Q7 - Looking back on your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

http://www.slideshare.net/SatinaLOL/q7-looking-back-on-your-preliminary-task-what-do-you-feel-you-have-learnt-in-the-progression-from-it-to-the-full-product

Q6 – What have you learnt about technologies from the process of contrasting this product?

Here is a video from YouTube of me talking about the technologies I used during this task...

CLICK HERE: Question 6

Q5-How did you attracts/address your audience?

I used Prezi to state how I addressed my audiences on the front cover of the magazine: http://prezi.com/b4xgfhnayoze/q3-what-kind-of-media-institution-might-distribute-your-media-product-and-why/

Q4 – Who would be the audience for you media product?

Factfile

Name: Megan McGuigan
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Occupation: A-level Student
Appearance: Casual – converse and skinny jeans
Lives with: Mum, Dad , Brother
Spare Time: Goes shopping, to gigs, the cinema, listens to music and goes out socializing
Favourite genre of music : Indie
Watches Tv Programmes: The Only Way is Essex, Friends, Misfits and Total wipeout
She shops in : Republic, H&M, and Primark
Favourite Artists: Arctic Monkeys, Miles Kane, Ben Howard and Tribes
Hobbies/Interests: Boys , fashion and music

Name: Jamie Richards
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Occupation: A-level Student
A-level subjects:  Sociology, Geography, English Lit and History
Appearance: Band T-shirts, skinny jeans, cardigans and converse
Lives with: Mum, Dad, sisters Spare Time: Goes to house parties, listens to music, plays and watches football 
Favourite genre of music : Indie
Watches Tv Programmes: South Park, Family guy, Match of the day and Mock the week
She shops in : Topman, ASOS and Urban Outfitters,Favourite Artists: Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Nirvana and Blur.
Hobbies/Interests: Girls, music & sport

As there two people listen to the same music genre which is represented in my music magazine they are most likely to buy it.

Q3 – What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

My magazine could be distributed in most newsagents and off licenses, especially large ones like WHSmiths who sell established magazines from every genre including men’s lifestyle, women’s lifestyle, music, film, TV, hobbies, business, fitness and science. As my magazine is a music one, it may also be sold in music stores such as HMV.

 Institutions

Also, another major media distributor is Bauer Media, it reaches over 19 million UK adults across multiple media and adding a indie music magazine will increase the amount of adults reading Bauer’s media product. Also because Bauer media has no indie magazines on their market ,but instead have magazine such as Smash Hits, Kerrang and Q. So adding a different type of music genre ,will increase the amount of people reading Bauer’s media product as it has a worldwide circulation for selling 38 million copies a week in 15 countries Bauer Media also has Bauer Radio which consists of Heat Radio, Q Radio, Smash Hits! Radio and The Hits Radio will are available on DAB and Free view. http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/

I think their is a gap in the market for my magazine in the Bauer media company as they do sell an indie genre magazine Q however it is a monthly magazine whereas mine is sold weekly at a much cheaper price.

Q2-How does your media product represent particular social groups?

2-How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The two models on my front cover seem quite ordinary in their dress and overall appearance. Their mop haircuts show a youthful image. Also, their moody attitude yet represents the late teenage (white male) whilst using eye contact to portray them as unthreatening and approachable. Additionally, the article/interview which features on the double page spread shows a chilled out attitude which teenagers mainly possess and mentions drinking and drug taking which could also represent many social groups associated with that.

My magazine also represents teenagers as there is offers for free posters and free concert tickets which mainly attracts teens/early 20’s. Similarly, the offer presenting concerts for less than £100 could represent that the magazine is aimed at the working class which is reinforced by the cheap price of the magazine.

The names of most of the music artists listed in my contents page are quite unusual (Beautiful mess, Karma Killers) this represents these young artists, as well as the magazine its self, as being very unique and creative which reinforced the individual sound of music and style of the magazine.

