magazine evaluation

Evaluation for my media magazine

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

My media product challenges other real media products because of its design and layout. I’ve combined the house style, layout and design of three major rock magazine companies KERRANG!, Q and NME. This means that all the things that these three magazines do well are all incorporated into my magazine to make one big amazing magazine. 

For my front cover, I used the traditional conventions of a magazine by using; a main masthead which is at the top of the page and goes right across the page, a strapline which tells you the band that’s on the front cover, plugs and puffs  

For my contents page,  I also used the convention of an ordinary magazine with the page numbers listed at the side and then a bit of writing to tell you what that page is about which is all in cased within a box. There’s a picture of the lead singer from the band on the front page at the side of the box. Also there’s a little box above the picture telling you who the picture of the guy is.

For my double page spread, I didn’t use the ordinary conventions I challenged them the putting my article of the band in columns and then putting the pictures of all the band members at the bottom of my page so it looks different to other rock magazines.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents the indie social group the sort of people who go to gigs to see their favourite bands play and the way it’s written is the way that, that sort of social group like because when they read it, it’s easy to understand. The type of bands that feature on the front cover dress in the same type of clothes that the social group does as well, so they can look like their favourite members of a band.

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

The sort of company that would distribute my rock/indie magazine would be a company like Future PLC who sell magazines like music ones that mine is. They sell 2.2 million magazines every month, and export to 89 countries, making them the UK’s number one exporter and licensor of magazine content. They would be interested in distributing my magazine because firstly it’s a music magazine which they sell anyway. Secondly, it has all the codes and conventions of magazines like Kerrang and Q which are very popular magazines all over the world. Thirdly, this magazine is based on the indie side of rock so it has a more specific target audience therefore meaning that all the fans of indie rock will buy this magazine instead of buying Kerrang because it’s only on the genre of music they listen to. Fourthly, indie rock is a growing industry which means that the fan base behind it is getting bigger therefore meaning that there will be more people willing to buy the magazine. Fifthly, I took my inspiration for my magazine by combining Kerrang, Q and NME together to create a magazine that has all the good things each magazine company do but just put into one magazine, all that I’ve changed was the genre of music that it promotes. Lastly, the magazine also focuses on the new and upcoming bands which help to promote their cause by telling you about what there like and whether you should look out for them in the future.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience that my magazine is aimed at is either an age group of between 14-50 years because I don’t think that people older would go to gigs and listen to that genre of music and I don’t think that people younger are old enough to go to gigs and listen to that genre of music because of the lyrics meanings and some of the words they say are inappropriate or people who are interested in the rock/indie world and want to read about what indie bands are doing e.g. articles, tour dates stuff like that and all the up and coming bands that you might be interested in or who you should look out for in the future.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience by; one, the front cover having a picture of a band that covers the entire front page which draws the reader’s attention especially if they know the band on the front. Two, the magazine also focuses on the new and upcoming bands which help to promote their cause by telling you about what there like and whether you should look out for them in the future. Three, it looks different to recognised music magazines such as Kerrang, Q and NME as three examples of a good rock magazine.

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

I have learnt how hard it is to use software like Photoshop because of all the little things that you can change e.g. red eye reduction and how bright or dull you want the picture so the contrast. Then there’s organising the layout of the magazine by placing all the codes and conventions on the Photoshop page and then picking which layout you want to use. There’s also the photo editing needed to make sure that all the pictures are the right contrast and not pixelated. It’s very time consuming making sure that using all the technology you have available is used and used so that your magazine is as good as it possibly can be. I feel that the amount of time needed with all the things you can change using Photoshop is ridiculous, you need a really long time to make sure that everything is okay.   

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

Looking back I feel that I’ve learnt a lot of things especially how much time and hard work it takes to produce a magazine with all the pages needed. There’s all the research it takes to find out all the information you need to put into an article, there’s also the amount of time it takes to design all of your pages needed to create a magazine. I’ve also learnt that there’s a lot of codes and conventions used in a magazines front cover to make it attractive for someone who walks past them on the shelf it has to catch their eye.  

finished final pages

as media evaluation for my magazine

Evaluation for my media magazine

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

My media product challenges other real media products because of its design and layout. I’ve combined the house style, layout and design of three major rock magazine companies KERRANG!, Q and NME. This means that all the things that these three magazines do well are all incorporated into my magazine to make one big amazing magazine. 

