Double page spread

I based my double page spread on this NME double page spread about The Teenagers. I liked how it was laid out and I like the use of colours and spacing. I chose to do a big page size picture of Ailsa on the left with an extract of her interview in bold next to her, because I thought that the picture was eye catching  at that the extract would make people want to read the interview. I liked the way that NME had done a side column so I chose to do the same but with different picture of Ailsa. I chose the font that says Ailsa because I think it fits in with the image that she creates, indie. The language in which the magazine speaks when it is asking Ailsa questions is informal and laid back which is how I wanted my magazine to be, like I said about in the editors speech on the contents page, but the way in which Ailsa replies is a bit hyper and common. I did this because I wanted her to come across as your everyday girl, showing that if you have talent it doesn't matter who you are you can be someone. Also I think people connect more and like famous people more if they think that they are just like everyone else, showing that Ailsa is common shows that she had to keep trying until she got someone to like her music, it didn't just happen.
I continued with the red theme as before and the blues and blacks so that the theme is followed. The picture that I chose on the right side of the page, I think look really good and that they add more life to the page as you can see Ailsa laughing which once again shows that she is just your average girl. I think that my double page spread works well and fits in perfectly with the rest of my magazine and the image that I was trying to create.

Contents Page: Music Mag

 

I wanted my contents page to be a contrast from the front cover, although still keeping the red as a continual colour, just because I didn't want the magazine to be to busy and risking it looking messy. I chose four big, eye catching, pictures one being of Ailsa, and laid them out spaciously so that they were easy to look at but still got the readers attention. I chose the light background colour as I wanted it too look cooler than the front cover which had been harsh colours, just so the reader can take it what's in the magazine.

I chose to do informal speech as the editor and continue that though to the double page spread. I didn't want the magazine to be upper class, but more to students who wouldn't want to read heavy loads of information. I think this works and so did the people that I got to review my magazine. 

Front Page

 

This is my final magazine cover. I called it Enchanteur which means Enchanting in Italian because I wanted the magazine to have a sort of elegance to it and I think this name brings that. Although I also wanted my masthead to be a bit different and out there and show that it is good to be different, which is why I chose to have the elegance of the name contrast with the colour and boldness of the name of the mag. I think this well and the people that reviewed my magazine agreed. I did have a challenge choosing the font for the title though, these are some others that I looked at:

 

I decided my one because I wanted it to be big and bold and to catch the readers attention and although I really liked these I didn't feel like they did the job.

I based my front cover of an old NME cover with John Lennon on the front, he is smoking which although is a bad sign for young readers of the magazine because it might suggest that smoking is cool, it gives the magazine a real rock and roll image and shows that John Lennon wasn't someone who lived by the rules, he was different. This is wanted I wanted my readers to think about Ailsa, although she is more indie, soul sound she says that she is very different and has made her own sound, which is want Lennon did. I took me a while to decide whether or not to use the picture I have chosen, I had to decide if I thought my main image would put people off reading about Ailsa. I asked several people two say out of two pictures which they preferred and whether her smoking put them off. The 10 people that I asked 8 said they were more attracted to the picture that I have chosen because it was eye catching and whether you liked her smoking or not, you saw what sort of act she was from the picture and it made you want to read about her. This is what I wanted my readers to do so I chose this picture.

Ailsa is based on the singer Adele. I decided to base her on Adele because she is hugely popular at moment and loads of people can connect to and love her music so easily. Also Adele is a role model for girls everywhere as she is not stick thin but she is still stunning and loads of people are stunned by how amazing her singing voice is. Ailsa is also a stunning girl but I think that she has a very unique look about herself, she doesn't need a lot of make up to be pretty she just is. This is what I wanted on the front of my magazine because it is showing my readers that natural beauty is better than fake beauty and that it is better to be true to yourself. This is why I didn't do Ailsa up in loads of make-up and make her hair all up for the photo shoot. I think it works nicely on the cover and in the magazine and sends a good message across to my readers.

I chose red as my colour scheme to run through the magazine. I think that it is the perfect colour for the 'being different' image I am trying to achieve and I think that it is very eye catching. I chose a various range of acts for my cover lines, as I have based my magazine on NME and that sees to a really wide range of genres of music which is what I wanted my magazine to do. I chose acts from rock to rap and from indie to grime, this way my magazine will apply to a wider range of audience rather than just one genre. Like this:

 

Reviews of my magazine

Music Magazine Evaluation

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I researched NME and knew that it was a well known magazine that has been running since the 80's that people still read. It is one of Britain's most popular magazines and has new readers every month as well as it's loyal readers that get it every week. Although being a magazine it does have an internet version that you can pay to read online and a subscription option so that you can get it delivered straight to your door. NME has is owned by IPC and it one of there most loved magazines. NME always has the same layout for it's name, red and white, and normally has the same colours consistent through out the mag. I looked at the NME readers profile and found that it has an average of 69 to 31 ratio of male to female readers, of the average age of 24.

