1. MAGAZINE
Evaluation
Ben Shuttleworth

2. 1. In what ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?

3. Similarities… 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Both magazines have a Both magazines Both magazines They both have a Both feature a main
masthead. They are include free items feature cover lines and barcode, date, issue image. They are also
both quite large and inside to temp the a straplines to explain number and price. No centred and are pulling
cover a good portion reader to buy the the cover lines. Every magazine should be a very blank
of the magazine. This is magazine. This is magazine has these. sold without these expression. Another
a common convention another common features. common convention.
on all magazines convention. The fonts used on both
magazines are bold so
that they stand out on
the front cover.
Common because the
text stands out more.
They both have a main
cover line to anchor
the main image. They
also have straplines to
accompany the main
cover line.
All of these features
are common
convention of a
magazine on sale
today.
Both magazines have
an informal layout to
make them look more
exciting.

4. Differences...
BEAT Magazine
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Beat Magazine has BEAT Magazine has BEAT Magazine has a In MOJO the main
features a slogan more than one image
where as MOJO boxes round some of plain background, image is covering a big
on the front cover. the cover lines and where as MOJO has portion of the
doesn’t. Not always a MOJO only has one
common convention MOJO doesn’t have some texture because masthead, whereas
image. Pretty boxes. This varies the picture was taken BEAT doesn’t.
but is seen on some common.
magazines between magazines against a wall.
These features are
different to MOJO but
are still common on
other magazines such
as NME.
The main image on
BEAT Magazine
features a band, but on
MOJO there is only a
solo artist.
The main image on
MOJO takes up at least
¾ of the page where as
BEAT only takes up
about half.
The slogan on BEAT
covers part of the main
picture and MOJO
doesn’t . Common to
see parts of images
covered with text.

5. Similarities… 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Both magazine contents
Both magazines have a Both contents pages Both magazines have
Both magazines have picture and a letter of have page features and
have the issue and ‘THIS WEEK’ featured on
multiple pictures on information acting like
the editor on the left date of the magazine. the contents. Not always
the contents page. strap lines in the house
hand side of the Sometimes seen on seen, but common music
Always a common style. Always seen on
magazine. Seen in magazines. magazines.
feature on a magazine. most magazines. magazines to inform
reader.
Both of the magazines
have a numbered main
article. Always common
because it’s a main
feature.
Both magazines have
bold writing on the
magazine contents to
make it stand out.
Both magazines have an
informal layout to
maker it look more
casual to go with the
theme of the magazine.
Pretty much all of these
features on the
contents are
conventional.

6. Differences...
BEAT Magazine has the
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
BEAT Magazine has a
masthead on the BEAT Magazine has a BEAT Magazine has a BEAT Magazine also
competition on the
contents page as well feature line acting like box at the bottom has a second
contents. The square
as the front cover. Not a strap line to describe which acts almost like competition in the
code can be scanned
as common but gives a the main image/article. an extension of the circle to make it
on smart phones.
nice change to the Not as common. contents features. obvious. Sometimes
Becoming more
magazine. Seen more on NME seen but generally only
common with smart
magazines. one competition.
phone development. The background on
BEAT Magazine is
blank and the other
magazine uses the
main picture to make a
background.
Commonly seen on
NME
The pictures in BEAT
Magazine are cut outs
where as the other
magazine has no cut
outs. Not seen as
often.
BEAT Magazine has
different sub headings
for the features in the
magazine such as
‘RADAR’ and
‘REVIEWS’. This is
unique to BEAT
Magazine.

7. Similarities… 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Both magazines have a Both magazines have a
quote to introduce the picture which takes up
article. Seen on most one half of the double
magazines. page spread. Often
seen on music
Both magazine spreads magazines.
have a drop cap at the
beginning of the Both magazines have a
article. Seen on all little blurb on the
magazine articles. picture to name the
photographer and the
Both magazines have reason for the picture.
an article in a small Seen on magazines to
font size of at least 10. give credit to the
Common so that there photographer and to
is more writing on the explain to the reader
page In a small space. what the magazine is.
Both magazines have a Both of the magazines
different font style for have a little blurb
the Title/Quote. which introduces the
Unique for every journalist/reporter for
magazine but is often the article in the
used. magazine. It also
They both page delivers a bit of
numbers. Often seen information about the
on most magazines so general aim of the
the reader can link article. Always seen to
pages with contents. introduce article.

