This is the first draft of my contents page, I made sure to include the appropriate conventions and try and keep in theme with the front cover and the general vibe of the magazine.

It definitely needs some improvement to make it the best that it can be so I have gotten Peer Assessment feedback on it…

Peer Assessment:  

There is an adequate variety of shot distances although a close up could have enhanced the array.  The focus on the young female stars conveys the country genre really well for their mainly female target audience. 

The use of costume is good  as it conveys the contemporary feel to female fashion amongst the target audience although a little more variety would have improved it even more.  The bold and confident posture of the main model conveys the star image of a young, independent woman really well.  

The font is mainly a traditional serif and is clear and okay to read although the white writing could have more spacing between the letters to make it easier to read. The title contrasts well to the more elaborate serif font used in some of the cover lines.

The technical conventions of coverlines, pugs and captions along with the insert are all present making this a good conventional contents page. However, there is no page number.

The visual design of the page using DTP is well applied as the eye is easily drawn to the main contents section and the use of inserts and captions creates a fabulous sense of excitement of what will be included in the magazine.

The integration of text and images is good with arrangement of images in front of and between coverlines working really well to create perspective and the layout of the images and text creating a strong brand image.

Photoshop has been used to cut out the main model with the relevant glow and  shadowing to create a really dynamic sense of perspective and depth.

Language used in the copy is short, sharp and to the point and very clearly indicates the contents of the magazine.  The use of superlatives like exclusive ,that is in all capitals, creates a very clear sense of drama and urgency.

Grade of first draft: High B

 

For myself I would like to set 5 targets based on this peer advice…

1. Ensure that all of the contents conventions are included such as the page number at the bottom.
2. Rethink the colour palette and how it all works together on the page.
3. Use more images including a variety of more shot distances like closeups.
4. Edit the layout so that the line spacing is correct.
5. Make sure the page doesn’t look crowded.

This has helped me because now I know how to take criticism on my work and where to apply it as well as enhancing my skills on Adobe programs such as Indesign and Photoshop while creating my contents page.

To make the best possible contents page I can, I first collected images of inspiration. This slide includes multiple contents page layout designs that I could take ideas from for my own.

It also helps me in my graphic design knowledge because it has shown me what contents page conventions I need to incorporate.

For example; cover lines, page numbers and images.

The contents page is like an index for what my magazine includes so it needs to attract interest and give information about what’s on each page. If my cover lines are entertaining it will give the audience desire to read my magazine as they want to find out more.

Lots of things make a contents page attractive, including a consistent colour palette, enticing pictures and entertaining text.

I have sketched out a few ideas of how I would like my page to be laid out, including ideas of country imagery and manipulating shapes and images so that it comes together aesthetically.

Next I wrote five cover lines that I may use on my contents page or the second draft of my front cover. I’ve used shouty demanding register and tone to catch attention and push my ideas. Language within a genre based magazine is crucial so that you are really connecting with their audience like my use of colloquial language with ‘yall’. Also alliterations are effective because they are simple and easy to read. The tone of the cover lines are amped up and excitable in order to create hyperboles that intrigue readers.

This research and planning will help me throughout my project and in media because I know more about aesthetic layouts, staying within the semantic field of a genre, more magazine conventions and what makes a good contents page.

This is the first draft of my music magazine front cover.

I aimed to meet all of the Uses and Gratifications; the ‘advice from Dolly Parton’ should make readers feel as though they are socially interacting with a star, there is also a ‘gig guide’ cover line which shows the audience that they will be informed and a brilliant cover star to hint at the entertainment! To truly engage with the target audience’s personal identity, I think  I need to include more country conventions but I have covered all bases as far as magazine front covers go- I have cover lines, a masthead, pugs, main cover lines and more.

To tap into how else I could improve it in the next draft, I have done a self assessment:

This will help me because critiquing my own work will make me able to spot mistakes and places I need to improve whilst also being able to appreciate what I did well in attracting the required genre audience.

These are my contact sheets from my first media shoot!

The creating of these was very exciting and a lot of hard work went into getting the perfect star images.

Firstly, I carefully chose and constructed the costume so my model, Jemima, wears a light brown cowboy hat, a pale pink tassel studded top, black wide leg jeans, brown leather bracelets and occasionally a white and blue panel denim jacket.

