2. Q1. In what ways does your music
magazine use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of existing
magazine?
3. Analysis of Q Magazine’s Front Cover
• Q magazine represents indie/pop music.
During my analysis of Q magazine, I
discovered ways of addressing target
audiences with the variety uses of images,
colour, language, anchorage texts, fonts
styles, sizes, layouts etc.
• The strategies Q magazine uses in this
particular front cover is to attract the
audience’s attention is by using no gender
biased colours for attraction, large fonts to
highlight the main issues that the magazine
will include and uses the successful
international music stars to help win the
audience’s attention to read the magazine
further.
• From analysing this magazine front cover it
has inspired in me in ways to construct my
version of a music magazine based around
Hip Hop and R&B and how I could reach my
target audiences in similar ways to the way Q
magazine did but also challenge it by making
my constructive styles different from this
magazine.
4. BEATS Front Cover
• As you can see my front cover is very much different from Q magazine’s front cover a
it uses only one central image which many music magazines tend to use.
• From looking at and example of one of VIBE magazines front cover, you can tell that
it’s a Hip Hop magazine as Drake is used as the central Image but it appears very bold
masculine colours have been used and that the main target audience of the magazine
are males who enjoy Hip Hop. If you look at VIBE, the only female name used is
‘SERENA’ and that is printed in small, this suggests that the magazine is targeting
more of the males and that there aren’t many Hip Hop artists in the industry to talk
about and represent.
• The genre that my magazine represents is Hip Hop and R&B. Although it may look
more of a Hip Hop magazine, some of the artists names mentioned like ‘’Rihanna’’
and ‘’Chris Brown’’ indicates it also features R&B in my magazine. I have a colour
scheme of mainly Red, Yellow, White and Black and it is continuous throughout the
rest of my magazine as part of my house style. I have only one anchorage text
compared to Q magazine but I use more puffs and buzz words in a range of different
colours highlighting and addressing it to the audience in different ways. The front of
my magazine may look quite masculine, perhaps, because of the central image is of a
male and is surrounded by bold colours which appears to emphasise masculinity,
however my magazine helps balance out the aimed gender by the puff’s used for
example the female artists names that my magazine will include and issues on things
like ‘’gossip’’, that suggests it’s also aimed at females as they maybe interested in
reading about gossip to make them feel a bit more involved.
• This is how my magazine sort of challenges a well known music magazine which
represent the genre both Hip Hop and R&B and the type of gender audience it’s
being addressed to.
5. Analysis of Q Magazine’s Contents Page
• The contents page from same Q magazine that the
front cover was analysed from, mainly, the three
images of the artists used as the front cover image
are used again in the contents page but in different
ways. For example Jay Z has a close up shot of his
face in shades and the other two artists are used in
the contents but as a small print screen shots of
their mention in the magazine’s articles. The main
issues that will be inside the magazine are all on
the left hand side of the magazine and is quite
small. The three main artists used indicates they
are the main focus in the magazine and the page
number is printed quite large next to their image
indicating that the main focus is on them. The
contents still uses the same colours and fonts that
were used in the front cover which shows a
consistency in house style. They also include the
magazine name ‘Q’ on the contents to indicate it’s
from this magazine company.
• From analysing this magazine contents page, it has
also inspired me into the way I could design my
contents page and also challenge its layout by
making it a little different.
6. BEATS Contents Page
• As you can see my contents page is very much different from Q
magazine’s contents page as my issues are spread across the page
and it only uses two more images, one of Nino who the BEATS
front cover central image and of Tanjia who will also be featured
in the magazine. A similarity between my magazine and Q
magazine is that I have a page number next to the picture of
Tanjia trying to imply she is also a main focus in the magazine as
well. Another similarity is that BEATS and Q magazine both
include the name of their magazine in the contents page.
• My magazine so far shows consistent house style of fonts and
colours used in both my front cover and contents page which
highlights professionalism.
• From looking at and example of one of VIBE magazines contents
page, the layout looks quite simple as it only uses one image on
the contents page and some issues on the right hand side of the
page. Ciara’s legs are next to thin white lines and it is the outline of
a ‘V’ to indicate it’s VIBE’s magazine contents page.
