7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

To be honest, I didn’t really do any audience research for my preliminary task, I just went by what I knew from learning about magazines at GCSE. But carrying out audience research for my main task helped a lot. It helped me to understand what my audience likes and what appeals to them in terms o f music genre, bands/artists, magazines, price and technology, therefore when creating my final product I had a good understanding on how to make my magazine as effective as it could be in terms of attracting my target audience (young females interested in indie music). Although, when carrying out my audience research, I didn’t have the idea to target a predominantly female audience, only to target a young audience. But to resolve this I went by what appealed to me, as I actually fit into my target audience.

After carrying out my magazine research I learnt a lot about the layout of a typical music magazine. I think the layout of my preliminary task front cover and contents page is awful when I look back at it, because now I have a very good idea on how to make a magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread look professional by following conventions. Some of the concepts of my preliminary task product and main task product are the same (Front cover: large photo that takes up most of the page, masthead in a big font that spans across the whole of the top, headlines), but the ones used for my final product were done out of greater understanding, more thought and specific intentions, all gained from in depth research and planning. When looking back at my front cover and contents page of the preliminary task, it is clear that I had very limited understanding of magazine conventions, as the front cover is crammed with text and images, making it look untidy and cheap looking. Also, I had used a large range of colours for my text, one colour for each headline or puff to be exact, which makes it look as if it has been created for children, let alone college students! But for my final front cover, contents page and double page spread I had chosen specific, appropriate colour schemes for each page, consisting of no more than 3 complimentary colours for each page, in order to make it look more professional. I have also included less text on my pages, making sure I avoid the crammed look, and more going for the classy, simplistic look.

For the preliminary task I used publisher to produce my final product, making it look unconvincing and not advanced in terms of technology at all. I had avoided using InDesign for the production of the front cover and contents page of my preliminary task, as I thought the software looked really hard to use. Therefore when creating my actual product for the main task I made sure to use InDesign, as I wanted my magazine to be of a high, convincing standard, so I eventually leant how to use the software properly. PhotoShop wasn’t really an issue for me, as I already knew how to use the software. The only new thing I learnt was how to cut part of a picture out, which I thought was really easy to do.

When researching existing magazines for my preliminary task, I only picked up on basic elements and didn’t gain much of an understanding of music magazine conventions. However, when researching existing magazines for my main task I looked at it in a more in-depth way, picking up on typical conventions, whether they were subtle or not, and analysing them by thinking about why certain conventions have been used and what impact they have on the target audience. So, I was able to apply these conventions (I Mainly followed conventions, rarely challenged them) in my own product, making it look more professional and convincing and applying each convention to create a certain impact on the audience (e.g. list of bands on front cover, editorial on contents page, large photo across double page spread).

For my preliminary task, I took note of what clothes to dress my model in to make him look like a student, so it would fulfil it’s purpose of appealing to a student audience. I used a mid-shot, As I knew already a lot of magazines do this for their front cover. However, I didn’t really put much thought into the location, as I did the shoot in a random park, whereas I should’ve done it on the college site (e.g. with college in background). Therefore, when carrying out research for my main task, I found that location is an important element in creating a certain mood for a photograph, as well as costume, make-up, props and mise-en-scene (lighting, shot types). I carefully took note of all of these features, making sure they created the right effect (e.g. retro/vintage/party atmosphere for Betty Chicago shoot – retro clothing, yellow lighting, garage, alcohol & cigarettes, vintage car). Also, A big part of it was how I took the photo, as it should be done in away to have a certain impact on the audience (e.g. mid-shot to show what they are wearing, their facial expression, to get an idea of the surroundings. To have the models looking directly into the camera, especially if the intension was to use it on the front cover, so that they look like they are directly and personally addressing the audience). I have learnt that the better I consider these elements the more straight forward they are to incorporate into my magazine, as they will be more likely to create the desired effect and impact on my target audience. It also helps to relate to the indie music genre.

