Evaluation 1

In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. music magazines)

Magazine Title

My aim was to create a title that was quick and quirky but that was also relevant to the genre of my magazine, this is why I came up with the name 'The Target'. In my music magazine planning, I brain stormed some title ideas such as 'Mod Mania' 'The Mod Pod' and 'Modness' however, I was not keen on these ideas as they did not create a sophisticated feel and seemed quite childish. 'The Target' fits with the genre of my magazine as it is a mod genre and a target logo is stereotypically linked with the mod genre. Also, the use of the word target suggests that the magazine has an aim and should be a target to the audience.

My title is, in effect, one word much like a lot of other magazine conventions such as the example 'Kerrang!'. My research showed that many popular magazines,such as 'Q' and 'NME' have the masthead in the left hand corner of the front page, however, I wanted my title to be aligned in the centre of the page so it is bold and noticeable since it is a new magazine and needs to be established. As a result of this, I chose to have my masthead across the top of the cover. I have seen this convention in other magazines like 'Kerrang!'

Kerrang! music magazine masthead

Obviously, both titles are large and in a bold text so that they are noticeable and stand out on the magazine shelves once they are distributed. Much like Kerrang!, I wanted my title to relate to my target audience and genre of my magazine, this is why I had to carefully think about the colour scheme of my masthead; I needed my masthead to be readable and this is where I challenged the conventions of typical music magazines. Most magazines use the colour scheme of black, white and red as these are the stereotypical colours when rock magazines are thought about, however, my masthead is in the colours of red and blue as these colours fit in with the actual target logo that my magazine was named after/relates to.  I have done this as even though my colours stereotypically challenge magazine conventions, they are still effective as they stand out and contrast against each others to hopefully still attract my target audience.

My magazine masthead

Notice on the Kerrang! masthead, the artist's head slightly overlaps the copy. I have challenged this convention and have not followed this on my magazine as since my magazine is newly published, it needs to be seen in order for people to establish the magazine as well as them being able to clearly see the title as with my magazine being new, it does not yet have any brand identity and if I slightly covered the masthead with the artists it will not allow the reader to be able to identify the name of the magazine.

Kerrang! can afford to slightly cover their masthead as they are a well known magazine; they have been around for a long time and are a well known magazine with brand identity whereas with my magazine being brand new the name of the magazine needs to be emphasised until people recognise the magazine and are able to know what it stands for. Once my magazine has been established and gains reputation, I will be able to follow the same conventions as Kerrang! and other various music magazines and slightly cover the masthead as long as people are still aware what the magazine is.

 

Mise-En-Scene of Images

The images of my music magazine need to stand out and be striking as they are the first thing people see on my magazine. The first images will form the audience's initial impression of the magazine which is why I needed a representative model in order to show and portray the genre of my magazine. I advised my model to wear typical, casual mod clothing that may be associated with this genre. The inside lining of the Harrington jacket and the stripes on my models collar fit in well with my colour scheme; I have done this in order to help emphasise the constant house style throughout. The black Harrington jacket shows mod style clothing worn casually but subverts the stereotypical images of 'parkers' and suits. I have done this a casual clothing will make the reader feel more comfortable as the everyday dress makes the magazine seem less formal and gives a laid back, inclusive feel. The serious expression follows the conventions of music magazines as shown in my magazine (left) and NME's magazine (on the right). I have followed this convention as with my magazine being newly established, I do not want to subvert the conventions of popular magazines too much as if my magazine is too different then people may not buy it as it will not fit their stereotypical expectations of music magazines. The pose and stance of the model in my magazine slightly challenges the typical magazine conventions. Most magazines, similar to the NME example, have a large image of a model which takes up a lot of the space on a music magazine with the model in central focus of the magazine to highlight their importance. I have positioned my model slightly to the right of the page so that the reader is clearly able to see the other features that the copy informs them about on the left hand side, this is to create a unique style for the magazine as it shows that, unlike some magazines, the celebrities are not dominant or superior like they are when they are largely focused on the magazine cover.