8. Differences... 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
BEAT magazine has a The other magazine
black and white image has a big headliner
where as the other which takes up almost
magazine has a colour half of one page.
image. Sometimes Common on music
seen but most of the magazines to introduce
time it’s colour. the article so the
reader knows what
The main image on the
band is featuring in the
double page spread in
article.
BEAT magazine has an
instrument in the The main image in
picture, where as the BEAT magazine is a
other magazine is a medium shot where as
posed shot. Seen in the other spread is a
most music magazines, close up. Changes
common in NME. depending on image
chosen but is common
The colour scheme is
for many photos.
different as well. BEAT
magazine looks more BEAT Magazine has a
colourful. Varies pull quote in the
depending on middle of the article ‘
magazine issue. “we just got lucky” ‘
My article is written in Commonly seen on all
questions and kinds of magazine.
answers, where as BEAT Magazine has
MOJO is not. Depends more columns than
on article type but is MOJO.
often common.

9. 2. How does your media product
represent particular social groups?

10. Similarities… 2. How does your media product represent particular social
groups? Main Stream
Some of the band They both share a They all have the same Hair styles are similar to
members in both of the similar facial expression kind of posing against a each other.
bands have hands in – blank and staring at wall.
their pockets. the camera.
Both bands are wearing
chinos/jeans
The background is fairly
similar because they
have both been taken
against a wall, however
BEAT Magazine’s are
cut out.
The lighting of the
photos are also fairly
similar with darker
clothing and a brighter
cast on the face.

11. Differences… 2. How does your media product represent particular social
groups? Main Stream
The top half of the The picture is in black MUSE is also in height The background of
bands clothing is and white, where as the order where as in BEAT MUSE is still there and it
different because one ARROW picture is in Magazine the band is makes it look more
of them is wearing a colour. fairly similar in height. urban than BEAT which
suit and ARROW is looks more polished
casual. with a clean
The clothes of ARROW background.
are very casual which
would appeal to many
people because they
are general everyday
clothes and it would fit
into the mainstream
theme.
To make the band
ARROW look more
casual one of the band
members has his foot
on the wall.

12. 3. What kind of media institution might
distribute your media product and why?

13. 3. What kind of media institution might distribute
your media product and why?
Bauer Media would be a good choice for my magazine because they have
been in business since 1953, so they have relevant knowledge on
distributing my magazine and making it a success. Also they are a multi
platform publisher, so they would support my magazine in its production.
In 1996 they also gained a digital music channel so I could use it for
advertisement of my magazine because they have a deal with Channel 4 so
I can use television as a form of publicity. More importantly they have also
been behind the publishing and distributing of ‘KERRANG’ which is a highly
successful rock magazine. I believe that with the rock themed magazine,
there is a place for my mainstream/pop magazine because they have no
history of publishing this genre of magazine, so it could prove to be highly
successful in the future.

14. 3. What kind of media institution might distribute
your media product and why?
IPC Media would not be a good choice for my music magazine because they
have already got a huge name in Main Stream/Pop Magazines. NME is one of
the biggest music magazines out there and it would prove to not to be as
successful because they already distribute the market leader, so there is no
where to compete. Even though they are highly experienced and hold a huge
array of popular magazines of all different genres, there is no point in
competing for a spot with IPC when they have a huge brand already, making
them lots of money. I am better off looking for a different distributer.

15. 3. What kind of media institution might distribute
your media product and why?
This would be a good choice for me to use in my music magazine
because this particular publisher makes many music magazines and
they would be able to use mine because they have experience with
music magazines, much more than the other companies. Furthermore
they aren’t as major as the other companies, so it would be a good
choice because my magazine could give the company a chance of
becoming more of a major contest with IPC’s NME Magazine. Their
magazines include:
•Classic Rock This company would be good for my
•Classic Rock Prog magazine because there are no Main
•Computer Music Stream magazines in their selection and it
•Future Music could prove to be a profitable magazine
•Guitar Aficionado (US) for Future PLC.
•Guitar Legends (US)
•Guitar Techniques
•Guitar World (US)
•Guitarist
•Guitarist (Australia)
•Metal Hammer
•Revolver (US)
•Rhythm
•Total Guitar

16. 4. Who would the audience be for your
media product?

