Vessy Music Magazine

I have uploaded my Evaluation Slide Show into different websites to ensure it has high public accessibility. I have tried uploading the ppt file onto slideshare.com but it did not work. When I created the Presentation I added a number of custom animations and effects to make it look more interesting. Unfortunately none of these effects appears on the website. As a part of my evaluation I have produced content analysis word files of my final presentations ( Front Cover and Contents page). These word documents are uploaded on previous posts of my digital blog and explain how I've created the publications and analyse their deep connotations.

To see my main Music Magazine Evaluation Presentation please click on one of the links below.Thank You!
Evaluation
evaluation

The two figures above are related to my contents page final publication.I am pleased with the result because overall the contents page looks typically for a rock magazine but also challenges many conventions of existing music magazines.I have managed to create an interesting, attractive and professionally done quality publication that suites it's aims to persuade and inform the audience about the features and regulars of Nirvana.To do this I have used emotive text, persuasive visual images, eye-catching bright colours and manipulated well composed visual and written elements e.g.heading, merged photos etc.Click on the pictures above to either see my contents page or read the process of production or justification of each of it's features.

The figure above shows how my double page spread is going to look like.It would be the perfect balance between visual and written information.The text will be positioned mainly on the left page whereas the main images and lyrics contest information would be put onto the right page.The theme of the page is fire which relates to rock because it can be associated with warm love, passion and danger.The Killing Time model I have used is training Fire Poi so I thought it would be a great idea to take some pictures of her doing fire poi and in-cooperate them into the double page spread.The theme of the article will therefore be related artist's interest in fire poi.I took many images of the model but the ones below are the best ones I took.Pictures are based at different settings but all of them are related to Rock Music.Some of them are too personal but from the survey I have done earlier on in the project I found out that people are interested in reading about the personal lives of artists and their personalities.I am now done with planning and am ready to begin producing the publications starting from the contents page.

I have produced a Microsoft Word document to experiment with the layout of the front cover page.I have chosen this design because it's typical and responds to the conventions of existing music magazine.The main image will be a mid-shot positioned centrally onto the A4 page.All the sell lines will be positioned either on the left or the right side of the paper.At the bottom of the page will be two small scale posters of Radiohead and Jack Savoretti(JS) that would aimed at persuading the viewer to buy the magazine.

One feature of my magazine that challenges typical magazines is that each issue will contain a lyrics contest which asks the audience to send lyrics to the magazine.The best lyrics will be turned into e song performed by the feature celebrity in the issue.This is a great idea because fans will feel engaged fans in their favourite celebrity's music career and will also increase Nirvana's 'ratings'. The front cover will look interesting, colourful but kept realistic, which means that I would not alter images too much and prevent the effect of unobtainable false reality.The pictures should be kept realistic so that readers feel closer to their favourite musicians. The front cover will not look too commercial because this would repel my target audience which is 20-25 aged real music lovers.

This is a photograph of a girl whose style is so unique and interesting.I saw her giving out leaflets at Camden.I was so lucky to have me camera on me.I asked the girl if I could take a picture of her for my media studies and she agreed.The picture is perfect for a front cover because it's a mid shot which will be perfectly positioned centrally on my front cover page.The picture is of a very good quality and is suitable for a front cover central image because it has strong eye contact and is related to alternative rock music.The style of the girl-her hair,make up and clothing, is related to the music genre of Nirvana.The picture was not initially planned neither the model's clothing and style.However this does not make the picture any less perfect or appropriate for Nirvana's cover. The girl from the picture would be called Amelia who is a rock singer.She would be the new artist featured in Nirvana's issue.

All of these pictures will be used in my contents page. All of the them are of high quality and are exposed and composed in an effective professional way.My aim is to create a well balanced,interesting and informative contents page that differs from the front cover as it consists of multiple photos instead of one central image.The contents page will outline the main features of the magazine such as featured articles and typical information (e.g. charts,upcoming gigs). The provided information would be used to keep the audience curious and interested in the magazine.

The pictures of the boy and the girl and the girl who is wearing a costume are original.I have taken them for the music magazine project.The first artists(the boy and the girl) are supposed to be twins who sing together.Their band is called One whole which suggests that they don't feel like different individuals and their lives are connected.When taking their pictures I made sure they look like rock artists.I have used dark make up, fluffy big hair style, appropriate clothing.I also drew a tattoo on the boy's arm which is actually an acoustic guitar.The pictures are positioned in a very similar way so that they can easily be put together.

The other pictures I have taken are of a girl whose hair is curly and red. I took most of the pictures on Halloween when she was dressed up like a witch.I really like the pictures because I used canon 30D which is a professional camera that gave me the perfect quality images.I warned the girl that I would be taking pictures of her to make sure her clothing was appropriate for the magazine.The pictures I have taken are all related to rock music because they show freedom, beauty and danger(e.i. the ones with the fire poi and the sword).She would be a new successful artist who loves good music.Her name is Killing Time which suggests that we don't have enough time and should not waste it by pretending we are something we aren't.The double page spread of the magazine will be dedicated to Killing time.

