Simultation Task

As part of research for creating a music magazine I was given a task to create a magazine cover for young people who are aged 13 years and above. The genre of music that an individual who read the magazine would read about and listen to was 'Alternative Rock' and 'Rock-rap'. The target audience I had to focus on were also 'skater kids' who have interests in learning new tricks on skate boards, listening to cool music that is part of the 'skater kid' scene, as well as an interest in professional skate boarding. The cover I would be creating for the TA was also going to be made as a purpose to promote our magazine to mock advertisers such as mobile phone companies, record labels and other marketers who would invest in our magazine. The large picture on the front of the magazine above is of a professional skate boarder called Ryan who is a young and popular skater; this will appeal to my target audience as they would be instantly familiar with him. The colours used are bright and bold which attracts the reader and also relates to the theme and genre of this magazine. I chose artists such as 'Muse' and 'My Chemical Romance' to mention on my cover because they appeal to the genre of Rock are popular Rock bands that the TA listen to. I also changed the font scheme on the front cover as I wanted to keep the magazine unusual and not repetitive; however, I still wanted the fonts to compliment each other without looking convoluted. Lastly the advertisements on the cover for skateboards and clothing was particularly chosen as it relates closely to the genre of the magazine (Hard Rock) and the competition for skateboards is attractive to the reader as it is a one-off opportunity and could lead to an increase in sales. Furthermore, our mock advertisers would get a sample of the type of endorsements we already receive. What I particularly like about the cover is the word play of Skate (written Sk8) because it goes beyond the status quo and is more appealing to the young TA. If I have to improve the magazine I would use Photoshop to give the magazine cover a more 3D effect by adding some layering. Overall the task was enjoyable, whilst also informative because I gained an understanding of marketing, drafting, re-drafting and advertising a magazine and this was a good way of understanding the process of starting a magazine.