6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Internet:

I have used the internet a lot throughout the process of making this product. I mainly used it for research (existing magazines), collecting images (for planning powerpoints), choosing fonts (dafont.com), sending emails (organising photo shoot with models) and publishing my work on a blog (blogspot). It played a huge part in helping me construct my magazine, as I used it frequently throughout the research process especially.  

PowerPoint:

I used powerpoints to present my planning and research. I found that it was good to use as it’s uncomplicated and easy to use, therefore I could produce the powerpoint quickly, eventually giving me more time to focus on the making of my magazine.

Digital Camera:

I used my digital camera for taking images that would feature in my magazine. I found the digital camera very easy to use, as unlike a film camera, I could see if the picture worked or not after I took it. The camera I used for all of my pictures was a Nikon D60 Digital SLR, which is a camera that is smaller and lighter than other SLR’s, thus making it easier to handle. Also, the use of a DSLR meant that I was able to take better quality photos as opposed to a small, standard digital camera, which made my photos look a lot more professional and suitable for a magazine.  My DSLR was useful for adjusting the aperture (for depth of field) and zooming in/out.

PhotoShop:

I used PhotoShop to edit all of my pictures. I have been using PhotoShop for years, therefore I found the editing process very easy and I already knew what techniques were the best for enhancing a photo and creating the desired effect, making it suitable for its purpose (creating a retro/vintage effect, making it more eye catching for the audience etc). I also used it for changing the colour of the masthead, headlines, titles and other text. The techniques that I frequently used were cropping (to edit out unwanted parts of the photo), adjust contrast and exposure (to brighten up the photo and increase the photo to make it more striking, adjusting colour (I used a combination of tools: vibrance/saturation, curves and colour balance to creates certain effects in colour).

InDesign:

When making my front cover, contents page and double page spread I used InDesign, as opposed to more basic software such as publisher, as I wanted the finished product to look more professional. I had never used InDesign before, so when starting to use it, I found it very hard, but I eventually grasped it, and at the end found it quite easy to use. The tools on this software proved very helpful in creating desired effects in the layout (e.g. the way the text is written to follow the shape of the photo on the double page spread). I mainly used the size adjustment tool (to adjust size of pictures, text and shapes), the selection tool (to move things around) and the type tool (to type up text) 

Blogger:

I have used www.blogspot.com to post blogs to publish my powerpoints and final product, as I think this is an up-to-date, fun and easy way to present my work with the use of technology. It’s also a good way of organising my work.

Slideshare:

I used slideshare to upload my powerpoints, so then I can embed the URL on to my blog so I can view my powerpoint using the internet.

DaFont:

I used www.dafont.com to find fonts that were suitable for my magazine. I used dafont for the buzz word 'exclusive' on my front cover, the title 'contents' on my contents page and the Betty Chicago band logo, featured on the front cover and double page spread.

Hotmail:

I used hotmail to contact the two models (Zoey and Ruby – Betty Chicago) so I could organise the shoot with them. This was a very useful way of contacting them as it’s easy to access the internet.

5) How did you attract/ address your audience?

The mode of address I used to address my audience was informal/chatty with some slang, as this would appeal the most to a younger audience, and would make the language easy to understand and relate to, as formal language would put a young person off buying a magazine. I used the language in a way so that it directly addressed the audience, by using words such as ‘you’ and ‘we’, which gives the audience the impression that the magazine is personally reaching out to them.

The font I have used attracts my young female audience because it’s quite fun, curvy and attractive, which also makes the font look feminine, unlike masculine fonts which are plain and square.

The content of my magazine attracts my audience because it’s clear that it’s a magazine about indie music, due to the bands listed and mentioned on the front cover and contents page. The magazine also features an exclusive behind the scenes article with Betty Chicago, which will tempt them into buying the magazine as they will know it will be a "fly on the wall" type magazine with gossip about the band. I have included articles on upcoming bands and artists, top 10 singles and albums, recent film reviews, music news and views, recent gigs and tour dates, which meets my audiences needs and demands as it’s responding to their craving for the latest information. It also includes crosswords, comics strips and fanmail, to add a bit of fun and keep them entertained.