Another convention that I have challenged on my magazine cover is the background  of the image used. Usually, as seen in the NME example above, magazine covers have the artist as a main focus with a plain white ambiguous background in order for the features, captions and copy on the magazine to stand out and so they are able to read clearly. I have subverted this. The background for my image was  taken against a graffiti wall which I quite like the idea of as to me, it gives the impression of a unique and urban style which could relate to the feel and theme of my magazine. In my opinion, you can still clearly see the rest of the copy on the page as the colours contrast and don't blend into each other. I have done this so that my magazine stands out to the buyers. Most people are brand loyal to one magazine, meaning they don't have much variance and bother looking at other magazines however, I think that my magazine would catch the audience's attention if they were to see it on a shelf as the vivid colours stand out and aren't in fitting with other magazine's ambiguous plain backgrounds. I think the lighting for the overall mise-en-scene in both magazine images is quite similar, the artists faces on both are bright however, with some shadowing which is used to create, to some extent, a sense of hiding in that the model isn't revealing all to the reader and that there may be some dark side to the magazine as a whole.

Costumes and Props

This image of Brandon was the image I used on my double page spread. I decided to have Brandon playing the guitar in a casual way but have him looking at the camera so that it creates an inclusive feel for the audience as it will almost feel to them like the artist is playing the guitar and writing his music purposely for them. I used the guitar as a prop as the whole purpose of the article was about the artists musical talent and guitar playing ability and therefore the guitar highlights the article's content as well as showing the abilities of the artist. Unlike the second double page spread of the band 'My Chemical Romance' (right), I have taken my image in a much calmer and relaxed way. The use of the props in the MCR dps makes the image look quite aggressive which is fine for the type of genre the magazine is but I did not want this feel for my magazine. This is why my artist has a plain background to the image with only some of the prop showing as then it is not 'showing off' the artists abilities but more so just emphasising the content of my article. The costume in the images is different also, the MCR costumes look as if they have been directed to wear the outfits for a gig so that they purposely show the personality of the band. My costume challenges this convention as Brandon is wearing casual clothing. I have chosen to do this as the audience can relate to the artist as he is not superior dressed or forced to look uncomfortable; the aim of this was to create a natural, homely feel so that the audience can feel 'warmth' towards him as he gives off a feel and sense of 'normality' as he fits in with the fashion trends of the mod genre.

People

I had to think carefully when choosing the models for my photo shoot, I needed the models in my images to play the part for the magazine, they had to link in with my music genre as well as look like the stereotypical artists for the music type as otherwise my magazine would not be realistic or believable.

In my opinion, my main two models fit the role of my artists well. The model for my double page spread (Image 1) needed to portray the feeling of a genuine and inexperienced person, I think I gave across this impression quite well as the use of a happy expression subverts the usually moody and serious expression's in magazines; he had to be a believable young artist and the use of the over sized glasses and trendy hair showed this as although my artist has sprung to fame, he is still 'normal' in an every day world. My second model (image 2) was used in my contents page as well as my front cover and this model needed to show a slightly older, more experienced artist. I think I achieved this idea by the use of the clothing worn and the facial expression as he fits in better with my mod genre and portrays this  genre quite well. My overall aim was for my images to strongly represent the magazine and what it stood for, I made sure my mise-en-scene was planned fairly well to create the best type of image required for my magazine, I think my genre was shown quite well as a result of this. My front cover image was the main image I was concerned about as this has to immediately establish the setting, theme and tone of my magazine, this is why I chose to have the 'older' model as he set the mod tone better. As you can see in my magazine example, we immediately can tell through the layout and house style that the magazine is a pop genre and as a result of this Katy Perry has been used as this is an artist young pop fans can easily recognise.

Her style of music easily shows the type of magazine and the feature articles that the magazine content will include. The image acts as a representation for her fun style and personality and the image easily shows this, the magazine showed Katy Perry how she is best known and this is why I realised I needed to have appropriate images with personalities and representations shown well, in order for the genre and style of the magazine to be expressed.