17. Psychographic Profile (Audience)… 4. Who would the audience be for your
media product?
Dave, Male, Age: 16 from Birmingham
Dave would be the perfect person to read my magazine. The Age for my magazine is between 15-25 and
he is interested in music. He is also in the social class range of my magazine. I have aimed to get my
magazine in the biggest possible slot in social class. Between C1,C2,D,E. He would fit into the D/E range
because he doesn’t work but gets income from family. Because of the theme of BEAT Magazine, Dave’s
psychographic profile is very much Main Stream and partly an Aspirer which would fit into the category
of my magazine because my magazine is designed to follow the music trends which would come under
the Main Stream psychographic profile and will give him a higher social status if the magazine becomes
successful.

18. Psychographic Profile (Audience)… 4. Who would the audience be for your
media product?
Matt, Male, Age: 19 from Birmingham
Matt would be another good person to read my magazine. The age for my magazine is within the
target audience and he is interested in music like Dave. He is also in the social class range of my
magazine. He would fit into the D range because he has earned money from a part time job work and
gets income from family. Because of the theme of BEAT Magazine, Matt’s psychographic profile is
mainly Aspirer which would fit into the category of my magazine because it will give him social status
if he follows useful information in the magazine and if BEAT becomes successful, people will notice he
is reading a popular magazine.

19. Psychographic Profile (Audience)… 4. Who would the audience be for your
media product?
Claire, Female, Age: 43 from Birmingham
Claire wouldn’t suit BEAT Magazine because she is out of the age range of the magazine and may find
it less enjoyable because she may have other interests. Claire would suit the social class of the
magazine, coming under the C2 class because she has a full time job. However her psychographic
profile is much different to Dave and Matt’s because she is a Reformer (Influences/increases self
esteem of others). Claire doesn’t come under the Main Stream or Aspirer category because she has
different goals/aims to people within the age of the magazine and so it would be a less beneficial
choice for Claire to choose my magazine.

21. Front Cover…
The main image is of a Main My magazine also has bold
Stream band who are making cover lines to clearly display
their debut. This attracts the information so that its easy to
audience because for the read. The text is also simple
Aspirers it will increase their so it’s easy to read and follow.
social status if they know
more information on a I have also made it attract the
subject, in this case music. audience with the cover line
‘X FACTOR’ because it’s very
I also attracted my audience popular and it could be
with ‘FREE’ items highlighted classed as a main stream
in bold black letters to tempt feature in the magazine.
them to get the magazine
because people like the idea I have also addressed the
of getting things for free. reader with a slogan ‘IT’S ALL
ABOUT THE MUSIC’ so the
Another way to attract the reader knows exactly what
audience in my magazine is the magazine is about without
the use of bright colours even having to open it. It’s
which make the magazine quick and straight to the
stand out in front of other point.
competitors.

22. Contents…
I have addressed the Some of the features listed in
audience with a letter from my contents will also attract
the editor in the first issue of the reader such as
my magazine to explain to ‘GLASTONBURY’ and
them what is in the ‘KASABIAN’ because they are
magazine. This also helps to popular events/bands that
attract them as well because are highly popular which
it has been made to makes them main stream.
persuade the reader to read This will also appeal to my
on. audience because it gives
them vital information on
I have also attracted the music to share with friends.
reader with competitions as This can contribute to
well. Not one, but two. This increasing social status.
will attract the reader
because it gives them a Another thing that will
chance of winning attract Aspirers and Main
something. Streamers is the ‘THE UK’S
N01 GIG GUIDE’ because it
The second competition will persuade them to follow
includes a ‘SCAN ME’ code the trend of today and the
which would appeal to a magazine will teach them
main stream profile because how to enjoy a gig. This will
it tempts them to have a also help increase social
smart phone and “follow the status for Aspirers because
trend”. they can share this news
with friends.

