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Final Front Cover For Music Magazine

Final Of Contents Page For Music Magazine

Double Page Spread Final (i)

Double Page Spread Final (ii)

Preliminary Task

Evaluation Part (i)

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

My media product is a music magazine of the Hip-Hop genre. Both of these concepts determined the actual appearance of my magazine. For example, in the Hip-Hop industry, the theme of “bling” is commonly featured, also most hip hop artists are wearing a New Era Cap - this gave me the incentive to have my artist featured on the front cover, wearing a New Era Cap, so my audience could see evident comparisons between other professional Hip-Hop magazines and my magazine. Throughout my magazine my colour-scheme consisted of four main colours; white, black, blue and red. I chose to use these particular colours as I wanted to intertwine three dark colours with a light contrasted colour of the background to create a sense of diversity to highlight the mainstream readership of the magazine. All of the fonts are typical of a Hip-Hop magazine as they are in bold and stand out on the page which attracts the reader to the specified article. All of my images are Medium close-ups (which is a common convention of Hip-Hop magazines), except for the images featured on the contents page which are a variation of medium-long-shot and medium close-ups. I decided to use a medium-long-shot for the contents page because I wanted to draw attention to my artists outfit and how it fit into the Hip-Hop convention. Many colloquialisms are utilised in my feature article which also is another principle of Hip-Hop magazines. For instance, I used words and phrases such that relate to the Hip Hop industry like “you get what I’m saying” etc.

As you can see from the comparison of the Vibe Front Cover with My Front Cover, ther are both wearing Hats, there fore I'm following convention. Also, their colour scheme is Black, White and Yellow, and Mine is Blue Red and Black.

Evaluation Part (ii)

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media magazine represents particular social groups through text, and as I used colloquialisms. Also, the whole idea/concept of Grime/Hip-Hop music is ‘Giving something back to the community, trying to encourage young people to move away from crime, sex, drugs…’ This is why many young people seek hope and inspiration through such artists.

Evaluation Part (iii)

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

The distribution of my magazine is totally based on the genre and as my magazine is a Hip-Hop magazine, there is not really a broad market that will be content in distributing my magazine. I believe this as Hip-Hop itself is constantly under scrutiny and is deemed as materialistic as well as hated. However my magazine promotes a sense of fun, and passion towards music therefore, I feel that institutions like urban music channels e.g. MTV Base and Channel U, music stores e.g. HMV, newsagents and urban clothes stores will be contented to distribute my magazine. Also, my magazine focuses on the change of Hip Hop to a more communal form of life. This is why I believe it will be more successful than others.

Evaluation Part (iv)

Who would be the audience for your media product?
The target audience of my magazine is males and females aged 15-24. I wanted a unisex audience as I featured both male and female dominated articles on my contents page such as subjects on relationships, fashion, as well as interviews from rap artists. Also, the colour scheme and layout of the magazine was quite male dominant and there was only one image of a female artist included. The age of my target audience is quite mature as real-life topics like sex, drugs, gun/knife crime… which my target audience may be able to relate to. I also wanted to aim my magazine at those less-fortunate and make it enjoyable yet affordable for them. Additionally, I carried out a survey and the majority of my readers were of the above age group.

Evaluation Part (v)

How did you attract/address your audience?
I attracted and addressed my audience through my bright colours and the use of my vivid images. As all of my Mastheads were in red font - immediately attracting the readers’ attention. Also, my structure was clear and the text was comprehendible as I spaced my text out on the page and used a black font behind a light background, lest any of my readers’ were visually-impaired. A Bauhaus93 font was used for all of the Mastheads and sub headings whereas Times New Roman was used for the main text to create logic for the audience. In addition, I made sure that my images (especially my front cover image) were bright and eye-capturing so when people so the magazine, they would be enticed to read it from its appearance.

Evaluation Part (vi)

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

1. Photoshop

a. Image Manipulation

i. Cropping

ii. Light effects

iii. Magic wand

iv. Magnetic cropping

v. Shading

vi. Special effects

b. Text manipulation

i. Test Wrap

ii. Installation of Alien Fonts

iii. Glow

iv. Outline

v. Shading

c. Generally

i. Photoshop operation in general.

