Thursday, 22 April 2010
Preliminary Task - Evaluation
For my preliminary task I was asked to create a school magazine front cover and contents page.
The school magazine Front Cover and Contents Page Analysis
Magazine usually three mains colours that run through every page. This is done to create a brand identity. So when u glance at the pages of a magazine u can recognize which magazine it’s from. This is also a convention of a magazine. A convention is a rule that can be broken. The main colours of this magazine are blue and grey. Blue is one of the main colours as blue is used mainly for professional things. Therefore it suits this situation. The reason for calling my magazine “The RH messenger” is because it is a catchy name that suits not only the teenagers also their parents. This name would remind the teenagers of a social networking site called MSN messenger. It has the word messenger on the name because it is giving out information as messengers provide you with information. The typography I have used also suits the demographic. As it is mainly aimed at parents instead of using hard capital bold letters I have also used feminine curvy simple letters. This is done to break the barrier between the genders as it’s aimed at both. The layout of the magazine is simple and easy to read. I have given the magazine taglines that are catchy for example “Chaos over cornflakes!” and buzzwords such as “exclusive” . This is done to keep the audience interested although this is a school magazine. When exclusive images of the brand new common room are shown in the magazine the parents would immediately want to see this as it could be their child who is going to go to sixth form. The contents page looks quite simple. This is done as it is aimed at parents. It should be straight forward. I have put images next to the featured stories. Also tagline are under the featured stories as it is a convention and it also helps the reader make sense if the featured stories does not give much away. The typography and the brand identity is kept the same through out this page as it helps the readers to recognize the magazine.
The school magazine Front Cover and Contents Page Analysis
Magazine usually three mains colours that run through every page. This is done to create a brand identity. So when u glance at the pages of a magazine u can recognize which magazine it’s from. This is also a convention of a magazine. A convention is a rule that can be broken. The main colours of this magazine are blue and grey. Blue is one of the main colours as blue is used mainly for professional things. Therefore it suits this situation. The reason for calling my magazine “The RH messenger” is because it is a catchy name that suits not only the teenagers also their parents. This name would remind the teenagers of a social networking site called MSN messenger. It has the word messenger on the name because it is giving out information as messengers provide you with information. The typography I have used also suits the demographic. As it is mainly aimed at parents instead of using hard capital bold letters I have also used feminine curvy simple letters. This is done to break the barrier between the genders as it’s aimed at both. The layout of the magazine is simple and easy to read. I have given the magazine taglines that are catchy for example “Chaos over cornflakes!” and buzzwords such as “exclusive” . This is done to keep the audience interested although this is a school magazine. When exclusive images of the brand new common room are shown in the magazine the parents would immediately want to see this as it could be their child who is going to go to sixth form. The contents page looks quite simple. This is done as it is aimed at parents. It should be straight forward. I have put images next to the featured stories. Also tagline are under the featured stories as it is a convention and it also helps the reader make sense if the featured stories does not give much away. The typography and the brand identity is kept the same through out this page as it helps the readers to recognize the magazine.
NME- Double page spread
A large image is usually on the left hand side of a double page spread. .This is a convention of a double page spread .The double page spread should have the same font as the other pages. The headline is always found in a double page spread. Head line and main image usually goes across the pages. This is done in many magazines. This makes it obvious it is a double page spread as it links together and makes more sense visually. The blue line makes the other section that is talking about something else link so it is relevant. However it is different as it has the black background but visually it makes sense. Info boxes can be seen in double page spreads quite often. In this double page spread the info box is used to list bands. Quotes can be also found quite often .They appear underneath the headline. Underneath the headline there is always a subheading .In this magazine the subheading is “young, dumb, and full of …..Filthy tunes” most of the time they use puns . Tis is a linguistic technique. Usually in a double page spread you would find the first letter of an article to be in a big size compared to the other letterings. In this magazine you can see that the letter T is bigger than the other letterings in the article. At the end of the article there is an advert where you can see the website of the magazine that may let you find more information on the band. This is called a Symbiotic relation between the magazine website. The bed and the wallpaper represent the adult world they have to live in but the posters shows their freedom. It shows their aspiration ,the life they want ,the idea of fame and colour. The way that the teenagers are lying down is a cliché. Also the teenagers that are lying down on the bed are all in different clicks. For example popular, smart etc... This is done so the teenagers can relate them selves to the people in the pictures. This is called personal identification it is one of the uses and gratification theory. They chose to use a note book style for the info box because it suggest the band is not solidly famous that icon represents that a note book is impermanent so it like you has been there at the beginning because many teenagers like to say they liked that band first. Teenagers mostly like bands when they are less famous because when they become famous they loose that special thing where they liked the band in the first place. The secondary image is made out as it is put on in the last minute. The little star that says NME loves has connotations of impermanent. It means get in now while you can. It is made out to be special. This creates a community people who read the NME would feel special. This can be incredibly powerful as many teenagers want to be the in crowd, in a gang or group.
Q and NME - Front Cover Analysis
Magazine research- Analysis of the Q magazine
The Q magazine attracts their demographic by having Lily Allen in the front cover as she is very famous and is well known , also because she suits the targeted demographic of the Q magazine as the genre of her music is common in the Q magazine. This works well as people who read Q are older teens. They would like to see Lily Allen in the front cover.
Uses and gratification says that media gives you information, social interaction, personal identification and entertainment. This magazine shows its entertainment through the use of buzzwords such as “Exclusive” and “masterpiece”. Having this in the front cover makes the targeted audience want to buy this magazine as they would be excited to know what is so exclusive. It will give them pleasure as entertaining information is meant to give the readers pleasure. Information is given out as it says “OASIS The 55-pint interview” This will give the audience information about their favourite music bands or singers. The tagline that says “Her WICKED WICKED ways”. This also creates excitement. “WICKED WICKED” is in the colour of red. This is done so it grabs the reader’s attention. Social interaction is when you see something in the media and you come and talk to your friends and family in a way of interaction. In this magazine front cover it says “The 55 pint interview”. The targeted demographic can go and talk to their friends about this interview by making it a subject of conversation. Personal identification can attract audience to this magazine as Lily Allen is in the front cover. They can relate their lives to her. It can be the way she looks, she is one of your favourite singers…etc.
A main reason that the Q magazine attracts its audience is by making the cover story about Lily Allen and by having her as the main focus of the magazine. This will make the audience aspire to be her as Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs states to survive humans need things. Therefore Maslow came up with a pyramid. On the bottom of the pyramid are the main needs for survival. It starts of by food, shelter….and on top he said humans need self-actualization which are hopes and dreams. This links with the magazine cover as people would aspire to be Lily Allen, to have her life style and her sexual attractiveness. So when they buy the magazine they would feel as if they bought something that gets them closer to Lily Allen’s lifestyle.
This Q magazine also attracts its audience through Mode of address as it is a way of speaking to the targeted demographic in their way. For example if the demographic are teenagers the text and graphics should suit it’s demographic. In this magazine the words such as “Sexy beast” is used this means they are sexually attractive but they have said it in a way that suits the demographic. You could say that appropriate language is being used according to the demographic.
The Male gaze state that women are often posed bending down this is called the “cant” it is often combined with the putting your finger in mouth. This is done to make them look childish. It is said that looking is an active male role. This immediately suggests that being looked at is a passive feminine characteristic. These poses of women lying down, looking helpless shows that they are submissive, recumbent and subordinate. This links with ideology as men control society in that ideology men are seen as aggressive, dominant and the female is seen weak and submissive. Ideology links with hegemony because although we know these things as a society we sign up to these ideal structures and we let ourselves be controlled by a set of ideals that may not be our own ideals. However some women thinks being submissive is something that makes you a better and a successful woman. They aspire to be submissive. As most of the girls in those poses are directly looking towards you this suggests that she knows you are looking at her. She wants to be looked at her. She is in control of your gaze. What she is doing is strategic in order to control your gaze. This shows a sign of power. Therefore some people aspire to be submissive. This links with the magazine as Lily Allen is a famous celebrity who follows with the male gaze as she is looking childish with her finger in mouth. However she is seen in the powerful way as she is controlling your gaze. This makes some audience want to be like her. So they would aspire to be submissive as they want to control men’s gaze.
The audience would be attracted to this magazine through semiotics as that is when a signifier and something signified makes a sign. In this magazine front cover as Lily Allen is posed in a sexual attractive way the signifier can be the lips and the signified can be sexual attractiveness. It is when the reader takes two things and makes something out of it. This would attract some audience as they would find Lily Allen sexually attractive and would want to see her.
Mise en scene is a French meaning of “everything in there” it says that everything in the media is there for a reason. For example the black panthers are there for a reason. They are there as panthers have connotations of being wild. This relates to the subheading “& her Wicked Wicked ways”. It suggests it’s something wild. Also the panthers have connotations of being powerful, feisty. This links to Lily Allen as the male gaze suggested that controlling people’s gaze is a sign of power. Another connotation of the panthers is fearless which suits Lily Allen as she is fearless.
