This is a link to my finished magazine contents page https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1M_7vjfm84ZYzcxYzY3M2ItZTBhOS00YTRlLTlhMTctODJmYzk4NDAyOGQ5&hl=en_GB
This is a link to my finished magazine double page spread https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1M_7vjfm84ZZDEyNGU4ZTgtMmQwOC00ZTY1LWE4OTEtOTY0Mjg3YjgzYWFl&hl=en_GB
For my magazine i used some things that are similar to NME and Q because they have similar target audiences and are proven to appeal to them. things like my sub headings being contrasting colours to a block colour background like NME does, also like NME, i used bright solid colours. I liked the blue and white so i used those. I did this because it stands out and appeals to my target audience by giving them something nice to look at, it also makes reading the magazine easier if it looks good. A large masthead that is square is also something i took from both NME and Q. It is placed in the top left hand corner like in the two magazines as i think it looks better and more unique than just a title across the top of the page.
My media product uses similar conventions to other magazines while also challenging some. The mast head is in the top, there is one large image of a band or artist making eye contact with the camera and is the main focal point. The sub headings are on either side of the image as to not cover it up. The main heading is at the bottom of the photo in the centre and relates to the image it self. These are all similarities to music magazines and differences to other types of magazines which make it stand out and give it individuality. The main article challenges music magazine conventions as it is quite plain and the text is not gridded as much as most other magazines. it is similar in the way that it has a main image on one page and a smaller one embedded into the main body of the article.
The images and language used in my magazine are used to represent the target audience and social groups that would read this magazine. The images are of an indie, young male that contrast with the plain backgrounds, the articles and gigs listed are about artists that belong to the indie genre of music. Because this all is a part of the indie social group they can relate to it and let it represent them. The language is humorous and light hearted which suggests its for the younger generations but doesn't limit it to them. I don't think it represents any particular race or gender as anyone can be in the indie culture and like this type of music and style.
Elicit Music magazine could be stocked in any newsagents as it appeals to quite a large social group and therefore would be popular in bigger stores like WH Smiths. People like WH Smiths would stock it because of the money it could generate and it would fit it in the music section next to NME and Q. Other smaller independant news agents and music stores would find appeal in my magazine as it's eye catching and while it fits into any standard magazine section of a shop it would also jump out and get the attention of customers. IPC media might consider publishing the magazine because it handles a lot of different kinds of magazines and also ones similar to Elicit Music Magazine, like NME. This would mean it would fit in with the repertoire of magazines already being published by ICP Media while also differentiating it from competitors and resulting in high sales and prestige for ICP media. http://www.ipcmedia.com/. Also the publishers of Q might consider publishing my magazine as Q was a big influence in my magazine and Bauer Media Group deal with large scale publishing that would get my magazine widely distributed. While also dealing with Q they publish magazines like Kerrang and Empire which appeal to similar target audiences and would fit in nicely with them. Also they have radio stations under their control which could be used to promote my magazine.
The audience for Elicit Music would be anyone interested in the indie scene. People who listen to the music in the magazine and have the style ad culture of the people pictured in it. I covered most of this in a previous blog Target Audiences; http://sdcmediaasmorgangrant.blogspot.com/2009/10/target-audience.htmlarget-audience.html. The statistics in that blog represent the audience for the two magazines I looked and are derived from the information provided by the publishers. http://www.ipcadvertising.com/resource/va34k21vlftw4bazqkkngv6f.pdf1vlftw4bazqkkngv6f.pdf
To attract my audience I used magazine conventions to make it look professional while also challenging some to make it stand out. Specifically the masthead i used was used to attract the audience as it reflected the genre of indie by being two different, unique fonts that contrasted each other, one being elongated with thick short lettering in a font that makes it look like its been hand drawn and the other being more elegant and taller with less space in between the letters in a font that is more classy.
The sub headings are, like in NME, solid coloured average fonts with a solid contrasting background to make it stand out more. They are also not straight like you would expect a magazine to be like. This is to add uniqueness and reflect the genre of the music inside and also the culture of the people that would buy it. It attracts the audience by making it stand out and look different and kooky.
