Mood board

 

Variety of different fonts:  Simple arial, Funky Adobe Casion Pro Bold, Franklin Gothic Book, Georgia, Kozuka Mincho Pro EL, Impact, Garamond, Lucida Handwriting

, Sylfaen, Shruti

Words that I may use in the magazine: Popular, mainstream, indie, rad, dude, awesome

Production Schedule

The first thing I'll have to do is take the pictures and then edit them, I will then have to decided which images I will use on what specific page. After doing that I will have to make a contact sheet of the photos I took.

October 24th: Today I took pictures for my front cover

October 25th: I looked through the images I took to see which one would suit best.

October 26th: I edited the image to make it look more professional

October 27th: I changed my front cover image 3 times due to the fact I didn't like how it looked and it didn't suit my genre well.

October 28th: I started taking pictures for my contents page

October 29th: I decided which images to use, and which to not use

November 1st: I started planning what I would include in the contents

November 2nd: Today I got inspiration from billboard - Beyonce

November 4th: I started laying out and using a similar font to the billboards magazine as I was using that magazine as inspiration.

November 5th: I laid out the structure of the magazine and started filling in the cover lines

November 8th: I started adding my images in and finishing off the page

November 10th:                            

Aims + Introduction

The target audience I'm trying to aim for is for both genders, from 16-25. I questioned my target audience and asked how much they were willing to pay for a music magazine and the majority said £4. My magazine will be indie because it was favoured by the public. The advantage of using a genre that the majority of the public like is that it will bring a lot of profit in. Creating an indie magazine I will have to use subjects who are indie (two males, female and male or two females). The clothes that they will have to use will have to be new and attractive to persuade the readers to buy clothes similar to theirs. The image should also link to the reader - maybe eye contact as this will make the buyer feel part of it. My magazine will be bold and attractive. The price for the magazine is average as most people can afford to spend £4 on a well known, popular, free CD included, free gig ticket magazine.

My inspiration came from Rock Sound a music magazine I saw in Whsmith. Although I got inspiration from kerrang and NME as well. The magazine I looked at most for ideas was BillBoard. This was because of the image - dominant image as the front cover but also they used eye contact. The masthead was also bold and stood out. What attracted me to the other magazines was the colour used and the background image behind the text. From looking at the results from the questionnaire I realised that other people also looked at the image first, which is what attracted them to it first. This told me that for my magazine I would have to use a dominant, impact image to draw the buyer in. My magazine will focus strongly on new artists/bands but every two months it will include old classic music which have been remembered throughout time, this gives teenagers/adults the chance to widen their horizon and understand a variety of different music, from different ages. I will get hold of someone I know and take their picture as the music they play/sing is quite indie. The ages of the two young men are 18 and 22 which gives the magazine another advantage as the group are in the age range of the target audience.

The image I will use for the front cover will be of a teenage girl. The double page spread content page will consist of one image spread across both pages. It will be of a boy with a drum. I shall use friends and my brother because I know them. I shall take the images at my house or find a centre nearby. I shall take the pictures in the day and if not then I shall use some lighting to make it look more interesting . The lighting I will use will be low key because it gives a chiaroscuro effect. As my front cover image will be black and white.



 The models will use indie clothes, so casual clothes; shirts, chinos, t shirts, blazers. The brand most indies wear is Jack Wills. I will select the best image that meets my targets; any gender, stick to the age group, interesting vibe and attractive. The shot type will be a close up, this means that it will only contain the head and shoulders.

The title of the magazine will be called "Passion" this is because its passionate about the customers and  music. It has a twist to it, as usually passion isn't a normal word you would attach with music. It suits my target audience because Indie is different and quite smart. Passion is also a better word than "fun" and "crazy" suggesting that the magazine might be for people with better vocabulary.

This image shot was my favourite from Billboard. I used this one to interpret when I was doing my magazine.

