Task 5 - Magazine newsstand task

For the magazine newsstand task, I visited a local news shop in walthamstow market, they had noticeable magazines such as 'Q magazine' 'Kerrang' and XXL.

Unfortunately, there is not much I can discuss about the way it is displayed, the music magazines are definitely placed in the music genre of the shelf, but it seems like the overall layout of the area is intended for the readers of each magazine to find which publication they are used to reading. However, The 'WIRE' magazine in the middle may have been placed the way it is for the reason that it could possibly be a best seller, it is the only magazine which the cover page is shown to its full extent.

One aspect that can be clearly seen on these magazine covers are the mastheads, most are shown clearly in their full effect due to their placement (usually in the top left) this allows them to be easily identifiable by the reader or a customer who may be interested.

To research more into the display of magazines in newsstands, I will have to find a more organised and clear example.

Task 5 - distribution of magazines

 Magazine's have multiple methods by which they distribute and increase exposure of their magazines. For this task I will be analysing the methods of distribution used by 'Kerrang!', 'XXL' and 'Q' magazine.

'KERRANG!' magazine
By analysing the official website of 'KERRANG!' we can see begin to see the methods which they use so that they can distribute the information of their magazine. in this section alone we can see the involvement of:

• social media sites (Facebook and Twitter in particular)
• TV content
• Radio content
• Mobile phone app
• Ezine (online magazine)

The involvement of Facebook and Twitter as the  largest social media platforms plays a major role in the distribution and awareness of the magazine.The social media sites allow people of all ages (especially the target audience) to be aware of the latest information KERRANG has to offer, upcoming features and artists are usually discussed in social media, making the exposure of the newspaper even larger than before.


Social media sites are primarily known for how efficiently content can be shared between users. Kerrang can easily reach the attention of somebody who is a fan of rock music. Even someone who isn't interested at all in the genres the magazine has to offer can easily be exposed to the content, this can result in the variety of the audience who are purchasing  or subscribing to the magazine to become wider, resulting in an increase in revenue.

Kerrang also has successful mobile phone apps for both their magazine and also their radio station. This allows their main audience to access the content they would like to consume as easily as possible, which also can lead to a potential increase in awareness of the magazine through aspects like a share button

Kerrang also produces an electronic version of their magazine (also known as an e-zine) from this you can probably tell that the magazine can be read on a mobile, tablet or laptop device, this is the case because technological advancements have allowed for us to be able to use such devices for purposes that were not possible beforehand, such as reading a magazine or newspaper online, it is the lack of attention towards paper copies and the increased focus of the electronic versions of magazines have resulted in this shift of platform. It is something which has also benefited the magazine publishers themselves, financial costs for ink and the huge amount of paper used for conventional magazines is saved for other more relevant purposes.       

XXL has an iphone app for people who want more than just the magazine, the app has sections for News, Music, Videos and a Newsletter. This allows members of the audience to interact not only with XXL as an organisation, but with people who they share a similar interest with

XXL website: XXL has its very own website covering the content that can be found in the magazine, it also introduces features similar to the app for instance News, Music and videos can be found on both platforms. Having these sections on both an application and a website increases the likelihood of the content being consumed by the audience, this can theoretically correlate to an increase in revenue. 

facebook and Twitter

facebook and twitter pages are very powerful tools for distributing content. The content is shared by  the audience themselves and it allows for members outside the target audience to be exposed to XXL as a music related magazine.

Task 4 - Feedback and Evaluation of task 3

Evaluation on college magazine and preliminary task

The preliminary and college magazine tasks have allowed me to develop my skills on software such as Photoshop and InDesign to produce a double-page spread, front page, and contents page in preparation for the creation of my own music magazine 'wave'.

What went well

During my college magazine task, the process of learning how to use photoshop and InDesign was very smooth and swift. Being shown the tools necessary to include conventional features for the creation of a typical college magazine was explained to me clearly with examples and guidelines. I also felt that another positive note of  I was able to make adequate content to display what was in my new 'set of skills'. Creating mastheads, skylines, cover lines and the general layout of all pages was something made simple through the completion of the college magazine task. Furthermore, it has allowed me to become more experienced and efficient in terms of the use of the software (InDesign and Photoshop) this means I will be able to feature more important details in my music magazine which I was not able to produce beforehand.

What I need to improve
From the feedback I was given from my peers, I believe that I need to focus on optical features such as colour scheme and lettering when it comes to my actual music magazine task. I also need to consider being more time-efficient and focused as I did take longer than expected to complete my contents page, I need to be able to produce a complete cover page in a shorter amount of time during the main task.

"Good use of imagery, direct address. Well thought through cover lines. Capital letters! Don't use a colour only once (either more red or none at all)" Media Leyton

"Good use of colours, great image. To improve use caps locks" Fahima Begum

"I like this front cover because it's so perfectly laid out and it's nice and simple" Humphrey Media

"The colour scheme is nice, the cover is simple so you know exactly what is in the magazine" Jessie Isaacs
all)

points for development of my main task:

• Asking for the opinion of my peers- the presentation of my magazine was definitely affected significantly by the input of the audience, it helped me to a great extent when I was looking for improvements in the smaller details on my college magazine. To apply the advice given by my peers to the main task I will research what colours I can use effectively to produce an engaging colour scheme. http://www.tigercolor.com gives a clear guide to what colours compliment each other and which colours should be used together for an appealing design. I will also make sure that the advice is not brief and undetailed. In addition to this I will make sure more people are commenting on the work I produce.
• plan effectively- my planning for the cover and contents was not particularly high quality, this will have to change for my main task, I should use software to produce a flat plan of my content beforehand, this will be much more suitable for my blog than a sheet of paper as it  
• Focus on simple aspects- colour scheme and lettering are simple aspects which need to be dealt with carefully in my main task, although I did deal with colour scheme effectively, I admit that I should have focused more time out of lesson to reflect on my general layout so that I can figure out more significant concepts such as placement and photography with less time wasted.

Task 3 - contents page

This is an incomplete contents page I have designed using InDesign, it follows the same themes as the cover page and allows the reader to navigate easily through the magazine. 

Task 3 - Front cover

This is my front cover of a college magazine I have designed using the plans posted earlier in the blog 

Task 3-contents plan

unfinished contents plan, in the contents page I am planning to use two images and a single column, similar to RDW magazine's contents page which was posted earlier

Task 3 - front cover plan

As another preparation activity we were asked to plan and create our own front covers and contents pages for our very own college magazine, here is a brief plan i was able to produce for what I believe carries the conventions of a college magazine

Using photoshop - Front cover

Today I was able to use photoshop to produce my very own unique magazine cover. The editing process was fairly smooth and I was able to make something fairly decent. if I were to add anything it would be text in general, subheadings and other factors that would make my magazine more appealing to the audience.