Location, prop and costume report

Location:
When deciding how I wanted my photo to look and the environment of the photo, I decided that I didn't really want a location. I came to this conclusion by looking at what my magazine was about - giving new musicians and fair start and a fair look and I didn't want people to dismiss a band based on the location behind them. It also help keep the focus on the musician and not give the musician a unfair review.

Prop:
I decided to have minimal props, and only have the guitar. I have done this because I wanted to hint at the instrument so the reader has a small amount of an idea, but no idea of how the instrument will be used and the genre the musician is in.

Costume:
I decided to have some generic teen clothing (just a top and track suit trousers) to help the musician be on fair footing when the reader starts to learn about them. It also hints at the age of the musician and could attract the younger side of my target audience as they seem more relate-able.

Evaluation Question 7

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 5

The point of sale for my magazine would most likely be on the shelves of shops, possibly WH Smith, and if the magazine does well a future online. The reason I think that it could be sold in WH Smiths is that they stock a wide range of material, with many music magazines. Also, they already stock multiple Bauer published magazines, all of which are doing well, so this would allow the magazine to have a negotiating point and would help get the magazine stocked there.

When it comes to grabbing the attention of the reader, I chose to use the left hand third to list all of the features and the majority of the masthead. I have done this as most retail stores have the middle to right side covered by the next magazine, therefore the left hand side must grab the attention of the reader quickly. The eye also takes information from top left to bottom right, having the masthead here allows the brands name to be the first thing seen. The bright colours were used as red is eye catching, and orange isn’t used very often, this allows the magazine to be both eye catching and unusual, drawing the reader in. The contrast of the cover lines and the white background also allow each cover line and the masthead to stand out clearly and be very noticeable. The main cover photo has the model looking directly at the camera, but at a distance and looking slightly down. This creates the impression that the model is empowered and possibly more important than the reader, this would create an interest as to why this might be.

On the contents page and cover page second person pronouns are used. For example, the word ‘YOU’ in capitals is used often, this draws the reader to the word and also makes it feel as if the magazine was made specifically for you. Other words such as ‘BEST and Top’ are made larger to draw attention to these topics and make them seem important. Words like ‘sensation’ and the musicians name are in bold to draw a large amount of attention to it and keep interest as the reader tries to learn more.

The language used throughout the magazine is mostly informative and straightforward. This is done to convey a seriousness to the magazine and try to depict its target audience as smart individuals, even if they are stereotypical teens. This is most apparent in the double page spread. This is because it features a QnA, but never really features any slang words or abbreviations. While this has the opportunity to push the target audience away, I hope that it keeps their attention, but also gives the magazine the option of reaching the older target audience as it isn’t filled with terms they might not know and hopefully will read like the more serious, professional magazines.

The magazine itself is trying to portray itself as the top magazine for lesser known musicians. Therefore it is trying to be an expert in this field and because of this it takes a much more serious mode of address and tries to get straight to the point and comes across as a formal piece of writing. The attitude of the writing is peaceful and doesn’t take a stance against the musician, also trying to sell the musician and make them come off in a positive light, never talking about a topic that could be misinterpreted. To check that the magazine keeps within these guidelines I checked on multiple occasions with people that would suite my target audience, and they all seemed to find the writing style to be formal and informative.     

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 2

How does my media product represent particular social groups?

The main demographic for my magazine is mainly in the E demographic, that are in the psycho-graphic of explorers and reformers. This is because mostly teens and young adults, aged around 16-30, who are experiencing the new music the smaller musicians have to offer and the audience would have to be willing to give lesser known musicians a go and also have knowledge of good taste to determine whether they believe the talent is worth listening to. The demographic is also for ‘trend setters’ and ‘hipsters’. This is because it focuses on new music that not many people would have heard of, and therefore isn’t mainstream.

Since these demographics usually are represented with a more relaxed and unprofessional tone I decided to make the magazine a more professional tone as I wanted to challenge the stereotypes, this also creates a talking point about the magazine.

A clear way that I have accessed these demographics is through the topic itself. These demographics typically spend a lot of time each day purely devoted to searching through the internet. A lot of these demographics also tend to listen to music as they search or they search specifically for music, therefore it makes sense to have a magazine focused on internet music.

Having the main focus on the cover be focused on a teen musician, this suggests that the teen demographic is capable and possibly hardworking. I have also tried to use the text to show that teens are dedicated to the work, having the feature focus mainly around the music and not ‘gossip’ topics such as relationships. The teen in the photo is also wearing casual clothes, but none of the clothes are worn or ripped,  this is done to show that the younger demographic (16-25) can still remain casual in their work, whereas the older demographics (26-30) will hopefully be reading this to gather ideas or possibly take up new talent. This demographic itself isn't represented as well as it could have been in the magazine. I think this as having an article on the cover related to finding or producing the talent would help give more access to the older demographic. In most media recently, teens are usually depicted as being lazy or disruptive and the 20-30 ages are shown as an age of professionalism, I believe that the magazine challenges that.

To continue giving the younger demographic a professional appeal, I decided to leave out any cover lines or topics that could be seen as gossip or unrelated information. For example, already famous musicians and the mentioned relationship topics. This is because someone reading this magazine should be reading for the new talent, having the usual topics that the more gossipy magazine have would detract from it. This could in turn reflect that the audience is unwilling to listen to the new music.

It is usually easy to recognize someone that spends a large amount of time listening to music, as they usually have some sort of headphone within reach, however it can be a lot harder to identify someone that spends a lot of time on the internet – mainly because that is the majority of people. On top of this, because a large amount of musicians online participate in almost every genre, and some mixed, it can be hard to represent everyone. To achieve this I used colours that can easily represent a large audience, reds can be interpreted as passion and love, whereas it can also be interpreted as anger and rebellion. This single colour can tap into multiple genres, like the ‘rebellious’ heavy metal or the ‘romantic’ era of western classical music. 

Evaluation Question 1

Finished double page spread

Finished contents

Finished cover

Final Product Prototype

Initial drafts

Test with both colour schemes

Construction Schedule

| Construction Schedule |

|  Week 1  |      Design and early drafts of pages       |

|  Week 2  | Test colour pallet and optimize layout  |

|  Week 3  |     Design and write appropriate text     |

|  Week 4  |                     Create pages                          |

|  Week 5  |                Modify and improve                  |

Possible sites and brands my audience would be interested in

Colour and Font Mood Board

Original photos

Magazine Publisher Case Studies

Overview of the magazine industry

Original ideas statement

The magazine I wish to create is based on multiple genres, but the issue I will create will be based mainly around a electric guitarist. It will be based on finding new and upcoming talent on the internet, through websites like YouTube and Daily Motion, and trying to get them exposed. I like this idea because out of all the magazines I know of none of them have full features devoted to small musicians. I also like this idea as it would give me the opportunity to access a wide range of readers. The scope of the magazine give me the opportunity to test different colour schemes and layouts without having to focus on one sole design.
Inside the magazine, there will be articles based mainly on the musicians and their upcoming careers, mentioning upcoming music and their opinions on how it is going so far. This magazine will access multiple genres, and will have parts of genres inside.

Full music magazine analysis

Magazine Double Page Spread Deconstruction #2

Magazine Double Page Spread Deconstruction #1

Magazine Contents Page Deconstruction #2

Magazine Contents Page Deconstruction #1