The Front Cover 
For me to create my music magazine I had to look at existing music magazine to create my front cover, contents page and double page spread.
In my front cover I have used existing magazines such as NME, Spin and Q to get ideas for my music magazine. I have taken some of their ideas and adapted them so that I am able to use them in my music magazine. However, some of the ideas have also given me inspiration and helped to me think of new ideas for my magazine from the existing magazines. I have placed my masthead in the same place as all the existing music magazines so that the consumer will be able to find and see it easily when on the shelves in the shops. I haven't used the conventional shot size for the main image, most music magazines would use MCU but I have used a long shot. This is because Indie music listeners tend to rebel the conventional way of society so I have used this idea through the image as they will relate mostly to the image of the magazine as that it how I represent indie listeners and music lovers. I have used a barcode in my magazine so that it is able to be sold and bought in shops. It is found in the top right out of the way of the main space on the front cover; so that it doesn’t ruin the cover. I researched the prices of monthly music magazines and found that most of them are around £4-£5 but with the quality and content of my music magazine I decided to sell it at a lower price at £3; so the consumer will not be overpriced and robbed off their money as I want them to continue to buy it monthly. My coverline is the name of the main artist and article, ‘Jess’, this is so that the consumer knows that the magazine is focussing on that artist. I have three sell lines found on the third left of the magazine, this is so that when it is on the shelves in the shops the consumer is able to see what else is in the magazine, other than the main artist ‘Jess’. The teasing content in my front cover would be the ‘Lennon is my inspiration’ which is also a pull quote taken from the main article on the double page spread. The splash on the front cover is inspired by the Beatles, from the use of circle rimmed glasses which were worn famously by John Lennon, the pull quote ‘Lennon is my inspiration’ and the teasing content ‘Free iconic Beatles poster'.
The Contents Page 
In my contents page I have a main image which is of the main article, this is to show continuity throughout my music magazine as I’m sticking to one main article. They are also smaller images on my contents page which are from different artists, this is so that it draws the consumers attention and other interests of music lovers. The features section included shows different interviews and news on different artists, the main artists included in this section are those which are advertised on my front cover, ‘Standard Misfit’, ‘Crazy Horses’ and ‘The Smiths’ however they are also more artists included to make the features column look interesting as it will have more information on many different artists, thus expanding the music genre further. I have included the news section so that the consumer is up to date with all the news on their favourite artists, this also draws their attention if they have noticed something which they didn’t know before or had heard from other media technologies. Having a review section in a magazine and contents page is important as the consumer is able to read it and get an idea of what the opinions are of their favourite and also to learn some new music which they can listen to and spread through peer to peer.
The Double Page Spread
In my double page spread I got inspiration from Q magazines spread of Lady Gaga, the background in the Q magazine has the letter ‘L’ in a faded blood red, I liked the idea as it is simple yet creative so I took the idea and used it in my spread but changing it to a ‘J’ in a faded purple. I have done this to show even though Indie is represented as eroded and messy that they can actually be sophisticated and elegant. However this spread doesn’t contain the conventional features of a double page spread but I did some more double page spread research and found some which did contain the conventional features so I looked at them and they helped when it came to creating my double page spread. I included a introductory paragraph to give information about my artist and to also give the reader an idea of what kind of articles are published in my magazine. I've also included a byline which is found above the article and photo credit that is found in the top left, this is to make the magazine look more professional and fuller. However this isn’t included in the Q magazine spread but from the other magazines that I found I took the idea from those and came up with my own. I have used two pull quotes in my magazine to make my article look more clear and less full however there is still lots of information in the article, again this isn't included in the Q magazine. Overall, the Q magazine was just there to give me some ideas on the design of my double page spread and other existing music magazines helped with the conventional parts to it.
In what ways does my music magazine appeal and represent social groups?
