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.
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 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.
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