Evaluation

Before choosing which images to select for my project, I took a number of pictures so I had a choice. There was a lot of deliberation in which image was best for ideal magazine I was trying to create. I wanted the model to be looking at the camera for the front cover to establish a relationship and understanding of my Indie demographic. The front cover of my magazine was edited several times before I decided on my final cover image. Likewise, the small feature images were also important, I needed the right image, and so made sure I had at least two shots of each model so I could decide which to use.

The masthead of my magazine is in a quirky, and simple, unlike most magazines in the market, it isn’t just blacked capitals, it’s softer than most magazines. Because this font is different than conventional music/any magazines alike, it makes the audience exclusive.

The dateline/issue number/price is in a simple font, this information goes unnoticed by most magazine consumers because it’s ‘unimportant’ in terms of audience appeal.

The Selling-Line reads ‘All the latest from Indie music before it gets mainstream’- The Indie demographic tend to like the ‘niche-ness’ of the Indie music genre, and so rebelling against ‘mainstream’ music will be appealing to this audience.

An ‘Exclusive’ interview with Ellie Goulding (A well established UK Indie artist) will be interesting to Indie music audiences, as they will most likely follow her music.

This is a featuring article/cover line. It is clear this isn’t the main article by its positioning to the side, the side of the model credit/quote of ‘Ariella’. I tried to stick to three fonts on my front page so the page didn’t become cluttered. The accompanying picture of ‘Josie Mills’ is supposed to seem vintage, as this is the appeal of my magazine. I lowered the saturation to make the picture more of a sepia effect like the main image, this way my magazine keeps continuity with this vintage/indie appeal.

This is the ‘competition’ aspect to my magazine, adding suspense, and also incorporating this competition with a well known indie/folk band (Mumford).

From my research/planning, I knew that an important factor to Indie music is it’s featuring at festivals. So I incorporated this into my magazine ‘Top 5 festivals to attend this year” so customers would buy the magazine, and read up about the magazines recommendation of the top 5 music festivals. The outdoors picture by this feature gives a festival appeal, especially the trilby hat (staple item for festivals) and also the acoustic guitar which is a key instrument to Indie music. Again, the colour brown/orange is used-my colour scheme was grey/orange-brown/red and because these are vintage and subtler, apart from the red which offers a modern twist…reviving vintage is a very Indie idea, I combined this with modern appeals i.e. the collaboration with modern artists (Ellie Goulding and Mumford and Sons) and the vintage notions of the main sepia pictures being enhanced by stand-out red lips.

Like the ‘Josie Mills’ feature, the Jake DeRand is a feature (and also filling the ‘left third’ of the magazine) , but not the main feature. I needed a boy and girl feature so my magazine isn’t bias, although as mentioned in my planning my magazine is aimed at perhaps more girls than boys, the Indie genre is more associated for girls. The caption ‘Indignant’s new crush…’ makes the magazine personal, it’s acknowledging a sex appeal/ celebrity ‘crush’, and using this to sell the magazine. The picture of ‘Jake DeRand’ seems personal, he is looking head-on at the camera in an eye-line match. The border is the same border as the festival picture, again keeping continuity and an on-going colour scheme to my magazine. All the models chosen for my magazine had a specific ‘look’- Jake in particular looks rugged (facial hair), quirky (from his vintage short back and sides haircut) and carefree from his casual pose and outdoor setting.

The main image of my front cover is simple, yet the way I edited it makes it stand out, so although the sepia/black and white image is surrounded by coloured images, the way I enhanced it, in particular the red lips, still makes it the dominating picture of the magazine. The diagonal cover line with the name of the main feature and a quote is the biggest piece of font (besides the masthead), and its position makes it seem put perhaps accidently across the front page, with gives a subtle sign of rebellion. The font seems as though it’s been done on a type-writer which goes with my ‘vintage appeal’ . My plan was to have a black and white image as the main image because it’s unusual for magazines, it makes the magazine unique, exclusive, and edgy.

I used to same main front as the masthead on the front cover on my magazine so consumers recognise they are linked.

A quotation from part of the double page spread is an expected feature, usually the enlarged text is the most important, or most relevant to the article. In this case I chose a quote from the feature artist which to me is inspiring and also says something about the character of my feature.

