Primary Research - Magazine Analysis - Metal Hammer Cover

Metal Hammer magazine

        Metal Hammer magazines feature music of the metal genre, though this is apparent with the themes and poses we see on the front cover. It features obnoxious, exaggerated, 'free' poses of Heavy Metal artists, screaming and showing signature poses, such as the open mouth screaming to show noise, and the aggressive hands signatures. Also, the camera is positioned so that the facial and hand expressions are conveyed and clear to us, the reader, so as to help identify the theme and mood. Furthermore, they are shown to display their tattoos, which is another trait common amongst the genre. The models are also well known to the genre to display relevance and attraction for the intended audience, meaning that the genre is clear to us as well as relevant and so appealing; If an image of an unknown artist completely irrelevant to this specific genre was featured at a long range away, then people would be less drawn to it.

      The front cover is slightly different to the card cover, as once the main details are mentioned, i.e. Titles, pricing, skylines, buzz words - Nothing more is needed, and so the magazine front cover can focus on an image or object of importance to the cover (almost definitely including similar models to the card cover). Metal hammer chose to include the members of 'Five Finger Death Punch', as this is the magazine's main story. They are shown in varying poses, possibly relating to their place or personality within the band, or possibly to show their trademark features; The band leader (to which I presumed due to him always giving direct contact to the reader and due to the fact he was featured as the main model on the card cover) is shown to display his skeletal hand tattoo again, which looking directly at the camera as the center of attention. We also have the bearded man displaying no obscurities to his beard, hence the reason he was placed in that position; his head is slightly covered by the title, but his beard is not. We also have a side view of the 'dreadlocked man', as his hair is only fully visible from the side.

      The front cover also features 'buzz words' of which are relevant to an audience associated with the magazine; It is not a 'one off' magazine such as a help guide or local information magazine, and is focuses on a specific recurring audience; nobody interested in local attractions or classical music would buy this magazine. Furthermore, we are shown that a 'freebie' will be given away with this magazine, which would greatly appeal to those interested in this genre for obvious reasons, as well as it being a 'physical gift'. People are much more interested, in the short-term, in purchasing products with physical and instantly obtainable gifts opposed to offers and deals with conditions and specific dates, though this obviously differs from person to person. We are also given a thick, bold, sans seriff title of which is slightly covered, but this is acceptable as frequent and repetitive audiences will understand and know what the text says.

      Lastly, the colours used suit the genre further, as it is often associated with dark colours or highlighted reds amongst the blacks and greys. The style of writing is almost 'tattoo-like', as artists of the genre tend to indulge in creative and symbolic tattoos, displaying rebellious behaviour often. Due to the dark clothes used on the card cover, the background colour is white, so as to avoid blurring or loss of focus and sharpness of the men featured, and a similar feature is used on the front cover, as it exhibits a black and white colour palette, so text is changed to black due to the background needing to grey and white-out to suit the colours of the characters.

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

I have learnt that PhotoShop and InDesign both coordinate and work together in the creative process of creating a piece of work, such as the magazine. PhotoShop possesses visually creative elements and tools, such as the paintbrush tool of which I used to blur, draw and blend colours and shapes to better suit and sculpt my images. The eraser tool was also heavily relied on, as it was a simple method to shave crooked edges away from my model, and remove unwanted unsteadiness form her outline. Photoshop also allowed me to apply filters and effects to my images that would take tremendous amounts of time and effort without, as well as a complex layer system to ensure that everything stays organised, and more importantly to stop filters and effects leeking onto other layers, of which took me a while to figure out. I was able to edit and correct camera errors, such as blurs or leaves in the wind, as well as small blemishes on my model, such as a piece of food on her teeth (using the colour blend tool). I was also able to alter the vibrancy of my model's eye using 'hue' and 'brightness' filters, of which I needed to cut her eye and paste onto a new layer to do.


I played and experimented with each tool until I knew the basics, and so managed to proceed to edit and sculpt my images before exporting and reimporting them into InDesign. This software allowed me to further experiment with the layout of a magazine, more specifically the contents page, whereby layout and organisation in the form of grids, was a key element to a successful page. The use of rulers assisted me in allignment, and the use of the 'bleed' ability featured on the setup of the page meant that I could prevent irritating white lines around the edges of the page upon printing.



