The aim of my project was to create a music magazine, I created this magazine on my own and all of the photographs used were taken by me, then edited and put into the

appropriate places in the magazine article, front cover or contents page.

The genre of my magazine was chart music. I tried to focus on a mixture of music to make it more appealing to a wider audience, such as Females aged 15+, this would mean that my magazine would be making more sales as it is bought and read by a larger selective audience. On my front cover I used conventions such as a masthead and text grabs, these would make the audience want to read the magazine as they sound appealing and inviting

I decided to use Q magazine as my inspiration for my magazine content, this is because its has a similar music genre and is widely available to buy,

it is a very successful magazine which is what I would have wanted my

magazine to be like. It uses conventions such as a photograph that stands out, I think the photos that my magazine and Q uses are

very similar. The main story’s on the cover are stood out in a bold and different colour which means this

would be what the audience instantly see

In my contents page I put a competition on the back page, this would encourage the reader to read through the entire magazine to get to that particular page. I also included lots of pictures to make it look fun and interesting, such as the image on the bottom right corner of the page. The page contains an editors letter which would add some informality to the magazine and would make the reader feel as though they know the editor and it makes them sound like they are your average everyday person.

This photo adds a more interesting

aspect to the page

The editors letter makes the page more informal

and friendly

Main photograph which would grab the audiences attention

Contents to briefly inform

and interest the reader

An editors letter would add some informality to the page, making the

reader feel as though they are friends with them

A special in the magazine on oasis which is a very popular band would mean that more people would buy

this months issue

‘’Headlining Act’’ is a pun as it makes the magazine sound

like a concert and the headlining act is the main

article

Images make the page look more interactive and

exciting than just simple text

In my feature article I used a subheading in a different and brighter colour to make it stand out a lot more on the page and this way they reader would be getting a brief summary of the article, this means that the reader can get an understanding of the story they are going to be reading about and it could mean that they are more likely to read on if it is persuading enough. The main thing that stands out on the page is my photograph, I think that it makes the page look very professional as it uses very vibrant colours in her clothes and the settings on the camera were set so that bright colours are brought out more on the picture. The aim of this means that the reader will look directly to the picture and see

how casual and relaxed she looks, this would create a more relaxed view on the article. As this takes up a half of the page it makes the article look like it has less writing which would be more appealing to the target audience. I used ‘’The Perfect Split?’’ as my heading because it is a very good play on words, the band were called imperfection and it is like the title is saying that the split could actually be a good thing, this sounds catchy and would stick in the readers heads.

A pun as a headline makes it catchy and can also have a

meaning to it

The subheading means that the reader can get a

brief understanding of the story before

they start to read

This photograph brings out colour on the page which

makes it look brighter and fuller

Text grabs get the readers attention instantly

The questions are kept brief

and straight to the point to prevent the

article getting off the subject

matter

The social group I have tried to represent is the young female celebrity. On the cover I used a medium close up shot of her, this means that the main focus is on her facial expression. She is wearing sunglasses which could be stereotypical to this type of group as celebrities are almost always pictured naturally in a magazine walking down the street with a pair of sunglasses on.

In the feature article I dressed my model in bright clothes, this would make the page look very bright and colourful, I also chose to put some pink into her outfit because then this would match up with the subheading. I edited the photo so then it looked bright and then it would stand out on the entire page. I think the image creates a positive role model for the target audience to look up to, the colours could be a representation of her character and personality which could also be bright, cheerful and colourful. She has been constructed to look like a good person who would be ideal for people to look up to.

As you can see the images are

similar

On the content page I photographed my model with a guitar. This prop is appropriate to the magazine because it is musical, it also makes her look rockish which would make the photograph look good on the page as it relates to the style of magazine.

Bauer media group would be a potential company to publish my magazine because they have also published Q magazine which is a similar one to mine. The company also publish Kerrang magazine which is a rock magazine, however this magazine is aimed at mainly males which is not the main aim of my magazine. I think the company would want to publish my magazine because it is different to other ones and this would mean that it has a wider audience to appeal to because it is aimed at females. There also aren’t many music magazines that are aimed specifically at females so this would be a unique selling point for them.

The target audience of my magazine is female teenagers aged 14-18. The reader would need to have a particular interest in music especially music that is in the charts at that time. After looking at my audience feedback it has gained a lot of positive comments on the questions, there are some criticism but these can be used to improve the magazine even further.This is a good audience to target because females have a particular interest in reading magazines and finding out all the latest celebrity gossip in the music world, ‘’it suggests this magazine is about interviews and gossip between music artists’’

On the left is a pie chart to show the results from a question in my audience feedback, this could help me to improve the magazine to appeal to the target audience even further as the questionnaire was completed by them

I used particular colours in the magazine that would be appealing to females such as the colour pink and baby blue colours. The title would be appealing to my target audience because it is called ‘backstage’ it makes it sound like the magazine is going to be about gossip behind the scenes that other magazines wouldn’t be writing about, this makes the reader more likely to want to open the magazine and then buy it. The audience would recognise this as a reason to buy the magazine as it would instantly become appealing to them.

“Suggests this magazine is about

interviews and gossip”

I used a text grab on the cover because this would give the reader an insight to the feature article before they even buy the magazine, this way when they pick it up to have a glance at it they would see what the main story would be and this would look appealing to them therefore they are more likely to buy it. I also included the main story’s at the bottom of the cover, this is so that they could get the main idea of what the magazine will be covering this particular month. I made sure that the story’s would appeal to my target audience and these would most likely be the story’s that they are buying the magazine to look at.

On my contents page I made sure that the main storyline would attract the audience because it is the only interview that the artist is doing so they would want to see what they are going to be doing with their future and how they have reacted to the split up. The reader would see this as their only chance to read about how they feel and they might think that they will be missing out if they don’t buy it.

My audience feedback was very positive when asked about the contents page, they said that it not only informed them about what was in the magazine but it made them want to read on as well. The photo’s, I feel, worked as a great advantage because this would make the page look busy and the reader would feel like there are lots of things to read about and also they wouldn’t be overcome by too much text on the page, as this might have put them off buying it.

“It is very informative, yet still

eye catching”

I tried to make my page seem very musical, I did this by including headlines such as “Headlining Act” this would make the magazine seem like a concert and the headlining act would effectively be the main feature article. The main story’s in the magazine had a photograph on the contents page with a page number next to it, this mean that the reader could instantly find where these particular story’s where. However, I think some improvements could have been made where there are empty spaces on the page, this would add to the ‘fuller effect’.

The article isn’t too long and this means that it looks better to ready because the reader would think it is quick to the point with all very relevant questions. I chose a specific layout on the page to attract the audience. I made my picture look very bright and colourful which would stand out on the page. The photograph was made to take up a full side of the feature article and this would make the page look like it has less writing on it, this would be appealing because they wont look at it and instantly be de-motivated to read it due to the length. I took the photograph to reflect on the target audience as it is not how photographs are usually taken, with the top of her head cut off it shows how she doesn't always follow the rules of everybody else which is stereotypical to teenagers as they like to be rebellious and stand out from the crowd. However some improvements could have been made on the page, these have been pointed out on the diagram below...

Could have used a different colour to make it

more clear

Questions that relate to the

audience could have been

asked

This could have been a different colour to stand out more on the

page

During this piece of coursework I have learnt many new skills which include editing and taking photographs, and also learning how to use the DTP software e.g. Adobe InDesign and Photoshop. During the research I discovered new websites which became very useful in the production in the magazine such as www.dafont.com I used this website to plan what types of fonts I would use in my magazine.

Before I started this coursework I didn’t know how to use Adobe Photoshop and InDesign, this is mainly because I have never created anything like this before but now I have learnt the necessary skills in producing a magazine front cover, contents page and feature article. I learnt how to create effects on my photos such as making them have a different transparency and also cutting objects out

of them. I used the cutting tool on my contents page where I cut out one of the photographs to make it look like he was standing on the page.

Using InDesign i have learnt how to put a magazine together, such as:

• Setting a background colour• Placing objects and changing the shape• Adding text and editing the opacity and colour of it

I also learnt how to use the website www.blogger.com which is where I posted all my information about how I created my magazine and then an update on every step I did. This has acted as an online diary which is useful to look back at and see how I progressed. However there are some advantages and disadvantages of using this kind of software.

Advantages DisadvantagesPhotos can be edited to look good It is hard to grasp how to use it

Different texts and fonts can be accessed

It is prone to being slow or crashing

Things can be moved, edited and deleted if they don’t look right.

Everything must be completed in class (no access to software at home)

If you make a mistake it can be fixed easily

The amount of software can become confusing when using different ones at the same time

• Text Grabs• Professional photo • Appropriate colours• Interesting images• Natural photograph on the cover

Looking back at my preliminary task I think I have progressed a lot. In comparison to my preliminary task my magazines front cover includes:

More appropriate title to relate to the

style of magazine

Much more professional

looking photograph

You can tell the photo has been

edited

Lack of direct address in the

storylines

Masthead doesn’t stand out

on the page

Specific colour scheme

Overall I think my magazine has turned out very well and positive. I am pleased with my finished result I think it has been created to look just the way I wanted it too. My magazine shows both strengths and weaknesses and they have been pointed out below...

Strengths Weaknesses

Photographs look professional Dark cover image, could be brightened

Feature article is quick to the point

Contents page has empty spaces

Questions asked are all relevant and not misleading

A larger variety of colours could have been used

Text grabs draw in the readers attention

Not a large range of story’s in the contents page

Puns used to sound catchy and exciting

The cover doesn’t make you instantly want to buy it at a first glance

Personal Response

By doing this project I have learnt that it is not as simple as I first thought to create a magazine, I thought it would be quite simple to take some photographs and put it all together but it took a lot of effort and patience to create it to look right. I have learnt an entire new range of skills which include how to use Photoshop and InDesign.

Personal Development

Looking back through my blog and analysing the progression that I have made, I feel that this has been a great success. I have learnt how you can direct an audience efficiently by using a specific range of colours and photograph framing.

I enjoy doing photography as a hobby and think that by doing this project I have learnt some new skills in that area as well. I have learnt that you don’t always have to follow the usual guidelines of how to frame certain images as my feature article photograph has connotations of not caring about what other people think of the picture and still making it look good and effective for the target audience