- Sarah Macdonald

EVALUATION

EVALUATIONGENERIC CONVENTIONS

There are many different generic conventions that are used by music magazines today, depending on their target audience’s media or social grouping; these generic conventions include font, images, colours and layouts. By using these generic

conventions the audience are more inclined to buy the product as they feel more comfortable with it, therefore making the product more successful.

In order to follow these generic conventions we had to create radial analyses of various current music magazines with a similar genre to our magazine. We chose to stick to the

generic conventions of images, colour and titles. This will help to improve the authenticity of our magazines as they will be similar to magazines that are already

available.

However in order to attract our target audience we decided to break some of the generic conventions. We chose to use some of the generic conventions of fashion magazines, leading to a more fashion magazine orientated look overall. For example our font and

layout are similar to that of Vogue, a magazine which we feel our target audience will be familiar with.

EVALUATIONGENERIC CONVENTIONS

Magazine title in iconic, recognisable

font

Large image, relates to main article

Main article advertised in large, bold, clear

font

Other articles advertised to attract readers

I used a number of these conventions in my final product:

EVALUATIONREPRESENTATION

I chose to create music stars that our target audience were able to relate to easily. The majority of models that I used were female and aged approximately 17. I also used a male model in order to broaden the appeal and allowing male

readers to relate to the magazine.

The models were stylish yet not too glamorous, allowing the target audience to identify with them whilst still including an element of fashion. I also used a

variety of different poses to reflect their personalities, therefore increasing the target audience’s ability to identify with them.

I wanted the article to further reflect their different personalities and to inspire the readers by encouraging them to follow their dreams, regardless of age,

race, gender or class.

EVALUATIONREPRESENTATION

Pink colour appeals to females, it also has a hint of red which will

attract male readers as well

Modern layout

appeals to young adults

Modern yet formal font: makes article clear to read and suggests that the information is reliable

Black and white colour scheme add

an element of glamour,

similar to a fashion

magazine

Magazine website URL: appeals to younger readers who find

technological formats more convenient to read

EVALUATIONIDENTIFICATION OF TARGET AUDIENCE

To identify our target audience we used Burton’s Theory.

•According to Burton’s Theory, I believe our target audience is: Age: 16-24 year olds

Gender: Unisex, leaning more towards femaleClass: ABC1

Location: Western

• Using Burton’s Theory, I believe our target audience’s media group is:

Type of music: Rock/IndieTo aim more towards the female social group, the magazine will contain more

information about artists in the music industry.

EVALUATIONAPPEALING TO TARGET AUDIENCE

• I used questionnaires and interviews to find out the preferences of my target audience.

One main image with lots of smaller articles advertised

Clear, modern layout – photos

linking to articles

Clearly set out, main article is advertised on font cover

Modern layout, interesting and eye-catching

EVALUATIONTECHNOLOGICAL SIDE

• I used a Nikon digital SLR camera to take the photos and Photoshop to edit them and create my magazine.

Made photos black and white,

cropped and resized images

Change font colour, size, style and position

Make columns for text so it resembles a

real magazine

Added coloured bar at the bottom and text

inside

EVALUATIONTECHNOLOGICAL SIDE

STEP BY STEP

- Making my double page spread

1 I first created a basic layout for my photos using the rectangular marquee tool.

2 I then began to fill the rectangles with my images once I had edited and resized them.

Once I had filled all the rectangles I was able to rearrange them into an order that I liked.

3

EVALUATIONTECHNOLOGICAL SIDE

STEP BY STEP

- Making my double page spread

4 I then added a slightly transparent bar to the bottom as well as the page number, website address and the models’ names.

5 On the other page I added a title and the same slightly transparent bar at the bottom. I was able to change the colour, size and position of the text.

To finish I wrote the article and other text to make it more realistic.

6

EVALUATIONTECHNOLOGICAL SIDE

STEP BY STEP

- editing my photos

2 I then resized the image to fit the rectangle.

I then had to make the image black and white by going to: Image Mode Grayscale

3

1 First I copied one of the rectangles onto a blank file.

4 I then copied and pasted the image into my double page spread and repeated the process with all of the photos.

EVALUATIONFROM PRELIMINARY TO MAIN PRODUCT

• Doing a preliminary helped me to see which areas I needed to improve in and allowed me to try out ideas for layouts and colours. It also gave me the opportunity to get feedback and to see which

features my target audience liked and which they didn’t.

PreliminaryMain Product

• Different colour scheme

• Different fonts

• Different, but similar, layout

• More articles on main product

EVALUATIONMEDIA INSTITUTIONS

• The type of media institution that might distribute our magazine would be a multi-national company.

• Their priorities are to inform readers of the latest music news whilst also making a profit.

• A possible publisher would be Bauer Media Group, the publisher of Q, or IPC Media, the publisher of NME, as

these magazines are similar to our magazine. They also have other magazines aimed at a similar target audience so the advertising costs of our new magazine would be

lower.