1. Evaluation

2. In what way does your music magazine use, develop or challenge the forms and conventions of real music magazines? These are the codes and conventions my magazine consists of on the front cover: Masthead - My masthead is called, ‘RIOT!’, which represents the music genre of rock and has a broadened target audience of: rockers, emos, goths and heavy metal lovers. I have used a large, bold, capital font as it is dominant, reflecting the target audience of social tribes, my formatting also consists of snow and holly applied to the masthead to represent the time of which the issue is distributed, Christmas. I felt that this reflected the time period very well, as did the white back drop, the colour represented snow but it also looked as though someone had spray canned the shadow, portraying a modern, rebel vibe. My masthead also has a slogan/motto applied across it, ‘WE PREDICT A RIOT!!!’, as does the rock magazine, Kerrang. Centre Image – My centre image shows a lot of significance to music due to the guitar held in his hands in a protective, caring manner as well as the intense stare, NME also uses a guitar to represent the importance of music on their front cover. The proportion of the centre image is large and takes up most of the space making it one of the main focuses of the cover. The centre image also goes in to the bottom strip to portray a stance of dominance, which the readers aspire to have. Left Third – As you can see, most of my stories (my lead story and my secondary leads) and over all content are written in the left third e.g. my promotional gift (poster) , I have done this so readers will immediately reach out to the magazine in the shop as only the left third will be seen. Kerrang also displays most of it’s content in the left third. Puff – My magazine has the puff, ‘Rock Magazine of the Year’, emphasising it’s importance due to the exaggerated line, it also singles out RIOT compared to other music magazines, making it sound original and unique. Many magazines such as Kerrang display an exaggerated line to encourage readers to buy the magazine e.g. ‘This is the Best show out there’. Pug - My magazine consists of two pugs, one of which happens to be placed on top of a box out, cleverly placed to catch the reader’s attention and to promote the magazine as this is the magazine logo, a skull which appeals to my target social tribes. Another pug is also at the top of the cover and also acts as a promotion as it notifies the reader’s of the HMV sale on during that week, creating that obvious liaison between the magazine and music. Cover Line – My cover line is obvious due to the separate formatting, having a larger font which uses the house colours in a different way, (black writing with a white border), it also seems exclusive and exaggerated due to the tag, ‘Exclusive’, written in a stylish font, making it seem to out of your reach, which draws my target audience to the magazine. My cover line happens to be my lead story but many magazines also do this as well, for example, Kerrang, ‘Inside Ville Valo’s secret world…’, making the story seem exclusive. Box out – I’ve placed a box-out on my cover to place a pug on top, this enables it to stand out and appeal to my target audience immediately, NME have also put their box out in a similar position, but have added a promotional item called a tip-on on top of it.

3. Quote – My front cover demonstrates one main quote, ‘ROCK IS EVERYTHING’, reflecting the lead story, this quote is in the form of a headline showing the importance of the rock star and his opinion. The formatting consists of a: large, bold font to stand out as well as two contrasting colours, black and white which stand out to gain the reader’s attention as the rock star’s opinion is of great importance. Another quote is present in another story, ‘We tell you tomorrow's styles today’, a strong statement which almost sounds like a promise, representing the strong position of the magazine, as it gives out reliable advise. The quote is almost exaggerated, as though it were an exclusive to lure in the readers and make them buy the magazine. Top/Bottom Strip – I have included a top strip as well as a bottom strip used to notify any contents within the magazine in addition to a tip on which I have written on the bottom strip, I have added these mainly to imitate real magazines. Exclusive – My main story portrays itself as though it is an exclusive due to the ways it which it is represented, for example, the headline quote, the fact that it is a quote which is empathised through the formatting, suggests the story is of great importance. The story also has an, ‘Exclusive’, tag written underneath it, making it obvious that it is in fact an exclusive. Feature – Many of my articles including my lead story are presented as a feature because the title reflects gossip about the artists, such as, ‘ Behind the Scenes…’, creating a liaison with the term exclusive, as the readers find out what they don’t usually see, the ellipsis acting as a lure, engaging the readers into the magazine. The lead story in most music magazines are features as they always go into detail about the star themselves and how the experience of stardom is for them, for instance, ‘Ville Valo’s secret world’, the lead story is all about him which is why many articles have questions from fans and answers from the star. Headline – Like most magazines, my headline represents my lead story, in this case, ‘Rockin’ Jed Tour’, my headline mainly stands out due to it’s formatting, large with contrasting colours. My headline is also a quote, intriguing the readers as they want to know the opinion of their rock idol. What makes, my headline, a headline is the fact that it is a very strong statement, a fact even, as the status of the rock star is very high. Kicker – The kicker for my magazine is placed out side the left third because it isn’t as significant as the other articles because it is a secondary lead. My kicker is a kicker because unlike other articles, it has more writing, including a quoted statement, making it stand out. However, the main reason it stands out is because of the stylish zebra print star behind the writing, giving the article an edgy background. Lure – One of my secondary leads present in my left third is a competition, ‘Brand new competitions, Win Now’, the phrase at the end is directing the readers to win, in order to do that they need to participate in the competition, making this a perfect lure due to the phrase being forceful. Can – My can includes the website belonging to the magazine, ‘www.wepredictariot.com’, it is a clear form of interaction between the readers and the magazine through the internet. Another can present in my music magazine cover are the, ‘Brand New Competitions’, which allow the readers to participate and win a prize form the magazine. Secondary Leads – My secondary leads are significant as they build up most of the room on my cover, therefore, they need to consist of the codes and conventions of magazines, such as a kicker (Rockin’ Tips), and a can (competitions). Most of my secondary leads are present in the left third but have formatting which don’t make them stand out more than the lead story.