The brand identity also attracts the audience to this magazine because having a brand identity in a magazine means when you see the pages of the magazine you would know which magazines it is from. There should be some kind of banner going through out every page or there will be a use of three colours that you could see throughout the pages. Having three main colours throughout the magazine creates a brand identity and is also a convention of a magazine. A convention is a rule that can be broken. This will attract audience to this magazine as they recognise the magazine as they know the format of it.
Institutional context report
We were asked to create a music magazine that is based on a particular music genre. Therefore I have chosen the music genre of rock for my magazine as there is a vast majority of audience. Also because rock magazines tend to survive much better than other music genres. For example “Kerrang” is one of the most popular music magazines ever. Therefore I made my magazine a bit similar to Kerrang. The magazine I have created is aimed the demographic of young to older intelligent male teens who listens to modern and olden rock music The mode of address and the layout of my magazine are very masculine therefore it suits my targeted demographic.
The reason I think this magazine would survive in real life is because it has a vast audience. I have created this magazine so it is modern so it keeps up-to-date with modern rock music which would attract the young audience. Also it has roots to its olden music. This is done to show readers this magazine is not just about young people. We are not forgetting the icons of rock; we really care and are passionate about our music. This links in to the idea that many young people who listen to rock music also enjoy listening to, and finding out about, the history of the genre.
I will use Old media to promote my magazine. Things like radio, newspaper etc…However I am aware that old media is suffering because of the proliferation of media platforms. For example before there were only 3 channels so everyone watches them and they would listen to the radio, read news papers and magazines for information and entertainment. After the internet came it had a massive impact on the magazine industry this is because the internet provided you with entertainment and information. Therefore Old media became less popular as it also provides you with entertainment and information and the audiences for old media started to fall and is still falling. The media industry became more fragmented. I will have a radio station called “Xplode radio” This is done because when magazine become famous they usually go into radio as well as the internet and I can make the radio station accessible via the internet. This creates a symbiotic relationship between the website and the radio station as the website is promoting the radio station by making it accessible via the internet. Smash Hits was a famous magazine, when the internet came the magazine went to its downfall this was due it not keeping up-to-date with new media. However although the magazine named Smash Hits does not exists anymore the radio station still does. This is why I will have a radio station for my magazine. As I am aware that new media is important for a magazine to survive I will also use new media to promote my magazine.
Many magazines started to close down when the internet was introduced and to survive magazines had to create a website. In a magazine, if you are a commission editor, you would have to consider 360 degree commissioning. You should have a website, text advertising, viral advertising, and Trojan horses. This is where new media comes in. This is done as your product will not stand alone. For example you can have a website for your magazine. When one form of media promotes another it is called having a symbiotic relationship or synergy. In this case the magazine and the magazine website have a symbiotic relationship. Having a website for a magazine is very important in these days as websites are a form of new media.
It would be almost impossible for a music magazine to be successful without having a website as many magazines had to close down due to not being up-to-date with new media technologies. For example Smash Hits was one of the biggest and the most popular music magazine ever. It had to close down as it did not keep up-to-date with new media technology by having a website. The internet affected many magazines as the internet gave all the gossip, information and entertainment the public needed. Magazines became unpopular as it provides the same things as the internet.
The rise of the internet affected music magazines. Smash hits were one of the magazines that the internet had a massive impact on. It affected this magazine in many ways. Smash Hits changed magazine history as before magazines looked plain, simple. When Smash Hits changed its look. This had a massive impact on many magazines even the NME started to have a similar look. Before the NME used to look like a news paper. Smash Hits was a magazine about gossip, news and entertainment when the internet came the magazine’s sales dropped low because this magazine was a source of gossip, entertainment and news and the internet can provide you with these things. The magazine became less popular and went crashing down. At this point the magazine had to be ceased. In February 2006, it was announced that the magazine would stop publication after the 13th February due to declining sales. However the digital television channel, digital radio and the website service still continued. Therefore this is why this magazine has a website because it gives this magazine a chance to survive in the world. There is a sticker in this magazine that talks about the rock festival. It tells you for more info go to the magazine website. In this case the magazine is trying to promote the website. It is making the audience go to the website by seeing this in the magazine. This would interest the readers because they would be interested about the rock festival. Having a website will create a vast audience. As my magazine is aimed at the teenagers having a website for my magazine would be appropriate as most teenagers are on the internet most of the time. The magazine can have things saying visit the website for more information and the website can have subscriptions of the magazine just in case you miss it. If the magazine has an interview that is short it could say for the full interview go to the website. This way the website and the magazine will have a symbiotic relationship as they both can promote each other.
Another new media technology that I will be using would be mobile downloads. As many teenagers use their phone quite a lot I will use this to help my magazine’s audience grow. To internet enabled phones I could give away free downloads to go to the website of the magazine forcing symbiosis to happen. I could also send text alerts and messages about the magazine to its audience through their phone when they sign up to the website. I could also use social networking sites such as facebook to the magazine’s advantage. This could be done by creating a group in facebook for the Xplode magazine. This way when people are on facebook they could come and visit the magazine group to get more information on the upcoming magazine issue, to know about music tours, concerts etc…
I have considered many ways of marketing my magazine. I could send Trojan horses, discounts or use viral advertising. I will have a Trojan horse in my magazine. This is when you have a lighter version of that magazine with another. This should be aimed at a similar demographic that is slightly younger. This way when the younger audience grows up they will start to buy XPLODE which would be the grownup version of the Trojan horse. Another thing I can do is I could have a promotion offer for example buy this album and get this magazine for 50p.
Advertising is very important. It is what helps your magazine to be recognized within the audience you choose. When you advertise you have to be very careful as you need to spend a lot of money. You need to make sure you are aiming at your demographic. This is why I am considering viral advertisement as it is free. I will plan to give free t-shirts to people who go to a concert that is being mentioned in the magazine. The free t-shirts will have the brand identity of the magazine. It does not have to contain the logo it can just be cool designs that contain the brand identity. Then this can be recorded and put onto you tube. This will spread quickly and fast as many teenagers like to see videos of concerts and when they realise so many people wore this kind of t-shirt they would want to send this to their friends and spread it. This will not only save money it will also advertise the magazine which is the main target. The magazine would upload this video of the concert to Youtube. The downside to this is there could be legal considerations of copyright. Therefore if the legal considerations would stop the magazine from doing this the magazine could arrange a music artist to play a special track each month. Something like a quirky cover song which the magazine will video. The video will be heavily branded. The magazine then will realise this on to the magazine website and also on Youtube. This then can allow word of mouth and people posting it do the rest.
IPC is a magazine publishing house that produces more than 85 iconic media brands. It reaches about 44% of men and two thirds of women in the UK. As my magazine is aimed at men it would help to raise the percentage of reaching out to male users. Their men’s magazine portfolio contains of leisure brands and life style brands. The life style brands of the IPC are very popular as it includes popular men’s magazines such as Nuts and NME. I am aware that the NME is also a music magazine that is slightly similar to XPLODE as they both are music magazines that are aimed at teenagers. However the NME is aimed at older teens Therefore there will be no rivalry as my magazine is aimed at young and old intelligent teenagers who listen to modern and olden soft rock music. The main reason of not having competition is because the NME is the only music magazine that is the closest to XPLODE and they are not as similar and is not even in the same genre of music. Another reason why this magazine should be published in the IPC media publishing house is because the percentage of magazines that are aimed at men are lower than women’s therefore it would be suitable to use this publishing house for my magazine to be published at as it will benefit my magazine and the publishing house.
There are legal considerations that you have to consider when you are advertising your product. Advertising plays an important role in today’s world. There are codes that you have to follow when advertising. The codes put down regulations for advertisers that they must follow or will not be allowed to advertise what they want. These rules are general and they say that advertising must be responsible, must not offend, must not mislead. Also there are specific rules that cover advertising for children some of these rules are not to say only in a product that is being sold to a child as children don’t understands the meaning of value, you also cannot portray people sexually…etc However I do not have to worry about this as my magazine is not aimed at children. However if I am going to have a Trojan horse I should consider this because a lighter version of this magazine would be aimed at a younger audience.
Point of sale is another thing that is important in order to sell your magazine. Statistically it is proven if there is a product in the left and same one the right you would pick the left one as you read left to right. Also if the magazine is at an eye level it would be easy for people to see it as soon as they enter the shop. Therefore the perfect spot would be to have the magazine at an eye level shelf on the left side. This spot is called the “prime spot”. This spot is hard to get. To get this spot we could give the launch issue with a massive discount. It will make a loss at the start but then it would survive later on. Later when the magazine becomes popular and is easily recognized then the magazine does not have to be in the prime spot as it is popular enough.
