Evaluation
My magazine is similar to ‘Q’ magazine as it features a variety of different music styles and caters for eclectic taste. I have based my layout through the inspiration of ‘The Source’ magazine as my magazine has similar conventions such as the masthead, strap lines, main image of the artist or artists and a kicker. I have also used linguistic devices such as alliteration, demand words and play on words. The house style of my magazine is that the use of colours black, white and red and it is shown consistent throughout. My magazine is called ‘LIVE’ which connotes current music in the charts which will appeal to the audience because it is highly competitive therefore this magazine includes new artists within the genre of R&B and hip-hop. My image is positioned over the masthead to represent that my magazine is well known and it also suggests that the audience will instantly recognise my magazine on the shelf. I have also used linguistic devices within my strap lines. I have used rhetorical questions, for example ‘who will you vote for?’ which is also an example of audience inclusion as it is written in the second person and it is addressing the reader. Also the artists name ‘Samiye Mazlum’ looks as if the artist has signed the front cover. She is the priority of this magazine. This shows the magazine is unique and is aimed at the audience as individuals. My strap lines also include intertextuality language for example ‘JLS holds hands up and confess!’ The words are used from JLS lyrics of ‘everybody in love’ and are interpreted to suggest they have something interesting to articulate. I have also included a pug and alliteration together, ‘NEW Amazing Artists’ to represent exclusiveness and to make it seem more appealing and eye-catching. On the left hand side of my magazine I have included the lyrics ‘I hate that I love you’ from Rhianna’s song. This expresses the artist’s feelings and it suggests she has something to tell us about her life and relationships as this is positioned below the artist’s name. The font is bold and consists of black for the text and red for the speech marks. The contrast between the two colours represent emotional and implies the idea of secrets and the unknown therefore it seems intriguing to read more. The quote, the subheadings and the Masthead are bigger than the actual strap lines to show the importance of them and to insure that the magazine is very visual and yet appealing.
‘VIBE’ and ‘The Source’ magazine are similar to my front cover. My front cover and contents page layout is similar to the ‘VIBE’ magazine, and my double page spread I related to ‘the source’ magazines double page spread. For my contents page I have also used the same subheadings such as ‘departments’. This makes my magazine look more professional.
The media product that I have made is a magazine. It represents the young society for example teenagers. My magazine is aimed at both genders male and female. This is because I have included both male and female artists throughout. My front cover represents the target audience of older teenagers as the model is wearing fashionable clothing. My contents page has a male model on the left hand side which represents Hip-Hop within my magazine, as the image of ‘Samiye Mazlum’ on the front cover represents more of the R&B side to the magazine. The copy on the contents page is quite informal, for example ‘Live Christmas lights go bonkers!’ This reinforces the type of language teenagers would use therefore this contributes to the teenage lifestyle. My double page spread represents my target audience as I have used slang words for example; ‘dunno’ are used in the interview, this language connotes informality. The background image is of a band alongside images of two different artists which shows this magazine is up to date as it represents new artists in the media which the audience can relate to.
The media institution that might distribute my magazine would be VMG because this magazine company would sell magazines like Vibe, which is what my magazine is based on. I have based my magazine on this magazine as it clearly represents the R&B and Hip-Hop genre. I liked the use of colours, font and in particular the layout of the magazine. You can recognise the magazine without the masthead as the house style of every magazine is similar.
My magazine attracts the audience because it had a large eye catching masthead ‘LIVE’ which is in red. The main image fills the whole front cover which stands out and grasps the audience’s attention. The strap lines are simple and are short and snappy. They also include literal devices such as metaphors and alliteration. The colours are Red, Black and White which are eye-catching and would attract the audience’s attention. The Kicker ‘Hate that I love you’ is purposely written in bold font and also in capital letters to capture the audience’s attention as it is lyrics from the R&B artist Rhianna. The words ‘reveal’ and ‘live’ are in red and italics to show exclusiveness as it is written within black text. Also the word ‘Exclusive’ is written in light blue font to show it’s different from the other strap lines as it is the only blue copy on my front cover.
I developed my skills using Photoshop as now I can manipulate images and adding text. I used various photo shop software’s to create my final product. From using Photoshop I have learned to use various techniques such as adjusting the contrast and lighting, importing images and texts and merging layers together to produce my outcome.
Overall, my final three magazine pages; the front cover, contents page and double page spread, I think have been a great success. If I had to do it again I would like to improve on making the contents page more eye-appealing to the audience. I would introduce more images or the layout. The one I particularly liked was the front cover as I spent time thinking of the linguistic devices as well as everything else that need to be put on the page. I also spent time going out to buy the right colour dress I needed for my front cover. The double page spread was the hardest to produce as I needed to think of many different yet interesting interview questions you see in other music magazines. I believe I have kept the house style of the magazine the same throughout as I have used the same colours, font and simple layout.