4. Lead Story/Splash – My lead story is called the, ‘Rockin’ Jed Tour’, focusing on one main rock act who is popular in the music industry. Of course, this lead story needs to be presented as a lead story through the formatting, having this be the first story present in the left third. It also happens to have the most effective formatting, with the largest, boldest font as well as separate colour combinations compared to the other stories to enable it to stand out. Tag – My lead story needs to stand out which is why I gave it a tag, ‘Exclusive’, categorising it to engage the readers interest in the story. I also did this for obvious reasons, making the story seem exclusive, makes the readers feel as though they’re reading something unique and original. Tip-on – My tip-on is a rock band poster, creating that link with music, it also lures in the readers, bribing them to read the magazine and see the content. I found that I chose a poster for my target audience because it doesn’t seem childish compared to a game, it seems appropriate for teenagers and music lovers in general. House Colours – As you can see, my magazine is made up of three main dominant colours: red, white and black, these are the house colours that are carried out through out my magazine as well as the other issues of RIOT, therefore, carrying the house style. I deem these colours appropriate because my research told me that these colours are most popular, also because these colours seem rebellious and dark, which would appeal to my target audience. Kerrang also displays a set of house colours consisting of black and white, dominant, contrasting colours. House Style – My house style throughout the magazine has been consistent, one including my house colours, however, there are other factors that carry my house style. For example, the RIOT logo, the skull which appeals to my target audience for obvious cold reasons, this logo is present on every page, and has been used as the page number. Another house style is the; snowflakes, the snow and holly, these, however, are only going to be in my issue because it represents the time of year, Christmas. I find that the house style is critical to make a magazine, a magazine as it makes it original and unique. Some magazines carry their house style through the formatting of their masthead, for example, Kerrang.

6. As you can see from the previous slides and the annotation of Kerrang, there are more codes and conventions present in my music magazine. This reinforces the fact that my magazine is capable of becoming a real magazine just like Kerrang. If you look on the right, there is a list of the codes and conventions present in Kerrang and next to it are the codes ad conventions that aren’t present.

7. These are the codes and conventions my magazine consists of on the Contents Page: Masthead – My masthead has a unique structure to it, with the cross formation, it easily portrays a gothic vibe which appeals to my target audience. My masthead also has a piece of holly on it to represent the time of year, continuing on the house style. Main Image – In my contents page, there are many images, they are here to create a collage affect. However, when looking at the proportions of each image, the largest has to be the image in front, I did this so that this could be the main image which reflected my lead story, ‘Rockin’ Jed Tour’. Puff – When looking at the articles placed in my contents page, you will notice the originality of them due to the strapline written underneath the headline, for instance, ‘Behind the Scenes’, making it sound exclusive as you wouldn’t usually know what goes on behind the curtains. The strapline underneath reads, ‘Check out what the hard core rock artists do behind stage!’, luring the reader in by displaying top gossip that they’d like to know, making the story sound original and one of a kind. Another example of a puff is, ‘The RIOT Playlist’, with the strapline, ‘The Music of the moment…’, making it sound exclusive, and once again luring in the reader through the ellipsis. Feature – My main feature article is my lead story as it is all about the artist and their thoughts on their success and performances, this is shown through another strapline, ‘Check out the newest rock legend yet’, focusing on the star as he is the one who readers revolve around and aspire to be like. Lure – For many of my strap lines, I have written directions to look at a story, for example, ‘Check Out our newest rock legend yet!’, however, I have written it so that it isn’t too forceful but the readers are lured in. Another example of this technique is written along side the masthead, ‘What’s inside…’, the contents gives them a brief insight to the articles but the ellipsis draws them to read the full story. Can – Once again the story on the cover, the competition is written in my contents page, so this is immediately a can because it interacts with the readers. I have also written the website again which also interacts with the readers, but the reason why I had included it here is because like many magazines, it allows readers to subscribe to the magazine through the website. Secondary Leads – The contents is full of secondary leads, including those which aren’t included on the front cover, such as, ‘Death Riot’, a downloading website for riot fans, making this a form of interaction between the readers and the magazine. Lead Story/Splash – My splash is the, ‘Rockin Jed Tour’, focusing on one particular act, although, people do assume that the formatting in the contents page should be different to allow the story to stand out, however, when looking at a real music magazine, all stories are written exactly the same. Although, the lead story images are always large so I I attempted to make mine big too but the limited room on the single page made it difficult to do this. House Colours – My house colours, red, white and black are also constant here so the readers can easily tell that this contents page belongs to this cover. The colours in the text are simpler, to make them organised as this is where the readers get the information for each story. Similarly, NME, have similar house colours but it also has green to represent the time of year.

