Media music magazine evaluation.

1. Magazine Evaluation
1. Who would be the audience for your media product?
2. How did you attract/address your audience?
3. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
4. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms
and conventions of real media products?
5. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and
why?
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of
constructing this product?
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in
the progression from it to the full product?

2. Q1.Who would be the audience
for your media product?

3. My target audience is people who are into music that
is no longer in its peak in England. People who are
into the 60’s-90’s music, fashion, culture who are
struggling to find new material in that bracket. My
magazine is made as a platform for them to find new
music within that mod, indie rock, alternate bracket.
As my magazine shows I have tried to appeal to my
audience, my model on the right is in a Fred Perry
polo shirt which is a classic mod fashion item of
clothing. He has a neat haircut which mods have, my
model on the left is wearing a Pretty Green pea coat,
Fred Perry cardigan and Lacoste polo shirt, these are
three designer mod labels. Fashion of most people
who listen to indie rock and alternate music is also
mostly a sub culture of mod fashion, Fred Perry polo
shirts, slim fitted jeans/trousers etc.

4. From personal experience at gigs and getting to know people
who are into this sort of music I have designed my magazine to
suit into this sort of style, my audience will mostly be people
who stand out and are not the same as others who are also
slightly rebellious.
All labels down the right side of the magazine are alternate,
mod or indie artists. Noel and Liam Gallagher both in Oasis
one of the biggest ever alternate bands in England, Liam also
owns a mod clothing label called Pretty Green which my
model on the left is wearing.
The Libertines, The Courteeners, Arctic Monkeys and Slaves all
fall into the alternate/indie rock bracket and Jake Bugg and
Miles Kane both fall into the mod solo artist bracket. These
names and artists will appeal to my audience as they are all
similar so will fall into my audiences category of music.

5. The ideal reader for my magazine would be
someone who is into old English culture and
music , my genre varies from Mod music,
Madchester party music, alternate/indie
music, most of this music peaked in around
the 90’s although the earlier Mod music was
in the 60’s, this is why my readers may be
slightly older than teens although there are
a selective group of teens who are heavily
into this music.

6. Age Range
Age – 15-45
The reason I believe it will be these ages is because at 15 you begin to
mature and your head gets stronger so you can engage in music that
means something to you, I believe my selected genre is full of all
different kinds of music that is meaningful. The reason I believe older
people will be into it is because it will be a sense of nostalgia and
memories from their days of youth which my magazine will bring back
to them.

7. Gender
I believe that both genders will be into my magazine although there will
be only a slightly higher figure of males that are likely to buy it than
females. This is because basically all of the artists are males, because
there are front men of band (Liam Gallagher of Oasis being an example)
they are seen as alpha males and are admired by other males because
that is how other males would like to be. Females are into it for the
music side as the music is meaningful and you can actually make sense
and relate as to what the music is saying.

8. Social class
I believe that the social class will be working class people listening to
this music as most of the artists are from a working class background
and have working class values in their bands for example community
and loyalty to each other, this is also another admirable trait that bands
have that they are willing to stick up for each other.

9. Paul Weller – a legendary mod artist who was front man
of the Jam confessing how Fred Perry was a great part of
his youth where mod culture was at its peak.

10. Fred Perry, the first ever
BRITISH man to win Wimbledon,
was the inspiration for the
Fred Perry clothing brand.
English rock icon Liam
Gallagher wearing a
Fred Perry polo shirt.
Damon Albarn of
Blur and mastermind
behind the Gorillaz
in a Fred Perry polo
shirt. (right)
Liam Fray of the
Courteeners in a
Fred Perry polo
shirt.

11. Model on the left is wearing a Pretty Green
coat Pretty Green is now a mod label by Liam
Gallagher. The name is inspired by a track
from legendary mod band the Jam as it says.
The clothing is made for mods to unite
people through a love of fashion and music.

