In what ways does your music magazine use, develop or challenge forms and

conventions of existing music magazines?

I always knew deep down I was going to create a classical music
magazine.
I had an affiliation with both the genre and a deep pool of knowledge I
could draw upon. I wanted the magazine I created to have a bit of flair
and modernity that is rarely witnessed by the other more conventional
classical music magazine, such as the popular BBC music magazine,
classical music and the classic fm. All these magazines appeal to a
specific target audience, but to my utmost surprise the consumer is
severely undernourished when it comes to choice. This is why I set out
to create my magazine, a magazine that would keep the well-loved
conventions of my competition but strive to be something greater,
something more memorable and unique.

My front cover, like other classical magazines, makes little attempt to

entice consumer that would not be interested in the first place, my
magazine possesses no bright flashy buzz words such as Free or
exclusive. Instead I have elected for a subtle sleek minimalist
approach, which from a distance appear to be just the feature
musicians face with a red transparency layer added for artistic affect.
This is in line with the conventions of other magazines who generally
present their feature artist in a similar way, that being an extreme
close up shot of the artist face. Another aspect taken from classical
magazines is a strong brand identity, my title was designed with this in
mind. The combination of both the calligraphic V and the bold simplistic
adjoining text, however what makes this a memorable brand is the use
of the V being placed in a white slightly opaque circle. In time this logo
design for the title block would become a recognisable symbol of
classical music and would be its main selling point. This is my unique
approach to the genre to allow myself to modernise the classical music
magazine scene.
I use the conventions for the design and the layout of my content page,
this was directly inspired by a fairly similar design in the BBC own
Music magazine, but my content page possess a clear different it had
strayed from the conventional path. There is a clear divide between the
two pages with the left page containing a white background which is in
contrast to the aged parchment on the right page. This shows a
subliminal clash between old and new, representing the mixture of
respect for the past traditions and conventions juxtaposed with a
modern adjacent page. Another feature added to my contents page
was the ever popular editors note, this allowed me to fill the right hand
side of my contents page with a visually engaging welcome to the
magazine. In this text I (as the editor) lay out my magazines mission
statement, that it to be a professional passionate dedicated classical
music magazine. As well as a slight pun in the form of a music note.
There is also a central place reserved for the promotional material. The
bold title naturally attracts the audiences eye, and with the free iTunes
download is used to provide a sense of value in the magazine. I have
also included the use of social media again following other magazines
attempt to branch out into other medias, such as including the

information about the magazines social network and advertising the

free virtuoso app. This is in line with the popular BBC music magazine,
who has made similar attempt to not become irrelevant in the current
climate. AS more magazine attempt to find a new audience online by
the means of tablets and smart phones.

However the content page makes little attempt to stray from

established conventions. It uses these established conventions to
deliver an expected but pleasing visual experience. This is achieved
by having a high angle image of my feature artist witch blend
seamlessly with the black background. There is also other
conventions used such as the bold title in the top right and the out
of context quote enticing the reader into reading the rest of the
magazine. There is also clear indication were each of the questions
are located, with the use of consistent bright red. The second page
continues these conventions with a large imposing image of the
central artist, with piercing blue eyes. The only challenge is the age
of the central artist which is several years younger than the
traditional norm, this was intentional since I wish to target a more
youthful demographic. This is also shown with the modern design
flair incorporated into the entire magazine. Other elements
incorporated into the feature article that align themselves with the
typical conventions of its competitor. These include; pool quotes, the
use of a drop capital, the inclusion of a title and directly below it is a
stands first, this along with page numbers and t6he use of columns
aligns themselves with the typical conventions.
How does your music magazine represent particular social
groups? (blog)

My magazine attempt to represent an inspirational working class

artist who has overcome the image problem of classical music to
follow his central passion. I have taken in mind that he is being
portrayed to a more middle to upper class target audience, thus he
is presented in an almost mythological way. My central idea when
writing David Meyer was to have him larger than life. I choose his
name to neither be to elitist or too down to earth realistic this
was to avoid a patronising Oliver twist imagery. He is represented as
an anomaly of his social group, like other idols he has started from
the bottom, but while these other musicians typically make their
name in rap or hip-hop. I thought why not flip this stereotypical
story on its head and have the character excel in a musical genre
not generally associated with his background. He is a symbol for
excelling and is attempting to inspire rather than patronise. My
feature artist is comprised of a mosaic like affect were his face is
made up of hundreds of tiny images of classical instruments. This
effect not only is appealing to the eye, allowing my magazine to
stand apart creatively, but is also a visual metaphor for my artist
cultural integrity. He is the man of a thousand melodies and these
melodies define him as a character. My image is the visual

representation of this ideology.