The images in the contents page represents the social groups who enjoy live music – concerts and festivals as the two images of Bruno Mars and The Wombats are light and friendly taken outside whereas the You Me at Six photograph shows a darker light which could reflect their type of music.  The age groups therefore show a variety as all three musicians attract different target audiences but mainly from teens to early 30’s. 

Evaluation Q1. In what does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

http://www.slideshare.net/SatinaLOL/question-1-12641771

Final Magazine...

Audience Feedback via Facebook

I uploaded my front cover page onto Facebook for people to comment and give me feedback on my front cover page for my magazine. I thought this was important as my friends on Facebook are round about the same age as who my magazine is aimed at, so their opinion was relevant to the success of the magazine - whether it looked good in a magazine rack and whether people would buy it.  

My target audience commented what they liked and disliked which was mostly the image and the logo as it was clear what the magazine was about - as i paid close attention to codes and conventions of other front covers of music magazine. Also, the colour scheme proved to be popular as it made it look professional. They also mentioned how they would buy the magazine if it was in a shop proving that my front cover was a success! 

Here are comments on my magazine as a whole, including the front cover, contents page and double page spread:

Double page spread: Working Progress

Here is my Double page spread working progress... By using MWSnap each slide shows the step by step process of making it.

Interview research

For my music magazine I will be interviewing Sam Irving and Jake Ray as professional music artist in a band called Jam and Steak (the combinations of their name!) They both listen to indie music, which is why their genre of music (and the whole magazine) would be indie - hence the washed out colour scheme which is seen in similar genre magazines such as NME and Q. 

My double page spread will consist of:

• Picture that will take up one whole side of the double page with a quote from the band
• Headlines across the top of one page
• Drop capital at the start of the article - so you know were to start reading, they are sometimes in bold or bigger size texts.
• By line of the double page spread
• Strap line - short and should grab the reader's attention and make them want to read the article. 
• Smaller pictures on the opposites side to the big picture. 

Also, I have recently read a number of articles from the NME magazine to get a sense of which questions to ask and how to approach the tone of the article. Mostly, from what I have read, the mood is very chilled out, casual tone and the questions are always very laid back and flow into each other. So, I will write my mock interview in a conventional Question and Answer format. So I decided against planning questions but instead to ask them questions which were relevant to their answers.


Research ON GQ MAG...

The artist formerly known as Elliot Gleave has history with GQ. Back in September 2006, when he was still signed to Mike Skinner's label The Beats, he was photographed by legendary lensman Mick Rock in the 100 Club. "The way he shot me was almost like chatting me up," laughs the Hammersmith-born rapper, slouching in an Obey T-shirt and Levi's jeans. "He kept saying, 'Yeah! Show me them lips!' I can just imagine him in the Seventies being completely off his nut taking pictures".Since that fateful day five years ago, The Beats has imploded, the Streets have retired and Example, thanks to a newfound love of electro-pop, has topped the singles charts twice with "Stay Awake" and "Changed The Way You Kissed Me". Despite having already completed 14 interviews when we sit down with him in his PR company's central London offices at 12.30pm, Example chatted to GQ.com about surviving Ibiza, overrated chefs and the erotic effects of his own music...
GQ.com: You vent a great deal on Twitter. What's really irritating you at the moment? Example: The Toilet Duck advert. The animation's not bad, but the Toilet Duck himself has had a personality bypass. The new Toilet Duck is just a bit aggressive, a bit cocky, a bit like Jeremy Kyle - he's got too many faults to actually love him. I think that the Toilet Duck should be confident but sassy - like Mr Muscle.
What's the worst thing anyone's ever said about you? I've been called a "scruffy Inbetweener". My first album got really slated, but to be fair it was a bit all over the place, so I don't mind that too much. I don't really listen to critics - I don't mind interviews, but reviews are f***ing pointless. Someone can hear my album and say that it's the best thing they've ever heard, someone else can hear it and think it's the worst thing they've ever heard. Both of those people are right because it's their opinion. I haven't read a live or an album review for two and a half years.
Talk us through the outfit you're currently wearing. I'm scruffy, like every man, but with a few high-end brands in tow. I'll rock a Belstaff, maybe; a bit ofLanvin or D&G. I've got a couple of Margiela jackets, but really I'm a jeans and a T-shirt kind of man. I like just feeling comfortable, I don't care about looking tooflash. What's my style tip for autumn? Dress like a hero.
What the strangest request you've had on Twitter? Usually stuff like "Can I come round your house and sit on your face? You look like you've got a comfy face" from 16-year-old girls. I can't believe 16-year-olds are doing that now. At my age, 16-year-olds were probably just playing spin the bottle and now they're offering to come round and sit on my face.
You're just back from Ibiza. What are your top survival tips? Never do two days in a row. On your day off, sit on the beach or by the pool. Sleep lots, have a few piña coladas, maybe go for a nice steak, have 12 hours' kip then go out again the next day. And wear lots of sunscreen.
Other than this one, what question do you hate being asked?" Why are you called Example?" is the worst one.  I just think, "Look it up on Google or Wikipedia!" Or "Who do you want to work with?' I hate that question - boring. Look at my album credits, that's who I've worked with.
Who's the best dressed man? I'm a massive fan of Sergio Pizzorno from Kasabian. I think he's cool. Brad Pitt dresses well most of the time but every now and then really f***s it up with some dodgy sweatpant/boot combos. In the UK, Tinie looks great, doesn't he? I've also bumped into David Gandy a few times at press party events and he always looks sharp. But I suppose he was created by God to wear clothes, wasn't he?

