eval pt 6 and 7

I used a lot of technology in the making of this magazine, mostly indesign and photoshop for editing images and putting the magazine together, but i also used programs such as prezi in the evaluation to present information, all of which broadened my knowledge of technology and how to use it. Being an avid photographer i am not new to photoshop making it easier for me to get into the swing of editing images for the magazine. I wanted all of the photos to look bright and pure in order to keep with the sharp/smart look of the magazine, so i used to spot healing brush on photoshop to take most of the blemishes/impurities out of the background of the images making them bright and making the central focus of the image stand out from the background more. I also messed with the curves a bit until the right level of contrast was found between the central focus and the background. Although i did leave the shadowing of the flash and flood lamps in the background to keep the image as a whole looking natural. I did this for the central image on the cover, the central image on the double page spread, and the editorial image, all whilst trying to keep them consistent so they did not look too edited. I learned that the spot healing brush was a brush is a smaller, brush form of the auto fill tool that takes its surroundings and guesses what it would look like if it carried on rather than the blemish that you would cover with it. Along with new photoshop skills i also learned to use new programs like glogster and prezi to convey information on my blog. Glogster is an interactive poster making piece of site that allows you to make a page full of links, videos, text and pictures that i put onto my blog to show off the audience that i was to end up aiming my magazine at. I also used prezi in order to make the interactive 3d slide show about the media institutions in my evaluation. I took all of the pictures used with my Nikon D3100, both in and out of the studio, also using large flashes to create the desired shadowing in the studio. The main piece of software i used was obviously indesign to put it all together, I had briefly used indesign before to work on the college magazine cover, so i kind of had a rough idea of how to use it by the time it came to the music magazine. As i have previously said i wanted to go for the more sophisticated, pure look which not many other magazines have gone for using a lot of white space and not overcrowding the cover being easy on the eye for potential customers yet still have selling points and appeal to the target audience. Editing everything on photoshop was the main task, but putting it together was left to indesign which i thought was a good choice as it looks like a professional magazine and exactly how i wanted it. it allowed me to achieve exactly what i set out to by being simple and not over-complicating everything.

In a nutshell, i have learned a lot and picked up a lot of new skills throughout the course of this task. The audience that i set out to reach is a lot more diverse than i originally thought and my eyes have been opened to a whole new side of it through initial exploration of the scene. I have also learned a lot more about the technology used to create magazines such as indesign and photoshop. It is easy to see from the drastic change in quality between my college magazine and my music magazine that my technological know-how has come on leaps and bounds since the start of the project. My understanding of the use of indesign is the major factor that effected this as my knowledge of it has gone from virtually none to knowing my way around it fairly well.

in my college magazine, the quality of everything is poor and rushed, photography, text, use of space on the cover. Whereas on the music magazine, you can see that my understanding of magazine covers has improved and it has a much more professional feel overall comparing with both my early drafts and college magazine.

The difference is quality is clear when comparing my final drafts for both my college magazine (left) and music magazine (right). the music magazine looks like a professionally made magazine whereas the college magazine looks like what someone would put together whilst learning their way around indesign.

eval pt 5 addressing the audience

First of all, on the cover, i did not want it to be very out there and in your face. The target audience would already be informed of this magazines existence through advertising so having it stand out in newsagents would not be necessary and would not go with the rest of the theme throughout the magazine. The first thing you notice of course is the central image. although its not exactly in your face, it is a break from the other colour scheme being the only piece of green on the page which attracts the audiences eye off the bat. I used an indirect mode of address to convey the general mood of the article that was being advertised as it was not exactly a happy one. I kept with the blue red and white colour scheme on the cover to stay with the mod theme but on the contents page I used a bokeh Christmas tree to indicate that it is a Christmas edition.

On the cover and article pages I left a lot of white space so the eyes could rest and the pages were not as cramped and visually straining as some magazines I have studied, more like clash but without losing some of the conventions. I tried to entice the audience by adding a competition 'WIN an evening with Paul Weller' not only does this reference the most influential mod of all time making it instantly appealing to the audience, it uses an imperative which tells the audience to do it, therefore making them want to buy the magazine more. I also used a banner at the top saying 'GIGS! up to date with the latest gigs from the featured bands?' as a kind of gig guide to add an extra USP, and with the modernist scene being heavily influenced by live music and having a lot of money to spend this will be a good extra selling point for them which will not have been covered by the rest of the market. Another USP that I added was saying that it was an 'interview edition' and listed some of the interviews that would be in the magazine, this would make the current audience of the magazine feel more inclined to buy it as it is a one off, and also entice a new audience to buy the magazine if they like one of the artists that are being interviewed. This is just another feature that would only help the sales and reputation of the magazine.

I wanted to make some features of the cover regular items such as the top and bottom banners/menu strips and the anchorage being mostly at the bottom left to give the magazine brand an almost uniform style that it would follow monthly so the audience would be able to spot it quickly on the shelf and get used to the feel and style of it, almost make it grow on them as routine.

eval pt 4 audience

I found from my audience research that my audience was slightly more male that had a lot of money to spend on clothes and took pride in how smart they looked, so i tried to appeal to this by creating a sleek looking, minimalistic magazine that still uses most of the conventions that other magazines. I found from my audience research that a lot of mods consider themselves smart looking and have higher paid jobs than average. Also they pride themselves on their fashion sense, but with it also being aimed at the indie crowd i did not want to focus mainly on fashion as although the fashions do mix, there are certain things that are specific to each group.

I wanted to appeal mostly to the male audience due to the results of my audience research, but i did not want to strongly go one way as it was only 60:40 and a lot of females would still be included in the target audience. So i did use some language that would appeal more to males such as describing someone as 'the last famous international playboy' and referring to mainly male worn clothing in the editorial, but overall I tried to keep it from veering towards one gender more than the other.