For my front cover, I used the traditional conventions of a magazine by using; a main masthead which is at the top of the page and goes right across the page, a strapline which tells you the band that’s on the front cover, plugs and puffs  

For my contents page,  I also used the convention of an ordinary magazine with the page numbers listed at the side and then a bit of writing to tell you what that page is about which is all in cased within a box. There’s a picture of the lead singer from the band on the front page at the side of the box. Also there’s a little box above the picture telling you who the picture of the guy is.

For my double page spread, I didn’t use the ordinary conventions I challenged them the putting my article of the band in columns and then putting the pictures of all the band members at the bottom of my page so it looks different to other rock magazines.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents the indie social group the sort of people who go to gigs to see their favorite bands play and the way it’s written is the way that, that sort of social group like because when they read it, it’s easy to understand. The type of bands that feature on the front cover dress in the same type of clothes that the social group does as well, so they can look like their favourite members of a band.

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

The sort of company that would distribute my rock/indie magazine would be a company like Future PLC who sell magazines like music ones that mine is. They sell 2.2 million magazines every month, and export to 89 countries, making them the UK’s number one exporter and licensor of magazine content. They would be interested in distributing my magazine because firstly it’s a music magazine which they sell anyway. Secondly, it has all the codes and conventions of magazines like Kerrang and Q which are very popular magazines all over the world. Thirdly, this magazine is based on the indie side of rock so it has a more specific target audience therefore meaning that all the fans of indie rock will buy this magazine instead of buying Kerrang because it’s only on the genre of music they listen to. Fourthly, indie rock is a growing industry which means that the fan base behind it is getting bigger therefore meaning that there will be more people willing to buy the magazine. Fifthly, I took my inspiration for my magazine by combining Kerrang, Q and NME together to create a magazine that has all the good things each magazine company do but just put into one magazine, all that I’ve changed was the genre of music that it promotes. Lastly, the magazine also focuses on the new and upcoming bands which help to promote their cause by telling you about what there like and whether you 

should look out for them in the future.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience that my magazine is aimed at is either an age group of between 14-50 years because I don’t think that people older would go to gigs and listen to that genre of music and I don’t think that people younger are old enough to go to gigs and listen to that genre of music because of the lyrics meanings and some of the words they say are inappropriate or people who are interested in the rock/indie world and want to read about what indie bands are doing e.g. articles, tour dates stuff like that and all the up and coming bands that you might be interested in or who you should look out for in the future.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience by; one, the front cover having a picture of a band that covers the entire front page which draws the reader’s attention especially if they know the band on the front. Two, the magazine also focuses on the new and upcoming bands which help to promote their cause by telling you about what there like and whether you should look out for them in the future. Three, it looks different to recognised music magazines such as Kerrang, Q and NME as three examples of a good rock magazine.

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

I have learnt how hard it is to use software like Photoshop because of all the little things that you can change e.g. red eye reduction and how bright or dull you want the picture so the contrast. Then there’s organising the layout of the magazine by placing all the codes and conventions on the Photoshop page and then picking which layout you want to use. There’s also the photo editing needed to make sure that all the pictures are the right contrast and not pixelated. It’s very time consuming making sure that using all the technology you have available is used and used so that your magazine is as good as it possibly can be. I feel that the amount of time needed with all the things you can change using Photoshop is ridiculous, you need a really long time to make sure that everything is okay.   

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

Looking back I feel that I’ve learnt a lot of things especially how much time and hard work it takes to produce a magazine with all the pages needed. There’s all the research it takes to find out all the information you need to put into an article, there’s also the amount of time it takes to design all of your pages needed to create a magazine. I’ve also learnt that there’s a lot of codes and conventions used in a magazines front cover to make it attractive for someone who walks past them on the shelf it has to catch their eye.  