8. House Style – Once again the skull logo is present through the logo itself as well as the page numbers, but so is the slogan of the magazine. As you can tell the contents page is original but many of the factors from the cover is kept the same here, for example, the style of the masthead along with the holly to reflect the time of year, as well as the font used, ‘Stencil’. Once again, NME also uses their masthead as a part of their house style as it is used through out the magazine. Menu – The contents page acts as a menu because, you have the listed articles within the magazine. Strapline – By now, you’ve might’ve realised the strap lines below each heading which allows the readers to get a taste of the articles within the magazine.

10. If you look on the right, there is an annotation of my flat plan and a single page contents from NME, both my flat plan and NME consist of the same codes and conventions, but when looking at the previous slides, you realise that I have expanded my codes and conventions, making my contents page very detailed. If you compare the annotation of NME and my contents page on the left, It is obvious which is more detailed, and I feel that my magazine is able to become a real magazine.

11. These are the codes and conventions my magazine consists of on the Double Page Article: Masthead – My masthead is large with a an inner drop shadow of red to contrast with the white writing as well as the black background. Once again, my masthead has a piece of holly on it to carry the house style through out the magazine. Main Image – My main image is very affective due to the proportions of it, it is so large that it goes into the second page, making the image more dominant and eye catching. To allow the image to be really affective and stand out, I made the writing go around the image instead of on it, so the image doesn’t lose it’s stance. As you can see there is another band picture just overlapping the main image, showing that it is of some importance but not as significant as Jed. Lead Story/Splash – My lead story consists of an interview of a rock star who’s on tour. My article has his personnel views of the experience as well as the reporters look on things, to finish the interview off, I’ve added the readers questions which are answered by Jed. When looking at this double page spread, the image is the most dominant feature reflecting the Lead story revolving around Jed. House Colours – The house colours are reflected through the formatting, but also through the imagery, as you can tell, the clothes belonging to the star consist of all the house colours, in addition to the guitar which is also red. House Style – Like every page in the magazine, the double page article has the skull logo (the logo itself and the page number) and the slogan/motto, ‘We Predict a Riot’. The season of winter is also reflected through the snowflakes and holly, but not to make it take over, I’ve added the black background to balance out the festive season and the hard core magazine. Exclusive – What makes this story an exclusive is the way in which it is portrayed, ‘if you want tomorrow’s rock today, don’t move a muscle’, suggesting an insight to what’s coming, making the readers feel as though they’re gaining the information first and foremost. Feature – You realise that this is a feature as you go in to the main body of text, the reporter includes every spec of detail concerning the rock star’s life, ‘We are soon approaching Jed’s destination, the tour bus steadies down as he grabs a bottle of water’, the gossip surrounding him turns into a human interest angle, therefore, making my story a feature. Stand first – My stand first is separated from the main body of text and is put on the left page so the readers can start reading, and continue if they wish, I have made it, large and bold so that it is eye-catching and noticeable. However, by adding an ellipsis, the introductory paragraph continues in to the main body of text. I have picked this technique up from many magazines such as Q who dedicate a page to a stand first and continue the article on another. Large Letters – When looking at my double page article, there is a a large letter which starts the sentence, I have done this at the beginning of every paragraph, similarly to Q, who have done this every so often. I have also done an extra large letter at the beginning of the article in the stand first, in a different colour so that it stands out and introduces the article very powerfully.

13. Again, you will find my flat plan along side a real rock double page article, however, not many conventions are present. As I started on my construction, I realised other codes and conventions which are present within an article, such as a stand first, so I incorporated these into my final double page article. I feel that my magazine is worthy to become a real magazine because the codes and conventions present, even on my double page article are more then what you would find in Mojo.

14. How does your music magazine represent particular social tribes? In many magazines, the target audience are always stereotyped, this is also evident through out rock magazines, which represent social tribes such as: rockers, goths, heavy metal lovers and emos. When looking at rock magazines, you see an intense vibe towards music as well as a rebel, rough side, this is seen throughout the magazine covers below and also seem to be the stereotypes belonging to social groups who prefer the music genre of rock. When looking at this magazine, you see a careless revolt as he burns the guitar, but for many, it also shows an intense liaison to music, feeding into the rock tradition and genre. Here, we have careless body language, representing the artist’s unconcerned attitude, which rebels and anarchists try to imitate. All three magazines are very intense and dominant due to the close ups of the images, as well as their intimidating facial expressions which indicate anti-establishment attitudes and beliefs.

