My Evaluation of my magazine Amplified!

DPS



This is my double page spread. I decided to create an exlcusive interview with my featured band Batteries not Included, it was basically going behind the scenes and getting a glimpse of what life is really like for rockstars in the making!

It took alot of work creating this dps as I encountered a few problems that took up alot of time to slove. I had to keep adjusting minor errors and it got very tiring having to keep doing the same thing over again, I also had problems saving and a couple of times lost all my work and had to start over from scrtach, however in the end it was worth it.

I planned out the interview before hand and wrote out exactly what I was going to do for my finialised Dps. This made it fairly simple because all I needed to focus on was getting the images in place and sorting out how to layout the text and make it look professional.

I based the language used in my interview from the text interviews I had seen in Kerrang! and I tried to make it very laid back, friendly while giving it my own personal twist . The layout was based on an interview from Q as it was very neat and tidy using the similar block colours at the top of the page, However I relied mostly on text rather than images which I feel makes the whole product look busy and full of imfomation while still containing an element of organisation.

Contents Page

This is my contents page. I based this on a contents page from Q and Kerrang! I wanted to show an organised and clean vibe while still giving the reader alot of imfomation.

I thought using darker colours would balance out the female images and create an edgey rocker effect while still keeping sex appeal and a feminine tone to it.

I also used my own images because again I thought it made it seem more personal, and shows I worked hard taking time to take pictures that would make my contents page and whole concept of my magazine Amplified appear more realistic.

I am rather proud of my outcome, because this is exactly what I wanted to achieve when I had the idea in my head.

Finalised Front Cover


Previously I had made a demo Cover using the Foo Fighters as the dominant central image.

I choose to use them because they are a well known band that most
people enjoy, and I believed they would appeal to a wide target
audience. The image on the right is my Demo Front Cover.

However I changed my mind
after brainstorming ideas and looking at all my research, because I realized using one of my own images would make it more personal. So I tried to come up with an idea which would standout to my chosen target audience and which would also be unique compared to other rock magazines.

I came up with the idea to create my own band called Batteries not Included, which would be an all girl band. I thought this would be appropiate because it's very rare to see female artists in rock music, other than maybe the bands like paramore, who have a female lead singer. I thought this would also attract more females into purchasing this type of magazine because its different.

I started brainstorming more ideas for my finalised front cover and played about with alot of different layouts, fonts, images and colours until I felt I had found the look I was going for. The image on the left is my finalised front cover.

I feel that I have improved alot since my pre-lim task, because my knowledge of photoshop has strengthend and I am now more comfortable using the different tools and effects to enhance and make photos look professional. I also think looking at my demo its clear that I now undertsand what it takes to make a magazine front cover. You have to do alot of research and planning to make sure you know who the other competitors are in the market, so you can try and create a unqiue product that will generate more profit.

I looked at a wide range of music magazines such as Kerrang!, The Rolling Stone, Q, NME, Metal Hammer, Classic Rock ect. All of this is shown in my scrapbook, I commented on things such as the layout, images, colours, font, and text which are all important factors in a good magazine front cover. I decided to base most of my ideas from Amplified on Kerrang, The Rolling Stone and Q because they focus on a wide range of music whereas the others focus on one certian area. I think I sucessfuly created a front cover that fits in with my genre and the target audience I chose and I'm happy with my progess and finished product.

Pre-lim Task

This was my Pre-lim task we did in class. We were told to create a magazine front cover for a school magazine, which could be directed at a target audience of our own choice. I decided to go for a sort of lifestyle magazine theme, I did this to try and make it more interesting and appealing to my target audience which was aimed at 12-18 year olds.

I feel that I made a fair effort in making this front cover, because it was first attempt ever at producing and planning a real magazine. I tried my best with the new skills I had learnt in class, and produced an standard product. Looking back now it seems like a rubbish attempt, but at the time I thought it was brilliant.

Comparing this cover to my Aimplifed front cover, I can see how much I have improved because there are alot of small detials I had missed out. Also the prelim task was made in paint because I wasnt up to scratch on how to use photoshop, which is proabably why this looks less professional than my Amplified Cover.

I think I have come along way since making this, and I have a better knowledge of the media industry which helps when planning and researching for a new magazine.

Introduction

Heya my name is Vicky sheridan.

My music magazine is called Amplified. Its a Rock magazine based on ideas from Kerrang!, The Rolling Stone, Q, ect. It covers all genres of rock ranging from Metal to Indie. I wanted to include a wide variety of bands and singers in the mag to appeal to a wider audience. My target audience is aimed at both males and females aged 18-25, who would most liklely be musicans, hardcore music fans, or students.

thanks dudes, hope you enojy my blogging :)