Feedback

I made a facebook group to try and get some feedback from people who were in my target audience and who liked pop music. There was a lot of positive feedback which i was very pleased with. People were particularly impressed with my mast head and they liked the fonts used. However there were a few issues which were flagged up, mainly concerning my cover image. Many people said they didn't think it looked "pop-like" enough and that i would have to use an image that was more easily associated with pop music. People also said that the magazine didn't quite look "real" but they had difficulty identifying exactly what it was that made it like this. I think i would need to spend a bit more time on the cover sharpening up the colours and making sure everything was arranged perfectly on the page to achieve this elusive "real" look.

Evaluations

My front cover is very typical of standard pop magazine design. It features a simple masthead and and image of someone making eye contact. The mast head i was quite pleased with, it is not too similar to any existing pop music magazines yet it still maintains a "pop" feel. I followed and stuck to any rules that i could find from existing magazines. Pink or red always featured heavily in covers that i looked at ( see Cover Analysis blogs) and so i really wanted to make sure i had at least some pink on my cover. I think that the most likely publisher of my magazine would be IPCmedia as they have a very wide variety of magazines aimed at women but not at younger aged girl. I think as they don't currently have any publications of the same type as my magazine but many slightly similar they would be most likely to publish "PopMania". My magazine would be stocked in all newsagents and shops like Whsmiths, it is not particularly expensive and as there is a gap in the market at the moment for a music magazine aimed at 11-15 year old girls i think it would do well in these shops.
My product as i have mentioned would be aimed at 11-15 year old girls and i think this is reflected in my cover. The pink background and the font i have used for the main flashes would appeal strongly to my target audience. I tried to use phrases that would draw the attention of my target audience and used things like "hottest guys" and "new love!" which would appeal to them and make them want to read more. I also used words such as "exclusive" and "exciting" to make the audience think that this magazine has things that others don't and that this is the one they should be using. I tried to avoid using any complex lexis as typically my target audience prefers simple vocabulary. Its layout is simple and conforms to the general pop magazine rules, i tried to fit as many stories onto the front cover as i could to make it appear as if the magazine was packed full of stories.
I enjoyed using InDesign and Adobe Photoshop in the process of making my magazine. InDesign was fairly straightforward and easy to use yet there was many things that could be done with it. I had some difficulty in learning how to use all the different tools but once i had accomplished that it was easy to do most things that i wanted. Adobe Photoshop i had a few troubles with as there is such a wide range of things you can do with it, it can be hard to achieve even the simplest things. Using the Magnetic Lasso caused me a some problems but once i had learnt all the little tricks it became a lot easier. That said i did enjoy using Photoshop and although i feel i have only scratched the surface in terms of what can be done with it, i also feel i have learnt a lot and definitely have gained a firm grasp of the simple functions of it.
From the Preliminary task to the finished product i have definitely learned a lot. Compared to my Preliminary task my design skills have definitely got a lot better, as have my confidence with InDesign and Photoshop. In the preliminary task i was not aware of the amount of careful and meticulous planning that goes into making a magazine, and this was a thing that i learned progressively throughout the task. I think my understanding of how important the target audience is has definitely changed. I now know that appealing to your target audience is the most important thing when designing a magazine, and any decisions made must be made with that in mind.

Final Pages

I tried to put these on as links to pdf files on google docs but there was a problem with the font so i uploaded them as Jpegs.

The above double page spread is taken from the "gossip 2 go" section of a "top of the pops" magazine. There is very little text in this article and the two pages are largely dominated by images of various stars. The article features a lot of colloquial language such as "best mates" and "chippy". They use a lot of non standard english to make the article seem more informal and "fun".

The above article is also taken from the "top of the pops" magazine. Again this double page spread is dominated by images. The article mainly revolves around an interview with the Jonas Brothers and other quotes from other members of the cast of "Camp Rock". The lexis used is simple so all of the target audience will be able to read it and understand. The fonts used for the main bulk of the text is pretty simple and easy to read.

I have decided from looking at these two articles that my double page spread must be dominated by images rather than by text. The text in my double page spread will take the form of an interview with my cover star, "Sabrina". As disney musical films (High school musical, Hannah Montanna, Camp rock) are very popular at the moment amongst my target audience (11-15 year old girls) i am going to base some of my interview around a new musical film she has just finished making, starring Sabrina and Miley Cyrus(the star of the Hannah Montanna films).

Photoshopping

The image on the left is post-photoshop editing. All of the editing to any of my images was done using Adobe Photoshop. The image on the right all i have done to it is used the magnetic lasso to cut out the image i would be using and put it on a transparent background. There was not much that needed to be done to my original image. I used the clone stamp hair to fill in the gaps in the fringe of her hair and used various tools to make her skin appear more smooth. I also took some of the shine off of her cheeks.

Photos

This picture i used on my contents page, i used it to represent the fashion section of my magazine. I used this photo because the dresses in this image all look quite glamorous and fashion such as this is one of the big interests of my target audience.


