Evaluation Part 7

Looking back at your prelim,what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Evaluation Part 6.

How did you attract or address your audience?

Evaluation part 5

What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Evaluation Part 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Evaluation part 3

                                                                                                      

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation Part 2

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I have decided that the media institution to distribute my magazine would be Bauer Media Group.

I chose this group due to their international success, it operates in 15 countries worldwide and would therefore give my magazine a great platform for sales, they have a worldwide circulation of magazine titles that amounts to 38 million magazines a week. Economically, I would be able to mass produce the magazine, this would allow me to keep the costs down which would benefit the reader by being cheaper.

Q Magazine is also owned by this institution. The indie music genre of this magazine and the great success that it has shows that they  have the right knowledge and basis for a highly achieving indie music magazine. As Q is the only indie music magazine that they own, I feel like there is a potential gap for another one to sell along side it. Although there could be some competition between the other indie magazine, my product still stands a good chance of selling well due to the fact that my magazine is slightly cheaper and is predominately aimed for younger people. 

The fact that the target audience of my music genre are very frequent users of technology is another good reason to distribute with Bauer as there is the potential to expand into television and radio, as Q did. This would give my magazine a better name for itself and widen my audience. 

I considered distributing with a smaller scale institution, such as the distributor of 'Shindig'. However these magazines are aimed at a niche market, and specialise in these genres only. I wouldn't sell as much with a smaller group and would have to increase the pricing, and wouldn't be able to afford offers and giveaways which attract more readers. 

According to the National Readership Survey's (www.nrs.co.uk)  statistics on Q magazine's readers, it becomes clear that their publisher is successful due to the large number of monthly readers that they have. Q has about 469,000 readers monthly. This implies that my magazine will hopefully too gain this level of readership. I also found that my magazine had a potential gap in the market because, despite it being an indie magazine as well, it appeals to a wider selection of the lower section of the 15-44 age range. Although this eliminates the older readers, it attracts more of the younger audience my magazine genre is primarily aimed at. Q includes older singers and artists whereas my magazine focusses on more regular, current singers. 

I would ideally stock this in a local supermarket, Tesco, for example. I chose to sell it somewhere like this rather than WHSmith, as it is much more easily accessible and there is so many of them. As people shop here regularly they are more likely to stumble across it as an impulse buy, also.  Having said that, regular readers can also pick up their monthly issue easily. Whereas in WHSmith for example, people go in there with the intention of getting a magazine like this, and my target audience are quite laid back they would like to be able to purchase it without any hassle. 

Evaluation Part 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Evaluations

Now my main tasks are complete I will begin the evaluations:)!

Final Contents Page

This is my final contents page. 

The subject content is divided up into both monthly features that would be there weekly and possibly follow on into the next issue. Implying a successful, monthly magazine and also encourages the resale as people will want to see the 'new bands' for next month, too. The 'features' section is parts of the magazine that are exclusive to this month, giving the issue a special quality to it.
I have maintained the colour scheme of black, white and orange. This makes it look conventional. Q magazine, my style model, also uses maintains it's colour scheme.
In terms of the 4 f's, the Frame of this was influenced by the Q magazine as I felt that it looked professional all being aligned.
The male and female gaze of the image on this page is important. The model looks straight into the camera, which directly engages with the audience, perhaps encouraging sales.
Although the indie genre doesn't particularly rely on good looking people on the cover to sell magazines like an R'n'B magazine would, I still think that a good looking well dressed model was necessary to reflect the genre positively.

Contents Page

Here is a draft of my magazine contents page, I decided to put it along side the contents page that influenced my work. There are some noticeable similarities but I still think there is a potential for improvement.
I like the white strips on the page that hold the information that contrast on the background and the separation of features and regulars, as this makes it more easy to navigate around the page and readers can find what they want to faster. The top image in the corner gives the reader an idea of what the magazine entails, similar to the front cover. I think this image isn't right, however, as it is too blurry. I personally quite like it but it isn't very conventional. Another thing I think I need to change is to tidy it up slightly, make sure everything is aligned. This way it will look more professional.