All the images in my magazine are in black and white. The front cover (Pictured) image was modified to make it look more indie and reflect the target audience while the rest of the images were not changed to reflect the more natural nature of the photos and to make it look indie by making them just raw photography and no editing. This all attracts the target audience by letting them relate to the subject in the photos, who obviously has an indie style and culture about them, and allows them to be more enticed to the magazine by the contrast between colourless photos and colourful text.
The language and layout of the whole magazine reflect the target audience and therefore make it so they can relate to the magazine and are far more likely to buy the magazine. The front cover's layout is like a NME front cover and i did this because NME is an established name and the magazine layout is proven to work, as well as aspects of Q are used for the same reason. The colour contrasts attract the eye of the audience and make it stand out amongst so many other magazines in a shop. The layout of the main article is used to relate to the target audience as well. It is basic and quite plain with only a splash of colour that matches that on the front cover and contents page. I used a simple layout for the article as i think that my target audience would appreciate the fun, kooky style to the magazine but that it might get annoying if it took away from the article and what the magazine is ultimately about; music. This allows the reader to read the article and enjoy the content which relates to the reader as they are very interested in music and want to get up to date news on their favorite artists.
The language throughout is fun and different to show the individuality the magazine has and that reflects the readers as they are all indie and appreciate different but fashionable trends. It has a more humorous tone throughout than many other music magazines. This allows the reader to enjoy the content and not get bogged down as it were in trying to read through very heavy content. The way its written all the way through the magazine is much like that of NME as it has colourful, fun, bubbly writing that sounds almost like a friend is just telling it to you.
From the process of constructing this product I've learnt a lot about photoshop and InDesign as i was using it for 3 hours a week for a while and got used to using the programs and what they could do. Both sets of software both allowed me to do things i had ideas about but also restrict me from getting some of my ideas on to the magazine. For my mast head i wanted to add to separate fonts to make a logo and Indesign allowed me to group the two fonts into a single logo that i could copy and paste. For my article i wanted odd shaped boxes for the text to go in, like what it looks like now. I wanted to be able to draw the shapes with a single tool but i had to do it with the line drawing tool which meant that it was hard trying to get it all to line up properly. Also i wanted the text to fill the boxes but text boxes only come in square so i had to do lots of text boxes so it looked like one continuous article. It just took a longer time than it should have. Photoshop also allowed me to edit my photos to the extend i wanted to make it look more indie which really help the overall look to my front cover.
After looking back at the preliminary task i feel like I've improved my design skills, such as colours used are far more effective in my music magazine. Image editing in the preliminary task were nil and doing that on my music magazine really improved the visuals of the front cover. The background colours of my magazine are much better now than they were then. I think just finding more inventive ways to do things like the sub headings and mast head improved over the period between both magazine. I think that my use of language has improved, i didn't really think about how i wrote on the preliminary task i worried more about what i would write and i think this changed a lot in my music magazine as i thought about what and how i should write every bit of text. The whole overall product is better quality because I planned everything more thoroughly. The use of images, language, layout, colour and magazine conventions were better understood by me and that improved the way i thought about and approached making my magazine.
I made some changes to my magazine in between the finished product and producing my flat plans. On the front cover and the article it was about a band called The Scene with 3 members. I thought it was far more indie and i could experiment with far more shots if i only had a single artist. Also it would make the article easier to write as i wouldn't have to try and fit 3 peoples opinions in a single answer. I also think that its more indie to be a solo artist trying to brake into the indie scene. Also in my contents page flat plan it says that a different artist 'Nathan Hide' needs you and i changed it to The Scene needs you which i think gave more of an identity to my band and also i could get more photos of my subject playing The Scene so could get a more suited photo. Also Nathan who was going to play Nathan Hide doesn't photo as indie as George.
This is a link to a presentation I created to illustrate the similarities and why these occur of my magazine to that of NME.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1M_7vjfm84ZNTZiNzA5NDEtY2IyNS00NzUzLWEwNmMtMTZhY2I4NjMzOTBh&hl=en_GB
This is a link to a video of the presentation with me explaining it. The video has no audio if you open it with certain programs. Quick time player definitely works.
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1M_7vjfm84ZYzg0Y2FiNDEtZDg2OS00NzI5LWEyMzctMDZiNmJjNDAxOWRh&hl=en_GB
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