final pages

draft article

Draft article; One Step Closer

One Step Closer are a British alternative rock band that was formed in 2004, they didn’t really become a recognised rock band until 2008 when they released the debut album ‘take off the colours’. They had two of their songs from their first album appear in the U.K pop charts which weren’t a great success due to the fact that there a rock band. They were nominated for ‘best British band’ at the 2008, 2009, 2010 kerrang! Awards but failed to achieve it because of bullet for my valentine’, they eventually won it in 2011. The band was influenced by American bands such as blink 182. They released their second album ‘hold me down’ on January 11^th 2010 which reached number 5 in the u.k. album charts. On 15 December 2010, the band did an interview with “coupdemainmagazine” regarding to the progress of their upcoming third studio album. Frontman Josh stated that the band just did several demos for the record and that the songs would be of "heavier" than what the previous records Take Off Your Colours/Hold Me Down would be like. He also added on, "We’ve got songs that we’ve written that sound like they could be on a Coldplay or Snow Patrol album. And then we’ve got another song that sounds like it could be on a Parkway Drive record. It's really crazy if you were to ask me!". Their third album possibly the best is ‘sinners never sleep’ which features songs like ‘bite my tongue’ ft oli sykes was released on 3rd October 2011. This was their best album which reached 3rd in the u.k album charts. The gossip that ‘One Step Closer’ were going to do a collaboration with oli sykes the lead singer of ‘bring me the horizon’. The band announced in March 2012 that they had recorded a new song for The Swarm, a ride at Thorpe Park, which will be Europe's tallest winged roller-coaster. The song was released to iTunes on 18 March 2012 and is the world's first single for a roller coaster. In March 2012, the band announced that the third single off the album would be "No One Does It Better". The single would be released along with two additional tracks titled "Over Us" and "Retain" and be released as a single bundle through Virgin Records in April.

One Step Closer have announced via a small segment of November 2012 (out in October)'s issue of Rock Sound that they will be working with US big-name producer Dallas Austin and Norway big-name production team Stargate on a follow-up one-off single to their current single Reckless. The song will be different territory altogether for One Step Closer as the song will be electro-pop. The song will also be similar to the hit Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera song "Moves Like Jagger". Josh wrote on Twitter recently that the song came about when Dallas sent the band the demo of the beat to be used in the song. The song will be a collaboration with UK pop star Rita Ora. The song will be made for mainstream radio airplay, unlike their other singles. The song will see a release in August 2013, with radio and TV airplay starting in July 2013. This should hopefully make them a better known band in the u.k pop industry because before they weren't very successful due to the fact that they weren't releasing songs into the u.k pop charts.

One Step Closer band members:

Current

Josh Franceschi – lead vocals (since 2004)

Max Helyer – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (since 2004)

Chris Miller – lead guitar (since 2004)

Matt Barnes – bass guitar (since 2004)

Dan Flint – drums, percussion (since 2007)

Touring Musicians

Luke Rendell - additional guitar, backing vocals

Former members

Joe Philips – drums, percussion (2004–2007)

proposal

Proposal

The product I will be making is an indie rock magazine; the target audience will be aged between 14-50 and also for people who like to listen to basically any indie rock. The purpose of my magazine will be to keep people up to date in the rock industry with all the recent information on bands, new releases, gigs and upcoming events.

The package will contain a front cover, contents page and a double page spread. The front cover will contain a main picture that takes up the whole page with the occasional plugs and puffs around the edge. There will a strap line at the bottom of the magazine and the main title will be at the top of the page also it will have the main strap line going across the middle of the picture which says the name of the band. The contents page will have page numbers saying what the magazine will contain and a couple of picture at the ends of the bullet point there will be the sub title at the top of the page which says ‘contents page’. The double page spread will have a picture that takes up the entire side of one page and the other side will be filled with an article about the specific band I've chose and maybe a couple of small pictures.

My magazine will look like the house style will be white, red and gold. the front cover will be a picture that goes straight across the page with a plug and puff as well  the main headline will be the name of the band that goes across the middle of the page. There will a strap line at the bottom of the magazine and the main title will be at the top of the page. The contents page will have page numbers saying what the magazine will contain and a couple of picture at the ends of the bullet point there will be the sub title at the top of the page which says ‘contents page’. The double page spread will have a picture that takes up the entire side of one page and the other side will be filled with an article about the specific band I've chose and maybe a couple of small pictures.

The equipment I will be using is a camera, tripod, computer with Photoshop and clothes. this is the basic equipment needed to make a magazine. 

My indie magazine will be produced by my own company called D.M productions and I will have a budget of £60,000 to produce this magazine. this should be enough money to cover all costs that i will have.

initial ideas

Initial ideas for my magazine

Front cover:
On my front cover there will be a picture of an alternative rock band that will fill the page. The picture on the front will link in with my double page spread, so that the magazine flows. The title will be at the top of the page with a possibility of slanting the writing and the logo at the top right or left. There will be a few plugs and puffs dotted around the page for added detail.

Contents page:

My contents page will have bullet points with what’s going to be inside my magazine, with little pictures to show little bits of detail. The bullet points will go down the left hand side of the page with the little pictures at the end of the bullet points.

Double page spread:

My double page spread will have a picture that will take up the whole side of one page and the other side will be filled full of writing.