MY FINAL FRONT COVER

After tweaking it once again, this is the result of my final front cover with the changes made from the feed back I received. Lets look at it in terms of the Four F's of Magazine Design....

FORMULA

"The Articles and Features should remain the same each month."

I believe my cover conveys this as being a consistent magazine that provides enticing offers and entertainment to the audience, that would make them re-purchase every time. The 'exclusive free download' for example, implies the specialty that comes with buying the magazine as they get this free offer that they couldn't without buying it. encouraging this re-sale. 

The cover also conveys consistency through its three-toned colour scheme. This makes it seem professional and not too dull, and not too painfully bright at the same time! I found it important to keep the colour balance just right, as did the Q magazine with the black and white cover that influenced me. 

Overall I think my magazine has aquired its own theme and is something that would become recognizable and the triangle or the orange colour, for example, would be associated with my magazine. 

FORMAT 

"What the magazine looks like."

As it is the front cover, it needs to be something my target audience would be attracted into buying as this is what sells the magazine because this is what they see first! The colour scheme would appeal to my target audience as the black and white has a relaxed, almost sub-dued look about it and isn't too in your face, almost reflecting the kind of music genre it is for with the guitar music. Also, the black and white magazine cover isn't used as often in terms of music magazines, which adds an element of individuality to it which would make it stand out more on a shelf and the idea of being original is a commendable trait in the indie genre. 

In terms of fonts, I used three different ones, while this is something that doesn't usually happen, I think I have pulled it off. I wanted the font that look almost hand written, as it reflects the relaxed nature of the indie genre. I think the type writer text is also interesting and quite different, in keeping with the individual qualities. I also wanted a simple font to make the sell lines and title easy to read, as it is important for the reader to recognize what is in the magazine at a first glance. 

The image is, again, something that is needed to relate to the audience and I think that it works. The boy on the cover has a style and is of a similar age to the people who I would ideally like to read the magazine. I did break a few conventions here as he isn't looking directly into the camera. This almost adds an element of mystery, I think, and he looks pretty relaxed and laid back. 

FRAME

"The margins and gutters"

For this F, I think I can apply my sell lines on the cover to this. The text in the black boxes was inspired from my style models and I think it means that the text doesn't get lost in the background image. Something I had to change from my previous draft was the alignment of the sell lines and to keep them straight like in Q magazine. I think this works well as it looks professional and is easy to follow as the reader would just read it straight down. As the target audience is teens and young adults with a busy life style, the easier to read the better. 

FUNCTION

"What the magazine is for"

The magazines audience is pretty clear, as people all guessed correctly when I asked them in my peer research. The Indie genre is conveyed through the young adult, the relaxed style of writing, the guitar, the fashionable clothing, all hints to the fresh, new music that the magazine is about. The slogan reinforces this by saying "Your music, from a whole new angle" it makes it personal and directed straight to the reader, and the "whole new angle" is a play on words to do with the triangle logo, and the idea that it is something different. The title 'Chord' is recognizably to do with a guitar, which again, is associated with the indie genre and music as a whole. 

DOUBLE PAGE

Here is my newest double page spread. It is strongly influenced by one of my style models from NME magazine, I tried to follow similar conventions that the magazine used.

The large image is eye-catching. I edited the picture so there was just a focus around his face, so that the image isn't so vivid around the text, this makes it easier to read. Examples of elements I have taken from the existing article include the main title with the sub - text smaller underneath. Where the NME article has no indication of who the person is, they are expected to know, my artist is new and is all about his first interview, therefore his name at the top of the image is included. It is not to invasive of the image and almost balances out the overall look of the left side of the double page spread. 

Other conventions included are the colour scheme, subdued creamy oranges are a reoccurring theme throughout my whole magazine and is almost a trademark of my magazine. It is quite simplistic yet not dull and boring which I like. The main 'pull quote' and large capital letter are in this orange, contrasting against the background, so it stands out and is attracting to the audience. 

