Media Studies Report on Magazine

Section 1 - Introduction and Research

I have chosen the Brief 3: Print for my OCR Media Studies final project. Te media text I have decided to make is a music magazine called ‘Punk Rock’ aimed at young rock lovers of big cities of Pakistan, mainly boys. I have researched similar media texts and also found out the target audience’s opinions about such products by using questionnaires and taking feedback. These are included in the appendix.

I analysed two magazines ‘Rolling stone’ and ‘Smash’ a popular magazine in Pakistan. I had also researched the internet and different books about the genre of music magazines and things that make good design choices and the ones that do not. I got both qualitative and quantitative data from my research.

Section 2 – Planning the Product

I had originally planned the magazine for a different kind of audience. The magazine was originally going to be a magazine aimed at rock lovers in general, boys and girls. However in response to a question asking the favorite genre of music female interviewees did not fancy rock or heavy metal but the male ones did. Therefore I had to change my idea of a rock magazine catering to boys and girls and came up with the idea of a rock magazine catering only to the guys.

A market research showed that very few rock music magazines and magazines in general are targeted at both male and female audiences. I did find a magazine but it included artistes and bands which only male audiences like. The kinds of music magazines enjoyed by girls are those that include rappers and popstars. Being a fan of rock music just like most of the male enthusiasts that were inquired from I decided to make a magazine which focuses primarily on rock music. According to the results of my survey rock music was the most popular especially among the guys. I studied some music magazines mentioned earlier and made notes on the kind of language, text, photographs and other design features of these magazines. The articles and topics chosen by me for the magazine were chosen because they were found to be most popular among the young male rock enthusiasts. For example I chose to include the latest rock music charts from around the world, I also chose to include rockstar interviews and rock album reviews because these would definitely attract and persuade young rock enthusiasts to buy.

Section 3 – Constructing the Product

I wanted to name the magazine something like rock and roll or music mania but that did not sound like a magazine catering to the youth so I decided to name it ‘Punk Rock’ which sounded much more youthful and clearly highlighted the genre of music being concentrated on in the magazine.

For the cover page I got one of my friends to pose for me with his guitar so the picture is original. I got the background from the internet using google images. The dark colour with the blue vertical luminiscent pattern in the centre went well with the theme of the magazine. To bring out the background light in the picture I reduced the opacity and set the blending mode to luminosity which gave a fantastic luminiscent blue effect and we see blue light from within the picture itself as a result. The picture was cut using the lasso tool and the magic wand tool was used to refine its edges and make it cleaner. For the title I used the ‘Chiller’ font since it went well with the theme of the magazine and has a very punk feel to it. The effects used on the title are bevel and emboss, outer glow, drop shadow and stroke the outer glow was spread only to the extent that the title was prominent. The style of bevel is inner bevel which gave it a soft feel and a glossy touch. I experimented with different fonts and colours for the mastheads on the front page taking advantage of the black colour in the background which makes them stand out.

I have made a total of two advertisements for the magazine and tried to relate them to the theme as much as I could. The first one is of the famous deodorant/body spray Axe®™ the picture used for the advertisement is original and will be added to the appendix alongwith other pictures I have used. I used the ‘cutout’ filter on the picture which made the background black and brought different shades of colour to the model’s face. This picture was taken by me so that the sunlight would brighten the face and so that the shadow of the window grills is seen on the face. The different shades of colour on the face have been brought out wonderfully by the cutout filter and make a delightful contrast with the dark background. The pictures of the body sprays are also original and both have been cut using the lasso tool and feathered to 50 megapixels I used outer glow on them to make them stand out. I slightly reduced their opacities as well. I have played with words in the text, the word ‘axe’ is also used to refer to electric guitars so I have related the text to the theme of the magazine. The effects used on the text are inner shadow, outer glow, gradient overlay, drop shadow and stroke with the colour red.

For the second advertisement, the picture used is original and the cutout filter has been used again to brilliant effect. The advertisement is for Sony Ericsson®™ walkman phones. I got the picture of the phone from the internet but had to cut it with the lasso tool and add outer glow to it after reducing its opacity. I got the pictures of the Sony Ericsson and walkman logos from the internet too. For the walkman logo I had to cut the ‘w’ the ‘dot’ and ‘walkman’ individually with the lasso tool and also had to use the magic wand tool on each of them for refining purposes. I used the orange colour for the text to go with the walkman logo and I have once again linked the text to the theme of the magazine.

