Critical Evaluation

Critical Evaluation.
I have created a music magazine using forms and conventions of real media products, to do this I have researched and compared other magazines to see which magazines sell the best. My music magazine is called Ignition and is a magazine for clubbing, club music and DJ-ing.

My target audience is teenage/ young males. I decided to call the magazine Ignition because I thought it sounded quite striking, and draws attention. The masthead is very bold, outstanding and retro, yet looks quite futuristic which I think is appropriate for the genre of the music magazine. I used a colour palette of black, white and yellow which is continuous throughout the magazine.

The main image on the front cover of Ignition is of an artist called DJ Atonix, a well known DJ. I chose to use this person as the artist for my music magazine as she looked very stylish, had previous modelling experience, had obvious self-confidence and had the seductive look which I was looking for.

In my opinion, with the right props and lighting, she really suited the genre of the music magazine, and would be very appealing for the target audience. The main image is a medium close-up, studio shot of the artist: situated on the right hand side of the front cover. I used red and blue lighting from different angles, to give different shades of colour over her body, I was quite impressed with this effect and I thought this image really stands out, and looks like a clubbing atmosphere. She is wearing a black bra, with black head phones over the top of her head, and the wire wrapped around her chest and stomach, this looks very effective and modern and the props stick to the colour scheme. She is positioned with her right hand holding the right ear-phone, looking towards the floor. I removed the background of this studio shot by using the cropping tool in Photo-shop.

The slogo is situated on the right hand side of the front cover with a small font, just below the masthead. It over-laps the main image. First of all the slogo was situated on the left hand side of the front cover, but I thought it looked too similar to the main sells, therefore I moved it to the left hand side.

This allows the slogo to stand out from the image and main sells, and also allows the reader to identify the genre of the music magazine quite easily. Using alliteration and a short sentence: allows this slogo to be memorable to the reader, which I think is very useful. Just below the masthead, on the right hand side I designed a flash to persuade customers to buy the magazine, this stayed within the colour palette, using a black circle, and a yellow ring going around the outside.

Written inside the flash: ‘Free CD, Winter Classix’ this is advertising a free CD inside the magazine. In my research, I created a questionnaire, and the results suggested that roughly a quarter of readers buy magazines because of the free things offered on the front page. Moreover I decided to use this as the technique is typical of a mainstream magazine, often used to advertise free things, to sell the magazine.

The main sells are situated on the left-hand side of the front cover; I wanted to keep them on one side to give the page a good sense of order. The sells are white, contrasting the black background, which emphasises on the importance of the main sells. The lead article is illustrated by the main image, which anchors the double page spread.

Using the bevel and emboss tool, and outer glow tool, I allowed the text to look 3D, and really stand out amongst the rest of the main sells. The main sells have a clear relationship with the topic of the magazine, offering a chance to attend the DJ summer academy, articles of DJ tournaments, UK club guides, and the top 50 tunes of winter 2009. Sells like this really help to trade the magazine.

Although the main sells are all on the right hand of the page, I wanted certain sells to stand out more than others. For example, towards the bottom I rotated the sell ‘The Ultimate UK Club Guide’ and coloured it red, I then used the gradient tool to create electric, bright lines across the text and around the corner of the front cover. This allowed the sell to really stand out, but stick with the colour scheme, this also looks quite futuristic which relates to the genre of the music magazine.

My contents page demonstrates codes and conventions of my house-style, for example, I have kept the same font as the front cover, and used the same colour palette. I have used three text boxes to include the contents, in order for these boxes to catch the reader’s eye, I coloured the border of each box yellow, and then I used the gradient tool to differ the shades of the colour around the boxes, I also used the outer glow tool, I think these effects makes the page look less dull. Inside each box I have put page references, with yellow text using the same font as the main sells on the front cover. However the text is ordered from right to left, which is unconventional, as typical magazines read from left to right.

On the top of the contents page I cropped a pattern from a font on www.dafont.com using the cropping tool in photo-shop, I used this as I thought it looked very stylish, sticks to the colour scheme, and relates to the genre; as it looks like an equalizer. Moreover I think it works really well with the title, and makes the page look different to the norm. Again, I used a font from www.dafont.com for the title of the contents page.

