Evaluation

In order to create a magazine for my coursework that illustrates the best of my ability I chose to design and create a personal magazine in which I would be able to add my own personal identity and flair. Me and my group have created three issues with the concept of music and fashion and how these are able to reflect the ideologies we need to appeal and attract to our chosen target audience.
The chosen name of magazine ‘Strobe’ was decided due to the fusion we are going to create of music and fashion and how the word strobe can be associated with both as of the lighting used in catwalks and fashion photo shoots and of the strobe lighting used in clubs and there trance beats as the nightlife that yuong materialists and lifestyle seekers expreience on a daily bases.
I have researched various inspirational artists such as Pixie lott, The Saturdays etc which are all associated with the rock/indie genre which I will create as a hybrid of my magazine. Another institution which had a strong influence on the creating of Strobe is fashion magazines such as Grazia. My magazine has been developed from various music magazines such as Q and NME in order for me to gain knowledge of what the typical conventions needed to make a successful and realistic music magazine. I wanted strobe to contain the typical elements but have its own unique identity and flair to make us individual and nothing else similar In the market today.
The three issues will be based on up coming events, music festivals, new upcoming artists music and articles in which they a strong interest in both music and fashion. The three girls i have used for my artist girl group is one of my co members of my group and two of my friends. I have style, modelled my girl group and got a range of different images in order to appeal and attract to my target audience of young girls of a similar age who share the same lifestyle demographic and ideologies conveyed through my girl group. The young, exciting new girl group i have created in order to reflect my overall theme of music and fashion.
I wanted the magazine my group created of 'strobe' to be a unique product to any other already exisisting music magazines by creating a magazine which has not already been developed in the industry, such as a funky house magazine with a hybrid genre of indie/rock and then fashion as a semiotic to convey the ideologies associated with this genre.
Creating my girl group called 'Candy rain', i wanted to convey a strong rock rebellious image, by there red lipstick, high heels, and back combed messy hair, yet i still want to portray a glamourous image which can be shown through photoshoots. I also want the girls image i have created to appeal to the middle class society as of there aspiration for wealth and glamourous lifestyle and also the upper class who can relate and afford the lifestyle demographic associated with the funky house genre. I feel my magazine can broaden the target audience by not only focusing on one magazine genre but appealing to rock/indie fans and also people which have high interest in fashion.




When creating my front cover of my magazine after researching artists in the music industry, i have used my inspirations to help me create a yuong, fresh, fun new group who come across as sexy, independant, successful, glamourous women. I've chosen to create this look by having the three girls looking straight towards the camera with the facial expression of smiling and laughing to convey their happy and wealthy lifestyle. The girls looking on wards to the camera in order to engage and involve the reader. I have also try to include an element of glamour and class due to the girls strong red lipstick and hair neatly done either, and the girls wearing black dresses which has the fashion connotation of little black dress.




For my contents page i have used the colour scheme of red,black, and white which synchronize with the house style of the genre of the magazine. The way i have styled my artist also portrays the house style as of the black dresses, red heels, and red hairband. The styling and pose of my artists echos the ideology of thier materialistic and glamourous lifestyle shown through the girls clothing, jewllery, makeup and pose. My contents page follows the typical convetions of fashion and music magazines as the contents list is on the left side with an image next to it. Its a neat, feminine and clean layout which makes it easily readable which helps attract to my yuong target audience. I have used red colour boxes to highlight the headlines of things to be included in my magazine i decided to do this after researching a popular fashion magazine known as Grazia as they also do this on a number of there contents pages.

For my double page spread i have tried to create a fun, femine, fresh page and to follow this theme throughtout. I decided to have the background of both pages as the same image in order to have this as the doinant picture and be the main focus on both pages. I wanted to convey to the audience the fun element of my magazine as funky house music is assoicated with the ibiza clubbing scene which connotes dancing, drinking etc and also the different ways you can experiment and express yourself in the way you dress. I tried to convey the ideology of successful, yuong , fun girls by the smaller images of the girls having a pillow fight and then having there bright facial expressions . In the main image is a close up shot where i have styled the girls to have an angry facial expression to show both sides of their personality, from this image i wanted to portray there rebellious, wild side which links to the hybrid genre of rock/indie. I have created a colloqual, informal,chatty tone due to the target of teens for my target audience. I have broke the text into three seperate columns rather then one big piece of text in order to keep the readers interested and making it more easier to read. From having a fashion element into my magazine i have decided to represent the interview in a narrative including various topics such as my artists music, fashion sense, there relationship with one another and will reveal interesting facts about them as a whole. I want the reader to feel asif they kno the girls as i give them an insight to there lifestyle.