MY INTERVIEW 

"Booze, drugs and the F word has made 17 year old Sam Irving a tabloid fixture. But with the support and guidance from his best friend, Jake Ray, the duo ‘Jam and Steak’ have had huge chart success in the last few months once again! Satina Sanghera meets the pair" - This will be the strap-line underneath the title, i think its catchy and when I will put it on my magazine, I will make certain words such as names bold to make them stand out.

Introduction:

After dropping out of school, both Sam and Jake were convinced music was going to change their life. Endless pub gigs and travelling led this pair on a journey of self discovery and in 2011 they were finally discovered! They brought massive hits such as ‘I’ll take you to the pub and back’ and ‘Crazy’ led to huge success and fame. However, there is always a price to pay with fame and for Sam this was his outrageous behaviour being widely reported in the media every day. The front man admits ‘I couldn’t cope... drinking was a way out.’ But after a long stay in rehab, they’re back with only one goal: ‘to become indie gods.’

Arriving an hour late, the two lads arrive in what seems yesterdays clothing. Sam walks straight over o the vending machine and purchases a hot chocolate; whilst Jake glances in a mirror to check on his perfectly shaped hair.

- I made this up entirely and based their appearance and attitude on famous indie music artist such as Peter Doherty.

Interview: 

Woah. It’s been quite a couple of months back in the lime light, how are you both coping?
Jake: It’s been pretty insane, but nothing I can’t handle (turns and looks at Sam sarcastically)
Sam: (laughs) I’m clean, rehab really helped and I’m not an idiot anymore. I’ve given up my foolish antics.

What changed for you and made you check into rehab?
S: Um... Jake I guess. I couldn’t let him down anymore and I didn’t want to lose him. The music we were producing was shit and that was down to me. I think it was when people started to not take us seriously, it bugged me, people started judging our music by my behaviour and that wasn’t fair.
J: He went through a pretty tough time, but all is good now. We’re back on track and this time nothing’s going to stop us.

You’re right saying you’re back on track, five months and three number one singles! That’s an achievement, how do you guys celebrate?
S: Beer! But without the total loss of control. (smiles)
J: Yeah, we like to party, last night actually we went to our friend’s house party. Was mental, didn’t get back until this morning, which explains why we’re late. Sorry. We’re packing all the sleepless nights before we go on tour - (July, LAD’s on tour), then we can give our fans a proper show. One that they’ve been waiting for!

