When creating any time of magazine, a number of different conventions are generally used, and including all of the conventions was a very important sector of the creation of my music magazine. This, the overall effectiveness of my music magazine is dependent upon the overall effectiveness of the methods and conventions.
The first thing i had to think about was the relationship my media product had in comparison to current popular similar products. This includes all the conventions and methods. I feel that, rather than challenging the norms and conventions of other magazines, I simply used them with an attempt of expanding upon them. Such comments received in relation to this include: ‘Your magazine is instantly recognisable as an electro genre magazine; this is largely because of the very bold, aesthetically pleasing masthead and the actual name of the magazine which is associated with this genre of music.’ This is one example of how I undertook research and was able to see what conventions other ‘electro/DJ’ magazines used. Take the example of one of the magazines I researched, ‘Mixmag’ to understand how I decided on my masthead creation. I began by analysing this magazine on ‘Flickr’ which gave me a deeper analysis of the typical norms and conventions of this style of magazine. Mixmag styles itself as “the world’s biggest selling dance musicmagazine”, and if this is the case then creating my magazine on a similar template to this magazine would be a simplistic idea.
The masthead is in blue and bold to stand out and it is covered by people displaying the strong sense of Brand Identity. I felt as if I had not gained a strong enough brand identity to input this style of editing. The convention I mentioned above was how my masthead had related to the initial genre of music. My music magazine was called ‘DJ’, an important role in the electro scene, and whilst the word ‘mix’ is related to the electro genre also, it can attract a large amount of buyers more simply.
On the front cover, the characters are dressed in a huge variety of colours. This idea incorporates the message that ‘crazy’ colour can relate to the ‘crazy’ lifestyle of a DJ/Raver. I input this convention in to my magazine simply by using a variety of primary colours for the fonts, however still sticking to the colours scheme, but also for example the pattern used on the front cover of my magazine relates distinctly to this convention.
The layout and text used on my front cover is conventional, and because of the quirky text and distinctive colours DJ fans would be drawn in to the magazine. Generally, electro/DJ magazines stick to one font style unless it is being used in ideas such as a strapline or a banner, a convention I used on my magazine above my masthead. On the cover of Mixmag magazine there is normally a lure which increases the appeal of the magazine to the reader and makes them want to buy it, an idea I have undertaken. I used things such as ‘free Deadmau5 tickets’ and ‘FIND OUT INSIDE’ to act as lures to readers.
My contents page uses many conventions, both challenging but also taking conventions previously used. You can see in the screenshots below that both magazines contain a major image displaying more importance than others with boxes on the right displaying the other items in the magazine. They also both feature a box on the left in relation to the main image. I challenged the conventions used of a different colour box but also images used on the right hand side. This is because I feel that attention should be in certain areas such as the main image than others. I also felt editing would have created a more artistic feel to the magazine. The audience feedback I received related to both of these conventions: Your layout is quite simple and it is very easy to skim read through which the reader will like. The effects used on the picture helps it to stand out from the background and are visually appealing. However, my double page spread uses many conventions off of my own back. For instance my feedback explains ‘The fact that you have used a picture as the background for your double page spread is quite unique’ and ‘the choice of colour for the text is good’ and ‘the layout’. Other conventions I decided to create include using capital letters for the speech rather than the commonly used smaller caps. This is because i think a quirky feel relates heavily to the genre. I used a single picture for both pages of the spread as the background which created a unique feel. My reasoning behind this is that the image relates entirely to the story on the pages. I kept the colour scheme the same which is a common convention which relates heavily to my front page and my contents page. I felt the colour scheme helped the reader relate even more to the magazine. The reasoning behind the removal of editing for this section includes the fact that all other images of the artist had been edited. Therefore I felt that an image of which you can see the artist is key and used in magazines such as DJ (the artist in the contents page can be seen in the front cover in an edited format). Although these features are original there are also developed conventions featured to my double page spread, such as the page numbers and columns for text. In all magazines of this music genre, a rare style font is used to give an electro and crazy feel to the magazine. Some example are shown below:
Another key section in the creation of a magazine is the target audience, and whether you can appeal to certain social groups. In my magazine I tried to convey a bright and colourful scheme relating to people who have high energy levels. I modelled my images upon real images surrounding that genre of music. I therefore used conventions and ideas that would appeal to the readers of the genre (72% male and 28% female average aged 26 as found in my media pack). The Media pack was from a source (mixmag) that has years of experiencing appealing to the social groups that buy that magazine. Therefore by using conventions in these magazines appealing to these social groups should not be difficult.