I will now move on into front cover planning.

I have used dafont.com to find an appropriate and interesting font for my music magazine.Click on the picture below to see the fonts I have chosen to use including the final font for the title of the magazine.

Before starting to work on the production of a contents page for my music magazine I have closely looked at different contents pages to determine the typical features of a music magazine contents page.I have looked at two different contents pages and the devices they use to inform and attract their audiences.
The figure on the left is a contents page designed by a media AS student. It looks very effective and interesting- almost as a professionally done content page. I like the high quality pictures used in the contents page because they attract and also inform the audience about the contents of the page.I love the way she has used faded music related pictures for a top border of the page.However the Contents page could be criticized for being too interesting and focusing its aim on attracting rather than informing the audience. The viewer's attention is drawn to the pictures and the colours rather than on the actual content of the magazine.

In contrast to the student designed contents page, the image on the right shows a different approach to contents page for a music magazine. The contens page has been professionally designed for a real rock magazine called Drummer.This is such a strong and effective contents page. All of it's features work excellent in informing and attracting the target audience.The retro styled pictures direct the audience to the title of the magazine and it's 'nature' because drums are usually associated with rock music.Organisation and clear consequent structure make this content page an excellent piece of publication. The images with page number on the top work exceptionally well in enticing the viewer because they inform him without giving too much away.This keeps the viewer interested in the magazine as it makes him curious the 'story' behind the pictures. I will aim at producing a similar content page to Drummer's one.

Now that I had the chance to look at different contents pages I am clearer on what mine is going to be like.The figure below is a jpeg of the word document i have created to help me with the production of a contents page. I have used different shapes to indicate where each element is going to be.Click on the image below to see my initial contents page idea.

It has been a week since I have posted the poll on my blog to gather peoples' preferences for a title of a new magazine. Over 70% of the people voted for Nirvana being the most suitable title for a music magazine. I agree with this because all the connotations of Nirvana match the "rock" music images in my head. The idea of freedom, power ,self-attainment and satisfaction has always been associated with the aim of Music because music is meant to help us find our way in life and achieve happiness and Independence. Nirvana is also one of the most popular rock bands.This brings up the hesitation of whether it is appropriate to use a rock band name for Title of a magazine.However we all know how successful Rolling Stone magazine is even though its likely that its named after a band called The rolling stones- the band that put the outlining of rock music. I am now going to research Rolling stone in order to check where it's name came from.

I have found out that the magazine was first published in 1967- five years after The Rolling Stones were formed.This suggests that that the band did not copy the name of the Magazine. I have also found out that the magazine is actually named after the 1948 Muddy Waters song of the same name. Taking into account Rolling Stone's history I think it would be reasonable to use Nirvana as a name for my magazine because Rolling Stone is one of the most memorable magazine and half of its success is rooted in its title connotations. People would always associate "rolling stone" phrase with something powerful and immortal.

Another aspect of my magazine is going to be the audience.I have decided not to go with my Survey results because the audience of 16-20 would be an unsure and inappropriate audience for such a serious and 'deep' magazine. I want to make sure you understand that my magazine is not going to be focused on rock and retro only.It would be focused on bands and artist who love music not because of money but because they find it helpful and inspiring.The magazine will be also featuring other genres of music and modern groups as long as their music is truthful and not too commercial. My decision is supported by the survey I have carried out early on in the project which indicated hat people are desperately missing real music.

Young adults 20-25 would be the perfect target audience for my magazine because they are neither too young or too old for this type of magazine. Teenagers' music preferences are not stabled because teenagers are quite young and unclear about their favourite music genre. On the other hand older people would prefer more intellectual genres of music such as classical,dance and lyrical ballads. My magazine would be directed to pupils aged 20-25, however it will include articles everyone.Younger people would be welcomed to read about new modern bands and older people would have the chance to be once again fascinated by Retro and Rock music. By not restricting my magazine style (e.g. modern and 'cool') it's likelier that more people are interested and buying the magazine.This means that more revenue would be earned and invested in the business.

To overcome the problems of digital magazines I will not create an Internet version of Nirvana. People who want to read the magazine will be only able to do so by buying it.However there will be a website of Nirvana where the magazine will be featured and advertised.This will get people interested in Nirvana and convince them to buy it. The website would also be the place where the audience can post their comments about articles, events or just an ordinary posts related to music or the magazine.The most interesting responses would be published in the magazine so that the audience can see real peoples' opinions which are not aimed at persuading them in order to make money. Another aspect of the website would be that there will be a place where the viewer can say what articles or magazine features they are interested in. These opinions would be used as improvement indications and objectives of Nirvana.Having a website where the audience can express their views challenges conventions of typical music magazines and would be very successful in satisfying and therefore attracting the consumers.