Do you have a particular favourite song you like performing?
S: For me, it’s ‘madness’ it really describes the journey I went through, after the breakup (2011 he split from model girlfriend) and the whole drug addiction. I don’t know who I was back then, but with Jake’s help, I think I’ve found myself.
J: The crowd goes mental for our song ‘dumb and dumber,’ it really reflects who we are. Me being dumb and Sam, the dumber one obviously.
S: Can’t argue with that, to be fair.

You two seem extremely close. Perhaps, a bromance?
J: This is so much more than a bromance!
S: Yeah, bromance is an understatement; just take a look at some of the pictures from the shoot today! That is love, right there.
J: Too far Sam.

Well, it’s been great having you, and X readers will most defiantly follow your success. Last but not least: describe the album in three words?
J: Best Quality sound.
S: I am sober.

Layout:

 I may recreate this design and use one whole page dedicated to a image of the models and then use the two columns for the main article. I may need to add questions if I does not fill the whole page and I could 
add smaller images on the other side.  

Contents page feedback:

I received feedback from my front cover which was really helpful so I decided to do the same for the contents page. Nearly everyone preferred the one image with the articles underneath. Although, I preferred the other one I decided to ask one of my target audience: a male age 17 who listens to indie music. He said that the layout was good but it was difficult to read the headings on the right hand side as they were written in white. So I changed them to black to makes them stand out with a white cover line that does not over power the main text above. I also used flashes either side of the image to fill in the gaps and added a red border around the text and image. This works effectively to block up and separate the different bits, such as the pages are on one side only and the picture and texts are together in a box.

FINAL CONTENTS

However, I didn't personally like the contents page and when I asked another member of my target audience they said that the article was too much and made the contents page boring, whereas if their was other photos that were linked to the pages in the contents page so, I took this into consideration and changed the picture and the article put kept the layout the same. I also changed the red flashes as I thought they looked too bright and didn't go with the rest of the magazines so, I used the darker grey this made it stand out but more subtly.









Here is a member of my target audience commenting on the two contents pages and which one she thought looked better...

16th March: Contents page

This is my first attempt of the contents page. I have stuck to the layout I originally planned for and made room to insert an image or images. I have not yet decided if I want to use more than one image to represent the page numbers or just one main image with a little article… as like a sneak preview of the next week’s edition which is used sometimes in NME. I have continued to use the same colour scheme sticking to the grey background with red, black and white writing.


For my contents page I decided against using the pictures of the model which will be seen on the double page spread and the front cover. Normally in NME and Q magazine they include a different story/picture in the contents page so I decided to use the photos I had taken from the concerts and festivals I have been too. This still makes the photos from a primary source and I think they look effective as they show real life bands and singers in the concert type atmosphere. It also broadens the locations of the pictures I have taken as the photos represent live music and the lighting and setting of a concert in action. Here are the options of photos I could use because I have taken them myself:

You me at six:

 The Wombats:

 V Festival

I will pick one image from each concert/gig to include in my contents, I think this will give the images variety as they are all taken in different locations.

The I added three images to the contents page and filled in the gaps with writing and flashes such as ‘On the Cover’ to clearly indicate the main article which is featured on the double page spread. The page numbers are shown on the image to make it easier for readers to flick to their favourite bit. I also used MWSnap to take a photo of the front cover and use it for the subscribe section, this is always seen in NME:

I think this makes the magazine seem more realistic and professional as I also added a website and phone number.

This is my second attempt at the contents page before I ask for feedback of which one I should use. I have only used one image but stuck to the same layout as the previous one. This one is effective as an article is included underneath the main image which is also seen in NME magazine:

I have also paid attention to the photos mise-en-scene and wrote the article based on the models outfit; therefore it is relevant to music as she plans to 'break america' with it.

16th March: FRONT COVER

My first attempt had to be improved as there was way too much blank spaces and the magazine looked unfinished. So, for my final design I will try and fill the empty space at the top near the masthead. Also, I dislike the cut off bit of the image where Sam’s guitar had been cropped and it looked unprofessional. However I am happy with the main image and its positioning and the rule of left third looks effective as the cover stories can be seen easily. I asked a number of my friends for feedback for the magazine and they said they liked the layout of the titles and the main images looked very relevant to music but it looked a little plain and needed maybe one more image. 