• My Contents page isn’t as simple as VIBE’s magazine as it is a Hip
Hop and R&B magazine as well like BEATS. My Contents page
includes many more issues and also a little small print text under
the cover story informing the reader by hinting a little more on
what the article may include and both VIBE and Q magazine do not
do that in their contents page and this is how I challenged a typical
contents page of well known music magazines.
7. Analysis of Q Magazine’s Article
• From analysing this article, many images were used
and throughout the four pages of this article. The first
page was just a blown up picture which took up the
space of the whole page and it also had a pull quote
on that very page, the next page was just mainly texts
of the article and the last two pages involved both
images and article texts.
• Again colour and fonts are used with the same
consistent house style which is showing
professionalism. Because this magazine is called ‘Q’ , it
could suggest that its an abbreviation for question
which there could indicate this magazine is mainly
based on interviews which is why there are so many
pages full texts and pull quotes and lots of pictures
which shows its relation to the article story and help
keep the audience focused.
• From analysing this magazine front cover it has
inspired in me in ways to construct my version of a
music magazine article. The way I would want to make
my article much more different from Q magazine
article’s is by to keep it a bit simple by using less
images and perhaps texts. I would choose not to use a
plain background like Q magazine did but something
that would help foreshadow the story of the article
8. BEATS Article Pages
• As you can see my article pages are very much different from Q magazine’s article
pages. This is because I chose to use less images and less texts. I only used three
images, the first page used the space of a whole page with pull quotes similar to
Q magazines first page. However I used my images in ways where it could
foreshadow to the readers what the article would be about. So for example, the
first image, Nino’s background is displaying ‘rough’ and it is in black and white but
Nino is the only one in colour. The meaning of this image used suggests that he
has left his old lifestyle and now has moved on to a lifestyle which is acceptable in
society and the title of the article and pull quote helps to emphasise this
inference. I chose to use a picture as the background for the main article because
it also shows he looks more mature and looks as though he is reflecting on his
past as the background represents an anti social environment which also helps to
foreshadow the story of the article.
• My magazine has shown consistency of house styles throughout the magazine in
many ways such as colours and fonts used. Also, on my front cover I used semi
transparent boxes to highlight specific words and the boxes are again used
against the background so the text is visible and this overall shows
professionalism.
• From looking at an example of VIBE magazine’s article of drake, it has similarities
to Q magazine as it uses a plain background, however the article also uses few
images and texts.
• My Article pages seem to challenge the way other well known music magazine’s
produce there articles, because i used images in the background to allow
audiences to make inferences to it to work out the relation between the images,
title and pull quotes used before and after reading the article which would make
things more interesting and keep the reader a bit more focused because of all the
foreshadowing used.
9. Q2. How does your magazine
represent particular social groups?
10. Representation:
• My magazine represents the music genre’s Hip Hop and R&B
and it is emphasised through the images of people dressed
in a certain way, speaking in a certain way, in a particular
background, uses of colour etc.
• For example the genre hip Hop tends to target the social
group that have a interest in the subculture that includes
rapping, DJ-ing, hip hop dance, and graffiti art as well as
talking or using slang when they speak.
For example, Nino’s story is based on his rehabilitated
lifestyle where he now works as a DJ with international
names in the music industry. The backgrounds he use to
stood behind were covered in graffiti and could indicate a
rough lifestyle. The clothes he wear is very street and in the
article, from the pull quote it is clear he uses a lot of slang
when he speaks in his interview.
Also , on the front cover, the terms used such as
‘’Gangster’’ suggests that Hip Hop is very street.
These Hip Hop sub-cultural features are quite masculine
and there are more males in this industry and only a very
few females such as Nicki Minaj.
11. Q3. What kind of media institution
might distribute your media product
and why?
12. Media Institution For Distribution?
I would use IPC Media to distribute my magazine
because they publish magazines from music,
fashion, TV, even wallpaper. This company
produces many magazines and targets genders in a
range of ways for example magazines only aimed
for women e.g. ‘Look’ magazine or ‘shooting
gazette’ which is aimed at men. Also they have
other magazine products such as television
magazine aimed for both males and females. They
also have magazine linked website access and this
would benefit my music magazine product as I
have included a website address at the bottom of
my contents page and this could boost popularity
and perhaps sales of my product for the future.
This company do only publish one music magazine
which is NME; a very popular magazine to which I
hope my magazine will be to as well, if not better,
especially with the aid of magazine website link
access. NME represents the music genre of Rock
and Indie and BEATS represents R&B and Hip Hop.