Photos of Betty Chicago frequently appear through the front cover, contents page and double page spread, which attracts my audience as Betty Chicago are a band consisting of two girls, so they will appeal to my young, female audience. On the contents page I have also featured images of two bands made up of males and a photo of one male artist. The photos of the male bands would get my audience’s attention as they may find some of the band members attractive. Also, one of the photos are from a live gig, implying there will be information about a live gig, tempting them further into buying the magazine.

The masthead would attract my audience because it’s made up of curvy, girly font. Also, it is red, which is a colour that stands out a lot. As the red colour of the masthead stands out is the largest piece of text on the front cover, this will grab their attention, especially if it’s placed on a shelf in a store amongst many other magazines.

The layout is simplistic and easy to follow, which would attract my audience as it will not be crammed with images and text and therefore things would be easier to find. I find that a magazine that has pages (especially the front cover) filled with a large amount of text and images is off-putting, as it looks untidy and is hard to find things.

The main elements of my magazine that I have used to attract my predominantly female audience are a fun looking, female band (Betty Chicago) and feminine fonts and colours.

My initial audience research impacted on my decisions on how to target my audience as I found out that a lot of people like indie music, which also relates to the fact that my audiences prefers indie bands, as opposed to artists from other music genres, so by using a popular music genre it will attract more buyers. I priced my magazine at £2.50 ($4.01), as when carrying out audience research I found out that my audience would be happy to pay between £2-£3 for a magazine. I also found out that the main cover story and pictures, featured bands and artists and interviews were elements of a magazine that attracted them to buying it the most. Therefore, I included a picture (Betty Chicago, who are an all-girl band) on the front cover that would attract a predominantly female audience, along with a headline that showed that the magazine includes an exclusive behind the scenes article about them and a list of popular indie bands and artists (Arcade Fire, The Gossip, Darwin Deez)


The audience feedback has impacted my final outcome a lot. After the first draft of my front cover, contents page and double page spread I created a blog poll for my audienceto vote on in terms of what they thought of it. They could vote either 'amazing', 'good', 'It's OK', 'bad' or 'awful'.


For my first front cover draft, I got a very negative response. Some people voted 'It's OK', but most people voted either 'bad' or 'awful'. Obviously, my front cover did not appeal to my target audience. So, I created a second draft, but once again I got a negative response with some people voting either 'It's OK' or 'awful' and most people voting 'bad'. There was something very wrong, so instead of making a 3rd draft straight away, I interviewed a member of my target audience to see what was going wrong. The interview really helped, as the interviewee was really honest. The member of my audience particularly didn't like what I had done to the image on the front cover. She didn't like that I had my front cover photo in black and white and the models cut out of the original background and instead put on a grey background, as she found it looked boring and didn't stand out. And she didn't like the way I faded the image in the second draft. Another thing she didn't like was the text and font. She thought there was too much text and too many fonts. Therefore, I took all of this information into account and started from scratch. I started by changing the colour scheme completely because obviously my original colour scheme of white, black, grey and pink just wasn't working, so I changed it to red, black and white, which is a very complimentary colour scheme that is commonly used in music magazines. Then I scrapped the idea of having the main image in black and white and putting it on a grey background and instead kept the image in colour and kept the original background, which actually looks a lot better than my original idea, as it's a lot more colourful and eye catching. I cut back the amount of text by taking away all the headlines (apart from the main headline) and puffs, reducing it to only one headline with some text anchorage and a list of bands. I thought this looked a lot better, as it was neater and uncluttered. Once I was completely happy with the front cover, I posted another blog poll for my target audience to vote on. The response was a lot better, as my target audience voted either 'good' or 'amazing'!