My final version of the music magazine, included all the changes I wanted to make from my first draft. The inclusion of free posters fill in the gap at the top of the magazine and also are used to attract readers into buying it. I also used another flash to cover the cut off image and stretched the magazine to make them look more dominant. I took my friends advice and added more images that I had taken at concerts myself so they are still primary images.

 

PHOTOSHOP

After spending hours editing each photo, adjusting the exposure/contrast/highlights and making specific colours stand out more than others, I have decided which images I will put in my magazine and where. Firstly, for the front cover I’m going to use the back to back image of Sam and Jake with guitars. I like this picture as they actually look like a band and although Jake is not paying attention, Sam is focusing directly on the reader. Both of them are posing as if it were an actual photo shoot! Then for the double page spread, I will create a college using Picnik, as I have used the photo editing site before and know how to use it very well, and it will contain three photos – individual ones of the boys and one of them together. And then on the other side of the double page spread I will have a big photo (taking up the whole page) of them both. 

This is the one I will use for the front cover, the image could interest a female audience (not only male which is reflect by the colour schemes) as they colour be attracted to the band. After getting rid of the red eyes; airbrushing out any lumps or bumps and making them look flawless and professional; and adjusting the colours, I finally completed my first edit. I didn’t need to crop out the background as I stood them against a blank wall which was a creamy colour anyway and I wanted that as my background so I just used the brush tool and brushed around them making the colour even everywhere. I found it fun playing around with the different tools Photoshop provided. I like the edited version, but personally I found it made them look quiet dull and boring and if I that picture on the front cover I would think it looked to over edited and unprofessional. So, I decided to stick with the original image colour with no effect apart from touch ups as I thought this looks more genuine. I also considered the arrangement of the page, as the photo takes up the entire page there would be no room for other stories or captions or even the logo. So, I adjusted the size of them and made the background bigger and made space on the left hand side – sticking to the rule of left third – and made space for other bits but still had the boys as the main image, just moved to the side a bit. This will set my basis of my music magazine. 

I recrearted the pose of this picture to the one of Alex Turner and Miles Kane. It represents a brotherly bond between the two stars and portrays their closeness.

As I grew more confident with Photoshop, I began to use different effects not just the adjusting of the colour has a whole image but highlighting certain aspects of the picture. For example, in the second photo I have highlighted Jakes hair making it blonder and stand out against the dull background. I have whitened their teeth and their eyes making the photo look more professional and perfect. I really like this photo and will defiantly include it in my magazine either on the contents page or on the double page spread. I liked the black and white image but when I ask for my friend’s opinion he said that ‘you don’t really see black and white images in magazines.’ So I undertook some research and investigated what pictures double pages spread used and he was right, the only time I found a black and white image in the magazine was when it was a tribute to Amy Winehouse as she had died and it would have been offensive to use bright colours to represent her death. Thus, I decided against the black and white photo.

 Then I used a different programme, online called Picnik, this enabled me to make a collage for my double page spread as I don’t want there to be just writing on one side and a picture on the other – I want photos on both. This looked really effective and I edited it after in Photoshop. However, I tried different middle pictures as I am not sure which photo I shall use on the right hand side page, I will probably ask people to see what they think. The individual photos of Sam and Jake were taken on the stage which gave them a real band feel and they really got into the scene - preforming. The photo of Sam with the microphone indicates he is the lead singer and the casual hand in his pocket represents that he sings, not screams which is the sub-genre music portrayed in the magazine Kerrang. The photo has a calm feel to it and readers could imagine what they sound like just by looking at these pictures. The low angle shot used of Jake could perhaps be received as a fan taking the photo as he is preforming - varying the shot types allows a better quality photo as instantly due to Mise-en-scene people are able to believe that this is an actual band. 


I'm glad I researched the different poses (based on the photos of Alex Turner and Miles Kane) as I used the music artists are very iconic and inspired me to base my music magazine on an indie music sub genre.

PHOTOSHOOT with Sam and Jake!

