1. AS Media Evaluation Dan Proudfoot

2. First, a look at the progression from my school magazine to the final design of my music magazine

3. School Magazine

5. Music Magazine

8. How does my magazine use or challenge the conventions of music magazines? On the following pages, I will show some comparisons between my magazine and other well established brands

9. Cover Page

10. Similarities

11. Similarities All have a consistent colour scheme “GTMM” and “Q” share the use of keeping the logos to a corner A large cover image taking up the majority of the cover Box-outs containing features to entice a reader in “Kerrang” and “Q” both feature banners along the top

12. Differences

13. Differences “GTMM” and “Q”’s layouts are relatively simplistic and well spaced out, “Kerrang” is tight and cramped “GTMM” does not make use of Banners along either the top or bottom “Kerrang“ makes more use of pictures than either “Q” or “GTMM”

14. Contents Page

15. Similarities

16. Similarities “Q” and “GTMM” both feature a banner containing the word Contents and the Issue name “Kerrang” and “Q” share the use of many pictures. In retrospect, I would have used more pictures on “GTMM” “GTMM” and “Kerrang” both have a message from the editor in regards of what to expect from the magazine

17. Double Page Spread

18. Similarities

19. Similarities Blocks of text are on their own white areas to let them stand out from the background pictures “Q” and “GTMM” contain pictures of the full band together All contain text asking the read to carry on to the following page

20. Differences

21. Differences “GTMM” uses more box outs than the other two magazines “Kerrang” launches straight into the article, while Q and GTMM are introductory pages to their pieces

22. How does my magazine represent social groups? I believe my magazine uses quite a fresh and almost spartan look, which is becoming ever more popular. This means the magazine can target the late teens/early 20’s age group, who are renowned for always being on top of fashion

23. Similarly, the name of the magazine, while generic, aims directly at the readership The age of the cover star, and those of the featured band closely echo the age of readership.

24. Media Institutions The magazine would try to appeal to a mainstream audience, but I believe it would have nuances that would lead it to be on the fringes of what can be defined as mainstream. I plan for it to be more in depth than other similar magazines, if it were to be published

25. Publishing As I have already mentioned, I plan to make my magazine appeal to a niche, but to a niche part of a large market. A choice of publisher is important, going with a large publisher like Bauer would make funding/publishing easy, but there could potentially be infighting due to similarities between existing products

26. Choosing a publisher like Natmags would be unhelpful, due to their lack of experience producing music magazines. They focus more on lifestyle brands IPC media is a good choice, however, they own NME, which is a competitor to my magazine Otherwise, independent publishers are an interesting place to look. They allow for a more niche style to be covered.

27. Reader Communication The language used is in-keeping with the age range, but slightly more technical in places to appeal to those who want to know more. The colours and images used are subtle and of a limited pallet, which is becoming fashionable. Gradients are only used when necessary, and not on every object. This also applies to drop shadows

28. To further expand the reach of the magazine: A website is essential to allow two-way communication between the audience and the writers However, a lot of websites go further by allowing instant communication via the likes of Twitter or Facebook The next step up would be a move into the broadcasting area, either with a music radio station, or a TV channel

29. What I used to design the magazine The majority of layout work was done using Adobe InDesign CS5 Graphics were handled in both Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Adobe Illustrator CS5 Writing work for the blog was done in Microsoft Word 2010

30. Improvements, Feedback and Personal Evaluation Suggestions for improvements have been provided throughout, and they have been taken into account. For example: I took this into account and applied the changes to my front cover

31. Personally, I’m happy with how this magazine resulted. The cover is pleasing to look at, and incorporates many standards of the magazine industry, while maintaining a sense of independence. The rest of the magazine follows suit, with a strong adherence to a design philosophy and colour choice. It think it impacts on the end reader effectively.