Jazzay's Blog dude =]

Jazzay's Blog.

This is the official blog of new music magazine 'Jazzay'. It is a monthly magazine keeping YOU updated with the latest R'n'B/Hip-Hop artists.

Logo Planning and Questionnaire =]

Above are logos i made using different fonts and colours. This made it easier to see which colour and font would work with my magazine. Soon after making these, I came to the decision that I would use none of these as I would like my colour scheme to be Pink and Purple.

In order to make my Masthead I experimented with a few different fonts and designs. This made it easier to come to a full conclusion in which Masthead I liked.

 Questionnaire.

In order to create the perfect magazine for my target audience, I made a questionnaire in which I had ten people to answer. I collected these answers together and drew pie charts to show the results. These results showed that the majority of people I interviewed:

-were 16 or 18

-were from South or North London

-were willing to pay £2-£3 for an R'n'B/Hip-Hop magazine

-said that they believed R'n'B/Hip-Hop music was portrayed in a negative way

-expected to hear about new artists in an R'n'B/Hip-Hop magazine

-wanted more text in R'n'B/Hip-Hop magazines

-expected to see Beyonce in R'n'B/Hip-Hop magazines

-enjoyed both images and text in R'n'B/Hip-Hop magazines.

This made my magazine easier to create and I believe it made it more attractive to those who are interested in Hip-Hop and R'n'B.

Front cover analysis =]

In order to create my overall front cover I analysed two different magazine covers, with different genres of music, that use different techniques in order to appeal to their target audience. I used these as inspiration of what to do and what not to do.

Masthead Analysis =]

To help create my Masthead, I analysed some existing music magazine mastheads to find out what fonts, colours and layouts are used to attract what kind of target audience.

Final Music Magazine =]

This is my final music magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread in which i wrote an article about a new band. I used the knowledge I gained from the research and planning I did and the questionnaires I made. It is an R'n'B/Hip-Hop magazine aimed at 16-18 year olds with a small income. It is an inexpensive magazine costing only £2. I feel I have designed my magazine to resemble existing music magazines that are selling at this moment in time but with my own special flare. I feel this magazine represents me and what I enjoy, which is R'n'B and Hip-Hop.

Preliminary task =]

This is the final product of my preliminary task; my school magazine. From this task to my final music magazine task I feel I have made a lot of progress and I feel my music magazine has gained a lot from having previous practice with my preliminary task.

Original images =]

This is my original photo for my front cover. It shows a girl, from the band inside the magazine, in a club or party scene. She seems to be dancing and her facial expression tells me that she is really into her dancing and particularly a new type of dance, 'Skanking'. Her clothing could represent that of someone into R'n'B/Hip-Hop, so this image would be a good one to use for my front cover. Her top is pink which is my chosen colour scheme so it fits well with it. I feel this image would appeal to an audience of around 16-18 year olds which is my target audience.

I have chosen to use this on my contents page. It is a picture of the band I have done an article on, and it just shows you some members of the band itself.

This is another image I decided to use on my contents page. This is a picture of the opposing band.

This is the photo I decided to use for my double page spread background. It is a picture of the whole band together. The members are placed: the lead female singer in the middle, with three girls each side of her and the only male stood leaning in front of them all. This breaks up the image a bit and makes it look more down to earth and less organised.

I have used this image on my double page spread to show the 'Couple'. They are also the main members of the band so I have taken an individual shot of them to emphasise this.

I chose this image to put it on my double page spread to show the readers the lead female vocalist. It shows her style as she has a gold ring saying 'Love' and a gold necklace saying 'Disco'. This image shows she is a stylish, good-looking female.

This is the last image I chose to put on my double page spread. It shows some of the female band members. I really like this image as the angle is different and interesting. Because of this angle, the light is mainly on Jordane, the lead singer, which shows she is the leader. She is up close and everyone else in the image is further away, yet close enough to see great detail. I think this is a perfect image for an R'n'B/Hip-Hop music magazine.