-The consideration into the outfit was proven to pay off as I also played around with the black bandana patterned headband but I found that without the cowboy hat statement piece/ prop, the image lost all of its intended country branding. Whilst choosing my favourites, most of them were without the denim jacket as the mix of colours on that took away from what is supposed to be the main focus- the country genre.

-Another important element of mise-en-scene is makeup, my model is only wearing eyeliner and lipstick in some shots, I think I am going to edit in some lipstick and use Photoshop to generally smooth her out and make certain features pop.

-Body language is also very important, I wanted my model to look relaxed and friendly. In my research I found that most female country stars are portrayed in the media as friendly, because of this I will use a happy smiley image rather than the more serious ones that look less approachable.

-For the lighting I used one flash and positioned it so that most of my shots show my model perfectly and bright whilst not having shadow, some do but I will be cutting the star out anyway. As for camera angles, I got a range of mid-shots, long-shots and closeups just so that I had a portfolio of images to use throughout my magazine but my cover will feature a closeup or mid-shot.

For my front cover, I think I will use either of these two images because they each show the cowboy hat prop well and display all of her features but the first image is my favourite because it looks more natural, happy and friendly.

This has helped me in my project as now I know how to effectively use the camera and lighting equipment, as well as use my knowledge on mis-end-scene to create an image that represents my genre.

The masthead of any magazine is very important for their brand- it should be one of the first things that springs to mind when the magazine title is said and it should be so iconic that it’s recognized easily.

For those reasons, I have used Adobe InDesign to make a few drafted ideas of mastheads that i can use in my magazine.

‘Country Capital’ is a country western music magazine so I had to ensure that my fonts and colours stay within the usual conventions of this genre so that the target audience is easily attracted to it. To do this I have considered AIDA…

• Awareness- Immediately the masthead will be the biggest text on the cover so that people know that it is a magazine, I have enhanced this effect by making the letters tall in each design.
• Interest- To attract my audience’s interest, each design is in a serif font as this type of font is frequently used within this genre and gives off the old-school music vibe that country captures.
• Desire- I have mostly thought about colours when it comes to desire, I have played around with pink as I want my magazine to largely feature female country icons, in fact it may even be a special girls edition so I may incorporate pink into the final masthead.
• Action- Finally, the masthead should’ve drawn people in enough to continue reading cover lines and admiring my cover star and they will want to buy the magazine.

For my final design, I have chosen this:

It is subject to change depending on my cover image and how everything comes together but I have chosen this one because the font has serifs which I think makes it look professional and reliable, whilst also having a bubble sort of curve to it so that it is less boring. I like it, however I wish it was more colourful but at the moment I’m leaving it black until I see how it goes with the other colours on the page.

This research and design work has helped me with my project because it has allowed me to carefully plan out and explore the different options for the first statement media of my brand, now that I have a masthead or ideas of what I would like it to be, I can structure the rest of my front cover around it.

I have made a slide of magazine covers that have inspired me, most of them are quite simple but I like this because it means that the cover model is the main focus and attraction of every magazine.

I like how the graphics and the layout work together because most of these are calm and not a full, busy, confusing page.

I really like the use of the photo in BAZAAR because the cover model image fills up the entire page and her outfit makes the background which makes it different to the regular plain colour background of most covers. All of my other inspirations do not include much photo manipulation as the model is just cut out onto the page.

The most attractive covers from these are the ones that have bright popping colours, they catch people’s eye and help to draw in an audience. However, the colour palette still has to be colour appropriate for the genre, for example the country mags have high saturation and warm colours where as the pop mags have much brighter contrasting colours.

Serif fonts are used to give a more formal vibe to a cover and sans-serif fonts appear more playful and laidback, I will consider this when choosing my fonts as country music can be quite friendly and chill.

Finally, the cover lines I prefer the look of them down one side of the page rather than scattered all around because I think it’s more aesthetically pleasing but it may depend on the pose and the space my model image takes up.

This will help me because it shows me how other big magazines do their covers in order to be successful and which elements I can apply to my own cover. It gives me a look into all the different aspects and how they fit well together so that I can ensure my magazine is equally attractive.