I have chosen my two models to feature on the front cover and the main article – my two school friends Sam and Jake. In all fairness I chose these two because I thought they looked like indie singers due to their hair and style. Jake plays an instrument and used to be in a band which was a bonus! They wore similar dark coloured clothing – this denotes and symbolises a gloomy atmosphere which could reflect their music. I also thought it would look good if they wore dark colours to make text on them stand out better and they would stand out against a light coloured background. I paid attention to mise-en-scene and got a microphone for Sam and guitars to represent that it was a music magazine.
After taking nearly 100 pictures using a Kodak camera, I have narrowed it down to a few the ones that I may use in my magazine: 

I picked simple locations, for the first lot of photos I took they were against a whitish coloured background which made it easier to crop out any irrelevant items that were in the background, also I thought it looked effective as it was simple and paid more attention to the models and not what was going on in the background. I thought it was important to have the model posing as if it was an actual photo-shoot which is why i favored the back to back shot holding guitars as this gave a real music vibe to magazine. The second lot of photo were taken on a music stage at our school, this allowed the model to (pretend) preforming in front of a crowd and make it look realistic as possible. These pictures were not posed as I don't think I will use them on the front cover of the magazine, maybe in the double page spread. 

The next step is to choose one for the front cover and a few for the double page spread and then edit them taking away any red eyes or imperfections. I took individual ones of Sam and Jake for the double page as it I think I will be writing the article as an interview, single photos will look better.

The three main images I will use

Animated GIF I made at Picasion.com:: Picasion.com GIF Maker

Photoshop - practice makes perfect

I have decided to practice using Photoshop, I have used it in the past but I like messing about with photos before I choose the final one. Here I have edited some pictures of myself, that I may use in the contents page as most magazines have a different story in the contents than on the front cover and double page spread. The original image was too bright and against the purple wall and the colours really contrasted, so I edited the colours and highlight of the photo which is the second image below. The yellowy colour looked so much better than the purple! However, I didn't like the darker effect on the outside of the image as it looked silly so I finally used to brush took and made the background all one colour and edited out any fly away hairs I had. 

Original image

Edit 1

Final Edit

Mood-Board!

This is the mood-board that I have created for ideas to include in my magazine. I made sure that in my mood-board i just used images that linked to my music genre which is indie/light-rock music. The reason for this is because the purpose of the mood-board is to give me different ideas on the colour schemes and images that are incorporated in pop rock as a whole. Therefore, this is why I made sure that I only took images that related to my pop-rock/indie genre which will help me deign my magazine’s photos and style. From my my mood-board all of the colours incorporated into this are mainly black, white, red and yellow and the odd splash of purple – these are all dark colours which reflect the genre of music. This mood board would be different to a pop one as the colours used for that would be light pinks and purples. All of the images in the mood-board are relevant to the music – I have used images of guitars as when I will shoot photos for magazine I will pay attention to the mise-en-scene props.  I have also included different bands/artists that are in this music genre; the reason for this is so that I am able to see their overall style such as their look and the clothes that they wear. Thus, when shooting my own photos for my magazine I am able to get a feel of what the look of my main image on the front cover of my magazine should look like. As well as this, I have included the name of magazines that cater for this genre (Q and NME magazine), this is because it will give me inspiration which is what this mood-board it for.

2nd March: Fonts and colour schemes

I thought of some potential names for my music magazine and then after I asked a 20 people who were in my target audience and tallied up which name received the most votes:

• Indie-go - 0
• Muse - 1
• W - world wide music -6
• Beat - 3
• X - marks the spot for good music - 9
• Tune - 1

I’ve decided that I only want one font type throughout my magazine as I thought it will be more effective. Other magazines I have looked at, such as NME and Kerrang all use either one or two font types and colours. When choosing the font, I tested out many types and narrowed it down to five main ones to pick from.  I asked people for their opinion on which fonts they thought would look more appropriate for a music magazine and it was between 'Chiller' and 'Copper black. Personally, I thought ‘Arial black’ was too plain and not very adventurous; the ‘chiller’ was not very suitable for music magazines as it appears quite scary and childish; I also thought the ‘elephant’  and ‘gil sans’ font was more suited to a fashion magazine. Therefore, I decided to go with copper black as the font came out bold and easy to read, it also suited my music magazine. I will also use bold, italics and underlines when necessary as for some information will need to stand out more than others showing its importance. And most magazines use a variety of text sizes, for example the main article will be the biggest bit of text; whereas writing in a flash will not be as important and thus a lower font size.