Blogger, I learnt, is a simple to use blog that has allowed the quick upload and almost cloud-like storage method for my work and images. It also saves information periodically to prevent loss, while also meaning that I can use it's potential as a form of 'diary' for my work.


I used Scribd as an online tool to format and add documents to my blog, as they were not compatible otherwise. This also allowed for more interaction on my blog, bringing a whole host of various media forms to my work.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Attraction and Addressing

I attracted my audience through the use of information relating to the 'average' student's interests, such as the "'Tis the season" subheading. The alteration of the words and play with the idea of it nearly being christmas adds an element of playfulness and generally gives across a tone of informality and little seriousness.

The content included revolves around the highest voted desires and preferences of the students of the college, I also placed these titles on the left hand side; this place is likely to be seen on a magazine rack, and so seemed the most appropriate place to attract the consumers. The titles also cover general topics, as some college students won't like the main titles, and so I have tried to make it appeal to everyone. One method of doing this was to mention College specific topics, such as the NCUS cards, or photography trip, or possibly the mention of competitions within the college. These kind of offers are specific to the students likely to buy it, and so make them feel inclusive and special to the magazine. I also noticed that people did not have much in the way of disposable income, and so made sure the pricing of fifty pence was mentioned clearly, as well as a title associated with saving money.

It specifically addresses the students in similar ways; it is informal to retain some form of friendliness with the reader and mentions specific and generalised topics and items associated with people of the college. The layout is also a key factor, for both the magazine and contents page, as the colourful and unique style can relate to potential readers of the magazine. Students may see the artwork, methods or styles used and understand why and how, as well as appreciate the design; most people I  questionned had some form of interest in media or creativity, and so to create my own images and backgrounds seemed appropriate and likely to please, as they are similar to me in interests.

How does your media product represent particular social groups? -Contents Page

Contents page

The contents page features the same housestyle as the cover, therefore also revealing and representing the audience. The same model is shown, again looking up at the stories, showing a subtle form of being social and interactive with the college stories and ideas.

I also included social networking logos, as college students tend to be extremely social and spend vast amounts of time on the internet. The images represent the students potentially buying this magazine, as my questionnaire revealed a love for technology (hence the mention of digital art),  a preference of the metal genre (hence the picture of a well known artist), general love for music and film (which is why I mentioned those as titles), and an NCUS card of which heavily shows the audience as students.

Seeing as the qualities of the 'average' student (based on my questionnaire) are mainly of a creative persona, I chose to create the whole background myself through the use iof various pieces of software.

How does your media product represent particular social groups? -Cover Page

Cover

My cover utilises the colourful palette and creativity of a college student with the cube shapes and vivid colours shown with the picture of my model. This outstanding colour within the dull colours of the background represents the fun that can be found within daily life, and therefore with this magazine due to the subtle association of the two.

The title was chosen, as it's formal and orderly, retaining the colour palette of the text, while also proving to be presented completely unique, adding to it's individuality. College students I questioned told me that they liked computers, music, film etc., and so the title seemed an appropriate fit. The subheadings chosen represent the target audience due to their appeal to the target audience, and the rotation of the top and bottom ones again add a college-related twist to the order; college students tend to like to escape from their heavy workload, and also find themselves as being disorganised at times.

The model is facing towards the titles, as if attracted to them, and as a person of similar age, by her appearance, to the target audience, they will assume that people of a similar sort (themselves) will enjoy and be attracted to this magazine. 
The magazine also features subtitles associated directly with students of the college, such as the NCUS card. This heavily shows and represents the people likely to buy the magazine, as this is very specific to the audience.

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

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

Below I have created a Prezi presentation analysing the front cover of my magazine in relation to the above question.

http://prezi.com/zp29qhitpajw/trixel-magazine/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

I have completed another presentation of a similar theme for the contents page of my magazine below.

http://prezi.com/zkvkcy5fckdj/most-magazines-feature-3-or-maybe-2-columns-of-which-i-carr/

Finished magazine front cover processes and analysis

Magazine cover process

My magazine front cover began with a transparent 'Background' layer, of which served as the canvas for the cover. This checked base allowed for me to experiment with colours and get a good idea of how certain designs would look on a plain canvas; if I chose to make the background blue it would be harder to experiment.

