Evaluation of final products

Final products - Music magazine

Product review as of December 2015

After receiving feedback on both of these products, i have come to the conclusion that some things need to be altered. These changes and alterations include changing the article themselves such as removing the cover band and changing some of the text "Coming out new single". Also changing the font of the cover stories to match the masthead and the genre of the entirety of the magazine.

Additionally the contents will be altered due to the lack of consistency in terms of the house style, it seems like it is separate from the cover. Currently the "contents" title font is completely different from the cover- seems US College rather than a rock magazine. It also needs an increased amount of pages to reflect an actual product much like the ones i researched previously. In this case i believe that the whole of the contents will need to be changed in order to reflect both the house style and the genre of the magazine in general.

Contents development

This is an initial template for what may become my final version of the contents page. I have chosen a font similar to the original masthead found on the cover, which continues the general theme of the magazine, and appropriate genre.

  My contents was further developed to include picture frames and the house style colour was added along with a geometric design to add an element of intrigue. Once i received feedback, I decided to start from scratch due to faults in design as well as many other elements.  

This is what the contents finally came to. The background image of a hotel building creates an appropriate look due to the applied neon glow effect. The overall layout of the page is unique due to the slanted text however, the house style still remains intact.

Due to feedback i have decided to change the entirety of the contents page to make it fit the conventions of the genre and the house style of the magazine as a whole. The "contents" text is a smaller version of the masthead from the cover and the text of the sub-titles "Features" and "News", have been altered to look handwritten/brushstroke. This is an influence taken from the magazines that i have previously analysed. Additionally the text is displayed down the right hand side only and is not presented at an angle much like the previous version, making it harder to read. The page itself is much more disciplined in terms of layout as not many things overlap e.g. the text over the picture.  

Cover development

On this initial cover idea i have used a monochrome setting on most of the image and additionally, i have incorporated this into my title. Some of the image, specifically the models face, has colour added to it to make that the main focus of the cover itself. The background is part of the original image and was planned out to provide that grittier, more dirty appearance as well as linking in well with the genre.

Text has been added however, only basic effects have been applied which do not represent the conventions of the genre - darker, grittier visualisation. Also text has been added to the top of the page to show topics of the magazine itself (these are not main topics). Finally the masthead colour has changed to reflect the colour scheme of the magazine, red. Slight alterations to the masthead have been made to make it more visually appealing e.g. the previously seen white glow of certain areas has been erased to make it more refined.

This is a much more refined version of the cover. Improvements have been made such as; the text looks like that of a conventional magazine in this genre due to the colour changes and approach to the font. Additionally a strapline has been added displaying the focus of the main article featured within the magazine's double page spread. The text at the top of the page has been altered slightly to make it look clearer to read as well as adding Metallica's logo in replace of just the text stating their name.

Representation

Throughout the overall construction of my magazine, certain social groups have been represented. These groups vary from an age of adolescent people to a slightly older society. This is presented within my product through different fonts, colours and even the overall layout of it. The entirety of the product itself is merged between two mainstream conventions of the rock/alternative genre; grittier/darker presentation, and a more modern one appealing to a younger generation e.g. KERRANG! By merging the two, I am aiming for a target audience of both older and younger generations.

Font/Title research and ideas

The genre I have chosen is alternative rock. This is because of my interest in this genre and knowledge of the current state of the industry. Although there are many magazines currently on the market that are following this genre, I intend to make mine unique however, still following the general conventions of the typical magazine whilst avoiding to conform to their house styles.

This is a possible font choice for the masthead of the magazine cover. I somewhat like this as it has more of a grittier look whilst remaining bold and grabbing the attention of the consumer. This font also matches the genre well as it has similarities to existing products I previously analysed such as Kerrang!

Other fonts such as the ones above are also possibilities due to the bold personality of the fonts aswell as the individual differences, such as on Blacklisted.

Initial Title Ideas

•        Riffed
•        Thrash
•        Alt Rock
•        Amped
•        Soundage

These are potential titles/ mastheads for my magazine. Many are based off of puns of music/ instruments such as “Riffed” which plays on the riff/ solo when playing the guitar.    

Ø        The Unknown font looks the best with the                chosen title due to the likeliness to the chosen          genre.