Kieron Mcadam

1. The structure of my magazine is very similar to that of rocksound magazine which I used for my magazine. I decided to follow a similar pattern as the rocksound magazine is very popular within my target audience and is very clear and easy to read. The colours used are also very similar due to the fact both magazines are aiming at the same target audience and is generic for the music on display. Kerrang also uses a limited colour panel consisting of black, white, red and yellow. The positioning of my mast head and skylines are the same as rocksound magazine; within the top third with the skylines positioned above the mast head. The positioning of the main sell line differs from my magazine. Rocksound has this much higher in the frame this is due my model being much lower in the frame, however it’s still positioned on the models chest like on mine. Both are similar in the fact they both give insights to what the feature is on; something which is common on professional magazines. Another difference between the magazines is the positioning of the sell lines. My magazine has spread the sell lines across 2 sides of the frame whereas rocksound uses one list of sell lines in the example shown. In this area my magazine is less professional as the spacing between sell lines and font sizes are different making it less professional than the rocksound magazine which is consistent in font sizing and spacing. They also overlap onto the model, again making the magazine looking less professional. My magazine uses puffs, these frame the magazine with the skylines. Puffs aren’t used on the rocksound issue but they are used in most other music magazines of this genre such as Kerrang. To make my magazine generic I made sure my model looked like a real music artist from the genre I was trying to represent. I made sure he wore clothing labels which I found from my initial research but also the same type of clothing to what my audience would wear so they could relate to the magazine (such as drop dead, converse, checkered shirts etc.) The model on the rocksound magazine is slightly different from the model I used; this is due to the fact the band recently changing style and also the model being older than the one I used. The target audience of rocksound is also older than mine so older buyers would be more interested which is another reason my model is younger and dressed differently to the rocksound model. I didn’t challenge any of the generic conventions which professional magazines follow; this is because I wanted my magazine to be noticed by the same genre of fans and challenging conventions may draw away attention from my magazine. Furthermore the people who consume this magazine are normally generic.

2. On the front cover I included more sell lines to fill blank space. This was suggested to me in my feedback. I had to ensure to make this content relevant to both the genre and content already on my front cover. A further change I did was improve the spacing on the sell lines on the right hand side of the cover. This was to improve how easy they could be read and also they were cramped and left more space which could be filled by better sell line spacing. After this I ensured my magazine was as professional as possible whilst meeting my target audience, I ensured the lining of my magazine was correct and not sloppy.

3. The contents of my magazine is very similar to that of kerrang with the images on the left hand side of the magazine and the page information on the right hand side. I found this would be the easiest to read whilst being most professional. I continued the colour panel inside of white, red and black which is another feature of professional magazines. It also generic as each of the professional magazines I followed use or have a similar same colour panel. My choice of models and props indicate the genre of my magazine on the inside; for example the amp. The poses of my models are very similar to the professional magazines however they use many more pictures something which could have been exercised on my contents to cover white spaces. This is an area where my magazine lacks professionalism. I included editors notes which Kerrang also includes this allows the consumers to read into the editors thoughts on the magazine. Kerrang include the use of a past issue which is something I could do to develop my magazine further. The content included in my contents is very similar to Kerrang and rocksound including featured artists, reviews and news sub-headings .

4. I made several changes from my rough cuts; the first I did was sort the spacing of the text to make more space on the page. Another change I did was change the pictures that were stretched so they weren’t and align them so the page number was more noticeable. I did this because it was an area were my magazine lacked professionalism and it was commonly suggested throughout feedback. The biggest change of the contents was including editor notes to fill blank space. This was suggested to me in my rough cut feedback. In this I talked about issues I would be addressing within the issue and also information and my opinions of the magazine, comparing it with past issues during the month.

5. In this article I tried to make the content so the reader could relate and really understand the feelings of the featured artist so the reader would want to continue reading and feel involved with artist and article. This is something professional magazines so I tried to emphasise this as much as possible; I used a question and answer interview to do this. Also the artist was dressed in similar clothes to the reader would wear (The model is wearing a nirvana band t-shirt) to as help the audience feel involved and relate to him as he is representative of the genre. The pose he is using is also one which is suited for involving the reader, he is directly looking into the camera lense which addresses the audience and makes them feel involved. Furthermore, the colours used in the feature allows the reader to know of the genre being represented as I used stereotypical colours of the genre which kerrang and rocksound use also. I didn’t use any significant props unlike kerrang who have used many to represent the bands personality and character. I didn’t make many changes from my rough cuts; however I did change the spacing between the texts to make the magazine look more professionally done. I also stroked some text to make it stand out and give it more emphasis for example on the title “Ben McDermott” I did this.