Evalulation 1

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

The music Magazine industry is consistently competing to be unique yet attract a large niche market. When constructing my Magazine this was the main priority of mine to maintain the structure of a Music magazine but present it in a different manner in which the Industry has a space in the market for.


The different aspects and conventions I had to take into consideration were:

Title of the magazine- A majority of Magazines in which dominate not only the Music Magazine industry but the Music Industry in general such as NME have acronyms. Due to the power and recognition of the Magazine NME, people outside the niche market may know of the name but not the meaning. After struggling to create my Magazine Identity independently my target audience voted; WW INDIE being the clear vote. To make the readers aware of the acronym, I made it a priority that they and any other audiences whom may be aware of the magazine knew what the letters represented. With my Preliminary Task I feel that the title; "Wilmington View" consist of a unique name but this alone without the support of imagery and Cover lines connotates little about the content of the magazine de-valuing the strength of the title.

Mise-en-scène of images and props-My research consistently showed a contrast between two environments. These being a Concert, festival, Gig based atmosphere with an audience or the complete opposite setting of a home, relaxed and calm environment. I therefore included a contrast of both. My opening Double page spread imagery consist of a home environment almost exposing to the reader an invasion of privacy and welcoming them to the secrets of the Artist. A similar comparison to this is shown in Radar of a bedroom atmosphere in which the band are positioned in a relaxed manner. My main contents page image of Ben Howard clearly shows him in action, the artificial lighting and microphone emphasises the concert environment and this image contrasts well with the main image from DRUMMER magazine. I also attempted to use props in which altered the power of mis-en-scene, manipulating the image and the readers perception of the picture as shown in my Contents Page Image luring the reader in to read the Leyla Hills spread.

In my preliminary task I also used the power of props to contribute to the mis-en-scene. The arrangement of books was used to present a student in the mode of studying.

Costumes & Colour scheme- A common yet recent trend that suits the members of my niche market consists of facial piercings including stretcher earrings and an accumulation of bracelets. These observations were made when addressing my target audience directly. Paying attention to detail was a crucial factor when dressing my model as my aim was to make her unique to the indie/rock/folk genre and also abide my colour scheme. The marked circles present the minor details that contribute into creating a relation and connection from the niche market to the Cover model. Therefore my Cover model clearly compliments the target audience, being able to adapt into one of the audience herself. The vibrant red Dr. Martens provide the rocky edge to the indie/rock/folk based magazine as well as the facial piercings and the bandanna providing a folk undertone. There is a dominating red, white and black colour scheme throughout the magazine with the exception of pages 3-4 of my Double page spread. My research showed that this colour scheme may be perceived to be stereotypical due to many competing magazines following the same scheme, but this colour along side the imagery not only lures the target audience in, but suggests the genre of the magazine without the reader having to involve too much attention into the cover lines and content of the magazine. When placed alongside two competing magazines with the same scheme, I feel that WW INDIE is the perfect balance between both magazines and all three magazines stand out individually. Not only colour scheme wise but genre wise, NME is more Indie focused whereas Kerrang more rock, my magazine is the perfect contrast of both.

For my school magazine less creativity and originality was put into the costume design. A school blazer in which complimented the logo as well as a tie in which all consisted of the red and blue colour scheme warn by the model.

People- My previous research expresses that the use of a Musical figure in which compliments the genre of magazine and features an exclusive double page spread is the main focus image on the front cover.The music knowledge of the Target audience should also make them aware of the Artist on the cover without the use of Cover lines. In my Magazine Leyla Hills is the main focus therefore she dominates the Front cover and also one of the two Contents pages. As well as having a dominating model I had to present versatility and include other Musical figures. My research revealed that the current Music Magazine contents pages focus on a variety of articles as well as the features from the Front Cover. On my Contents page I adjusted the focus onto the dominating image of Ben Howard by increasing the image size and using text to also seek the readers attention. In my Preliminary task I also used more than one model but included the Cover model again on the Contents, just in a different atmosphere and change of clothing as I did with my Music magazine Cover model.


