Final Magazine

Evaluation

As Media Studies Music Magazine Evaluation

View more presentations from Alex Bloor.

Final Double Page Spread

I have finally completed my double page spread. Following the last draft there are several elements I decided to add. Firstly, I created a drop capital at the beginning of the first column of the interview to give the text a kick-start feel and to immediately grab the readers attention. I also added a background colour of yellow to it to liven it up, this is the same colour I used on the front cover which links the two together. I also added a quote which I felt would entice the audience of young women and encourage them to read on: "I love mixing thing up and doing something different. That way it doesn't get boring" This quote makes the text seem exciting and attracts the readers attention. I also added Jordan's name underneath to confirm that she said it and added the background colour yellow to the name to again link with the cover. In the top right hand corner I decided to add a small box stating the artists name and what she is talking about: "Jordan on festivals and her new album". This tells the reader that the artist will be talking about, of course, her new album and festivals. Providing the reader with this information will briefly sum up the text and decide to read it knowing what it will basically be about. I used yellow, black and grey in this box to tie all the colours used on the front cover and in this feature together and make it all link up.

Second Draft Of Double Page Spread

This is the second draft of my double page spread. I have added the text the the other side of the page. I did this by using text boxes to import the text in three sections to create three columns. I also left a gap the these columns to place a quotation from the interview to give the reader a taster of the text. I also added a sub heading to the top of the text, a sentence to introduce the interview. This says "From being the crowd to fuelling in the crowd.. Jordan faces the performances of her life". This is so the reader can get a feel of the "new start" theme to the text and encourages them to read on and find out what it is about.

First Draft Of Double Page Spread

This is the first draft of my double page spread, I started by putting the image on and positioning it how I wanted it. I decided to make it fill one A4 side of the 2 pages, and run over slightly onto the second one, the white area will be where I include my interview. I then added the heading 'Jordan Brown'. This tells us the main focus of the page is Jordan Brown, the artist. I also made the font colour of the heading white so it flows into the background of the text, this is to connect the image and text together.

Plan For Double Page Spread

I decided to make a plan using Photoshop to give myself some guidlines to the style of my double page spread and to determine where which features would appear. Such as I wanted the image to be on the left hand side and to run over onto the second page, and I wanted the text to appear on the right hand side. Here is what the plan turned out like:

Edited Photograph For Double Page Spread

This is the final image which will appear on my double page spread. I edited this image using Photoshop. The first thing I did here was add noise use the bass relief tool to make the background seem more interesting rather than just pain white. I used a range of different shades of grey as not to distract the reader for the model, but still make it look diverse and fun. Using these tools created horizontal lines using a blend of different grey shades, a small change but it does make the page seem more alive and busy. This also reflects the busy theme of dance music. I think used auto colour to even out the colours of the model and make the image look natural. I also used the sharpen tool to keep the model in focus and draw the readers attention to her I also brightened up the eyes with the lighten tool to make them stand out. I am pleased with this final image, and now that I have my image and interview I can start to create my double page spread.

Original Photograph For Double Page Spread

I like this photograph as it is quite simple yet effective. I think it reflects the 'new start' story I have used in my interview. The models body language is very open as she leans forward towards the camera and provides the reader with a feel of personal connection with the model. Also the fact that she is sat down differs the photograph from the previous ones I have used and adds diversity to the magazine. I will now edit this photograph so it will look good and fit in on my double page spread.

My Interview

This is the interview I created based on the Annie Mac one I researched. It is set out in a story format and is located at a gig just before my artist Jordan is about to go on stage to perform her latest album. This provides the audience with a detailed insight into her personal life and what it is like to be her. It includes a lot of quotations from her to give the audience a feel of them gaining a one on one view from her and to create a personal vibe. The aim of my story is to inform about Jordan's music style and to tell the tale of her 'new start' in the sense that she is trying new things and starting a new chapter of her career due to her new and upcoming involvement in festivals.

It’s 10pm and hundreds of fans are clambering into Liverpool’s Mountford hall to see Jordan Brown performing her latest album ‘Colours’ and as the place starts to fill out the crowd begin to chant her name.

Jordan sits backstage, a team of makeup artists applying the finishing touches to her flawless face; she briefly pops her head around the curtain to view the manic crowd. “Another sell out, brilliant” she grins, clearly unfased by the mass of people screaming her name.

