Evaluation of my Feature Article

I decided to do my article on my folk magazine 'Offbeat' as I felt that I had more photos of a better quality with more than one location and use of dress codes, which would make the article more sophisticated and interesting for the reader. I also think that my folk magazine is a unique product and very different to other magazines currently on the market as the target audience and genre are not conventionally combined.

The front cover my feature article is for.

The audience my magazine is aimed at is girls aged 13-20 who are interested in folk music, and their audience values are fashion, attending music concerts and playing music themselves. They may be interested in current music magazines such as The Fly and We Love Pop. 

In my feature article, I used images with props such as an acoustic guitar to help target my audience as it is quick to put across the style of music that the magazine features. While pop acts tend to use bright sets, I used the natural location of a forest with a colour palette of greens and browns which is conventional of articles about folk, indie and acoustic acts, as I found in this article featuring Taylor Swift.

Taylor Swift is similar to and aimed at a similar target audience as my artist so this article provided help as to the style of photos I should be using.

However I made sure that my model wore some bright colours as well to target the younger audience of 13-20 age range it is aimed at. The dress codes my model is wearing binary oppose the pale background, drawing attention to the images which is important as I have found that young audiences prefer images rather than large amounts of writing. As younger audiences are stereotypically interested in fashion I made sure that she had dress codes that fit with current fashion.

Friendly gesture codes and binary opposition between background and dress codes.

For a young audience, I also found gesture codes to be extremely important. While magazines aimed at an older audience such as NME magazine which I analysed were able to feature intimidating and serious facial expressions, all of the magazines I looked at which were aimed at a teenage target audiences were very different. The Top of the Pops article with Little Mix is a good example of this; they show smiling facial gesture codes and ditsy poses making the audience feel as if they know and can identify with them. This links to Maslow's hierachy of needs in terms of social needs, as the reader feels as if they fit in with the band and belong as a fan. I tried to recreate this in my magazine as many of the images feature my artist smiling and laughing and this makes the magazine look welcoming. I also used some silly pictures of the artist posing as the audience can identify with her (personal identity) and find it entertaining. (both part of the Uses and Gratifications theory by Blumler and Katz)

NME's article on Green Day featured stern facial gesture codes.

On the other hand, Top of the Pops with Little Mix used grinning and joking poses.

As I took most of my photos in an outdoor, public location rather than a set the only problems that occurred were due to practical reasons. For example, it was hard to control the lighting and framing of shots as well as making sure no members of the public were in the background. To overcome this, I used a tripod to ensure the camera was stable and the framing was correct, and timed my shoots for earlier in the day so there was enough lighting. I also found that it was hard to cut around the model's hair on some of the white background shots. However I am pleased with how my images turned out and I think they are a strength of my work. Compared to images in NME which I analysed, my images on location are similar to theirs while my indoor photos are more similar to the style in We Love Pop aimed at younger audiences. Therefore, I think I have got a good mix between the style of music and who the article is aimed at in my images. 

The natural colour palette and lighting in this The Killers article in NME resembles the style of my images on location outdoors.

This We Love Pop article featuring The Wanted uses similarly styled 'green screen' images over a pale background which I featured in my article.

When I asked for feedback, my audience have commented on the quality of the images being good and looking professional as well as liking the photos in the forest in particular.

My audience particularly liked the photos taken in the forest.

For the layout of my article, I tried to follow the conventions of music magazines aimed at younger audiences which I analysed such as We Love Pop. I found that they spread out the text as much as possible, used a lot of pictures, had large gaps between columns and other features as well as the main text. I used all of these features in my work, for example instead of just the main article I did interactivity features such as quickfire questions, an online video and a competition. This again links to Maslow's social needs as the reader will feel as if the are being included, as well as the uses and gratifications theory in terms of integration and social interaction. From the research I have done, I think a young audience will like this as I found that they prefer to have other visual features in a magazine and don't like big blocks of text. 

Small interactive features such as quickfire questions break up the text.

I also used many conventions of music magazine articles which I have found in my own article. I used box-outs to add interest and more colour to particular pieces of text, and model credit quotes to pull out parts of the interview which will appeal to the target audience. I added links to online features such as twitter and facebook which I found many more magazines doing now, and this particularly works for a teenage target audience who are stereotypically known to be prominent on social networking websites and apps. I also tried to create a strong house style following on from the front cover, using the same fonts, colours, image styles and box-outs. This makes a clear brand for the magazine which the audience will remember and I think I was successful in doing this.