12. The reason I have chosen this genre to model my magazine is because I
feel that today in England there is a huge lack of English music and bands
that people are to know about, I believe my magazine has a high chance
of being a success as it is different from the rest. Although there are
similar magazines like NME and Q that add in this certain genre of music
they do not focus particularly on the individual genres in themselves it is
now filled with American artists and rappers instead of people who are
not noticed. Magazines like Kerrang are heavily into rock music but the
music that they are into I believe is too heavy although they do focus on
an individual genre, I believe that the music will be too heavy for my
crowds style, there magazine looks a bit scruffy and I believe that they
make music sections quite compact so they can fit in a
commercial/advertising side which is purely for financial reasons.
Using synergy I believe this magazine can become a large hit and people
that buy it will become so into it that they will spread the word about
the magazine so it goes out to their crowd which are likely to be similar
to them in a social aspect.
When I was creating my magazine I tried to keep it as focused to the
music as possible, Q and NME suited my magazine most when it came to
the type of music I will be putting in, although they were only one off
magazines created by both the companies they suited the kind of tidy,
musical style that I aimed to match in my own magazine.

13. To research the type of genres of my music
I used actual old magazines and websites
to see the type of fashion and style that my
target audience are likely to have.

14. Q2 How did you attract/address your
audience?

15. Fred Perry polo shirt
This will attract an audience because
Fred Perry is known to be Mod and
Mod sub cultured clothing so people
will be aware that this is the style of
my magazine.
Direct eye contact
Direct eye contact addressing
the reader directly.
Pretty Green peacoat
This Pretty Green black peacoat is a
classic mod coat which will also
give an indication that this
magazine is about that type of
genre.
Text
The text down the right hand side
are bands that people who are into
this genre of music are interested in,
because most names on the right are
big names in the music industry this
means readers will be interested as
to what they want to say which is a
reason they will buy the magazine.
Pull quote
The pull quote is “I woke up in a
bin” which will make people want
to know the reason why he woke
up in a bin so they will have to
buy the magazine to find out.
Sticker
Sticker says the 20 best new dance
acts on the planet. This may interest
people into dancing to want to know
which sort of music to listen to.
Fashion
The all round fashion of my models
will attract my target audience as
they are dressed well and have
similar fashion to what my target
audience will have and be in to.

16. Text
The text down the right hand side
are bands that people who are
into this genre of music are
interested in, because most names
on the right are big names in the
music industry this means readers
will be interested as to what they
want to say which is a reason they
will buy the magazine.
I ensured that the price of my
magazine is clearly visible but is
not made the main talking point
of my front cover. If I didn’t put
the price on the front cover
people would have to go to the
counter and find out for
themselves the price which they
may not be bothered to do so I
ensured that the price is clearly
visible on the front cover.
Storyline titles
The main story on the band is
showing ‘Their rise to the top, in
their own words’ people will be
interested as to how the band
reached their peak in their view.
I made sure the body language of my
models were relaxed and direct, I also
wanted it to look like they had a bit of
chip on the shoulder no nonsense
attitude about them so readers would
look at them as characters that they
would look up to and want to follow.

17. Categorising different
sections of the magazine
so readers can find their
favourite bits easiest.
Band index so readers are
able to find their
favourite bands or artists
and see what page they
are on.
I added a note in the bottom
corner so readers are aware of
where it is that the list for the best
gigs, readers will be interested in
gigs as it is the main thing for them
to do so to be able to point out the
best ones will be useful for
themselves.
I reused the logo so readers have it
in their head that it is Access
magazine that they are reading and
so my logo will become a
trademark and when people see
the logo they will be aware what it
is and what it manufactures.
In the middle at the bottom I
have added a competition for
readers to enter on our website,
the competition is to win a hand-
signed picture of the two piece
group, this will interest readers
as it is a rare piece of
memorabilia that they can keep.

18. In the centre of the
contents page there is a
picture of my models, I
specifically made them
stand like that so I could
add a two pictured
background to them, it
looks like they are stood on
stage in a gig venue getting
ready to perform, this will
let readers know that this is
a band who do gigs and
tours so they are a band to
be followed to increase
chances of any recent or
upcoming gigs.
Also in the dead centre of the
magazine I added two short
stories, one about the band
and a quick summary on their
rise to the top which will
interest people as to how they
got so big so quickly and the
other about the bands
controversial credentials
which has been tipped by the
Beatles drummer Ringo Starr
who is an icon as he was in
the Beatles which is the first
ever band that introduced this
sort of music to the whole
world and were the biggest
ever thing to happen in the
history of English music.