Question 7 =]

Looking back at your preliminary task, of designing the front page of a school magazine, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Before I started producing my music magazine, I produced a front cover and contents page of a school magazine. As this was the first task I was set in Media AS, it was difficult to get straight into it as it was the first time I was using an Apple Mac and the first time I was using Adobe Photoshop CS3. After a few classes, I got the hang of it, although I was not using any intermediate skills, just beginner ones. Knowing my preliminary task was a school magazine, I knew the target audience was kids of around 11-16 year olds. I based my colours and fonts on this fact as well as the fact that it had to be a magazine about the school. As ‘Acland Burghley’ is a school based around arts, I wanted to make my magazine fun and lively, using loads of bubbly colours and fonts. Although it was a bubbly magazine, it was still much simpler than my music magazine.

When it came to the real task of making a music magazine I found it easier to just get straight into it as I had had some practice with the prelim task. I could then use more intermediate skills in order to make my music magazine resemble an existing, selling music magazine. I feel now that I have a better understanding of how the use of different colours, fonts and images change the target audience and the way people look at the magazine in general.

Overall I have found producing these two magazines different but they got simpler as I continued to explore them both. They compare and contrast in many ways. I feel my music magazine has gained a lot from the prelim task and I do not think it would have been as good, if I had not completed the preliminary task.  

Question 6 =]

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

During the process of constructing this product, I got the chance to use a computer completely different  to the one I am used to. At home and anywhere else I use a computer, I generally use a PC, but to produce my magazine I used an Apple Mac. At first it was difficult to get used to it, but as I spent more time adjusting my magazine and blog, I found it got easier and easier. Now I can use it just as well as I can a PC. I found out shortcuts for particular applications which saved me time. Working on the Apple Mac gave me the chance to work on Adobe Photoshop CS3 to produce my magazine’s front cover and contents page. As I had no experience with Photoshop, at first I found it difficult to manage but as I explored it more, I found tools and applications to make my magazine look like existing, selling music magazines. I used tools on Photoshop to adjust my images' size, change fonts, size and colour of text, and add backgrounds. As well as using Adobe Photoshop CS3, I also used the application Pages on the Apple Mac. This was used to make my double page spread. I found this a lot harder than Photoshop as I had a bit of trouble using it in the start. After using this application for a while, I found ways of adding my masthead and making it look like an existing magazine double page spread. As we were not allowed to use found images, all the images used in my magazine were taken by me. This gave me the opportunity to use a digital camera. This was very easy for me though as I have had a lot of experience with a camera. This made collecting my images a lot easier.

Question 5 =]

How did you attract/ address the audience for your music publication?

In order to attract my target audience I used many different techniques, such as appropriate fonts, colours, images and language. My cover image is of a teenager in a club or party environment which my target audience can relate to. As she was wearing pink I decided to make a colour scheme with pink in it. This would challenge usual conventions of R’n’B/Hip-Hop magazines as they tend not to use pinkish colours but I felt it would work. The language is not too sophisticated yet it is not too young and child-like. The mode of address used in my magazine is young and relatable. This helps my audience understand and relate to the magazine, which is my aim.

Question 4 =]

Who would be the audience for your music magazine?

My target audience is 16-18 year olds interested in Hip-Hop and R’n’B. As I fall under this category I feel I could make this magazine appeal to the target audience as I would use my personal opinions to make it a FAB MAG! As my magazine is not expensive at all, it would appeal to teens with a small income, perhaps from a part-time job or pocket money.

I believe my audience would be predominantly female as I have used a pink and purple colour scheme. This challenges the convention of R’n’B magazines and the target audience I wish to appeal to, but I feel that, because I like my choice in colour schemes, that other 16-18 year olds interested in Hip-Hop/R’n’B would also be attracted to this magazine.   

Question 3 =]

What kind of institution might distribute your magazine and why?

