1 - 3. But how did I appeal to this, admittedly, rather broad, target audience? I subverted several conventions of music magazines whilst also conforming to elements of magazines that would appeal to my target audience.
First and foremost, I set out making my cover. Here is my final cover:
I attempted (and, I feel, succeeded) in creating a simplistic, minimalistic cover style. By creating a sparse cover, it forces the reader to focus on the image thus elevating the image and making it more effective. Furthermore, it means the magazine maintains it classic, nostalgic image as it harks back to a simpler era of indie music. But how did I form this minimalistic cover? I restrained from including cover lines which may obscure the image. I used a basic colour scheme of red, gold and white. Due to the black and white picture, the masthead is more prominent, standing out due to the emboldened red. Red is used for the more important pieces of text, as in the masthead and the main story. As such, the reader’s eyes are instantly drawn towards these aspects of my magazine. I did not use crass, brash colours as not to create a tacky feel. A solitary image is used as several images may transform the magazine into a tacky style, reminiscent of ‘Kerrang!’ and ‘NME!’ which would simply not appeal to my older and more intelligent target audience.
The title, ‘The Throwback’, alludes to a bygone era of indie music (as referred to in the tag line) which would appeal to my target audience. The term ‘Throwback’ connotes that, whilst the magazine is clearly modern, it is certainly influenced, if not fashioned, by the 1980’s era of independent music. The tag line is ‘Providing readers with a throwback to a bygone era of indie rock’. This further reiterates the sentiment of the magazine (already referred to in the title, the image and several other elements) in that we are looking back whilst moving forward. The term ‘indie rock’ is a clear signal to the reader of the genre that the magazine focuses on. It also clearly focuses on the term era that we are ‘throwing’ the readers back to – that of the birth of independent music.
The price is £3.99; this is in white text (along with the date and issue number) as it is not as important as the gold and red text. The price was chosen in the questionnaire, in which they thought £3.01-£4 an appropriate price for a monthly magazine. It is essential to cater to the needs of my target audience and, as such, I followed the questionnaire’s results to a tee.
My contents page also uses several conventions to convey the minimalistic, nostalgic sense that I achieved on my front cover. However, I also subverted several current magazine conventions to reference the era I am basing my magazine on. First and foremost - the images, I decided to include some colour as not to make reading the magazine a dirge. However, I retained the nostalgic edge by ‘framing’ the pictures with a Polaroid ‘stuck on’ by sticky tape. This reinforces the independent angle to the magazine, harking back to the days of ‘D.I.Y.’ punk magazines in which sticky tape and Polaroid’s were prominent. This era will resonate with my target audience and, as such, they will be enticed by the familiar images and read on. This ‘D.I.Y.’ sentiment is buttressed by the fact that the images and Polaroid’s are at a skewed angle.A gold frame is used as to highlight the classic style to my magazine. Moreover, a simple colour scheme is once again employed as to retain a minimalistic edge that will become synonymous with ‘The Throwback’. The contents title is emboldened as to attract the attention of the readers. The page does however conform to some magazine conventions. This is epitomised by the classic contents style of a large sub-title signalling the name of the section followed by a smaller text, describing the section in further detail.
There is a lack of colour as before, as to retain the minimalistic, classic style that would appeal to my cultured target audience. It also means that the text is easier to read and as such, the lengthy interview is consumed quicker. The picture is, once again, emphasised due to the lack of a background colour and the size of the picture. Moreover, the lack of text on the left side of the page accentuates the powerful nature of the picture. Liam Oakley’s direct mode of address also enraptures the audience as they feel like they are involved within the magazine. It also retains the sense that we are ‘meeting’ Liam Oakley face to face, both visually and textually. The simple, classy font further conveys a sense of nostalgia that harks back to the era of early indie.
I conformed to the interview format of ‘The Word’ and other similarly styled magazines, with the question being asked by the journalist in bold and the answer in normal text. This similarity is due to the fact that ‘the Word’ and ‘Rolling Stone’ have similar target audiences to ‘The Throwback’, as discovered in the research stage of my project. This similarity between the magazines would continue as they both feature similarly sparse styles, simple but classic font and a similar deficiency in pictures.
Once again, I used the aforementioned ‘stuck-down’ Polaroid, a recurring theme, to hark back to the days of ‘DIY’ punk magazines. The lead of the article is featured in red as to emphasise that this is not a part of the article but a paragraph to introduce the purpose of the article. The large ‘T’ that begins the article is also a convention of the music magazine genre but it can also be construed as reflecting the ‘T’ in the title of ‘The Throwback’ thus familiarising the potential new fans with ‘The Throwback’. The black and white picture featured in the Polaroid picture also refers to the nostalgic edge of the magazine.