I included a drop down shape saying 'chord interview' and is there to imply a fluid magazine that would have this throughout the whole magazine and would adapt depending on what the article includes. 

Over all, I find this double page spread looks conventional and has included key elements from the existing article, which would be my competitor in the real market world. Therefore following their style would hopefully mean being as successful as they are. 

Another Cover Draft

After market testing my magazine on my piers who would be my target audience, both positive and negative feedback has influenced me to tweak at the magazine again.
Upon asking "What do you first notice about the cover?"  ideally, the answer would be the title of the magazine and then the main sell line. Whilst some people said this, some felt the 'WIN' and '12' were just as eye catching upon first glance, and while this is good to entice the reader, this shouldn't really be the most obvious text at first sight. Further to this, my style model magazines follow the size order of title, main sell line and then the rest of the text, in this decreasing style. So I will also follow this.
Positive feedback included the colour scheme and the overall look of the magazine. The only issue is the text sizing. So this is what I will be working on, still keeping it conventional with my existing style models as I make changes.

Front Cover

Looking at my final front cover, and comparing it to existing magazines that have influenced my work and are successful indie magazines, there are a few changes that need to be made to mine in order to make it fit with the conventions of my style model. 

So far, my magazine is similar to Q, with the logo in the top left hand corner, the feature of the magazine being displayed in the largest font towards to bottom. The colour scheme is also mainly three colours and the sell lines on the Noel Galligher issue have the black rectangles behind them to be easily readable. 

The black and white image doesn't particularly overt magazine conventions as Q sometimes issues these, such as the example above, and I like this as it looks quite timeless. 

Some changes that need to be made include;

The sell lines need to be more in line with each other. 

It needs to look less cluttered.

March Photos

More Pictures.

I plan on taking photos with a different model next wednesday. They will be taken in my garden and the land surrounding it,  as I think it has the suitable backgrounds I want for my photo.
I will need a camera, the model and a guitar as a prop to play around with in the photos. From my test shots, I have created a very good idea of what I want my pictures to look like and they have helped me a great deal.


There are some health and safety precautions I will need to consider when taking these photos, and I have worked out how to successfully resolve them to prevent this.

RISK

Any dangerous elements surrounding the area that could be made contact with such as sharp objects, unsteady brick work etc. 

SOLUTION

Thoroughly assess the area before continuing to move around taking the photos. This is also important so nobody trips and falls over anything. A clear working space is important.

RISK

The breaking of equipment.

SOLUTION

A spare guitar and camera should be on hand just incase anything gets badly damaged to the original equipment. I must ensure to put the camera strap around my neck to prevent dropping it and the guitars to be handled with care. 

Due to the fact I am taking the photos in my own garden, I think my familiarity with the area eliminates risks and providing the weather is not too temperamental, the photo shoot will be successful!

The 4 F's of magazine design.

Formula
The articles and features that go into the magazine should remain the same each month. This would be an important factor as readers find their favourite part of a magazine and keep buying it expecting to see it there monthly, such as gig reviews always being at the back. It adds familiarity and also the magazine can then produce articles that follow on from each other when they keep it consistent , like my indie magazine could  'Top 20 Festivals' and in a January issue there would be festivals 20-15 mentioned, and 15-10 would be in the next issue, this would result in people re-buying the magazine. Indie people probably listen to their music a lot more digitally compared to actually attending gigs. So the more engaging, download information for example, would probably be at the front and would have to remain there throughout for the best 'formula'.  My magazine would include monthly festival information, gig information and new music as the genre is all about being current.

Format
What the magazine 'looks' like. It will need to appeal to the indie genre, and look like a good magazine with the typical magazine elements as well. This would be the use of fonts, colours and general layout. The fonts I have selected look particularly scruffy and aren't very formal, reflecting the indie genre. I made sure they looked quite handwritten, yet readable. I really like including the type writer font as I think it looks really cool and is understandable at the same time. I chose to use neutral black and white colours with injections of the colour orange, as this way it isn't too in your face and the orange colour doesn't appear to be aimed at one particular gender. 


Frame
The margins and gutters. Linking in with formula is the need to keep the margins and gutters throughout the magazine the same, preferably clear, as this makes it quite professional looking.


Function
What the magazine is for. I think this is important and is something that should be clear. My magazine would be for indie music and it's listeners, quite instrumental music with frequent use of guitars for example, compared to synthetic beats and noises that would be found in pop. Also being very current is an important factor. The fact that it doesn't mention any old music, reinforces the young age it is also aimed at selling to.  

My Design Philosophy

My personal likes and dislikes of magazine design will be reflected in the magazine I produce, alot of these preferred 'philosophies' have been altered slightly so they would fit with my magazine's genre, and the design will be effected by indie's ideologies;

Minimal vs cluttered
Although I personally prefer a minimal look on the cover and throughout magazines and the whole idea of 'quality, not quantity' - I think in a magazine, in order to be conventional and successfully sell a magazine, it needs to be pretty full of information in order to attract the reader. For example, 'Ray Gun' magazine by David Carson was iconically minimalist and as a result unsuccessful! I believe my magazine should have plenty of information throughout, but not so 'clutterd' it would be frustrating and hard to read. Although indie genres like the ideology of being original, in terms of Original vs Conventional, I believe that the magazine would definitely have to fit in with typical magazine conventions.

Retro vs Modern
In terms of my indie magazine, I would say that it is a combination of both. The people are young and don't tend to hold on to previous, older artists and they are all about being fresh and different, and they are apart of the modern generation with laptops, mobiles and general social media.  However having said this, they dress very 'vintage' and their instruments would be more acoustic and simple compared to these auto-tuned new musics that are modern at the moment. Similar to this, in terms of Timeless vs Now  I would say this magazine and the general 'indie' movement is something that is very now and is a phase like people used to be a 'mod'. It will probably be looked back on and seem old, and probably won't look as normal as it does now, but who can really know!

Balance & Consistency vs Inconsistency 
This is an important aspect of the magazine, keeping a regular, similar pattern of design throughout the magazine adds familiarity for the reader and keeps interest. It would need to fit 'indie' conventions and you couldn't suddenly switch to something extremely pink and girly for example. Therefore keeping it consistent is a must, as again, 'Ray Gun' failed to fit this convention and the end result was not great as readers didn't know what to look for on the self as it changed monthly. Also in terms of the front cover, the sell lines would need balance and be equally distributed around the main image of the magazine. The use of colour would need to be fairly consistent throughout, however it would need to alter slightly to avoid being boring! Just not too much of a drastic colour scheme change.

Contents

This is my first attempt at a music contents page. Based on typical contents page conventions, and my contents for my prelim.

Ray Gun.

'Ray Gun' was an American music magazine created by David Carson. They are particularly iconic for their very minimalistic and random cover designs. Although they appear quite 'cool' and will appeal to some, it is very hard to distinguish what is in each issue, and no clear logo also means it would be difficult to find on a shelf of magazines. As a result of this, Ray Gun went out of business. This reinforces the idea that it is vital to keep to magazine conventions.

Front Cover Draft 2

This is another attempt at a front cover. I prefer the colour scheme on this one compared to the last one. I like the sell lines better this time but I think I need to make the title more dominant, as it could be mistaken for a banner and isn't much different from the slogan in terms of size and this would need to be changed. I find the most eye catching thing is the 'R.O.B' whereas it should really be the title of the magazine, and then the main sell line. I shall keep this in mind when I do my third draft! Overall I am happy with the progress I have made between the first draft and this one.

Fonts

FONTS

These are some quirky fonts I have been experimenting with. I like all of these as they are quite different yet they are readable. 