I used conventions such as box-outs, interactivity features such as social networking, model credit and a house style.

I can further apply the Uses and Gratifications theory to my magazine article, as it includes both information from the interview itself and entertainment from the photos and some of the answers and these make a text successful, as well as social integration features such as the twitter, facebook and youtube links to include the audience and make them feel like they are part of the magazine.

Uses and Gratifications theory - Social interaction and integration

Spreading out text and making my article look appealing and not as if there is too much text is something which I thought was important when I designed my layout. I began typing in size 10 font over 3 pages, but I decided to add another page so I could make the text bigger and add more images as the text didn't look easy to read. I also spread the columns further apart and this also really helped. A problem I encountered when creating the layout was fitting the text around some of the different shapes of image, but I think I worked this out by trying lots of the text styles while editing and found one that worked. When asking my audience about my layout I found that although most liked it, some of the younger people in my target audience found that there was still too much text and not enough breaking it up, so to improve this I could add more box-outs and images.

This example from Bliss magazine shows the small paragraph lengths, large gaps between columns and lots of images to counter the text.

I think that the content in my interview targets my audience as there is a mix of serious and light hearted questions, from help on how to get into the music industry to comments about Disney. I think this makes the interview interesting and helps to target people who like different things. Readers who want to get into music will like the advice, readers who like watching music live will like the information on upcoming gigs and readers who just listen to music will like the recommendations and gossip on other artists. This show's that the artist and magazine has a wide range of ideologies such as hard work, giving advice, fun and fashion. According to Dyer's star theory, this means my magazine will appeal to a large range of people who have some of the same ideologies, meaning they feel like the magazine is targeting them and are more likely to buy it. The star in my magazine is also an opinion leader according to the two step flow theory, with the readers of the magazine more likely to follow advice, opinions or buy products recommended in her interview.

In this article from Q magazine, Ed Sheeran acts as the opinion leader in the two step flow theory.

I found it quite hard to get started on writing the content, but once I had started I think it flowed quite easily. I found that other music magazines aimed at younger audiences such as X Factor magazine also printed their interviews as question and answer rather than a report of the interview and I used this style as it breaks up the text more and gives an opportunity to add more colour. When I asked for feedback, my target audience said they liked the small features in my magazine like the quickfire questions.

X factor magazine followed the Q&A format.

Overall I think that I was successful in making my article as I finished making it on time, it looks quite realistic and my target audience were very positive when asked about it. I really enjoyed the task particularly working on my editing and layout skills and being able to use creativity to come up with ideas for photography and content.

Audience Feedback

I asked a sample of my target audience what they thought of my final article. This is what they said:

"I really like the photography especially the photos taken in the forest"

"The images look professional and the outfits fit the genre of music"

"The article has interesting questions and it is the type of magazine I would want to buy"

"I liked the colour scheme and the style of the magazine looks very friendly"

"The article has a good layout and I especially like the link to a video online and 60 second quickfire sections"

"I love the images but I wish there were more instead of lots of text"

Finished feature article

Here is my finished feature article:

Creating my feature article

Here is the progress I have made on my feature article:

Feature Article

I have chosen to do a feature article for my folk magazine. Here is what I have done so far:

Finished Front Covers

These are my finished front covers:

Folk Magazine Front Cover

Classical Magazine Front Cover

Creating my Classical Magazine Cover

Here are some screenshots of the editing for my classical magazine front cover:

I also created the 'free cd' for the front cover using photoshop. Here is the original photo and the CD cover:

Creating my Folk Magazine Cover

Here is the work I have done so far on my folk magazine front cover:

Photoshop for Front Covers

I decided that the two photos I wanted to use for my front covers were:

For my folk magazine front cover, the location for the photo looked as I wanted it to so the only thing I edited on photoshop was the colour scheme and contrast. Here is the finished front cover photo:

For my classical magazine front cover, there was an electrical wire and objects on the floor which needed to be hidden using photoshop, as well as making the photo look more warm and homely. Here is the photo after the photoshop was completed:

I think that I used enough photoshop to improve the colours and quality of my photos while still ensuring that they look realistic and not over worked.