Insititutions such as magazine publishers would distribute my magazine as of its unusual and unique concept which introduces a funky house genre with a hybird of indie/rock which then has a strong element of fashion all linked into one.I feel strobe would be a good music magazine to invest in as its can make a strong impact on the industry as there is a gap in the market for a funky house genre magazine.
As of my magazines fusion with fashion, high fashion stores such as Topshop, Allsaints, H and M would be a potential idea to present Strobe as this is where my target audience would be. Also music stores such as HMV and then supermakerts and convienants stores such as Waitrose, marks and Spencers, and newsagents to attract the middle class society my magazine focuses on to attract. I have also considered travel agents as of funky house strong association with Ibizia and other clubbing resorts as of there trance beats and lyrics used.

My magazine will appeal to the lifestyle of materialists and aspiration seekers, due to fashion being a predominant feature throughout my magazine. I have tried to reflect this ideology through the creation of my girl band" Candy Rain" there styling and poses, also the text, colour scheme and name of the my magazine. Also the glamour associated with the clubbing scene which represents the funky house genre it will also focus on wealth seekers, and escapism as of my target audience wanted to expreience this glamourous lifestyle. My magazine is female specific due to the girl group i have created and style which will appeal to a middle class society as of their aspiration for success and role models my artist will create. My issue also included information of the latest gigs and music festivals which are mainly watched and attented to by yuong people, as of funky house being listened to mainly the yuonger genreation who are into the clubbing scene. Due to the assocation clubs, gigs festivals have with drugs, alcohol my magazine will lightly attract people who have the lifestyle demographic of anti athourity rebels, such as other rock/indie magazine attract which is a hybird genre of Strobe. Having also a hybird genre and fashion element will widen our target audience to different aspects of music and fashion.

From my completion of my magazine i have learnt how to use a number of different software such as photoshop where i have been able to manipulate and edit images to be effective and appeal to the ideologies of my magazine where i could design layouts and fonts. I was able to crop and adjust the quality of my photos as well as use the blur tool , to create a proffesial outcome on the outline of each image. I also found the layering tool very useful to show my development of ideas as photoshop gave me the opportunity to record layers from where i started to my final outcome. I know feel comfortable in using this programme as I learnt how to crop my images and use the magic wand tool to get rid of any backgrounds in which I did not kno how to do before.

Personally I feel I have improved from the Preliminary task, mainly from the use of technology. When doing the Preliminary task, I wasn’t able to manipulate and edit photos to the extent to which I can Know. Since the preliminary task I have learnt that having a clear target audience from the genre of your magazine is a important element to anyone designing a magazine. Everything revolves around the audience e.g the images, fonts, texts etc.For the Preliminary task, I was not as aware of this and didn’t research it as much as I should have. Also for my coursework I made a plan so I didn’t waste time and knew exactly what had to be done . I decided on a group artists with three people and the pictures I wanted to create all before the day I took the pictures in order to be ready. For the premiliminary task I hadnt done much planiing therefore some images I tried to create I couldn’t due to limit of money and location. I also planned out the design and colours I wanted to use in order to make sure I could portray the concepts I wanted to.

Questionaires for name of music magazine

Before deciding with my group on the name of ‘Strobe’, my group thought of a number of names as we felt this was an extremely important feature of the magazine as before even reading the magazine it automatically can illustrate to the audience to the genre and ideologies the magazine represents. We wanted a name that you would be able to remember as having significance between music and fashion which is the genre of my magazine. I created a magazine in order to find out about other peoples opinions,, in which they feel would be a interesting and recognisable name. I also felt this was a good way to involve your target audience and to attract your magazine to them as your letting them have an in put to the designing of your magazine.

Double page spread pitch

For my double page spread, I’m going to create an interview with my artist group I designed specifically for my magazine. I’m going to ask questions on both music and fashion to illustrate my magazine being a genre which looks at both of these elements. I want to ask these questions in an informal, chatty, tone to appeal and attract to my teenage audience and capture the calm and relax, and true personality of my artist. I’m going to ask the group about there up coming trends, there own individual styles, and how they reflect this into their music and clothes they wear.

I’m going to reveal interesting information and facts to keep the readers entertained and to want to carry on reading. I want to incorporate questions to highlight there glamorous, wealthy lifestyle associated with the genre of my magazine. I’m going to pick out quotes and then re use them and enlarge them so at first glance the reader can find out information about the artist already, and also to show there lifestyle of a fresh, new fashion icon and music icon in the industry today which will influence the young generation , my magazine has attracted.

