1. Music Magazine
BIANCA VALDEZ
EVALUATION

2. FINAL FRONT COVER FINAL CONTENTS PAGE

3. FINAL DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

4. Forms + Conventions
How does my magazine use, develop or challenge the forms + conventions of a real music magazine?
When looking at different forms and conventions, I focused on quite a few music magazines. I think the layout of my masthead is fairly similar to some other magazines such as vibe magazine. The masthead is spread from left to right, whereas in magazines such as xxl, the masthead is kept in the top right hand corner in a box. I think that having my masthead spread from left to right makes it stand out more. Also, many magazines have a lot of writing and features on the front cover, I did not want to put a lot on mine because I think that it’ll look too busy, especially as there was not much availible space to place it.
In my contents page, I stuck to a colour scheme, where the type of heading would match the page numbers, this did not look as confusing as I thought it’d be, which made it appear even better. Many other content pages have page numbers all spread around the page, I think this confuses the reader into what they are trying to look for inside a magazine. My contents page also included only one image, which makes it look less busy to the eye, whereas many other contents pages have a variety of images.
And having done drafts for this, I have realised what looks good and what doesn’t look good in a magazine.

5. Representation
How does my magazine represent particular social groups?
I think that GRIMETIME represents the majority of teenage youths of the 21st century. It shows young people who are out there to show their talent, express theirselves and being proud of it, (instead of being stereotyped into something negative, eg crime.)
I used a male AND a female on the front cover to make it feel that not only teenage boys are a part of the genre, and that any gender can purchase the magazine. So seeing as it’s the 1st edition, females would recognise it more.

6. Institutions
What kind of institution might distribute my magazine and why?
The sort of institutions I would see my magazine in would probably be big chain stores such as JD and Footlocker. The reason for this is because clothing worn by many grime artists are either Nike, Adidas etc… which are very popular brands that are found in these certain retail stores. So, when consumers are shopping around in these shops, they would notice it more because it matches their dress sense.
Alongside JD and Footlocker, I would also see my magazine being distributed in local newsagents, this is because if someone was really into the magazine and purchases it every month, they would just have to go to their local corner shop – instead of having to make their way to their nearest JD/Footlocker.

7. Target Audience What would be the target audience for my magazine?
The target audience for my magazine would be teenagers (both male and female) aged 15 onwards. This is because this is the average age of teenagers that listen to grime and are involved in it aswell.

8. Addressing The Readership
How did I attract/address my audience?
I addressed my audience with the main image on my front cover. The image is of a girl and a boy. I think this attracts my audience because it explains that the magazine can be for both genders, and not stereotyping grime being only for males.
I attracted my audience with the use of colour. I think the title on the front cover stands out because it is the only colour that you can see on the front, other than black, white and grey. I also think that the use of colour can be mainly seen on the contents page. I made each section have its own colour, eg, purple for the news section, yellow for the reviews section, etc…I think this attracts my audience because it’ll show them which part of the magazine they are reading.

9. Technical/Construction Issues
What have I learnt about technology from the process of constructing my magazine?
I have learnt quite a few things during the process of designing my magazine. Firstly, when doing the photography, I learnt how to guide the photographer into photographing the right and perfect image that I have in mind, including angle, lighting and the amount of space used.
I have also learnt that when working with high quality images on photoshop, it is not necessarily more easier to work with, for example when cropping around an image, it was harder to select an area that focuses on a lot of dark colours. In the end I had to use the eraser tool to make it perfect. I have also learnt how to use a tool on photoshop called the clone stamp, this helped me extend and image without stretching the main focus itself, an example of this is on the contents page and the front cover.
I think all the construction processes that I have done in my magazine have helped me know more about designing on photoshop, and what kind of angles and lighting make a good picture.

10. Preliminary + Music Task
Looking back at my school magazine, what do I think I’ve learnt between creating that, and creating my music magazine? How did the school magazine task help?
I think that the school magazine has helped me a lot with this task. Firstly, from doing the school magazine, it has helped me know what the important bits are needed when designing a front cover, such as the layout of the masthead and images. Secondly, the school magazine was a chance for me to show my photoshop skills and get used to it, this helped me familiarise myself with the tools which was really useful when doing my music magazine.
Also, when doing the preliminary task, it was just a front cover, which I didn’t spend a lot of time doing, whereas the music task includes a front cover, contents page and a double page spread, which made me realise that I had to spend more time and effort into it. By putting more effort into it, I made sure that when doing the photography, I’d have it planned out and know in advance how I am going to work with it.