Questionnaire 3 - Content

1.) Would you rather read about gigs [] new albums [] festivals []
2.) Would you prefer to read about old artists/bands [] new artists/bands [] or upcoming artists/bands []
3.) Which would you be more interested in? Artists/bands personal life [] artists/bands music only []
4.) What would you like in terms of gifts? CD [] gig tickets [] chance to win a holiday [] money []
5.) Would you prefer to have more images [] or more text []

To conclude, looking at the results you can see that the public would rather read about new albums. It was a equal amount between the public being interested in artists/bands personal life and artists/bands music (only). Obviously most of the people who answered the questionnaire chose to get free gig tickets. People would rather have more images than text this is because they prefer looking in stead of reading.

Questionnaire 2 - Layout of magazine

1.) Would you prefer to have a band []as the front cover or a single artist []

2.) Would you prefer the magazine to contain eye contact [] or not []

3.) Would you prefer the magazine to have free tickets to a gig [] or a free cd []

4.) What colour combination would you like the magazine to contain [] pink+ blue  [] blue + white  [] red + black [] black + white []

5.) Would you like the magazine to contain 1-3 cover lines [] 4-6 cover lines [] 7+ cover lines []

6.) Would you like the magazine to contain a variety of fonts [] or stick to one specific font []

Summary + conclusion

To conclude you can tell that the majority of the people I asked preferred to have a band on the front cover instead of a single artist. The public would like eye contact, I think this is because it makes the reader feel more involved with the band. The readers would prefer to recieve free gig tickets instead of a CD this is because gigs are very popular and are a great way to spend your evening with friends/family. Black and white was chosen to be the favourite colour combination. I think this is because its simple, easy to read and classic. 4-7 cover lines was chosen, this could be because their easier to read if there's less.

Questionnaire 1 - Target audience

My name is Hannah Craig and I'm a student at Farnham 6th Fom College. I'm conducting 3 queustionnaire's specifically asking about Target adience, layout of the magazine and content of magazine. The results will help me strucrure and write my own magazine.

Target audience

1.) Are you male or female? [] Male [] Female

2.) How old are you? [] 13-15 [] 16-18 [] 19-21 [] 22+ 
3.) What music magazines do you usually read? [] Emo [] Punk [] Indie [] Rock [] Heavy Metal [] Goth

4.) What attracts you to a magazine? [] Images [] Bold text [] Vibrant colours [] Interesting coverlines [] Other (please specify) ____________________________________
5.) What colour would you like to be used in a magazine? [] Black [] White [] Pink [] Blue [] Green [] Orange [] Red [] Purple [] Other __________
6.) What genre of music do you listen to? [] Rock [] Goth [] Punk [] Blues [] Country [] Dance [] Electronic [] Hip Hop [] Indie [] Jazz [] Pop [] Rock [] Other (please specify) _______________
7.) What font would you prefer to have in a music magazine? [] Arial [] Bradley Hand ITC []

Cooper black [] Harlow Solid Italic  [] Other

8.) What type of articles would you like to be included? [] technical side to it [] history of the band [] history of instruments [] gig list

Summary + conclusion;

To conclude the questionnaire shows that their was more men than female. The most popular age group was 16-18. Indie was the favorited magazine to read. Images were the thing that attracted people to a magazine instead of text that was bold. Blue and white were the two best colours chosen. Indie was once again the favourite genre of music, followed by rock and dance. People chose arial to be their preferred font, I personally think they chose this because its simple and capable to read for all age groups. History of the band was chosen to be the top article to be included in a magazine. 

Goth

Goth - The fashion for goth has been around for a long time. Goths wear a lot of black but usually combine/use other colours too. They like to use older style's as its less mainstream. They use black and white for their magazines, this makes it easier to read but its also their more preffered colours. This genre is still very popular, but not as popular as it used to be. The cost for goth items and clothing is more expensive than the usual clothing. The items and clothing are very different and can sometimes be extreme because of huge studs and odd chains around the body. Some people don't like the goth genre because the music and people can be too different. The make up that girls use for it can also be a negative point because some employees may not find it suitable.

