Script For Presentation
Front Cover
Front Cover Screen Shots Flicking Through
Picture of Completed Front Cover Appears
Zooms to Masthead
Masthead: I used this masthead font as it is typical of the pop genre, the red contrasts well against the background helping the masthead jump out at the reader. In my Survey Monkey results 15 out of 17 people commented on how much they liked it. Also, the cracks in the “O’s” make them seem like broken records, one person from my survey noticed this and said ‘I think they look like records.’ This helps to adjust the genre to indie as the cracks show the attitude of the main article, but the pop genre still remains in control.
Zooms to Cover Lines
Cover Lines: The bands shown here are typical of the indie pop genre, these would be similar to magazines like Q and NME, this gives the appearance that my magazine is conventional. And the red continues the house style established by the Masthead, most music magazines use this to show that each page belongs to the same magazine.
Zooms to Left Third
Left Third: Within the left third are a few of the most important elements of my music magazine; the flash, part of the main image, and the main article. The reason I chose to do this was because other magazines like Kerrang and Mixmag use the left third so people can see part of the magazine when it is on a shelf, this draws the reader in so they read it and hopefully buy it. The flash is also used for the same effect as the free gigs poster is likely to pull in my target audience. The main image is used to pull in potential fans of the band, this is usually done in most music magazines, again the reader may spot the magazine and buy it due to this. Although, I cannot say that we are very famous, or a band. The main article is the biggest part of the left third; the story is used to grip the readers into buying the magazine and obviously reading it, and like most music magazines, it is about the band on the front cover. The pull quote gives you an idea about the background of the article, showing that they are a bit unruly but unsure why people look down on them. This is very stereotypical of teenagers nowadays.
Zooms to Main Image
Main Image: The main image fills the front cover showing that it is the most important and predominant aspect of the magazine, it represents my band as having a bit of an attitude but happy at the same time, this fits very well with the genre of the magazine which is indie pop. 5 people commented on how the photography was their favourite part of the magazine and only 2 people disliked it. I used the photography of the main image to identify with the target audience which is 16-24, the clothing worn by the band is very typical of modern society teenagers and they are also in the same age range as the audience, the readers are more likely to identify themselves with us compared to rock 50 year olds, helping the reader to understand the pull quote. A few people from my survey recognised this and said “The band members are young which helps identify with the audience.” 13 people agreed that my magazine is suitable for the 16-24 age group. The majority of people who answered my survey were in this age group.
Zoom Out – Whole Page
Whole Magazine: The features shown on my front cover are very conventional compared to magazines like NME and Q, my magazine uses a large Masthead (slightly covered by the main image), a slogan, a flash, cover lines, a pull quote, the main article, the main image, the barcode, a web link and the price and date of the magazine. One thing that does challenge the convention of the magazine style is the full title of my magazine in the top right hand corner; this is in an unusual place as NME has ‘New Musical Express’ under the masthead and a lot smaller. Although with all of these similarities, 12 people from my survey thought it was alternative, because of this I saw that supermarkets and corner shops do not tend to sell alternative magazines. So I thought that my magazine could be distributed on the internet using Bauer. As this is an online service, teenagers are more likely to use it and pay less because it isn’t a physical copy but it is the same thing. Also as my magazine is very similar to NME it would receive a lot of competition from it, but if I decided to publish it on Bauer I would not have any competition against NME because Bauer Media do not publish it. I believe Bauer would distribute my magazine because of these few reasons. The colour scheme in my magazine is very consistent, every one in my survey agreed to this and 15 people liked it. The colours are very youthful and funky; this also sets the age range for my magazine as younger people prefer brighter colours. The price set for my magazine is £2.50, this is a fair price for teenagers compared to other magazines, but a few people thought it could be a bit lower, so if I was going to change anything it would probably be the price.