Survey Results

After receiving lots of responses to my survey about names for my magazines, I have decided to call my folk magazine Offbeat and my classical magazine Harmonious. 

Photoshoot: Classical Magazine

For my classical magazine photoshoot, my model has sophisticated dress codes of a black dress, fur coat and red lipstick as the magazine is aimed at an older audience than my folk magazine. The location is an old fireplace in a country house with iconography of the fireplace, wood and vases. This connotes calmness and fits with the style of music itself, and this setting may be something the audience themselves aspire to live in. There is a colour palette of warm browns and reds, fitting with the snug homely atmosphere. The use of the violin fits with other classical magazines I have looked at (Gramophone and Classical Music) which often use the instrument the artist plays in the photoshoot. Here are some of the photos I have taken:

Photoshoot: Folk Magazine

For my folk magazine front cover, I decided to do a photoshoot in a forest as it was starting to become dark. I styled my model with a dusky colour palette featuring browns, greys and dim blues. The coat, wellington boots and hat fit with the cold, dark surroundings for the December edition of the magazine. Simple, naturalistic hair and make up fit with the outdoor location I used, and the guitar accentuates the folk style of the artist. I took photos in many different locations around the forest and I am really happy with the outcome of the photoshoot. Here are some of the photos I took:

Magazine Names

I have been researching into existing magazines in the classical and indie genres to find suitable names for my magazines, and have come up with some ideas for each magazine. To find out which names my readers would be most attracted to, I have created a survey which can be completed by clicking on this link.

Questionnaire Feedback

As I have been receiving more responses to my questionnaire, I have found a wide range of colour schemes and palettes have appealed to my respondents. However black, white and red have been the most popular choices by a reasonable percentage. I would like to use a colour palette involving these colours in my classical magazine in particular to make it look of a high quality and sophisticated. This colour scheme was used in the edition of Q magazine which I looked at, and although the genre of music in my magazine and Q are different, it had the desired effect on the audience I am looking to create and the magazines have a similar audience age and price range.

Front Cover Research

To begin my research into music magazine front covers I decided to look at this month's edition of Q magazine, which can be seen below. By looking at the features used and the effect they have on the viewer, I can start to form ideas for my own front covers and which features to use. 

The November 2012 issue of Q magazine which I analysed.

As my questionnaire has shown so far, the main image of the magazine cover is the most important factor to make a viewer purchase it. On this cover, the use of a very well known and famous musician with a large fanbase means people who follow him will be likely to buy the magazine. The fact that Noel Gallagher is part of the mast head and next to the magazine title shows that he is important and as big as the magazine brand, and this is conventional when a very successful artist is used on a magazine cover. His gesture codes of folded arms and the camera angle suggests that he is looking down on the reader and that he is intimidating. As I would like to create my magazines for a younger audience, I will not be using these gesture codes as it is conventional that the gesture codes of the artist will be more inclusive and inviting to the audience, such as Justin Bieber smiling on the edition of We Love Pop which I also looked at. The model credit 'get Oasis back together? Not even for starving children' emphasises this intimidating style, as well as shocking the viewer and making them want to know more from the interview. I would like to use model credits to give the viewer exclusive information rather than causing controversy, as younger audiences value knowing about their favourite artists. Gallagher's dress codes of a leather jacket, jeans and scruffy boots suggest that he is casual and realistic about the interview, as well as fitting with the intimidating biker style. His lifted chin and raised eyebrows add to the idea that he is judging or looking down at the reader, and is confident. This style of image is very different to the images that are on pop magazines such as the edition of We Love Pop that I looked at. Conventionally, these magazines use the main central image to include the audience rather than look down on them, for example gesture codes such as smiling, laughing and direct mode of address.



Noel Gallagher's gesture and dress codes connote confidence and are intimidating.

The use of mainly black and white colours shows that the magazine is a classy and quality product, whilst the simplicity appeals to the older target audience. The red and white 'Q' is the most colourful part of the cover, making the magazine name the first thing the audience sees.  Red and gold are also used to add interest to some artist names and features of the magazine. The use of gold connotes wealth to the viewer, and again shows that the product is of good quality. This has given me the idea to use a similar colour scheme for my classical music cover, as it is a sophisticated style of music, however as my target audience is still quite young I will use a few more colours or shades of the colours, and fill my cover up with more insert images and cover lines as this is conventional of magazines aimed at younger audience such as We Love Pop. This appeals to a younger audience who stereotypically look for bright, eye-catching covers which are full of things to look at. The colour palette of Q magazine is also very different to indie or alternative magazines such as The Fly which conventionally use softer, paler and less bright colours to appeal to its target audience, and I will use this colour palette in my folk/indie magazine.