15. In order for my magazine to become successful, I have attempted to represent my target audience in that stereotypical way so my magazine would immediately appeal to rockers, emos, goths and heavy metal lovers. By looking at my images I have used in my magazine, you see a lot of relevance to music through the use of instruments. An example of this is the image on the front cover, you see the guitar positioned in a way that the instrument and the model are the same height, demonstrating the importance of the guitar. This portrays one of the stereotypes for the intense passion for music. My images also have back drops and shadows applied, giving off that moody attitude belonging to the social tribes, I have also used a variety of low shots, which reinforces this, as they look as though they are of a high status. In addition to this, I have used my formatting to reflect that rebel, rough attitude, for example, the dark colours which have a contrasting effect making them stand out more against each other, creating a strong, dominant outlook. Through out my magazine, a logo is present, which portrays a cold, metallic vibe, giving off a rebel side as it is in fact a skull. In my contents page, the masthead is positioned in the form of a cross, demonstrating a gothic feel to the magazine. Over all, as you can tell, these features of my magazine create a: rough, rebel like, intense and dominant stance which happens to attract my target audience successfully due to my stereotypical portrayal of them.

16. Who would your target audience be and why? My target audience for my magazine will obviously be youths, but when deciding who my target audience was, I had to look at social tribes. In the end, I decided to chose the music genre of rock as it would allow me to broaden my target audience as it appeals to: emos, goths, rockers and heavy metal lovers, all of whom have a similar tastes in fashion due to their liaison with rock music. With this, I knew that if I targeted my magazine at one specific social group, I would appeal to all, due to their similar preferences. To ensure that this would be successful, I asked a range of youths who read music magazines, it seemed that rock fans were apart of the social tribes including: emos, goths, rockers and heavy metal lovers, who also preferred the house colours of red, white and black. In the end I decided to target my music magazine at: rockers, goths, emos and heavy metal lovers with the music genre of rock as they had many similarities between them. In the end I began to research my social tribes in more depth, and managed to target and attract my target audience in a number of ways including: Formatting – From my research, the most popular colour combination was red, black and white, which is why I used these as my house colours for my music magazine, I thought that these were appropriate for a rock magazine, as these dark colours usually reflect the colours in horror movies (red-blood, black-shadows, white-ghosts) as well as today's fashion for my target audience. Another form of formatting I used to attract my target audience was the font, my masthead and every bit of text (apart form the article itself) was in Stencil as it is a large, bold, capital font which reflects the dominance of my target audience, so I deemed it appropriate. I also added drop shadows to target my audience as it relates to darkness, as well as other effects on photo shop which had the ability to change the shades of the colours on my images, to a more darker tone which gave off a sinister feel. Imagery – The imagery I used consisted of many models posing with instruments which is known as a very significant way for my target audience to express themselves, these instruments included, microphones and guitars (electric and acoustic). I also took a picture of a skull ring which became my logo, this I thought was necessary as it gave off a cold, gothic vibe which appealed to my target audience. I also experimented with poses which are associated with rock stars, these were successful, and can relate to my target audience, and therefore, attract them towards my music magazine. Text – So that the text could draw in my target audience I included a few lures, demanding the target audience to read the magazine as well as a few tags, making the magazine seem exclusive. To engage the target audience, I included forms of interaction, for example, my website, ‘www.wepredictariot.com’. To make sure that the magazine speaks to my target audience, I made sure that my text incorporated direct address, talking to the readers, relating to them in order for the magazine to appeal to them. Another way I attracted my target audience was by including a tip-on, a free promotional gift which my target audience would like, I chose to give away a band poster, relating back to music.