For my first contents page I got a fairly positive response, as my target audience voted either 'It's Ok' or 'good', which showed me that they weren't completely satisfied. Therefore, I changed it a bit by putting the page categories in red box and changing the page numbers from black to red. The contents page looked good and stood out more by making these few adjustments. I then created another blog poll for my target audience to vote on, and the response had improved. Some people voted 'amazing' and some people voted 'good'. It got no negative reactions, which showed me my target audience was please with the outcome.


I immediately got a positive response from my target audience for my first draft of my double page spread, as when I posted a blog poll about it some people voted 'good' but most people voted 'amazing', which showed me that it really appealed to them. Therefore, I didn't feel the need to change anything.

4) Who would be your audience for your music magazine?

The core buyer for my magazine is going to be younger females interested in indie music, therefore I’m targeting quite a niche market. As the magazine is targeting females, a very large percentage of people buying the magazine. I think about 98% of buyers will be female, leaving 2% of buyers being male, who might just buy the magazine to read an article they’re interested in or for the freebies and special offers (e.g. poster especial). Their ethnicity would  most likely be British or American, as Britain and America are the places it would be largely distributed, but some may also be European. The age of my target audience would be 14 – 18, as the context of the magazine would appeal to a young audience, but not too young due to some of language and images used (e.g. it may have a few swear words).

When carrying out my audience research I found out that my target audience (young people) chose indie music as one of their favourite genres, therefore basing my magazine around the indie genre would make it more appealing to a younger audience. When asking the audience about their favourite magazine, a majority chose NME magazine, which is a mainstream magazine that features a lot about indie music. And when asking my audience about their favourite bands/artists, the majority chose Mumford & Sons and Kasabian, two bands associated with the indie genre. Also, when I completed the FindYourTribe questionnaire, it came back with the result ‘indie kid’, giving me a good idea of what appeals to ‘indie kids’ due to the questions that came up.

As my target audience is made up of young females interested in indie music, they would spend a lot of their time with their friends, doing various activities such as shopping at the trendiest shops (Topshop, Miss Selfridge, River Island), going to live gigs (big bands and local bands), going to the cinema and having sleepovers. Their lives are revolved around having a good time and their appearance(lacy tops, vintage dresses, patterned tights, natural-looking make-up, big hair etc) is heavily influenced by the indie style (quirky, fashionable). As they are young, they will be into the latest technology, preferring big brands such as Apple. They mainly spend their disposable income on music related products (CD’s, posters, band t-shirts, headphones). But when they’re not spending their money on music, something that they’re incredibly passionate about, they’re splashing out on clothes, accessories, make-up, entertainment (cinema, gigs) and gadgets. It’s incredibly important that they are the first to know about the hottest new bands, singles, albums and gossip (usually music related), as they constantly need something to stimulate them and something to talk about with their friends. They also need to know about the latest fashions and trends.

The socio-economic group that they would fall into is E, as they would be either unemployed or be casual labourers. In terms of psychographic profiling, my audience would be a mixture of explorers (someone desiring discovery, challenges and new experiences), as they would always be craving something new, mainly in terms of new bands and songs, which is why I have included pages in my magazine dedicated to upcoming bands and artists, music news and views, and recent films (review). They would also consist of aspires (a materialistic seeker of status), as their appearance, status and their material possessions mean a lot to them, which is why I thought it would be a good idea to insert adverts in my magazines for Topshop (very fashionable clothing company) and Schuh (popular, trendy shoe company). 

3) What kind of media institution might distribute your magazine and why?