I have used NME as a base for my magazine, I read it so therefore I know what sort of music is featured in it and how they address their audience. But I have challenged it by making my magazine more aimed at women, although still aimed at men. I have also aimed mine at the age group 18 - 24. I have used the same genre as of music that NME focuses on, indie, rock and pop, and used similar colours and layouts as NME. I have done this because I want my magazine to fit into the market, I do believe that there would be a space for it as it is like a female version of NME, therefore IPC would be likely to own and publish it.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
I am aiming my magazine at the age group 18 -24. Although aimed at men and women I want it to be aimed at women mainly, 70 - 30. I want it to be representing strong, sexy, independent women and show that it's okay to be different. One of the reasons that I have my act on the front of my cover, Ailsa, smoking is because I wanted it to show that smoking isn't just for men and that she isn't living life by the rules people set her, the cigarette makes her look strong and intimidating, showing young girls that we do have power and that it's okay to be different.


What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I think that IPC would consider publishing Enchantuer because it is like a female version of NME. I think that there is a gap in the market for a female indie rock magazine, indie is the sense at the moments and people follow crowds so therefore I do think that IPC would benefit from my magazine.

Who would be the audience for your media product?
I am aiming my magazine at 18 - 24 year olds, mainly girls that want a magazine to give them information of the indie, pop, rock genre of music. I asked 10 people who said they would want to read my magazine what they did for a living, their hobbies, if they were a student, their age and their gender, so I knew what to put in the magazine and what they would be interested in reading about.

Living	Hobbies	Student	Age	Gender
Cafe	Dancing	A Levels	18	Female
Plumber	Football	Uni	19	Male
Call Center	Music	Uni	21	Male
Pub	Dancing	Drama College	18	Female
Shop	Going out	Uni	20	Female
Teaching	Music	A levels	18	Female
Pub	Football	No	22	Male
Cafe	Going out	Uni	21	Female
Music	Music	Uni	25	Male
Shop	Going out	No	19	Female

How would you attract / address your audience?
Enchantuer has very bold features, such as the colours and fonts that are very eye catching and interesting to look at. I have used a lot of reds and blues that are continues through the magazine. I believed that these colours suited the genre I was going for and because the magazine is mainly aimed at girls in the sense of the acts and how they are addressed in the writing of the magazine, I decided to to the colours of a more manly design, although women would still find the blues and reds attractive to look at. As every magazine, I put the most exciting features of the magazine on the front like the acts that had been interviewed for that months addition, such as Tinie Tempah and Ailsa, and then on the contents page it is the things that feature every month. I made the contents page very simple in that the back ground colour is very plain and easy on the eyes, yet there are still the convention colours on the page. The mode of address that I has used is very light hearted, I wanted it to be like the reader is just talking to a friend rather than something serious and boring, it therefore is more likely to get the right audience that I have aimed it at.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I had never used photoshop before I started media back in September. I found it very difficult to use at first and got very frustrated with how bad I was at using it, I didn't know what any of the tools were and it took me quite a while to get the hang of what everything was and how to use it all. When I finally managed to work it I found it easy and tried several different ways of doing things before deciding on what one I liked best. You can see how much my skills have gone up on photoshop by looking at my school magazine compared to my music magazine.


Looking back on your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learn in the progression from it to the full product?
I have learnt how to use photoshop. I had never used it before and I wasn't very good at that at all until I had used it loads of times and figured out what everything was and how to use it all, you can see that by looking at the difference from my school magazine then looking at my music magazine, there is a big difference. Also what people look at when buying a magazine and what makes them buy them, I understand what magazines do to make sure that they sell and to keep their readers interested. I also learn about all the picture sizes of pictures and that you always have to have the person in the main photo on your front cover to look into the camera as it makes the reader think they are looking at them which makes them more interested in buying the magazine/reading about the act. I have also learnt all the names of the different sell lines on a magazine,such as sell lines, cover lines, main article and so on. I think if I made my magazine over it would be even better because I now understand photoshop and would try different things, whereas at the time I didn't.

Research - NME

Nme.

Nme is the magazine that I have chosen to base my magazine on. I really like the lay out of it and the way that the front covers are always shot. I got the reader profile from the NME website and I chose to post this NME cover because it is the genre of music that I want my magazine to focus on. I think that the colours on the cover are very bright and eye catching and would draw an audience in and all the sell lines are easy to read and about things that the age group of people reading it would want to know about.  N

ME is statically aimed at males of an average age of 24, this cover says to me that it is aimed at men and women of around 16 to 26. I want my magazine to be aimed at the same genre of people.

Research - RWD

RWD is a monthy magazine that focuses purley on Grime, Hip Hop, Dubstep, Pop, R&B and House News, Interviews, Video's, Audio and Fashion. Although this is not the genre of music that I want my maganize to focus on I really like the lay out and house style of this maganize. It is very eye cathcing and includes everything that the people it is aimed at, young adults, would be intersted in reading about.
I like the way that the contents page is laid out with the piture being the main foucus. I think in some resecpts most people just buy magazines to look at the pictures, rather than actually reading about the information, so this would be good for any kind of reader as it applies to both. I think it is useful how it is laid out with the regulars and the top and the features at the bottom as it makes everything easy to be found.
The house style is consistant as it is always the same, the RWD logo and they always have blue as a continual colour in each maganize.

I really like the whole theme that this magazine represents. I want my magazine to have a continual colour and to be laid out in a familir way each time that it is released. I want my magazine to connect with my genre of audience just like RWD does. I also want my magazine to connect to my readers through the text as well, as RWD writes in a manner that all it's readers would understand.