I designed research and questionnaires in order to find and understand my target audience (along with a media pack) and came to the conclusion that m target audience would primarily be young male adults (this is not to say females and others could not be drawn in to the conventions). My target audience were seen to be most probably are single, although a variety of status’ could be related to my magazine. I used my mind to relate to what I knew about the genre. For instance, electro and DJ music is most frequently played in a club/party environment. A variety of social groups go to these parties, thus appealing to a broad circle of people in the age and sex boundaries was a necessity. Obviously, talking about this genre and its surroundings is also a necessity. DJ music has fewer ‘up and coming artists’ because to make a break through a club appearance is a priority, thus previously seen members of artists in the genre was a good choice for the magazine to be used for.
Obviously, to sell a magazine it has to appeal to the buyer, easy. I looked at a variety of electro/DJ magazines, analysing one in particular, ‘DJ magazine’ and this was in order to understand the techniques and conventions they use to attract their customers so I may do the same. To make the magazine aesthetically pleasing to my target audience, i felt the layout and colour scheme was the most important. As oppose to using aggressive fonts (which may relate to hip hop magazines for example) or dark colours (gothic) I felt a variety of primary colours was essential in appealing to rave based audiences. The reason for my use of a sans-serif font was to draw attention to the artist the main article was based on but also to give it a more simplistic base. This help draw the spectator to the more important sections. Finally, professionalism such as neatly aligned fonts but also a set colour scheme and conventions such as a bar code gave the impression that it was a serious magazine that does set out to the best it can do for the readers.
During the process of completing my magazine, a key feature of doing this was being able to obtain sufficient knowledge of computer software. This would aid me in editing images and creating individual ideas such as mastheads. I was able to use this technology in the preliminary task, which gave me a rough idea of how to use the software before the main task. The main software components used in the construction process were Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Indesign and Adobe Illustrator.
Adobe Photoshop was the initial program used in my construction. Photoshop is a photo editing program, which enabled me to add effects to images and crop them efficiently. The complexity of the program allowed me to literally do almost anything I wanted to do to the images I had taken on my camera. Adobe InDesign, although also complex, is the most efficient tool is the construction of my magazine. Everything I had created, photographs, mastheads and banners etc, were moulded together in to one publication. Adobe InDesign enables the user to construct and manoeuvre everything on the page in to the desired location and even make further edits. Adobe Illustrator is much more basic than the previously mentioned software components. Illustrator enabled me to create things such as Mastheads. Minor edits are needed her, and the program does a lot more for you itself than the previous programs. All of these programs enabled the aesthetics behind the construction, and each is vital.
Other key computer add-ons used for the creation of my magazine was WordPress and Flickr. This enabled me to keep track of my records and understand what I had done and what was needed to develop myself. These are both very basic and user-friendly. They enabled me to upload images and screenshots as I completed sections of work, and display them to the world.
I made vast improvements to my work after overshadowing the quality of my preliminary task. The preliminary task gave me an understanding of how much work and dedication is needed in order to achieve in the course. My final magazine was of a much greater quality than my preliminary task, as it does not look basic or unprofessional. Examples of key features i gained a deeper understanding of include the editing of photos and the initial creation of things such as mastheads. There is a huge contrast in these things in both magazines, but luckily the preliminary task did give me a wake-up call to how much effort was needed and it did pay off. For my real magazine, I spent a much longer period of time creating, editing and researching similar products. my time effectively for the research, planning and construction of my music magazine. Overall, i would say that the preliminary task was a very important section of work. It enabled me to manage my time better and give me a deeper understanding of a variety of important features.
To conclude, I feel my final product is a very respectable piece of work for someone of my age and standard. Overall, I feel that maximum effort has been put in to this task. There were a variety of tasks that had to be finished, which gave me a greater understanding of my own management skills. Researching and doing prior tasks to give me a further knowledge of what is expected, which lead to my finished product. I feel I understood real marketed products and have used the conventions needed to create a professional feel to a magazine. Overall, I feel my final product is a very respectable piece of work for someone of my age and standard.