17. Both my magazine and Kerrang target social tribes in very similar ways, both of which portray the music genre of rock, for example, both covers consist of passionate but intense poses with the guitar. My centre image consists of equal levels between the guitar and the model, representing the significance of music. Similarly, Kerrang have displayed a man angling his guitar in the air, making it have a higher level compared to him, this also shows an importance for music, which is reinforced as he is staring directly at the guitar. Another similarity between the centre image, is that they both overlap something, Kerrang over laps the masthead representing the dominance of the image. Likewise, my centre image over laps the bottom strip as though stamping down and making a statement, this also shows a form of dominance and power, and appeals to the audience as they aspire to be like rock stars. Another similarly between the covers are the quotes, this targets the audience because they are a form of direct address, as though the rock stars are talking to them, involving them in the magazine. An example of this is shown in Kerrang, ‘WE’RE GOING TO CRUSH THE UK!’, a strong dominant statement which reflects the rebel like attitude belonging to rockers, as well as portraying a forceful opinion which once again appeals to aspirers of rock music. My magazine also demonstrates quotes, however, they reinforce that intense passion for music once again, ‘ROCK IS EVERYTHING’, a clear dominant statement which is simple but effective. As the colour separates, ‘ROCK IS’, and, ‘EVERYTHING’, it exhibits an outlook that rock is a necessity, as, ‘EVERYTHING’, stands out, emphasising the fact. This statement is also known as a headline as it spans across the front cover in a large, bold font referring to the lead story, its formatting allows it to stand out, as the colours contrast effectively against each other. Kerrang also illustrates a headline which has rough edges, reflecting that rebel, anarchist side. Also, with that dark tint behind the headline, the lead story stands out more as it contrasts against the background. Another form of writing allows the readers to interact with the magazine, these are known as cans which both magazines consist of. My magazine has a competition allowing the readers to participate, creating a liaison between the readers and the magazine. However, my cover also displays a website, ‘www.wepredictariot.com’, as does Kerrang magazine, ‘www.kerrang.com’. Both mastheads exhibit slogans with a strong powerful statement written across the masthead, displaying a rebel view which readers aspire to be like, having these statements reflect a stance which is kept constant through out the magazine through the formatting, the text and the images.

18. My feedback from those who’ve seen and read my magazine: From looking at my graph, you can see that majority of the readers would buy my magazine if it was available, mainly because it stands out compared to other magazines due to the colour combinations, as well as having interesting headlines and looks professional. However, a few did find that they wouldn’t buy RIOT, this was due to, rock not being a music genre they like and them not reading music magazines in general. For my next question, I had asked the readers whether they felt my house colours and overall house style was obtained throughout the entire magazine? All readers agreed that my house style was obtained, this was a result of the house colours which were kept constant through out the magazine reflected through the colour exchanging backgrounds, these included, red, black and white. Some also thought the house style was evident and clear because of the consistent skull logo and the motto/slogan, ‘We Predict and Riot’. Most of the readers feel that I have been successful in doing so because the images have an intensity about them which has a rock vibe, this appeals to my target audience. They also think that the instruments are like those in rock magazines as are the colour combinations. Although, there were a few who felt, the magazine wasn’t hardcore enough for heavy metal lovers but thought, overall it targeted the audience well.

19. Another question I had asked was about my imagery, whether it was appropriate or not? My response for this question was anonymous, as all the readers felt that my imagery was very good, this was the case as they thought the poses I had used were classic rock poses which are usually seen in well known rock magazines. Some felt that the clothes the artists were wearing suit the genre of rock because they reflected the rock fashion sense . When asking if the readers felt my magazine was appealing? Their reaction was the same for all, because they thought, the house style, formatting (colours, fonts) and the people featured make the magazine interesting, luring in the target audience successfully as it is all original . Do you think I have managed to reflect the time of issue? All feel that the Christmas effects that have been added including: the snowflakes, the snow, the holly and red background are very affective in reflecting the time of issue, as it is the season of good will and joy, Christmas. Is my article an appropriate lead story/splash? Everyone thought that it was appropriate as it is something people would want to know about, a tour, it also manages to fit it with the genre of music, rock. A large amount of readers felt that the text was appropriate because it was legible, relates to the genre and can lure a male and female audience because of the direct address. On the other hand, some feel that some of the stories sound fashion conscious which is irrelevant to music, and they think some of the writing is too small to read.

20. Once again, most of the readers thought that my magazine is worthy to become an actual magazine, this is because it takes advantage of the codes and conventions, it looks appealing due to the formatting and it looks professional like other magazines. Whereas, some felt that my magazine had too many amalgamations of colour and it may not appeal to many social tribes. As you can see, from looking at my audience feedback, majority of it was very positive with bits of constructive criticism on how I can make my magazine better. I am happy with this because my techniques on how I targeted my audience worked well as seen through the graphs and tables representing my feedback.