Colour schemes

It is important to stick to the same colour scheme throughout the magazine as it can look odd using bright colours on the inside with a dull colour on the front. The colours also need to reflect the type of magazine, for example, Kerrang uses bold and bright colours such but a dark (usually black) colour background... Red, Dark Blue, Grey and White are likey colours to see in magazines such as NME as it suits the target audiences. Another example would be teen magazines such as Top of the pops who use bright fun colours such as pinks, purples and yellow. This is because the target audience is much younger and I think if they used dark colours this will not attract teenagers or younger children. So for my music magazine, as it will be aimed at 18-25 year olds, will use a similar colour scheme to NME and Q - Reds, Greys and Black. This is basic but I think it will look effective on a plain background.

After researching into other magazine logos, to help me chose mine. They all similarly used a bold colour contrasted with the background or vice versa. For example, NME uses a red font making the lettering extremely noticeable against a white background and Q does the opposite using a white letter against a red background. I have chosen to name my magazine X as the one letter phrasing like Q makes the magazine more effective as it becomes more recognisable. I have also chosen the letter X as a play-on-words as my slogan for the magazine will be ‘X marks the spot for good music’ which is usually found on board games and so on. I experimented with different shades of red and pick out two I liked the best, however when I asked a friend of mine they said that the colour seemed more pink and girly so I decided against using the second logo. I used a different font type for the first logo as I thought the logo will blend in with the text if I used the same font, so to make it stand out I changed it. I think I will use the first logo I made (the red background with white writing and a black border) as it uses all the colour schemes I plan to use in my magazine and it looks good against the greyish background which I plan to use for my magazine. I will display my logo at the top left of the magazine as I have planned as most magazines include this, to make it easier to recognise the brand name in a rack in the shop. If I were to put it elsewhere this will affect the consumption of the magazine as the branding will become more difficult to find and people will not buy it.

 I researched into a lot of music magazines and looked at the different type of sub genres for the target audience. For example, Kerrang magazine is more rock/metal music and therefore is aimed at most men who like listening to heavy music with its outrageous fonts and logos. Whereas, magazines like Q and NME are posses a gentle look on the front cover which again reflects its target audience as the music they listen to is more indie and calmer. I think the fonts and colour schemes reflect my target audience as similar to NME’s as the sub-genre will be of indie music. 

2nd March: Template

MUSIC MAGAZINE TEMPLATES: I produced these using Microsoft publisher as I thought it was quick and easy to give me a rough idea of what my music magazine will look like and where I would put certain images and texts. However, this can be altered if my target audience does not think it looks effective or eye catching.

Front cover

 contents page

Double page spread

Publication Plan

Title of magazine: X

Statement: X marks the spot for good music! 

Frequency of Publication: Weekly, at the price of £2.60

Distribution: Newsagents and supermarkets; arenas; gig locations.

Foundation: The approach of the magazine is very much from the world of new music today. We will offer opinions and articles; and interviews that will focus on very much what music lovers want to know.

Style: Informal and indie style. The magazine is for our teenage music fans ranging up to twenties and so will use simple vocabulary with short paragraphs, slang and humor.

Regular content and Feature content:

·         Editor’s letter

·         Album reviews

·         Number 1 hits – positive and negative achievements/song releases/stage outfits/performances

·         Artist of the Year

·         Interview with my band (interviews with recording artists will be a regular feature)

·         Investigation into concert ticket prices... offering cheap gig tickets or maybe even free ones

·         Reading Festival Highlights

·         artists vs artists – to attract other audiences