This is the second, and final, double page spread, focusing on the second most favoured article type in my questionnaire – reviews:
As not to bore the readers with the persistent use of Polaroid’s to frame images, I decided to implement a different style of picture with my second article. I included pictures along the bottom as to make him look natural. The picture is Beatles-esque thus forcing one to infer that the article is, as always, in the vein of the magazine and nostalgic. The pictures were stylised (using poster edges) and removed of colour as to give the picture a classic feel, ensuring that the pictures remain in the vein of the magazine as a whole. I made certain that the pictures would not obscure the text and tried to avoid clutter on the page as to maintain the minimalistic style.
As to maintain a sense of consistency in my magazine, I included the customary page number, magazine name and date. The title of the section, ‘Reviews’ was emboldened as to draw the reader’s attention to the name of the section and thus, the article. The reviews are in columns as to maintain a newspaper style appearance hence insinuating to the reader that the information is factual.
I decided that, unlike ‘NME’ and ‘Kerrang!’, I would not include a rating or stars as this would convey the magazine as tacky and would endorse laziness. ‘The Word’ also employs this policy and they boast a similar target audience to my magazine. I have however included “3 tracks to download” thus implying that despite the fact that ‘The Throwback’ contains roots in the ‘80s, they are always moving forward (due to the modern nature of downloading).
4. My magazine represents youths as the next generation of indie rock. This is most notable in my articles in which I hail ‘Costa Nostra’ and ‘The Tendency’ as great new, young bands. This connotes that youths are the future of indie rock thus inspiring youngsters to join the music industry. The emphasis on youth is epitomised by this quote from the double page spread based on Liam Oakley: “The Tendency claim to be subversive, anarchic and generally different. And who can deny them of their youth?” One could infer from this quote that youths have delusions of anarchy but it also holds connotations that the youth have, and always will be dreamers, dreaming that they can make a difference.
My magazine doesn’t represent females due to the fact that it is predominantly aimed at males. As such, I realise females would be less likely to buy my magazine but due to their indifference towards the genre, the loss is insignificant.
Males are represented as strong and dominant; all the bands featured in the magazine are fronted by males and, as such, males are being championed as the future (and possibly present) of indie rock.
Race issues are not being represented, although that, perhaps, is the issue. There are no races other than white being portrayed in the magazine which could be construed as racism in itself. On the other hand, the inclusion of one (admittedly, white) South African could be seen as a representation of Africans. But, overall, there is no denying that the race of the magazine is largely white; take from that what you will.
5. I would like a media institution that is experienced in the field I am looking to penetrate. As such, a publisher of a similarly simplistic, classic styled magazine would be perfect – perhaps the publisher of ‘The Word’, ‘Rolling Stone’, or even ‘Q.’.
‘Bauer Media’ control ‘Q.’, however, they also control ‘Kerrang!’ thus signifying their poor discernment in choosing quality magazines. ‘Wenner Media LLC’ publish ‘Rolling Stone’, however, judging by their association with ‘Mens Journal’ and ‘UK Weekly’, they lack the drive that I’m look for to create a relatively subversive magazine. ‘Development Hell’ are an independent publishing company that publish ‘The Word’. They also publish ‘Mixmag’, a dissident take on dance music. Due to their association with these reputable magazines and their clear eye for magazines ‘going against the grain’ as it were, I would like ‘Development Hell’ to publish my magazine.
6. I have consumed various skills and learnt various techniques in creating a magazine. First and foremost, I have certainly progressed in terms of Photoshop. It opened my eyes as to how difficult it was to convincingly construct an article for a magazine. It involved patience, dedication and a certain degree of skill. For instance, I learned such simple skills as ‘removing colour’. This is exemplified by the album review, in which Stephen was in colour but removing the colour gave it a classic edge. Moreover, I learnt that by using simple effects in Photoshop, I can transform the picture from amateurish to professional-looking with, for example, poster lines (as utilised in the reviews article).
Another skill I acquired over the course of the project was that of ‘blogging’. It was a necessity to create a blog as the examiners charted our progress and, as such, I was forced into creating a blog. I learnt how to implement images into each blog post, I learnt how to customise my blogs amongst other skills. Moreover, it helped me get feedback from my peers as we proceeded along the course.
From the construction aspect of the project, I also learnt how to maximise a camera’s potential. Beforehand, I had never used a full scale camera before but as I was introduced to one by my friend (who takes AS photography), I quickly grasped how to zoom and focus. I enjoyed taking the reins behind the camera as I was introduced into the world of photography. Now, I can not only manipulate images, but I can also take them.
7. I feel that I have progressed massively since the production of my preliminary task. On ‘Zine!’s front cover, the main picture was not as well thought out; the main image containing a seemingly random effect that bared no relation to my target audience. Conversely, ‘The Throwback’s front cover image is tailor-made to suit my target audience, as one can see from questions 1 to 3. Furthermore, I have also thought about the textual placement this time as, beforehand, the text was just placed in a line down the right. This time, I have thought about where and how the text would best convey meaning.
The change from ‘Zine!’ (our college magazine) to ‘The Throwback’ is evident below:
