Media Evaluation question 1-4 draft

Media evaluation

Question 1:

For my front cover I have added a masthead and barcode to follow the conventions of a magazine. With the masthead I have also placed it being the cover star to make the cover star stand out more. Furthermore for the barcode I placed the date and price of the magazine above it. This makes my magazine seem more realistic and professional, as it looks like an actual magazine. Furthermore I have added cover lines in the same format that magazines would lay them out. I have also included a skyline and a puff on the front cover to catch the audience’s attention to a certain topic just like other magazines would do. For example Kerrang uses skylines on their front covers to let their readers know more about what is included in the magazine, instead of having the reader having to pick up the magazine to look at the contents. They include some of the contents that are in the magazine on the skyline so the reader can instantly look at it and see what is included in the magazine. Like Q magazine and Kerrang I have used a photo taken at a photography studio for my front cover. This makes the magazine seem more professional and by using professional equipment to take the picture I have also used a good quality image, which makes the overall front cover look nicer. I used a mid-shot with the photo I took and centred the model to make them stand out. Many magazines usually have mid-shots of the cover star to make them stand out, so I have done the same for my magazine. I used low-key lighting in the photo to make the model look more mysterious with the use of shadows. The model is also wearing heavy make-up and quite a plain T-shirt with writing to create dark vibes, which relate to the genre of music my magazine is about. I have included an anchor for my main cover line to follow the conventions of magazines. By including an anchor with the cover line the reader will know that it is related to the image also it gives an insight about what the feature of the magazine will be about. 

For my contents page of my magazine I have included images of artists that have been featured in my magazine to excite the reader making them want to know more about the contents of the artists. I have added social media logos to suggest to the reader that they can follow the magazine’s social media pages if they would like more information. Furthermore I have sectioned the contents in my magazine into sub sections to help the reader navigate through the magazine easier. I have added page numbers where the content is located at and I made them a different colour to make them stand out so the reader can easily see them and navigate their way through the magazine. With the photos I have used I also added captions and page numbers to where they can find more information about them on the artist and I also added quotes with them to give the reader an insight on the article they are featured in. I have included the logo of my magazine at the bottom of the page next to the page number of the contents page to follows the conventions of a magazine. Like Kerrang I have used an image as the background of my magazine and half of the page is used to show off the image whilst content is written on the other half of the page. Also like Q magazine I did not add just one picture, I added multiple pictures of different artists on my contents page, so the readers can visually see the artists that are featured in the magazine. Like both magazines I have stuck with the same colour scheme for my contents page that I used for my front cover, this makes the magazine consistent and makes it look more professional instead of using random colour on each page. It keeps the magazine looking organised like it has been colour coded.

For my double page spread I did it in a similar layout as Kerrang and Q magazine. Following the conventions of a magazine I added a picture of the artist featured on the DPS. I used the same picture for both pages to make it look more professional, instead of using two pages which may make it look choppy and messy. The phot used here was taken in the photography studio to create a professional look. In this photo I took the photo from the side of the model and used low key lighting, which created shadows on the model’s face making them look mysterious. By doing this the reader will want to know more about the artist. I took the picture where the model was not centred but at the side to leave some white space, which is where the article is. The model is wearing quite dark and heavy make-up to represent the genre of music my magazine features. The model is also throwing a leather jacket up in the air in the photo to make them look cool to the reader. I have added page numbers at the bottom of the page so users can easily find the DPS from the contents page. Furthermore I added the logo of my magazine at the bottom of the page to so the reader knows the interview was done by my magazine. I added the artist’s name in a bold font and capital letters at the side of the page, so when the user turns the page they will see it and know which artist the article is about. The title of the article has also been put in a bold font in capital letters to make it stand out. I have added a pull quote underneath the title to catch the reader’s attention, so they may take an interest in the article. I wrote the article in a question and answer format to make it seem like a conversation going back and forth. I wrote the article in a casual format by writing questions that are not just asking about the artist and their music but also about their personal life. This can make the reader more interested in the article as they might learn something new about the artist that they did not know. To make my magazine consistent I have used the same fonts that I have used on my front cover. Using too many fonts would have made my magazine look messy and unprofessional, so I stuck to certain fonts that I have already used. Like most DPS articles in Kerrang and Q magazine I have added an introduction to the artist, so any reader’s that are interest in the artist can know more about them. I have also added a drop cap to show where the article starts. I have added an outro at the end of the article to advertise the artist and their product. I have also stuck with the colour scheme by making the titles black and white, and adding red lines under the title and pull quote.

Question 2:

The social group that is being shown in my magazine is mainly young white people that may still be in higher education or at the stage where they are at their first job. Their families will have an average income. As my magazine is UK based most of the artists featured in my magazine are UKK based too and located in London. London is known as an urban and diverse area with many young people. By featuring artists from the area, young readers from the area may also aspire to be like them too and pursue their dreams. My magazine portrays both genders, but my magazine will try to portray more female artists. Instead of just showing male artists and making them more inferior to female artists. My magazine will not portray females as objects like many other music magazines.  My magazine mainly features white people that are represented positively, as they inspire their audience with their musical talents. The artists are represented as young hard workers that chase after their dream of being famous and inspiring others.  My magazine focuses on rock music. Rock music is usually represented as negative and male dominated. The clothing that one my models is wearing is quite gender neutral giving off the impression that they are a strong character and they’re fighting against the stereotype of women. The main model on the contents page is also wearing a choker which fits into the genre of music. The choker gives of the impression of a collar but without a lead giving the impression that the artists does not need a leader because they’re their own leader. Another one of my models has red hair, which may be viewed as rebellious and wild to some people. These things give the impression that people of this age group are rebellious and do not cater towards society’s standards. The make-up that the models are wearing is quite dark and might lead people to think that people into rock music look a certain way. Most of my models are female models that strike quite strong poses, which shows that females are powerful too and not weak little girls that people stereotype them with. In my DPS there is a section which talks about the artists when she was younger, which creates an image of what younger fans are like and that it is a sort of phase that teenagers go through. Overall the representation of the social group in my magazine is positive and shows that rock music is not just a male dominated genre and that female artists are also musically talented without having to be treated like objects.

