AS  Media  Studies  Music  Magazine  

Henry  Wallis  

 PLANNING  &  RESEARCH  

 With  the  increasing  rise  of  technological  ability  and  usage  within  today’s  world  more   and  more  magazines   are   falling  under,  with   only   some  managing   to   stay  afloat  as  an  online  publication.  Because  of  this  it  is  very  important  to  be  offering  a,   not   necessarily   new,   but   original  product   if   you  want   to   stay   relevant   in  physical   magazine   publishing.   One  magazine   that   I   find   does   exactly   this,  and  the  only  that  I  still  regularly  read,  is  Clash   Magazine.   Without   even  considering   the   content,   judging   the  ‘book’   by   its   cover,   it   is   clear   the   first  time  you  see  Clash  on  a  shelf   it   is  different   from  any  other  magazine  offered  in  most  newsagents.  First  off   it   relies  a   lot  more  on   the  appeal  of   its   cover   image  than  anything  written  on  it  to  sell;  although  the  covers  are  usually  just  bands  or  artists   there   is   a   strong   modern,   artistic   edge   appealing   to   an   ever   growing  crowd   of   creative   individuals,   and   those   in   to   underground   music   and   art.  

Disregarding   the   attractive   imagery   the   feel  and   even   the   shape   of   the   magazine   drag   me  towards   Clash   over   any   other   magazine;  instead   a   glossy   paper   magazine   Clash   has  opted   for   a,   almost   matt,   card   cover   and   thin  cardstock   pages,   giving   the   whole  magazine   a  nice   and   unique   feel   to   it.   It   is   also   slightly  smaller  than  most  magazines,  again  giving  it  an  exclusive,  distinctive  look  amongst  publications  on  a  newsagent’s  shelf.  Once  you’ve,  inevitably,  decided  to  pick  up  Clash  and  look  at  it,  you  will  be   exposed   to   reviews   and   articles   about   the  very   latest  music   in   just   about   any   genre   you  can  think  of.  What  I  love  about  clash  is  that,  like  any   magazine,   it’s   the   people   I   already   know  that   make   me   want   to   buy   it   but   there   is   so  much  more  to  discover.  

 For  my   own  magazine   I  want   to   create   something  with  my   own   originality   as  Clash  have  done,  but  without  completely  ripping  off  their  style  and  selling  points.  To  determine   the   interests  of  my   target  audience   I  have  created  a  mood  board  showcasing   brands,   films   and  miscellaneous   objects   I   think   the   kind   of   person  that  would   read  my  magazine   is   interested   in.   An   important   note   is   that   I   am  creating   a   magazine   that   I   would   want   to   read,   filled   with   things   that   would  appeal  to  people  who  share  the  same  interests  as  me.      

         

 If   not   apparent   from   my   mood   board   the  kind  of  music  I  would  be  featuring  would  all  be   very   modern   underground   music,  focusing   on   hip-­‐hop,   dance   music   and  rock/indie.    The  mood  board  I’ve  created   is  a  mixture  of  media   and   products   that   interest   me   and  would   be   the   kind   of   things   that   would   be  featured   or   advertised  within  my  magazine.  The   films   and   albums   included   are   just  examples   of   the   sort   of   things   my   ideal  audience   would   be   interesting,   they   don’t  have   to   like   the   exact   things   I   have   used.  With   the   products   I’ve   put   on   to   my   mood  board   I   am   trying   to   convey   appeal   to   a  young,   trendy   audience   with   an   interest   in  music,  art  and  technology.    