Future PLC would be the institution to distribute my magazine, because when researching what type of magazines they publish I found that they appear to target a lot of niche markets. Their music magazines are usually based around guitars and rock music, so my magazine will fit nicely into their portfolio, as it’s based around indie music. However, Future PLC mainly targets a young male audience, so by introducing a magazine for a young female audience would be something different for them. Some of the niche market magazines that they distribute are Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Girl Gamer and Home Cinema Choice. Future PLC distribute quite a lot of rock magazines, therefore they will have a lot of experience in distributing this kind of magazine. A magazine institution that would definitely not distribute my magazine is H Bauer, as it only distributes magazines based around gossip, real-life stories and TV, therefore they would not have any experience in distributing a music magazine.

2) How does your music magazine represent particular social groups?

The social group I have represented in my magazine is ‘Indie kids’, which is a social group consisting of young, trendy adults who listen to indie music. I have particularly targeted females of this social group with use of characters, props and costume and colour. The mise-en-scene, particularly found in photos of Betty Chicago, represents young people because it has a house party setting and includes props which are associated with the younger, rebellious generation (alcohol and cigarettes). In all of my images young people of both genders are featured, all showing an indie style in terms of their appearance (clothing, hair style, make-up, accessories). Betty Chicago largely represent ‘indie kids’, because they are young and a dressed very fashionably and aspects of their clothing is fairly revealing (e.g. cut), which relates to the stereotype given to younger people. All of the images featured (apart from the one from the live gig) are very posed, and relate to the way young people are thought to pose; Betty Chicago are huddled very close together, and in one of their photos they have their legs up, showing a bit of flesh. The band in the picture at the top of the contents page are leaning against a wall and some of the members appear slightly slouched.  There isn’t a particular attitude coming across in my pictures, most images show the closeness of the bands.

1) In what ways does your music magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real music magazines?

 Title/masthead:

The name of my magazine is ‘Starling’, which I thought was quite catchy and sounds feminine. Also, the word ‘star’ relates to the fact that celebrities are also called ‘stars’, suggesting that the magazine will be filled with articles and information about famous musicians. My masthead consists of a simple font which I got from dafont.com. I chose this font because I thought it was simple yet effective and looked quite feminine. Although most magazines used uppercase lettering for their masthead, I have used lowercase, As my magazine is mainly aimed at a young female audience, and I think that using capitals for mastheads makes it look more masculine. I have chosen red for my masthead, as it stands out most against all the other colours of the front cover and makes it more eye catching. Also, the masthead is the biggest text on the page and is placed at the top of the front cover in the centre, and therefore follows codes and conventions. I was influenced by the masthead of Guitarist magazine, as when I looked at the masthead I found that although it's quite plain it still looks really nice - less is more! Also it stood out quite a lot due to the striking red colour.

My contents title is simply ‘Contents’, which follows codes and conventions as most magazines use this title. I have placed the title on the top left corner, which is again following conventions. The title consists of a bold front that I got from dafont.com. I chose this font because I knew I was going to place it on the top left corner of the page, and the style of the font makes it so that it almost frames the corner, which I thought makes it more interesting. I used black for the title, as black would stand out most against white and peach (my chosen colour scheme) background. The title is the largest, boldest piece of text on my contents page, which makes it clear it is the title and therefore follows conventions. 

The title used for my double page spread is the name of the band that the article is covering, and in my case it was Betty Chicago, a band that I made up for my magazine. I did this because I wanted to capture my audiences attention and make them want to read about the band and find out why they have been featured on the front cover. For the title I also used Betty Chicago’s band logo, to make it even more recognisable. I used red for the title/band logo, as it really stood out against the photo and was the brightest colour on the front cover and matched the colour of the masthead. Also, the red matched one of the band member’s headbands, which draws you in. The title is the largest piece of text on the double page spread, which follows codes and conventions.

