MY MASTHEAD PLANNING

 

I like this font because its quite crazy and looks like it is ripped up, definitely fits with rock genre of my magazine but I don’t think its good for my masthead as it is to skinny , I also wanted to make my magazine seem like a more sophisticated rock magazine and this is font is too aggressive, I think I could use it for other parts of my magazine.

 I like this font because it is quite bold, I also like the drip effect as if it is bleeding which goes along with the rebellious rock feel however I don’t feel it is the right font for a masthead as it is to plain and childish. I think this font could be used in other parts of my production.

 

I used pink font on a black background, using a black background really makes the letters stand out, these colours would also attract my audience, these two colours will be basis of my magazines style.  I chose this font because I believe it is quite sophisticated and classical but at the same time quite rebellious because of the bits stringing off. This is the masthead I chose.

I chose  to call my magazine R.A.D , short for radical I think this word is quite stereotypically used in rock culture. I shortened it down to make it more snappy, catchy and memorable.  I put dots in between each letter so each of the letters could stand for something, like "Rockin all day".

PRELIM TASK

                                     PRELIMINARY TASK EVALUATION

FRONT PAGE

My main image is a mid shot of a student painting, I used this picture because I wanted to represent Acland Burghley as an arts college, I also used it because I thought the way of putting the strap line over the canvas would show creativity.  I used a sky blue background fading into white, I think it makes it look appealing to younger students.

I called my school magazine the Burghley Times, I thought it was quite snappy, the use of times at the end gives the idea that it is professional and informative because newspapers and other magazines use it. I used green ,red and yellow as the colours for my masthead I chose these colours because I thought they would be representative of the 3 blocks in Burghley, making students feel they can relate to magazine. The “TIMES” is in a different font to the “BURGHLEY” ,I used a more classic font similar to the font of newspapers.

The strapline says “pictures of year 13 final pieces inside!” , I put it in black bold writing to stand out amongst the other texts, the text is layered over the canvas the student is about to paint on to stand , I could have made it  look like he had painted it if I had chosen the appropriate font. I used various lures to attract attention like “free ticket for the dance show inside”, I thought this will be very attractive to an Acland Burghley student firstly because its free and being a student that’s a big plus, also the idea that it is for the Burghley dance show gives them the feeling that they should buy the magazine because they don’t want to miss out on the dance show. Other lures include “Black History monthe 8 page special” this shows Acland Burghley is multicultural.

At the bottom I added the Acland Burghley website, this is a way of promoting school and allowing students to be interactive, I also added the logo at the bottom as it has become and icon of the school.  

CONTENTS PAGE

Inside the contents page I included a list of all the features ,I also did the blue to white fade. At the bottom I added pictures of Burghley students art work, I put those pictures in relation to the main feature, which was I pictures of year 13’s artwork.

IMAGE ANALYSIS

This is a picture i took at a concert i thought it could be used as if it was the band playing, i also chose it because it had pink lasers following the theme of my mag

I took these pictures on a set of stairs, the black walls and black clothing follows the rock style of the magazine. The use of guitars as props gives an insight in to the style of music and the roles each person has in the band. The body language gives a sense that they are cool and rebellious, the black clothes could also add to that rebellious style. I took the picture from a below at a low angle to suggest these girls are powerful and therefore good at what they do. I believe this picture challenges stereotypes of girls showing a darker side of girls.

Here I got close ups of each one of them , the idea is to have a mini profile by each one of them on the double page spread, the mini will show readers what they each do in the band and their attributes.

This is almost a long shot, but i wasnt able to get their feet, This picture is on a brick background to show they are city girls. Again it shows their black clothes and their guitars makeing it clear they play rock music and following the theme and style of magazine. I like this picture because of their different stances , it makes them look cool and interesting.

I took this picture on a bricked background; this shows that the girls are in urban surroundings, showing they are from the city. They are all wearing black this is stereotypical in rock music, this also allows my target audience to relate to them. I asked them to make facial expressions and hand gestures like, sticking out their tongues, screwed up faces and the classic devil horns hand gesture , this gestures are all seen throughout rock magazines specially Kerrang. This is a mid shot, I chose this shot type because I wanted the photo to show their clothing and their facial expressions.