For  the  images  used  in  my  magazine  I  want  there  to  be  a  strong  focus  on  art  not  just  who  is  in  the  photo.  Because  of  this  I  will  be  editing  the  photos  I  choose  to  use  a  lot  as  well  as  adding  graphics  to  and  manipulating  them  in  photoshop.  For  my  cover  image  I’m  going  to  use  a  close  up  of  someone’s  face  so  that  the  clothes  or  posture  of  the  person  don’t  distract  from  the  editing  of  the  photo  and  look  of  the  magazine.  As  for  text  on  the  cover,  I  want  to  keep  it  as  minimal  as  possible,  again  not  to  distract  from  the  image.  I  will,  obviously,  have  the  magazine  name  at  the   top  but  other   than   that   there  will   just  be   the   title  of   the  main  article,  quite  small  by   the   side,   and  a   footer  of   some  other   features  bands/artists.  As   I  want  everything   to   look   aesthetically   pleasing   I   don’t   want   to   over   complicate   the  contents  page  with   lots   of   images,   especially   in   the  background.   I  will   create   a  simple  pattern  or   graphic   to  use   for   the  background   then  will   only  have  a   few  photos   under   some   items  within   the   contents,   all   of  which  will   still   be   edited.  Keeping  with  idea  of  my  magazine  being  as  much  about  the  look  as  the  content,  one  whole  side  of  my  double  page  spread  will  be  an  image,  the  other  will  be  the  title   and   the   article.   I   don’t  want   the   photos   to   look   like   they’re   from   a   set   up  photoshoot  so  I  will  be  using  a  photo  of  my  model  in  a  regular  situation  such  as  sitting  at  a  table  or  walking  outside.  Overall  the  look  and  feel  I  want  to  achieve  with  my  magazine   is  a  clean,   fashionable  and  artistic  one.  One  that  contains  all  the  content  you  would  want  from  a  music  publication,  but  also  offers  the  chance  to   own   a   piece   of   art.   Due   to   the   nature   of  my  magazine   I   wont   need   to   take  extremely  professional  looking,  glamorous,  photos.  This  doesn’t  mean,  however,  I   will   just   be   using  my   phone   to   take   photos  with,   I   will   still   use   high   quality  camera.  

The  product  I  am  going  to  create  is  a  modern,  simple  -­‐  yet  interesting,  edgy,  art  influenced  magazine   catering   to   people  with   interests   in   varying   underground  music.   If   I   follow   the   plan   I   have   made   myself   this   should   be   fairly  straightforward  to  achieve.  For   my   cover   image   I   have  taken  a  close  up  of  my  model  with   his   hands   covering   his  face.  This  is  because  I  wanted  quite   a   plain   photo   that   I  could   edit   heavily,   moving  the   focus   from   the   actual  photo   to   the   look   of   the  magazine.  The  face  his  hands  are   covering   his   face   add  mystery   to   the   featured  article.    

 As  for  my  double  page  spread  photo  I  obviously  didn’t  want  the  face  covered  again  as  the  article   should   be   answering  questions   not   continuing   the  mystery.   I   still   want   to   edit  the  photo  a   lot   to   continue  a  look   that   will   be   set   by   the  cover.   This   is  why   the   photo  is  still  quite  plain,  there’s  not  a  lot  going  inside  the  frame.    

 Photos   used   on   contents   page:                                        

                                                                                                 

                                                                                                 

                                                                                                 

                                                                               

       

Evaluation    

After  completing  my  magazine  and  reading  over  the  planning  I  made  for  it,  I  can’t  see  anything  that  went  wrong  or  not  according  to  what  I  wanted  to  achieve.    I  adopted  the  title  ‘Disorder’  for  my  magazine  from  the  Joy  Division  track  of  the  same  name.  I  felt  that  if  I  was  making  a  music  magazine  about  music  I  enjoy  then  I  should  name  it  after  my  favourite  song.  For   the   cover   of   my  magazine   I   kept  with   the  plan   I   wanted   of   have   a  close   up   of   my   models  face.  As  you  can  see  I  took  the   idea   of   wanting  minimal   distraction   from  the   artwork   even   further  by   using   a   photo   where  the   face   was   being  covered   by   his   hands.   I  think   that,   even   if   I   had  just   used   the   original  photo,   the   fact   you   can’t  see   the   models   face   will  draw   in  a   lot  of  potential  reader  because   there   is  a  large   feeling   of   mystery  drawing   them   in   to   find  out   more.   As   the   look   of  the   magazine   is   very  important   to   my   I   have  set   the   colour   scheme,  that   runs   through   all   the  pages   I   have   created,  straight   away   on   the  cover.  Another  Thing  that  runs   throughout   the  pages   I   have   produced   is   the   halftone   pattern   effect   I   have   layed   over   all   the  images  and  backrounds  on  each  page.  This  effect  creates  a  nice  vintage  feel  to  the  magazine,  almost  as   if   it  had  been  printed  by  hand.  Throughout  the  magazine  I  have  only  used  shades  of  grey  and  small  bits  of   red   to  highlight  certain   text  or  images.  This  is  to  keep  the  simple,  easy  on  the  eye  feel  to  my  publication.  I  didn’t  want   to   overload   every   page   with   various   colours   that   could   prove   to   be  confusing,   I   wanted   to   keep   each   page   clean,   easy   to   follow   and   very  recognisable.  Because  the  image  makes  it  hard  to  identify  who  the  main  feature  is  about,  and  there  could  be  some  people  who  havent  heard  of  him,   I  needed  a  way   to   let   people   know  what   else  was   in   the  magazine   but  without   adding   to  much  writing  or  any  more  images  to  the  cover.  I  achieved  this  by  simple  adding  a  