Mise-en-scene of images:

The photo shoot took place in a friend’s garage. I chose this location because his garage was quite cluttered and a bit messy, which gave it quite a grungy atmosphere and represented the recklessness of the band. Also, he had a vintage car and spotlights in his garage. The idea of the photo shoot was it to look as if it had been shot at a house party, making the band (Betty Chicago) look fun and carefree, therefore appealing to a younger audience.  The lighting was quite dull, as the only source of light were the spotlights, which gave off a yellow hue, which I felt made the photos look really interesting. And the yellow hue makes it look more dated, which relates to the bands retro/vintage style. This reflects the indie rock genre of my magazine, as any rock genre is related to recklessness, rebellion and a happy-go-lucky attitude, and is therefore conventional.

I used a range of shot types (I used high angle, low angle, mid-shot, close-up) in order to experiment with which angle works best. For my front cover I used a mid-shot with both band members in. The one band member has her arm over the other, showing their closeness and their strong bond as a band. Also, both band members are looking straight ahead and smiling, which gives the audience the impression that they are directly looking at them and smiling, making them feel at ease and almost as ‘friends’ with the band. For the front cover image I have edited it in photoshop by increasing the contrast in lighting, making the shadows and highlights look bolder, which makes a photo more eye catching. Originally, I was going to put the photo in black and white and apply it to a grey background, but my audience didn't like this look, so I kept the image in colour, photoshopping it to make it look more professional and vintage. Having the photo in colour and keeping the original background turned out really well, and was more colourful and therefore would be more likely to grasp my target audience's attention.

For my contents page I used a various number of my own photos of bands, and one of my friend.  The top photo (labelled pg. 20) is a long-shot of a band, showing all band members looking directly at the camera, looking as though they are directly addressing the audience. The photo is quite bright and colourful, creating a laid-back feeling, and I edited it on photoshop by brightening the lighting and saturating the colour, in order to make it stand out more. This photo is meant to look like it’s from a professional band photo shoot, which follows conventions as many contents pages feature this kind of photo. The second photo (labelled pg. 8) is of Betty Chicago. I have used a close-up high angle, which created an interesting effect. Once again, the two band members are standing very close to each other, putting emphasis on their friendship. I have edited it on photoshop by increasing the contrast in lighting and saturating the colour, which makes it stand out more. I have also increased the yellow hue to increase the ‘dated’ effect I wanted for these photos. The next photo (labelled pg. 15) is a long-shot photo I took of local band during a live gig, which follows conventions as this type of photo is commonly used in music magazines, especially on contents pages, as it implies that the article will feature information about a live gig. For this photo I have photoshopped it by increasing the saturation, as I wanted to bring out the bright colours, making it stand out more. The last photo (labelled pg. 31) is a high angle close-up shot of a friend, posing to be a music artist. For this photo I have photoshopped it by increasing contrast in lighting and saturating the colour, which makes it stand out more and makes it look more professional.

For my double page spread I have used a mid-shot featuring both members of Betty Chicago sitting on a vintage car. Both girls are looking straight ahead and smiling, which gives the audience the impression that they are directly addressing them, therefore following conventions. Also, their friendly expressions draw you in. Once again, both girls are posing very close to each other, showing their friendship and closeness. I have edited it on photoshop by increasing the contrast in lighting and saturating the colour, which makes it stand out more. I have also increased the yellow hue to increase the ‘dated’ effect I wanted, as it relates to their vintage/retro style. 

Costume and Props:

The costume I have used for Betty Chicago are themed on a retro/vintage style, which is why I have used items such as gold jewellery, a red headscarf, and a polka-dot dress. Also, the make-up relates to this style as I have applied eyeliner in a classy way (not thick like you would find in a heavy metal magazine).This style was heavily influenced by that of Amy Winehouse, which I have seen her follow this style in music magazines such as Spin, RollingStone and Mojo. This style follows conventions for the indie style, as it’s quite quirky and glamorous. 

The props I used for that photo shoot were beer bottles, wine glasses, cigarettes, an old car and a magazine. I used beer bottles, wine glasses and cigarettes in my photo shoot because I wanted to create the feeling of the band being at a house party. The old car was used to add the retro/vintage theme. And the magazine was used to make the band look as if they’re reading Starling magazine (I edited in the Starling masthead to the front cover), which encourages people to but the magazine as they know celebrities read it, and is also a popular technique used by magazine’s to promote themselves.