Bringing a new genre to this company could
increase audiences as during my research I found
that R&B and Hip Hop were the two most popular
listened to music in the developing music industry
business of the 21st century.
13. Q4. Who would be the audience for
your music magazine and why?
14. Target Audience
Because there aren't many females in the Hip Hop
Industry, and the fact that a male figure was used in
the front cover of my magazine, it would perhaps
suggest the target audience for my magazine is a
mainly a young age group of males who like Hip Hop
or just simply enjoy the culture of Hip Hop.
However, my magazine is also R&B based as on my
front cover and contents pages many female artists
are mentioned who mainly represent the R&B
industry. Also terms like Gossip also suggests it
targets females aswel.
Because of this balance, my magazine aims for both
males and females who prefer either R&B music or
Hip Hop or both, from the teenage years and
onwards as there are many fans and artists to are
come in a variety of ages.
15. Target Audience Continued
• I chose to base my construction of a music magazine around
the genre of Hip Hop and R&B because, as part of my
planning, I created a survey on survey monkey and found
that the three most popular listened to music are Hip Hop,
R&B and Rock which was the third most popular in the 21st
century.
• The Hip Hop Subculture is as I said more of street and would
aim to a younger audience from teenagers and above and
the race/ ethnicity it would aim for would vary from black to
white from different societies where the Hip Hop lifestyle
maybe applied to their way of life.
• R&B artists are mainly African Americans who may include
rocking, and jazzed based music with a heavy, firm beats in
the music they produce as this was quite popular when it
started to originate back from the 1940’s.
• But Hip Hop and R&B music tend to do much better in the
music industry market and would aim mainly to audiences
from young as teenage years to both girls and boys and
increasing to young adult men and women.
• Because these two genre’s of music have a diverse range of
rhythm and beats, hence the reason why I chose to call my
Magazine BEATS as this name represents these two music
genres well and the name is current and has the young vibe
to it to make it more appealing to its target audiences.
16. Q5. How did you attract / address
your audience?
17. Target Audience Attraction
• I addressed my audience in a many ways. For
example the represent Hip Hop, I used a male
figure dressed in jeans, black leather jacket,
black t-shit, converse like trainers and in
another image he wore a red hoodie and
these all emphasise the street / Hip Hop stars
dress code.
• To also attract females, I also based my
magazine on R&B as many females are a part
of this industry and are looked up to by fans
who may aspire to be like them.
• The ways I tried to imply that females are also
a target audience is by including things that
would interest them such as ‘Gossip’ on my
front cover or ‘Fashion’ that appears in my
contents page.
18. Target Audience Attraction Continued
• Also during my construction of my music
magazine, from the survey monkey results, many
people wanted the music magazine to be mainly
based around music, or artists and there music
background and stories, some gossip and
updates on events. On my front cover there are
puffs such as ‘Interviews’, ‘events’ and ‘music’ to
show to the target audience what my music
magazine include which could make the
magazine more likely to be purchased.
• Also, people who completed my survey wanted
freebies or offers where they could feel more
involved so I included a chance to enter and win
a holiday to see music stars via a competition.
Also from the survey, it helped me to come up
with a reasonable price that the customers
would be happy to pay and as well as considering
my magazine is a monthly magazine. From my
final finished magazine product survey feedback,
people were happy with the price of my
magazine as it wasn’t to cheap or expensive
bearing in mind BEATS is a monthly magazine.
19. Q6. What have you learnt about
technologies from the process of
constructing the product?
20. New knowledge
• Setting up a blog then starting to use it was at first
quite difficult for me as I don’t usually upload my work
on websites. After experimenting with how to use
BlogSpot such as uploading textual information,
pictures, editing posts etc all these things I got use to
and was able to manage it well without problems.
• Taking images with a digital camera wasn’t difficult as I
already had knowledge on how operate cameras and
basic knowledge of taking images. Also, from before
preparing and the constructing process of a my music
magazine, I do like taking pictures of many things and i
experiment by taking pictures in different shots and
angles and then viewing the pictures to see which has
the best look and / or by cropping or deleting a
particular section of the image to see if it can be more
effective. From these experiences I was able to apply
them to taking pictures of Nino in different
backgrounds with him in different positions and the
camera in different angles to which after I uploaded the
pictures, I was able to select the best ones to work on
and improve them by adding different effects.