With her mix of different sounds, Jordan is renowned for her individual style and variance shown in her music. From electro to urban, her music styles fused with catchy dance beats always pleases the audience. “I love mixing things up and doing something different” she announces, “That way it doesn’t get boring, I’m always on my toes.” And it certainly seems to be keeping this audience on their toes as their scream grow louder.

“My favourite song off the album to perform definitely has to be ‘At night’. It’s just got this amazing base line, it’s immense to do live when you see the crowd going wild jumping everywhere. It really gives me a rush to see them enjoying my music so much. I do like ‘Lights’ though, it has this amazing indie tone at the start, then breaks out into an urban, up-beat, melody. It’s just like nothing I’ve ever done before but it works so well.”

Just 20 minutes away from this hall in Liverpool is where Jordan spent her childhood. Ever since she was a small girl she was intrigued with the dance music genre. “When I hit 18 I really started to come into my own and find myself. I was straight out there in all the latest clubs, completely fascinated with the music and general atmosphere it created, made me happy. I wanted nothing more than to bring this happiness to other people, to see friends getting wasted and dancing wildly to their favourite tunes, just basically having the time of their lives.”

With just an hour to go to the gig begins Jordan seems calm, cool and collected with a slight glimmer of excitement in her eyes. She grins as she brushes her blonde hair back off her face and reminisces about all the nights out, just like these, that she spent in this very city of Liverpool when she was younger.

“We had this one night where we came here to Mountford Hall, to watch an upcoming electro artist, I think her name was Jade or something. She never made it big but it was a cheap night out and her music was immense. We all pushed our way to the front and she grabbed my hand and pulled me on stage: that was a real life changing moment for me, just looking back at all those people smiling and cheering, jumping up and down, dancing. Wow. I mean that felt so good, to be up there witnessing that atmosphere, and now it’s like I can make that happen.”

She glances out towards the stage door and listens to the crowd cheering for the support act. Her nights out explain her major involvement with the crowd when performing live. From throwing out her signature ‘Partyhard’ sunglasses to jumping off stage and diving into their adoring arms, her interaction and trust shown alone says a lot about her love for her fans. “I’d be nothing without them lot out there.” She states, admiringly, pointing towards the stage.

So what’s next for the diverse star? We know she loves her shows and wild nights but what more is there? Festivals of course. Jordan is rumoured to be playing several dance festies throughout the country for the first ever time, an experience she is surely never to forget.

“Yes, yes, it’s true, I’m a festival virgin.” She laughs, nervously looking down, playing with her glimmering gold bracelet. “I mean...” She looks up sharply, the fierce glisten of excitement rushing back to her eyes. “Yeah, its my first time playing festivals. But I tell you what... I can’t bloody wait.” She grins. From Europe to America, Jordan has played in many different places, venues, environments, but nothing can prepare her for the buzz of the UK’s best fests.

“I’ve heard so much from other artists, I was talking to David Guetta about his set at Creamfields, and he loved it. He told me you can play all over the world in any venue, but nothing will compare to the atmosphere there, which is why I’m so excited!” She exclaims, throwing her arms up and laughing wildly. “I’m sure it will be brilliant, I have a lot of special things planned for my set as well...” she winks at us and refuses to give us any of her secrets, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!

As the night progresses the lights begin to dim and the overwhelming noise of the crowd higher. “Show time” she grins as she slips nonchalantly into her golden sequined body-con dress, her hair and make-up effortlessly perfect. We shake hands and wish her luck; “As if I’ll need it” she chuckles confidently, and emerges onto the stage to greet adoring screams of her name.

Magazine Interview Example

This is an image from the actual magazine feature of the interview. I like this image as she is leaning forward toward the reader like she is opening up to them, it makes it more personal. Also she is looking up to show her ambition. It is also quite natural and fresh, showing her fresh start and look on life. This is what I will attempt to recreate on my double page spread.

This is an example from Mixmag of the actual text of an Annie Mac interview. I looked at this to determine how exactly I should go about writing my interview. This is set out in kind of a story format, the interviewer is with Annie just after she has finished a gig at a club which provides the audience with what they want - an insight into the real deal. There are a lot of quotes from Annie used to show direct feedback given from her and relate the story to her fully.