My artist is represented in a similar way on the contents page, the
image has him conducting with a white baton, there is an abstract
element implemented in the form of the towering Andy Warhol like
shadow with a smoke like effect. These elements combine to create
a surreal like effect which has a deep subtle meaning. The image
represents my artist as a larger than life figure, not to dissimilar
from Greek mythology, thus enforcing my character overall design
philosophy.
The way my character is represented in the feature article is
perplexing at first. At a glance he appear rather small and is simply
dwarfed by the grand piano that is centrally framed in the shot. This
was an intentional decision as upon closer inspection it is clear that
the piano is no simple prop but an extension of the artist himself. He
uses the piano as a microphone to share his talent and music with
the rest of the world. The final page possesses a rather different
representation of my feature artist, he is standing and is fully facing
the audience in a direct mode of address with piercing (edited) blue
eyes. He is bold and imposing with a musical note surrounding him,
this is representing the final side of my artist, that is the artist and
the modern classical music as a whole are one and the same.
Looking at these images separately it they seem random almost
unconnected, but view them as a whole they are the literal
embodiment of my artist psyche.
Who would be the audience for your music magazine? Videogame
intro stuff

As mentioned above I was forced into selecting a more mature

middle class target audience. My target audience are university
students and young businessmen aged 25-30, this is a niche
audience, since there is a definite gap in the market. I thus cater to
a niche audience with a genuine interest in the genre. I have
realised this fact after completing my character profile, which
revealed that my target audience must be a sub divisions of
successful young men and women who have just recently left
university. This catering allows me to implement fantastical design
ideas without putting off a more mature dedicated audience that
generally reads this. By choosing this target demographic I have
demonstrated an innate understanding of the genre and have
spotted a gap in the market. As a result of this choice I have made
little attempt to welcome any one not willing to understand at least
partially the genre, without being exclusionary or elitist.
How did you attract/address your target audience? (Stop
animation)

As demonstrated in my Final magazine proposal, I truly understand

the target audiences ideology and needs. Their ideology is that of
creativity and expressionism. This laid the foundation of my design
philosophy and allowed me to implement more modern elements

into the magazine.

The front cover (which is previously mention) is used to appeal to a
more youthful artistic demographic. Due to its use of collage with
the use of postmodern imagery it naturally attracts the eye of my
target audience, due to the style and strong sense of design. This is
used alongside the logo, which as mentioned above is design to be
a modern recognisable brand. I designed the page in this way to be
the key selling point to my consumers.
This ideology of designing for a niche audience is reflected on the
content page. The layout is comprised with the idea that the reader
will be picking it up and reading the magazine at regular intervals.
Thus the content page is designed with the page numbers and
contents page immediately visible. The feature articles are the most
advertised, since that would be of most interest to my target
audience. This along with the inviting editor note are used to give a
feeling of warm welcome and acceptance.
There is also a focus on modern interactive Media and promotional
material. This is because my target audience has been shown to
what to get their value for money in regards to their purchases.
The modern use of social networking links and a free app will deeply
appeal to them. This is due my audience being highly literate in
using modern digital technology, and most likely will own tablet and
mobile devices.
The feature article is again design with a pick up a read ideology.
Thus the question are clearly distinguishable from the rest of the
article, allowing the reader to pick and choose the questions which
interest them.
The final way I addressed the target audience is with the 4th page of
my featured article. The artist is presented with a unique stylised
music note wrapped around his body. This is to make him more
visually appealing to the target audience as he is presented with a
modern flair. This is enforced by the type of language used, it is
written in formal English and uses specific classical terminology,
such as: virtuoso, Beethoven Brams etc.
What kind of media institution might distribute your music
magazine and why? Blog

The magazine had been designed to go upmarket with a

competitively low starting price point of 3.99. To really sell the
magazine would require a media institution that has a history of
dealing with similar products. After analysing some of the market
leader in the magazine industry I would select the media institution
company IMMEDIATE MEDIA co. This is because it has distributed the
trustworthy BBC brand including the Music magazine. This would
give my magazine the best chance of selling in the competitive
magazine market. However to truly compete and to outsell BBC
classical music magazine I would have to elect a competitor to this
media distributor. After re analysing the market leader my best
change would be to elect the distributor BAUER. This is because
although they have not publish a magazine as niche as this ONER,

they have a major influence on the classical music industry. And

would be able to widely distribute my Magazine to the niche
demographic.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of
constructing your music magazine? Comment on the following
with specific examples of tools used. Tutorial

The technologies used in the creation of the magazine were varied.

The use the photo editing software called Photoshop, an obvious
choice for the task allowing me to create visually interesting images.
Other programs include the obscure mosaic program allowing me to
create, alongside Photoshop, the visually memorable front cover. For
arranging the images into the finished products I used the adobe
illustrator program being the most exact tool for the job at hand. All
these programs came together to create the finished result.
The skill in the photo editing progress is apparent with the complex
tool I used inside the photo editing progress. From the basic such as
the magic wand tool used to edit and delete the background to the
more specific colour blending and editing techniques, shown on the
image on page 4. The task has allowed me to culminate all this
acquired knowledge into a specific photo editing talent.
What do you feel you have learnt in the progression from creating
the school magazine (preliminary task), to creating your final
music magazine? Stop animation

The experienced gained from this course has been staggering.

Having never attempted media before all technologies and
techniques had to be learned on the fly. The comparison between
my finished coursework and my preliminary task is a prime example
of my media growth. The preliminary task consisted of a simplistic
school magazine and content page. The style is basic and
undeveloped, as shown by the bright yellow hideous anchorage text
and inaccurate stretched proportion. My final product has overcome
all these issues, with an advanced sense of design gained by my
course.
This contrast in quality is continued on the contents page, from a
rather uncreative spread with limited photo arranging skill to an
advanced clearly laid out content page.
The tuth is I have gained enormous insight into the magazine
industry, and have able to take all this accumulated knowledge to
create a visually appealing creative music magazine. Thanks for
watching