2. BlogSpot

a. Creation of Blogs

b. Maintenance of Blogs

c. Permission Setting Of Blogs

d. External Tools Application On Blogs:

i. Slideshare.net etc

Questionnaire Results

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Questionnaire

As part of my AS Media Studies coursework, I am required to produce a questionnaire to help me to identify my target audience. Through the use of this questionnaire, I can identify which age group will be attracted by my music magazine, and what they would expect from the magazines as readers. I would really appreciate it you could spend a few minutes to fill the questionnaire. Thank you.

1. What is your gender?

Male

Female

2. How old are you?

11-14

15-19

20+

3. What is your ethnic background?

_____________________

4. What music genres do you usually listen to?

R&B

Hip Hop

Rap

Rock

Grime
Other_____________________

5. Who are your favourite artists?

____________________________

6. How often do you attend concerts/gigs?

Weekly

Monthly

Yearly

Never

7. If your answer was any of the above except never for question 6, then which artists or bands did you go to see?

_________________________________

8. Which music channels do you like to watch?

___________________________________

9. Do you spend time on the internet on music websites or websites regarding music? If yes, please specify how many hours.

______________________________________

10. If your answer was yes to question 9, what types of music do the websites consist of?

___________________________________________

11. What are your hobbies?

Raving

Dancing

Singing

Other__________________

12. How much are you willing to spend on a music magazine?

2.50

3.50

4.50

13. Do you purchase music magazines? If so, which ones?

_______________________________

14. What do you like to see in a music magazine

______________________________________

15. What do you like free with your magazine?

_________________________________________

16. Do you participate in the competitions the magazine offers?

Yes

No

Thankyou!

Evaluation Part (vii)

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

During the time of the construction of my coursework, i have learnt a lot of things mentioned in the past question. Time in this case was experience and it helped me to construct a far better magazine than my preliminary task. So the progression of time helped me to create a more developed magazine .

Another factor affecting the design of my front page dramatically was the amount of research put into the construction of the two magazines. The preliminary task had no research going into it white the proper magazine had tons of research going into it.

The preliminary was constructed without the need of consultation and comparison with other real magazines while the actual magazine was compared against Vibe and XXL every single step.

So from the progression of the task i have learnt how magazines are suited to their target audience and how to make the music magazine stand out and be great.

Rejected Pictures

View more documents from Anique.

Contents Page - In Production

Front Page - In Progress

Front Page - In Progress

Contents Page - In Progress

Conventions Of A Music Magazine

Uncut Reader Profile

Front Page Sketch (iii)

This is my first attempt i had at sketching my front cover for my magazine. I was quite unsure what i would have in my magazine at that time but the thoughts and ideas developed as time went along.

Front Page Sketch (ii)

This was the second attempt at the front cover of my music magazine.

Front Page Sketch (i)

This is the last attempt i had at the sketch of my front cover for my magazine.

Analysis of Drummer Contents Page

This is the analysis of drummer contents page we done in media class.

Analysis of Kerrang contents page

I will be analysing the contents page for the Kerrang magazine. The main image on the left is of a typical rock star. His body is covered with tattoos. He has a rugged beard and he is posing as typical rock star would. The background behind the image is plain black. This is effective as it will attract the audience of a typical rock audience. The font used for the page numbers is a small yellow font. An advertisement is placed on the bottom right of the page. The other images around the main image are also images of rock stars, and there are images of live performances of rock star performers. This helps to add realism to the magazine and makes it look more realistic and authentic. At the top of the page there is an editorial with a message from the editor, which helps to make it more authentic. The title of the page ‘contents’ is written in a yellow font, which contrasts the black background which helps it to stand out. Beneath this are quotes from the featured artists. There is also a section called "Features" which contains their unique selling points about major artists featured in the magazine.

Analysis of Vibe Contents page.