The second one down on the left is my favourite and I might use this, it looks quite handwritten and relaxed, which is fitting with the relaxed, scruffy ideology of 'indie' people. I do however, want the magazine to look professional at the same time, and might combine the first one on the left with the second one.
I would probably choose to stick to one or two fonts that don't contrast too much from one another to be in-keeping with magazine conventions, and the font style to almost become a theme to the magazine that readers would recognise and link with the magazine.

Double Page Spread

First Draft

Here is my first attempt at a draft of an Indie music magazine using my test shots. 

I used Picnik, the photo editing website to add the text and edit the main photo. 

THINGS I LIKE.

- The Logo and main title at the side. I think it looks professional and the upside own triangle is a simple logo that fits with the slogan and the idea of indie music to be quite alternate, fresh and different from the usual. 

-The sell lines are easily readable and contrast nicely with the image in the background.

-The image isn't too busy and is mainly in the middle, there is not much going on behind the sell lines which is what I wanted to achieve as other music magazines i have looked at do this too. 

-The fonts are the same throughout the whole page and are again, easy to read. This is important as at a first glance, the reader wants to know what is going to be included in the magazine in order to entice them  into buying it. 

THINGS TO CHANGE.

- Possibly fill the sides of the magazine with more information

- Include a barcode, date and price!

- Not have the image as a square, more rectangular. This was an editing fault and wasn't really intentional! 

Uses and Gratifications

After researching into McQuail's classified theory study on common reasons for media use, it becomes clear some of the reasons strongly link to the reasons for why people read a music magazine.

information -

• finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings
• satisfying curiosity and general interest
• learning, self education
• gaining a sense of security through knowledge

personal identity -

• finding reinforcement for personal values
• identifying with valued others

finish this!!!

Edits

Technology.

Double Page Spread Conventions

Double page spread conventions

This is a double page spread from NME magazine and I am deconstructing the article to see what conventions I can include in my article.

Large main image taking up all of one of the two pages.

 

The title is in BLOCK  s e p a r a t e d text to make it clear and draw attention to it.

The colours are predominant as well.

 

The billboard is smaller but still of a fairly noticeable size. 

___________________

The large letters at the beginning of articles are often a very common convention. One thing about this particular magazine is the random larger letter included in this article, which I think is quite unconventional -

I'm not too sure why this is inserted here! I personally do not like it and won't include it.


___________________

there is a smaller, secondary image. I think it makes the article more interesting and I often find that the more images there are on an article, the more people are drawn to it. It also allows the reader to get a sense of what the article is describing or talking about.

There are conventional columns with a large extract of text in the middle separating the text into more 'digestable' sections of reading, as people will usually pick up a magazine for light reading.
The large quotation in the middle gives the reader an insight into the article and adds to the desire to read on with the article as the reader wants to find out about the quote etc.

Media Test Shots & Recce

I took some practice shots. Unfortunately, the images weren't showing up on my blog!

 click here to look at the images on Flickr stream.

 I took them to figure out what kind of background and surroundings to the images I am going to eventually use. I am not necessarily going to be including these images in the final drafts but they have given me a good idea of what images I want to include.

For the front cover, I don't think any of these images particularly suit conventions of a front cover. I want to keep it simple with one main image, therefore I don't think a brick wall, for example, would work.

I do like the close up of a guitar, and this would feature nicely on a double page spread, and then the full body shot images featured in it also. These images have helped give me an idea of the kinds of pictures I will take.

SHINDIG!

    

After looking at mainly mainstream magazines, I am going to look at a magazine that appeals to a much more niche market that is very narrowly broadcasted. Shindig only sells 26,000 copies a month, this is most likely due to the very selective genre of music it covers, which includes psychedelia, garage, beat, power-pop, soul and folk. Another reason is due to the limited number of issues released. Bi-monthly it publishes 6 issues a year, and at £4.95 per issue, the cost would be another factor due to the limited sales whereas NME and other mainstream magazines can afford to lower their prices due to the popularity. However I do believe people would be willing to pay this due to the obscurity and non mainstream factor of it. 

Shindig! advertise themselves quite selectively, and this must be the case as nobody (except Mr.Swain) has heard of it! They are however, on Facebook and Twitter, so they are in social networking contact with their readers and people could stumble across it in this way. 