I used the multiply tool in order to reverse the colours of the text, as originally the text is black, which would be difficult to notice on a black background. I decided to use this type of design as the text itself looks quite eroded and misplaced. I zoomed in on the page on photo-shop, and using the filling tool, I coloured certain eroded sections of each letter yellow. I did this to draw attention to the title, as I thought it looked too bland just black and white.

I was really pleased with the outcome of this effect, and it stuck to the colour scheme. I decided to stick to my draft layouts, and use a number of images, to make the page look more attractive, and add more colour. 3 images are situated towards the top of the page, portraying night club scenes which relate to the topic of the magazine. I then used another 3 images towards the bottom of the page which also show DJ’s and club scenes. Each three images are lined up against one another, I did this because the images add colour to the page, but still looks orderly. I also used an image of the main article; DJ Atonix.

I used the same black background on the Double page spread, to keep the house-style of the whole magazine, allowing it to look professional and to allow the white text to stand out and become more inviting to read. The title of the main article is ‘DJ Atonix’. Yet again, I copied this from www.dafont.com because I thought the eroded feel looks very stylish, and the misplaced letters look quite complex.

The introduction of the article has a larger font, and is coloured yellow to attract the reader’s eye. I used interesting adverbs like ‘Striking’ and ‘wild’, and I used alliteration, which are good techniques to draw attention, and persuade the reader to read further. The main image remained on the left page, and is a studio shot of Opal. This is a medium close-up, which shows ‘Dj Atonix’ with her back facing the camera, and her face looking towards her far-left; using the same props as before.

Originally I wanted to have another image of opal on the right page, facing left, to give a slight mirror effect, but this allowed little room for the text, and didn’t look as effective as I had hoped. I have used other images on the bottom right hand side of the double page spread, which illustrates the article, and keeps the reader interested. Each image is the same size, rotated, with a yellow border around them. As a whole the page looks clean and fresh, and the article isn’t too long for the reader to get bored. The article is written in a question and response fashion, with the questions in bold. I think this is a very clear way to display the article, as readers can brief read the whole article, and read only what interests them. Explicit content, talking about drug abuse, and swearing indicates the target audience.

I think my artist represents a wide range of social groups, in a very conventional way. As-well as using this model to attract teenage and young men, I wanted women to admire her clean, yet seductive image, and attitude. As a whole, I think many people would admire and aspire to be like this artist. I chose to use this artist, because I wanted to express the fact that this genre of music has a great sex-appeal.

On the front cover, I used an image of Opal, using blue and red lighting, which suggests she is in a club environment, emphasises the genre of the magazine straight away. The luminous blue lighting emphasises her face, contrasting with the red shadows over her facial features, this looks really futuristic, and professional. Most DJ’s are male, so a female DJ directly draws attention. Using imagery, the images of DJ Atonix (Opal) on the front page, contents page and double page spread, with her short hair, and little clothes gives quite a sexual impression, but I think the head-phones, and little make-up give quite a natural and classy look .

Each position is confident, seductive and domineering, which suggest that she’s a strong minded, independent, confident woman. I think these are all effective visual codes. The double page spread includes an introduction of the article, which is short, and straight to the point, which is what the readers want. The language of the article itself is quite explicit, talking about drug-use and frequent swearing, this not only indicates the target audience, but also allows the text to be very personal, and ‘juicy’ for the reader. This also suggests that the artist is like any regular person, facing her own problems.

The institution that is most likely to distribute my music magazine would be IPC, as it is one of the biggest publishers in the UK for mainstream magazines. Statistics say that over 26 million adults from the UK read an IPC magazine, which shows that this publishing company is clearly popular. ‘Mixmag’, one of the magazines which inspired me was published by a company called Development Hell LTD. This is an independent magazine publishing company, based in England and Europe.

They have consulted some of Britain’s biggest magazine publishers (like IPC, Future, and Dennis) which suggest this company is trusted and they really know what they’re doing. Currently Development Hell LTD is publishing two magazines: ‘The word’, and ‘Mixmag’. Experienced and valued operators of British magazines are amongst the Development Hell team including Mark Ellen, The Words’ editor, and Andrew Harrison: Director of some of the leading mainstream music magazines in Britain, like Mixmag, Smash Hits, and Q.

