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 

Researching the market place...

Today, I researched the market place of Indie/Rock music magazines for the genre of my own music magazine. I researched price range, frequency of publication, readership/target audience, regular content & feature articles of 3 different indie/rock music magazines and this is what I got...

From the research I gathered about the competing magazines which are already publishing on the market, these gave me my initial ideas for publishing my own music magazine.

Price:

The frequency of my magazine will be weekly like NME and Kerrang as I find these magazines are cheaper and therefore attract a younger audience, broadening the readership. I have chosen the average price of my magazine as £2.60, this is cheap however, more expensive than NME and therefore will make more profit. Q magazine is more expensive and this is because it is reassessed once a month and contains more pages and more information.

Target audience:

I have thought long and hard about my target audience for my magazine and after my questionnaire results proving that more males read music magazines than females and my research suggest that male readers have a higher percentage, I will aim to attract the male readership between the ages of 16-30. But to keep female readers I will have draw them in somehow, by using a female artist in the contents page. For example, Kerrang aims itself more at a male audience and appeals to them by using content such as metal iconic male bands on the front cover pulling angry faces or violent expressions. Female readers are targeted by the use of male bands on free pull out posters and feature interviews. Also, I think, the predominate ethnicity of the readership for these magazines is white British. I noticed that all three magazines had males on the front cover, which could reflect the target audience so I think for magazine I will use male models instead of female.

Regular content and features:

The regular content of each magazine includes, Gig guides, free features, new track releases – which will be seen in my magazine as it attract the audience to buy it. I noticed that Kerrang magazine contained more information on the front cover than Q and NME as they took a more casual style and only giving a few bits of information away. However, all the magazines used feature articles such as cover stories (e.g. who had been interviewed that week/month), recent gossip or news about the music culture and awards/festival guides. I think it is important to include music related events in a magazine as it is what readers want – committed readers will buy the magazine anyway however, others will only buy it if there is something on the front cover that they want to read about. <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-->
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Analysing front covers. A comparison of magazines front covers.

The front cover of a magazine is the most important as it is the first thing a person will see, so it has to grab their attention in order for them to buy it. The purpose of having a front cover is to make it attractive and give the reader a sense of what the magazine contains. Many magazines have a specific targeting audience and therefore make the front cover based on the contents aimed at a specific group of people. For example, the Kerrang! magazine appeals to a specific audience because it concerns topics and themes that are relevant to people who listen to and are interested in rock music and its background. Similarly, NME’s main target audience is for younger readers in their teens and early 20s; they also mainly target male readers. This is shows by the magazine’s masculine colour schemes of black, white and red. Both Kerrang! and NME are popular music magazine, in which I will compare the similarities of the use of images, but also the difference of the magazines layout and usage of colour to target specific audiences.

In Kerrang! the issue uses a significant colour pallet, the main colours are white, black, yellow, red and green. These enable the magazine to be eye-catching and it allows certain cover lines to stand out. These basic colours are continued throughout the 70 pages creating a dark and moody ambiance which connotes a typical rock star image. This also reflects the magazines target audience, people who listen to rock music would enjoy the edgy colours instead of pinks, purples and blues being used as it would not represent the music genre as Kerrang! it quiet punk and it has a rock feel to it. Like NME, the colours are masculine and tend to be aimed at the make audience rather than females. However, NME has a completely different colour scheme of more subtle colours creating a more chilled out atmosphere which reflect the indie music it is promoting. The main colours: black, beige and red helps certain cover lines appear more important and noticeable than others yet, the colours used are different from Kerrang! as they are less fierce and bold. This justifies the target audience for Kerrang! they will be more rock and roll; whereas, NME’s is aimed at people who prefer more contemporary music.

Kerrang! aimes itself more at the male audience and appeals to them by using content such as hard rock and iconic male bands on the front cover pulling silly or violent expressions. In this issue, You Me t Six are displayed on the cover as the main graphic: with Josh Franceschi (the lead singer) at the front whilst the rest of the band members being. This is done effectively as the large image of Josh indicates which band is being presented in this week’s issues as he is most recognisable as the front man. The angle of the images is a close up shot which is done to attract the audience creating eye contact through the photo. The poses are quite silly and harmless which is unusual for Kerrang! magazine; however, I think their face represents their music as You Me at Six are not heavy rockers such as Metallica or Slipknot and they are quite fun and young. Lithe the background the clothing worn by the featured band is dark but also very causal this may form the image of the magazine being aimed at working class people. Female readers are targeted by the use of male bands on free pull out posters and feature interviews on the front cover. For example, girls are most likely to stick up posters of Madina Lake in their room and therefore, would make them purchase the copy. On the front cover of NME, the main graphic used is of the two iconic lead singers: Alex Turner and Miles Kane. This attracts the reader’s attention as they are staring directly at the reader and it is posed in a natural shot which is taken from the waist upwards. Both bands were on tour together, so many fans would be intrigued to hear from both different band members – this aims at two very similar audiences as both of them produce indie style music. NME would not have had Josh from You Me at Six with Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys as the music genre is completely different. Agains, like Kerrang! both men are wearing black coats quite plain and simple to make everything else stand out on the beige background. The two men are standing back to back showing their closeness.