19. The title in the middle below the picture is the aspect that will
pull in the reader, everyone will be interested as to when
people started getting into this new band and how it made
them so successful in such a short period of time so when my
audience read “The moment that everyone got into a PALAVA”
they will want to read more to enhance their knowledge on
what the band did to get so big and get a better insight on how
fast their success built up. There is also word play in the title
instead of it being a dull boring title because palaver (which is
the actual spelling for the bands name) means a prolonged fuss
or discussion, it can be said that everyone got into a palaver
over the Palava as they are currently the main talking point due
to their recent success.

20. I made my models look directly at me again
so the reader knows that it is them being
addressed and that this magazine is for them.
I made Jake (back model) put his hand on
Regan (front model) as it shows a sense of
unity and loyalty that they are in a band and
Jake has his back. I ensured they had blank
emotionless facial expression to again show
the arrogance and carelessness of them
making it look like they are the two biggest
things on earth at this moment in time. I
have dressed them in the same clothing as
the cover for a specific reason so my readers
stay interested and are aware of what they
are about as I believe clothes, fashion and
attitude to be three of the main defining
things for members of any band. I have put
Regan at the front to show that he is the
front man of the two piece and Jake is his
right hand man.

21. When editing this picture I
decided to keep in the shadow
because when I took the shadow
out, the picture didn’t look as
strong and effective as I would
have liked it to. In my own
opinion the contrast the shadow
creates against the skin and hair
colour of the models makes
them stand out more and the
silhouette in the back ground
makes them look more bold and
in your face, these are two
masculine traits which is good
for the band to maintain a
masculine image as it makes
them more admirable for people
reading the magazine and will
influence the reader to engage
more in the text for them to get
an extra insight on who the band
are, where they’re from and
what they are all about.

22. I done my text page in a interview format so
readers can get to know the band, I put
questions in red text and answers in black
text so it was clear to see the difference in
questions and answers. The reason I chose
an interview format and the questions I
picked is so people can find out what they’re
interested in, for example how they got into
music, the success of the band, the bands
upbringing, days of their youth and the most
memorable experiences they have had in
their career of music so far. Nobody wants to
know what they have for breakfast or how
many sugars they have in their tea, this is
why I had to be selective and as concise as
possible with my questions, I had to get as
straight to the point as I could on the bands
career in music and a little bit on their
upbringings and what they got up to when
they were youngerI think that the interview will appeal to my audience because it expands
their knowledge on the band personally because it is the band that are
sharing their stories and experiences in their own words. This will help
build a stronger relationship with the readers as it has a personal sense in
it.

23. I decided to put an A in the
background of the text so the
reader knows exactly what
magazine it is reading. In
repeatedly putting the logo or
letter A for the title Access around I
am putting it in the readers head
that this is the magazine that they
are reading and when they see the
letter A they will think of my
magazine, this means they will have
it engraved in their minds that this
is one of the main music magazines
around. Another reason I put an A
and stuck to the colour scheme is
because it is more attractive to the
readers eyes and looks tidier and
more neat for the reader to want to
read. No one wants to read a
scruffy magazine where you can
barely read the words on the page
down to a bad colour scheme so I
made it a priority that I got that
correct on my double page spread.

24. I think that overall my magazine will appeal to my reader because it is tidy and I have included big names and
upcoming artists in the magazine, the front cover is tidy and compact so the information is all there as to what is
included in the magazine which will attract people to want to read it. My contents page includes all the main
information as to what is in the magazine so readers can get to where they want to go within 30 seconds of opening
the magazine. My double page spread is the best product of the three in my opinion, the text is tidy and arranged in
a professional way, it is full of information and the A in the background makes it clear that it is an Access interview
and it was done by and belongs to Access magazine.

