Evaluation
Before creating my music magazine I analysed three different existing magazines which were all R&B magazines. The three magazines that I analysed are Vibe, Billboard and complex. I am going to be comparing my magazine to vibe. I did a liiar analysis of the three magazine covers on my blog. (Date posted – 14/11/11)
Front cover
On both of the front covers there is a clear masthead so the audience knows the magazine name, and this also shows brand identity. Both of the mastheads are in blue, I have also included this masthead on my contents page, and they stand out from all of the other text and the background, they are also in a clear font so people can notice the masthead straight away and what magazine it is. A masthead is something that people will recognise the magazine by so I made sure that mine stood out and looked interesting. None of the magazines I looked at included a sell line; I didn’t include this on my magazine because I thought it would look to crowded with more writing underneath the masthead and I also didn’t feel like the magazine needed one. On the vibe front cover they don’t include a sell line, they only have a masthead.
On both of the front covers there is a clear masthead so the audience knows the magazine name, and this also shows brand identity. Both of the mastheads are in blue, I have also included this masthead on my contents page, and they stand out from all of the other text and the background, they are also in a clear font so people can notice the masthead straight away and what magazine it is. A masthead is something that people will recognise the magazine by so I made sure that mine stood out and looked interesting. None of the magazines I looked at included a sell line; I didn’t include this on my magazine because I thought it would look to crowded with more writing underneath the masthead and I also didn’t feel like the magazine needed one. On the vibe front cover they don’t include a sell line, they only have a masthead.
The barcode on my magazine is placed in the bottom right hand corner which is the conventional way of presenting it as it is still noticeable but isn’t in the way of other more important parts of the magazine. However vibes barcode is in the bottom left hand corner, which is not the typical way of presenting it, this may be due to the text on the right side as it may not have looked very good underneath it. The price of my magazine is above the barcode, I have placed it here because it isn’t in the way but you can still notice it. The price on vibes front cover is also around the barcode, it is clear enough for people to notice it but it isn’t taking up any extra space that could be used for something else. Having the price on the barcode is a conventional way of presenting it.
I have also included the issue and date around the barcode and this is again, to save space on the front cover. I think that having all of the important information that people will want to see in the same place is good because the audience can just look there for the price and see everything else they might want to know. The main cover line on the front covers are both made to stand out compared to all of the other text on it. On my magazine I chose to put it on the right hand side as most of the text on my magazine was on the left and I thought that it would be too crowded if I added it onto the left side. A lot of magazines present this by having the main cover line going across the middle of the front cover, but the layout style varies between different magazines. The main cover line on my magazine is the largest writing, other than the mast head because I want it to stand out. On vibe magazines front cover their main cover line is on the left hand side, as the majority of the writing on the front cover is on the right side. This makes it stand out as it is the only text at that side. Vibe magazine also uses the colours to make the main cover line stand out, it is in black and yellow, along with another piece of text but they only use it on the more important parts of the magazine. Instead of using the size of the writing to make it stand out they use colour.
The other cover lines are presented at the opposite side to the main cover line on both magazines. This doesn’t draw a lot of attention to them, as people will be focusing on the main cover line, so I have used the colours and shapes in Photoshop to make them stand out a bit more so people notice them as well. Vibe magazine have done a similar thing by having the less important cover lines in blue and white instead of yellow and black.
I have included a teasing content at the bottom of my magazine as I have seen it on some existing front covers, including the ones I have analysed and I think it looks really good. I have added this onto my front cover because it allows me to add extra text on the magazine. Vibe magazine doesn’t have a teasing content but it has a skyline instead. I also have one of these on my magazine and I also included this so I could put extra information on the front cover to interest people in the magazine. Vibe magazine doesn’t include a splash on it, this may be because this issue doesn’t have any special extra features, and they also have most of the text around the image so they don’t need a splash. I have included a splash on my magazine to draw attention to the fact that the magazine is new to the market.