The front cover of shindig! is very simplistic and looks like something you would expect to see in the 60s or 70s. I think that this is what people like about it, as it would remind them of the 'good old days' and reflects the bands that are influenced by this era and those that were from that era as well! 

They do not fit much classic magazine conventions, for example,  there are no sell lines on the left or right side leaving it looking quite bare, possibly to really bring the artists to full attention. 

The bright obscure colours also contrast against the black and white picture and looks quite 'hippie' influenced.

My Target Reader.

I have determined in more depth my target audience for an indie magazine using SAGEL. 

The socio-economic group would be middle class people, probably leaning towards upper middle, as these are people regularly attending gigs, festivals and the relaxed way of life would not come cheaply! The age of these people would be in the range of late teens and early twenties, probably 17 - 25.

 The gender would be both male and female audiences, however the girls would not always be stereo typically 'girly' and the boys not stereo typically 'butch'. The ethnicity would be white caucasion in this region. The singers are often white, folky people, however any ethnicity really would read this if they so desired and is open to all. The lifestyle of the readers who take interest in this genre would be university students or just students in general, fitting in with the age bracket. They would be quite scruffy in style with a non-perfected look. They would be a party-goer on a regular basis, often attending gigs and festivals with their friends, being very sociable in social networking media too, such as using twitter and facebook on a regular basis. I am pretty confident in saying that they would have an Ipod or a mp3 device and would constantly be listening to their indie tracks whenever possible!  Examples of artists they would have on their Ipod would be ;  -The Kooks     -Noah & The Whale   -The Wombats    -The Vaccines     -Bombay Bicycle Club .... to name a few! 

An example of the typical male and female audience I would attract with the magazine  

Mood Board

This is a mood board I created collecting a variety of images I believe to be associated with this genre, both the music that is produced by and for 'indie' people, but also images that reflect their lifestyles. They appear to be quite outdoors-y, they often appear scruffy yet clean, they are quite relaxed people with messy hair, guys with beards and stubble and generally a rugged look about them and by looking at these images I can see these reoccurring themes in the images as a whole and therefore has given me tips on what kind of style I can go for in the indie magazine I will produce and has particularly helped with the front cover image idea.

Memes and Tropes - Classical music.

To broaden my study of a variety of musical genres I decided to look into the world of classical music.
Classical singers are often very sophisticated, generally older people. As well as creating their own songs, they tend to produce their cover versions of classical songs, such as the well known 'Ave Maria'  and many more.


Coming from someone who isn't a keen listener of classical music (and this sounds awful) , but I find their voices all abit similar and it is more of a harder skill to sing in this way and the songs are almost a display of their talents. Usually people stereotyped to listen to this genre are those who are of the older generation and those who we would stereo typically imagine in a box watching and listening at the royal opera houses with those funny binoculars.


On a more serious note, The songs are often sung in another language, like Italian. Perhaps the reason why, in the UK, classical music is not a very popular genre compared to rock or pop. Also the lyrics are not very relate able to everyday people and their lives, possibly increasing the dis-interest.   The music style is quite easy listening with instruments from an orchestra band in the background. Harps and Violins are very much associated with the classical voice style.  These delicate stringed  instruments reflect the often religious, hymn-like quality the songs are about - perhaps another reason why it is not totally popular, as we live in a world today with a mixture of religions and beliefs, whereas these songs appear to be strictly of a Christian / Catholic origin.