Bands and artists:

The bands and artists I have included are conventional for music magazines of my chosen genre, which is Indie. Bands that I have included such as The Gossip, Mumford & Sons and Florence & the Machine are heavily associated with the indie genre. On the front cover and double page spread I have included my own made up band, Betty Chicago, who are an indie band made up of two girls. This is challenging conventions of my genre, as most indie bands are made up of a group of men. I chose to do this because I want to capture the audience’s attention by featuring an out of the ordinary band, so they are introduced to something new and refreshing. Also, it links in with the fact that my magazine mainly targets females. On my contents page I have included two bands, made up of all males, and one male artist. I have featured the two male bands as this follows conventions of the indie genre, and will also gain the attention of the female audience as they would find the band members attractive. I have included one male artist, as this also follows conventions of the indie genre, as there are many male artists in the indie genre such as Frank Turner, Darwin Deez and Jamie T.

Written Content:

The general mode of address for my magazine is informal, as I am targeting a younger audience, therefore this mode of address would be the most appropriate.

For the front cover I have used the buzz word ‘exclusive’, which makes the reader want to read the interview as it shows them that the interview is exclusive to Starling magazine and they can’t find it anywhere else and therefore follows conventions. I included a list of bands and artists, which tempts the audience to buy the magazine, especially if the name of one of their favourite bands are included, this is also following conventions of a music magazine. Above the list of bands I included a '+' instead of the word 'plus', which made it look more interesting and it follows conventions. The main cover image is of Betty Chicago, therefore I have put the band’s name as the main headline, along with text anchorage that says ‘behind the scenes!’, which encourages the reader to read the article as it implies it will include "fly on the wall" type information, which would be particularly appealing as the reader would want to find out what really goes on behind the scenes. 

For the contents page I have categorised the page listings in terms of features, reviews and regulars. When labelling the pages, I have simply used the name of the band/artist featured on that page or the title of the article (e.g. ‘recent gigs’), which is unconventional, as usually the page labels include a phrase (not simply the band’s name) and then has a brief description of the article. I didn’t do this because I didn’t have enough room on my contents page, also I thought it would make it look a bit cluttered with text, and would ruin the simplistic look I had in mind. I have featured an editorial at the bottom of the contents page, which follows conventions. The editorial is the magazine editor’s note, telling the audience what’s in store and what the must-read articles are. My editorial starts off with ‘Hey guys!’, which shows that the editor if friendly and enthusiastic.  I have written the editorial using a very chatty, informal mode of address, as I wanted the reader to see the editor as their ‘friend’. Also, I have used words directly addressing the audience such as ‘you’. In order to appeal to the audience even more I have used words such as ‘awesome’ and ‘info’, which are words that younger people are likely to use.

Throughout the double page spread, I have used superlatives such as ‘phenomenal’, ‘electrifying’, and ‘infectious’ when describing Betty Chicago and their music, which boosts the band’s appeal, especially to the audience if they’re reading an article that compliments them in such a way. The article is written in a way that is typical to a music magazine, it’s informative and opinionative, but is written in an informal way, so it would still be interesting and interesting to read for the younger audience. At the start of the article I have used a drop-cap, which is a very common feature of magazines, and therefore follows conventions. Under the headline, I have included a textbox which includes a brief description of what the article is about, which is also conventional of a magazine. Finally, at the bottom left corner I have included a quotation from the main text, which is heavily conventional of magazines.

