Media studies evaluation

1. Splash Magazine Evaluation Ellen McDonald

2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Throughout the research and planning for my magazine front cover, I analysed two music magazines- Kerrang and Q magazine. These gave me an insight as to what I needed to include in my music magazine front cover, as I took various elements from each magazine. This style of masthead appealed to me most as it spans the full width of the front cover. Therefore I decided that my masthead would be the same. I felt that having an image blocking the masthead was appropriate in a well established magazine like Kerrang, however for an unknown magazine it wouldn’t be suitable. Use of coverlines to the left side of the magazine seemed to establish an orderly layout and so I felt this was the best place to add my own coverlines. I instantly knew, during my research, that I would use an image of the main band for my magazine as the background for my music magazine front cover- meaning it would span the whole size of the page. I felt this looked most professional and it was used in the two music magazines I analysed in detail Use of coverlines written over the top of the main magazine image is space saving and aesthetically effective. This is used in many music magazines and so I knew it would be effective in Splash magazine. Taking inspiration from Q Magazine, I decided I would place a slogan above the masthead, to attract reader attention and generate excitement about the magazine.

3. This was my final outcome of my music magazine front cover. I feel it is in-keeping with the conventions of other music magazines in terms of the masthead, main image and coverlines. As with almost all music magazines I have looked at, the masthead is in a prime position for competition against other music magazines on a newsagent’s shelf. This is essential as often the masthead is all a perspective buyer will see, so it must stand out Music magazines will conventionally include a few sentences of coverlines over the main image to encourage people to buy the magazines. These lines are often enticing and may tease the reader by only providing a little information. “MySpace Sensation” Indicates great internet hype and causes the reader to want to buy the magazine to find out more. These coverlines are succinct, snappy and enticing. “Beyonce musical influences” will appeal to Beyonce fans, while “Top ten break-though UK Acts of 2009” appeals to those who enjoy unsigned acts. These coverlines correspond to my questionnaires- where I learnt that articles on both famous artists and new or unsigned acts are most popular.

4. To research contents pages, I analysed NME magazine and Q Magazine. Like my music magazine front cover, I found various elements that I liked and wanted to imitate in my contents page. Organisation of articles into sub headings is something I found in both NME, Q and in other music magazines I looked at. This immediately establishes a firm layout and results in an easily understood contents page. Both NME and Q used “Features” as a sub-heading therefore I included this. Q magazine have an “every month” feature, so I included this also. I included a section “Splash Review” as I got this idea from the Q magazine contents page. This details a review of gigs, albums and unsigned acts and I felt it would work well in Splash magazine I used the unconventional style of Polaroid images on my contents page to add a little variety to Splash Magazine. The contents pages I looked at had one singular image, however I wished to use two- one of my main band and one of another artist. I found this image of a Glasgow band on the internet when I began my research and wanted to imitate this somewhere in my magazine. I found that in NME, they used a part of the contents page to promote the magazine. Therefore I dedicated the bottom to promoting a free gift in this issue. I found from my questionnaires that promotions like these will attract more buyers to my magazine. The idea for the CD itself came from free CD’s that Kerrang magazine have given away in the past.

5. To plan my double page spread, I analysed Kerrang and NME magazine. While Kerrang was quite Gothic and dark, NME provided helpful elements I could use in my own work. Like NME and Kerrang which both used many images, I decided to dedicate the left side of my double page spread to images. Through my questionnaire research I found that perspective readers enjoy use of images in the magazine and so I think my use of five images is appropriate. To continue with the theme of the contents page, I added further Polaroid images here to establish a house style. Magazines spend great time developing a firm house style. Q magazine continually uses red, white and black thought every magazine they issue. Use of a drop cap is important in setting the scene to the article. Like NME, the Splash drop cap introduces the band and the writer I included sub headings to organise my double page spread more neatly. Pull quotes are a regular occurrence on music magazine double page spreads. These are usually larger than the main text and in a different colour. I added two pull quotes to my article to attract instant attention. This title suggests a relatively new band and that this article will provide detailed background information. The colours reflect the house style of Splash also. The titles of articles are often catchy like this and entice the reader

6. Challenging Conventions My music magazine front cover just contains one main image, whereas on other magazines there tend to be three or four. I found through my questionnaire that my target audience prefer a simple layout with just one or two images and so I chose to go against this usual convention and create a magazine with just one front cover image. In my double page spread I chose to have the title or headline of the page in the centre of the page, rather than on the top left as is conventional of other music magazines. I didn’t want the title to overshadow the top of the main image and so I decided to place it over the photo near the middle. This too adds diversity to the double page spread and adds a little character. My contents page is generally conventional, although the use of Polaroid images is a little diverse and is rarely used in magazines. I feel this gives a laid back presence to the indie magazine and is attractive also.

16. Many images as opposed to one appeal to the target audience that have indicated that images are appealing. Also avoids an overload of text that will loose the interest of the reader quickly. Drop cap to inform the reader of the background to the article and writer Pull quotes attract readers attention and are instantly appealing . Emphases the humility and friendly nature of the band- readers will relate to them. Overall calming colour scheme of blue, white and grey. The reader becomes familiarised with the house style of the magazine and appreciates it. Colloquial language allows the reader to feel at ease, as the article feels friendly and conversational. “We just recorded one of our own songs one evening and posted the video on the net.” Double page spread- attractive to the audience Article ends on an upbeat and positive note- “At Splash we’re confident for the future of these Irish teenagers.” Various quotations embedded into the text “This felt like the breakthrough the band needed- ‘We finally had hope we could go beyond our internet roots.’” Whole left hand side dedicated to images. Images of the boys in the style of Polaroid's interest the reader and are consistent with the contents page

19. I learned to use grid guidelines when completing my tasks as these help to align the work and ensure everything I used was straight and accurate. Fonts For my fonts I used 1001 fonts, an internet site and copied them into a windows folder for fonts. I was then able to open these in Photoshop and use them throughout my magazine. This font is called ‘If’ and is the font I decided to use for my masthead, title on the contents page and sub headings. These other fonts were downloaded from 1001 fonts also and are used in both the front cover, contents page and double page spread. This splash mark used throughout my magazine is also downloaded from Google and pasted into a windows folder for brushes. This adds to the Splash theme of my magazine and is aesthetically pleasing

27. My final products Music magazine front cover

28. Music magazine contents page

29. Music magazine double page spread