For my Media Coursework of creating a music magazine, I used, developed and challenged many forms and conventions; something regarded as a normative example, of existing music magazines, such as Kerrang! The conventions of a magazine are: the title, central image, magazine slogan, anchorage (supporting) text, 3/ 4 colours scheme, buzz words, puffs, teasers and graphic features.Along with the obvious Barcode, Date and the common Magazine Price of £1.99, positioned at the bottom right-hand corner of my magazine.
Title.
Clearly I have used and stuck by the usual convention of a magazine by exhibiting a magazine title, (Damage) and placing it at the top of my magazine where it will inevitably attract the audience’s attention. Evidently, I had decided to develop this basic convention. Dissimilar to my preliminary task and other existing music magazines such as Vibe; which typically use a basic font style, brightly coloured to attract the audience’s attention, I have decided to use a picture font to illustrate the actual title itself, consequently making the title look damaged – associating the title with the intended audience.
The title of my music magazine is consistently printed on every other page throughout the whole of my magazine. The entitlement of my music magazine is affiliated with the particular social group my magazine is aimed at and the genre on which it is based.Central Image.
I used and also differed from the usual magazine convention of the central image. Generally the main photographed image of any magazine is centred and displayed in colour, with the subject(s) using a direct mode of address. Often this results in making ‘eye contact’ with the audience, which in effect entices them to at least pick up and browse through the magazine. Habitually, the person(s) that occupy the main/ central image on the cover are often famous and universally-known, such as the renowned Britney Spears. Whereas, on my front cover; I have chosen to advertise a fresh, new band to hit the rock/ alternative scene, Death Bed Memory. However, it is neither unheard of nor frowned upon for a magazine to do so. In addition, my main image was taken in black and white and positioned in the bottom left-hand corner of the magazine but still manages to appear to be centred. Like every other magazine, my main image is photo shopped to ‘perfection’ but unlike every other magazine the figures in my photo were left untouched as I edited the background to give the space around the figures a deteriorating ‘grunge’ affect, I think this emphasizes the type and style of magazine that I am trying to portray. Further more only Luke, the bassist from Death Bed Memory, is perceived with a direct mode of address as Jamie, the drummer is peering off into the distance of the top right-hand corner of the magazine and Dominic, lead singer and vocalist appears to be staring at the bottom right-hand corner of the magazine – I think this gives an interesting affect to my magazine.
Slogan.I created a slogan so that the magazine reads ‘Lets Do Some… Damage’, the slogan is incorporated with the magazine’s entitlement. I therefore placed my slogan just above the title, so that it can be read by the audience the way it is intended to be read. However, not all music magazines use their slogan on their magazine covers; for example, Kerrang! is the world’s biggest selling weekly rock magazine - their infamous slogan ‘Life Is Loud’, which is no where to be seen on their late issues of 2009.
Anchorage Text.Anchorage text is additional information designed to "anchor" the text to one specific reason, reducing polysemy and, consequently, reducing the risk of aberrant readings. In the media industry, magazines in particular, if a caption is added to a photo, people will interpret the photo in a way that relates to the caption. I have used this convention throughout my magazine front cover and contents page, but kept it to a minimal in consideration that is some cases less is more. I did not want to overpower the audience with paragraphs of anchorage text.
(3/4) Colour Scheme.
I also stuck to the convention of using no more than three or four colours throughout my magazine. My colour scheme is also a way I have differed from the forms and conventions of a magazine; usually magazines use a bright and attractive colour scheme to attract the audience’s attention and persuade them to purchase the magazine, however, I have decided to use Kerrang!’s style as a basis for my colour scheme design. Kerrang! use black as they’re dominant colour with some lighter colours such as white and yellow. Following this example I have also used black as my dominant colour with pieces of white for a contrasting professional look, I also used a vibrant orange to add some colour and life to my magazine which will hopefully attract the audience’s attention.
Buzz Words.
