be giving out information about her. They also highlight her name and the bands name in a bold, vibrant yellow to make sure they stand out on the darker background.

Overall I think that the female representation in the rock genre is definitely a positive one.