Title font and style

The most important factor, in my opinion, that I had to consider when choosing the title font and style for my magazine was clarity. I needed my title and font to be easily readable for the audience otherwise there is no point distributing it if people are unaware of the actual name of the magazine. I think my font easily fulfils this aim as it is very clear and although the effect of my font means that some letters sort of merge together, it is still very clear. I chose the font 'Good Times' as my more sophisticated font for the masthead as well as the main text for my front page, however, on various other pages I have followed a typical convention of music magazines by using 'Arial' for definite clarity and readable copy. I played about with my title style for a bit, experimenting with various sizes etc. but in the end I decided to have the word 'Target' larger than 'the' as this makes the title stand out. I tilted 'the' so it looked smaller and built up to the main word 'target'. I also considered following the typical convention of magazines by having my masthead in the top left hand corner but I decided against this as my title was too squashed together and made it quite difficult to read as well as leaving a large blank space in the opposite corner which looked unprofessional as well as unfinished. My small slogan at the bottom of my page is also in the same font 'Good Times' to create a consistent house style and I have followed this convention from other magazines as others have experimented with this also as the magazine on the right is easy and clear to read.

Written Content

The written content of my magazine had to fit perfectly with the genre of my magazine. I had to ensure that the right language was used so that it was on a scale that the audience could relate to and could understand. My editorial is written in very colloquial language, I have done this to give the magazine a personal feel as well as to make the reader feel relaxed and welcome. On my contents page, my content needed to be brief, blunt and straight to the point so that the audience could quickly scan the page and know where they wanted to go, this was important as otherwise my audience would get bored of having to deeply read everything in order to just find one small section. My images on my contents page have small brief captions/headings to quickly describe them so that my audience knew they were relative and not off the topic. I think that the written content on my double page spread was most important, I needed to nail my target audience on the head with the type of language and overall content used. This was important because the content needed to relate to the genre and style of my magazine so that it was in keeping and hooked my target audience to interest them. I thought writing this content was quite easy as I know a few people who are fan's of the mod genre and so I am aware of the type of thing they like and may be interested in, as a result of this, I was able to produce a DPS article that I felt was relevant and interesting to my target audience; when I produced my target audience survey, one of the questions asked what my audience looked for in a magazine, a lot of people said gig information as well as information about the artist - this highly helped me when thinking about the written content of my magazine as I was able to adapt their interests in a way that was sophisticated and was in keeping with the theme of my magazine. My dps article was quite colloquial also, to give a personal and informal feel for the audience as well as it being in keeping with the feature of the article - a young teenage artist. I used relevant content such as 'the girls loved it' as this would be stereotypical interests of a young male. I have followed the typical conventions of a dps article also in my written content; I have used drop capitals and pull quotes to further grab the readers attention.

Music Genre

There are many elements that I have used in my magazine that represent the genre of my magazine. Costume and pose are an essential role in showing my genre, people judge others based on how they look, this means that I needed to create the look of my models so that they fit perfectly in with the genre of my magazine so that it is obvious just from looking that my magazine is of mod genre and that this is what it represents. My house style of the magazine is another important factor of showing the genre of my magazine; the three colours that I stuck to were red, blue and white. I chose these colours as they are the colours of the mod target that is the main symbol of the mod genre, this shows my music type as the colours are easily recognisable - as well as this, these are the colours of the union jack flag which is also symbolic for the patriotic views of mods. As seen in this example, the colour scheme is red, black and white; from this I have automatically assumed that it is a rock magazine as these three colours are stereotypically known for being rock style colours. Another way I think my genre is shown is through the actual name of my magazine. I think this shows my genre as, as I said previously, the target is a stereotypical, symbolic logo for the mod genre and it automatically springs to mind when people think of this, henceforth showing the genre. The content of my magazine also shows the genre of my magazine - "Upcoming artists" shows the genre as the genre is usually quite unique and independent with it being a unique taste and therefore the genre is shown through the use of new acts coming back to emphasise the type of genre. As well as this, the other band names that are mentioned show the genre as people such as 'The Jam' and 'The Lambrettas.' Immediately, these bands show the genre of my magazine as they are automatically associated with mod music and people will not realise that these names are any other genre but mod.

Layout - Front Cover

The layout was essential to get right in my magazine, it is what structures and forms a magazine so if my layout was wrong and certain conventions were not followed, my magazine would not look professional.

I started off at the very beginning by producing flat plans of my magazine pages (see flat & shot plan pages) and stuck to most of these conventions and after researching various other magazines, I have found that most magazines follow a certain structure to make the magazine appealing and professional.