25. Q3: How does your media product represent
particular social groups?

26. Gender
I believe around 60% of my readers will be male from research I have done on magazines
similar to mine, because of the genre I don’t think females will be too far off as most fans of
these genres are male and female but from research I believe that it is slightly more male
dominant due to the characters in the genre that I am doing, males find their attributes more
admirable than females and aspire to be the masculine, alpha-male. The reason I haven’t
included female artists is because compared to the males in this genre there haven’t been any
females as successful who are worth putting in the magazine.
Overall I would label my magazine as unisex although down to research I predict more males
would be into buying the magazine than females.

27. Age
I said that the age range of my magazine will be from 15-45 years old because when you get to 15
your head becomes more mature which gives you a better understanding to the lyrics and it only
progresses as you get older which makes you feel a sense of loyalty and passion to the bands you
listen to which is why they stick with you for the rest of your life. I said 45 because people around
35-45 were alive when these bands were huge so when they buy this magazine it can be for
nostalgic purposes because they it will remind them of the best times of their lives when they were
in their youth.

28. Sexuality and ethnicity
My models are both white British heterosexual males but I
don’t believe this effects the musical aspect of the magazine,
anyone with ears can listen to music, anyone with hands can
bang a drum or strum a guitar and anyone with a voice can sing
so in my opinion this is irrelevant to my magazine. Although
most the music is from English artists that doesn’t mean you
have to be English to listen to it.

29. Regional Identity
Regional identity is another social aspect which doesn’t have much relevance
towards my magazine, although I believe it is more likely that people who live in
Britain will recognise the music because they have been raised with it. My main
focus on my magazine was the music even if it may be better suited to a working
class man it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from if you enjoy reading
it then carry on reading.

30. Physical ability/disability
This is another social group that holds no
relevance to the musical aspect of my
magazine. The magazine is open for
absolutely anyone to buy and read.

31. Social Class
I believe social class holds a high amount of relevance towards my magazine because the bands and
artists that make up the magazine are nearly all from working class background and hold working
class values of loyalty and unity together. I think the main audience of my magazine will be working
class people as they understand the minds and experiences of the working class artists that they
admire. My audience are also likely to be from inner city working class backgrounds as well because
most of the artists are from the same area and when the artists get big they are a talking point in
the city so they are most heard of around these areas.

32. Q4 In what ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?

33. On the two examples on
the right it shows they
have bunched up the
text to keep it off of the
model but instead of
bunching up the text I
have kept it normal size
so it is to go over the
body of my model, I see
this as a better way to
add information so it
isn’t so bunched up and
compact and you can see
and read it clearly.

34. All three magazines are of
two models, on mine I have
not put the main titles over
my models bodies because I
see fashion holds a lot of
importance so it is vital that
their clothes are visible.
Both magazines on the right
have the main title over the
top of both of their models,
the reason I haven’t put a
large title over mine is so
the clothes are on show for
potential audiences.

35. Both magazines on the right
include stickers like mine, but
the difference is their stickers
are traditionally in the corners. I
have challenged this and put
mine in the middles at the top
in an attempt to make it more
noticeable so it will catch the
readers eye and let them know
there is a lot more inside the
magazine.

36. I ensured that the price was on the front
cover but I made sure it wasn’t the main
attraction on the front page, I wanted my
readers to be attracted to the title, subtitles,
sticker and pull quote on the page hence the
reason I made the price the smallest text on
the page so it is the least attractive. My aim
is to make my viewers so interested as to
what is in the magazine that the £3.00 fee
they have to pay isn’t a problem to them and
they believe the magazine is worth paying
three pounds for because of the content
inside. This is why I have chose to include
most of the main stories on the front cover.

37. I ensured that I stuck to the red, white and black colour scheme
and I have made sure this is the consistent them throughout my
whole magazine, as you can see the “THIS WEEK” banner at the
top of the page includes my logo as it says “ACCESS THIS WEEK”
this shows readers that the magazine is distributed weekly. The
only reason that there is a small bit of blue text is to show it is a
hyperlink and you are able to access it online in order to enter
the competition that is on promotion. The reason I chose to stick
to the colour scheme is because I believe that it is a modern
traditional convention in the majority of music magazines and it
makes it look more neat, professional and reliable which I
believe are three key factors for a good magazine.