Annie Mac on DJing around the world, interviewing dogs, and ‘dull as fuck’ popstars.
It’s just before 4am, and in a rammed nightclub basement Annie Mac has finished her set to a rather hectic crowd.
Scrambling down from the DJ booth through a floor of jam-packed ravers, some sweat-ridden, neon-sunglass-wearing girls grab her for a photo. She obliges, her crossover appeal as respected DJ to television presenter is obvious at tonight’s sell-out in Bournemouth.
We meet outside the seaside venue and bundle into in her driver’s small black car as the masses pour out the club. Annie leans around the front passenger seat, brushing her curly hair back as she focuses on something out of the rear window. “Oh nice, there’s someone throwing up,” she announces, clearly unfased.
Playing everything from garage to drum and bass, Annie Mac is known for her bold mixes. Her sets, which combine a range of genres, have gained her a dedicated young following searching for both new and innovative tracks to remixed classics. A style directly linked to her high-profile radio show.
“I love the Mashup on Radio 1 because I get the chance to play older stuff as well as newer music. Like my favourite track at the moment is from a band called Rochelle and it’s an Andy George remix of their song ‘Chin Up’, and I love it, but at the same time I play classics like Sia, ‘Little Man’.”
Tonight was the warm-up to the Annie Mac’s Presents Tour which will see her playing sets across the U.K, from Birmingham to in her home country Northern Ireland. But here, in the seaside of Bournemouth, Annie’s got good memories.
“I’ve come down here a few times, and had some really random weekends. I had a really good one when I brought some friends, stayed over, and we swam in the sea at 4 in the morning,” she reveals, her Irish accent becoming stronger in the longer replies.
This time Annie brought Fake Blood, also known as Theo Keating, one half of electro DJ duo Black Ghosts, and who she describes as her ‘most inspiring DJ’ at the moment.
“He does so much more than just play records,” Annie says as she lights a cigarette and appears to blow smoke in admiration. “He loops stuff, he scratches stuff, and he’s just so creative with the way he DJs. I hate playing after him because it’s just like you can’t follow that shit.”
Aside from touring, Annie presents BBC’s Switch show, which, in her own words, has featured some of the most bizarre moments of her career. From games involving having her face in bowls of spaghetti hoops to live sumo wrestling.
The Irish DJ also has her own quirky line of questioning on the show when interviewing musicians. Including: “Would you every go roller skating to pull a girl?” and “How often do you wash?”
“I don’t like asking boring questions,” Annie states defiantly. “Asking ‘when ‘s your record out’ is so dull, you’ve got to try and change it up a bit.”
But changing it up is one thing, some of her interviews have taken interesting to the extreme. And there’s a certain one that sticks out firmly in the Radio 1 DJ’s memory: when she interviewed a dog, well, a man-dog.
“It was the maddest interview I’ve done,” she laughs. “Rex the dog was a man who pretended to be a dog the whole way through an interview. He basically had bark sounds, and if I asked him a question it was one bark for yes, two barks for no.” A few seconds later after clearly thinking about the odd interview she nods, smiles, and adds: “Yea, that was pretty cool.”
On the opposite end of the scale was another interview Annie did for Switch with American pop singer JoJo (one of those all-American teens) who she had to take out shopping. The DJ turns awkwardly on her car seat, her wide-blue eyes divert to the window, and then after a brief moment she states flatly: “She was dull as fuck.” Annie continues: “JoJo was really boring. It was bad, and it was painful. You can tell by my face in that video. I mean I tried.”
Moving back to more successful times in her various jobs and Annie recounts last summer in Ibiza as her craziest moment DJing. It was her 30th birthday, and during a set at Amnesia the nightclub gave a box of fake moustaches and wigs to a group of her friends.
“It was insane, they stormed the DJ booth half-way through the set, and they all looked like clowns. I was like what the fuck is going on? But it was such a great birthday present.”
After speaking for about ten minutes Annie’s life seems like one massive party and still upbeat in these early hours she’s clearly loving it, but does she get any sleep, I mean when can she fit it in?
“I got some in at the start of this year but as the tour progresses I won’t. I’ll get less and less. Tonight I’ll get about 6 hours and then tomorrow I’ve got a gig in Huddersfield and I’ll get in about 8am. You miss out on sleep at the weekend but then I always try and catch up on Mondays.”
Amongst sleeping and DJing, she loves going out for a dance. In-fact there’s a night on Thursdays at Nottinghill Arts Club which she describes as ‘nice to dance at before my sets on Friday.’ This is one woman full of a lot of energy.
The night, called YoYo, plays ‘proper urban music, like hip hop and garage, funky and jungle’, a genre mix showing Annie’s wide range of music tastes that relate directly to her varied sets.
Looking towards the summer and her schedule is rammed with a range of festivals, including Bestival, and Glastonbury, which Annie counts ‘as closest to my heart,’ but also Oxygen in Ireland and possibly Sonar in Barcelona where she played last year. There are also plans laid out for America.
“Miami is the one I’m most looking forward to. It’s a daytime party around a swimming pool and I’m bringing a lot of my favourite DJs from the UK to America, like Fake Blood and Rusko. It’s going to be all over the place, and it’ll be really exciting playing to Americans who I’m not sure are aware of it all.“
After the summer, the Annie Mac Presents Tour starts up again, but with such a demanding schedule will there ever be some original releases from the remix queen?
“I’d like to make music, but I want to make sure that it’s the right music and it’s perfect, and I don’t really like DJs on the radio who make tunes. If I do it, I’ll do it for myself and just play it out. I’d release it under a different name and keep it on the low. “
But for now, the music is turned off, because as I clamber out of the car into the quiet street, Annie is heading back to London to sleep. I guess she needs to make the most of it.