My Artist

The artist group I will be featuring on the cover, contents, and double page spread of my magazine, I have used a co member of my magazine, along with two of my friends. I chose to use these three members as I want to create three individual people within one group all of which have their own personality and fashion sense, in order to convey my overall theme of a cross between music and fashion.
I created my group and called them ‘Candy Rain’ to create a unique and edgy tone to portray their rebellious, quirky style image and aspirational song lyrics in order to appeal and attract my target audience. I wanted to create a magazine with a young girl group like this as of their being a gap in the market for teens which are trying to incorporate both a materialistic and anti authority lifestyle along with a glamorous and wealthy life style demographic.
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I researched current artist individuals and groups who also have a edgy, rock, effortless look which are also extremely beautiful and glamorous in order to get inspiration for which I want my artist group to symbolise. As of the funky house genre being associated with the clubbing scene as of big record labels such as Headkandi and Ministry of sound I then wanted to create a sexy yet classy, flesh baring clothing, big high heeled shoes, black dresses, and red lipstick, in order to achieve a glamorous and wealthy look. I wanted to take images of fun, young girls , having high confidence by their poses and facial expressions as on the front cover close ups of the girls laughing to symbolise them being happy successful women. I also wanted to portray the artist group as caring, young and friendly by the image of my contents which includes them stroking a dog. On my double page spread the image of my artist are all screaming which shows there fun yet wild side associated with funky house but still convey the fashion element of their red lipstick, dark smokey eyes and glamorous jewellery which portrays my overall concept of both music and fashion.

My chosen Magazine Genre

My group and i have decided to create a music magazine which is based on the genre of 'Funky House'. 'Funky house' music is kno becoming more well known due to its record label with Ministry of Sound and Head Kandi which are extremley popular in the clubbing scene and current music festivals which now connote a strong connection with this genre. Considering the increase in popularity my gorup decided to create a funky house magazine as there is a gap in the market for a music magazine of this genre.
Due to mainly the yuonger generation of fans having an interest with this music i want to create a magazine with artists who can portray a yuong , fresh, aspirational and exictitng element to this genre of music. My magazine will mainly focus on targeting a upper/ middle class society due to its connatations of glamour, success, and wealth ideology which people from the middle class can aspire to have and upper class people can realte to living a materialistic lifestyle and can afford to live this glamourous life which this magazine promotes. My magazine will try to appeal to the age of 15-25 with a mix of both genders but mainly girls due to the female artists i will include to represent our fashion element and be aspirational role models for yuong girls. The market appears to have an increase in rock/indie magazines which targets a wide range of people from yuong to old, therefore i want my magazine to be unique to any other genres out there and create a new exciting atmosphere to the magazine industry.

My double page spread draft

For the development of my magazine, I have drawn a variety of layouts in order to experiment with different ways in order to create an attractive, realistic magazine. I wanted to experiment with different ideas to see which ones look more professional and had the most creativity and uniqueness.

Here i have roughly drawn out sketches of ideas for my final product to look like. I had an idea of the layout i wanted to create for my final product and i ended up following this layout idea and using this in my finished product. I specificly liked this layout idea due to having the main image of the main focus of the magazine which i kno is the most predominant feature. The background is the main image with the other two pictures and text are over lapping which i felt is effective as the page is colourful and looks busy. I also wanted to make sure there wasnt any irrelevance space on either of the two page so i also included two more small picture in either corner which made the page look more interesting and fun. I also seperated the text in order for the text to be easily readable and not look boring and dull.
I had the artist name above the image in order to keep the focus on the main image but also be visable and eye cathcing the the reader. On the top right corner i included a quote from which one of the girls say in the interview which i feel is placed neatly in the corner and isnt getting in the way of the actual text.

My front cover draft

My front cover draft

In order to get a rough idea of how I'm going to create the layout for my magazine, i drew up a rough sketch to see if i would like my design. I went through a number of different ideas untill i came up with my final product.
After researching typical layouts of other magazines and the typical features included on the magazine I wanted to have the main image as the background picture to be the main focus and attract of my magazine.
On the left hand side i have a number of text boxes in which im going to have have an insight of headlines of what is going to be included in the magazine. I decided to show this list on the left side in order to keep it neat and easily readable.
At the top of the cover is the masthead of the magazine which is placed there as this is typic of a magazine to place this at the top. This is effective as its attracts the audience being clear and placed at the top but centred in the middle. Across the picture on the right hand side is the name of artist as well as a puff. I placed this on the left so it didnt cover up the centre of the picture and take away any of the focus from the image. At the bottom of the page is the barcode as its not important for the consumer and is a typical place for a bar code to be.
I think this is a successful layout design due to it being neat and easily readable with the main focus being an image.