38. Both contents pages on the
right do not include an
index section. The reason I
added an index section is
so readers will not have to
flick through pages to find
out what they want to
know. I think this is a smart
convention to have in my
magazine as readers may
end up getting frustrated at
constantly flicking through
pages to find out
information about their
favourite artists.

39. On my magazine as well as
features I have added a sticker in
the bottom right hand corner
which gives you an insight to a
special one-off feature of the best
gigs to go to. Both magazines on
the right offer a feature bar but
both do not have any special
features like the most successful
bands, best festivals, best gigs etc.
I have added in this feature
because it is more for the readers
eyes and as my reader is likely to
be a person who goes to gigs they
will be interested as to which are
the best gigs to go to.

40. Originally my band index was all red other than the title and the
numbers were black, I then took another look and decided that this
would be too confusing for my readers and they may get mixed up
and look at the wrong page, so then I redone the colours going red
and black down the list. After I completed that I then decided to do
the same with the numbers, because the numbers are a close
together it may be hard to tell which is which so I did it in this ratio
Title:Number
Red:Black
Title:Number
Black:Red
In that order all the way down the list, I ensured that I stuck to my
colour scheme and that it was easy for my readers to be able to tell
the titles apart and to get to whichever page they wish as quickly as
possible and finding that page number without any hassle.

41. I have stuck to quite a common
convention in the way that I have
used a single page for the picture
and a single page for the text I
believe that this is a traditional
way to get as much information
as possible which will be
interesting to my audience
without it getting messy. I
decided to only put a number
on the page on the left not on
the right, reason being is
because I want both my models
to be the main attraction
without the littlest distraction.

42. I decided to go against the traditional removing
shadow from the image and adding in a
background for a reason. When I took the
shadow off the image looked weak and not as
effective and in your face as I wanted it to be, so
I simply added the background back in and it
gave me the image I desired. In my eyes the
image is strong, in your face and it is addressing
you directly, my models also have a certain
arrogant swagger about them in the aspect
their faces are relaxed and they look careless.
When I edited the picture I used the ‘spot
healing tool’ to erase any temporary defects
that my models have on their face. I tested the
burn tool to add a sort of darker more tanned
skin complexion to my models but it made them
look like they had fake tanned and that is not a
masculine thing to do. My main goal for this
picture was to make my models look as bold
and masculine as possible and with the
silhouette of the shadow in the background I
believe that this has worked.

43. I decided to put my interview into
three separate columns instead of
lumping it into one large text box
because I didn’t want it looking all
clumped and compacted together. I
believe that putting it into three
different columns made it look more
professional and neat. This will
reassure the reader that the material
they are buying is 100% reliable and
that this is a trustworthy magazine. I
changed the colour of the font to red
with the questions and black with the
answers because it makes it more
clearer for my audience to see the
questions and the answers and will
give them a better understanding as to
who said what.

44. I noticed that the large red A I used
in the background was already a
convention but it wasn’t very
common and is far from traditional.
I decided to use it as it adds a sense
of reassurance because the A
stands for ACCESS which is the title
of my magazine so that big red A is
always in the background when my
audience is reading through the
text. This will make the letter A
become accustomed to this
magazine and when people see the
letter A they will think of ACCESS
which in time will make it a top
branching music magazine in the
UK.

45. Q5 What kind of media institution might
distribute your media product and why?

46. Having a physical copy of the magazine is always more authentic and important than a digital copy,
although I will offer both for my magazine I will ensure that there is a subscription option available
for a physical copy of my magazine to be posted to customers houses. If I had the option I would
print the cover and back page of my magazine on hard glossy paper and then the content inside will
be on slightly thinner paper. This will symbolise the professionalism and intentions on ‘ACCESS’ as a
business that we strive to be successful. I would ensure my magazine is distributed to top retail
music shops like HMV and then sold to independent shops in big city’s like Manchester and London
so it spreads around the city’s word of mouth and gets into large social groups who will influence
others to buy this magazine. I Have taken the idea off of ‘Q’ to use the glossy cover and back page
and thinner paper type in the content because in my opinion it is the most professional looking
paper to be printed for a magazine.
Personal tangible product.