21. What kind of Media institution might distribute your music magazine and why? I feel that the Bauer Media Group would be an appropriate institution to publish my magazine because it is a large Germen company based in Hamburg which operates in 15 different countries worldwide and publishing 282 magazine titles. The main reason why I chose Bauer Media Group is because they already sell well known rock magazines that are very popular among my target audience, for example, Q, a magazine that only started out in the United Kingdom but then broadened it self to radio and television, which is why it is now known as Q, the music brand; specialising in Indie, rock and alternative audiences. Another very popular magazine is, Kerrang, which also developed on and became a music brand which supplied their target audience with: Kerrang, the music channel and Kerrang radio. I found that if my magazine is just as successful as the ones listed above, RIOT could become more than a magazine, possibly turning into a radio show as well as a music channel. However, whatever the circumstance, if the Bauer Music Group become the RIOT institution, they could easily use their technologies to attract my target audience. They could do this through the radio, possibly stations which already attract and appeal to rockers, as my magazine would be something that they’d enjoy, for example: Kerrang Radio with a large audience of 1.3 listeners in the UK, Q Radio, Rock FM, Magic and many more. These radio stations can also be heard on websites, where my magazine can also be advertised. Another form of advertisement is on national TV, once again to do this I can use Bauer Media Group’s popular brands to represent my magazine, as if it is any thing similar to Kerrang or Q, my magazine is sure to get popular because I based my magazine on their present schemes. If my magazine, RIOT, were to sponsor a popular drama or show, it would instantly catch people’s eyes, with this, there would be higher chance of my magazine being sold. My magazine can also show up during commercial breaks, possibly showing up on a variety of channels owned by Bauer Media Group, such as: Q TV, 4Music, Kiss TV, Kerrang! TV, The Box, Magic TV and Smash Hits TV, all of which are music channels, creating a liaison with the channel. It would also be easier to advertise my magazine because Bauer Media Group also have a office here in the United Kingdom, as many brands such as Q are stationed here. With my magazine and the possible advertisement methods listed above, RIOT is sure to become successful due to Bauer Media Group’s present success and ownership.

22. How did you attract and address your audience? First, I needed to attract my target audience through the use of my formatting, imagery and mode of address, I made this most affective on my cover as this is the page they will get their first impression from. I also made sure that the left third contained most of my magazine’s content, because, when my magazine hits the shelves, this is the area they will see. When It came to the mode of address, I attempted to appeal to my target audience through the form of direct address, as if the magazine could speak to them easily and lure them in to read the magazine, in order to do this, I used discrete slang, ‘Rockin’’, is an example of this, I hoped this could relate to the target audience. I also wrote as though I was the reader’s best friend, a reliable source, who could supply them with advise and gossip, for example, ‘The next edition, look out for…’, letting them know what is yet to come, giving them the heads up, I thought the target audience would appreciate this because they feel as though the magazine is exclusive. My formatting has been consistent at portraying the house colours throughout the magazine yet each page looks original because of the colour exchanging backgrounds, (one is red, one is black and one is white), this gives a new refreshing look whenever the page is turned, I have done this so the target audience do not get bored of what they see. In order to keep this constant, every so often I use a different colour, for example, I have used a green splat on the cover which stands out because it belongs outside the house colours. I have also used this technique with the type of font I use, through out the magazine, ‘Stencil’, a bold font, has been continuously used, this enables the magazine to carry a house style. However, when writing the article I use a different font, so the writing is more eligible, but on the cover, the tag is written in, ‘Edwardian Script’, a posh font which makes the magazine seem exclusive and of importance, appealing to the target audience because they’d like something they wouldn’t usually see. My images attract my readers because the models are the same age as the target audience, so the readers can relate to them and aspire to become a rock star like them. My images also display a lot of original poses which are unique and eye-catching, as well as, classic rocker poses which the target audience can once again relate to. My images also seem dominant due to the range of shots I have included, intense mid-shots, inspirational low shots, as well as strong, individual long shots. I have also added a lot of drop shadows to a lot of my images because they seem to create a dark, deep tone; this draws in my target audience.

23. I have used the name of my magazine, RIOT itself, to attract my target audience because it appeals to: emos, rockers, goths and heavy metal lovers, as it creates a rebellious, anarchist view. My centre image reflects the fashion and attitude belonging to my target audience through the intense facial features and the careless body language. My stories have that obvious liaison with music as well as displaying: Cans (competitions and downloading websites) – I manage to target my audience by presenting offers on the website when subscribing to the magazine, hopefully with this, my target audience are willing to get the magazine monthly due to this. Pugs (Sales and Promotions) – My magazine logo is very successful when appealing to my target audience because it is a skull, which portrays that gothic vibe which appeals to my target audience. In addition to this, there is the HMV sale which promotes HMV as well as the magazine, what with the voucher given when buying the magazine. Cover lines (exclusives) – My cover line happens to be my lead story which seems exclusive because of the tag, this enables the readers to feel of high importance because the story is one of a kind, and can only be found in RIOT. Features – My features lure in the target audience because they are human interest stories on great rock stars, aspirers would buy the magazine because they revolve around celebrities, the fact that some of these stories are exclusives, enhances their need for the magazine. Headlines – My headline stands out and appeals to the target audience due to it being a quote of the rock star, I found that this would be appropriate to represent my lead story, once again appealing to aspirers who would want to know Jed’s opinion. KERRANG magazine has a headline in each issue, for example, ’ICON,25 rock stars who changed your world’. Kickers – My kicker differs from the other stories due to the formatting, allowing it to stand out on the page, this appeals to my target audience because of the dark shades of colour present. Kickers are sometimes the lead story in some cases as shown in Q magazine, ‘Women in Music’. Lure – My lures are very direct, making sure the readers see them through appealing colours such as black, with this the target audience can abide by them and buy the magazine. To make sure that the readers are able to see everything I’ve put in to the magazine, I put most of the contents, the masthead and the tip-on in the left third, enabling the readers to see these factors. I find that I can use this method so these appealing factors are seen, creating a higher chance of the magazine being bought. Nearly, all magazines have their left third filled with the main content, which is why I imitated this, for example, Q magazine.

