Note to moderator

Dear Moderator,

My brief for my AS Media was to create a Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread for a new music magazine. I chose to do my music magazine with no particular genre and mainly focus on what's in the charts at the time of release due to there not being many magazines of this genre other than Billboard or Q for example. Despite not having a specific target audience, my magazine would be aimed towards young adults between the ages of 16 - 25 (roughly), it will be suited towards these people as it will predominately feature current music that's popular within that group.

I have used labels on my blog to make it easily navigable in order to find what you are looking for.

Yours Sincerely,
Stephen Penstone, Edgbarrow School.

Candidate Number: 4268
Centre Number: 51111

Encore Magazine Double Page Spread - Final Product

Encore Magazine Contents Page - Final Product

Encore Magazine Front Cover - Final Product

Evaluation Question 7

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

Evaluation Question 6

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

I have answered question 6 of my evaluation on a google slides document.

Click here to view it.

Evaluation Questions 4 & 5

Who would be the audience for your product and how did you attract/address your audience?

(Click the expand button in the top right hand corner to see the full Padlet)

Evaluation Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups? 

Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Encore Magazine Draft 3

Encore Magazine Draft 2

I've now almost finished my magazine. I've almost completed all three sections however there's still a few things that need to be finalised. I need to take at least three pictures of my main artist and then I will have taken all of my pictures. Once they have been put in, I will need to look at changing the colours and positioning of certain things on the front cover and the double page spread.

Encore Magazine Early Drafts

These are my front page and contents page of my magazine so far. I'm working out the general layout and using stand in photos to get an idea of the final product. My next step will definitely be to take my photos. This way my front cover will not really have any white space on it and my contents will look finalised

Plumtree

Stephen, what made you settle on 'Encore' as your title? Did you get any consumer feedback on this or was it just a personal choice? I like the idea of having the slanted 'e' at the end - did you look at an option to have this at the start too as a way of adding to the idea of an 'encore'?

Magazine Masthead Ideas

I've studied other magazine mastheads to see what works and what is eye-catching to the consumer. I want my title to be simple yet eye-catching. I've made a few mock up ideas for how the masthead could look on the magazine:

Example 1:

This idea is very eye-catching. The red colour could be changed depending on the colour scheme of the magazine's front cover that issue. The black border helps make the logo 'pop' or stand out and helps draw people's eyes in. The logo is clean and reader-friendly which is a theme I want to keep throughout my magazine. However, the logo could be considered to be too similar to the like of Coca-Cola or to a further extent Rolling Stone magazine, it wouldn't be a good idea to have such a similar logo to another music magazine as it causes confusion

Example 2:

This idea is a lot simpler and cleaner than the other two. It doesn't try to hide anything and makes the message quite clear and simple. The thin but precise font makes it easy to read - again, a theme I want to keep. However, the logo could be seen as too generic and not that distinguishable. It also looks more like the logo of a perfume or shampoo - e.g. L'Oreal

Example 3:

This logo idea incorporates ideas from both other logos. It's bold and eye-catching but also simple and clean. The colour, like the first example, can also be changed to fit with the colour scheme of the magazine. The simplicity of this logo means that it is fairly straight forward but the slanted 'e' at the end keeps it being unique. This also means that I can have the subject of the photo either in front or behind the logo depending on what looks best with the composition. However, I worry that having one block colour could be too generic and not make it stand out against its competitors; it also makes it difficult to separate the letters from each other

Example 4:

This final logo idea combines the best parts of the previous logos. The use of a shadow behind the title makes it stand out and catch your eye. It also separates the letters from each other allowing it to be clearer and easier to read. It uses a similar - yet not identical - font to example 3 as this one is a bit cleaner and thinner without being too thin like example 2. The logo's main colour again can be swapped out to keep with the colour scheme of the front cover. Finally, I've kept the slanted 'e' at the end to add that little bit of individuality the logo needs

Magazine Titles

I want my magazine to have a one word, recognisable title that is easy for people to remember. I also want it to be a musical term, so I have come up with three options:

• Coda
• Beats
• Encore

CODA

Coda is a musical term meaning "the concluding passage of a piece or movement, typically forming an addition to the basic structure". This works well with my magazine as it implies that it's a return to form for traditional magazines. However, I worry that this is almost too obscure a musical term for a general audience and might put some people off buying as they wouldn't understand. There is also a possibility that it could be confused with a coding or computing magazine

BEATS

This term is well known and again a catchy title to stick in people's heads. It creates an upbeat positive vibe for my magazine that works well with the style of the magazine. A worry would be however that the term is too generic and wouldn't always be associated with my magazine

ENCORE

Encore is a term in music meaning that to do a reprise of a song because the audience want more. This works extremely well with my magazine as it will leave people wanting to come back and buy more. It's an instantly recognisable term that can attract an audience. My only concern with this title is the fact that it could be seen as too musical theatre however the term is used outside of the theatre as well 

Plumtree

Lots of really good research here Stephen and well done for looking at how this will inform your own choices for your front cover.

