Evaluation DRAFT is BELOW!

Below this is the draft evaluation, above this is my final evaluation.

Evaluation question 7

Compared with my preliminary task, my overall magazine is a completely different standard. Firstly the cut out of my model was poor, looking jagged at the edges. Also the size of the photo is not fitting, with a lot of space available. The cover-lines just look randomly scattered and there is too much unused space. Also the fonts look like they should be used in the title and the font used for my masthead is too basic.

Compared with my front cover now I feel i have a good quality image, with a near perfect cutting. I have also added the shadow effect which brings another element to my magazine. The masthead is bolder, with a gradient making it look more interesting. The cover-lines are positioned better, making it look more like a music magazine.

On my contents page for my preliminary magazine, there is only a small page spread, and the information is brief. The photos have no real relevance and the alignment is poor.

With my contents page now, I have used a very large page spread and the pictures are relevant to the stories. The page numbers are aligned at i have added the masthead at the top. Also I have used some more fonts to make it look more interesting rather than the same font throughout. 

In my double page spread, before I would not have been able to do it to such a high standard, but because of me developing my photoshop skills, I ahve managed to produce a far better piece.

Evaluation question 6

In this task I have used many technologies. I used a nikon d40 camera to take my photos with, which I borrowed off my friend. This part of technology was something i had to learn, as I had never really used a camera. I also relied heavily on my MacBook Pro, using it for blogging and then photoshop when making my magazine.

Evaluation question 5

To attract my audience on my front cover, I made sure that my masthead stood out. At first I had a font with quite thin letters, so making this wider made it stand out more, making it more aesthetically pleasing, which would result in a greater attraction Mentioning well known artists on the cover would also help to attract to fans, giving the magazine a bigger draw. Also mentioning such a large festival such as Glastonbury will draw in and attract to the audience. Putting an appealing photo on was key, so using an attractive model helped to relate to the audience. Also, using the shadow feature helped as it adds a sense of mystery, making people want to read on, attracting the audience. The unique selling point for my magazine was that not only do you get a music magazine, you also get pictures to a high standard, which have a very artistic feel to them.

In my contents it was quite similar to the style of Esquire, which might not be a predominant music magazine, but has elements that I wanted to incorporate into my magazine. Having a large page spread also will attract readers as they will be interested in some of the elements. 

On my double page spread, having that simplistic feel shoudl attract my audience, as some will be interested in art. Also the pose is similar to pop artists, so this my draw in another genre of audience. It is also fairly conventional for a music magazine, similar to a double page spread that Mojo or Q would run, making it fit in with the current market.

Evaluation question 4

My audience would be fairly typical for the alternative music genre. They would be interested in fashion and culture. Would often attend musical gigs/festivals. As it is aimed at a fairly young audience they would mainly be students from universities. The clothing these people would wear would be brands such as Edwin, Farah, adidas originals, reebok, Dr Denim and other vintage clothing. Music they would listen to be would be artists like Crystal Fighters, The Maccabees, Foals, The xx, The Strokes and other guitary/synth bands. Other interests would be Dj’ing, art and technology.

Evaluation question 3

A publishing company is like the manager of the magazine. Companies will watch over the editorial, production, circulation and sales. Some publishing companies take a hands on approach, getting involved as editors. However some publishing companies take a back seat role, allowing the magazine companies to deal with the editorial phase, as it can cause conflict as publishers want lots of advertising. 

The distributor I would use would be bauer media as it has big magazines such as Q an Mojo on their books. However I feel that my magazine is a little bit different  so would be better, as if it was on IPC media, NME’s distributing company, it would struggle as NME would take priority as they were quite similar.