My music magazine Turn appeals to my target audience, Indie groups, as the colour scheme I have chosen is the colours which are found on Indie music adverts, album covers and music videos. These colours that I have used will draw their attention and make them aware that my magazine exists and hopefully grab their interest enough so that they will buy it and maybe sign a monthly subscription. The colours which are usually stereotyped to indie magazines and listeners are black, red, grey, white and dark browns. These colours are used because they are conventional to the genre and group Indie, and also many Indie artists dress in these colours and have their album covers in these colours; this is to reinforce the Indie image throughout all media products and not just the music but through the magazine as well. The age group of my magazine, seen on my blog, is shown to be mainly mainstream, but with the use of ‘The Beatles’ on the front cover and the double page spread I am bringing in the older audiences interests by using tastes from all generations. Where my music magazine would target in the Socio Economic groups would be C1 (Supervisory or clerical, junior managerial, administrative or professional), C2 (Semi-skilled manual workers), D (Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers) and E (casual labourers, unemployed and state pensioners), these groups are the most suited as people who are situated in these groups are mostly people who listen to the genre of my magazine and would be interested in its contents. They will feel as if they can relate to this magazine as the people in groups D and E will see how being rebellious can sometimes be a good thing as maybe they may feel being rebellious is what they like to do, also linking to the genre, indie, being rebellious is part of what it entails. Furthermore, people in the groups C1 and C2 will feel as if they can relate to the magazine as the music tastes I have included are attractive towards those people as well, by including The Beatles which is a band which is loved and liked by all classes and groups, it draws their attention and feel as if they can listen and read about that kind of music.
What institution will be distributing my music magazine?
The music magazines which I researched where NME, Spin and Q who is published by Bauer Media Group, I was going to use this publication for my music magazine but decided against it as it had already signed many well known and popular music magazines which are similar genre to mine so I wanted a publication which didn’t have the same or similar magazine to mine. So I chose to make competition between two publications by choosing to use Condé Nast Publications who don’t have any existing music magazines signed to them. This, in my opinion, is a good thing as my music magazine will earn them money rather than lose them money as it is the only magazine they have signed. Also this will give them more publicity as it will be the first music magazine they have signed which is a big step for both my music magazine and the publication group. My magazine in comparison with existing music magazine follows to the conventions but also challenges them in a way which may be seen as unprofessional, an example to show this would be in my front cover where I haven’t used a MCU image, which is conventional in magazines as the reader is able to identify and relate to the image, instead I’ve used a long shot which shows all of my model, this is so that the reader can see the whole of the model and see what a potential role model looks like from head to toe. Also, I have chosen to include sun glasses on my model which breaks the eye contact between both the model and the reader, this is to connote and show that my model doesn’t like to make eye contact with the world and is a rebel when it comes to what she does which links to the chosen genre of the magazine. Having a person like this as a potential role model is good as it shows that you can be different without being patronised or bullied because of it; i.e having someone on a national music magazine shows that it is okay to be the way you want people to see you and how you want to be looked at.
The music magazines which I researched where NME, Spin and Q who is published by Bauer Media Group, I was going to use this publication for my music magazine but decided against it as it had already signed many well known and popular music magazines which are similar genre to mine so I wanted a publication which didn’t have the same or similar magazine to mine. So I chose to make competition between two publications by choosing to use Condé Nast Publications who don’t have any existing music magazines signed to them. This, in my opinion, is a good thing as my music magazine will earn them money rather than lose them money as it is the only magazine they have signed. Also this will give them more publicity as it will be the first music magazine they have signed which is a big step for both my music magazine and the publication group. My magazine in comparison with existing music magazine follows to the conventions but also challenges them in a way which may be seen as unprofessional, an example to show this would be in my front cover where I haven’t used a MCU image, which is conventional in magazines as the reader is able to identify and relate to the image, instead I’ve used a long shot which shows all of my model, this is so that the reader can see the whole of the model and see what a potential role model looks like from head to toe. Also, I have chosen to include sun glasses on my model which breaks the eye contact between both the model and the reader, this is to connote and show that my model doesn’t like to make eye contact with the world and is a rebel when it comes to what she does which links to the chosen genre of the magazine. Having a person like this as a potential role model is good as it shows that you can be different without being patronised or bullied because of it; i.e having someone on a national music magazine shows that it is okay to be the way you want people to see you and how you want to be looked at.
Who is my target audience?
