Evaluation.

Overall I like the design and layout of my magazine.I think that I transmitted similar themes and dimensions of the magazines I researched alongside creating what I think is a medium between the two. I tried to use references to bands and performers that my key audience could relate too at the same time as enforcing a young fresh new appeal about it, much like the style of Q. I decided to call my magazine 'Strummer' after initially coming up with various other names as this had two relevant meanings to it. First of all it is the onomatopoeic word for the playing of guitar, a key instrument in rock and acoustic music, and secondly It is a play on of the lead singer of the Clash's name. I got this idea as the clash were featured on the cover of Mojo I was analysing. Initially I had a photo of my model with a cigarette in one hand and putting up his fingers with the other. Both these actions are symbolic of rebellion and generation that indulged in it,. However after trying it out in a few of my designs, I realised I had another image from a previous photo shoot that was more appropriate. It was of another model and although it was not a mid shot with full eye contact , I thought the image itself was enticing. It produced both the feel of freshness but at the same time curiosity, and that is why I decided to use that particular photo. At first I thought that the eye contact would be a problem, but after editing the image in photo shop, it occurred to my that as my article was about taking the first steps into music it seemed that my model was facing the world of music rather then the audience. This transpired as many of the people I questioned on it ( including my teacher) agreed it was a more captivating image. In the begging I researched two magazines that although had separate specific topics both featured many of the artists that I wasted to develop as influences for my "artist" such as AC/DC, The Clash, Oasis, Blur etc... Both magazines created different styles of interesting fonts and layouts. In both designs I recognised that red was a feature colour and in other similar magazine the colour scheme seemed to follow. I decided to tryout a dirty red and a similar mustard yellow to the one used in Mojo, i found that together they looked appealing. I asked my dad what he thought the colour scheme was like as he was ideal for market research he agreed and said it was an attractive use of colour so I proceeded with them. The text I selected had a torn, battered, rugged effect to it and after trying out a few I thought it was definitely suited to my cover. Although it was not anything like my researched magazines, I had started to develop my magazines own identity and wanted it to be more unique, although this contradicts its basic format, as it is consist ant to that of many other magazines. I kept the masthead in the conventional situation but changed many other usual features to present it differently to the others, for instance, instead of a mid shot in the middle of the page my model is coming from the left side upward. It took some time getting use to but after filling it up with some text and graphic design I feel it created interest to my cover rather than uncertainty. As I was trying to derive my magazine away from others by taking it out of contexts and forming a new individual identity, I didn't represent one social group, but many. I focused on an up coming artist and instead of being a specialist magazine it was more a music interest magazine, that provided a knowledge of classic rock but also showed an interest in new music, in this sense my magazine is much like Q.I think as my magazine supplies such a broad range of musical interest it would be feature in many music shops, for an all round on look into music.However as it feature such mainstream artists it would probably be retailed in many other high street stores. As a varied magazine the possibility's of audience is vast, however the main audience is for older men aged between 18 and 40 it would be a middle class or working class magazine for economic standard and would sell for roughly£3.40 an estimate average of the price between Mojo and Q. The language use, colour scheme, price, and imagery would all appeal to my target audiences it is suitable and attractive to all these potential purchasers.For example, occasionally throughout my double page spread there is a few swear words, although this may seem pointless, it was purposeful, and subtle to prove how my magazine is for that particular sector of society. The price is also similar to this as a child would most likely to have the means to pay for my magazine as it is predominantly for someone who earns money and listens to my chosen genre. Before this project I had never used either photo shop or In design, however now I feel I have established vital skills from this and would feel comfortable using them again. I feel development wise, I have established a further sense of clarity when it comes to layout. I have developed skills both in design and technology that would enable me to do this project again singularly.Before I started this project I would not know any of the appropriate terms for the particular pieces of my magazine however now I could label and explain what each piece meant.
After re-examining my final magazine with a variation of different people I have desided to edit my design using the critisism constructivly.
One point of view suggested that the design itself was too focased on the one particular colour scheme and that this was overwhelming and ruined the effect intended. I am looking to adjust this by possibly introdusing a more mixed colour scheme for my double paged spread and use the mustard yellow and red in a limited way for my contents page. I feel the colours I selected were an appropriate choise for my target audience, however I can see how they are used too much looking back at it now. Another point that was suggested was to create a more reader friendly double page spread. I have desided to redesign this page by introducing sub-headings and coloums of text relating to a particular section: Although I think the coloum breakers are well used in my spread but I think the use of splitting up and dividing text would be equally effective. Reassesing the double page spread I analised from Q I have noticed a few features that contribute to its smooth finish that I could encoupourate into my design, for example:

I am now going to develop the issues I had with my previous designs and re construct them into creating a better looking magazine.