23. Double Page…
The title ‘ARROW’ The caption at the
in bold lettering bottom of the
would be image also
appealing to a addresses the
mainstreamer reader on exactly
because ‘ARROW’ what is going on
have made it big in the picture
and the audience which is useful for
would want to the understanding
follow this. This of the picture.
would also
increase status Most importantly,
because they are the information
a popular band. itself is addresses
the reader on the
The By-line will article, but also
also address the increases their
reader because it knowledge on the
gives a quick subject. This is
blurb on what the useful for Aspirers
article is about so they can tell
The feature line ‘NEW ALBUM…’ The main picture taking up one their mates and
which will tempt
also addresses the audience half of the double page will also also
the reader to read
because it tells the reader what attract the reader because it’s mainstreamers so
on.
the article is about before they visually interesting to look at and they can buy the
even start to read the information. you can take your time to look at album.
it.

24. 6. What have you learnt about
technologies from the process of
constructing this product?

25. Hardware and 6. What of constructing this product?
process
have you learnt about technologies from the
Software Used… 1.
Photoshop
In my magazine I used Photoshop to do my front
cover. These screen shots show me cutting out
the main image for the front cover. Firstly I used
the magic wand tool to get rid of most of the
background. I changed the tolerance of the wand
depending on the darkness/contrast in the image
to remove as much background as possible. I then
used the eraser tool to remove any left over
background in the image. (shown in screen shot 2.
2.) The finished image is shown on the right of the
images been worked on. The software proved to
be very effective and made a really good job of
the cut out as shown in the screen shots. I used
this image in the final of my magazine cover. I
chose to have a cut out because I wanted a fairly
plain background for the cover which I could
achieve best by doing a cut out on the pictures.

26. Hardware and 6. What of constructing this product?
process
have you learnt about technologies from the
Software Used… 3.
Photoshop
I also used Photoshop to create an A4 page for the
basis of my front cover shown in screen shot 3. I
selected international paper and chose A4 to create
the page. I also used the software to manipulate the
tones in the band. I used Brightness and Contrast to
achieve this (shown in screen shot 5). The 5th screen
shot shows the final image used in the magazine.
The software was effective and quick and proved to
be very useful. 5.
BEFORE AFTER
4.

27. Hardware and 6. What of constructing this product?
process
have you learnt about technologies from the
Software Used…
Photoshop 6.
This screen shot shows my final magazine
front cover. I have used the main image
edited and cut out in screen shots 1-2
and 4-5. I have also a various range of
bold fonts which I chose to use because
they are big and they stand out. For my
cover lines I also used boxes round my
text to make it all stand out from the
white background. I have also used drop
shadows on the images and text to make
it look more 3D and stand off the 1.
background. This is a common technique
that professional magazines use.
I also used dafont.com to get my masthead and
the ‘ARROW’ main feature. I used this website
for the text because it makes the masthead look
more exciting with a different texture to the
words, rather than just using generic font.

28. Hardware and 6. What of constructing this product?
process
have you learnt about technologies from the
Software Used… 1.
InDesign
I used InDesign to do my contents page and
double page spread. To begin with I created 4
pages. 2 single pages and one double page. I had
to shift the order of the pages by going to the
“Pages” tab and right clicking on the images and
deselecting “allow document pages to shuffle”. I
then grabbed the double page and shifted it
down. This was very easy and proved to be 2.
useful in creating my magazine. Screenshot 2
shows the final result from doing the above.

29. Hardware and 6. What of constructing this product?
process
have you learnt about technologies from the
Software Used… 3.
InDesign
I also used InDesign to insert a picture. First you drew a
box on the page. Then go to ‘File’ and select ‘Place’. 4.
Then you find the image and insert. The image will
then end up in the box that you have drawn. Once it is
the box hit Ctrl+E to fit the picture into the whole box.
This was easy to do and the software did it very
effectively and quickly.
5.

30. Hardware and 6. What of constructing this product?
process
have you learnt about technologies from the
Software Used… 6.
InDesign
I also created a “drop cap” on my article
because it is a classic convention of a
magazine. To do this I selected my text,
highlighted the first letter of the
magazine and increased the number
from 1to 4 to make the drop cap. The
button to push is highlighted in screen
shot 7.
7.