I would also consider publishing my magazine through the internet, by launching it online. This is a very up-to-date option, using the internet enables a decrease in production and distribution costs, and it is clear that the internet is now part of everyday life. However, I think publishing the magazine, and selling them on shop shelves is still popular, which I think I would prefer to do.

Mixmag inspired me because it is currently the market leader, and has remained its reputation for the most influential title in the dance sector, and most trusted voice in within this genre. It is also the biggest selling dance music/clubbing magazine. I found this magazine very interesting, and inspired me to create a magazine with a similar style, as this music genre is growing, and clubbing is becoming more and more popular. I think my magazine could compete with Mixmags’ excellent reputation and achievement.

My ideal audience is teenage/young people (aged between 16-30), targeting teenage and young men because I think Dj-ing is typically quite masculine. However using a female DJ could inspire women to read this magazine too. From my research, my questionnaire indicated that most people spend very little on magazines (The majority spend nothing, and about a 1/3 spend £2-5.00), so offering free purchase on the front cover is a good technique to sell the magazine.

The people who answered the questionnaire also said that they spend most of their money on leisure, so offering an opportunity to attend the DJ academy summer school could be a good way to lure the readers in. Over half of my intended audience are a member of facebook, which could be a good way to advertise the magazine. Almost ¾ of people access music through the internet, using mainly Itunes, and Limewire. Kiss is the preferred radio-station of my intended audience, which is a dance, club and latest music radio-station, which indicates that my magazine could be just as popular, as it is about the same genre of music.

I addressed my intended audience by using a unique selling point for my magazine. Using a bold, contrasting and in-your-face colour palette allows the magazine to really stand out, and the masthead is very memorable. Using features like a catchy slogo, and a flash are good techniques to sell the magazine. The main article, and the main image on the front cover is a good way to lure the reader in, as the model is clearly attractive, and wearing little clothes, which is a typical way to attract male readers.

I created a survey for my target audience, so I could receive some feedback from my magazine design: ‘’ The image on the front cover is really effective, and made me want to buy the magazine’’ another person said: ‘’You can tell straight away that it’s a clubbing magazine, and the colour scheme looks very modern’’, ‘’It’s good to see a Female DJ, inspired me to read on’’ Comments on my double page spread included: ‘’The page looks very clean, and doesn’t ramble on too much, the text is really interesting, and she sounds like a really down to earth girl’’, Another person said: ‘’There is just enough text, and just enough images, and the intro is really persuasive, I had to read on!’’

This is all positive feedback which I was very pleased with, however some people said that: ‘’The double page spread is too clean, there should be more images, and more colour’’ Another person said ‘’The contents page is really busy and colourful compared to the double page spread, you wouldn’t think they were from the same magazine’’ I took these comments into account, and I also think the contents page looks too busy. In order to change this I would change the background colour, and make it totally black instead of having gradients of black and white. I would also use fewer images, or make them smaller.

Since the preliminary task using PhotoShop CS3, I feel I have achieved a lot more skills within this program. I have learnt how to import fonts from www.dafont.com, and successfully transfer the font onto a black background, by using the multiply blend mode.

I have also become confident using the magnetic lasso tool, which enabled me to remove the background of the images which I used. I understood the use of layers a lot more, keeping them orderly, and merging certain layers together really helped me keep organised. Moreover, I have progressed using the image and text adjustment function: for example, I used the gradient tool to give an interesting effect on the background of the front cover, and I used bevel and emboss tool to create a 3-D effect of the leading article sell.

Understanding basic techniques, like using different sizes of fonts to emphasise the importance of each sells has been useful. Also, I have improved on experimenting with different effects within PhotoShop, and using a trial and error technique to see what looks better. In addition, I think I have strongly improved with the use of digital cameras; I was really impressed with the pictures I used on my music magazine. Using a studio to take pictures of Opal, I really took advantage and experimented with the lighting (using different colours, and brightness), camera angles, and different positions of Opal. I feel these images have strongly progressed since the basic images I used on the preliminary task, and I took a strong liking towards using the digital camera, and taking pictures. As a whole I am really pleased with my final product, and I really enjoyed creating, and designing my own music magazine.