Developments: Front cover.

I have decided to make my front cover strap line a simple font rather than a fancy distressed one. I have done this because in my opinion it looks far more professional. The front cover would stand out a lot more, and when on the shelves it would not blur in with all the other magazines, but stand out.


This was the original image that I was going to use for my front cover, however when I attempted to put writing over the top I found that the picture was too dark to write over.

Here is the strapline on my magazine, it is visible that the text is over the head of the model. In order to get her head over the font like this

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I would press multiply on the picture so I could mover her head over the font.

First draft of front cover

Here is my first draft on my music magazine 'INDEE'. I decided to use this photo because is was simple and also considerably effective. The colours were much clearer on this that the picture of the female model when writing. I placed the model's head just slightly over the strap line to make him the most dominant thing. The price for the magazine is £3.60, which is a regular price for a monthly running magazine. I have included features which will hail the audience in, such as brand new never seen before bands and acts from Reading festival. I have used the male figure to project a patriarchal existence on the cover, to hail in the female audience as well as the male. However I believe this magazine will be broadly based on females. I have added a women featuring in the magazine to interest the men and the woman in order to empathise.

Contents draft one

Here is a first development of my contents page. I used a mid-long shot and made the model the most prominent image on the page. I would have the text around her signifying how the magazine is all about the music and the artists.

I decided that however much I liked the idea of having a prominent figure on the page I much prefer the way I have ordered this contents page.

This is a draft of my contents page, I do think the layout is adequate, however in my opinion I think that something isn't right with it. I will probably add a background and more writing onto the contents page and move pictures around.

Contents: 2

This is the second draft of my contents page, I have added more blocks of writing to it, however I'm not happy with it. I am going to try making the background black and white and adding more columns of writing. Changing the layout of the contents is also something I will try to avoid the 'unprofessional look' .

Draft 3 of contents

Here is draft 3 of my contents page. I decided to make the back black and white to correspond with my front cover. Although I'm reliatively happy with the outcome I am not completely at ease with the layout. It still looks quite vague and not up to the standard of my magazine so I am going to move and add more writing to the contents.

Double page spread development

Here is a rough draft of what could be an idea for my double page spread. I have made the model black and white and used a red effect to make the colours brighter. I have gone against the codes and conventions in this double page with using minimalistic effects. It could draw the reader to the page because it's simple and stands out however it doesn't look so much like a music magazine.

This is another idea I could use for my double page spread. However because of the graphic writing it looks far too over the top. I don't think I will be using this idea because everything looks too amateur.

Here is the texture effect that I was considering on using in my double page spread.

By making the eye disappear my pattern filler would be clearer on the page and be darker.

Double page spread development 2

Here is the development of my double page spread. Firstly I put the picture of my model to the side of the page and turned it to black and white. I put the writing on the side of the page.

These are the pictures that I intend to use on my spread. I will in time make the right picture smaller to correspond with the other pictures and it doesn't look to bulky. I like the colours of the pictures because they are all different, with seperate lightings to mirror the flexibility of the model and how she can reinact herself whatever.

I have added a subtext and a quote into this draft and made the model smaller on the page. I think this layout it more inviting because of it minimalist qualities.

Final Front Cover

Here is my final of my front cover. I have made the image black and white to express grunge and carelessness of the model. The cover line has the website written in the side in white so it stands out, and the bar code and price is to the left bottom of the writing. I have chosen the price of £3.60 because it is a monthly magazine that would be high ranking. The cover line 'Jimmy Harper, venturing his dark side'. This coordinates with the colours used in the front cover and his 'rebel' look he has about him. I have decided to only use 4 cover lines to challenge the codes and conventions and to keep it simple and eye-catching. To keep it professional looking I have kept the corresponding font throughout. The main headline 'The Uni tour' would hail my correct audience in because the 'Indie' culture is all about finding brand new acts that know one's heard of before. The term 'undiscovered and waiting' I believe to be interesting and would allure my audience in, it's almost like they're animals in a cage.
This magazine would not be a huge publication, because it could be perceived as a niche product. However, it would be successful because it knows what it target audience wants, it wouldn't be compared with the likes of 'Q' magazine or 'NME' because it's not designed to be too over the top. It would be subtle and cool, on the magazine stand as if it doesn't care if you don't pick it up. But also at the same time, hail in the audience in with it's calm disinterest.