24. What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this music magazine? (Lighting, photography, Photoshop, Indesign) When doing my preliminary task, I had learnt a lot when considering lighting, as the light always came from the right, so I made sure that this technique was consistent in this magazine as well, so the images are of a high quality. However, during this music magazine, I had realised that it is important to keep the images at a high quality, and when using Indesign, I realised you can make sure this is certain by clicking on view, there you have the display performance which you can change to high quality, with this you can see the difference of the image, as it doesn’t appear to look as out of focus. When using Indesign, you can see that it is very professional as my magazine looks like a real magazine, this was due to the quality of the images, the quality of the special effects as well as my progression from the preliminary task. However, I had realised that Indesign wasn’t as creative as Photoshop because it didn’t vary in the effects and didn’t consist of a few tools, for example, the custom shape tool. As a result, I had to import my shapes (snowflakes and stars) into Indesign which took longer and it was difficult because, a white background came behind the image, to solve this issue I had to save the image as a PNG file, which worked successfully. During the photo shoot, I learnt a lot about photography, not just about the quality of the shot but the shot itself, I attempted to use a variety of shots including: close-ups (creating a form of intensity), mid-shots (shows strong postures), long-shots (shows body language) and low shots (showing the significance of a star). However, there was more to this as well, I had to look at the attitude portrayed by rock stars to imitate that look, as their body language and facial features display a vibe that appeals to my target audience. The clothes worn by the models are also significant because they reflect the social tribes as each group have their own individual style which reflects who they are, due to this, every different picture reflected different social tribes, one gothic, one indie, one rocker and one heavy metal, these all together as a group display an anarchist, rebel vibe. During the construction of the magazine, there were points where I felt I needed to change elements from my plan in order for my magazine to become successful, although, to make sure that this was necessary, I continued to look at different rock magazines because they are examples of what I would like to achieve. As I did this, I gained more ideas and an insight to what is required from a music magazine, the magazine that I looked a lot at was Q, on the next page, you can see factors that I tried to imitate.

25. When doing my front cover, I was very confident, but by looking at this magazine, I saw little things that could make a big difference. For example, The top strip, this element was applied because nearly all magazines consist of them, making it a code and convention of magazines, I chose to put additional contents within the magazine here, where as, Q comments on their lead story. When constructing this magazine, I knew there wasn’t enough space occupied, so I decided to add more columns in the left third because a lot of the content is placed here, a good example of that would be the magazine on the left. Another way I filled space was through the snowflakes, these also happen to reflect the time of winter, so they are very relevant on the front cover. As you can see, Kerrang also make full use of the time period as reflected through the formatting and editing.

26. I chose to use Q as a guide because it had similar colour combinations as my chosen house colours, red, black and white. I inspired my creative use of colour on this magazine, however, Q uses the same back ground through out every issue, where as I thought, the colour exchanging backgrounds would be more effective because each page looks unique, but the house style remains. If you look closely at the bottom of the Q contents page, there is a line which says, subscribe to Q magazine, I thought I could imitate this by writing, ‘Subscribe at www.wepredictariot.com ’, engaging the audience as it is a form of can. Another element I attempted to imitate was the pictures with the page numbers on them, as when looking at rock magazines, each bit of written content is in the same format, however the images and their proportions were different as to determine which story was the lead. Although, due to my limited amount of space, I decided to stick with the same format through out the contents, but I couldn’t make a drastic influence on the size proportions of each image, but I attempted to, and managed to get a good response. When considering the page numbers, I thought they couldn’t be used due to my collage effect, having numbers there would confuse readers whether they thought the page number representing this picture or not. When looking at my contents page, I knew there was some excess space on the top, so I looked at what I could add, when looking at Q, you see the issue number, so I added this along with the date of issue on the top of the page. In addition to this, I looked at the page numbers, when looking a Q magazine, you have the masthead next to each number, so I thought of something that could represent my magazine, the logo, so I placed this along with the page number in each page of the magazine.