Question 3:

I would like my magazine to be published by Time Inc.UK, formally known as IPC Media. Time Inc.UK, a consumer magazine and digital publisher, was founded in 1968 in the UK. They are a successful company that has a large portfolio, which sells over 350 million copies a year. At the Professional Publishers Association, in April 2012, IPC won an award for the Best Production Team of the Year. From the four main publishers in the UK, EMAP Bauer, IPC, Conde and NatMag, I have chosen IPC. At first I was going to choose Bauer, however Bauer already publish Kerrang. So it would not be good to have my magazine published with them as both magazines would compete against one another. Instead I chose IPC as they are highly successful and have experience publishing music magazines, like the NME. Even though they publish a music magazine it would not compete against my magazine as my magazine is based on a different genre of music and the target audience is different. NME features numerous genres and is a music journalism magazine that is mainly aimed at young adults, whereas my magazine only features rock genre and is aimed at teenagers. Furthermore IPC has a lot of experience from publishing magazines for years and they have a lot of knowledge on different target audiences from other magazines they publish. Therefore they would know what the target audience want and is attracted by, so they could help further develop my magazine. My target audience is quite young and tend to use a bunch of social media and use mobile phones. IPC don’t only publish physical copies of magazines but also digital versions too, and they use a wide range of social media to advertise this. This is useful as my target audience can become aware of my magazine and access it on different platforms, so if they cannot afford a physical copy of the magazine they could buy a digital version instead, which would be cheaper. Seeing as less people are buying physical copies of magazines nowadays, as most people are moving towards digital platforms, it would benefit my magazine to have a digital copy too so it is more accessible to the audience. Also by making my magazine available online people will be able to share it on social media meaning that my magazine would be getting advertised for free. As a large company IPC would also be able to set up a subscription service for my magazine. By having a subscription service we would be able to keep track of how many readers are reading my magazine and on average how many more people are picking up my magazine when a new issue is released. This can help give a rough estimate of how many magazines should be published for the next release, which leads to less resources being wasted. Also by having a subscription service it guarantees and income for my magazine as the reader might have paid for a monthly subscription for a whole year. With a subscription my magazine would also earn more money instead of having my magazine sold in a shop. If my magazine was just sold in a shop it would earn less money as the shop keeps part of the money they earn from selling my magazine. Instead my magazine would be mailed directly to the reader meaning it won’t lose more money and it would be both convenient for the reader and my magazine. With a subscription there would be benefits for the reader too as the magazine would be less expensive and they may also get free gifts from subscribing to my magazine.

Question 4:

My target audience will be teenagers aged 14-20. They will still be in education, so due to this reason my magazine will be relatively cheap and affordable. My target audience will be into rock, metal, and punk music as my magazine is a rock magazine. They will mainly be located in the UK in big cities, like London or Birmingham, as my magazine is based in the UK. My magazine will have content for young teenagers to older teenagers. I have chosen to aim my magazine at this age group because people this age usually get into rock music, as they like to be rebellious and experiment a lot at this stage. My audience will be aimed at both genders, 50% male and 50% female, even though most of the cover stars I use for my magazine are female my magazine is aimed both equally at male and female. Usually rock magazines are aimed at people of white ethnicity, however I would like to broaden my target audience to all other ethnicities too.  My magazine will do its best by including artists of different ethnicities. My audience will be fans that are into going to live events and buying physical copies of albums and merchandise, therefore my magazine will advertise these things in it. By creating an audience profile I can use this to show to advertisers who may be interested in advertising their products in my magazine. With knowledge on the target audience my magazine is based on they can see whether their product would sell well with them or not. For example bands may want to advertise their gigs in my magazine as they know there will be 20 year old who have some money to spend on them and their merchandise.

Lily is 17 years old and lives in London. She loves going to lives and meet and greets. Her life is centred on music and she does her best to collect posters and albums of her favourite artists. She loves introducing her friends to new artists she discovers and arranges to go to concerts together. Lily has a part-time job and her parents also give her money once a week to spend. She saves up to go to these events and to buy merchandise and occasionally receives them as gifts. Lily is always up to date with the latest trends on social media and learns about new artists through platforms like YouTube and Twitter.

Zen is 16 years old and lives in Stratford. He spends most his time online and likes to listen to music on platforms like YouTube or Spotify. However occasionally if he sees his favourite band featured in magazine he will often go and buy it. He spends the majority of his money on merchandise from his favourite artists. To Zen, music is a way for him to escape from his workload and stress from school. Getting gig tickets is considered a luxury to Zen and so he usually enters competitions to try and win tickets.