The type of magazine I have chosen to do is one aimed at an older teen (16+) for young adults who prefer rock/indie music. I want it to look original and catch your eye. The people I took pictures of are not a band, they are boy and girl. I thought this would look good because they look youthful. I planned on using the same band on the cover page as on the contents and double page spread as the double page was about them. Because I had taken quite a few photos I decided to use the others for the contents page. I did a photo shoot in the media studio using proper lighting. I had to think about the colour scheme too considering how it would look with the pictures and the fonts I was going to use.
Construction
The first thing I had to think about and create was the title of my magazine. The title I chose was “Skeen” which means “understood/good” and is often used in areas of London by people who listen to rock/indie music which I think is very appropriate. However I did think of others such as “Boomer” but I wasn’t too keen on it. So I chose “Skeen” I like it because it is short, memorable and original as many people won’t have actually heard of it, with it being a new music magazine people will see it and remember the name! The next thing I decided on was the colours, I wanted to use blue, black and white as they go together and looked good around the pictures I chose. The main reason I chose the font was because it really caught my eye as it looked professional and well fitting. I think it was quite a contrast to the picture too because the picture looks quite soft whereas the font is quite grungy looking. On the left of the picture I had the heading, “The Originalz” which is the name of the band. This text is in a font that I used on the double page spread for the same words as I think it looks original as the bands signature font. Underneath this, the text reads “Exclusive interview about their new album “Rise or Live Lying” and they tell Skeen about drummer Jassi’s departure!” I used a simple font for this text as it needed to be easy on the eyes to make you want to read this story. The picture I chose was a close one of Jamie and Steph (band members), Steph is standing in front of Jamie and
looking, at the camera whilst smiling - almost cheekily. Jamie is not looking at the camera, he only has a slight grin on his face which shows a bit more seriousness as he is the writer and Steph is the singer. The two look like close friends as well as a band which I liked. There is just a white background to emphasise the two band members. There is quite a large space on the right side too, I want this to symbolise where Jassi (former band member who recently left) should be. I edited the light on this picture too before using it. There are also some other stories on the front page but they are not the main story so if there is a picture it is smaller and the fonts are smaller. I decided not to include the page numbers under any of the stories featured on the front page as they can be found easily on the contents page.The contents page has quite a uniform structure with the text “Skeen Contents” being centre at the top. On the left side of the page there is a blue rectangle which is the length of the whole page it contains a band list. The band names are in black and the page of the magazine in which they appear is in white. The featured stories on the front cover are in a larger font in this box. Next to this box are five pictures of “The Originalz” but they are not five different pictures, there are only two pictures. One of them is
repeated 3 times and the other twice. They get bigger from the 
bottom picture too moving down the page. Underneath this there are other stories and another picture of “The Originalz” with their backs to the camera pointing towards the camera with their thumbs. On the right side of this page there are some of the main stories from the front page with the page numbers. They are in a different font than that of the title and the band signature font. The font is interesting and quite wacky, it fits well to the texts too which are about festivals.For the double page spread I decided that I would only put text on one page and have the page on the left with pictures on. I chose a picture with Steph and Jamie together. It showed the two of the bending over next to each other with their heads down and their arms and hands dangling. I think this picture is really original as I have never seen anything like it. I felt that even though it could be said that it is a bad thing that their faces cannot be seen, but I think there are enough pictures of their faces on other pages. I wanted something different. On this page
the same picture appears twice however each only fills half of the page and is mirrored underneath/on top. On the opposite page you will find the main story. There is a lot of text fitted onto the page and I fell if I had of spread it out over two pages it would have looked like even more. The text is about their new album and the highly anticipated wait. There is an interview with Steph and Jamie and also some fan messages! The fan messages are in a font that looks more like human handwriting as I wanted it to realistic and basically more fun. Throughout the production, certain changes had been made to font colour, image size and typing errors needed to be changed. If these things were not right then it would affect the whole appearance of the magazine.Evaluation
Looking at my finished product I am very pleased and feel it compares to many of the popular music magazines out there today that you see on the shelves. It looks cool, original, professional and looks like an alternative music magazine. When you look at it you don’t get the impression it is about all one music genre however. The front cover is interesting, eye catching and gets your attention. The colours compliment each other and look good with the picture. I don’t think the colours used are typical of a music magazine but are still varied and vibrant. They are not off putting or confusing. The colours used on the front cover also follow through on the other pages as I limited my palette of colours so it wouldn’t be overwhelming. I don’t think my magazine looks like it is directed a certain sex either which it shouldn’t be. It should also be aimed at older teenagers (16-19) and I think that the way it looks and the stories inside are relevant to people of this age. The text on the double page is quite complex but its interesting and uses words that the reader can relate to. There are some slang words used. During the process of constructing this product I have learnt a lot of new skills of different technologies. For example I now know how to use Photoshop and a photographic camera properly now which will come in useful, I really needed those skills during the construction too because all of the work was done on Photoshop. Looking back at my preliminary task I have learnt what to do and what not to do. I have become better on Photoshop and found different, easier methods to do things and I decided against taking my photos outside for my final product like I did in the preliminary. The lighting is much better and professional in a studio.
I spoke to my parents a few friends about what they thought of my magazine. My parents said they wouldn’t buy it because it looked too youthful for them as the people on the front (The Originalz) looked young and the magazine gave off a youthful vibe. Most of my friends said they would buy the magazine because they felt it appealed to them as it looked fun and exciting to read. Not complicated like a magazine for older people!
I am extremely satisfied with my final product as it took a lot of time to do and I feel that all of the hard work has paid off. I also think that I have achieved what the brief asked of me successfully!
AS group 04