Title font and style- My research showed that the usage of fonts contributes in representing a unified house style so I had to consider this carefully. Magazines such as Kerrang sometimes ventured up to 8 different fonts on the cover alone whereas others such as DJ MAG only used two. Due to the space consumed by my main image I decided to use 4 , this excluding my title fonts. The font style and colour is the only continuation throughout my magazine symbolising its significance and importance. For my Preliminary task it was also challenging identifying a suitable font, my aim was to present sophistication and formality yet clear visibility.

Age- Due to my magazine being aimed at " Indie Rockers" whom stereotypically fall between the ages 13-23 seek interest in the content of my Magazine, I feel an age range shouldn't be compulsory due to my previous research; Guitar World had the Beatles as the main Cover image this presents versatility and could attract a variety of an audience. My preliminary task was less challenging or specific in identifying an age category as the target audience was very specific to pupils of Wilmington Grammar School. The range would be from yr 7 pupils up to sixth form.

Columns- With my Front cover I applied a right and left alignment in photoshop. I also used flat plans for my Contents page and Double Page spread in which I struggled to keep the order of. I therefore had to gradually make adjustments till the use of columns was clearly visible. When constructing my Preliminary task I was unaware of many of the properties and functions of photoshop so did not acknowledge the significance of alignments and adjustments of text.

Mode of address- I included the use of puns and rhetorical questions in order to address my audience; " The Maccabees buzzing into the scene" and "Kings of Leon, Kings of Indie?" were used on my cover in order to provide mental images and thoughts of my niche market. In my Preliminary task I was very reliant on my Cover lines to address the audience. Only when I researched into Mode of address for my Music magazine did I realise, that there were many other contributing factors in which I could use to address my audience.

written content- As shown on my blog, the use of colloquialism has been adapted with the use of explicit language; " Because it's a pile of crap" and slang terminology such as "grotty." As my blog shows, my evaluation of existing spreads was applying these following factors. I then applied this to my own spread;

1 Mention an existing source of media that has promoted you and promote them. (Such as Annie Mac promoting Radio 1)

2 convey passion for music and style. ( A common trend that all the spreads follow)
3 Present stereotypical activities of a person who fits the genre. ( UK Tribes )
4 Come across articulate yet intelligent. ( Magazine Research)

Music genre & Front page layout- My magazine continuously suggests the music genre of Indie/rock/folk. I feel that the most obvious ways in showing this are by the Musicians mentioned on the cover lines and contents As well as the Cover model and colour scheme. Folk artists such as Ben Howard and Mumford and Sons are mentioned as well as Indie artists such as the Kooks and The Maccabees and Rock artist Kings of Leon are all on the cover in order to present the contrast of the three genres.  

My Front page layout was very un-organised in contrast to my Double page spread and Contents page. I think this was due to lack of planning and usage of flat plans. The use of text over my image, initially seemed to be consuming my front cover but then I used block text in which like SPIN magazine emphasises and encouraged the sharpness and power of the Image. For my Preliminary task my Front page layout was very basic with the Cover lines to consuming the audiences attention. 

Page numbers- The post below represents the process into how I concluded the amount of pages hat my magazine consist of.


Contents page layout-I continued the block like layout from my Front Cover to my Contents to continue the urban edge feel to my Magazine. In order to truly understand the layout and dynamics I de-constructed a Contents page from "DRUMMER" Magazine as shown on my blog; " de-constructing contents pages."


Double page spread Layout- I made flat plans before constructing the pages. After struggling to construct my Contents pages and having to gradually improve I found the Double page construction much more easier. As my blog shows I explored into different layouts due to my concern that my layout was too basic. My initial layout plan is shown below alongside my final spread in order to present the contrast in development from my initial planning.