footer   containg   the   name   of   some   relatively   big   bands   and   artists   so   the  magazine   will   sell.   For   my   masthead   font   I   wanted   something   quite   bold   but  something  very  minimal  and  simple.  Although  the  font  I  used  is  very  basic  I  think  it   works   very   well   in   the   context   of   my   magazine.   If   you   havent   noticed   yet,  magazine   I   have   created   is   a   very   exclusive   publication.   There   isn’t   a   lot   of  advertisement  –  or  writing  at  all  –  on  the  cover.  This  means  people  will  have  to  know  about  the  magazine  and  go  looking  for  it  in  a  shop.  All  those  bright  colours  I  used  won’t  attract  many  people  who  arent  looking  for  it.      For  my  contents  page  I  didn’t  want  to  have  anything  too  hard  to  follow  or  to  fill  it  with  a  lot  of  pointless  photos.  I  obviously  wanted  it  to  look  nice  and  fit  the  theme  of  my  magazine  but   I  wanted   it   to  do  what   it   has   to,   inform   the   reader,   in   the  

simplest   way   possible.   For   the  background   I   wanted   to   keep   the  theme  I  had  created  with  my  cover  but  without   using   a   photo   that   would  distract   from   the   contents   text.   To  achieve   this   I   used   a   small   section   of  the  halftone  pattern  I  overlayed  on  my  cover   photo,   tiling   it   using   different  sized   rectangles   of   the   pattern.   I   then  duplicated  the   layer  various  times  and  warped  them  in  different  way  creating  the,  almost  psycadelic,  background  you  can   see   on  my   contents   page.   For   the  title   on  my   contents   page   I  wanted   to  make  it  easy  to  tell  that  it  was  from  the  same  magazine,   giving   the  whole  page  the   same   feel   as  my   cover.   Because   of  this   I   used   the   same   font   on   filters   on  the   text   ‘Contents’   as   I   did   with  ‘Disorder’.  Not  only   is   it   the  same   font  it   is   also   red,   keeping   with  my   colour  scheme   of   shades   of   grey   and  

highlights  of  red.  Keeping  with  this  colour  scheme  I  also  overlayed  all  the  photos  I  used  with  red  so  they  wouldn’t  stick  out  being  the  only  thing  in  the  colour  they  should   be.   I   also   overlayed   halftone   versions   of   the   photos   over   the   original,  making  sure  everything  within  my  magazine  fits  to  the  theme  and  look  I  created  for  it.  With  social  networking  growing  all  the  time  I  thought  it  would  be  suitable  to  include  links  to  a  facebook  and  twitter  page  within  my  magazine;  the  contents  page  I  created  seemed  to  be  the  perfect  place  to  include  these.      As  the  double  page  spread  is  the  largest  canvas  I  have  to  work  with  –  so  to  speak  –   I  wanted   to  make   the  photo   I  used   look  as  good  as  possible.  There   is  a   lot  of  editing  used  on  this  photo,  as  you  can  tell  if  you  look  at  the  original.  I  edited  the  cigar   in   to  his  hand  and  smoke  coming   from  his  mouth   to  create   the   ‘gangster’  image   im   trying   to   portray.   I   impressed   myself   with   how   well   the   cigar   and  smoke   looks   having   been   edited   in   over   the   top   of   the   original   photo.   After  