The Marxist structure states that power is held by those who have possession and control of production and distribution. There is a threat to the traditional Marxist structure of most media industries because there is more fragmented media and people share their opinion more through new media rather than let magazines and newspapers speak for people by making things biased. For example if there was an election newspapers and magazines can favour a party by saying bad things about the opposite parties. These things also happen in the music industries. An example of this is when Simon Cowell tired to make X factor winner Joe McElderry’s Christmas single to go to number one and magazines and newspapers also helped to do this. Unfortunately for Simon Cowell the power of new media stopped this from happening. A facebook group was created in order to stop this from happening and many people joined this. At the end these people were successful and Joe McElderry’s Christmas single did not become number one. This shows that new media allows peoples opinion speak out. Therefore to fight this threat my magazine would need to embrace and utilize new media technologies.
In conclusion my marketing campaign and the use of digital technologies would guaranteed that my magazine will be successful in a very competitive industry because I am publishing my magazine in the IPC publishing house where I am guaranteed to not have a magazine like mine therefore there will be no rivalry. Also I would be helping the publishing house to make the percentage of the magazines aimed at men go higher. The fact that I am using viral advertising would also make my magazine successful as it is free and it would spread across to my demographic without spending any money. Another reason for success would be having my magazine at an eye level with other magazines by giving a massive discount to the shop for the launch issue which would help to create recognition of the magazine. New media technologies would help me the most to make my magazine successful as it is vital to keep up-to-date with new media technologies.
The reason I think this magazine would survive in real life is because it has a vast audience. I have created this magazine so it is modern so it keeps up-to-date with modern rock music which would attract the young audience. Also it has roots to its olden music. This is done to show readers this magazine is not just about young people. We are not forgetting the icons of rock; we really care and are passionate about our music. This links in to the idea that many young people who listen to rock music also enjoy listening to, and finding out about, the history of the genre.
I will use Old media to promote my magazine. Things like radio, newspaper etc…However I am aware that old media is suffering because of the proliferation of media platforms. For example before there were only 3 channels so everyone watches them and they would listen to the radio, read news papers and magazines for information and entertainment. After the internet came it had a massive impact on the magazine industry this is because the internet provided you with entertainment and information. Therefore Old media became less popular as it also provides you with entertainment and information and the audiences for old media started to fall and is still falling. The media industry became more fragmented. I will have a radio station called “Xplode radio” This is done because when magazine become famous they usually go into radio as well as the internet and I can make the radio station accessible via the internet. This creates a symbiotic relationship between the website and the radio station as the website is promoting the radio station by making it accessible via the internet. Smash Hits was a famous magazine, when the internet came the magazine went to its downfall this was due it not keeping up-to-date with new media. However although the magazine named Smash Hits does not exists anymore the radio station still does. This is why I will have a radio station for my magazine. As I am aware that new media is important for a magazine to survive I will also use new media to promote my magazine.
Many magazines started to close down when the internet was introduced and to survive magazines had to create a website. In a magazine, if you are a commission editor, you would have to consider 360 degree commissioning. You should have a website, text advertising, viral advertising, and Trojan horses. This is where new media comes in. This is done as your product will not stand alone. For example you can have a website for your magazine. When one form of media promotes another it is called having a symbiotic relationship or synergy. In this case the magazine and the magazine website have a symbiotic relationship. Having a website for a magazine is very important in these days as websites are a form of new media.
It would be almost impossible for a music magazine to be successful without having a website as many magazines had to close down due to not being up-to-date with new media technologies. For example Smash Hits was one of the biggest and the most popular music magazine ever. It had to close down as it did not keep up-to-date with new media technology by having a website. The internet affected many magazines as the internet gave all the gossip, information and entertainment the public needed. Magazines became unpopular as it provides the same things as the internet.
The rise of the internet affected music magazines. Smash hits were one of the magazines that the internet had a massive impact on. It affected this magazine in many ways. Smash Hits changed magazine history as before magazines looked plain, simple. When Smash Hits changed its look. This had a massive impact on many magazines even the NME started to have a similar look. Before the NME used to look like a news paper. Smash Hits was a magazine about gossip, news and entertainment when the internet came the magazine’s sales dropped low because this magazine was a source of gossip, entertainment and news and the internet can provide you with these things. The magazine became less popular and went crashing down. At this point the magazine had to be ceased. In February 2006, it was announced that the magazine would stop publication after the 13th February due to declining sales. However the digital television channel, digital radio and the website service still continued. Therefore this is why this magazine has a website because it gives this magazine a chance to survive in the world. There is a sticker in this magazine that talks about the rock festival. It tells you for more info go to the magazine website. In this case the magazine is trying to promote the website. It is making the audience go to the website by seeing this in the magazine. This would interest the readers because they would be interested about the rock festival. Having a website will create a vast audience. As my magazine is aimed at the teenagers having a website for my magazine would be appropriate as most teenagers are on the internet most of the time. The magazine can have things saying visit the website for more information and the website can have subscriptions of the magazine just in case you miss it. If the magazine has an interview that is short it could say for the full interview go to the website. This way the website and the magazine will have a symbiotic relationship as they both can promote each other.
Another new media technology that I will be using would be mobile downloads. As many teenagers use their phone quite a lot I will use this to help my magazine’s audience grow. To internet enabled phones I could give away free downloads to go to the website of the magazine forcing symbiosis to happen. I could also send text alerts and messages about the magazine to its audience through their phone when they sign up to the website. I could also use social networking sites such as facebook to the magazine’s advantage. This could be done by creating a group in facebook for the Xplode magazine. This way when people are on facebook they could come and visit the magazine group to get more information on the upcoming magazine issue, to know about music tours, concerts etc…
I have considered many ways of marketing my magazine. I could send Trojan horses, discounts or use viral advertising. I will have a Trojan horse in my magazine. This is when you have a lighter version of that magazine with another. This should be aimed at a similar demographic that is slightly younger. This way when the younger audience grows up they will start to buy XPLODE which would be the grownup version of the Trojan horse. Another thing I can do is I could have a promotion offer for example buy this album and get this magazine for 50p.
Advertising is very important. It is what helps your magazine to be recognized within the audience you choose. When you advertise you have to be very careful as you need to spend a lot of money. You need to make sure you are aiming at your demographic. This is why I am considering viral advertisement as it is free. I will plan to give free t-shirts to people who go to a concert that is being mentioned in the magazine. The free t-shirts will have the brand identity of the magazine. It does not have to contain the logo it can just be cool designs that contain the brand identity. Then this can be recorded and put onto you tube. This will spread quickly and fast as many teenagers like to see videos of concerts and when they realise so many people wore this kind of t-shirt they would want to send this to their friends and spread it. This will not only save money it will also advertise the magazine which is the main target. The magazine would upload this video of the concert to Youtube. The downside to this is there could be legal considerations of copyright. Therefore if the legal considerations would stop the magazine from doing this the magazine could arrange a music artist to play a special track each month. Something like a quirky cover song which the magazine will video. The video will be heavily branded. The magazine then will realise this on to the magazine website and also on Youtube. This then can allow word of mouth and people posting it do the rest.
IPC is a magazine publishing house that produces more than 85 iconic media brands. It reaches about 44% of men and two thirds of women in the UK. As my magazine is aimed at men it would help to raise the percentage of reaching out to male users. Their men’s magazine portfolio contains of leisure brands and life style brands. The life style brands of the IPC are very popular as it includes popular men’s magazines such as Nuts and NME. I am aware that the NME is also a music magazine that is slightly similar to XPLODE as they both are music magazines that are aimed at teenagers. However the NME is aimed at older teens Therefore there will be no rivalry as my magazine is aimed at young and old intelligent teenagers who listen to modern and olden soft rock music. The main reason of not having competition is because the NME is the only music magazine that is the closest to XPLODE and they are not as similar and is not even in the same genre of music. Another reason why this magazine should be published in the IPC media publishing house is because the percentage of magazines that are aimed at men are lower than women’s therefore it would be suitable to use this publishing house for my magazine to be published at as it will benefit my magazine and the publishing house.
There are legal considerations that you have to consider when you are advertising your product. Advertising plays an important role in today’s world. There are codes that you have to follow when advertising. The codes put down regulations for advertisers that they must follow or will not be allowed to advertise what they want. These rules are general and they say that advertising must be responsible, must not offend, must not mislead. Also there are specific rules that cover advertising for children some of these rules are not to say only in a product that is being sold to a child as children don’t understands the meaning of value, you also cannot portray people sexually…etc However I do not have to worry about this as my magazine is not aimed at children. However if I am going to have a Trojan horse I should consider this because a lighter version of this magazine would be aimed at a younger audience.
Point of sale is another thing that is important in order to sell your magazine. Statistically it is proven if there is a product in the left and same one the right you would pick the left one as you read left to right. Also if the magazine is at an eye level it would be easy for people to see it as soon as they enter the shop. Therefore the perfect spot would be to have the magazine at an eye level shelf on the left side. This spot is called the “prime spot”. This spot is hard to get. To get this spot we could give the launch issue with a massive discount. It will make a loss at the start but then it would survive later on. Later when the magazine becomes popular and is easily recognized then the magazine does not have to be in the prime spot as it is popular enough.