Heavy metal

Heavy metal - Uses a lot of black and leather. Heavy metal doesn't stick to a type of colour, they use a variety. Normally heavy metal use fierce, scary effects/images which are more intense. The images don't usually combine well, this makes the magazine a bit odd.

Rock

Rock magazines usually use red and black for their colour scheme. They use a lot of black but they don't exagerate using it because the magazine is overpowered by other sharp colours. They normally use bold text because it presents the magazine as bolder/stronger. The sharp colours represent their personalities, because they usually don't take orders from others and do as they please. Black represents their sad, dark personalities.

Indie

Indie magazines usually contain a lot of colour. The use of variety of colours and brightness means they stand out - this can be percieved as wanting to be the centre of attention. The way the colours are varied brings the magazine out in the shops, this is because indie isn't like emo and goth as they don't stick to black and dark colours.

Codes and conventions

Masthead - Generally found at the top of the magazine cover. It covers the whole of the page. Each masthead is used like a logo, as it makes the magazine stand out with its unique name. Depending on the magazine it can sometimes give of the genre/theme.

Dateline - The date presents the month and the year that it was published

Main image - The image is one of the most important features of a magazine. The image is always behind the text to allow the reader to see what is being said.

Model credit - Comment made by the model that they use for the main image

Cover lines - Titles about the topics, found in deeper detail inside the magazine. They are placed around the main image to not distract the reader from it.

Main cover line - This is usually very large and is the magazines biggest story.

Left third - These are where most of the cover lines are placed. This is done because when the magazine is placed in a shop rack you are able to still see the top headline/title. This still grabs attention of the public.

Barcode - Used by the retailers to scan the item

Selling line - This is a line of text used to help sell the magazine

Punk

Punk:

A punk magazine would also use a lot of black. Black is the main colour for both Emos and Punks. As well as black Punks use bright colours; pink, yellow, green and orange. One of the items that Punks are also well known for wearing patterns and spikes. Punks listen to rock music.

Rocksound double page spread

Layout: There are two and a 1/4 columns. They are organised starting on the first page then containing the last 1/4 on the top right side of the second page. This makes the article look longer to read, as if its a explanatory article, making the reader know that they will need time to read this. The picture on the second page is bigger than most of the text but containing two images makes it look as if the first part of the article he felt small and then towards the end he has progressed and has gained confidence. There are subheadings - this is to help the reader to understand the question being asked. The typical arial font black is being used to keep it simple but effective

Text:






Image: The image is very effective and looks to give of a purpose as I mentioned earlier in the layout - skrillex feeling small to start off and then grew with confidence making him bigger (size of the image). Looks to the side in the first image, possibly thought provoked. Second larger image he has his hand on his head, similar look but different action/position. Clothing is very modern and relaxed, not dressed up/too fancy.

Q magazine double page spread

Layout: There are two columns. This gives the reader the impression that there's not much to read, which is a positive for the reader. The image takes up one page and the text takes up the second bottom page, although the image presented on the first double paged spread continues onto the second but behind the text. My eye was drawn to Drake (the male model), his cheeky smile but also because he takes up most of the page. The sunset behind also looks very attractive. No subheadings are used. Normal arial is being used but in a white font, this is because the background is black.

Text: It's addressed to the reader, in a non formal way.

Image: There's only one image used for the two page spread, the artist is framed in a cool look position with his hands in his pockets presenting him to be relaxed and happy. The background makes the image look sweeter as the there is a sunset.

Muse double page spread

Layout: There are two columns one positioned on one side of the page and the other on the opposite. The way its organised makes it appear easier to read. The picture is behind the text, allowing the reader to see the image while reading. "MUSE" in capital white letters attracts your attention because its in white and large, the image also draws attention. Arial black font is being used, this is because its simple to read and is plain.

Text: The mode of address is directed to the readers. Informing them about their opinions.

Image: Their is only one image used for the double page spread. The band member positioned in the middle has two of his band members looking towards him, this could be to state that the man in the middle is the leader - most important. The picture uses a lot of light and contains a mystical vibe, making the image unique.