I then began with importing my chosen image from the selection of woodland shoots I took of my model (Hannah). After the image had been imported, I used the selection tool and enabled the ability to see the transforming tools of the selection tool via the toolbars at the top, and with this I was able to resize the image to fit the canvas. Once happy, I pressed enter to confirm and refocus the image in place. I chose this image as it was very sharp, the lighting was clear and 'warm', highlighting and bringing clarity to her face and clothing, as well as showing one of her eyes clearly. The pose she struck for this image was perfect, in my opinion, as I was able to make more room for text due to her facing sideways; If she had been looking directly at the camera I would not have been able to crop out a lot of the image, but with a sideways pose there is less room being taken width-wise. It also looked incredibly pleasing to have her looking to the text with a warm smile and comfortable feel.

After aligning and resizing my model, I began to delete the background by holding the left mouse button over the lasso tool and selecting the magnet tool. It allowed me to draw around her, snapping into place where heavily contrasting colours met to separate her hair, skin and clothing from the environment. After this was complete and I was satisfied, I managed to clear up any little errors and imperfections with the eraser tool, though I set the softness to quite a high number so as to make any corrections smoother and blend in more with the background opposed to just leaving the image with a rough, 'sharp' outline. I also cut out her eye and placed it onto a new layer labelled 'right eye' (naming it led to less confusion and helped me keep it organised). I did this because it allowed me to later apply a filter to the eye with the filter menu just above the layers, of which I used to alter the hue of the eye and change the shade of blue to a more vibrant and outstanding blue. I also quickly used the brush tool's colour blur tool to spread some of the tooth whiteness over a small black spot that the camera seemed to have captured, possibly a digital error, something in the breeze, or just a spec on the lens.

I proceeded to place in a background I had created at home using a program called 'hexels', whereby I was able to create cube-like shapes and formations that I could add glow to in order to create a digital styled background of which I varied in colour against a black base to add vibrancy to the shapes created; The black base contrasted highly to the colours used, and the glow helped add complexity and generally made it look nicer, adding more 'movement' to the 'still image'. I also decided that on this layer (named background #2) I would also equip my brush tool again, alter it's softness, and create a blurry wave shape at the top of the page to add a little more to the somewhat bland image, and to also give an area for the title and any text to be 'contained' in order to retain some form of org

After I felt that I was done with the background, I searched "DaFont" for an appropriate text, and entered my desired name, 'Trixel'. I chose this name because it had a nice look and sound, as well as linking to the technological genre, the word meaning a pixel with 3 sides. After screenshotting the text and pasting it onto a new layer named "Title" for organisational reasons, of which I placed at the top so that the text would be shown above all layers below it on the list, I used the 'background eraser' tool to remove the white space around the text, and selected half of the text by holding the CTRL key and clicking each piece. I applied a filter to alter the brightness of the text so that it could be seen on the black background, but left the last 2 letter black so that they could spill onto the white section of the background and remain visible, and aligned the text so that the 'i' of Trixel was ontop of a random blob of glowing white I placed for a unique feature to the title.

Lastly, I added white text in a clear and readable font over the cube pillars I created as some form of containment or guidline for the text, which worked nicely, though I needed to use the brush tool, after lowering the opacity, to paint over the cubes (using a dark colour) to lower the glow and general brightness of the colour to let the white headings be seen and not blend in too much with the background. To finish off, I added a barcode I found online to a new layer, as well as the pricing I decided on for the low disposable income of the students, fifty pence, and a 'buzz' piece of text in the bottom left where it would be seen on a shelf, and other various necessities for a magazine, such as the date and contents of magazine.

Finished college magazine front cover

anisation as well as style. The filter I added earlier to the right eye affected the background I added as well, as I had not applied it to the eye layer exclusively, but also to every layer below the 'hue' filter, however, it gave the image a nice, pleasing, smart look that I enjoyed, and so I decided against correcting this. I feel that the general look was pleasing and fitted the genre of technology, music, and digital creativity I was aiming for.