The Marxist structure states that power is held by those who have possession and control of production and distribution. There is a threat to the traditional Marxist structure of most media industries because there is more fragmented media and people share their opinion more through new media rather than let magazines and newspapers speak for people by making things biased. For example if there was an election newspapers and magazines can favour a party by saying bad things about the opposite parties. These things also happen in the music industries. An example of this is when Simon Cowell tired to make X factor winner Joe McElderry’s Christmas single to go to number one and magazines and newspapers also helped to do this. Unfortunately for Simon Cowell the power of new media stopped this from happening. A facebook group was created in order to stop this from happening and many people joined this. At the end these people were successful and Joe McElderry’s Christmas single did not become number one. This shows that new media allows peoples opinion speak out. Therefore to fight this threat my magazine would need to embrace and utilize new media technologies.
In conclusion my marketing campaign and the use of digital technologies would guaranteed that my magazine will be successful in a very competitive industry because I am publishing my magazine in the IPC publishing house where I am guaranteed to not have a magazine like mine therefore there will be no rivalry. Also I would be helping the publishing house to make the percentage of the magazines aimed at men go higher. The fact that I am using viral advertising would also make my magazine successful as it is free and it would spread across to my demographic without spending any money. Another reason for success would be having my magazine at an eye level with other magazines by giving a massive discount to the shop for the launch issue which would help to create recognition of the magazine. New media technologies would help me the most to make my magazine successful as it is vital to keep up-to-date with new media technologies.
Evaluation of the front cover, contents page and double page spread
XPLODE is a modern rock music magazine that also has roots to olden music. This is to show that we will not forget the history of music as it is very important to us. We take our music extremely seriously and is very passionate about it. XPLODE also helps the reader to be interactive as we have many competitions that can win big prizes. This is because we consider this as being important. I think there is a gap in the market in the music magazine industry that could be filled. The reason why I think that there is a gap in the market is because most music magazines are either aimed at modern audience or an older audience. Examples of these are Kerrang. This has a massive audience due to its genre and is very famous. However their demographic are late teens who are interested in modern music. NME is another famous music magazine which is aimed at late teens who listens to olden music. Therefore I think a gap that needs to be filled is to have a music magazine that is aimed at intelligent male teens who listen to both olden and modern rock music.
The targeted demographic of my magazine are young to late intelligent male teens who listens to olden and modern soft rock music. People who are really interested, passionate and take their music seriously. The reason for choosing the genre of rock is because rock magazines tend to survive much better than other music genres and also has a huge audience. Therefore I will a fill a gap in the market as it is aimed at the demographic of young to old intelligent male teens who listens to modern and olden soft rock music.
I have used qualitative and quantitative data in my work. Before deciding the genre of my music magazine I did some research by using quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data is facts and figures. I have used quantitative data on my questionnaire. The results from the questionnaire helped me to come up with my final decision on choosing my genre. The hip hop genre had the lowest rating therefore I was sure this will not be my genre for the magazine. The most popular genre was rock also the audience I gave the questionnaire stated that my magazine templates also suit the genre of rock. This made my decision very clear on making rock the genre of my magazine. I also used qualitative data. I did this by creating three templates for my magazine with different colours. I then asked 50 people on their opinion on which template suits my genre better. The colours that were favored the most were qualitative data. This helped me towards choosing my final template. I took the results into account and decided not to use yellow in my magazine as it was very unpopular with my audience. I stuck to a similar version of the template that my audience chose. The reason for changing the look of the template slightly was because it did not look as professional as it could for a music magazine.
The name of my magazine is called XPLODE. I chose this name because it means that anyone who is in this magazine is famous because of their talent. It is saying that their talent is so huge it is exploding. You can’t keep it locked up. Also the name XPLODE sounds interesting, appealing and exciting. The name I chose initially was called Rocker. The reason I changed it to XPLODE was because Rocker sounds boring, unexciting and cliché of its genre. The masthead of the magazine is in big letters as it is meant to be clearly visible for the targeted audience. It is on the top of the magazine as this is a convention of a magazine. A convention is a rule that can be broken. The name “XPLODE” is in the colours of white and red. The colour red has connotations of passion this tells you that this magazine is passionate about music. The colour white has connotations of hope which links to success. This tells you that people who are in the front cover of the magazine are very successful. This will also make the readers hope and aspire to be successful singers aspiring to be in the front cover of this magazine someday. The typography of the word “XPLODE” is in capital letters this has connotations of being strong, powerful and masculine. This links with the targeted demographic as it is aimed at male teenagers. The letter “X” in “XPLODE” is stylized in a way that it looks like it is stamped. This links to the rock music genre as when people go to rock concerts they get their hands stamped. In the word “XPLODE” the O is replaced with a record. This is Mise En Scene. This is a French term that translates everything in the scene. Records have connotations of olden music. Therefore this suggests that although this magazine is modern it is not forgetting the icons of rock just because they are olden. It shows that this magazine is not forgetting the roots of rock music.
The brand identity of a magazine is very important. The brand identity is what creates the identity of the magazine which would help the readers recognize the magazine just by seeing its pages. On top of the magazine there are three lines a black, white and red line. These three colours are constantly seen in rock magazines such as kerrang and Classic rock. Also the fact that in my qualitative data people chose these 3 colours to be most compatible with the genre of rock. Therefore these colours have connotations of rock. I have also used these lines to create a brand identity. The magazine has four main colours that are consistent. The four main colours are black, white, red and grey. As these colours are the four main colours of the magazine they create a brand identity. If the magazine pages were laid out on a table because of the brand identity is should be easy to recognize which magazine’s pages they are. This is called a flat plan. Underneath the feature story it says “Xclusive Interview” The word “Xclusive” is written similar to the way the X is written in Xplode. This is a brand identity. So the masthead contains references to the ethos of the magazine for example the “X” is young and modern whereas the vinyl disk represents rock history. Tapes have connotations of seriousness as tapes can be used to record information in police stations for statements. Also tapes have connotations of music. Which can link the magazine as the magazine is a music based magazine. Tapes are also retro.
The background is white fading onto grey. The targeted demographic for this magazine are late teens who are male. The colour grey has connotations of masculinity as darker colours are considered to be more masculine and the colour grey is boring and is not vibrant as a woman’s personality therefore it is masculine as it suits more for a masculine personality. Therefore the background colour of the magazine suits the targeted demographic. There is also a blue retro design in the background. Retro is a word used to symbolize culturally outdated or aged patterns. This links to the magazine front cover as this magazine is represented as a modern rock magazine that also has roots of traditional rock. This is done to show the readers that they are not forgetting the icons of rock. The colour blue is used in the retro design as blue also has connotations of masculinity which suits well with the targeted audience. The background design looks curvy and almost like floral designs which are very feminine. This can tell the targeted audience the girl in the main image is feminine.
On top of the word “Xplode” on the right corner it says DOWNLOADED EDITION. I have done this to create a theme for this particular magazine. This is an issue that talks about downloading. This was chosen as many people download music illegally and it has a massive impact on the music industry so we want our readers to see how much this magazine values and is passionate about music as we want to save the music industry and stop the illegal downloads. This also indicates the fact that this magazine is catering for a more intelligent young audience.
On the top of the magazine it says “Kings of Leon free posters” this was done as this is an additional incentive. This is a free item that you can get when you buy the magazine. This is there to attract the audience’s attention into buying this magazine. Additional incentives help to promote the magazine. “SEX IS ON FIRE” this is a feature story. This is a name of a song there for this is called a pun. By having this as a feature story not only it grabs the reader’s attention due to its words it also is a way of personal identification. The audience would know this song as it is in their music genre so they would have a connection to this song. Underneath it has a tagline saying “KINGS OF LEON MOST ANTICIPATED ALBUM OUT”. The word “Anticipated” is there as it is a buzz word. Buzz words are there to take the audience attention.” SEX IS ON FIRE” is in red letters because it stands out so the audience can see it immediately as feature stories are quite important as they are what is inside the magazine so the readers should be able to see it clearly in order to be interested. The letters are in capital as capital letters have a sense of masculinity and this suits the targeted audience well. The second feature story says “Justice for all” This is also a pun as it is an album name of Metallica. The feature stories do not have to make much sense as the tagline would give information on what the feature story is talking about which then would make the feature story much clearer. “Justice for all” is in the colours dark blue, red and white as these are the colours of the American flag. This has connotations of justice because the American flag also has connotations of Independence Day which is all about freedom and freedom links with justice. Under the feature story the tagline says “Hell– Music Industry is down falling” This feature story links with the theme “DOWNLOADED EDITON” as it is talking about illegal music downloading. The last feature story says “SUE ‘EM ALL” this is also a pun because it is a famous Metallica song. “SUE EM ALL” is an “in joke” this makes the audience feel as though they are a part of something. Recognizing this would make them feel special. This also links with the downloaded edition theme. This gives the readers an idea of what Metallica thinks about illegal downloading of music. Therefore it can speak out to the audience as they might consider to stop downloading music illegally as its being said by their favourite music artists. The word “SUE” is in red as red has connotations of power. This is done as Metallica is using powerful words to make it clear on what they think of illegal music. It also says “Metallica speaks out loud” This would make the readers curious on what their favourite artists would say which would lead them to buy the magazine. There is a tape next to the tagline. Different fonts are used in the front cover of the magazine as it is a convention of a magazine to have different fonts for feature stories. This relates to the different stories and facts that can be found inside the magazine. It is there to portray the range of contents in the magazine. The Xclusive interview is there so the people who read Xplode would feel special that it is Xclusive. This would make them feel special and happy as they are one of the people who would know about this interview. This would make the readers happy and want to buy more of this magazine. This can also be a way of social interactions.
When the readers read this magazine and they would go and talk to their friends about this as a conversations topic. This is called social interaction. By having the Xclusive interview in my magazine it gives the change of social interaction to take place. Social interaction is one concept of uses and gratifications Theory. This theory also says people read or watch media for these reasons. The focus of the uses and gratification theory is to attract the audience by using this concept. One other reason is information which is always there in any magazine. Examples of this in my magazine are having information about the music industry going down, reviews and having a gig guide. As one of my taglines says “Hell – music industry is going down” Entertainment is also a reason as the text provides pleasure for the audience, this is often characterized as being “escapist”. Entertainment is also in my magazine as it says “OMFG THE GODDESS OF ROCK IS BACK” for my main cover story. This wording and language used in this creates excitement and entertainment for the reader. This is also text speak which also indentifies the youthful audience. The last reason is personal identification. This is when we can get a sense of ourselves and our peer group from films or stars. We may identify with particular films stars, music artists who we may even use as role models. This can relate to this magazine as the celebrity “Natasha” who is in the central image is a famous rock star. Therefore this can lead people to personally identifying a part of them or their lifestyle with the artist. All these four reasons are things why people use the media.
The way the words are used in a magazine is always according to the targeted audience. The way they use language. This is because the magazine is being aimed at them. For example the “X” is Xplode is written instead of Explode is because the targeted demographic understands this and to them it looks better rather than having “Explode”. This is called Mode of Address. This is a way in which your media product speaks to its particular audience. It can be things like graphic designs, representations, language used and typography. In the cover story it says “OMFG” THE GODDESSOF ROCK IS BACK” The word “OMFG” is used as it is suitable language with the targeted audience. This is suitable as my demographic are male teens and they use informal language that is abbreviated quite often. This is done because of the Mode of Address. The word “GODDESS” is used because in many rock magazines they use the word “GODDESS” rather than using worlds queen as that is appropriate language for its genre.
In the top right corner it says “Xplode Radio” This tells the audience that there is a radio station for this magazine. Many magazines these days have radio stations. This is a way of promoting the magazine. The magazine could promote the website and the website can promote the magazine. This can be done by having the radio station being mentioned in the magazine like it is on my front cover and having the magazine being mentioned in the radio station. This is called having a symbiotic relationship. In the bottom of the magazine there is a banner a banner is a convention of a magazine. In the banner it says “Enter our competition to win free tickets for the rock festival. Visit Xplode.com”. This shows that there is a website for this magazine. This can create a vast audience. Having a website is suitable for my magazine as it is aimed at teenagers and they spend most of their time on the internet. Also having a website is extremely important for the survival of my magazine. Just like the radio station and the magazine the website and the magazine can also promote each other. As it says to enter the competition that you need to go to the website this is forcing symbiosis to happen. Multi platform presence promoting synergy.
In the main image I have made up a celebrity called “Natasha”. She is represented as a beautiful, smart, teen that is passionate about music. The representations of her are positive. Having an Asian girl in a front cover as a rock artist breaks the dominant ideology. Most of the time you would expect to see men in a magazine aimed at men however these days you would see many women in a front cover of magazines that are aimed at men due to their attractiveness .I have applied this to my magazine by having a girl in my front cover .But most of the time these women are usually white. To have an Asian girl breaks these rules. In the ideology it is seen “abnormal”. Ideology is a way of viewing the world, common sense, normality. The man who controls dominant representation thinks race wise the only race that is normal is white anything outside it is considered to be abnormal. Sexuality wise only straight people are normal.ETC. It can be thought as a broad visualization as a way of looking at things. Therefore to have an Asian teen in the front of a magazine front cover that is aimed at late teen boys is seen abnormal or strange in the common ideology. However this is starting to change in modern times.
Maslow came up with a theory called Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. He suggested that in order for a human to survive they need things. He made a pyramid showing what humans need the most to least. The pyramid starts at the bottom which consists of what humans need the most. It starts of by safety. Things like shelter and goes right up to self actualization which means dreams and aspirations. This is very important and relates to my magazine because I have a made up celebrity called Natasha in the front of my magazine cover. This is a way of attracting more audience to my magazine. Despite most of my audience being male some girl will read or buy this magazine therefore when they see the front cover and recognizes her it would lead them to buying this magazine. Also the fact that she is a celebrity and she is attractive would also lead readers to aspire to be her as they would aspire to have her talent, attractiveness or lifestyle. Therefore this links with my magazine. This would also attract my main demographic who are men because having an attractive girl in a front cover that consist the male gaze pose would attract them to buying this magazine. This is because men like to see women in these poses that objectify them.
Women are often photographed in a way that objectifies them. The frame cuts the female form into abstract shapes that identify or represent the subject purely by attractiveness to men therefore this is called The Male Gaze theory the camera is the point of view of a man. This can be proved as women are mostly shown lying down and it shows vulnerability and submission. Women are often posed bending their heads or bodies at an angle which is called the “cant”. This is applied to the model in my magazine front cover as her body is at an angle therefore she consists of the male gaze as she is posing according to male gaze. The process of looking is generally seen as an active male role while the passive role of being looked at is immediately adopted as a female characteristic. This positions the male as dominant and the female as submissive. This also links with ideology as men control society in that ideology men are seen as aggressive and dominant and the female is seen week and submissive. Ideology links with Hegemony as because although we know these things as a society we sign up to these ideal structures and we let ourselves be ruled by a set of desires that may not be our own. Male gaze can be seen I a different view. Looking at this in a woman’s point of view she is trying to tell woman she can be successful by striking that subordinate pose. To be like the music artist she is you have to be good at controlling men. So this is why woman aspire to be submissive and subordinate. To attract men you have to be submissive and subordinate. Many women believe following the male gaze makes them be a successful woman. They think this because in images that consists the male gaze women are often staring right at you. They are making eye contact. This is a sign of power because she knows you are looking at her, she is controlling your gaze. She isn’t childish. She is doing this on purpose. They know they are being looked at. These poses are strategic and a sign of controlling the gaze. This follows for my magazine. As men are my targeted demographic they would see her as being attractive, submissive etc….. Although women are not my targeted demographic if they do buy this magazine they would see her as powerful strong women not only because she is successful at controlling men’s gaze also because she is a successful music artist. This would lead the females who buy this magazine to aspire to be successful as her to control men’s gaze.
Jean Baudrillard was a social theorist. He came up with a theory called hyper reality. The media and especially in digital technology are key to creation of this hyper real world. He termed examples of the hyper real as simulacra. Hyper reality is when reality is exaggerated in order to make our life more exciting and fun. Hyper reality links to my magazine as the celebrity Natasha is hyper real she is airbrushed to exaggerate her beauty. People who see this would want to be like her, to be perfect as her. They would aspire to be something that is not real. This could affect people in our social life. People can become anorexic by aspiring to be something that can’t be done. This can also lead to obesity as it would give pressure to our society as the hyper real version of models is what people have to live up to which lead to stress which then could would lead to obesity by eating food as a comfort.
A content page is there so it gives the reader information about what is going to be inside the magazine and where they can find these. For e.g. In my contents page it says “METALLICA GONE YELLOW” if the reader is interested in this they could easily find out what page it is on by looking at the content page which in this case says it’s on page 32.A content page helps the reader to find out where the stories are. It guides you through the magazine.
The contents page consists of the four main colours that are in the front page which are red, black, white and grey this is because the brand identity has to be consistent and be seen throughout every page. The three lines that were visible on the front cover that were red, white and black are also seen in the contents page. On the left bottom side of the page I have my editorial. This is a convention for a magazine. I have also put the published date of the magazine. This is done so the readers would know when this issue of the magazine was published. The reason for making my editorial fairly short is because as it is aimed at male teens they would be more interested in the magazine rather than the editorial so having a short editorial would be more suitable and appropriate rather than making it long as the readers would loose interest.
On the right side of the magazine you could see the content of the magazine. It is broken down to smaller parts with titles like news, features, live review and gig guide. This is there to direct the reader on which page they want to go according to what they want to read.
