Media – Music Magazine Evaluation:

Question 1 – In what ways does your media product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

By Daniel O’Riordan.

AVID – Front Cover.For the front cover of my magazine, I firstly used the idea of

a LARGE MASTHEAD, Which is seen in magazines such as Q and NME. I also used the combination of SERIF AND SANS SERIF FONTS in order to create a professional appeal to my magazine.

I have however, challenged the ideas of usual magazines by making my front cover DEVOID OF COLOUR. This is an ambitious move, as bright colours are usually used to attract the attention of the audience, but I have used the black/white format of my magazine in order to show a degree of sophistication and boldness that may be absent in other music magazines.

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AVID – Contents.For my Contents, I decided that I’d use the BOX FORMAT

that is familiar in NME for the actual contents component of the page. I also used a SUBSCRIPTION OFFER, a familiar convention in magazines, whether they be geared towards music or otherwise. I also used a MINIMISED MAST HEAD at the top left corner of my contents.

However, I did challenge conventions with my ARTIST OF THE WEEK section. I decided to do this off the back of my questionnaires, and the contents is a page that is well looked at – a perfect place to advertise new artists.

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AVID – Double Page Spread.For the ‘Double Page Spread’ I decided that I

would use such conventions as MULTIPLE IMAGES, in order to illustrate the interview included, in order to give the reader a clearer view of the interviewee herself. I have also included an INTERVIEW QUOTE, which is in Large, Sans Serif writing. This is common in interview spreads, as it pulls the reader into reading the article. I have also used a BLOCK STYLE of interview, as I find that it is clearer and more set out.

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Question 2 – How does your media magazine represent different social

groups?

In terms of social groups, I have decided to appeal mainly to the ‘Indie/Hipster’ groups, most of which are young people aged 14-21. They are the social group that are most likely to listen to the kind of music included within the magazine. I have done this by first including articles concerning bands that are popular in teen-culture today, such as the Arctic Monkeys, and Crystal Castles. I Have also included gig/event information, in order to further appeal to young people who are aiming to go to concerts/festivals. I have also included an image of smoking, which, although unhealthy, is still a popular convention of Indie culture. The glasses are also seen as a symbol of the social group, as it is a common stereotype throughout social media, e.g.. Facebook.

Question 3 –What kind of media institution might distribute your media

product and why?

- IPC Media Group

IPC is a nationally known media company, responsible for magazines such as NME, and TV Times. This publisher may be suitable for my magazine due to it’s reputation, meaning that the hype for my magazine will be of a large amount. Also, names such as NME can be used to further advertise my magazine in ‘coming soon’ articles. To conclude, I believe that IPC would be suitable for my magazine, purely for it’s huge status in the magazine industry, as well as it’s experience in dealing with modern music in magazines such as NME.

Question 4 – Who would the audience be for your media product?

The target audience for which my magazine appeals is the group of people that listen to ‘Indie Music’, and I have designed it in a way that appeals to the younger generation, namely 15-25, although I have done this flexibly so that the magazine can also be purchased by anyone. The target audience is more of a mainstream group, as it appeals to a large amount of people. This is good however, as it means that more sales can be made. Referring to social class, my magazine is designed to appeal more to the middle class/lower middle class.

Question 5 – How did you attract/address your target audience?

Firstly, in social media today, the ‘Indie Culture’ is mainly associated with the triangle, so I decided I’d use this shape in my masthead in order to immediately establish the target audience of my magazine.

I have also included interviews with well known bands associated with the ‘Indie’ genre of music. Crystal Castles being a prime example.

I have also included other aspects of ‘Indie Culture’ such as fashion and festivals. I have done this in order to appeal to people who may be less interested in music but are still gripped by the culture.

I have also included a cigarette in the image, as although unhealthy, is still a large stereotype for Indie music listeners.

As a final touch of my main image, I have used the infamous ‘thick-rimmed’ glasses look on my model. This is a huge stereotype of the indie genre, one which has been widely publicised by the internet. I decided to use this to widen the idea that my magazine is promoting the Indie Genre.

Question 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process

of constructing this product?

In terms of user-friendliness, both programmes, Photoshop and InDesign were incredibly easy to pick up and use efficiently, even though their initial appearance may have appeared complicated. Both had the necessary tools needed in order for me to complete my cover, contents and double page spread. I used a variety of tools for all of my pages, and it is the process in which I used these tools that will now be shown:

Firstly, I started with a simple, black background. I then added my main image, (I’d edited it on a different programme prior to the creation process.) to the document, leaving space for the masthead.

Unfortunately, one downside of Photoshop is the fact that there is no triangle tool. To get around this, I found that in the font ‘Wingdings 3’ a ‘p’ turns out to be a triangle.

For my contents, I decided to create a ‘block’ look, which is familiar in magazines such as NME. I did this in InDesign, by using boxes, two text boxes for page numbers and descriptions, as well as a thick, black drawn line in order to divide the numbers off.

I created a subscription box for my contents page by first using a plain, white box, then adding text and lines to divide it up. I then added a small picture of my front cover, a feature common in all subscription boxes.

I have also used the dividers method for my ‘Artist Of The Week’ section of my contents, which is shown in the image above.

I decided that in my double page spread I would add an ‘AVID Exclusive’ box in order to make the spread look more professional. I did this by first creating a simple box, and then adding a triangle and text, rotating them with the ‘rotate’ tool.

For page numbers, I have followed through with my ‘triangle’ theme by using it in a page number. I simply did a white-on-black triangle text format for this, and placed it at the bottom right corner of the page. I have also use the wingdings technique in order to create the triangles.

Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you

have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Looking back at my preliminary task, I would say that I have definitely improved in terms of creativity, as well as my skills concerning Photoshop and InDesign. Comparing my cover and contents together with the cover and contents I created in my preliminary task, I have found a variety of improvements:

Colour Scheme

Tag Lines

Main Image

What’s Inside

Masthead