I also wanted to cater for the people in the higher payed jobs, so i advertised a gig guide that would give the more wealthy audience an extra reason to buy the magazine as they have more money to spend on concerts. In an attempt to make the article and double page spread look more classy and sleek; I added lines to box the text in almost and a white strip at the bottom that cuts the page up to keep it from looking like too much is going on. This could become a trend/reoccurrence in future editions of ATMC's Main articles or interviews. I tried to keep as much white space as possible on the double page spread so a lot of things weren't trying to catch the eye and distracting you from the article so it would be an easy read after a hard days work or a long ride on the vespa. This also made it look a lot more stylish and less childish and scruffy like magazines such as kerrang where the double page spreads have a lot of features bustled on the page all competing for the audiences eye. Although I went for the minimalistic approach, I again tried to keep as many conventions as possible such as a masthead, definable columns, quotes, a short introduction to the article. I ended up having to cut half of the article out to keep as much white space as possible as the article filled almost the whole double page spread and it looked fairly crowded which would have made it look messy and that was not the look that I wanted.

I also found out that mods spend a fair bit of money on albums each year so I added a section in the contents page called albums of the month that would be a reoccurring section in ATMC that would cater for the mods musical needs that month. It advertises both new and old albums so both the original mods that listen to ska, rocksteady and soul; and the mod influenced indie group would be more inclined to buy the magazine every month as almost a buyers guide as well as the content such as articles and interviews.

I think that overall I tried to target employed, 20-30 year olds but i didn't want to let this effect the magazine too much as there was still a large audience that was not in these brackets. Also i did not want the magazine to be aimed at one gender or ethnicity in particular although the majority of mods are white male working class that like to look smart. So I left the whole thing just targeted at the mod/indie bracket in general so that the mods that are not in the specific bracket still feel just as influenced to buy the magazine.

Eval pt 3

Eval Pt.2. Social Group.

The 'mod' scene is a very marmite one, you either love it or hate it. Certain styles have been brought from the 60s when the mod scene originally kicked off, which stole some of the "Teddy Boy's" fashion without the flamboyant bright peacock like suits and 'ducks arse' haircut. At first they were called coffee cats as they hung around in coffee shops listening to modern jazz which led to the name 'mods' rather than those who listened to traditional jazz, 'Trads'... their music taste has since broadened to incorporate anything from RnB Ska and Reggae brought In from the Jamaican Rudeboys, to indie and punk, pioneered by people like Paul Weller and refined by people like Miles Kane, Liam and Noel Gallagher. Through all of this one thing has stayed the same, the fashion. Suits, Polo Shirts, Smart Shoes, Pressed Trousers. Everything has to be sharp and classy, which has always been loved. At first the Mods and Rudeboys were labelled as kind of outcasts or a 'rebellious youth subculture', going to all night soul dances, taking amphetamine so they can dance for longer, having fights with rockers in Brighton. But now they are regarded as almost higher working class figures, respected by many for the way they dress and style themselves. So many things targeted at mods often have a sense of class and style about them. Also mods nowadays are sometimes part of the indie music scene, influenced by artists like Beady Eye and Miles Kane. The 2 music genres which at first will have been very different have now joined and steal styles from each other, Fred Perry, Ben Sherman and tight Levi jeans are all now worn by people who like indie music and they were all staples of mod fashion.

 

Some example of mod fashion that has been taken by more modern indie bands. 

 

 

A mod revival band, 'The Jam' with frontman Paul Weller, possibly the most well known mod ever.

 

 

 

I have tried to relate to both Modernists and more indie style people with the use of language and imagery in my magazine. Even the title 'All the mod cons' is a reference to the jam album from the mod revival era 'all mod cons'. I also referenced a popular TV show in the 60s, on which the who played a few times, called 'ready steady go' in the editorial. Ready steady go was a very influential show for many teens in the 60s as it gave them a new insight into music and showed new fashions. similar to what 'the old grey whistle test did in the 80s showing the Jam on TV for the first time and making hundreds of teens and people in their 20s to follow the mod revival fashion, selling out stores of their 2 tone winkle pickers, bomber jackets and 3 button suits.

 

I also tried to show the mod theme in the pictures I chose throughout the magazine, showing classic styles of mod clothing such as Harringtons, bombers, button down shirts, parkas and straight fit levi jeans.

 

 

 The editorial image of me wearing a Harrington and button down gingham shirt.

 

 

 

 The article photo of Ted wearing a parka.

 



 

 Here is a link to a blog called 'Parka Avenue' which is about living as a traditional mod in the 21st century. It shows the classier side of the mod scene with sharp suits and original soul music like Motown and Northern Soul rather than the indie side that has stolen elements.

 

http://parkaavenue.blogspot.co.uk/

 

I tried to represent both sides in my magazine through use of language and imagery. In the article I represented mostly the indie scene whereas in the editorial, contents page and cover I mentioned more traditional things. I did this so I could appeal to both audiences as in mentioned in the audience research, both the older and the new wave of mods. Although very different music tastes are shared, class and style is highly regarded by both, weather it is wearing fred perry or ben shermans with jeans and desert boots, or full tonic suits. They always stand out from the crowd and are definable by their hair and dress sense. In the words of Phil Daniels (Jimmy from Quadraphenia) "But I don't want to be like everyone else! That's why I'm a mod see'. Mods are proud to be mod as they are proud of standing out from the crowd and being how they want to be.

Eval pt.1 Forms and conventions

Evaluation Question 1

Final Magazine.