MAIN TASK

Who would be the target audience for your magazine

The primary audience for my magazine would be females between the age of 12-18 .My magazine could have an aspirational audience of 10-25 year old, the older people would read it to feel young and to stay up to date, and the younger audience would read it because the would want to be part of the social group that read the magazine. My target audience would probably be secondary school students, being students they would probably pay for the magazine with pocket money, thats why it is quite cheap. My audience would have interests like going to parties, going to gigs/concerts, staying up to date fashion and listening to rock music. My audience psychographics would be females who care alot about their appearance, I also believe my magazine would interest females who believe they are quite rebellious as it is not common to be or to want to be part of a female rock scene.

How does your music magazine represent particular social groups?

I believe my magazine represents quite a specific niche, teenage girls that are into rock music and lifestyle, I don’t believe this particular social group is very common. Being a rock magazine primarily I used a lot of black this is a stereotypical colour of rock culture and magazines, my second most used colour was pink as this is a stereotypical colour for females, the use of these two colours therefore representative of girls and rock. I believe my magazine also represents outgoing people through the features like “TOP TEN GIGS OF THE MONTH”, and through the language based on partying and gigs. I think my magazine represents rebellious girls firstly because it is a female rock magazine, this is not common , this idea breaks the mould and breaks stereotypes. I also think my magazine represents females concerned with fashion and appearance through features like “free black hair dye sample”.

How did you attract/ address your audience?

I attracted my audience in many ways. One way was by adding a lot of free features like “FREE CD”, “FREE DECEIVERS POSTER” and “FREE HAIR DYE SAMPLE” anything free would be a big plus for young people and will attract them, also all the free features apart from being free would interest my audience. I chose a particular colour scheme that was most chosen in my questionnaire to attract my audience. I used a variety of cool fonts to catch my audiences’ eyes. Another thing I did to attract my audience was create a band which I thought would resemble my audience this way it will attract them and make them feel its the magazine for them. I addressed the audience by using a lot of cool, young rocky language like “causing mayhem” and “ the Mecca of rock”. I also addressed the audience in a friendly intimate way as if we were friends, this makes the reader connect more with the magazine.

In what ways does yor music magazine use, develop or challenge conventions of existing magazines?

I have created a rock magazine aimed at females, to do this I had to do a lot of research into forms and conventions of existing music magazines. Being a rock magazine I looked into kerrang alot, I wanted to create a more sophisticated female orientated version of it, I did this by using a lot of black throughout, the second most common colour in a rock magazine like kerrang and rolling stone is probably red, as my magazine is aimed at females I used pink as my second most common colour. As my magazine is mainly aimed at teenage females I had to do some research into magazines that are aimed at similar audiences like black beat, I did content analysis on black beat and noticed that it was 40% advertisements for skin and hair care products , also within that 40% were the free features. There was also a lot of gossip and fashion and not that much music related articles. I developed some these conventions to fit in with my female rock style magazine by putting lures on my front page like “FREE POSTERS” ,”TOP TIPS ON HOW TO LOOK LIKE A ROCKSTAR” and “BLACK HAIR DYE FREE SAMPLE”.

What kind of institution might distribute your music magazine and why?

Although I believe my magazine would have quite a particular niche audience, I think there would be big demand for it nowadays as there isn’t a magazine of its kind. I think my magazine would be well placed in supermarkets and high street music stores so its easy to get hold of for the broader audience, but as it is primarily aimed at a more specific audience I also believe it could be placed in rock specialist record stores. Apart from being a music magazine, I also believe it is a rock fashion and lifestyle magazine therefore it would be well placed in particular rock clothing and accessories stores up and down Camden high street .

What have you learnt about technologies from process of constructing this product?

I used a variety of technologies during the process of constructing my magazine. During the production I learnt a lot of techniques on Photoshop, things like cropping ,adding effects on images to change the feel, layering texts and downloading fonts to fit with my magazine. I have also learnt how to use pages to create my double page spread, through using this program I have learnt how to create organised layouts, the programme was very good in terms of fitting text with images. I have also improved my knowledge of cameras and photography in the process.

Looking back at your preliminary task,what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Since doing my preliminary task I think I have learnt many skills in constructing a magazine.I did a lot more planning and research in to my audience and genre. I used much better pictures, with a wider range of angles and props. I put more thought into my strapline ,lures and coverlines making them more attractive to my target audience. I considered what font would be most appropriate for my magazine.