In the contents page you could see a featured story saying “METALLICA GONE YELLOW” it also has a tagline saying “meet the simptallicans” This is an “in joke” Metallica and Simpsons fans who read this magazine will feel special when they realize this word mash up. This is also suitable as the demographic I have chosen would know both Metallica and the Simpsons as Metallica is an iconic rock band and The Simpsons is a famous cartoon that many teenagers watch and recognizes. The image shows Metallica being on the Simpsons. This is intertextuality as the Simpsons are using reference of Metallica. Intertexuality is when a media text references another media text in this case the Simpsons are referencing Metallica. Just under the tagline there is a light description of that story. This is done to get the reader’s attention so they would want to read the full story later on. There is one more feature story in the contents page it says “Gemma : romance or showmance?” This sounds entertaining as the text provides pleasure. You would want to read it on to know what it is talking about. This sounds like gossip. The reason for doing this is because all thought the demographic of this magazine is males some women might also buy this and having a hint of gossip makes the magazine entertaining. Excitement is also portrayed by having an image for a o2 festival saying “don’t miss out on the hottest even of the month” The way the wording is used sounds exciting and interesting. The word “hottest” is in red as it stands out to the audience. This is because teenagers use this type of language often. It is the mode of address. Using language that the targeted demographic uses so they understand it.
On the bottom of the contents page there is a light grey banner that says XPLODE THIS WEEK this is done because when I was researching in existing music magazines I found out that this is done in many music magazines. Therefore I did a similar thing. I chose to keep the colour of the lettering same as the logo colours.
There is an additional incentive that is being mentioned on my contents page. The magazine is giving out a free poster that can be found on page 40. This would attract my audience as anyone would like to receive free gifts. Next to it you could see a free subscription offer with a 25% of discount. This is for readers who buy this magazine weekly and has missed an issue which they want to have. To get the 25% discount I have put the website of the magazine leading the readers to get their discount. This will force them to go visit the website if they want to get a missed issue of XPLODE with a discount. This is forcing symbiosis to happen.
A double page spread is when a main article is laid onto two pages. It can even be a questionnaire or an article about a singer etc…
I have decided to focus this page on illegal downloading as it was one of my feature stories that was mentioned in the front cover. Therefore I titled this page called “Crash and Burn” and the tagline under this says “music industry going to hell”. Taglines often help the reader understand what the feature story is talking about. The feature story does not give much a way about what they are talking or does not have to make sense. This is why the tagline underneath it helps the reader to make sense on what they are talking about. Appropriate modes of address have been used language wise as it says “music industry is going to hell”. The idea of rude language is attached to the Rock genre as they use it quite often. Therefore using the word “hell” is appropriate for my targeted audience and the music genre itself.
Interactivity is considered to be very important as it is a way of engaging with the audience therefore I decided to have a weekly competition that’s gives out prizes in my magazine. The questions for the competition will be on the double page spread. On my double page spread it says “Enter our competition to win free tickets for the rock consort visit www.XPLODE.com”. Once again this forces symbiosis to happen. This way the magazine promotes the website and the website can promote the magazine as you will have to go to the website to enter the competition and you will have to buy the magazine to see if they have won the competition which will be shown on the double page spread as well.
On my left side of the double page spread I have decided to have a weekly spotlight article. It talks about the current rock music artist who is in the spotlight. In this issue it is Gemma Merrick. Therefore I have decided to call it “EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT...” It then talks about her success on why she is on the spotlight. This would give the reader satisfaction of being able to keep up-to-date with celebrity popularity. As for many teenagers this is important. I have chosen to colour the letters “Gemma Merrick” in white and purple. The reason for this is because the colour purple has connotations of royalty this links with the star as it is telling the readers that this is how the media is portraying her at the moment. The colour white is used as it represents hope. It tells you that this star is successful and she is giving hope to the readers of this magazine telling they can be successful if they really want it. In this column I have put an image of her with a guitar showing that it is the closest thing to her as she is passionate about music. Around her are small multicolour balls that looks like disco ball lights. This reinforces the idea of her being in the spotlight as when you are under a disco ball it means you are on the spotlight. I have also created a shape around her using circles. The shape I created looks like a knuckle duster. A knuckle duster is mostly used by young people. It is used as a weapon to punch someone. It has connotations of violence. This therefore is a representation of the rock star named Gemma Merrick. It tells you that she is a violent and strong person. In the dominant ideology the youth culture is represented to be violent. Therefore Gemma Merricks representation also links with the audience according to the dominant ideology.
As the theme for this issue’s magazine is illegal downloading I have written “downloaded edition” and “downloading is a crime” on my double page spread as it shows how much this magazine cares about the music industry, how passionate they are about their music and does not want it to be destroyed. Therefore I decided to have circular hole like shapes around this statement. These holes look a lot like bullets it is trying to get the reader’s attention saying downloading is a crime just like using a gun. In the double page spread I decided to have a Metallica interview. This would make the readers excited and feel special to find exclusive information about their favourite band. In the interview there is a question that asks what Metallica thinks about illegal downloading. By doing this it shows how much the magazine wants to stop these downloads they are letting the readers hear their favourtie band’s opinion hoping this will encourage them to stop these illegal downloads. In the left side of the magazine there is a small column on what rocker Natasha’s been up to. She has also given her view of illegal downloads hoping the fans would stop by listening to her. There is also an image of her posing in away so it fits the male gaze.
On The Metallica image I created a logo that says “I love XPLODE” This was done to show the readers how much Metallica cares about Xplode and their fans. This would make the readers feel special. I decided to name the interview Metallica speaks out loud. It is trying to say that they are giving you a statement in the interview; they want you to hear them loud and clear.
The targeted demographic of my magazine are young to late intelligent male teens who listens to olden and modern soft rock music. People who are really interested, passionate and take their music seriously. The reason for choosing the genre of rock is because rock magazines tend to survive much better than other music genres and also has a huge audience. Therefore I will a fill a gap in the market as it is aimed at the demographic of young to old intelligent male teens who listens to modern and olden soft rock music.
I have used qualitative and quantitative data in my work. Before deciding the genre of my music magazine I did some research by using quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data is facts and figures. I have used quantitative data on my questionnaire. The results from the questionnaire helped me to come up with my final decision on choosing my genre. The hip hop genre had the lowest rating therefore I was sure this will not be my genre for the magazine. The most popular genre was rock also the audience I gave the questionnaire stated that my magazine templates also suit the genre of rock. This made my decision very clear on making rock the genre of my magazine. I also used qualitative data. I did this by creating three templates for my magazine with different colours. I then asked 50 people on their opinion on which template suits my genre better. The colours that were favored the most were qualitative data. This helped me towards choosing my final template. I took the results into account and decided not to use yellow in my magazine as it was very unpopular with my audience. I stuck to a similar version of the template that my audience chose. The reason for changing the look of the template slightly was because it did not look as professional as it could for a music magazine.
The name of my magazine is called XPLODE. I chose this name because it means that anyone who is in this magazine is famous because of their talent. It is saying that their talent is so huge it is exploding. You can’t keep it locked up. Also the name XPLODE sounds interesting, appealing and exciting. The name I chose initially was called Rocker. The reason I changed it to XPLODE was because Rocker sounds boring, unexciting and cliché of its genre. The masthead of the magazine is in big letters as it is meant to be clearly visible for the targeted audience. It is on the top of the magazine as this is a convention of a magazine. A convention is a rule that can be broken. The name “XPLODE” is in the colours of white and red. The colour red has connotations of passion this tells you that this magazine is passionate about music. The colour white has connotations of hope which links to success. This tells you that people who are in the front cover of the magazine are very successful. This will also make the readers hope and aspire to be successful singers aspiring to be in the front cover of this magazine someday. The typography of the word “XPLODE” is in capital letters this has connotations of being strong, powerful and masculine. This links with the targeted demographic as it is aimed at male teenagers. The letter “X” in “XPLODE” is stylized in a way that it looks like it is stamped. This links to the rock music genre as when people go to rock concerts they get their hands stamped. In the word “XPLODE” the O is replaced with a record. This is Mise En Scene. This is a French term that translates everything in the scene. Records have connotations of olden music. Therefore this suggests that although this magazine is modern it is not forgetting the icons of rock just because they are olden. It shows that this magazine is not forgetting the roots of rock music.
The brand identity of a magazine is very important. The brand identity is what creates the identity of the magazine which would help the readers recognize the magazine just by seeing its pages. On top of the magazine there are three lines a black, white and red line. These three colours are constantly seen in rock magazines such as kerrang and Classic rock. Also the fact that in my qualitative data people chose these 3 colours to be most compatible with the genre of rock. Therefore these colours have connotations of rock. I have also used these lines to create a brand identity. The magazine has four main colours that are consistent. The four main colours are black, white, red and grey. As these colours are the four main colours of the magazine they create a brand identity. If the magazine pages were laid out on a table because of the brand identity is should be easy to recognize which magazine’s pages they are. This is called a flat plan. Underneath the feature story it says “Xclusive Interview” The word “Xclusive” is written similar to the way the X is written in Xplode. This is a brand identity. So the masthead contains references to the ethos of the magazine for example the “X” is young and modern whereas the vinyl disk represents rock history. Tapes have connotations of seriousness as tapes can be used to record information in police stations for statements. Also tapes have connotations of music. Which can link the magazine as the magazine is a music based magazine. Tapes are also retro.