31. Hardware and 6. What of constructing this product?
process
have you learnt about technologies from the
Software Used…
Microsoft
Word
I used Microsoft Word to create my
magazine article. I used this programme
because its simple to use and it’s really
easy to navigate and edit text before I
copied and pasted the text into
InDesign. The software proved to be
very effective because it was quick and
simple. It was perfect for word
processing and it took my no time to
type my double page spread article.

32. Hardware and 6. What of constructing this product?
process
have you learnt about technologies from the
Software Used…
I used slideshare to publish my power point
presentations neatly and professionally so they
are not published as individual images and the
orders aren’t mixed up. The software was very
effective and easy. I just uploaded the power
point and copied the embed file onto
blogger.com.
I also used Scribd as another one of my
programmes for uploading to my blog. This
programme I used to upload my word documents
into just one upload on blogger. I used this to
make the word documents look more tidy and
whole so it isn’t mixed up with anything else. This
was effective and easy to use because like
slideshare, you just upload and copy the embed
file onto blogger to achieve a more professional
look to your blog.

33. Hardware and 6. What of constructing this product?
process
have you learnt about technologies from the
Software Used…
I used blogger to upload all of my posts
from, developing all the way to the final
magazine. I use this piece of software to
easily display all of my work in one place
which can be accessed by everyone.
Blogger is also very effective because it
supports the use of embed files, so I could
upload Scribd and Slide Share files onto the
blog to make it look more professional.
I used this process to put up the posts on
my blog. Firstly you click new post on the
selected blog, then type in information
and publish the post. It was that simple
to create my blog. This shows just how
easy and effective the software was.

34. Hardware and 6. What of constructing this product?
process
have you learnt about technologies from the
Software Used…
Sony Cyber-Shot Camera
For my magazine I used the colleges
Sony Cyber-shot camera’s to take
the photos which were featured in
my magazine. It proved to be a
fairly good camera that produced
decent results which I tweaked in
Photoshop later on. I learnt that it is
best to shoot portrait when taking
photos for a magazine because I
noticed from other magazines that
it was a common convention to use
portrait photos.

35. 7. Looking back at your preliminary task,
what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?

36. 7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?
Since my preliminary task, I feel I have made many improvements in my work. As you can see visually BEAT Magazine
looks a lot more professional. I feel that I have made tremendous progress in my work and have really grasped how
to use programs such as Photoshop and InDesign. I feel that I have better knowledge of how all of the software
works, and how to use the magazine conventions correctly and effectively on creating my own magazine.

37. Front Cover…
As you can see BEAT magazine
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel
you have learnt in the progression from it to the full
has a bigger masthead that the BEAT magazine also has
preliminary magazine. It also
product? more pictures and the
BEAT magazine also
doesn’t use the generic text in uses drop shadows on cut out’s look a lot more
Photoshop and uses a more it’s layout instead of the professional compared
exciting text commonly seen in preliminary outlines to the preliminary
professional magazines. which don’t look as magazine.
professional as BEAT
does.
BEAT magazine has
more cover lines than
the preliminary
magazine cover. Which
is important in
interesting the reader.
The preliminary
magazine has too many
boxes around
everything and encloses
the whole of the cover,
where as BEAT has text
that spews out onto the
front cover making it
more exciting and eye
catching.
BEAT magazine also has
a better variety of
colour making it look
more exciting.

38. Contents… 7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel
you have learnt in the progression from it to the full
BEAT magazine uses a pretty product? Again the colour scheme I have also learned
similar style of layout to the that lots of pages is
is also important and is
preliminary task with a fair few BEAT magazine has its more exciting than the important to a
boxes surrounding the writing and masthead displayed on limiting preliminary magazine so I have
imagery. the Contents page and contents. included more pages
learnt that it’s seen in in BEAT Magazine.
music magazines,
mainly in magazines
such as NME.
Both magazines have
the date of the
magazine, however
BEAT’s is more clearly
displayed against the
white background, as
well as the issue
number as well.
I have also included
more competitions in
BEAT magazine because
I have learnt that
competitions are a big
part to a magazine, so I
have included two in
the contents page, and
a QC code to scan for a
modern twist on the
magazine.