When planning my music magazine I wanted it be an indie rock music magazine which will appeal to 16-30 year olds who are both male and female, I kept this in mind when researching different music magazines, but somehow forgot when I was taking my photos and putting the magazine together. The idea of my magazine changed and turned into just an indie music magazine. So from this I decided that the rock wasn’t really what I wanted my music magazine to be as the artists which I had researched, Florence and the Machine, Blur, The Killers and Elbow were all indie artists, so decided to go for a more casual approach of indie which will appeal to more people and make it more attractive. So the end product turned into an indie music magazine which I believe suits it more and would in fact worked better rather than the indie rock magazine idea because if I went through with the indie rock genre I would have been looking at a niche audience which would have been more difficult to advertise and make money from as they’re not as big as the mainstream which I originally targeted for. However, even though the genre of the magazine changed, my target audience stayed the same as I always kept in mind who I wanted it to appeal to. Having a target audience made planning and developing my music magazine easy as it gave me an idea of how I wanted it to be like in the end. Bearing in mind my target audience age group and gender, I had to think about the ethnicity for my music magazine, for this I asked many people if they would buy a magazine like this to which they answered a yes. Throughout developing my music magazine I kept asking for feedback, even if it was just a quick question, to see if it was appealing to my target audience and most of the people who I asked agreed with me and my planning and said that the magazine was good and went along with the conventions of a indie music magazine. On my audience feedback, people found that it in fact looked like an indie music magazine from the colours I had used, the fonts I used and the artists which I created. However one feedback sheet said that they knew it was an indie music magazine from the selling line ‘The Indie music magazine’ which is found under the masthead on the front cover. They suggested that I remove it but I decided against it as it makes my music magazine look more professional as many existing magazines have a selling line on their front cover.
How and what did I do to attract and address my target audience?
I developed my music magazine to look attractive to my chosen target audience by making it affordable but also a reasonable price for a monthly magazine, my target audience’s being in the C1, C2, D and E socio economics group, it is affordable for them to buy as its only a few pounds a month, not a few pounds a week. I have used new and old artists, for example ‘Jess’ and ‘The Beatles’ to draw their interests and also to make it more attractive as a indie music magazine. ‘Free iconic Beatles poster’ is appealing as it is an iconic music group, regardless them not being an indie group, they are able to fit in the any genre as they are so well known and well liked. This suggests that only a few of the posters were made thus making them memorable and because it is iconic the consumer will want the poster as they wont get another chance of getting a copy as it is in the edition only, from the teasing content ‘Only in this February Edition’. This magazine will appeal to my demographic groups because the magazine may be similar to existing music magazines but it gives up to date news and is cheap for the contents given; conventionally a monthly music magazine would usually cost between £3.50 to £5 but mine is selling at £3 which is extremely cheap for a monthly magazine as it is the same price as many weekly magazines on the market, so this would appeal and be convenient for my target audience as they are getting a magazine for a very good price. I haven’t included any special offers but I have included an exclusive interview, free iconic posters, a tribute to the fallen stars and backstage gossip from the latest music award show. This will appeal and attract my target audience as it suits and fits in with what they want; information and gossip which is fuel to their needs and desires. In the feedback which I received, I saw that people were happy with the price and agreed that it was reasonable to pay, with it being a monthly magazine.
What technologies have I learnt to use while creating my music magazine?
From constructing my music magazine and my preliminary task, the college magazine, I have learnt how to use Photoshop correctly and to its full potential, however, when I was in high school I had to use Photoshop but I never got taught how to use it correctly. So when starting college and creating my college magazine I got taught and had lessons to widen my knowledge of Photoshop. When creating my college magazine I found that it took me a while to put together drafts as I hadn’t gotten used to the different tools and I hadn’t figured out the techniques. The first tool which I got taught to use was the quick selection tool, I practiced on many images to help me get better at it. Then I went on to learn how to use the Blur tool and the Clone tool which helped to make my college magazine look professional. However, looking back now I can see many ways in which I can improve it. For my music magazine, I became used to using Photoshop and I had gotten faster at using the tools. This helped a lot as I was able to create more drafts and get feedback with improvements. When I created my front cover I used the quick selection tool when I needed to erase the background of the image I wanted to use. The image on my front cover has been cut out and placed on a paint bucketed background so getting all the original background erased meant I needed to be good at the quick selection tool and because I had done many drafts I had gotten good at a technique which I was able to use and cut out the image finely and so that there was no jaggered edges.
