AS Media evaluation

Drafting and planning

This is my final version of my front page and contents page:

I am very happy with my front page and contents page. It is clear that I have used a consistent colour scheme throughout. I have used a wide range of images and four different fonts to make it seem wild but clear.
Front page:
I have used a masthead of the font Amity Jack and included my magazine's URL inside the masthead. This is what other magazine's do. I have placed my artist over the masthead which makes her seem more prominent. By including six cover lines, I've proven that this is a jam-packed monthly magazine. I have ensured that the cover lines are stories that are in the contents page. They are of new artists I have created and of existing dance music artists. The white, burgundy, blue and lime green really compliment each other and this looks successful. The use of blue is a neon looking colour and this promotes the fact that my genre of music is dance music as you'd typically wear neon to a disco/night club. I have obviously included the generic conventions of a bar code and date line. I am very happy with the anchorage text on my magazine because it's bold and stands out from the rest of the stories on the front page. The artist's use of direct mode of address will entice the audience. The fonts I used were Consolas, Courier New, Amity Jack and Aharoni.

Contents page:
The title of "Contents" and "February 15", including the quote over the picture are in Aharoni font. It makes them big and bold and this will make it clear to the audience what page they are on. I used a black background on my contents page as this is what mixmag does; also I have positioned the contents features in columns because this is what mixmag does too. I have included the facebook and twitter logos showing that my magazine can be found online too and they are in lime green which makes a connection with the main image and colours of the front page. I have carried the colour burgundy through and highlighted all of the titles of the stories in this colour, it makes it seem consistent, bright and interesting. I have used three images on this page which feature two other artists that I have made up; there stories can be found on the contents page. I have included over 120 pages worth of articles, gossip etc. This is close to mixmag's total of 130 and proves that I have enough in my contents to make a successful monthly music magazine. By including the page numbers over the images, it establishes that my magazine is easily accessible, but this also connects to other music magazine's as they do it too.

Drafting and planning

I have began to make some improvements on my double page spread.
This is the first version:

This is my final draft version:

It's safe to say that my double page spread has improved since my first attempt. I have changed the colour scheme and added in black and blue. I think the colours really compliment each other and show a consistency which links to the contents page. I have kept the same main image but made it much bigger and made it straight. I think this is better as it makes the artist seem a lot more dominant and prominent on the page. For the questions in the article, I have made the font burgundy just like before but used a highlighter over it to make it lime green. This connects to the main images and colour scheme on the front page and contents page. The answers in the article are in white font which it used nicely because black and white are binary opposites and this is attractive because there's a great contrast. I have used a quote over the artist picture and this quote is actually found inside the article. The quote will draw the reader in. At the bottom of the article I have added a little summary of all of the places where you can find out more about the artist. This gives my magazine a sense of professionalism because it shows that my magazine promotes their Twitter page and website. At the top of the article, the heading is in burgundy font and this is successful because it creates a link to the burgundy masthead my magazine has. I made sure I added page numbers because they are compulsory and a generic convention. I got rid of the secondary image as I decided it was not needed and draws the article away from SIAN. I am pleased with this version of my double page spread.

Drafting and planning

I have been given feedback on my front page:

To improve on my front page to make it much better for when it's the real thing, I've been given advice to:

• Make sure that all of the cover lines are the same colour (burgundy) and this will create symbiosis between them and the masthead
• Make sure that the same cover line is clear that it's altogether - get rid of the spaces in between to make them stand out and connect
• Get rid of the negative space in the bottom left to make it seem fuller
• Get rid of the cover line about the iTunes voucher, you would not find this on a front page or in a magazine... choose a different pug e.g. Free Tiesto poster inside
• Centralise the anchorage text and make it all white to look professional and stand out

If I do all of the above my magazine will be successful.  I will have clearly followed the generic conventions of a music magazine and it should hopefully look like a real edition of mixmag.

I am going for a replica of this issue...

Although my colour scheme is different, I'd like to produce something just like this. It looks extremely professional and interesting. 

Organisation

I have just finished the draft of my evaluation on PowerPoint. I have included pictures, links and text to talk about the process of making and altering my magazine.

Drafting and planning

This is my final draft of my front page:

I like the way I have kept the consistent colour scheme of burgundy and white, this makes it seem professional. However, to improve on the colour scheme, I will add in another colour.. perhaps blue. 

The masthead is good and this is the masthead I have used consistently throughout my drafting and planning of my front page, it has rounded font linking to mixmag and is written in capitals, linking to DJ mag. I have included the URL in the masthead which is something music magazines tend to do, here I am following generic conventions.

My main image is positioned centrally which makes the artist appear as the  main focal point of the magazine and it is effective because the artist is making direct mode of address with the reader. The artist's curly hair is also effective because it makes her seem wild, this has a connection with the genre of music she produces. Her plain clothing connects with the plain background but the different colour makes her stand out.

The cover lines on my front page are all about artists that are featured in my contents page: Example, Calvin Harris, Tiga, JE55ICA and Martin Garrix, I've also included a pug with the 'win a £50 itunes voucher' - this will make the reader willing to flick through and find that page. 

The anchorage text is big, bold, italic and underlined. I made sure the main part was a different colour to the masthead showing that it has equal dominance. The effect of it being italic and underlined makes the anchorage text seem like a screamer, shouting for the audiences attention. The quote will have a positive impact because it'll make readers think, "what is she talking about?", this will make them buy the magazine. 

I included the little touches such as a bar code and a date line which is what all magazines have and this makes my magazine fit in with the rest.

Drafting and planning

I have finished my final draft for my double page spread:

I am happy with my DPS because the colour lime green has been used once again. This creates a connection with the front page and contents page and gives my artist a unique image. I've also kept the idea of burgundy, black and white going too. The article is based on SIAN revealing her plans for the tour as established in the heading. The heading does not give too much away but will still entice the target audience. I have once again wrote in columns which sticks to the typical convention of a magazine and this creates coherence. To distinguish between the questions and answers in the article, I have used a white highlighter to make the questions stand out. The questions I have asked my artist SIAN differ from 'is your tour from your album success?' to 'is there anyone you will miss in particular when you leave the UK?' which hints at a possible love life: a lot of magazines tend to do this. I have used a different picture of SIAN up against the wall which if inferred correctly suggests that she is reminiscing about the happiness of tour exclamation or perhaps daydreaming about the tour. The quote over the image is a rhetorical question which shows that SIAN is loving the fame. Even though some magazines spread their main image out over two pages on the DPS I think that the type of image I have of my main artist should cover one page as she still looks very dominant. I used a secondary image of S.O.D who is another female DJ - she is positioned where her name is featured in the article (she is SIAN's support act on the tour) this will give the target audience who do not know who she is an clearer insight. At the end of the article I thank SIAN and wish her luck on the tour and in the future and tell her that MOVE hope to catch up with her when she returns. In the burgundy circle which kind of acts as a pug because it gives the target audience the chance to win tickets to see SIAN live. I have ensured to include page numbers to give my magazine that sense of professionalism. 

Overall I am happy with my DPS but to improve I will use Amity Jack to link the masthead to the main subheadings in the article. I may also re-position the text over the main image to make it more eyecatching.