Our task was to create the front cover, contents page and double page spread of a new music magazine. We also had to research music magazines and produce a presentation of that research. In my presentation I looked at popular British and American music magazines such as Q, NME and Rolling Stones. My favourite magazine was NME. I liked the scruffy and informal house style of the magazine. In comparison Q magazine uses a much neater, more straightforward and clear style. It is clear that both magazines were designed for different target audiences. I was most influenced by NME when creating my music magazine as I had a similar target audience. Even though the genre of my magazine was quite different to that of NME I thought that a slightly disorganised look would also suit the target audience of my magazine.
I was also later influenced by Kerrang magazine whose target audience is more similar to the target audience for my product. The house style of Kerrang influenced my product in the unconventional and intentionally messy style. However I have decided to use a larger variety of colours in my house style as well as using a lot of black and grey like in Kerrang.
The target audience for my magazine are people who enjoy more left field genres of music, particularly punk and also quite forward thinking musicians who are willing to try new things and break with conventions. During the creative process of my coursework I decided to change the genre from an indie/alternative rock magazine to a leftfield and punk magazine because there are already many magazines that focus exclusively on indie and alt. rock. It is also aimed at an audience who enjoy going to see live musical events.
The target age group is between 18 and 26 because these are the people who are likely to go out and see live bands more often. The purpose of the text is to inform and entertain the target audience. The magazine is aimed predominantly at male readers as the design and content of the magazine is more conventionally masculine but there are also interviews with female performers, one of which is featured on the front cover. I expect this would make the female audience feel more inclined to buy the magazine. Much of the target audience is likely to be quite politically minded particularly in a rather liberal direction.
According to Maslow’s theory, there are a few things that people need to achieve in life to gain happiness. These include a sense of belonging and respect of and by others. My magazine provides its audience with a sense of belonging both to the audience of the magazine itself but also to the group of people interested in similar things to them. This lets them feel more confident in themselves and also gains them the respect of others who may be interested in the magazine or its contents. The people featured in the magazine should be respected figures to the audience.
Blumler and Katz theory states that for a consumer to choose a media text it must fulfil certain needs of that reader. My magazine in one-way or another fills every one of those needs. This means that it informs and educates the reader about what is happening in the music industry. The audience can identify with some of the characters interviewed in the magazine and also perhaps with the journalist. They can be entertained by the contents of the magazine if they are interested in the genres covered within it and can use it as a point of social interaction. Finally the text allows the reader to escape from their day to day life as it talks about people with completely different lifestyles in such a way that I allows the reader to step into that lifestyle whilst reading it.
The next step in creating the magazine was to design a flat plan layout of the magazine. This is basically the structure of the magazine minus any writing or pictures. For the front cover I stuck to a slightly disorganised and scrappy style using a scribble affect behind text to make it clearer but also to make it look as though it has been thrown together with no regard for tidiness or convention. I have bordered the pictures with a faded green outline again to make them stand out. The border appears to have been sprayed on. This affect, again, is used to avoid a tidy or polished look.
The font used for the masthead is clear and easy to read but still conforms to the overall style of the magazine. I have used a black outline around the lettering of the masthead and used an emboss effect to bring it immediately to the audience’s attention and make it clear that it is the masthead of the magazine. I want it to be the first thing that is noticed on the front page. The main photo on the front cover is of Criminal Mind performing live as live music is one of the main focuses of the magazine and what much of punk music is about.
I have backed the title of the lead article with a black back ground because it was difficult to read without it. I also made the text look textured. The unique selling point of this issue is a free poster of the bassist from Criminal Mind. I have used red behind the text to attract the audience’s attention. I have used the colour red to highlight the word PLUS before the list of featured bands in the magazine.
For the contents page I have maintained the ‘punk’ house style used in the front cover but I have made it clearer and more straightforward so that the reader can easily navigate the magazine. I have used some of the features used in the front page. For example, all the fonts used in the contents were also used on the front cover. I have used the scribble effect behind the text and the sprayed on look of the borders around the pictures and used the same two main colours of red and green. I have used a simple textured grey background so as not to distract from the text and images. The texture used on the background gives it the appearance of a wall, which enhances the graffiti affect of the green patches. The title of the magazine appears in the top left corner of the page in the same font as it is on the front cover.
The recurring theme of graffiti and spray-paint refers back to the genre of the magazine and the non-conformist attitude that goes hand in hand with that genre. Also many of the colours used in the magazine are quite dark and murky. This reflects the dark and moody sound of punk music.
For the double page spread I have used photos and written an interview with local punk band criminal mind. I have made all the photos black and white except for the Union Jack on one of the photos, a popular symbol with many fans of punk music. For the title I have used a mixture of black and red letters in several different fonts. I have used similar borders to the ones used previously. The font of the pull quote is in a font used throughout the magazine.
The main picture on the double page spread covers both pages with the main focus being on the man on the right side of the photo. As there wasn’t much else on the other side of the photo so I decided to put the text there. This is a technique often used in NME magazine so that there is a background to both pages of the article. As the photo only included one member of the group I decided to add two more photos with the other three members in.
The text of the main article is written in an informal tone. It is also quite descriptive and features important quotes from the interview as well as some informative notes about the band. It is presented as an article in a gonzo style rather than a straightforward question and answer interview. I think that this style gives the audience a different perspective of the band, reading a third person point of view rather than what the band wants you to hear.
I think my media product may be distributed in both independent record shops and also in newsagents in urban areas. There is currently no mainstream, nationwide music magazine specifically aimed at an audience who predominantly listen to punk music. The closest thing to it would be Kerrang magazine, which covers hard rock music in general. My Media project however is not limited just to punk music as many people who are fans of that sound also listen to different forms of rock and underground music including grime, metal, drum & bass and indie. My magazine is mid-priced because it is monthly but also because it is a fairly new and niche magazine.
When creating my product I used the program Photoshop both on Mac and PC. I discovered a range of different features available on the program. I found that I could edit the photos used in the magazine and stylise them before adding them to the appropriate page. Many of the photos were taken on a Cannon digital SLR camera and imported onto a MacBook laptop. I found that Macs were a lot easier and quicker to use than PCs.
I feel that my skills in producing a music magazine have improved greatly from my first attempt in my preliminary exercise and I have produced a piece that looks far more professional than what I achieved in my preliminary task.