Now that I have done all the research required in preparation for my front cover image, I have planned my first shoot. This is my project meeting agenda which will help me organise myself and anyone else involved as well as displaying my ideas.

Media theorist Richard Dyer states that every media star has a ‘paradox’. This means that they are presented to the audience in conflicted ways-

• They are both extraordinary and ordinary

-We are taught from the media text that these stars are talented and excellent so we should look up to them and idolise them for their talent or whatever they are famous for but then the media also likes to portray their regular side, like how even big celebrities go shopping, walk their dogs and do ordinary humane tasks.

• They are both present and absent

-Media stars are present when they interact with their audience through fan pages, social media, interviews or meet and greets but are also out of our reach when in concert or on TV and other large platforms the audience don’t have access to join them on.

 

This star image paradox needs to be implemented in my own magazine and for my own cover star so to research this further I have chosen famous country singer, Dolly Parton, and researched all the different ways that she is represented in the media…

This slide depicts Dolly Parton’s ‘meta-narrative’ –  this is the entire repertoire of elements that portrays a star image to the consumers. This is built through a variety of things such as album art, social media, news articles and a large network of other things.

Doing this research will help me in creating my own star image because I now know how one of the most famous country stars is represented in the media, therefor I can apply these conventions to my star.

 

In order to plan how I will apply this, I have created a Mise-En-Scene collage of ideas for my cover shoot. I have made every effort to have my image have country connotations for example I will use a cowboy hat as they are frequently shown in the country western genre and choose poses and use angles like mid-shots and close up that illustrate the magazine cover denotations.

mise-en-scene cover star by Cerys Collins

 

Attracting your target audience is essential in media text success. There are many ways that a magazine can achieve this and theories that help in deciding what makes people tick and how to organise and identify information about them.

Firstly I’ve looked at Blumler and Katz’ Uses and Gratifications theory before which states that people consume media text in an expectation of gaining entertainment, a sense of personal identity, a form of social interaction or education and information. The best magazines provide all of these uses in order to attract and satisfy the widest target audience possible.

Knowing what type of uses the audience seeks and what in particular within these uses they would enjoy is when Stuart Hall’s Reception Theory comes into play- he suggests that an audience decodes a media text based on the following personal filters

• Demographics
• Psychographics
• Situation
• Cultural competence

It is the producers job to encode these ideologies into the text, with the goal of creating a preferred reading for the audience. If these are not taken into consideration, a producer could end up making the audience’s oppositional reading- this means that they entirely reject the values and ideas encoded in the text.

 

So, to meet these audience needs a lot of research is required. My genre is country western music and I did research on YouGov to find out about country fans, here are some cut outs of my findings…

YouGov is a useful market research site that enables you to see the demographics behind music artists so I have chosen three country singers to research. This is very helpful because it means that I can use these findings to pick the correct adverts and information to go in my magazine as essentially everything will be crafted around the readers’ wants.

 

In order to arrange this data in a useful way, I have created a parody ‘dating profile’ so that I can refer back to what my target audience is wanting. It includes many details such as the main demographics (e.g. age, gender, ethnicity), psychographics such as likes and dislikes.

Situated culture is also an important research element but isn’t included in the dating profile, this is all abut how the audience will receive and view the text. For example,  country fans said they very often use Twitter and Facebook so promoting my magazines on these platforms would be a good idea.

Country Music Dating Profile by Cerys Collins

All of this research is vital to the production of my magazine because it shows me the specific conventions that I will need to include in order to reach and satisfy my target country fan audience.

When making a magazine, it is important to know what you are up against – the magazine won’t sell or gain an audience if you are just offering the same as everybody else.

This is why you need a ‘unique selling point’, this is something that I’ll include in ‘Country Capital’ that will set it apart from the competition.

My target audience is country music fans but not just those in the United States or other popular country locations. In order to attract this audience I will…

• Ensure that it meets the audience’s preferred reading -simple and straightforward with all the details to satisfy their country needs
• Provide information
• Provide Entertainment
• Have elements that help build readers personal identity
• Have elements that allows for reader to reader. interaction or reader to creator interaction.

To have a successful magazine, I will need to consider each sector of the AIDA Sales Promotion Model:

To make sure I do this, I have created a Piktochart research infographic of my competition and how they achieve AIDA.