I think many stores will find my magazine appealing to sell, especially stores such as HMV. This is a large, well-known store and I feel it would be a good place to sell my magazine. As well as there, I believe large supermarkets would also be a smart way to get my magazine out to a wider audience. Supermarkets have a varied range of magazines from all over the world. To have my magazine in a large supermarket would help it to become a magazine seen all over the place. As well as this though, it would be a good idea to have my magazine sold in local news agents. As this is a popular place for many people my magazine would get noticed and bought. I believe I should start off on a small scale, selling my magazines in local news agents, supermarkets and at R'n'B/Hip-Hop concerts. This would get my magazine out to those it is intended to be sold to.     

Question 2 =]

How does your music magazine represent particular social groups?
My music magazine does represent a particular social group. I hoped that my target audience would be 16-18 year olds so I used this as a starter to create my magazine. I do want my magazine to appeal to many different social groups but giving that it would have to represent one, I believe it represents 16-18 year old, working class teens. It isn’t an expensive magazine, so pretty much anyone could afford it. As well as this the pictures and wording seem very real and down to earth.
The front cover image is of a girl who seems to be at a party or in a club environment. This would appeal to the targeted social group as it is very familiar to them.
I looked at some music magazine websites for inspiration of what to do to make sure my target audience was approached well. Below are links to these websites.
Smash Hits ;]

Vibe ;]

NME ;]
Kerrang ;]
None of these websites are the same but they all use techniques in order to appeal to a certain audience and social group. These sites helped me to create my image.

Question 1 =]

In what ways does your music magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of existing music magazines?

In order to use and develop forms and conventions of existing music magazines, I analysed many different music magazines from different genres of music to see how they used them, in order to apply these conventions to my own magazine. I closely studied how the use of different fonts, colours, images and layouts, effect the impression of the magazine left on the buyer. Therefore I based these features on the target audience I wish to attract. As I wish to attract 16-18 year olds who are interested in Hip-Hop/R’n’B music and styles, I decided to make my whole front cover have a certain colour scheme which I, in time, carried on throughout the contents page and double page spread. Magazines such as 'Vibe' (click 'Vibe' to view cover) use this technique of a colour scheme. As this is also an R’n’B/Hip-Hop magazine I felt I should use this technique to make my magazine more professional and real. Usually R’n’B/Hip-Hop magazines tend to stay away from colours such as pink, and light purple so by using these colours as my main colour scheme I have challenged the usual convention of this genre of music magazine.

I closely analysed two different music magazine covers, with different target audiences, different genres of music and different techniques. The first I analysed was a 'Smash Hits' magazine (click 'Smash Hits' to view cover). This sort of magazine is usually targeted at 11-14 year olds. This magazine would appeal to their target audience as it has used conventions that attract that certain age group. The masthead is in big, bright, BLOCK capitals which makes it simple and easier to read. The bright colours make it more child-like and appealing to the younger audience. The general arrangement of subheadings and pictures make it look less neat and more fun and bubbly. The overall magazine cover would appeal to 11-14 year olds as the conventions used are ones used to attract a younger audience.

Analysing my second music magazine cover I found it contrasted to the first very much. The second magazine cover I analysed was 'Vibe' (click 'Vibe' to view cover). I found this to be a lot more neat and arranged. Everything, including the only picture, the subheadings and the masthead is neatly placed where it is supposed to be. This uses a particular colour scheme of Red, Black and Grey. It is a lot more sophisticated and it is clearly aimed at an older audience. The general cover is a lot more harsh and is not as bubbly and lively as the ‘Smash Hits’ cover I analysed previously.

The main images in both magazine covers are very different. ‘Smash Hits’ using a close up of an attractive young male, and ‘Vibe’ using a mid-shot of Eminem. These shots add to the overall image of the magazine itself.

To conclude, by analysing these two music magazine covers I was inspired to use certain colours, fonts and pictures. This helped me to use, as well as challenge the forms and conventions, existing music magazines use.