The pictures are different pictures than used on the front cover/contents page to show variety, and also a professional quality to my magazine, as if my pictures were all similar it would lower the quality. The pictures are all different, different angles/lighting/settings, as typically a magazine would have varies images perhaps indicating the fame of an artist because of the different photo shoots/outfits.

I included the website/Smartphone app part to appeal to gadgeteers or people who’d rather have a digital copy of my magazine.

A note from the editor gives a more personal feel to my magazine, making it seem as though the editor and everyone behind the magazine actually cares. The font is again the same as the masthead to show a recurring theme.

The font is again the same, as this is the ‘title’ of the contents page it seemed relevant to use the same font as the masthead. The colours of the feature column are black, white, brown and red as this is the colour scheme I have chosen.

The only pictures on my features page are the three main articles, my theme being ‘hot young things’. I lowered the contrast of the pictures to make them softer and more vintage looking.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My chosen audience and music genre was Indie. I chose Indie because it was the genre I knew most about, and also, the preferred genre of most of my friends and my peers who answered my questionnaire. The way I have presented the Indie music genre is, hopefully, as a niche and exclusive market, who are very specific about what music they like. From my Indie market/music research, I knew Indie was quite selective, freelancing, ‘against the man’ kind of music, and so my magazine had to appeal to that clientele. I think the models I selected looks as though they could be indie musicians. In my magazine I also used celebrity endorsement of existing Indie musicians (Ellie Goulding) because I knew they were well known Indie musicians, so incorporating them shows my knowledge of the Indie market, and also credits my magazine. I didn’t want to be stereotypical, so my models are varied, the girls in particular, though both having an ‘Indie’ look, are very different from each other, which means I haven’t specified or discriminated what I deem Indie to be. My male model has almost a ‘classic’ indie look, his vintage hair cut and roughed appeal is conventional of perhaps the 1970’s…my magazine is supposed to have a vintage feel which is common amongst Indie music because of it’s stripping back of background vocals/techno/computer generated sound and having more of an acoustic/natural sound.

What kind of media institution mind distribute your product and why?

The kind of media institution that may distribute my magazine if my magazine existed would be a smaller, but established institution such as WHSmiths. My magazine is not the kind of magazine aimed at a very wide and known audience, and therefor wouldn’t be stocked in supermarkets. As said in planning, the black and white cover page could be a recurring convention, so every issue of my magazine had the main image in black and white, and therefor the exclusiveness of my magazine would become it’s selling point. I like the idea that my magazine would only be able to be found in certain stockists, and this would encourage people to subscribe to it online or via a smartphone app. I like the route of an online magazine, as technology is changing in a few more years people won’t be buying newspapers or magazines because then can download it online and save: paper, time and money. If my magazine was just an online magazine it be in collaboration with social networking such as twitter and facebook, my magazine would freely advertise their sites in exchange for sponsorship.

How did you address your audience?

I tried to address my audience with a personal appeal and also with specific knowledge of my audience. I wanted my audience to be a niche audience to coincide with the niche indie market. I knew Indie music followers are not the typical music lovers, their genre is specific and so my magazine is specific. I like to think I addressed colloquial appeal, and showing a real passion for Indie music.

I also tried to show an understanding of my audience, this showing in my model choices, font choices, editing choices, colour choices.

What have you learnt in the process of constructing this product?

In the making process of my magazine I have learnt a lot about the Indie music genre, I have also learnt a lot about general magazine layouts, and all the features that have to be included in a magazine e.g. fonts, pictures, writing approaches…I have learnt how crucial planning and research are to any product, without my extensive research into existing magazines and music genres, I wouldn’t have come out with my final product.

Looking back at your preliminary project, what do you feel you have learnt from it to the full progression of your final product?

I think mainly I have learnt to use a software I understand, my preliminary project was constructed with InDesign, I wasn’t completely familiar with this programme and so didn’t reach my products full potential as I did using publisher. I feel my eye for photography, layout, and especial y colour schemes has improved, my preliminary project is a very simple concept of a magazine, whereas I think my final product does has a professional appeal. I have learnt to manage my time, I made sure all my photographs were taken before I started to put my magazine together, I didn’t want to be chopping and changing, and so after creating my ‘mock up’ I knew roughly what I wanted.