Contents Pages
Contents Page 1 Flick Through
Picture of Completed Contents Page 1 Appears
Contents Page 2 Flick Through
Picture of Completed Contents Page 2 Appears
Both Pages Appear
Contents Page 1: The 1st contents page is more unconventional compared to other music magazines, but the house style is still continued. The heading is the same font as the full title on my front cover, my masthead is shown in the bottom left hand corner, and the blue text is the same gradient colour as the blue behind the main image, all to help show that this page belongs to my magazine. A few new things that are introduced on this page are the curves, some new images and the design behind the ‘Contents’. The curves introduce a new colour scheme that contains the green, orange and purple gradients, these are used to show that each article is different and on the 2nd contents page they are used to show that each section is different. If I was going to make any changes I would probably use an article from each section and assign them to the correct colours. The black background is also a large aspect of the house style, the design behind the font is made up of several brushes, this contrasts very well against the black which helps to bring out the page. The flames on this bring out the attitude that is introduced on the front cover. The photography used on this page helps to introduce each article, and like other conventional magazines, these show the most important and enticing articles. The top image shows a picture of me in front of my preliminary CD cover, this helps the reader to identify with the band as they may have heard or seen the album cover in a store or on iTunes. The centre image is a picture of an electric mast, this familiarises with the record label that is shown in the caption. The last image is a picture of a thumbs up, and a thumbs down. The yellow hand portrays heaven which relates to a good rating. Whereas, the red hand portrays hell which relates to a bad rating. The flames shown behind it give the appearance that there is a fight between them, this helps to define the article as a rating battle. It is aptly named ‘rate it or hate it’.
Contents Page 2: The 2nd contents page has a very similar style to the first one, this is essential as they are part of the same thing. As I said before each section coincides with the colours used on the 1st contents page. The text and page numbers are separated by a line, I used this on the front cover to separate articles and band names, this helps the reader to distinguish one thing from another, resulting in the least amount of confusion. The colour of the text is the same as the front cover, this goes very well against the black background and is clear to read, again this continues the house style. I also used the masthead again but this time only the ‘M’ and the ‘O’, this makes the contents page seem more interesting and helps the reader to identify that this is part of my magazine.
Both Contents Pages: 2 people thought that the contents page was the best part of the magazine and no-one disliked it.
Double Page Spread
Step By Step Again
Finished DPS Appears
Double Page Spread: The double page spread continues the house style exceedingly well, just like the rest of the magazine. The text colours and black background are continued in this article. The images are surrounded by a red border similar to the ones on the 1st contents page, the gradient colour is the same as my masthead, this helps to continue the colour scheme. Also similar to the contents page is a small version of my masthead in the top right hand corner, this has the same effect of showing that this belong to my magazine. The article is in the form of a short story and a Q&A this is fairly typical of double page spreads and is an easy way to get the bands image across. The title used is the same as the front cover’s main article, this shows that the band have their own text confirming that they are independent. The story also has a stand first; this is also fairly typical of music magazines and shows that my magazine is fairly conventional. As with the front cover image, these images represent the band as being happy and aggressive. I am often seen in these pictures as having an attitude, in this image (Mean & Angry) I am represented as having an attitude problem, (Abbey Road Wannabes) I am also shown not looking at the camera proving that this character has an attitude. This relates to the article. Although, in this image (The Band) I seem to be fairly happy showing that he is ‘putting on a face.’ Zoe and Kate however, are mostly or always shown as being happy, familiarising with the pop genre. 1 person thought that the double page spread was their favourite part of the magazine. No-one disliked it.
Technology Used/Progression
TU: I used Blogger to upload my completed work for marking; it has also been helpful to use the images on there. Photoshop was used to produce the magazine. I used survey monkey to research and collect feedback for my magazine. I also learnt to use a camera to take photos for my magazine. I used Issuu to research other existing magazines. Facebook was used to upload my surveys and images of the complete magazine. PowerPoint was used to create step-by-step guides of my work and to present research. Twitter was used to upload thoughts about the magazine project. Adobe Premiere Pro was used to create this very presentation.
Progression: It is obvious that my Photoshop skills have increased a lot, when I was doing the preliminary task I knew nothing compared to what I know now. Another thing I learned through this is that the research is a big part of the production; it helps to understand the convention of a magazine before doing it. Whereas, for my college magazine there was a lot less to research because of the niche market. Compared to the college magazine the colours are very vivid and the fonts are better laid out and presented.