47. ACCESS website
As well as distributing my magazine authentically as a tangible product, I will also distribute it
digitally. This is because you have to keep up with technology in order to make the most sales. I will
give my customers an option to subscribe by card as long as they agree to the terms that every copy
is sent they will be charged directly from their account. I will give them the option to receive it
digitally or authentically by post. I took this idea from Q magazine, their website also has a
subscribe website which mine would have and would also include the option to receive it digitally or
authentically and have it in the post.

48. Digital ACCESS phone application
In my opinion you have to keep up with technology to
make the most profit from your magazine, with more and
more people buying smart phones it would be logical to
put an application on all smart phone app stores which
will give customers the option to buy it digitally in a
minimised version to fit the phone. This will increase
revenue as it is easier access to be able to get the
magazine.

49. Social media
Using social media by setting up a verified Twitter and Instagram
account for the magazine would be a form of synergy and would boost
the sales of magazines because the word is getting round to more
people who will hopefully be interested in the magazine.

50. Q6 What have you learnt about technologies from
the process of constructing this product?

51. Photoshop
I attempted with InDesign to edit my pictures but that was out of
naivety as I soon figured it was too difficult using a software that isn’t
created for editing pictures so I then used Photoshop to edit my
pictures, I quickly learnt to remove backgrounds and get rid of any
unwanted temporary marks on the faces of my models.

52. InDesign
I used InDesign to make all the pages of my magazine because it made
my magazine look professional with all different font styles and text
attributes, I could easily place edited pictures into my document at a
high quality and get them to fit the size of my magazine. It also helped
my colour scheme very specifically by giving you exact figures on the
CMYK colour option which you could retype and put on your font.

53. Q7 Looking back at your preliminary task,
what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?

54. My preliminary task is miles behind my finished product, this time
around I took more time on the name and title of my magazine I even
changed it a few times I used the most effective compact logo, I took
more time and was more careful when taking my pictures in case of any
reflection, I ensured my title wasn’t as long as my preliminary tasks title
and I also spent more time on the colour scheme, font choice and
consistency of the front cover of my magazine.

55. Title
The top one is my preliminary title, as you can see it is
a long, strap line sort of title which in my opinion is
more difficult to put onto a front cover as it is so long
and very space consuming. This is why in my end
product I decided to stick to a compact basic square
title which will fit perfectly into the corner of my
magazine.

56. As you can see I made a big
mistake by having my
reflection when taking the
picture in the background,
looking back on this when I
was shooting for my final
product I ensured I had a
clear background where it
isn’t possible for any sort of
reflection to be showing.
This would make my end
product look massively
unprofessional.

57. Another thing which is
clearly visible and shows
my naivety when I made
my preliminary product is
the complete disregard of a
colour scheme, there is 10
different shades of colour
on my preliminary product
and that is only counting
the font where as in my
end product there are only
4 different shades of colour.
I chose a strict colour
scheme as it looks far more
professional as you can tell.

58. The price is also a talking point,
as you can see in the top left of
my preliminary task, for a price
the text is moderately large
although due to my poor
choice of colour you can barely
tell what the price is. Where as
on my end product the font of
the price is small but visible as
it is the complete opposite
colour of the colour it is lying
on. When doing each aspect of
my final product it helped me
to look back on my preliminary
product and decide the best
options for my end product
and how I could do it
differently.

59. My models on my preliminary
product are too far away from the
camera and barely fill up any room
on the cover so looking back in this
I ensured my models were clearly
visible to the camera and that they
would fill enough space on my front
cover for it to look filled. I believe
that this has been thoroughly
improved from the mistakes on my
preliminary product and you cans
see the cropping has been done
badly on my preliminary product so
I ensured that I didn’t cut off too
much on my end product.

60. All in all I believe that my end
product is a dramatic
improvement from my
preliminary product regarding
the colour scheme, photography,
photo editing, font, title and
placement of texts and I am
pleased with the way it has
turned out.