Unconventionally, I rarely used buzz words on the front cover of my magazine as I believe I do not the assistance of a stylish/ trendy word or phrase to entice my audience. I refused to use a marketing scheme to con people; I intend my magazine to sell on the principle that my magazine has met my audience’s specifications.
Puffs.
Again, I refused to publicize my magazine with an exaggerated phrase as I felt there was no need to exaggerate in attempt to grab my audience’s attention. If I have met my specification to satisfaction, my magazine would sell with or without the use of puffs.
Teasers.
I have strongly used the magazine convention of teasers. To support the magazine further I have added the magazine’s website: (www.letsdosomedamage.com). I have included a Competition which is a usual convention of a music magazine, for a chance for the audience to ‘win tickets to see Death Bed Memory live’. This particular type of competition will not only grab my audience’s attention but alone can persuade them to purchase my magazine. I think the main selling point, the main teaser of my magazine is Death Bed Memory’s ‘exclusive interview’, along with the mini teasers of how the band started, ‘DBM, the Beginning’, Jamie, Dom and Luke’s sub-stories and most importantly their tour. The final teaser is the ‘Halloween Special’.
Contents Page.
I have used yet differed from the forms and conventions of existing music magazines in my contents page; the magazine’s issue date is also printed on the contents page in addition to the front cover, the house style of font size and colours used is consistent across the front cover and contents page, the page numbers are clearly listed below the page on the left-hand side and I have integrated text and image on the contents page. Unconventionally, my contents page is not organised in columns but is still easily understandable and I did not include an editorial note.
Double Page Spread.
I have used yet differed from the forms and conventions of existing music magazines in my double page spread; generally music magazines use the first page to display a favoured picture from the photo-shoot of the person or persons they are interviewing with some highlighted quotes from the interview to draw the audience in and the second page for the actual interview, however, in my first page I have placed pictures of the band and its members around the band’s name. An unusual set up. Unlike other magazines I decided not to use highlighted quotations from my interview. My second page of the article starts with an introduction of Death Bed Memory, where they started out and how the band went through stages to be formed; it moves on to a list of songs the band covers which is rarely done in music magazines, then it’s down to the actual interview itself. The interview is solely based around rumours and the band’s tour.
How does your music magazine represent particular social groups?
My music magazine represents particular social groups, from the background I have used to the images and font styles and colours. My music magazine represents all the different sub-genres in the alternative scene. Damage uses a black background to connote the darker side of the alternative scene, a white title and some text to represent that where there is darkness there is always light and orange text to connote the life and energy that comes with the alternative scene. On my front cover and throughout my music magazine there is a mixture of black & white and colour images. The main image is black & white and the background of the image is deteriorating this is a perfect representation of the stereotyped scene. Also the members of Death Bed Memory are sporting dark coloured clothes and typical alternative accessories such as an Arab scarf and band t-shirts. I have used a low angle shot to make the members look larger and possibly more intimidating or menacing. The supporting images represent the social groups very well; To Write Love On Her Arms is a campaign to stop self-harming and suicide which people associate with the alternative stereotypes, the Jack lanterns are a well known symbol for Halloween and Halloween is easily related to the alternative scene. Overall, my magazine represents the stereotypical social group known as "emo’s" etc.
What kind of media institution might distribute your music magazine and why?
The media institution that would distribute my magazine would be the institution that distributes magazines like Kerrang!, NME, Mojo and Q, Mojo. Bauer is the most suited institute to distribute my magazine. It is the largest privately owned publisher in Europe, publishing in Germany, France, Spain, Portugal and the United Kingdom. Additionally, Bauer publishes in the United States and Mexico. At the beginning of 2008, Bauer expanded its portfolio further by acquiring Emap’s Radio and Consumer Magazine divisions and changed the name of these new UK businesses to Bauer Media. With the recent addition of the former Emap Consumer Media titles, Bauer is now the largest consumer magazine publishing company in the UK, playing a primary role in the Women’s Weeklies, Women’s Interest, Women’s Lifestyle, TV Listings, Puzzles, Men’s Lifestyle, Music & Film and Specialist magazine markets.Bauer Media reaches over nineteen million UK adults across multiple media channels. They own more than eighty influential media brands spanning a wide range of interests, including heat, GRAZIA, Closer, MCN, FHM, Parker's, MATCH, Magic 105.4, Kiss 100, Kerrang!, all-new Q Radio and the Big City Network, our group of twenty local radio stations.