Final Double page spread

Here is the final draft of my double page spread. I have decided to place 3 pictures across the page with the model in different positions to show her roaming desire and passion for music. Each picture she is in different clothing, different lighting, and different positions to express her versatility and open-mindedness. The writing on the top is in hand-writing, as if the model wrote it and has a special connection with this double page spread. I have placed the sub-text at the top of the page so the reader has a clear idea of what the article is about. I have used my words carefully to encourage the way 'Indie's' talk and interact with each other, fancying themselves as intellectuals. I have made the 'A' (the first letter of the text) larger than all the others to indicate where the texts starts. I have used a quote in the middle of the page to break up the text and to interest the reader when they first look, because they will look at the quote, and if they like it they will read the whole thing. At the bottom left of the page I have 'promoted' The debut album and have used a similar box to the one in the contents page so it stands out. I have done this to make it look professional, because in many magazines they do this. (probably because they have an agreement of some sort)

Final Contents

Here is the final draft of my contents page. Unlike my last draft I have added more sections to the contents in order to make it look more professional. The 5 sections include different aspects of the magazine to hail my preferred audience in. I have made the background white to make the contents minimalistic and to stand out. At the top of the page I have the magazine's cover name the most prominent of the page. To the side of it I have the picture of my model small to the side of it to express the element of fun in the magazine. I have made the titles appropriately bold, so they will stand out to my target audience. The three pictures I made sure looked right, I have two black and white pictures and one colour. I took broke up the black and white by placing a coloured picture in between. The two black ad white pictures are slanted slightly so they project as if they've been carelessly thrown or stuck on; much like posters on a wall. The page numbers are put on the pictures so the reader knows where to access the rest of the story; the page numbers on the pictures are white so they stand out clearly.

At the bottom of the page I have place a box that looks slightly 3-D. This is where all the information is to subscribe to the magazine. I have put the magazine front cover in the box so the reader know's that we are talking about magazines to come. The word subscribe is in bold so it stands out clearly and it does not mean a lot of attention has to be used to access the information the reader will want to ingest.

Evaluation questions

In the evaluation the following questions must be answered:

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

In order to effectively create a magazine that would manage to hail in the appropriate target audience I would first have to look at the common code and conventions used in existing magazines. There are many codes and conventions used in magazines on the shelves at this time, it has a standard logo, a mast head, a main image, hooks and a strap line. In order for magazines not to get lost in a sea of colour they must stick to 2 or 3 main cover schemes. In all magazines the font would be simple and easy on the eye so it would complement each other seem alluring to read. My magazine has followed many of these codes and conventions, however on my front cover in particular I have decided to use on two colours. This is so it would seem simple, interesting and different to read. My model is making direct eye contact with the target audience so he would seem mysterious and rebellious. I decided to go with an edgy picture to symbolise this, by doing this I would hail in my target audience with an attractive, iconoclastic male.

2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product would represent my target audience in an appropriate manner. On my front cover I have used 'cool, understated' colours which could be how to describe the 'Indie' group. The simplicity of the front cover is also something that would attract my target audience, I took into mind that they [refer minimalist and easy.By using my male and female models, I believe I would of successfully allured both sexes into picking up my magazine. The male model I have used with his calm, cool exterior would both attract the female 'indie's' who may be attracted, or the male, who may be considerably inspired by the look of the model.

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

Institutions that would be most likely to sell and distribute my product would be IPC media (international publishing company) as they are the UK's leading consumer magazine publisher selling over 300 million magazines per year. This would be a good institute to distribute my magazine as it is also the institute to publish NME magazine and, being similar to NME in target audience and style, would give my magazine the right audience and therefore, become a popular and successfully selling magazine.

4) Who would be the audience for your media product?

In order to find what target audience I would wish to attract I fashioned a questionnaire, and in conclusion I found that my desired age was 15-19 year old's. They would go out of their way to be different from everyone else and would listen to certain music to express how they're different. (Look to target audience research for more)

5) How did you attract/address your audience?

In the aspects of mode of address, I looked at what the easiest way to attract my audience was. I conclusively decided that the main image was the most important aspect of the magazine. It was vital that I had the right person to attract my targeted audience in. So the 'cool, calm' 17 year old smoking a cigarette would interest my target audience far more than a ;pretty girl posing'.

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

Through the process of planning, designing and finally constructing my product i have learnt a lot about technologies and the process of making a magazine. Firstly, my understanding of Photoshop has increased as before starting this work, I was unaware of how to use it. Despite the struggle and a trial and error approach of finding out which tool was suitable i finally created a product i am happy with. With the use of Photoshop i have been able to crop my images to a desired size and change the background image on my photo's which has been a vital element to ensure my product looked professional.

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

Looking back, i can tell i have learnt a lot since the preliminary task. Before i started my music magazine i had no understanding of the concepts and what it takes to make a good and successful magazine. Since starting my music magazine i have gained a clearer understanding towards using Photoshop and the importance of editing to make a professional looking magazine. I have also gained an understanding of target audience and the importance of keeping the reader in mind throughout the construction. Research and planning is a further important aspect needed to make a good music magazine as a great understand of the key conventions are vital to make sure that the magazine made is similar and representative of existing music magazines today.