AS Magazine Project – Critical Evaluation My magazine front cover contains all the features of a mainstream magazine. Originally, I wanted to keep my front cover posterstyle for the launch issue. In the end, I added a few main sells to attract potential reader’s attention. My magazine front cover contains all the features of a mainstream magazine such as a masthead, main image, main sells, price, date, and issue number. It also includes a web address, which although common in mainstream magazines, particularly mainstream music magazines, is not a necessity. I replaced and lightened the background on the main image to make the masthead and main sells stand out more, because if they didn’t show up well, the reader would not be attracted to them, and possibly wouldn’t even notice them. My contents page does not contain an editor’s note, which most mainstream magazines do. I didn’t feel the magazine really needed to hear from the editor because in my ideal image of the magazine, Aeriform is not about the magazine’s staff; it is about the readers and the artists of the month. My double page spread carries the house style through the magazine – use of the Polaroidstyle image frames [actually brushes from http://psbrushes.net] from the contents page and the pink stars used on the front cover. The pink, black and white theme continues throughout the magazine, as this is a part of the house style of Aeriform. As far as social groups and cliques are concerned, I feel my magazine represents the less mainstream and obvious side of alternative subcultures. The audience my magazine was aimed towards are midlate teenagers who do not fit the nowtypical newer ‘goth’, ‘indie’ and ‘emo’ stereotypes and who feel that more mainstream music magazines are not providing them with what they want, which is interviews with upandcoming artists as well as well established ones. They want to be intrigued by new music. And of course, who doesn’t love free stuff? I believe that most alternative scenes have become staid and stuck in a rut. Aeriform represents these scenes in a newer, more freshfaced light. It tries to push forward the idea that not all followers of alternative scenes fit the sometimes sickeningly boring stereotypes. I have asked a focus group, consisting of members of my target audience, what they think of my magazine. Out of the 10 people asked, 8 said they would be inclined to buy the magazine. The other two said that they very rarely bought music magazines anyway. 6 said they loved the way the magazine was laid out, the rest apart from one said they didn’t hate it, and one said it wasn’t their thing at all. 9 out of the ten said they liked the main image of the front page and the masthead. None of them were bothered about the lack of a slogo. All but one said they would skim the magazine in a shop. I think a publisher such as Future Publishing might take on my magazine. As they state on their website “At Future, we base everything we do around clusters of likeminded individuals who are passionate about their interests. At this time of overwhelming choice, people want trusted editorial services more than ever before. And this is what Future does best. From computer games to films, from cycling to musicmaking, we provide magazines, websites and events that inform, entertain and unite these communities. We share the same passions as our consumers.” I feel this is a similar view to mine when it comes to Aeriform. They seem to suggest that the work they do with their magazines is completely reader orientated and less about the writer’s ego stroking. I think this is a similar outlook to the one I have with Aeriform. Future also publish a magazine called MetalHammer, which is a music
magazine dedicated to ‘metal’ music. It is much less mainstream than music magazines such as Kerrang!, NME and Q. A less likely publisher for my magazine would be Bauer Publishing – they publish many magazines and newspapers such as Kerrang!, Q, Empire, Mojo, Bike, MCN, Heat, Grazia, Closer and many more. I feel this publisher would be a little too ‘middle of the road’ for my magazine, although it is a possibility. The unique selling point of my magazine is that it is written with the reader in mind. I have included lengthy interviews with new artists as well as interviews with musicians that are already well known. I have included a free download through a website called http://vampirefreaks.com. It is likely that my artist ‘Angelique Mae’ from the double page spread would already be signed up to this website as it is a great promotional tool for music from alternative musical genres and subgenres. Also, http://vampirefreaks.com does, on occasion, offer free downloads for the artists it is promoting at the time.
I have learned many things with PhotoShop CS3. This includes, but is not limited to; How to use the free transform tool. How to download, import and use brushes. How to download fonts. How to use the multiply effect on a layer to remove the background. How to use the magnetic lasso tool to create a selection. How to copy a selection into a new layer. How to feather a selection to make it blend better with a new background. How to crop images using PhotoShop CS3. How to straighten images using PhotoShop CS3. How to remove colour using the Black & White tool. How to correct blemishes using the spot healing tool. How to smooth an image using the noise removal tools. How to adjust an image with the replace colour tool. How to invert a selection to paint over the background. Looking back at my preliminary task, I feel I have learned how to better manage my time and work better to deadlines. I feel I have learned the importance of the audience’s opinions and doing research to find out what is important to them. I have technically become much better with PhotoShop CS3 and this has increased my ability to create the ideas in my head rather than getting frustrated because I do not know how to achieve the things I want to. I now know that a clear masthead and iconic imagery is important in attracting a potential reader.