Their business is built on millions of personal relationships with engaged readers and listeners. They connect audiences with compelling content, whenever, wherever, and however they want. Their unique insight allows us to work closely with our customers to develop innovative solutions that create a difference to their business.
A prime example of my type and style of magazine:
Kerrang! - the UK's premier multi-platform music destination bringing you the best in rock online, on radio, on TV and in print.
Brand Description:
Plug into Kerrang! and turn it up to 11. Metallica to Muse, Foo Fighters to Fall Out Boy, the UK's premier multi-platform music destination bringing you the best in rock online, on radio, on TV and in print.
Platforms:
Kerrang!
Magazine Kerrang!
Radio Kerrang!
TV - Sky 368 , Virgin Media 342
Audience Profile:
Individually minded, independent of thought and musically experienced, an audience defined by attitude, passion and loyalty.
Who would be the audience for your media product and why?
To conclude my questionnaire, my target audience is teenagers aged 15 – 17, as teenagers have more common knowledge of music due to it being an aspect of teenage life. Gender is not a necessary factor as I planned my magazine to be a unisex magazine and neither is race or social class. However, I would suggest that my magazine audience is middle class as they see music as more of an outlet, a release from life and its stresses. From my results I concluded that most teenagers listen to a variety of rock/ alternative music and that they take a higher interest in a music magazine if it covers an array of sections such as, both signed and unsigned bands, band photo shoots, interviews and the latest information on albums, gigs and tour dates etc.
How did you attract/ address your audience?
To attract my target audience, I based my magazine on what my target audience likes. Being a music magazine, I based my magazine on rock/ alternative music. I featured a fresh new unsigned alternative rock band, Death Bed Memory. The title itself would be associated with the alternative scene; it also illustrates itself, as the title looks damaged this immediately attracts my audience’s attention as existing music magazines use basic bold fonts for their titles. The language used is mostly universal but the magazine has some adult content in it, therefore my target audience is above pre-teens. The colour scheme used throughout my magazine is based on stereotypical views, a black background to represent the darker side of life with hints of white to show that there is light in darkness and orange to represent the life and energy of it all. The main image both attracts and addresses my target audience; it is unusually in black & white, positioned in the bottom left-hand corner and the band members are untouched by photo shop, the background of the image taken was photo shopped to look like the background is deteriorating. Luke, the bassist of Death Bed Memory is giving the audience a direct mode of address looking nonchalant while Jamie, the drummer appears to be gazing up at the top right-hand corner of the magazine and Dominic is staring intensely down at the bottom right-hand corner. I believe this draws the audience in even more as Jamie draws the audience’s attention to the magazine’s website and the features while Dom draws the audience’s attention to the magazine’s Halloween special and the magazines price of £1.99. Efficient. Affordable. The band’s members are each sporting a different band t-shirt which will appeal to my target audience and they are all wearing dark colours and the stereotypical accessories such as an Arab scarf. Death Bed Memory make a stand for the alternative scene and show the world that alternative doesn’t mean dark as in evil, malice or morbidity but that alternative means you don’t have to hide that your hurt or angry - the freedom to express your emotions. Going against what is expected from the alternative scene. In addition I added a competition to win tickets to see Death Bed Memory live, this addresses my audience and will entice them to purchase my magazine to participate in the competition and to meet and greet the band and watch them perform live for free.My contents page will attract my audience as I have chosen an unusual set out and stuck to my colour scheme. Some of the text has supporting images which will attract my audience and the pages are clearly numbered. The title ‘contents page’ is also a picture font which will attract my audience and all of my text is a reasonable size font and legible.
My double page spread also has qualities that appeals to my target audience such as the questions that have been asked; they are mainly based on rumours which is what my target audience is mainly interested in, if the rumours are true or if they come from a tangled web of lies. My audience are also obviously interested in their tour and the band’s interests and music, as music has a deeper meaning than the word of mouth. In addition to my interview, the first page of my double page spread is made up of a variety of pictures of the band and each member positioned around the name of their band ‘Death Bed Memory’, this is unlike any existing music magazine I have seen so I think this will attract my target audience as in the alternative scene is it highly respected to be different.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
I have learnt how to use Photoshop and Illustrator effectively and efficiently; I can now easily use the tools on both of these programmes. I know how to edit pictures on Photoshop and create documents on Illustrator to an exceptable even a good standard. I have also learnt how to use a digital camera for my own personal gain and to correctly take reasonably good pictures for my magazine. I have also learnt how to create a blog (on blogspot.com), how to upload images and my work onto it, add friends, polls and move between blogs. I have learnt different technical media language that are better suited to describe my work; words and phrases such as connotation, denotation, direct mode of address, sell lines and puff. Also I have learnt that in the media industry, technology is used to change images to the way the person or company deem acceptable which can change people’s perceptions and opinions of what is right; they also use airbrushing in photoshop to alter people's appearances, weather they are made better looking, skinnier or younger so that they have a perfect image. This deceives the reader into believing they themselves are imperfect and this may lead to them trying to be like the fake icon placed in front of them which can be dangerous and can lead to severe consequences such as anorexia.
What do you feel you have learnt in the progression from the preliminary task to the full product?
I have learnt that things like font and colour for text are important in the process of making any type of magazine, the font and colour should be consistent unless it's for a desired effect, otherwise it is confusing to the audience. Most, well-known magazines stick to this rule. I abided by this rule when making both my preliminary task school magazine and my music magazine. I have also learnt that the front cover needs to be consistent with the contents page in colour scheme, font and layout, my preliminary task pages had minimal consistencies. I made sure to change that for my music magazine. I also picked up some useful techniques to get a maximum effect of my magazine, such as using puffs to make the cover more attractive to the reader. However, I was shy using any attractive devices on my preliminary cover and made sure I corrected this for my music magazine. I discovered that there is a ‘sweet spot’ on every magazine, where most people have the tendency to look first and that this is where the best information should be put for maximum effect of enticing the audience. There should also be a balance in images and text. The main image on the front cover is a major influence on any audience, it deciphers whether people will buy it or not; magazines that are bought tend to have someone who well-known and 'in'. Using a direct mode of address is a strong technique which is used to attract an audience as it connects with the buyer. I have also learnt that layout is key in making a magazine work, as it cannot be confusing or messy. I placed text randomly on the page in my preliminary task and have learnt this is not the way to organise any page of a magazine, it needs to be clear, consistent, coherent and have a balance of images and text. I made sure of this in my music magazine. I have also learnt how to use a digital camera properly for my own personal gain and for the maximum effect and well being of my music magazine. There are things you can do and use in your magazine to make your magazine more attractive and suited to your target audience; things such as the magazine's entitlement, font, colour scheme, language and images used.
My Preliminary Task. My Final Product.
Audience Response/ Feedback
Seeing as I got no response or feedback to my magazine and it’s contents on my blog, I decided to print off my magazine and to hand it out to a selected few who fit my target audience profile and asked them to give me a personal response and feedback so I know where to improve for future references.
Positive Response:
My audience liked my style and layout of the front cover and found it enticing with its unique effects.I received a positive response to my contents page layout and complimented on it’s uniqueness as I haven’t kept to the usual convention of keeping to the left-hand side.The interview (my double page spread) was favoured the most and I was complimented on the use of colour to make the artists names stand out, so that what is being asked and the artists’ response is very clear.
Negative Response:
From a perspective point of view, it was suggested that maybe black wasn’t the best colour to use for a background as it is a very dominant colour unless I’m willing to make the text on the cover brighter or a font size bigger so it stands out more and breaks the page down.Overall, 8/10 said they would purchase my magazine, Damage.
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