Evaluation Of My Music Magazine

The masthead is in an eye-catching font and in big, bold writing. This is to draw attention to the title and the sell line, this is very important if a potential customer is browsing through magazines. The background of the masthead is yellow against the main blue background. This again re-enforces the eye catching colour scheme. I have also placed a bright yellow banner across the magazine with a headline on it about the main band, DOGFIGHT. This is placed across the main photo of the "lead singer" of the band. A lot of magazines have the photo overlapping the masthead so I developed on that idea and had the headstock overlapping the masthead, giving a feel that it's all connected.

When I was deciding which audience to go with I was initially going to go with mainstream music but then later decided that it would be more interesting to go against it. My audience is 16-27 year olds who like different music. To represent this I've used language that that age group would use and in the editors note on the contents page I've addressed the audience informally. Also the bands I've decided to include are bands that that age group would listen to, e.g. Gorillaz, Paul McCartney etc. The colour scheme also adds to this as it is blue and yellow giving it a fun and funky feel. Also the masthead; The Modern Age, gives a "new age" feel about it, it is also a song by The Strokes, a band which this magazine would feature.

I think that media institutions such as IPC would distribute my media product as they distribute magazines such as NME who are also aimed at the same age group as my media product and would feature similar bands and similar layout. They also feature magazines such as Guitar and Bass, and Uncut which are music magazines with a difference.

My audience would be mainly male teenagers/adults (16-27) who listen to alternative music. They would probably be middle class and employed, the price is £1.50 and is a weekly magazine so over a period of one year a weekly reader will spend £72.00 on this magazine, in hindsight this is not a lot but a unemployed working class citizen may not be able to afford it.

If you were browsing through magazines and you came to "The Modern Age" I think the first thing that would strike your attention would be the colour on the front page, which consists of red, blue and yellow. After it had caught your attention you would then see the bright yellow banner spanning the page reading "Panic On The Streets Of London!" This is a line from the famous Smiths song, Panic. So straightaway if you listen to the type of music this magazine prompted you would relate to that and carry on reading. In the red box at the top right, shows what is reviewed inside and it shows that the new Gorillaz album is reviewed along with Paul McCartney's tour. By now, if you listened to this music you will hopefully have bought it by now.

Before I began constructing this product I had a very vague idea on how to use Photoshop, and didn't know the amount of things you could do with it. I have also become a lot more accustomed to Microsoft Publisher. In addition to this I had limited knowledge on how to use a digital camera, but with help I learnt the amount of different effects and feels you can get from simply moving a light or changing focus. These are skills that I will hopefully have the chance to expand on on a later date.

The Construction Of A Music Magazine

This is the first draft of the front page of my music magazine. The first problem with it is that the masthead is too large. The second problem is that it's too blank and the writing seems too boring. I also felt there needed to be another photo on the front page, as if you look at practically any music magazine there are at least two photo's and very rarely just one. I therefore took another photo of one of the other bands that were on the front page.

To solve this I put the "The" in "The Modern Age" above the "M" in smaller writing, added another photo and added more text to the front page. I also added some colour and made some of the text bold to catch the readers attention. I also added another photograph and boosted the contrast on both photo's.

My first version of a double paged spread had many problems. For starters, the fold will make the text un-readable. Also the text was just on the page and not set out properly. The photos have no captians and the text overlaps.

This is my finished version, the text is columnised and the fold of the page does not get in the way. There are captians on the photos, and a stamp like piece of text in the corner to grab the readers attention with black and red font. I also but a brief advert for the up-coming album.

This is the first draft of my contents page and i didn't like the way it was set out and the photo's didn't stand out enough. Also I didn't like the placement of the title. To solve this I boosted the colour in all the photo's, moved the title and made it red. I also changed the placement of the text making it easier to read. I boosted the colour/contrast in the main photo a lot more than the rest so that your eye is drawn to that. Below is the finished music magazine.