Note to Examiner

Dear Examiner,

During the production process of my magazine, I have gained a significant number of skills relating to the magazine industry. As a result of this, I have been able to produce a final product to the very best of my capability. The entire process has been engaging, interesting, challenging and somewhat stressful! I hope you enjoy reading.

Thank you,
Ethan Smith

Final Cover

Final Contents

Final Double-Page 1

Final Double-Page 2

Final Double-Page 3

Final Double-Page 4

Preliminary: Final Cover

Preliminary: Final Contents

Evaluation Activity 7

Evaluation Activity 6

Evaluation 6 from Ethan Smith

Evaluation Activity 5

There are a number f factors within my magazine that constitute towards the attraction of my desired alternative/indie audience. These are: iconography, challenging magazine conventions and the similarity of my magazine to other alternative music magazines. 

Iconography

Presenting my model in the position of smoking links to themes and ideas of teenage angst/rebellion: themes that my alternative/indie audience would perhaps be able to relate with. The cool, vintage clothing and nose ring that my model is wearing also connote to the yearn for individuality - something that my magazine attempts to portray throughout. 

Challenging magazine conventions

I decided to challenge the traditional conventions of magazines by choosing to have a double-page contents page in a landscape format - in contrast to the traditional portrait contents. I feel that this helped to attract my alternative audience, since they are likely to purchase something that doesn't conform.

Similarity to Beat Magazine

The fact that my magazine gains inspiration from Beat Magazine could influence my alternative audience: they are likely to read other alternative music magazines and so will be more enticed to read mine.

Audience Reading Gush Magazine

Name: Sam 

Age: 17

Favourite Band/Artist: Modern Baseball

Go-to shop: Urban Outfitters

Name: Jay 

Age: 17

Favourite Band/Artist: FIDLAR

Go-to shop: Pink Pigeon 

Evaluation Activity 4

From my research, I concluded that my magazine would be aimed predominantly towards an audience of the younger demographic - ranging from ages 16-22. This was useful research for me, since it dictated the writing style of my articles, as well as the features of the overall magazine. It is important that I create my magazine "in line" with my desired demographic, so that I can reach my ideal audience. Having a younger audience is important to the success of my magazine - in my view - since younger people are likely to be interested in new and upcoming trends. I conducted a questionnaire in order to aid with this: my audience were asked questions regarding their lifestyles and interests, meaning that my magazine could be constructed around the livelihood of the audience. 

The gender of my audience was another important factor in my research: I decided that my magazine would appeal to both male and female consumers - widening my audience and ultimately resulting in a more accessible magazine.

Synergy/convergence is important to consider when making my magazine - especially since mine focuses on music. I therefore asked my audience questions about where they like to shop and what music they enjoy: in order for my magazine to connect with its desired audience, it's important that cross-media convergence is taken into account. Below is a screenshot taken from my questionnaire regarding the bands/artists my audience are interested in:

From questions such as this, I can gain useful information about my audience and cater the magazine towards them - for example, my magazine features a section about 'The Jesus and Mary Chain' and 'Slowdive'.

Audience Profiles

The following audience profiles are examples of the type(s) of people who would be interested in my magazine:

Name: Lily Eve

Age: 17

Interests: Photography, music, gigs, video games, film

Favourite bands/artists: DIIV, Radiohead, Beach Fossils, Blaenavon, The Wytches, Karen O, Joy Division, King Krule

Favourite places to shop: Independent stores (e.g. Pink Pigeon), Online (e.g. ASOS Marketplace, Hoodbats)

Name: Fin Quinlan

Age: 16

Interests: Playing guitar, skateboarding, gigs, photography

Favourite bands/artists: The Velvet Underground, Marietta, Mom Jeans, Merchant Ships, Car Seat Headrest

Favourite places to shop: Charity/vintage shops, independent stores

Evaluation Activity 3

Evaluation Activity 2

Evaluation Activity 1

Evaluation Activity 1 by Ethan Smith on Scribd

Evidence of blog work

Evaluation Tasks

For the final 20 marks of the project, I must complete seven tasks on my blog:

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of music magazines)
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
7. Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Cover Progression

Contents Page Draft

Artist Profile: Lily Eve

Name: 

Lily Eve

Genre(s):

Bedroom pop, dream/jangle pop, lo-fi, indie pop, alternative

Influences:

DIIV, Mac DeMarco, trendy dog with sunglasses, The Wytches, CASTLEBEAT, Pale Waves

Instruments/Roles:

Lily plays all the instruments used in her songs when producing at home. However, she has specific band members when touring:

• Lily - Vocals, acoustic/electric guitar
• Zachary - Percussion (drums, tambourine)
• Otto - Keyboard/synthesizer
• Thom - Bass

Somewhat interesting facts:

• Lily can balance a beer can on her head for about 1 minute 47 seconds - try beating that
• Isn't afraid to bottle someone
• It is rumoured that Lily has a shrine dedicated to her 'Is The Is Are' vinyl (although this isn't confirmed)
• Remarkably, she only started playing guitar last year 
• Dislikes: posers 
• Likes: alcohol

Latest release:

Lily's latest release is her "..." EP. It provides a brief glimpse into her mind - dealing with personal topics and issues. It definitely isn't called "..." because she couldn't think of a suitable title. 

Double-Page Spread Draft

Draft Magazine Cover

Photos used for Gush Magazine

Analysis: Audience profile

Now that I have had a sufficient number of responses from my survey, it is important for me to analyse the results and relate it to my magazine. 

The large majority (90%) of people who filed out my survey were in the 16-18 age range: this is useful to my magazine because my desired audience was of a younger demographic. However, the fact that 10% of the responses were in the 30+ age range suggests that my magazine could provide interest to older readers - perhaps those who are looking for nostalgia, or who are simply intrigued by the new music scene. 

My magazine will be directed towards both male and female reads, so the fact that the survey is fairly evenly split (60% male, 40% female) suggests that this is easily achievable. It is important that my magazine can appeal to both genders, so I will need to create a design/aesthetic that is widely approachable - this does not mean that I will be using "gender assigned" colours or stereotypical designs. 

When asked what genre my pitch was reminiscent of, nobody chose "Pop" or "Hip Hop". This is a really positive result for my magazine because it isn't associated with those genres at all. Instead, people chose "Indie" and "Alternative": strictly speaking, my magazine is one that focuses on alternative music, however I feel that indie is a fairly broad term when it comes to music outside of mainstream. Therefore, it is good that 66.7% of people decided that my magazine is "Indie" because I can now know confidently that my magazine has achieved its desired style. As well as this, 33% associated my magazine with "Alternative" - this is positive as my magazine is centred around alternative music (particularly shoegaze/dream pop). 

Before this survey, I planned to sell my magazine monthly - at a price of £8. After surveying my desired consumers, I received incredibly positive results: 60% said they would buy a magazine monthly, and 80% stated they would pay £4-£8. This really reflects how I want my magazine to be sold, and provides evidence that a monthly, £8 magazine would be suitable for my consumers.

Language register-read magazine articles

The writing style of a magazine will vary depending on genre and its target audience: a magazine that focuses on an older demographic would likely have more formality to it than a magazine that is targeted towards younger readers. In terms of genre, certain magazines may adopt jargon that is linked to the style of music they write about - therefore, it is important to consider the language I use when writing my articles. 

Audience Research

Research: Photographers - Charlotte Patmore

Inspiration is highly important in any creative field, which is why I decided to research some photographers that I feel have cool styles. It will be useful for when I come to take photographs, as I can picture what I want them to look like.

Charlotte Patmore

Charlotte Patmore is a popular photographer within the indie music scene - she has worked with artists like Swim Deep, Black Honey and The Magic Gang. Her photos have gained increasing popularity on Instagram, and she even has her own t-shirts! I like how she uses both coloured and B&W film, with both producing fantastic images - she experiments nicely with colour and really makes the artist stand out. For her Black Honey series, Patmore also experimented with the use of flash: I think I would like to do this in my magazine too, since it makes the featuring artist "pop".