Overall my magazine is very similar to Vibe magazine, they both have a main image and cover line about an artist, and this is the main point of focus. Also the colours are used to make certain parts of the magazine stand out. They both give a positive view of R&B and this will interest people and will want them to buy the magazine.
Contents pageon my contents page I have included three different images, one of them is the main image which I have used as the background and the other two are part of one of the cover lines in the magazine. Vibe magazine only has one main image on the contents page. The more conventional way of presenting a contents page is to have several images that show different parts of the magazine and what they are about. I chose not to include several images because I felt that the contents page would be too crowded if I included anymore images. Also because of the background of the main image, which is graffiti so it is quite busy, with anymore images they would clash and it wouldn’t look very good. So I chose not to include more images because I didn’t think the overall presentation of my contents page would look better without it.
My contents page doesn’t include letter from the editor or a features section. Usually a contents page would include these to interest people but I felt that if I included these then my contents page would look too crowded and there would be too much information on one page. I kept my contents page quite simple, a lot like vibes contents page, and they haven’t included any of these elements on theirs. For the list of everything in the magazine I also kept this simple as well, I used different coloured outlines and sizes for the text that was more important. Vibe’s text is very small and isn’t very noticeable when you look at the page, this is because they want Kanye west to be the main focus of the page. I have made it so that the model in my images in the main focus of the page but I also wanted to text to stand out a bit more so adding the white shape behind it does this.
I have added a section about subscribing the magazine on the contents page; I added this, with a special offer because it is a new magazine, to create interest. I also chose to put it on the contents page so people see it straight away, some magazines include it on its own page or on a different section e.g. a page showing what next week’s magazine is about. On the vibe contents page they haven’t included a subscribe section; this may be because it is in a different part of the magazine or they haven’t got one at all.
On the list showing the content of the magazine I have included text with all of the numbers. I felt that if I just had an image and a number with it and there isn’t any text then people wouldn’t really know what the article is about. Whereas if I include the text it makes it clear the audience what it is about. On the vibe contents page they have just included the words with the numbers next to them and no images, this isn’t very conventional. Although I think that adding just images with the numbers looks better for presentation, I wanted to make what the article was about clear to the audience.
Double page spreadOn both of the double page spreads they have a main image and a main section of writing. On my double page spread I have split it into two pages with an image filling one side. I then added ‘Laken’ on as a title and introduction to the artist. I made the image the same size as the page as I think the presentation looked the best like this. I liked the way that vibe magazine had one larger image in colour and then some smaller images in the background in black and white. The vibe magazine doesn’t have a heading or anything to introduce the artist but they have some text on the left side which is a summary of what the main body of text is about. I also have an introduction to what the main body of text is going to be about but mine just explains that the writing below is an interview.
I have put a quote from the artist, whom I took from the interview, at the top next to the image; I put it there to interest people in what the artist has got to say. On the vibe double page spread they haven’t included a quote from the artist but they have a section on the left hand side which includes some of the things the artist has said during the interview or something about them.
When I did the drafts of my double page spread I included some text but later on, for my final one, I added more text in order to fill the space and to interest people. Sometimes a lot of writing could put people off reading it but having it as a question and answer interview it doesn’t put people off when they go to read it. I also put the questions in a different colour to the answers so that the text was broken up a bit. On the vibe double page spread there is a large chunk of text which is in columns and it is all in the same colour apart from some important words in the introduction. This may put people off, unless they are a big fan of the artist as they might not want to read it all.
I also added a background behind the text on my double page spread but on the vibe double page spread they just have it against a white background. This makes the images stand out the most from everything else. I wanted my text to also stand out as well as my images so I added a background behind it too make it more noticeable, I matched the colour of the background to the colours in the graffiti in the background of my image so they linked together. I wanted the double page spread to look good as a whole and look like all the images and text belonged together as I thought that adding an image on one side could make it look like the two pages didn’t go together. I didn’t use my colour scheme that much on my double page spread, this is because most R&B magazines that I looked at include different colours for the artist, and these either match the images or clothes the artist is wearing or is just a different colour scheme to make them stand out. I thought that having a different colour scheme would make it more interesting so I decided to use a colour from the background of the image as the shape behind the text. However I did use some of my colours, like for some of the text in pink and the quotation, but the rest is in a different colour scheme of mainly black, grey and blue with some pink.
The audience for my music magazine is females aged 15-24; my magazine could also interest people who are interested in one of the artists that are featuring in the magazine. I chose this age group because a lot of people within this group are interested in R&B and mainstream music. I have decided to aim my magazine at a female audience because I know a lot about this audience. I would need to make sure that I include the latest news and songs to do with R&B music to keep my audience interested. On my front cover I have included the names of some of the biggest stars in R&B at the minute, these include Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj and Rihanna, seeing the names on the cover will interest my target audience and people who are fans of them. Also most R&B artists are solo, so I only included one person featuring on my front cover; if I included more than two people (if artists were working together on a song) it wouldn’t be representing R&B artists very well.
My magazine costs £2.00; I chose this price because it is an affordable price that suits my target audience. I think that my target audience will be willing to pay £2.00 for my magazine as long as the front cover and the contents page look like they are full of all the latest new in R&B music. I have made sure that my contents page has a lot of things in it, so the audience know that they are paying the right price for the magazine and getting a lot of information about R&B that they are interested in. If my magazine was published I would have to make sure that it had all of the latest information about R&B in it, I order for it to compete with other R&B magazines.
Woman in R&B are normally represented as something to look at i.e. sexual objects or eye candy and this is shown through what they wear. Women who are famous in R&B music often wear revealing clothes and in magazines they are shown as strong and important. For example, in my lliar analysis of three existing magazine front covers (posted 14/11/11), the images of Nicki Minaj and lady gaga both show them wearing revealing clothes, which is the main way women in R&B are represented through. The images for my magazine, cover do not follow this stereotype. The clothing that the model is wearing in my magazine images is not revealing like the ones in existing magazines, which doesn’t follow the typical way a female R&B artist would be represented in a magazine.
Woman in R&B are normally represented as something to look at i.e. sexual objects or eye candy and this is shown through what they wear. Women who are famous in R&B music often wear revealing clothes and in magazines they are shown as strong and important. For example, in my lliar analysis of three existing magazine front covers (posted 14/11/11), the images of Nicki Minaj and lady gaga both show them wearing revealing clothes, which is the main way women in R&B are represented through. The images for my magazine, cover do not follow this stereotype. The clothing that the model is wearing in my magazine images is not revealing like the ones in existing magazines, which doesn’t follow the typical way a female R&B artist would be represented in a magazine.
I chose to go against the typical stereotype of women in R&B because of my target audience. My magazine is aimed at females, aged between 15 and 24 and they wouldn’t be interested in seeing women represented in the way that existing R&B magazines currently show them. So I decided to break this stereotype by dressing my model in clothes that are not revealing and just showing them looking at the camera and not posing like some R&B magazines.
I have made the front cover look quite fun and the colour scheme I chose helps it to look interesting and too attract my target audience which is females aged between 15 and 24. My colour scheme is blue, pink and yellow and these are quite bright and fun colours so it makes the magazine stand out and look interesting. Things I have done to attract the audience include having names of different popular R&B artists on the front cover, so people may see an artist they really like and want to see what’s about them in the magazine. This may even interest people who are not my target audience as they may see an artist they like and want to buy the magazine. I have included a splash near the masthead on my magazine which says brand new mag, I added this in because I wanted people to notice and then this may attract them and they might buy it because it’s new so they will want to see if they like it. I have tried to represent R&B as a fun and positive type of music because that is what the audience wants, if it wasn’t represented in a positive way then my target audience wouldn’t want to buy the magazine.
I have tried to represent R&B in a positive way and not show the model in the typical way that R*&b magazines represent them.
I have looked at three different magazine publishing institutions; these are Bauer, Conde Nast and IPC. The first institution I looked at was Bauer. Bauer publish a large range of magazines, including women’s & men’s lifestyle and many more. Out of all the magazines the only music magazine they distribute is Kerrang, which is a very popular music magazine. Even though this is a different genre to my magazine, Kerrang is a well-known rock magazine, whereas my magazine is an R&B magazine. Even though these are different genres, this institution will have experience with distributing magazines and will know how to direct it at my audience and get them interested in the magazine.
The second institution I looked at was IPC and they also distribute a very well-known music magazine called NME. NME is a weekly magazine that gives the audience information about all the latest contemporary music. IPC is the largest leading consumer magazine publisher, so they would also have experience and NME is more related to my genre of music than Kerrang is, because it is about all the latest music.
The last institution I looked at was Conde Nast. They do not currently distribute any music magazines, so if they published mine it would help the company and allow them to reach a wider audience that they don’t normally. However the company may have experience with publishing magazines, but not a music magazine. So it is better to go with an institution that already publishes music magazines.
After researching and finding out information about the three different magazines I have decided that IPC would be best to distribute my media product. I have decided to IPC would be best because they already distribute a music popular music magazine called NME so they will have the experience and know how to distribute the magazine effectively and interest the audience.
For this project I used blogger to put all of my work, before this I had not used blogger and I learnt new skills such as embedding a video and adding images into blogger. I have also learnt how to use the website, for example, learning how to view all of my post and choose certain ones to edit and then saving them as an updated version. During this project I have learnt many different skills along the path of making my magazine. Before I did this project I had used Photoshop before but only basic tools and I had never used software such as go animate and Prezzi. I used these to show my ideas in a different way, instead of writing them all up these make it more interesting.
I used Photoshop to create my magazine and learnt many new skills in this, before creating my magazine I only knew how to do basic things using Photoshop. But now with media and some of my other subjects I have learnt how to manipulate and edit text and images. The new skills I learnt in Photoshop have helped me to improve magazine in order to attract my target audience and make my magazine look more professional. Some of the tools in Photoshop, like the quick selection tool and the wand tool, I already knew how to use but I have learnt how to use them more effectively. Other tools like the healing brush took, spot healing brush tool, the blur tool, I have now learnt how to use properly in order to improve the look of my images.
Another thing that I learnt for my images is to make the skin on my model appear porcelain. I did this by adding layers and using the blurring tools. Before taking media I did not know how to use these tools but they have helped me to make my magazine look more professional and improve the overall look of my images. I have also cropped and edited some of my images to make them fit in a certain part of the magazine or to focus on a certain part of the image. All of the skills I have learnt for editing images have helped give my magazine a more professional look.
Other things I have learnt in Photoshop include adding borders to my text and other different effects to make it stand out more. Before I used these tools I found it quite hard to make my text stand out against the background and images, and when I improved my front cover I added borders to my text and it stands out a lot more and is a lot more noticeable, whereas before it didn’t look very interesting. All of the skills I have learnt in Photoshop have allowed me to include the conventions that a music magazine would have, adding shapes and editing images and text have given my magazine a more professional look.
As well as learning tools in Photoshop, I have also learnt how to use go animate and Prezzi. I didn’t know how to use these before starting media and I think that they are a better way of presenting the work, rather than having it all written out. In Prezzi have learnt how to use the software and this has helped present my ideas for the magazine. Also in go animate I have learnt how to add all the text into the clip so that the characters in it will say what I want them too. I liked presenting my work using the two different types of software because it made it more interesting and I liked learning how to use go animate and Prezzi.
Overall the skills I have learnt when making my magazine has helped me to present it on my blog in different ways and to make my front cover, contents page and double page spread all look more professional. I have also been able to add the features that music magazines normally include and this has helped to make my magazine look a lot better and more interesting.