Alternative magazines such as The Fly use a paler, softer colour palette to appeal to their target audience.



The left third of the page in Q features the magazine name with the selling line 'The world's greatest music magazine!', and as this is the section of the magazine that will be on show in shops it is easy for the audience to see and recognise it quickly. The selling line makes the magazine seem important, and may make the viewer want to see more. The left third also features a large 'NOEL', pulling in fans of Oasis and Noel Gallagher to buy the magazine. We Love Pop magazine's left third features the selling line 'Actually amazing mag!' and the colloquialism 'mag' is conventional of pop magazines aimed at a young teenage audience. Cover line '10 posters (even hotter than last month!)' is written in bold typography and bright colours and this would persuade the reader to find out more when stacked on a shelf. In Q magazine there are lots of cover lines including insert images, making it easy for the audience to see exactly what is featured in the magazine and appealing to as many fans of different artists and genres as possible. I would like to use lots of cover lines and insert images of artists and bands in my folk magazine to make the target audience clear and to interest the young audience with a packed cover. 

The left third

The price of Q magazine is £3.99, which is in the upper range of common prices for music magazines. This appeals to an older audience who spend more time at work and have less time to read magazines, so the magazine would last a long time. This also appeals to an audience with a higher income, as it is quite a lot to spend on a magazine. This is a contrast to We Love Pop which costs £2.99 as the class E target audience rely on their parents income and don't have a lot of money of their own to spend. Also, the younger audiences have a lot more time to spare and can read the magazine within a shorter period of time, so may buy magazines more often. I would like to retail my folk magazine at a young target audience so the price of £2.99 would be suitable for my magazine, while my classical magazine will be aimed at a slightly older target audience so Q magazine's £3.99 will be a suitable price.

In Q magazine, the question 'How did that happen?' in the cover line about Madness makes the audience want to find out more and see what the answer is said to be. The model credit from the Noel Gallagher interview as well as the 'Fame drove me mental' quote from Ellie Goulding are exclusive, never heard before quotes so this creates enigmas for the reader, and makes the content of the magazine seem more exciting. The Green Day 'Answer Your Questions' feature may make the reader want to buy the magazine to see if their question has been answered by the band. The use of enigmas is very effective and I will use this on my folk magazine cover to involve and intrigue the audience.

The inclusion of 3 controversial quotes on the cover of Q shows that the target audience is interested in the latest music gossip, while the 'Albums Goldmine' section shows that the reader values being the first to know about new music. The range of artists on the front cover show that the audience is mainly interested in punk pop, rock and indie music, and the large artist names help the target audience to relate to the magazine quickly. Older bands such as Madness contrast with younger artists such as Ellie Goulding and Lady Gaga, showing the audience has a wide age range and interests. The We Love Pop magazine cover features a 'Star Style' cover line suggesting that the target audience values knowing about current fashion and following trends set by celebrities. The '1D's funniest pictures ever!' cover line and extensive use of insert images implies that the younger audience values seeing photos rather than a lot of writing.



Magazines aimed at younger audiences such as We Love Pop follow very different conventions to Q magazine.

We can also see from the features of the front cover what some of the main values of the magazine are. The 'Albums Goldmine' section in Q magazine shows that the magazine values informing its readers about new music and being the first to publicise and review the latest albums. The selling line including 'world' suggests that the magazine values it's reputation worldwide and provides the reader with information on artists from other countries. The model credit from the Noel Gallagher interview shows that the magazine values exclusive interviews and being the first to release information, as well as causing controversy. I would like my classical magazine to value being sophisticated and a good quality product, as well as being something unique and new to its readers. My folk magazine will value informing its readers about the latest music to be released and new artists, as well as providing the audience with exclusive photos.

Covert advertising is used by Q magazine with a HiWatt amp clearly shown, while Nike trainers are visible in the insert image of Conor Maynard in We Love Pop. My photoshoots for my front covers will involve instruments such as guitars, violins and mandolins so I can use covert advertising to promote the brand of instrument maker.