Evaluation

Evaluation

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Evaluation

First and very important step I had to make before starting the manufacture of my music magazine was research into already existing and successful music magazines and their publishers, in order to find out what genre is the most popular with the audience and which institution would be most likely to publish my music magazine. I have decided to analyse one of the 'Q' magazines seeing as it is the most common and popular magazine with a wide range of audience and look into how they give the variety of choice to the audience and also look into the design of the magazine itself, how the cover, contents and article pages are arranged and laid out, this research would help me create my music magazine seeing as I will be more familiar with the type of design the audience is most familiar with, seeing as the placement of central image, puffs, buzz words and anchorage text is very important to catch the audience's attention and their first impression of the music magazine would greatly depend on the cover page seeing as it needs to familiarise the audience with what to expect from this music magazine in particular. Furthermore research into different institutions helped me gather knowledge of not only what type of institutions there are but also what genres they specialise in and hold the most popularity with the audience.  From this research I have decided to use a white, red and black house style in my music magazine seeing as the contrast of these colours makes the text easy to read in addition to this words like ‘Contents’, ‘Features’, ‘Interviews’ and ‘Regulars’ use the same font which I got from ‘1001 fonts’ website called ‘Nervous’ and added my own colours to suit the house style of my magazine, I have chosen this design seeing as it reminded me of an electric guitar strumming which would be reasonable to use seeing as my magazine is rock genre and the style represents the noise and anxiety which rock concerts create.

The music magazine that I have produced is aimed at people aged from 16 to 23 seeing as they are the most likely to be interested in this type of genre however the problem with this target audience would be that they are more likely to check information about their music on the internet. After all the research was complete I have decided to follow the form of convention of a typical music magazine seeing as it’s the most common in music magazines and already has an existing audience, the problem with doing that however is that the audience would prefer to stick to something they are already familiar with like their old music magazines instead of reading newly published music magazines. This would mean that I have to lure the audience in by either adding a freebie or creating an article which would interest the audience and also make the magazine at a reasonable price. Furthermore the whole layout of the magazine is familiar to the ‘Q’ or ‘NME’ magazine or just a typical magazine, giving the audience the information about what to expect from the magazine by just looking at the cover and seeing as the first impression is important, the main ‘exclusive’ to the magazine articles/information are on the front cover.

My music magazine would represents both male and female young adults as well as teenagers, this is due to the chosen house style and the choice of rock bands which have been included into the magazine, seeing as my chosen target audience are most likely to listen to bands like ‘Linkin Park’ or ‘Three Days Grace’ due to the fact that they produce songs which could appeal to my target audience. However this might not always be the case due to the fact that people above the age of my target audience could also be interested in these rock bands and this is only a benefit because it means that more people are likely to buy my music magazine. Additionally the Linkin Park poster would be appealing to this particular social group because they are most likely to stick up posters of their favourite rock band in their rooms as we would not expect an adult to have posters around his/her room. In addition to this the images I have taken and placed into my music magazine would appeal to the group because the main artist on whom the article is based on is from that social group and the audience would be interested in someone from their social group. Also the design of the images and how the main star looks might further appeal to that social group because they are most likely to dress the same way. Also the manner in which the main star looks at the audience in an aggressive way may imply a rebellious personality which would be appealing to the social group due to the fact that they would be most likely to also act rebellious and the fact that the star was from the same group and has achieved something could influence the audience and even inspire them and think that with hard work they all can achieve the same.

Institution which would publish my music magazine would most likely be Bauer seeing as they publish magazines like ‘Q’, ‘Kerrang’ and ‘Mojo’ along with other 150 magazines. Seeing as those are three main music magazines which are popular with the audience with a rock genre present along with other genres (the more genres a magazine has the more audience would be interested). Seeing as my music magazine has a main rock genre it will have a lot of competition in that institution. Additionally the following institution publishes modern magazines and my target audience are most likely to be interested in more modern magazines.

Further I had to think about my article pages, if I wanted to make a double page or a three page article and I have decided to go with a double page spread in order to see if I will have enough space to place all the information I want, the first page will have the main image of the star with her quote which will make the audience interested in the article and carry on reading it, additionally the article required an intro and I have decided to create a friendly and realistic atmosphere in which one of the ‘Echo’ representative describes the current situation and with the stars dramatic entrance in order to make the audience interested in the article and keep them reading, also the layout of the interview has to be easy to read and follow so I have decided to make the interviewers question different colour from the stars answers and make the colours contrast, also the article is laid out in columns seeing as most magazines are read on the go and the audience has to be able to easily come back to the point where they stopped reading. The main challenge I faced during the articles production was writing the article up seeing as I had to make it not only creative but also non repetitive and easy to follow, seeing as I wouldn’t want to confuse the audience and make them think through every sentence in the article also make up the whole story, so the best option would be to just make a simple friendly interview with few jokes in order to lighten the audiences mood and make the article itself seem more interesting to read. Furthermore I have used two images in my double page article one having the full page to itself and the other being under the article itself with a quote from the article, highlighting something important the star has to say and make the audience read through the article in order to relate to that quote. Additionally I thought the article pages looked simple and did not have enough to it so I have decided to add a ‘spotlight’ effect to it which is relevant to the anchorage text on the cover page ‘Life on the spotlight’ and the image used under the article of the star blurred out and looking up perfectly suited the idea of having the audience in front of her and the spotlight on her, I had to download the a brush in order to create the spotlight effect which further improved my Photoshop skills

By looking back at my preliminary task I believe I have made huge progress in not only production of a music magazine but also with the ideas behind certain layouts and chosen images how different meanings can be created through use of different angles and mise-en-scene. I have also greatly improved my skills in using programmes like Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator which helped me greatly in production and editing of my images and the magazine itself. Additionally from the research and comparing my final product to the preliminary task I have learned the importance of the structure of the magazine and the correct placement of certain ‘buzz words’ and ‘puffs’ and how the cover is most important to get the audience attention because it’s the first impression of a magazine that counts.

My Media Product Response




1.) Does the Front Cover look appropriate for the genre (Rock) of the music magazine?
All of the audience have answered yes, which is good news and means I have produced a successful product.

 



2.) Is the text easy to read throughout the whole magazine?
Everyone apart from one person have answered positively, this could be due to the fact that one person did not find the colours appealing so this can be ignored as long as the majority of the audience is pleased.




3.) Would you consider buying the Magazine?
I have received almost 50/50 answers which is good news seeing as from my previous surveys most people have said that they don't buy music magazines at all which means that my music magazine has caught the audiences attention.



4.) Are the images in the magazine used effectively to suit the genre (Rock) of the magazine?
All of the audience has answered positively. Although I believed that my images lacked mise-en-scene and background to represent the genre of the magazine. However my editing has covered for the lack of scenery.



5.) Do you believe that the article is detailed enough?
The majority have answered positively about the article, however the negative answers made me consider possible changes I could make to the article in order to make it detailed enough for all the audience.



6.) Is the contents page easy to understand and read?
All the positive answers have made it clear that the contents page has been well structured and laid out in order for the audience to get straight to the point and easy to understand.

7.) If you lay down all the pages of the magazine, would you be able to tell that they are a part of the same magazine?
There was only one person who has answered negatively to this question, this could be considered as a negative personal preference of the person to the magazine so can easily be ignored due to the majority of positive responses.

8.) Do you like the house style used for the magazine?
More than the majority of the answers have been positive, this type of question is the audiences personal preference to the colour which means that the negative answers would come from people that simply dislike the colours I have used. However seeing as most of the audience like the colour scheme shows that it suits the genre of the magazine.

9.) Do my pictures look professional?
There is only one negative answer which yet again could come from a person with a negative personal preference to the images I have used. Despite this the rest of the audience have answered this question positively.

My Music Magazine Survey

Please answer all the questions.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/X6KWRCS

My Music Magazine Final

Article Plan

Intro:

Can you imagine doing something you once done for a hobby doing it for a living in front of thousands of people? Well Alex sure couldn’t, what once was a hobby and something to do in your free time have turned into a whole new life style which she is still getting used to. Life on the spotlight sure made Alex change her ways and although it may be hard and exhausting she still manages to see it through and this is shown from her performances which have been said to be the best this year. Exclusive to Echo, the interview we have been looking forward to for so long has finally arrived! Little did I know that Alex has a different view on “Little late”, after waiting for almost two hours I started losing hope if she was going to arrive at all, but something inside told me that she will arrive sooner or later. Finally after two hours which seemed so long I see a figure storming in through the door, unclear of who it is due to the bright light to my surprise it was Alex! Finally the interview can take place.