Kerrang! magazine master head is always expressed in the same way for every issue – the black bold writing spread at the top of the page makes it very noticeable against the white background. Also, the title always seems to have looked smashed due to the effect the magazine had put on their on purpose. This could be because the heavy music is so powerful and forceful it shows the audience a sign of rock and roll. Moreover, Kerrang! Is the only magazine to use an exclamation mark at the end of the mast head which suggest that it should be read out loudly and it gives a hint of aggression which again targets men instead of women. The mast head of the NME magazine is an abbreviation for New Musical Express this helps readers indentify the magazine as it was always branded the same. The words are significant because they sum up the magazine since it is new music that’s expressive. New has connotations like fresh and make it appealing to young teenagers because there always looking for something that’s new and different. Similarly, Kerrang! uses ‘new’ to introduce the band again showing fresh young faces to music and it makes people want to buy the magazine to and read about this exciting new band. Just as in NME people would want to read ‘the first major interview’ with the singers as the word ‘major’ would interest fans. Also, NME cover uses the rule of left third which includes articles and stories featured in the issue e.g. Tom Clarke Vs Faris Rotter. They have made the text bold and showed it as if it was a real battle as the bright red elaborated the importance of the event in history and makes readers want to buy that particular article.

Kerrang! uses a main image to present the lead article, You Me at Six are the centre of the magazine unlike NME where Alex Turner and Miles Kane are more to the right of the cover. I think this is done to cram all the context of the magazine (cover lines) into the left third which allows everything to be seen. However, I don’t think this works so well for NME as the lead article and main image will be covered by other magazines. Both titles of the magazines are above to show its dominance and people can easily recognise it, as the title never changes for each issue. In Kerrang! I think the sky line work well to present the other band that are featured in the magazine and allows fans to easily see who feature in the copy; similarly, NME’s skyline represents the other bands and is more noticeable on the red background with the yellow and white writing. On the front cover of NME the puff works well as it shows what album is out now just like Kerrang! uses the free posters boxed off separately to show the readers what the magazine has to offer. NME magazine uses a callout “I was worried the Monkeys would think I’d had an affair” this quotation is used to intrigue and tease the reader to what more the interview with Alex Turner has to offer; making them want to buy it and read the full article. NME’s overall layout stands out with the darker backgrounds and the bright colours, and it will help the magazine stand independent, from the rest of the magazines on the shelf. The overlapping layers adds to the effects of it all being crammed in one front cover, this can also encourage people to buy it as there is lots of thing to read about. For Kerrang! I think the title and the main image work well together as they both have a fun side of rock and roll; the colours of Kerrang! are basic yet very strong and noticeable compare to the plainness of the band’s clothing. Likewise, NME’s main images works well as it is very dull and basic there are not strong colours used; this makes the text stand out and more readable.

Both Kerrang! and NME are very popular magazines and I think this is because of how the front cover is presented in order to attract customers to buy it. As they are both attractive and suitable for their target audiences they are both successful magazine covers. Their purpose of persuading people to buy the magazine and informing them of what the magazine has to offer is clearly presented on the front pages through the use of images and phrases. I buy both magazines occasionally and this always depends on who is on the front cover of the magazine; as Kerrang! appeals to a more rock and roll audience they have a different band on the front to represent the magazine. The reader of Kerrang! would also like to attend gigs, and be highly influenced by music to how they lead their lives, for example, their dress sense, therefore it is important to how people dress in their photo shoots in the magazine and what clothing companies advertise in the magazine as these will highly influence the reader. Similarly, NME uses the main image of a band or most of the time the lead singer to signify to the consumer that they are featured in the magazine. The audience of NME magazine is people who like listening to indie/pop-rock music. NME started in 1952 and I think the oldest of the magazine affects the appearance of the front cover as it looks less hard and violent like Kerrang! and looks more subtle and old. Overall, I believe that both magazines suit their target audience and both front covers are attractive and interesting to buy.