In my magazine, on the right hand side. I have challenged typical music magazine conventions by having

my masthead across the top of the page, most music magazines have the masthead in the top left hand corner however, I used this type of layout in my magazine so that my masthead was large and obvious in order for it to catch the audiences eye; since my magazine is new it needs to be visibly seen in order to sell it. Much like the example of Madonna in 'Q' magazine, my artist is positioned to the right of the page and is the main focus, this has been done so that the main image is the only one seen on the front cover and shows the importance of the artist. As I have previously talked about, I have subverted the conventions of magazines as my artist is not covering the masthead as  my magazine is not yet recognisable enough with its own brand identity as to the point where I can afford to cover the masthead with my model and people will still be aware of which magazine the copy was. I have used side captions and features, much like Q, to inform the reader of what is included in the magazine but also to attempt to frame the artist. I have followed this convention of side information as most magazines do so that it looks professional but also makes my artist stand out. Both magazines have stand out bubbles that contain brief information, such as chances to win. My bubble on the bottom right of the page has been put in this position as against the artist, it stands out as it is not blending in with the model - this is the point I aimed to make as people will notice this and see

that the magazine offers free features and as a result of this, people may be inclined to buy my magazine.

Contents Page

On my contents page, I have pretty much followed every convention of music magazines, building my full contents page based on the rule of 3 and columns to create a structured and organised page.

As you can see, I have positioned one large, main image on my contents page. I have chosen this layout as it produces a visual tease and follows many conventions of other music magazines, such as the example shown. As well as this, the main image shows the artists importance as I have used the same model in this image as I have on my front cover, this makes the other images seem more inferior and not as important however, they are still there to inform and entertain my readers. A visual tease interests the reader and catches their attention; I have accompanied this, as well as my other images, with very short, brief captions in order to emphasise the image and highlight the purpose and content of the magazine page that people may be interested in. I have also positioned smaller images on my magazine, following conventions, in order to liven up the page as well as to show the audience the various other features and articles that are included in the magazine.

Another key convention that I found in most magazines was the sub-headings. Although I have positioned my content list on the opposite side of the example shown, they both use sub-headings. The sub-headings from the example were where I gained the inspiration for my magazines subheading's from for my own magazine. Sub-headings are vitally important for the reader as they allow them to navigate around the magazine and find what they are specifically interested in. At first, I did not have enough articles on my content list, which made my magazine look as if it lacked detail and pages, this is why I added in some more features in order to make the page look busier as well as the magazine look more full.

I subverted another typical convention by placing my editorial at the bottom of the page. I have done this so it is one of the last things the reader looks at and therefore, they can gain a more personal approach and gain an inclusive feel at the end of the contents page before diving into the actual magazine articles. I also did this as, at the top of the page, it would of looked over crowded and too much - this is the last thing I wanted to do on my contents page as it may confuse the reader and disinterest them if they can't easily navigate and find what they want. I made my editorial box black, which wasn't in my 3 colour house style scheme, so that it stood out to readers and as well as being on a tilt, the black box strongly contrasts with the colours used, especially the white and red text amongst the editorial. Another reason for making the editorial stand out so much is because with my magazine being new, I wanted people to have a personal note and this way, I can make sure the audience have gained this personal touch as the editorial definitely stands out.

Double Page Spread

My double page spread was one of the most difficult pages, in my opinion, to create as the layout had to be pretty much perfect. I have followed a lot of typical conventions of a double page spread as well as obeying the rule of three by splitting my actual article into columns, I have done this so that reading my article is easier to read for my audience as they don't have to think to hard about it and won't get lost off. I had to keep changing the layout of my article columns  to create a spacious feel for the page in order to make it look professional.

I followed typical magazine layouts with my copy as most magazine feature articles are the same. I have used an article heading at the top of the page, a brief summary/introduction that I have put in red text to jump out at the reader and intrigue them into wanting to read the full article, and then the main article copy. I have also used pull quotes in the middle of my text as I have seen this done many times in magazines as they strongly stand out to the reader, since they are in larger text and they can also make the reader want to read the article as if they see an interesting quote, they will want to read further in. I have chosen to put these pull quotes in a different colour to the main copy for the same reason in that I want to reel my audience in. I chose my double page spread to have the layout with my main image on one side of the page because I did not want the text to over power the page as I do not want to bore my reader. I have inserted targets as my page numbers at the bottom corner of my pages to help my reader navigate further through my magazine as well as using drop capitals in my layout to officially start my article for the reader as I have seen this convention used a lot in music magazines.