For the Table of Contents, the background has been taken from the internet using google images. It was a great addition of colour to the magazine. For the title of the page I used the Mistral font and added outer glow, drop shadow and bevel and emboss to the effects so that it would be prominent. The pictures of the guitars have been taken from the internet but I had to cut them using lasso tool and also had to use magic wand to cut them. I added outer glow to them. For the page numbers and contents I experimented with vibrant colours. Ive added the Punk Rock signature on the bottom right corner using drop shadow, bevel and emboss and outer glow.

For the reviews page I have taken the background and the pictures of the album covers from the internet. I have added outer glow to the album covers. For the title of the page I have used the Viner Hand font and added outer glow, drop shadow, gradient overlay bevel and emboss and stroke to give it the effect, the blue colour of the text goes with the background and the yellow of the glow goes with the yellow of the text on the page to create a fantastic effect. Linkin Park and Breaking Benjamin are among the best rock bands around and very popular among young rock enthusiasts, which is why I have included reviews of their albums. The Punk Rock signature is at the bottom right of this page too.

For the Interview page I have included the interview of Green Day’s vocalist and band leader Billie Joe Armstrong.Green Day are among the pioneers of punk rock and extremely popular among the youth. The background from this page has been taken from google images. The pictures have also been taken from google. For the title I have used the freestyle script font and the blue colour goes with the background I have added drop shadow and outer glow to it to make it prominent. The colour of the text in the inteview is again yellow and ofcourse I have added the Punk Rock signature to it using the same colour and effects as before.

For the international charts page the background of the equaliser has been taken from the internet however the picture in the background is original and will be added to the appendix. I hav cut it using the lasso tool and have added outer glow to it and given it a red and yellow outline which goes with the overall layout of the page. I have also used outer glow on the text giving it a greenish outline which goes well with the orange of the text. For the title of the page I have used the Rockwell font and added outer glow, drop shadow and bevel to it.The red outline on yellow text go with the overall layout. The picture of the guitar at the bottom left has been taken from the internet but I have cut it using the lasso tool and added outer glow to it. The Punk Rock signature is seen on this page as well. For young rock lovers it is always handy to see what are the hottest rock songs and albums.

For the Karachi Rockers page the background has been taken from google. The picture in the centre has also been taken from the internet but I have added filters such as neon glow to it and have also used outer glow to give it a red and yellow outline which matches the overall layout. The picture at the bottom left is original and I have cut it using lasso tool and feathered it to a radius of 50 megapixels. For the title of the page I have used the Franklin Gothic font and coloured it red with a yellow outline I have used a lot of effects such as inner shadow, stroke, outer glow, bevel and emboss, gradient overlay, pattern overlay, satin and colour overlay which have produced a fantastic result. The text in the article is in bold yellow. Overall the mixture of colours is perfect. I have featured an underground band so that the young rock lovers of Pakistan especially Karachi can know about punk rock bands in their city. The Punk Rock signature is on this page as well.

For the Collage I have taken the background and most pictures from the net however I have merged these together with 5 original pictures. I have reduced the opacities of all pictures to merge them together and to bring out the background light. I have shown the comparison between classic rock bands and modern rock bands and punk rock bands. I have added callouts to the more important pictures to show these comparisons.

Section 4 – Evaluation of Final Product

In this magazine I have experimented with a lot of colours, writing fonts and effects. They have been vital in showing my creativity in this magazine. I have also experimented with different kinds of filters and they have been helpful in enhancing my original pictures especially in the advertisements. I have tried to make this magazine as colourful and youthful as possible and ofcourse as non-girlish as possible. My experiments with fonts have paid off especially for the titles of the pages and the text itself. Playing with effects such as glows and shadows as also paid off wonderfully. The Punk Rock signature adds consistency to the magazine and relates each page to the theme. I have also linked both advertisements to the theme to maintain consistency and rhythm. The things in the magazine which may possibly go against me or the flaws in the magazines are that the background colours are highly contrasting. My experiment with background colours may go against me as it may give a sign of inconsistency in the magazine. The fact that I have taken them from the internet can also go against me. The strong points in this magazine is the work that I have done on the pictures, the collage, advertisements, and the fonts, titles etc in the content pages.