Final Evaluation

To make a successful music magazine I have taken some ideas of other music publications such as NME and Kerrang! I have used various features such as colours and layouts to make my magazine as successful as them. This means that my music publication should be as successful as theirs because I have added a mixture of features that readers prefer. I have tried to get ideas from other music publications so as to appeal to every reader. This makes it easier for them and also boosts our numbers. I have also given out questionnaires to ask how they would prefer the magazine to be laid out and then compared the answers with other leading magazines to make mine as professional and compatible with the readers as much as possible.
The front page of my magazine has seveal images including a central image. The anchorage text for my central image is at the bottom left hand side of the page because this is where the readers eyes will first look. This is called the sweep spot. The images are underneath the text as they are advertising free posters that are inside the magazine. The title of the magazine will be at the very top of the page and is the largest text within the entire magazine. This is so that my readers will be able to see and identify the magazine with just one look.
Other text will appear at both sides of the central image to tell you who will feature in the magazine and the special first issue offer price. This will help to entice readers into buying Chemical Waste. All of these features that i have put on my front cover looks like a normal front cover form the uses o buzz words, images, anchorage text and slogan (which is aloso at the top of the page with the title).
The contents page has been made to look almost like a website. this is because the audince my magazine is aimed at spend a lot of time on their computers; and i thought to make magazine appeal more to them i have made the contents of the magazine like the navigation bar of a website. I have also added images to make the reader want to read or kno more about that person. I also have a small section of the page that the readers will be able to subscribe to. This is meant to be a convineience for some people who cant go out and buy the magazine weekly. The main pieces of text are in the middle of the page with the page numbers next to them to tell redares were certain articles are. Like most professioinal magazines, i have included a letter from the editor. This shows that my magazine has been made by professonals and have taken time to write to the readers personally.
My double page spread has quite a simple layout with the text being only on the right hand side of the page and the image on the left. I have taster text on the page with the image so as to entice the reader into reading the rest of the interview.

My magazine represents the main social groups that listen to my chosen genre of music, which is rock. This includes cults such as Emo’s, Goths and Scene’s which take it upon themselves to live the life style of the music in which they cherish and try to call it their own. My magazine is targeted to both men and women from ages around 15-26. I have chosen this particular age gap because young people tend to have a fresher intake on what’s new in the music market and what new features they would want inside the magazine.
To make sure my magazine represents them, in the in which they want to be seen in, I have put in all the features and articles that would appeal to them in every sense; this includes colours. The reason why I think the colours that have been used on the pages of the publication; to make sure that my magazine appeal to every cult, is that with every cult, they show their emotions through random colours which usually entail something to do with the darkness of the music they listen to and how it makes them feel.
However to make sure I was doing the right thing by adding dark colours to the page, I handed out a questionnaire to people I know that are associated in cults to get their views in why they wear the things and colours they wear. The positive feedback I received helped to make sure that my magazine will reach most musical cults and to keep my social audience in tact.


The preferable age for my target audience is 14-26 year olds. This is because the content which shall appear in my publication will seem too young for some adults and in some ways too old for certain teenagers. For example, my music magazine does not hold back on its profanities from interviews and we might also feature some articles about recent fantasy books turning into films; for most people in their middle or late twenties, they would think that it might be a little foolish to read about something that teenagers would want to read about. That is why I have not made my audience too old or too young. I have tried to make it perfect for my readers.
Even though my target audience is aged 14-26, I am including cults and other social groups into this equation. This is to make my target audience more specific so as not to attract the wrong type of reader. The types of cults I am including are Emo’s, Goths, Punks and Scene’s of all ages.

To attract and address my target audiences, I have used a range of layouts, colours, and font’s for example.
For my front cover I have based it on one of the best features that Kerrang! has done for its front cover i.e. the smashed up title that represents the loud strumming noise of the electric guitar. For my title, Chemical Waste, I have searched for fonts that go with the title which should be slightly scummy and bright, in the end I chose something that sort of slides slightly down the page and fades slightly with a bright sickly green. This gives it the chemical look I was originally intending for. For my contents page however, I have chosen a website style layout. This is because today’s generation is practically fixed on computers and websites; so to appeal to them I thought I would add the main feature from a website onto my magazine. This makes it easier for my readers to look for something in the publication. I have also added images so as to make sure the reader knows what type of bands they expect to see in the other pages of the magazine. To entice the audience further I have added some free posters. However I have made sure that the posters are of bands/artists that the reader should know about instead of putting in bands/artist that hardly any one knows of. This makes sure that the readers will want the magazine defiantly because they will have known and liked that featured band/artist. This will also help boost circulation so that if other members in my target audience range like this, then they will tell others thus making a bigger profit.

The kinds of media institution that I would like to associate my magazine, Chemical Waste, with would be with successful music magazine distributors such as Bauer. The reason for me choosing this company is because Bauer distributes similar rock band/artist based magazines such as Kerrang! and MoJo. This means that there would be a better chance my magazine would get more publicity as these famous media intuitions like to advertise new and similar music magazines in the other and more popular ones. This also means that my magazine will attract more people who , even though they may not yet heard of Chemical Waste, will be interested in it because it may contain bands/groups and features they may be looking for in a magazine.
Another good thing about Bauer is that they target all age groups from early teens to late 50’s at the least.
Also, Bauer distributes magazines all over the world not just the UK. Places like America and most of Europe will sell my music publication along with those distributed by Bauer.
I think this would be good if Bauer distributed my magazine because sales will pick up thus making a profit and possibly leading to make the magazine even bigger.

From using different types of technologies, I have learnt that it is not very easy to make certain aspects such as text and images perfect.
For example when working on Photoshop, it was quite difficult cutting round the edges of a person’s body to take out the background. The lines come out wonky and jagged which makes the image look weird and distorted. However I have tried to take my images on a white background so it makes it easier to cut and crop the images.
I have also learned that you limited when it comes to looking for fonts that go with the name of the magazine and for the rest of the normal text throughout the publication. You will have to search for a while to look for the perfect title that has to go with the name and the type of audience you are trying to attract.
In order to make sure I get everything right, I have sent out questionnaires and set up polls on my blog to see what type of names they think are better, the colours that should go with the title and what type of features they would prefer to have in the publication.

I have learnt that you must appeal to all major groups who you are targeting your publication on. You must know what they like and see what entices them. You must appeal to their needs in a successful publication. These features are what help to make an appropriate music magazine. Without them, the magazine will not sell thus having no profits and no real target audience.
With this information gained; I think I have done very well from creating a school magazine and going on to make a successful music publication. As they are both niche magazines, I do not think it has been too hard to find out what they audience wants from what they need. I think I have done well to cater to my readers needs with all the technologies I have used and the time and effort I have put into making the magazine.
However, setting a target audience for my niche music publication was difficult. Not many people between the ages 14-26 like the same things of follow the same cults which others might not like. I have tried very hard to try and put in every type of popular rock that people would know about, so as to appeal to every one. This includes the colours and font text. Not many people like the colours green, white and black. But as this niche publication deals with rock music, I thought that black would be appropriate for a normal background colour. I have not added too much black to the magazine so it does not overwhelm the page. I have used green for the main title as it suits it perfectly. I have also added white for small pieces of text. This is so the page does not look too crowded with images of text. It blends in well with both the black and green.
I think have done fairly well with making my new niche publication as making a school magazine does not require too much demands. It fairly easy to make when you know what to talk about in the magazine, what the audience wants to see and their needs for the information they are craving for.