Memes & Tropes - Indie

Memes and Tropes of indie music. 
  Indie music is very much artists and bands who aren't necessarily glamourous or totally musically talented. These artists sing about a variety of realist issues and don't fall into the upbeat, pop style singing about relationships. If they did sing about love and relationships, they would do it in a metaphorical way or totally the opposite and sing about it explicitly and outrageous. This has become a trope for indie musicians; relaxed, scruffy and often speak-sing with a strong sense of guitar music. Their songs reflect quite deep meaningful issues compared to rock bands about death and love, and pop about clubs and love.
  Indie bands are not well known and if they become too much in the public eye, they loose this 'indie' feel and lean towards becoming 'mainstream'. People enjoy listening to indie artists due to this un-discovered element they posses as its like the listener has found something not many other people are particularly interested in or aware of and the bands individuality gives the listener this feeling too. Indie bands are not often in the public eye, except for their music, they keep quite secluded and not in the limelight. Reinforcing this idea of being relaxed and not interested in the glamourous side of the music industry.

History of Music Magazines - Q.

Q is a well known british music magazine under the genre of Indie music, usually leaning towards the the rocky sound of indie.
Q was first published in October 1986. Founded by Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, with the aim to create a monthly music magazine that was different to the other music press with monthly production and higher standards of photography and printing. It is pubished by Bauer Media Group.


The typical content of a Q magazine is quite simple , and the cover is quite versatile, due to the genre of indie being quite random and undiscovered, the magazine adapts to each artist on the cover.
_____


Inside, Q would consist of new musicians, festival information, interviews, chart news and related feature articles.

The house style of Q is quite busy yet consistant with an inner colour scheme of red and white reflecting the logo on the front, farmiliarisng the reader with the magazine. The clutterd style would have stemmed from the type of music included, slightly rocky.

ON THE COVER:
The colour scheme applies to the conventional rule of three colours. Perhaps to reflect what the artist's are wearing that are on the cover, or to reflect their music style. For example Mumford and sons play quite calming, sombre music which is conveyed in the blue tones.
The font being sans serif and looking similar to handwriting looks quite scruffy yet relaxed, which would be reflecting the personality possibly of the readers personality and therefore appealing to them.
This relaxed approach carries on with the cover photo, there is no general positoning to the people on the cover, people are introduced to the musicians and can learn something about them just at a glance, for example the main singer is positioned at the front.
_______
Consisting of 476,000 people, according to NRS readership survey, Q's readers are compiled of 386,000 people in the 15-44 age range, and 90,000 are 45+.
345,000 are male and 132,000 are females.

Q's readers are mainly in the ABC1 class catergory with 316,000 in this catergory
and only 160,000 in the C2DE class. possibly reflecting the pricey £4 it costs!

History of Music Magazines

KERRANG!

The History Of Kerrang -Kerrang is a UK based magazine, predominately aimed towards the genre of rock, heavy metal music. The new wave of British heavy metal in the 80's saw the birth of a mass interest in the punky, rocky genre and Kerrang was founded in 1981.
Kerrang was first edited and produced by Geoff Barton, initially as a one-time supplement in the Sounds newspaper, which focused on the New Wave of British Heavy Metal phenomenon. Published weekly by Bauer Media Group.

The Typical content of a Kerrang magazine would include a very rocky aggressive attitude. Conveyed through the following aspects;

- The font is informal, it appears quite gruesome. The 'Korn' looks like its been graffitied on, hinting rebellion, possibly reflecting the readers. Similarly the 'Kerrang' font has been shattered, looking broken and aggressive. 

- The General layout is quite cluttered and messy.

-The people on the front cover are not very typically 'glamourous' reflecting the conventions of music this magazine is focused on, quite realist in terms of what they sing about, compared to pop which is focused on dancing, glamour and love.

Inside kerrang it would conist of interviews with the rock stars, festival and concert information and instrument relevant information, assuming the readers will too be interested in drumming or electric guitar, for example.

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Looking at the NRS of Kerrang's readers, the types of readers, with a total of 356,000, are;

mainly in the age range of 15-44 at 313,000 compared to 42,000 who are 45 and over. 

The gender audience is more male at 242,000 and female is almost half at 113,000. 

Kerrang's house style is overall very rocky and aggressive. 

The social groups represented though this magazine as quite rebellious and not really conforming to general life styles.
The magazine is very busy and quite lazily set out, its all quite 'in your face' reflecting the music that the readers would be listening to.