Double Page Spread Analysis

This is a double page spread featuring Little Boots for NME magazine, I liked the layout of these pages. The main image is a close up of the models face looking up. Little Boots is an electro/dance act and she gives off this image due to her unusual eyelashes and hairstyle, which relates to her new unique music sound she refers to. The target audience of this double page spread is young women around the ages of 16-25 judging by the image of the artist, a young woman in her early 20s. The section of the magazine that this features in is called 'New Noise 2009', this is kind of like the story I will use for the double page spread of my magazine. This is because I am using an artist that is starting fresh and trying new things, these new things being festivals and different gigs. The main image slightly overlaps an A4 page and therefore is the biggest thing on the double page spread. This makes the image the first thing we see when we look at it and immediately demands our attention. The heading which introduces the artist 'Little Boots' connects the image with the text as it is the same colour as the background of the text section of the page and they merge together. The text starts with a drop capital, significantly bigger than the rest of the text and with a different background colour to give it a kick-start feel. A pull quote is also used in the middle of the text to break it up and prevent it from becoming boring to the reader, it also gives a snippet of what the text concerns and encourages people to read it. At the top of the text is a short sentence introducing the text. Also in the top right hand corner a small coloured text box is used stating that this is a magazine interview with Little Boots and what exactly she is talking about, to sort of sum up the page.

Final Contents Page

I have finally finished my contents page. Following the last draft I have added the actual features that relate to each subheading. These appear under each subheading and caption and have the main heading in bold to make it stand out. There is then a smaller explaination of the feature underneath to provide the reader with extra infomation. To the left of each feature I have added the page number which will actually allow the reader to navigate to the page number which corresponds with each feature. I also added a small image of my front cover under the contents heading. A lot of magazines I researched did this, it shows that the contents page links with the front cover and confirms which issue it is. I also added small captions under each page number to briefly explain to the reader what the feature is about.

Second Draft Of Contents Page

This is the second draft of my contents page and it is really coming along now. I added subheadings such as 'latest' and 'review' to help the reader navigate around the magazine easily and quickly. I made these in the same yellow I used on my front cover to make it tie in with the colour scheme slightly, this is also why I used black a bit in the boxes and smaller font. I also added a small caption in bold text underneath each subheading to explain what the section is about and includes in general. I also added big numbers in the corners of my photographs to show which page the story displayed in the image corresponds to. This also shows these featured stories are more important than the others as it is positined bigger than any other feature on the contents page.

First Draft Of Contents Page

This is the first draft of my contents page which I formed while following the guidlines of my template. I added the heading 'contents' in a fun and curvy font to appeal the the target audience of young women. It is also written in pink as pink is stereotypically associated with females. I used a stripy background with a white box over the top to create diversity on the page and stop it looking too boring. I also included 'JUNE 2010' under my heading to let the reader know what issue it is. My pictures are set out in a block format, the biggest image is one of the main stories and this is reflected as it is the first thing you notice when you look at this page, it stands out. I will now need to pad out my contents page and add more information.

Edited Contents Page Images

I chose this picture to represent the 'style' feature on my contents page. This is because the main focus is on the dress rather than the model, which relates to the purpose of the feature. I edited this by sharpening the image as it was quite blurry when I first uploaded it. I also added a purple tint to the background to match the dress and got rid of the borders across the walls to make it look more professional. I also think this model relates to my audience - young women around the ages of 18-25.