21. New knowledge Continued
Before the process of constructing the magazine, I only had prior
knowledge on how to rub out the background of an image or selecting
deleting part of an image. Other than this, through experimentation during
the construction process, I have learnt and developed many skills
techniques from using the software's Photoshop and Illustrator that I never
new how to do before. For example grouping objects together, how
effective the gradient tool could be as I used it on my contents page
background. I also learnt to experiment with transparency of colours to
make things effective and more highlighted like I used on my front cover
and article.
I also learnt from experimenting, the effects on manipulating images using
colour, for example the first page of my article, the background is in black
and white but Nino is colour. I done this by duplicating the layer and this is
something new I learnt as well, from this I made the image black and white
then I rubbed Nino back into colour adding effect and showing more
relations and foreshadowing to the article.
Other things I learnt were like increasing the megapixel of the image and
sharpening them also adding finishing touches to images and other
objects such as on Photoshop, I used the rubber tool to help smoothen out
the edges, then on illustrator I smoothened the edges further by feathering
it, to give that final touch of the professional image look.
22. Q7. What do you feel you have
learnt in the progression from the
preliminary task to the full
product?
23. Front Covers: College Magazine VS Music Magazine
As you can see there is huge difference between the
preliminary task front cover and my final music
magazine front cover product. This is because in my
final product I have used a better camera and using the
adobe Photoshop and Illustrator software's, I have
managed to manipulate images e.g. by increasing
megapixel, sharpening and smoothening, lighting. I have
also used better font and colour styles and used in
consistently. I have also added more puffs and used a
other features of magazine’s like banners and used
particular colours and backgrounds in order for puffs to
stand out, be clear and readable by target audiences. In
the preliminary task, I didn’t use much puffs but instead
used longer sentences and they are likely to put off the
readers attention and to approach the magazine.
overall, my final product of my music magazine front
cover has more colour and buzz words behind a
background where everything can be recognised,
especially making it clear who the cover story is about
with a anchorage text underneath unlike the
preliminary task front cover.
24. Contents Pages: College Magazine VS Music Magazine
As you can see there is huge difference between the
preliminary task contents page and my final music magazine
contents page product. This is because, as you can see my
contents page in the preliminary task has a very plain
background with many images which look disorganised and
few pages inside the magazine, with not much exciting topics
to read upon. Looking at my music magazine contents page,
the improvements are that it has a more colour from the
gradient tool that I used. It has two pictures organised under
particular issue headings. The same colours are used in the
contents page from the front cover as well as fonts styles
which shows a consistency of house styling compared to the
preliminary task, the colours are un-consistent which doesn't
make it look professional. My contents page product also has
a website address at the bottom but the preliminary task
contents page doesn't which shows that my final product uses
professional features of a music magazine contents page.
Overall, my final product of my music magazine contents page
shows more consistency of house styles used, such as colours
and fonts. As issues and page numbers are ordered and
colour co-ordinated it is easy for the reader to differentiate
different issues and page numbers to avoid getting confused.
25. Audience Feedback
• My magazine aim was to represent Hip Hop and R&B and was to
appeal to an audience of both males and females, from young as
teenage years, who like listening to music of those genres and / or
like the culture behind the genre’s.
• From the Survey Monkey Results, I have gathered that the majority
found the name of my magazine appealing and said it looked like
more of a Hip Hop and R&B magazine that aimed to both males and
females. People were asked to rate my magazine front cover and
contents page and the higher scores ranged from mainly 7-10. Also
the majority liked my article and one person left a response saying ‘’I
like how the magazine images and article title relate to the article.. it
all works well’’. This leads to the rating of my images used as a whole
in my music magazine and people rated them and the higher scores
ranged from 8-10. After considering that my magazine would be
released monthly and how much people would actually buy a
magazine for from the survey that was done before constructing my
magazine, judging from the results it shows that people think my
magazine price is reasonable and that they would buy it.
• Overall, judging from the audience feedback from survey monkey
poll results and the few comments left behind, the construction of
my magazine went well. The only thing I would work on for future
issues is that I would use less bold colours if I was to use a male
model again, because from the results collected from the polls, a
few people thought it was aimed at males so next time I would use
neutral colours to indicate the magazine is aimed at both males and
females.