This photo is on my cover, i cropped the picture and put it inside a heart beside the caption "new love". This will catch the eye of any potential consumers as they will see this picture and want to read more about it.

All of the photos above i made to the same size and used on my cover for the "50 hottest guys" story. This will appeal to young girls who are my target audience and it will catch their eyes and also with the promise of 46 other "hot guys" they will want to buy the magazine so that they can see who they are.

This photo i used on my contents page to represent the "new bands" section of my magazine, i thought this was a very suitable image as he is holding a guitar which is obviously related to music. As he is also featured in the "50 hottest guys" feature on the front cover my target audience will be interested to know that there is more about him in the magazine.

This photo i liked because i think "Sabrina" (the focus of the main feature of my magazine) looks happy and attractive and because she is facing towards the right i could use it on one side of my double page spread with the below image on the other side. This image posed a problem as i only wanted the girl on the right so i had to crop and photoshop the other girl out of it.

This photo i first looked at as a possible cover photo but in the end i used it on my double page spread. I liked this photo because the fur coat she is wearing seems quite glamorous and her cheesy smile and the way she is pointing is quite pop-like.

Cover photos

This photo i really liked and wanted to use for my front cover. She is Smiling in the photo and the way she is pointing seems a typical cheesy pop way of standing. I also liked the costume she is wearing, the fur coat seems glamorous and representative of the pop music genre. However the main problem with this photo is that she is not looking into the camera and is therefore not looking at the consumers. As 70% of magazines are bought on impulse eye contact with consumers is essential as you need your magazine to stand out and catch the eye of potential buyers.

This photo i considered because she is looking into the camera. However the lighting on this photo is not good enough. It is too dark on her face and for a pop magazine i want the cover image to be bright and have some colour to her face. Another reason i didn't use this photo was that she doesn't look comfortable in the photo, she isn't smiling and her body posture does not seem very relaxed as her shoulders seem quite high.


This was the photo i actually used on my front cover. It seemed to me to be the only photo i had that fulfilled all of my criteria for a cover photo. She is smiling, looking into the camera, the lighting is good so you can see her face clearly and brightly and also it was taken in portrait view which means it is easier to photoshop and fit onto a portrait veiw magazine than a lanscape image. Her costume seems like normal smart-casual wear for a girl of her age which means the audience of the magazine can relate to her and easily emulate her if that is what they want to do. Her positioning in the image is good because she is centred in the image and most of the picture is of her, there is only a little bit of wall when compared to the image above this one.

This photo i didn't want to use for several reasons. The first and most crucial of these being that she is not looking into the camera and therefore would not make eye contact with consumers when used on my front cover. Another thing i wanted to have in the picture was for my model to be smiling, which she clearly isn't in this photo. This photo was also landscape which means it would be harder to crop into a suitable image for my front cover.

Fonts

From looking at the mastheads from other pop music magazines such as "top of the pops" and "smash hits" i decided I wanted something simple and easy to read but also that would appeal to my target audience.


The first font i looked at was "Boris Black Bloxx" which i liked, it met my criteria of being simple and easy to read. However i wanted something a little bit more gentle, and the edges of some letters look quite harsh in this font and i didn't think this would particularly fit the pop music genre or appeal to girls aged 11-15.


The second font i looked at was "soolidium". I like this font because it is simple, easy to read and also looks quite flashy and cool. I wasn't sure if this would appeal to young girls but i can change the colour of the font to pink and add a glitter effect to make it appear more glamorous and therefore make it more appealing to my target audience. I don't think i will use this font for my mast head as i think it looks a bit too sophisticated to have as a masthead for a pop magazine but i may use it for the main flashes on my magazine front cover.


The third font i looked at was "BP replay" which i think is one my favourites. It is simple and easy to read. It also resembles other pop magazines choice of font yet is not the same as them. I think if i change the font colour to pink and maybe put some effects on it it will appeal to young girls and fit in with the genre of pop music.

This font i will be using for the title of my Double page spread. I think it looks flash and similar to the top of the pops font which is assosciated with pop music. It is also easy to read which i think is important.

The font i will be using in my double page spread for the main bulk of text will be something simple and easy to read. I didn't want to use times new roman though is this is overused and boring. I decided to use "Arial Rounded MT Bold" as this was simple and easily readable but not boring.

This font i wanted to use for the main flashes on my magazine cover. It looks stylish and the hearts that dot the i's i believe would appeal to the audience for my magazine. By changing the font colour to pink i could increase the appeal of this particular font to my target audience. Also it is easy to read as a font.

This font i looked at to make up part of my mast head. I wanted to have a contrast in the fonts i chose for the words "pop" and "mania". This font i will use for the "mania" part of my mast head. It looks kind of futuristic and computer like which i think will make it stand out when placed next to the font "val".


This font will be used for the other half of my mast head, the first "pop" part. I think this font suits the word pop and does look very like a font that would be used in "smash hits" or the "top of the pops magazine". I think having the contrast in the fonts val and namco in my masthead will draw potential consumers attention to the magazine.