already   deciding   the   colours   and   feel   I   wanted   to   run   through   the   magazine,  choosing  how  I  wanted  the  double  page  spead  to  look  was  fairly  easy.  As  with  the  images  on  the  cover  and  within  the  contents  I  overlayed  a  halftone  version  of  the  photo   over   the  original,   however  on   this   page   the  halftone  pattern   is  a   lot   more  prominent   -­‐     even  more   so   than   the  original   photo.   I  never   originaly  intended   to   have,  practically,   just  the  halftone  image  on   show.   During  experiments   with  blending   modes  and   the   opacity   of  the   layer   I  stumbled  across  what   you   can   see  on  my   final  double  page   spread.   I   think   the  slight  difference  in  style  works  well  within  the  magazine,  it  demostrates  that  not  every  page  of  every  issue  would  be  exactly  the  same.  However,  I  didn’t  want  to  completely  discard  the  theme  I  had  created  for  my  magazine.  This  is  why  I  think  this  page  works  so  well.  Although  it  is  different  to  the  cover  and  contents  pages,  because  there  isn’t  really  an  actual  photo,  the  main  componants  that  would  make  my   publication   recognisable   are   still   there.   There   is   the   halfton   version   of   the  image  and  the  colours  are  mostly  shades  of  grey  with  small  bits  of  red.    The  front  cover  of  my  magazine  would  be  very  unfamiliar  if  you  were  only  used  to  the  glossy  magazines  found  in  every  roadside  garage  and  WHSmiths.  There  is  a  certain  lack  of  advertisement  about  what  is  inside  the  issue  on  the  cover  but  this  is  all  deliberate.  I  didn’t  want  to  cover  up  the  cover  image  I  had  created  with  loads  of  text  and  banners  because  I  wanted  the  main  focus  to  be  on  the  photo.  Although  this  is  a  very  different  technique  to  a  lot  of  big  magazines  it  is  very  similar  to  the  approach  Clash  Magazine,  who  I  studied  in  my  research,  take  with  their  magazine  covers.  As  for  the  contents  page  and  the  double  page  spread  my  magazine  keeps  quite  well  to  the  structure  you  would  expect  from  any  magazine.  The  contents  page  is  two  columns  listing  what  is  featured  within  the  magazine,  including  photos  for  some  articles.  The  double  page  also  doesn’t  differ  much  from  what  can  be  seen  in  most  magazine;  a  large  image  of  the  person  being  featured  and  the  article  on  the  opposite  page.  The  look  of  my  magazine,  in  my  opinion,  crosses  between  representing  multiple  social  groups.  The  bright,  busy,  colourful  text  and  banners  seen  plastering  a  lot  of  magazines  has  been  replaced  by  darkness,  empty  space  and  lots  of  grey.  Upon  the  description  and  first  look  at  the  magazine  –  especially  the  cover  –  it  starts  to  come  across  as  quite  a  clean  cut,  classy  magazine,  not  using  colour  to  try  appeal  to  an  audience.  However,  the  features  and  actual  photos  are  all  based  around  a  young  audience  that,  maybe,  aren’t  as  affluent  as  the  classy  outside  suggests.  

If  I  was  going  to  get  the  magazine  I  have  created  published  I  wouldn’t  want  to  lose  any  creative  license  at  all.  Therefore  I  would  want  to  publish  it  independently.  Between  the  preliminary  task  and  the  creation  of  my  final  magazine  I  learned  a  lot  about  the  work  that  goes  in  to  producing  a  publication.  Although,  through  studying  graphic  design,  I  already  had  a  lot  of  the  skills  needed  to  create  the  imagery  for  the  magazine  there  was  a  lot  I  still  needed  to  know.  Keeping  the  continuity  within  the  magazine  was  a  big  thing  I  had  to  focus  on.  My  main  problem  was  creating  an  in  house  style  that  would  be  obvious  through  out  my  three  pages.  I  think  after  research  and  planning  I  achieved  this  to  a  standard  I  am  proud  of.    Overall,  after  reviewing  my  plan,  I  think  I  have  achieved  what  I  intended  to.  And  have  done  so  to  the  best  of  my  ability.  I  was  trying  to  create  a  modern  and  simple  magazine   that  was   heavily   influenced   by   art   and   could   also   act   as   a   collectors  item  for  people  interested  in  the  visuals.