From constructing my music magazine and my preliminary task, the college magazine, I have learnt how to use Photoshop correctly and to its full potential, however, when I was in high school I had to use Photoshop but I never got taught how to use it correctly. So when starting college and creating my college magazine I got taught and had lessons to widen my knowledge of Photoshop. When creating my college magazine I found that it took me a while to put together drafts as I hadn’t gotten used to the different tools and I hadn’t figured out the techniques. The first tool which I got taught to use was the quick selection tool, I practiced on many images to help me get better at it. Then I went on to learn how to use the Blur tool and the Clone tool which helped to make my college magazine look professional. However, looking back now I can see many ways in which I can improve it. For my music magazine, I became used to using Photoshop and I had gotten faster at using the tools. This helped a lot as I was able to create more drafts and get feedback with improvements. When I created my front cover I used the quick selection tool when I needed to erase the background of the image I wanted to use. The image on my front cover has been cut out and placed on a paint bucketed background so getting all the original background erased meant I needed to be good at the quick selection tool and because I had done many drafts I had gotten good at a technique which I was able to use and cut out the image finely and so that there was no jaggered edges.
For the sell lines on the front cover I wanted them to have an eroded effect, so I used the magic wand tool. This tool is able to erase any background which I select that is the same colour as part of the image I select. This saves time as I’m not using the rubber, so after cutting the images out I would tidy the edges by using the rubber tool and use the blur tool to smooth the hard edges. For my images I manipulated the colour of them by adjusting the levels, I made my front cover image brighter but made the contrast level darker to give it the hard edged look.
The contents page I made brighter to link with the yellow background, to give it the sun kissed glow, and the double page spread I didn’t manipulate, I thought it looked okay the way it was and found that it worked well better as it originally was. In my first attempt at the contents page, I used a grey background, however I found that it looked boring and didn’t seem to have much colour so I changed it to a pale, dark yellow to emphasize the main image and smaller images. But when I received my feedback I found that people didn’t find the yellow background to be Indie and that it would have suited better in the original grey. In my double page spread draft, I manipulated the image by changing the brightness and contrast levels, this made the image look darker and dirtier, I then went back and changed it and as I stated above, didn’t manipulate the image. Looking at both spreads I find the second attempt looks better as it hasn’t been manipulated.
From doing this project I have used many different programmes on the computer and elsewhere, I have used Adobe Photoshop to create my front cover, contents page and double page spread, using tools such as the rubber, quick selection tool, magic tool, spot healing brush tool, the text box and the ellipsis tool, then I used Microsoft Office software ranging from Word which I used to crop out any images and font’s I used for my front cover, contents page and double page spread and then I also used it for my evaluation and then I also used Microsoft Office Publisher to help create the look of my double page spread. I used it so that I could get the columns, the drop cap and the pull quotes, this is so that my double page spread is able to look more professional and give it the feel of Q magazine which I used to get inspiration and ideas from. I’ve used a laptop to help get my work done in and out of college which had Photoshop on; the laptop’s which I used were all Acer’s, and I also the internet to get research and inspiration by researching music magazines such as Q, NME and Spin which you can find on my blog under the analysis on a music magazine. Finally I used a Kodak Easy Share M550 camera to take my photos on; it is a 12 megapixel camera which helps make my images look more professional as they are of good quality. All this technology has helped me create my music magazine and to help make it look professional and like the existing music magazines already on the market. Further they have helped to widen my knowledge and skills on each technology I have used ranging from Microsoft software to Adobe Photoshop and by using them I have found new tools and buttons to press and found my own personal techniques which I can use to help me create better and more professional work.
Do I feel like I have progressed in my ability from the start of the college year?
During planning, researching and creating my music magazine I’ve learnt that planning is important as it helps when it comes to actually creating the product. The planning which I did helped me but I found that if I did a little more then I would have gotten a better product at the end. Researching different music magazine showed me how a magazine should look like and showed me how the conventions are used in the correct way. Drafting came in handy as I was able to use the conventions and see which way was better to have them. My first draft of my music magazine shows that I didn’t understand the conventions properly, and that I hadn’t quite handled the space correctly. As a first draft there was much to improve on, there wasn’t much colour and the image wasn’t as good as it should have been. There isn’t any sell lines and the masthead is too big. All these are what a music magazine shouldn’t be like. So I took all this feedback and criticism and worked with it to improve my front cover. When I then made my second draft it looked like a proper music magazine as I had revised the music magazine conventions and had done more music magazine research, as there was more colour in the background and in the image itself. The image was clear and went well with the fonts used, I had included some sell lines which helped to make it look more professional and also used different font types to make it more eye catching. From the feedback I had gotten from the second draft I found that people saw this one more as an indie music magazine, and not a teen magazine as they did for my first draft.
However when I got feedback from my second draft I found that people didn’t think that the pink background worked well with my chosen genre from it being pink so when I went back to improve I changed the colour to a dark brown to connote and reflect the genre type.