The background is white fading onto grey. The targeted demographic for this magazine are late teens who are male. The colour grey has connotations of masculinity as darker colours are considered to be more masculine and the colour grey is boring and is not vibrant as a woman’s personality therefore it is masculine as it suits more for a masculine personality. Therefore the background colour of the magazine suits the targeted demographic. There is also a blue retro design in the background. Retro is a word used to symbolize culturally outdated or aged patterns. This links to the magazine front cover as this magazine is represented as a modern rock magazine that also has roots of traditional rock. This is done to show the readers that they are not forgetting the icons of rock. The colour blue is used in the retro design as blue also has connotations of masculinity which suits well with the targeted audience. The background design looks curvy and almost like floral designs which are very feminine. This can tell the targeted audience the girl in the main image is feminine.
On top of the word “Xplode” on the right corner it says DOWNLOADED EDITION. I have done this to create a theme for this particular magazine. This is an issue that talks about downloading. This was chosen as many people download music illegally and it has a massive impact on the music industry so we want our readers to see how much this magazine values and is passionate about music as we want to save the music industry and stop the illegal downloads. This also indicates the fact that this magazine is catering for a more intelligent young audience.
On the top of the magazine it says “Kings of Leon free posters” this was done as this is an additional incentive. This is a free item that you can get when you buy the magazine. This is there to attract the audience’s attention into buying this magazine. Additional incentives help to promote the magazine. “SEX IS ON FIRE” this is a feature story. This is a name of a song there for this is called a pun. By having this as a feature story not only it grabs the reader’s attention due to its words it also is a way of personal identification. The audience would know this song as it is in their music genre so they would have a connection to this song. Underneath it has a tagline saying “KINGS OF LEON MOST ANTICIPATED ALBUM OUT”. The word “Anticipated” is there as it is a buzz word. Buzz words are there to take the audience attention.” SEX IS ON FIRE” is in red letters because it stands out so the audience can see it immediately as feature stories are quite important as they are what is inside the magazine so the readers should be able to see it clearly in order to be interested. The letters are in capital as capital letters have a sense of masculinity and this suits the targeted audience well. The second feature story says “Justice for all” This is also a pun as it is an album name of Metallica. The feature stories do not have to make much sense as the tagline would give information on what the feature story is talking about which then would make the feature story much clearer. “Justice for all” is in the colours dark blue, red and white as these are the colours of the American flag. This has connotations of justice because the American flag also has connotations of Independence Day which is all about freedom and freedom links with justice. Under the feature story the tagline says “Hell– Music Industry is down falling” This feature story links with the theme “DOWNLOADED EDITON” as it is talking about illegal music downloading. The last feature story says “SUE ‘EM ALL” this is also a pun because it is a famous Metallica song. “SUE EM ALL” is an “in joke” this makes the audience feel as though they are a part of something. Recognizing this would make them feel special. This also links with the downloaded edition theme. This gives the readers an idea of what Metallica thinks about illegal downloading of music. Therefore it can speak out to the audience as they might consider to stop downloading music illegally as its being said by their favourite music artists. The word “SUE” is in red as red has connotations of power. This is done as Metallica is using powerful words to make it clear on what they think of illegal music. It also says “Metallica speaks out loud” This would make the readers curious on what their favourite artists would say which would lead them to buy the magazine. There is a tape next to the tagline. Different fonts are used in the front cover of the magazine as it is a convention of a magazine to have different fonts for feature stories. This relates to the different stories and facts that can be found inside the magazine. It is there to portray the range of contents in the magazine. The Xclusive interview is there so the people who read Xplode would feel special that it is Xclusive. This would make them feel special and happy as they are one of the people who would know about this interview. This would make the readers happy and want to buy more of this magazine. This can also be a way of social interactions.
When the readers read this magazine and they would go and talk to their friends about this as a conversations topic. This is called social interaction. By having the Xclusive interview in my magazine it gives the change of social interaction to take place. Social interaction is one concept of uses and gratifications Theory. This theory also says people read or watch media for these reasons. The focus of the uses and gratification theory is to attract the audience by using this concept. One other reason is information which is always there in any magazine. Examples of this in my magazine are having information about the music industry going down, reviews and having a gig guide. As one of my taglines says “Hell – music industry is going down” Entertainment is also a reason as the text provides pleasure for the audience, this is often characterized as being “escapist”. Entertainment is also in my magazine as it says “OMFG THE GODDESS OF ROCK IS BACK” for my main cover story. This wording and language used in this creates excitement and entertainment for the reader. This is also text speak which also indentifies the youthful audience. The last reason is personal identification. This is when we can get a sense of ourselves and our peer group from films or stars. We may identify with particular films stars, music artists who we may even use as role models. This can relate to this magazine as the celebrity “Natasha” who is in the central image is a famous rock star. Therefore this can lead people to personally identifying a part of them or their lifestyle with the artist. All these four reasons are things why people use the media.
The way the words are used in a magazine is always according to the targeted audience. The way they use language. This is because the magazine is being aimed at them. For example the “X” is Xplode is written instead of Explode is because the targeted demographic understands this and to them it looks better rather than having “Explode”. This is called Mode of Address. This is a way in which your media product speaks to its particular audience. It can be things like graphic designs, representations, language used and typography. In the cover story it says “OMFG” THE GODDESSOF ROCK IS BACK” The word “OMFG” is used as it is suitable language with the targeted audience. This is suitable as my demographic are male teens and they use informal language that is abbreviated quite often. This is done because of the Mode of Address. The word “GODDESS” is used because in many rock magazines they use the word “GODDESS” rather than using worlds queen as that is appropriate language for its genre.
In the top right corner it says “Xplode Radio” This tells the audience that there is a radio station for this magazine. Many magazines these days have radio stations. This is a way of promoting the magazine. The magazine could promote the website and the website can promote the magazine. This can be done by having the radio station being mentioned in the magazine like it is on my front cover and having the magazine being mentioned in the radio station. This is called having a symbiotic relationship. In the bottom of the magazine there is a banner a banner is a convention of a magazine. In the banner it says “Enter our competition to win free tickets for the rock festival. Visit Xplode.com”. This shows that there is a website for this magazine. This can create a vast audience. Having a website is suitable for my magazine as it is aimed at teenagers and they spend most of their time on the internet. Also having a website is extremely important for the survival of my magazine. Just like the radio station and the magazine the website and the magazine can also promote each other. As it says to enter the competition that you need to go to the website this is forcing symbiosis to happen. Multi platform presence promoting synergy.
In the main image I have made up a celebrity called “Natasha”. She is represented as a beautiful, smart, teen that is passionate about music. The representations of her are positive. Having an Asian girl in a front cover as a rock artist breaks the dominant ideology. Most of the time you would expect to see men in a magazine aimed at men however these days you would see many women in a front cover of magazines that are aimed at men due to their attractiveness .I have applied this to my magazine by having a girl in my front cover .But most of the time these women are usually white. To have an Asian girl breaks these rules. In the ideology it is seen “abnormal”. Ideology is a way of viewing the world, common sense, normality. The man who controls dominant representation thinks race wise the only race that is normal is white anything outside it is considered to be abnormal. Sexuality wise only straight people are normal.ETC. It can be thought as a broad visualization as a way of looking at things. Therefore to have an Asian teen in the front of a magazine front cover that is aimed at late teen boys is seen abnormal or strange in the common ideology. However this is starting to change in modern times.
Maslow came up with a theory called Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. He suggested that in order for a human to survive they need things. He made a pyramid showing what humans need the most to least. The pyramid starts at the bottom which consists of what humans need the most. It starts of by safety. Things like shelter and goes right up to self actualization which means dreams and aspirations. This is very important and relates to my magazine because I have a made up celebrity called Natasha in the front of my magazine cover. This is a way of attracting more audience to my magazine. Despite most of my audience being male some girl will read or buy this magazine therefore when they see the front cover and recognizes her it would lead them to buying this magazine. Also the fact that she is a celebrity and she is attractive would also lead readers to aspire to be her as they would aspire to have her talent, attractiveness or lifestyle. Therefore this links with my magazine. This would also attract my main demographic who are men because having an attractive girl in a front cover that consist the male gaze pose would attract them to buying this magazine. This is because men like to see women in these poses that objectify them.