I decided to use this as a feature on my contents page for a festival feature as the grass background relates to this. Festivals are also located on a field so I chose a field as my location. I think this adds diversity to my contents page as it look different from the other images, more bright. The contents page I researched for Mixmag also uses this diversity.

This is the main feature of my contents page and it is for an artist called Chloe. I think this relates to the dance theme as the model looks quite dressed up. She also appeals to the audience as it is aimed at young women. I edited the background slightly to give the image more colour and further add to the diversity of the contents page.

Images For Contents Page

I needed to use three images on my contents page as feature stories for the magazine so I decided to take some extra images. In my reasearch I noticed the photos on my contents page were all quite different as they were shot in different locations. I decided to use all female models on the contents page as my magazine is aimed at females mainly so I thought this would relate to the audience more. Here are a few photographs I took to use:

Plan For Contents Page

I decided to plan my contents page to make sure I knew exactly what I was doing when it came to creating it. I based this on the style I researched in Mixmag magazine, which is also a dance magazine like my own. Here is how it turned out:

Contents Page Research

This contents page from mixmag features a small version of the front cover on the side to relate it to the rest of the magazine. The main navigation of the contents page is presented in a strip down the left hand side and features simple black on white typography. It tends to have different, coloured, sub-headings to categorize the different sections in the magazine for example ‘VIP’ and ‘tunes’. I also noticed the ‘Regulars’ section made for pages that appear in every issue of the magazine. The photographs on this page link to a certain feature concerning that person inside the magazine. They also look quite indie as well as the smaller picture which relates to dance as the woman is dressed for a night out, this shows the magazine is mainly about modern music. The purpose of these images is to direct the reader to the main most important features of the magazine by displaying the page numbers in the corner with a small caption underneath explaining the feature. The page title is on a different background to the rest of the page so it stand out even though small font is used, the issue month and year is also displayed above it. Only 3 different fonts are used on the page to keep thing simple and not too busy. The heading and sub-headings use the same font however the sub-headings are in a different colour (pink) and in a smaller font to differentiate it from the main heading. The website is also featured at the bottom as well as the page number to provide additional information to the reader and try to get them to visit the website. This page targets both male and female readers because there is a balance of features relating to men and women, for example to images look more typically male as they feature alcohol and mainly males. The font looks more feminine as some of it is pink which a colour usually related to females and the font used it quite curly.

This contents page is from another dance magazine called 'Remix'. It varies from the last one as it is more bold and loud. It's colour scheme is black and orange/red, which are stereotypically male colours. Also the models are all male, suggesting that the target audience here is young males around the ages 16-21. The background is an image of a band, whereas the Mixmag background is just plain white. We can tell the man with the microphone is the 'lead' or most important member of the band as he is positioned in front of the other members and also he is holding a microphone which suggests he is the lead singer. The other members are in the background and one is even on the opposite side of the page to the others and cut off by the navigation box, this also suggests he isn't as important. The main navigation of this contents page is presented as a big box toward the left hand side of the page and is split into smaller boxes for each section. In each box features a heading such as 'Cover Story' and 'Features', below these are features in bold with a small caption underneath explaining each story. To the left of each story is a page number in red to help the reader to navigate around the magazine easily.

Final Front Cover

I have finally completed my front cover. Following my second draft I added features down the side of the magazine with headline of stories that will appear inside the magazine on both the left and right side. This made my cover look more full and busy which reflects the magazines I researched and the overall dance theme of the magazine. I also added a "Plus" feature at the bottom of the cover to show the readers all the different artists that will be included in the issue. I noticed in my research Mixmag magazine a tag line was used, so I recreated this on the top of the cover. Also, I encountered a problem with the title. I noticed on my second draft that the title was quite far down and drawns attention away from the model by covering her face a bit too much. Everytime I moved the title higher up I lost the dot off the 'i' in mixup. Therefore I decided to edit the title slightly to resolve the problem, here is what it looked like before and after editing:

Before:

After:





As you can see I made the 'i' shorter so that the top of the title was all in line and I could move it up slightly. This made the models face more visable and stopped the title from distracing you from it. I also thought this change made my features line up well and overall made the cover look better.

Second Draft Of Front Cover

My front cover is really coming along now, I have added the 'night out' feature, a competition feature and a free CD promotion. I used the yellow in my colour scheme in the borders of the shapes to make the cover seem more bold, busy and eye-catching. Now I need to add my headline stories and pad out the sides of the cover a bit.