The vibe contest page featuring Clara can be classified as a convention for R&B and Hip Hop magazines. The Most attractive thing at the first glance is the picture of Ciara lying on the floor with her feet held high. The semi-nudity of the famous artists could be found as a very attractive thing for most of their target audiences. The background as always is plain and simple, this one creating the image of a photo shoot. The background gets black at the top where there is less need of attention and as Ciara comes on top, the background turns white, indicating importance. The “V” from the Vibe is incorporated into the contents page to sit nicely but not enough to distract you from the important features. The page is labelled contents but is done in a unique way, which is then a convention through every vibe contents page. Under the contents sign, there is the features that relate to the image or are surrounded by some relation of the artist. Vibe is unique with their contents page, because there are three different contents page and the contents page also incorporates fashion, by describing the clothes worn by the featuring artist and their price.

Analysis of Q and NME Front Covers,

Conventions of a Music Magazine Cover

Main Image- usually a musical artist which takes up most of the magazine cover. There is usually something original about the main image such as the way the band are standing, sitting or what they are doing.

Masthead- depends on the genre of the magazine but is usually located on the top left or stretched to cover the entire top of the magazine cover.

Cover lines- there are usually many cover lines on a magazine cover.

Main Cover line- is usually supported by a subtitle to describe the main feature, these are usually in different font size and colour.

Colour- on most music magazine covers there is a colour scheme usually consisting of 3 or 4 colours, the most common colour scheme is red, black and white.

Selling Line- music magazines often have a selling line usually giving us a little more information than the masthead does, it often says something which will make the audience want to buy the magazine.

Website- the website of the institution which publishes the magazine is usually displayed on the magazine cover.

Price- the price is usually included.

Dateline- month or week which the magazine is published for.

Barcode- a standard barcode so the magazine can be sold by retailers.

Conventions Of A Music Magazine

Textual Analysis Of XXL Front Cover.

The magazine cover that I will be analysing is the XXL front cover of Lil’ Wayne and Baby. This magazine cover is constructed perfectly to suit the audiences it is aimed at. A lot of different presentational devices were used in the formation of the front cover, I will be going through some of them and analysing how they attract the target audience.

The first glance at the front cover reveals the main image of Lil’ Wayne and Baby to be the most dominating factor on the front page. The main image is of the two rappers Baby and Lil’ Wayne, both rappers containing a lot of tattoos on their bodies, and are also wearing a lot of jewellery. The tattoos can connote a lot of things from toughness to fame and wealth. The jewellery is another wealth connoting feature but they are also used as Lil’ Wayne advertising his record label (Young Money). Also, the topless nature of both men could be used as an attractive feature to girls in the age range of the target audience. Through the main image alone, we can see just how many attractive techniques are used to attract various readers.

The masthead of the magazine, although pushed to the side by all the other features, is still really dominant. The red background on the diamond encrusted XXL is much more attractive to the Hip-hop audience than expected and it once again connotes wealth. Diamond is basically wealth and the red background could refer to a red carpet rolled out for royalty. Therefore, it backs up the main image and again, is really attractive for the target audience of the XXL magazine.

The cover lines are another feature which stands out and ties the whole magazine together. The “&” in “Baby & Lil Wayne” is red and a different font is used to show the uniqueness of the two artists. The red also matches the masthead and goes along nicely. The phrase “survival of the fittest” is also really great on the page and makes you want to read it, therefore a form of attracting the audience.

In conclusion, I think the front cover is really successful in targeting and attracting its target audience. Although the front cover is a norm in the hip-hop magazine world, I believe that it should be a bit simpler, but for XXL, it is a convention.

Music Magazine Planning.

Style, foreground and background typography;

· Clear white/off white background.

· Clear block capitals for the masthead contrasting with the background.

· Masthead is behind the artist/group’s picture.

· Big coverlines on the left side of the page.

· Smaller ones on the right

· The font should be contrasting against the background

· An important cover line could possibly be on the top of the page, above the title.

· Small date in the bottom left corner.

· The barcode in an insignificant place on the page

· Website address?

· Make it attracitve using the cover lines , the foreground and the background.

Genre;

· R&B

· Rap

· Hip Hop

Target Audience;

· 14 – 25 year olds

· My audience would be generally interested in channels like MTV etc.

· Either in school, college or uni.

Generic conventions of chosen music mag genre;

· Free Gig and Festival Tickets

· Free Downloads or Cd's

· Free Posters or T-shirts

· Free Headphones