27. At first, I was planning to put a collage of people which made an allusion of a crowd, with my main image on top of it, but then this would take away the dominance of the image, due to this I didn't use it. When looking at the article on the right, I saw that the formatting was incredibly simple but affected so I decided to go with this approach. Before looking at the double page article for Q, there was a stand first for the article on the page before, I decided that I could use this, because it is a very affective way to draw in the readers. Another element that caught my eye was the huge ‘o’ at the beginning of the article, so I imitated this letter on my stand first and when starting a new paragraph. This ‘o’ is also relevant to Q magazine because it carried the house style, representing the masthead/logo, so I decided to add my logo to carry on the house style through out the magazine because it was also present on the cover as well as the contents page. When looking at a range of magazines of different genres, there were a lot of enlarged quotes all over the main article. I thought I could imitate this but due to the lack of room, I wasn’t able to but I thought I could add this to the image. When adding these quotes to the image, they were eligible and it also took the dominance away from the image, so I decided not to do it. Just in case I specifically looked at rock magazines to see if they included these quotes which they didn’t, so I took them away from the double page article.

28. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? From the end of the preliminary task to now, I think I have achieved a lot, something I never actually considered was the house style but I now I realise how crucial it is for a magazine. The house style was probably one of the most difficult things to keep constant because, the house colours, font, formatting and logos need to be the same but not completely, so it doesn’t look boring. In order to over come this, I made sure that I planned everything first, for example the colour exchanging backgrounds. However, I worked in a group who were all going to publish the same magazine, but different issues, with this we worked out strategies so that someone will have a red back ground cover while someone else will have a white background cover. This worked successfully, and then we decided to work individually so each of our personal ideas could blossom, which they did, providing us with unique magazines which have the same house style. If you look below, there is the front cover of one of my group members, as you can see, she’s used a different type of centre image, concerning gender, type of shot and over all attitude. She has also got a consistent font colour where as I have used a range of different house colours.

29. Another element I had to refer to continually during the construction of this magazine, was the target audience, I learnt about social tribes and how that influences their likes and dislikes, having my target audience of: rockers, emos, goths and heavy metal lovers enjoy the music genre of rock and not pop. With this, I needed to develop my research of them in order to find out what they like, as it would affect my mode of address, my formatting and my images. My target audience preferred dark colours, direct address, and gothic, serious images. With these basic ideas, I developed stereotypes which these social tribes consider themselves apart of, so I decided to structure my masthead in a cross formation to appeal to goths. Social tribes’ culture, homes and age reflect their likes and dislikes which institutions consider as these likes, the media need to portray in order to appeal to them. I managed to gain an insight to them though questionnaires and interviews which enabled me to create my music magazine, a popular form of media which can be advertised through other forms of media, which the institution may own, for example: radio, TV, Internet and billboards. The programs, Photoshop and Indesign helped me to target my audience because of the professional elements which enhanced the quality of my images, find appropriate editing methods and more. After completing my magazine, I asked the target audience whether they felt, my magazine was appealing, they thought it was due to the use of images, formatting and text but felt it was lacking because not all of the space was occupied. With this, I continued until I gained my final product, which my target audience were happy with.

30. From my preliminary task to my actual magazine, I see a drastic improvement, I feel this is mainly due to me understanding my target audience better during the making of a music magazine, this improvement has been a result of the feedback I received from my school magazine. When looking at Ideal, you see a lack of formality, usually, school magazines are portrayed as being formal and serious, where as my magazine aims at the children, however, I feel I may have underestimated the use of bright, forceful colours. If these colours were to be dimmed down, I think the magazine would have been much more affective. Saying that, the lead story would have stood out more and would contrast against the background, but the blue text clashes with the blue background. However when looking at RIOT, you see that attention to detail, the colours are more concentrated, making them more affective as they contrast against each other. With occasional burst of colour, the feature stands out more against the house colours themselves, for example the green splash on the right. When looking at the formatting, you see a variety of ways you can use the three colours, black, white and black for RIOT where as, Ideal uses the colour in one simple way. However, there are features I really like in Ideal, which I have kept constant for RIOT. For example, the masthead’s approach to the target audience, Ideal has a suited factor because it seems appropriate and RIOT has that anarchist thought, Ideal has a font that is bubbly but formal with a clear white border to enhance that formality, where as RIOT has a bold, capital font which represents dominance and a Christmas touch to reflect the time period. Both magazines also use full use of their codes and conventions, one of them is the use of the left third which are full of most if not all the content.

31. When looking at the contents page on the left, you can see the house style that has remained because of the same background as well as the same formatting of the masthead, likewise, RIOT does that too but with colour exchanging backgrounds so each page is unique. Similarly, Riot has a collage effect of with the images, as does Ideal, both of which have a great impact with their additional effects. Both contents pages use majority of the space provided, so there is no additional room. However, RIOT has more uses of codes and conventions, therefore, having more detail used, where as Ideal just sticks to the simple content provided by the magazine. Once again, the bright colours of Ideal sometimes clash with the background colours where as the contrast of the house colours in RIOT remain effective. As you can see there is a lot of progression when doing the music magazine, as there is also an double page article, I found that my knowledge of the codes and conventions of magazines has increased, as well as the knowledge of social tribes, institutions and the target audience themselves, how everything from the formatting to the text revolves around them.

32. The End