Women are often photographed in a way that objectifies them. The frame cuts the female form into abstract shapes that identify or represent the subject purely by attractiveness to men therefore this is called The Male Gaze theory the camera is the point of view of a man. This can be proved as women are mostly shown lying down and it shows vulnerability and submission. Women are often posed bending their heads or bodies at an angle which is called the “cant”. This is applied to the model in my magazine front cover as her body is at an angle therefore she consists of the male gaze as she is posing according to male gaze. The process of looking is generally seen as an active male role while the passive role of being looked at is immediately adopted as a female characteristic. This positions the male as dominant and the female as submissive. This also links with ideology as men control society in that ideology men are seen as aggressive and dominant and the female is seen week and submissive. Ideology links with Hegemony as because although we know these things as a society we sign up to these ideal structures and we let ourselves be ruled by a set of desires that may not be our own. Male gaze can be seen I a different view. Looking at this in a woman’s point of view she is trying to tell woman she can be successful by striking that subordinate pose. To be like the music artist she is you have to be good at controlling men. So this is why woman aspire to be submissive and subordinate. To attract men you have to be submissive and subordinate. Many women believe following the male gaze makes them be a successful woman. They think this because in images that consists the male gaze women are often staring right at you. They are making eye contact. This is a sign of power because she knows you are looking at her, she is controlling your gaze. She isn’t childish. She is doing this on purpose. They know they are being looked at. These poses are strategic and a sign of controlling the gaze. This follows for my magazine. As men are my targeted demographic they would see her as being attractive, submissive etc….. Although women are not my targeted demographic if they do buy this magazine they would see her as powerful strong women not only because she is successful at controlling men’s gaze also because she is a successful music artist. This would lead the females who buy this magazine to aspire to be successful as her to control men’s gaze.
Jean Baudrillard was a social theorist. He came up with a theory called hyper reality. The media and especially in digital technology are key to creation of this hyper real world. He termed examples of the hyper real as simulacra. Hyper reality is when reality is exaggerated in order to make our life more exciting and fun. Hyper reality links to my magazine as the celebrity Natasha is hyper real she is airbrushed to exaggerate her beauty. People who see this would want to be like her, to be perfect as her. They would aspire to be something that is not real. This could affect people in our social life. People can become anorexic by aspiring to be something that can’t be done. This can also lead to obesity as it would give pressure to our society as the hyper real version of models is what people have to live up to which lead to stress which then could would lead to obesity by eating food as a comfort.
A content page is there so it gives the reader information about what is going to be inside the magazine and where they can find these. For e.g. In my contents page it says “METALLICA GONE YELLOW” if the reader is interested in this they could easily find out what page it is on by looking at the content page which in this case says it’s on page 32.A content page helps the reader to find out where the stories are. It guides you through the magazine.
The contents page consists of the four main colours that are in the front page which are red, black, white and grey this is because the brand identity has to be consistent and be seen throughout every page. The three lines that were visible on the front cover that were red, white and black are also seen in the contents page. On the left bottom side of the page I have my editorial. This is a convention for a magazine. I have also put the published date of the magazine. This is done so the readers would know when this issue of the magazine was published. The reason for making my editorial fairly short is because as it is aimed at male teens they would be more interested in the magazine rather than the editorial so having a short editorial would be more suitable and appropriate rather than making it long as the readers would loose interest.
On the right side of the magazine you could see the content of the magazine. It is broken down to smaller parts with titles like news, features, live review and gig guide. This is there to direct the reader on which page they want to go according to what they want to read.
In the contents page you could see a featured story saying “METALLICA GONE YELLOW” it also has a tagline saying “meet the simptallicans” This is an “in joke” Metallica and Simpsons fans who read this magazine will feel special when they realize this word mash up. This is also suitable as the demographic I have chosen would know both Metallica and the Simpsons as Metallica is an iconic rock band and The Simpsons is a famous cartoon that many teenagers watch and recognizes. The image shows Metallica being on the Simpsons. This is intertextuality as the Simpsons are using reference of Metallica. Intertexuality is when a media text references another media text in this case the Simpsons are referencing Metallica. Just under the tagline there is a light description of that story. This is done to get the reader’s attention so they would want to read the full story later on. There is one more feature story in the contents page it says “Gemma : romance or showmance?” This sounds entertaining as the text provides pleasure. You would want to read it on to know what it is talking about. This sounds like gossip. The reason for doing this is because all thought the demographic of this magazine is males some women might also buy this and having a hint of gossip makes the magazine entertaining. Excitement is also portrayed by having an image for a o2 festival saying “don’t miss out on the hottest even of the month” The way the wording is used sounds exciting and interesting. The word “hottest” is in red as it stands out to the audience. This is because teenagers use this type of language often. It is the mode of address. Using language that the targeted demographic uses so they understand it.
On the bottom of the contents page there is a light grey banner that says XPLODE THIS WEEK this is done because when I was researching in existing music magazines I found out that this is done in many music magazines. Therefore I did a similar thing. I chose to keep the colour of the lettering same as the logo colours.
There is an additional incentive that is being mentioned on my contents page. The magazine is giving out a free poster that can be found on page 40. This would attract my audience as anyone would like to receive free gifts. Next to it you could see a free subscription offer with a 25% of discount. This is for readers who buy this magazine weekly and has missed an issue which they want to have. To get the 25% discount I have put the website of the magazine leading the readers to get their discount. This will force them to go visit the website if they want to get a missed issue of XPLODE with a discount. This is forcing symbiosis to happen.
A double page spread is when a main article is laid onto two pages. It can even be a questionnaire or an article about a singer etc…
I have decided to focus this page on illegal downloading as it was one of my feature stories that was mentioned in the front cover. Therefore I titled this page called “Crash and Burn” and the tagline under this says “music industry going to hell”. Taglines often help the reader understand what the feature story is talking about. The feature story does not give much a way about what they are talking or does not have to make sense. This is why the tagline underneath it helps the reader to make sense on what they are talking about. Appropriate modes of address have been used language wise as it says “music industry is going to hell”. The idea of rude language is attached to the Rock genre as they use it quite often. Therefore using the word “hell” is appropriate for my targeted audience and the music genre itself.
Interactivity is considered to be very important as it is a way of engaging with the audience therefore I decided to have a weekly competition that’s gives out prizes in my magazine. The questions for the competition will be on the double page spread. On my double page spread it says “Enter our competition to win free tickets for the rock consort visit www.XPLODE.com”. Once again this forces symbiosis to happen. This way the magazine promotes the website and the website can promote the magazine as you will have to go to the website to enter the competition and you will have to buy the magazine to see if they have won the competition which will be shown on the double page spread as well.
On my left side of the double page spread I have decided to have a weekly spotlight article. It talks about the current rock music artist who is in the spotlight. In this issue it is Gemma Merrick. Therefore I have decided to call it “EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT...” It then talks about her success on why she is on the spotlight. This would give the reader satisfaction of being able to keep up-to-date with celebrity popularity. As for many teenagers this is important. I have chosen to colour the letters “Gemma Merrick” in white and purple. The reason for this is because the colour purple has connotations of royalty this links with the star as it is telling the readers that this is how the media is portraying her at the moment. The colour white is used as it represents hope. It tells you that this star is successful and she is giving hope to the readers of this magazine telling they can be successful if they really want it. In this column I have put an image of her with a guitar showing that it is the closest thing to her as she is passionate about music. Around her are small multicolour balls that looks like disco ball lights. This reinforces the idea of her being in the spotlight as when you are under a disco ball it means you are on the spotlight. I have also created a shape around her using circles. The shape I created looks like a knuckle duster. A knuckle duster is mostly used by young people. It is used as a weapon to punch someone. It has connotations of violence. This therefore is a representation of the rock star named Gemma Merrick. It tells you that she is a violent and strong person. In the dominant ideology the youth culture is represented to be violent. Therefore Gemma Merricks representation also links with the audience according to the dominant ideology.
As the theme for this issue’s magazine is illegal downloading I have written “downloaded edition” and “downloading is a crime” on my double page spread as it shows how much this magazine cares about the music industry, how passionate they are about their music and does not want it to be destroyed. Therefore I decided to have circular hole like shapes around this statement. These holes look a lot like bullets it is trying to get the reader’s attention saying downloading is a crime just like using a gun. In the double page spread I decided to have a Metallica interview. This would make the readers excited and feel special to find exclusive information about their favourite band. In the interview there is a question that asks what Metallica thinks about illegal downloading. By doing this it shows how much the magazine wants to stop these downloads they are letting the readers hear their favourtie band’s opinion hoping this will encourage them to stop these illegal downloads. In the left side of the magazine there is a small column on what rocker Natasha’s been up to. She has also given her view of illegal downloads hoping the fans would stop by listening to her. There is also an image of her posing in away so it fits the male gaze.
On The Metallica image I created a logo that says “I love XPLODE” This was done to show the readers how much Metallica cares about Xplode and their fans. This would make the readers feel special. I decided to name the interview Metallica speaks out loud. It is trying to say that they are giving you a statement in the interview; they want you to hear them loud and clear.
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