Evaluation question 2

Evalaution question 1

For my magazine, I chose a fairly unconventional title. When researching words i could use I looked at music related jargon, but I felt that none worked for my magazine. So I choose to use “vuze” as my title, as it rhymes with the word news, giving off the suggestion that it has news. It also sounds like the word “views” relating to the audiences views, showing that is going to be an opinionated magazine. For my title font I used the website da font to look around. The fonts I looked at all had a simplistic feel, but I wanted to make sure that it stood out, so used one with quite thick letters. I also manipulated my title font in photoshop, adding a gradient and a slight shadow. My magazine title does challenge some conventions as it used a word which is not that related to music, making it unconventional.

The graphology I used on my page was quite conventional for a music magazine. On the front cover, I had my masthead in the top left hand cover, a mid-shot of my model in the centre, I then had most of my cover lines in the upper third of my magazine. I also put a small issue number in the top right hand corner and in the bottom right hand corner put a barcode with pricing above. For my contents, I went for a fairly standard layout in the left side, with a list of features. At the top I put my masthead and then on the right, put some stand out pages, with photos for all. On the double page spread I went for a fairly conventional method, putting the image on the left of the page, with the band name above and then the actual article on the right. Also in the bottom corners I put the page number and other small details.

The outfit I used for my model, was very fitting for the alternative/indie music genre. I based her look on the way Laura May-Carter (Blood Red Shoes) and Coco Summer (I Blame Coco). Both these artists have male influences in the way they dress as they are often seen wearing shirts, but with female touches. I decided against the use of props in my photos, as I felt that the best way to draw all attention to the model would be to just have her, on a white background. I also tried to incorporate her personality on the photos, for example on the double page spread where the model is winking. This is similar to pop artists such as Katy Perry and Rihanna. It shows her tongue-in-cheek view to pop music.

The camera angles I used for my front cover were mainly mid-shots, as I felt these were most appropriate, so that most of the attention was on the model, but some attention fell to over cover lines. For these midshots I used a variety of angles and it resulted me having 2 photos that I could have used for my front cover; one being straight on midshot and the other take slightly to the left, which was the one I chose as it was a more attractive photo. For the contents I used a distant shot for one picture, as I felt the background helped to make the photo significant, as it links into the unknown genre of music the band play. The photo of Julez was a close up and I feel it was a good photo to you, as the eyes are directly into the camera, and the angle shows the audience as if they are looking down on her. The photo of the festival review shows two stereotypical of my target genre, at the festival. Having the background with festival-goers in adds to the realism element.

The masthead font I used was a font called “beer”. I felt it was nice and simple, but was quite bold and stood out for the magazine. I aslo maipulated the font in photoshop, adding a slight gradient. Other fonts I used on my front cover were fairly basic (dusseldorf and helvetica). Both these fonts fitted well into my magazine. For my title I used the font “antidotes”. I felt theat it was quite edgy, fitting in with my model’s style and also feel it suited the simplistic feel on my magazine. Throughout the rest of my magazine I kept these fonts. On the contents I mainly used dusseldorf, with antidotes on the page numbers. On my double page spread I again used antidotes, with helvetica font on my article.

The music genre I chose for my magazine was that of indie/alternative. However with this being quite a broad genre, in this issue focused on a synth esque artist. Putting my model on the front in the clothing she is wearing links into the genre, as it is typical wear of artists in the field. The coverlines also relate to my genre as they  have alternative music references. In the contents page there are references to indie music bands. Also the font is quite unusual and different, making it quite alternative. Again in the double page spread what Julia is wearing fits in with the genre. The way I have set out my page is also similar to other double page spreads in alternative music magazines like Q and NME.

The colour scheme I used throughout was that of white, black and blue. I used a few different shades and on my front cover had the contrast of the blue masthead with my model’s red shirt worked quite well.

Update

I have chosen a new masthead and title font for my magazine...

One thing I have been struggling with, is making my 2nd cover, similar to that of Esquire. Trying to make it extremely simple and minimalistic does not work as in most cases, it just looks bare. So I am going to experiment, but if needs be may drop the idea.

Masthead

After looking at my masthead, I feel that I would be best changing the font style. So here I have had a look at what looks best, and I feel that the bottom two are my favourite.