How the genre is reflected in my magazine:

On the front cover and contents page I have included lists of various indie bands, which makes it very clear what type of music my magazine is focusing on. Although Betty Chicago are styled with a vintage/retro theme, they still look like ‘indie girls’ as they dress very fashionably and have a quirky style. The contents page shows two bands consisting of boys, Betty Chicago and a male artist. Each has a very indie ‘look’. Also, the props in the picture labelled pg. 15 reflects indie music because it includes guitars, a microphone and a set of drums. The colour scheme of my double page spread (red, black, white) especially reflects the indie genre, as this colour scheme is used a lot when representing something that follows a rock genre, and indie is a type of rock genre.

Layout of front cover, contents page and double page spread:

I completely changed the layout 3 times throughout production, as the previous 2 layouts got negative feedback from my target audience. The previous 2 layouts had more headlines, puffs and lists of bands, but it just looked to cluttered so I cut down the amount of text quite dramatically. For the front cover I have used a large photo of Betty Chicago, which takes up the majority of the page and has the text placed around it, which follows conventions of magazines. Originally I was going to include two other smaller photos, but this ruined the classy, simplistic look I wanted for my front cover, therefore I did not include them. There is very little text on the front cover, as I wanted to keep it simple, and I had the idea to make it a special Betty Chicago edition, which is why there are lack of other headlines and puffs, but this type of layout really appealed to me and obviously appealed to my audience too, due to the positive feedback I got from my audience. I didn’t want a front cover full of various images and text, like Kerrang magazine, as I think it looks tacky. This layout was inspired by Clash magazine, as I loved the simplistic look, I think it looks a lot more professional and stands out more. Although there is more text than images, it balances out because the one picture I have used is quite large, which is a very conventional approach. Overall, my front cover follows conventions of a music magazine, as it includes a lot of text typically found on a front cover (masthead, headlines, text anchorage, lists of bands) and includes just one, large photo. 

My Contents page also follows a lot of conventions. It has the title at the top corner labelled ‘contents’, and has an editorial. The page listings are listed in categories (features, reviews, regulars), which is very conventional. However, it challenges conventions because the titles of the pages are simple, as they are either just the name of the band or a short title (e.g. ‘The Wombats’, or, ‘Tour dates’). I have done this because I only wanted to include a small amount of text. If I had followed conventions and included a brief description for the titles, I wouldn’t have had enough room and the page would look cluttered. Next to the page listings are pictures, each labelled with a page number, which follows conventions. Although there is more text than images on my contents page, it balances out because the text is quite small and the images are quite large. Especially the picture of Betty Chicago, which is the biggest picture on the page; this follows conventions because the picture related to the main article (usually featured on the front cover too)is the biggest picture on the page because it’s the article that the magazine wants you to read the most. I was inspired by Rock Sound magazine for this contents page layout.

On the double page spread the picture is the thing that dominates it, as it spans across both pages, and therefore follows conventions. I have not included any other images because I think that the large picture was enough. The main chunk of text follows the shape of the picture, which is eye catching and also follows conventions. I have included a title at the top corner (the band’s name) with a brief description of the article directly underneath. At the bottom left corner is a quotation from the main text of the article, which also follows conventions. I have placed the text in a way so that it does not look overcrowded and does not overlap the two band members in the picture, making it look neater. Overall, I have included quite a small amount of text, as some magazine double page spreads have quite a lot of text as it could feature an interview or just a larger article. I didn’t want to do this because I think it looks too crowded and overwhelming; I much prefer the simplistic look. This idea was inspired by the double page spread below.

Conclusion:

Overall, I have mostly followed the conventions of a music magazine as my main aim was to make the magazine look as much like a real music magazine as possible, and making it look more professional and high quality. I think my audience would be more likely to purchase my magazine if it had a very simple, neat finish, as this looks more professional as opposed to a magazine with pages packed with images and text. I also followed conventions with the intentions to satisfy audience expectations, as readers usually prefer familiarity, instead of something a lot different which they won’t be able to understand or navigate around as well. I have only challenged conventions in minor ways, such as not including a brief description of articles on the page listings on the contents page. Also, this music magazine is specifically targeted at young females interested in indie music, therefore targeting more of a niche market.