This is a mock up of the title i did using the fonts Val for the "pop" part and Mac Type for the "mania" part and then i underlined it using paint.

Flat Plans

Cover
The flat plan of my cover pretty much conforms to all the general rules of pop music magazines. I looked at "Smash hits" and the "top of the pops magazine" and based my magazine around them. I made my mast head simple and easy to read as i think this is important to catch my target audiences eye. The main flash is short and stands out.
Contents
My contents page is similar to others of the genre but is a bit more simple. I wanted to make sure there were enough pages in the contents to make it seem real, if my contents only had ten pages it wouldn't be a very good magazine. I wanted to put lots of pictures on my contents page as this is typical of pop magazines that i have looked at.
Double page spread 1
Double page spread 2
My double Page spread is mainly dominated by images and the story is written at the bottom of the page. This is how other magazines that i looked at were layed out and they were always dominated by images. I tried to write in a pop styled font for the "Exclusive interview with Sabrina" writing on my page. I tried to do bubble writing as it is easy to read and yet is a bit more exciting than boring normal writing.

Double page spread analysis

The articles are written in a very basic form, the words used are mostly short and the style seems casual and informal. Phrases such as "hot and fabulous" , "giving me a wedgie" and "is that your hand on my bum" are all used which would appeal to younger children/teenagers and especially to girls. The humour used is very immature and simple.
There are a total of nine pictures in this double page spread. They dominate the majority of the double page spread and a lot more space is given to pictures than to words.

There are speech bubbles on nearly every picture making a joke. In the articles themselves the names of celebrities talked about are put in bold and a different colour to the rest of the text. Alliteration is used in the words written in the centre of the first page, "Dolls Drama".

Contents analysis

The contents are split into five categories, Celeb, Real Life, Style, Fun , You and Plus. There are several images on the contents page with page numbers attached. There is also a list of the people involved in the production of the magazine, editors writers etc. The images are mainly of people to draw the reader in and make them want to know what is on that page that is related to that person.

Cover analysis two

The smash hits title immediately captures the consumers attention with the words "smash" and "hits" as these are quite loud dramatic words.

The font almost looks pop like, simple and easily readable.

The colour in the title is yellow and pink. The colour scheme is pink, yellow, blue, black and white. However the background of the image is of the American flag to emphasise the main flash of "Busted in the USA". The colour scheme used would appeal to girls of a young age and I believe this is the target audience.

The language is quite informal. They use the clever phrase "McMental" to emphasise that the story is about Mcfly. Some of the main sells also indirectly address the reader such as "steal Jennifer's style".

The image is of the band Busted. They are a very popular who appeals especially to young girls. This fits in with their target audience of young girls.

The main sells are all celebrity related.

There is a barcode and a date of the issue.

Cover analysis one

The title of the magazine is top of the pops. I think they have chosen this title because of the various associations it brings, the obvious one being with the television programme of the same name. This lets the audience know what the magazine is about, popular music, straight away and gives them an immediate idea of the magazine from just the title. The main flash and main sells are all written in bold fairly common fonts and are all easy to read.

The title is written in the same style as the television programme which again sparks the assosciation between the programme and the magazine.

The title is written in pink and is glittery which would appeal to the readership , mainly girls aged 11-15, and would also give an impression of glamour. The colour scheme is mainly purple pink and yellow which are all quite feminine colours which woudl again appeal to the young female readership. There is also black and white text which is used to contrast against the different backgrounds and catch the buyers attention.

There is a number (56) written on the front cover in large bold letters, this draws the attention of the buyer and makes them want to know more. It also uses personal language to adress the reader "you're a star". It also uses language and phrases to draw the reader in and make them interested "love secrets exposed!"

The image on the front is very bright and all the people in it look happy and attractive. They are all smiling and looking at the camera. It is a posed shot with two boys and two girls from high school musical. These stars are very well known all over the world.

It has a main flash which directly addresses the readers "you're a star!" which would capture the attention of potential buyers.

It has a barcode and a date that it was released on the cover.

Target Audience

This is a print screen from www.nrs.co.uk . This shows that over 60% of the readers of top of the pops magazine are from the socio-economic category C2DE. This is the socio-economic category that i shall be aiming my magazine at. Over 80% of the readership are aged 15-44 so i know i will be aiming my magazine at an age group within this margin. Over 75% of the readership is female rather than male. From all this information i know that i will be aiming my magazine at females aged 15-44 in the socio-economic category C2DE. However knowing this doesnt actually give us that much helpful information about our target audience as girls aged 11-15 will not have a job and therefore cannot be classed this way anyway, so their socio-economic category is not really relevant.

This is a print screen taken from www.bbcmagazinesadvertising.com the advertisers of the "top of the pops" magazine. These are the key facts about the magazine, they show that the target audience for this magazine is mainly girls aged 11-15. This is the target audience that i will be aiming for.