My pitch

I pitched my idea for my magazine to my class. This way I was able to get feedback and and make any adaptations to my initial idea before I start the practical work.

My pitch

View more presentations from emmarogers.

This is the slideshow that I used to present my ideas.
My feedback was very good, the only issue that arose was that my proposed title "unplugged" has been used for an MTV programme and although the TV program has a very similar concept to my magazine i do not think it will be a problem. TV and Magazine are very different and also MTV is American and my magazine will be british production and distribution.

Front Cover Analysis

Q Magazine Analysis

NME Magazine Analysis

Researching Music Magazine Conventions

Front Cover Music Magazine Conventions

I studied the range of different genre music magazines below and have come up with some things that stood out to me as common elements:

• Headline. Most of them clearly show the main story on the cover with a large headline.
• Cover Image. An image of an individual or a band that usually relates to the headline, normally a head shot or a mid shot.
• The covers are always very busy filled with images and text
• On most there is a horizontal strip along the top of the page, this usually advertises something else inside the magazine
• They similarly have another strip along the bottom again often with stories from the magazine
• All the ones I have looked at have the barcode in the bottom right corner
• There are usually smaller images off the centre of the page relating to other cover stories
• If the magazine is giving anything away free for example a CD or a poster this is put on the left hand side, this is probably as magazines are stacked with the left side overlapping the next magazine so this would be visible to all the potential buyers.
• Usually bold colours are used however there is also a lot of black used with splashes of colour.

Initial Research

Here is the evidence of my research. A list of all the music magazines I could find that are currently in production in the UK.

I have ordered them based on genre because it will be easier, when I decide what genre I would like to do, to compare prices and determine a main competitor.

School Magazine Preliminary Task

Here is the initial flat plan for my magazine.

Evaluation

Overall I am pleased with my front cover as a first attempt. I think my cover image and masthead are both suggest youth but professionalism so it is suitable for the sixth form magazine. The pink and red colours I have used for the cover lines compliments the pink in the scarf. I used shadow on the headline to make it stand out against the detailed background and make it jump forward on the page.

However there are some improvements i could make. The Masthead is a little boring because it is all plain black text I could have used some colour to make it more memorable and stand out against the rest of the cover. There is also a lot of blank space at the top of the page I could have included a banner along the top to further advertise the contents of the magazine. Also the Headline and the strapline beneath  the headline do not stand out very well and in order to grab the readers attention they need to be bolder and more noticeable. This is because the image I took was too dark I will have to be careful of that in my final cover.

Compared to my flat plan my front cover is fairly similar. I have moved the date to the opposite side to try and balance it more because it looked very plain on one side and very busy on the other. i have also centralized the headline again in an attempt to balance the cover. 

This task was very useful to me simply because it gave me an opportunity to get to know the InDesign program without the pressure of it being my final piece. I know have a basic understanding of the program and will develop my skills further as I work on my final cover.

I have set up this blog to document the evidence of my AS Media Coursework. Enjoy!