Double Page Spread Examples

From this selection of double page spreads, I've noticed a few notable rends and differences throughout them:

• They all tend to have a huge title that clearly states who and what the article is about (The example about Ariana Grande is not at the beginning of the article so you cannot see this)
• There is usually only one image which is huge and takes up around 50% of the double page spread. However, the image is incorporated into the design in the top three with the text moving to accommodate the artist. The bottom three have the image very separate to the body of text, this gives the article a more serious or sophisticated feel. These are the main two layout options for a magazine of this genre
• Because there is there is normally a lot of text within the article, to make it easier for the reader to read it these double page spreads sometimes have the first letter of the article enlarged to indicate where to start reading. The giant red L on the Lady Gaga example is a staple of Q Magazine
• Because the bottom three magazine examples have the image separate from the text, the background is always white to make the text easy to read and stand out
• The subject of these double page spreads are more often female than male. This shows the target audience of the magazines
• They also sometimes key important quotes from the article lifted out and placed elsewhere on the double page spread to highlight the quote's significance

Billboard Contents Page Examples

From this selection of Billboard magazine contents pages, you can clearly see the similarities between issues:

• The magazine uses a very clear layout to make it much easier to find what you want to read
• The stories and features in the magazine are all split off and separated into different sections, for example 'In every issue' and ' Features'
• There are sections for online news promoting the magazine's website. It includes exclusive stories
• There are four pictures promoting stories in each issue, with the biggest picture being incorporated with the text. This is to emphasise the importance of that particular story
• The large column down the left side takes up a large chunk of the page. This is showing the charts at the time of the issue. This isn't usually found on the contents page of music magazines however Billboard also creates charts so this is to promote it
• Some issues have an advert in them at the bottom to promote subscribing to the magazine showing covers of previous issues on it

Billboard Front Cover Examples

From this selection of front covers of Billboard magazine from over the years I have noticed a few trends:

• Most front covers only ever feature one person on them so that all of your focus is on that one artist. Occasionally they'll have two artists together (such as the edition with Nick Jonas and Demi Lovato) but that is only if the main story is about them both. They are both primarily solo artists as bands hardly ever make the front cover
• There are no other images on the front cover and only the big image to help highlight its importance
• The artist is generally in front of one block colour to really make themselves stand out and show their significance and give the cover an overall cleaner look
• The masthead is often covered up by the featured artist unless that would make it difficult to read it and distinguish it from the other leading music magazines
• The artist on the front cover is almost always looking directly at the camera with barely any exceptions. This makes it easier to connect with the artist and draws you in to purchase this specific magazine. It could also imply that they aren't hiding anything showing how the magazine itself is very clean and reader-friendly 
• Where possible, the artist is never covered up by any text or other stories other than the main story about them. Again, this is to amplify their importance

Colour Schemes

Looking at the colour schemes of the type of magazines that I am looking to produce, I noticed a few trends:

• Each magazine has a basic, block colour for its background with an image of the artist framed in the centre
• The colours are often very bright and eye-catching  and try to draw the potential reader's eyes towards it
• The regular text on the magazine covers are generally black or white but sometimes they are colours that complement the rest of the colour scheme (e.g. Bruno Mars & Darren Criss)
• Normally the scheme goes: Background colour, major colour on artist, colour of text, highlight colour for text. However sometimes they break the mould (e.g. Sam Smith being mainly black and white or Florence and the Machine who takes up the entire page)

Target Audience Survey

From these results I have decided to create a music magazine that is primarily targeted at young adults and teenagers ranging from around 14 to 21. The magazine will mainly be focused on pop music but rather than it clearly being targeted towards females, it will be fairly gender neutral. I'm looking to magazines such as 'Q' or 'Billboard' for inspiration.

(N.B. The 'other' result for question 5 was 'Indie Magazine')

Q magazine Double Page Spread Analysis

Q Magazine Contents Analysis

Q Magazine Front Cover Analysis

Preliminary Task - Evaluation

Did you plan your magazine? If not, what have you learnt about the importance of research and planning?


Before I made my front cover and contents page for my preliminary task, I had a look at some front covers of other school magazines. It made me consider the general layout and tone of the genre. For example, it made me realise that I didn't need to clutter my front page. I needed it to be to clear and tidy as the magazines tend to be targeted towards an older audience (e.g. the parents rather than the students). Here's some examples of magazine covers I found:

 

What technology did you use to complete the task and how did you use it?

For my preliminary task, I used Serif PagePlus X9. This was my first experience with this software so I was learning it as I created my magazine.

• I learnt how to use layers to create a washout background image for my contents page
• I learnt how to turn objects transparent so you could still see the main image. This is apparent in the bar at the bottom with the plugs and kickers
• I learned photo composition so that the girl was the main focus but still allowed you to clearly see the main story

Did you encounter any difficulties? If so, what were they and how did you overcome them?

I didn't really experience any specific difficulties, however it did take me a long time to get used to the software that I was using as it was my first experience with it. However, with time and practice I soon got used to it and was able to overcome any minor difficulties I had with the program.

How successful was your magazine? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?

I believe that my magazine was fairly successful overall. While it doesn't look as good as the examples above, I'd say it went well for a first attempt. I think the masthead works well as it gives the magazine an overall professional look however I think the main image makes it difficult to read the main story.

What have you learnt from completing the task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?

I feel that I have learned a lot about creating a magazine cover and contents. Looking back I can see what has and has not worked with my school magazine, for example the masthead and plugs/kickers worked well but my main story didn't work well with my photo's composition. I will take all of this into account when I start my foundation coursework as my new knowledge of Serif PagePlus X9 and research ideas will allow me to create the best music magazine of my abilities.

Preliminary Task - Magazine