Alex: (Breathing heavily) I am really sorry to keep you waiting! The underground is really full of surprises sometimes!

Echo: No worries! Interview with a rising rock star is worth the wait. I see you eager to get here on time but London underground decided otherwise, things like that happen and nothing we can do about that. So how are you today? London underground didn’t bring you down I hope?

Alex: No! Of course not! Can’t let small things like that bring you down, otherwise I wouldn’t get to where I am now. Other than that I am good thanks just a bit tired after all that running to get here.

Echo: Yeah I bet, it’s always all about hard work. Don’t blame you for being tired after going through all this, but look where you got to! How does it feel like to be a well known rock star?

Alex: I’m not sure, I mean I don’t exactly feel any different as in person but other than that it feels good to be known but also unusual at the same time, never expected people passing by and talking between them self “oh is it that girl from the TV?” I feel proud about where I got and how people I have no idea about somehow know about me.

Echo:  Yeah must feel very weird at first but I guess you get used to the fame in time. After all almost everyone enjoys the music you make so I’m not surprised so many people recognise you on the street. So tell us about how did you get to where you are now? Was it all hard work or did it come naturally?

Alex: Well I can’t really give a step by step guide on how to become famous of course, but for me it was more about having fun and enjoying what you do. My mum always told me to do what I enjoy the most and if it even brings income then that’s the best option to do. I started off with normal acoustic guitar and started learning notes with a guitar teacher which came over my house once a week and from there I just started getting better year by year, in time I got enough money to buy an electric guitar which was the main reason I started guitar in the first place, but had to learn all the basics on a simple acoustic. After getting the electric guitar I started playing almost every day, trying to play all the rock tunes I loved like My Chemical Romance songs which I absolutely love!

Echo: I see, we all have to learn at one point or another and looks like you did have to go through hard work to get where you are now. So how did you get performing?

Alex: Yeah, quite a bit of hard work seeing as I also had school work and all my free time was dedicated to practicing guitar. After my teacher saw the how good I was getting, she decided that’s it time to show off my talent in simple street performances which started to become very popular and get a rather large crowd building up around us. Obviously at first I was nervous about performing and made a few mistakes while playing but in time I got used to it and actually enjoyed it.

Echo: Yeah enjoying things you do is the most important thing. So how did fame come to you? Did a producer hear about the street performer from friends and decided to give you a try?

Alex: (laughs) How did you know? Just kidding, no it’s not exactly how it happened but you were close, one day a guy came up to me and asked me if I would like to perform in the upcoming gig taking place at Hyde Park where most well known rock star would be and a special guest MCR! Which was very exciting for me obviously, so I had to overcome my fears of stage performance and just get on the stage and do my best. At the end of the day it’s just me having fun. That’s where it all started, a lot of producers started recognising me and I had a lot of phone calls asking me if I was interested in a producer and becoming famous, that really did my head in and I was so tired of hearing from all these producers, but I have decided to go meet up with a few to actually see what I was offered and picked the best one out of all of them which was Jared Leto the producer of 30 seconds to mars! So from there was where all the fame came from.

Echo: Oh wow sounds like you’ve been through a lot to get where you are now and who would have thought that a simple hobby can turn into a whole new life style! Sadly this is all we have time for and it was a very pleasant interview, certainly worth the wait! Any last words for our readers?

Alex: Yeah just work hard and enjoy the things you do, you never know where it might get you! And to all my fans I thank you very much for all the support, without you it would have been impossible for sure! Thanks for having me and once again sorry to keep you waiting.

Making Process

 For the main image I was going to use for my double page article, I have experimented with different effects in order to make the image stand out as much as possible and look attractive to the audience. In this case I have made it more bright by using the 'Curves' tool and experimenting with different levels of brightness.








Additionally I have experimented with different 'Filter' effects which would make the image look more unique and appealing to the audience, due to a wide variety of effects available I had to try out every single one and pick which one would be the most effective to use in my magazine.