Contents page - inspiration

Front cover - final feedback

After following suggestions from the feedback of version one of my front cover and continuing with its creation, I am now happy with the result. However, I needed to make sure I received final feedback from members of my target audience before evaluating it in great detail and producing a finished product. I asked the same four people to comment with their opinion on my changes and progress, as well as anything they thought I should do to further improve. 

I got very positive feedback on the following:

• the colour scheme - 'understated and professional'
• the QR code - 'nice touch'
• the main image - 'powerful and draws in your target audience'
• my font choice - 'really like the font used and how clear everything is'

They also picked up on the changes I had made to the cover lines and how much better they look after adding extra stories and making them more varied in terms of size, colour and style. It was mentioned that there is still a large amount of white text at the top of the magazine and I should consider changing this. The only other suggestion for further improvement was adding a selling line, but I did experiment with this during my progression from version one to version two and found that it was not practical because of my main image - the masthead fits perfectly and cannot move any closer to the top of the cover without being cut off, meaning there is no room for a cover line above the masthead and below it would involve covering the image or risk cutting most of the tag line out. I have justified this choice with the fact that many music magazine covers I looked at, including Kerrang!, Rock Sound and NME do not have selling lines visible on all issues of their magazine. 

I am now going to move onto the development of my contents page, but will be continuing to make small changes to my front cover following this feedback and my own evaluation so I can create a final version at the end of this whole process.

Front cover - version two

Front cover - screen grabs

Made main cover line bigger

Added QR code and website along with price, issue number etc.

Added coloured box to cover line with quote

Front cover - feedback and changes

After asking four people to comment on version one of my front cover with their opinions on how I can improve it and what they like best, I now have a clearer idea of its current successes  as well as its weaknesses and how I can improve on them.

It seems the people who commented on my magazine agreed that its main successes are:

• the colour scheme - 'it suits your genre and target audience well'
• the main image - 'very engaging'
• my font choice - 'makes the magazine look very professional'

The following suggestions were made in order to improve my front cover further:

• add website info
• add more cover lines and make existing ones smaller
• make main cover line much bigger
• add a selling/tag line
• create more variety in cover line through more colour and boxes

I definitely agree with these suggestions and can see how my current front cover has a lot more room for further cover lines, which would involve making the current ones smaller. I do think that these cover lines should be more varied in size and colour in order to add more interest and appeal, but I will make sure to keep the same font scheme so my cover doesn't start looking too busy and tacky. I think adding website info next to the barcode along with the issue number is also a good idea as I have seen many other magazines do this. I am definitely going to make the main cover line larger in order to make it the main point of focus, and I will experiment with adding a selling line, but I do not think it is practical due to the position of the main image.

I am now going to continue with my front cover, making the above changes and experimenting further with the layout and general design. I will then upload a version two and ask my commenters on their opinions of my progress and if there is anything further they think I could improve on.

Front cover - version one

Front cover - inspiration

Colour combinations

After choosing a unique font to represent my magazine as a brand and feature in the masthead, I now need to choose a background colour for my cover which will feature strongly throughout the magazine and form the basis of my overall colour scheme. It needs to suit my genre, main image and follow the feedback from my questionnaire. I have already decided that the pink/red is unsuitable because it is too feminine for a multi-gender magazine, having connotations of romance and love. I am also not very keen on the green as a background colour because it doesn't look very appealing to the eye and is not something I frequently saw featured among the music magazines I have previously analysed. I feel the blue and purple backgrounds work much more successfully for my magazine as they are both more muted colours. They also both suit my genre a lot better and are multi-gender friendly. Out of the two, I feel the purple adds more warmth to the cover and blends better with the main image. Also, because it is quite a greyish purple, it would allow me to incorporate a brighter colour in the cover lines, reflecting the feedback from my questionnaire and hopefully attracting positive attention from my target audience. It is because of these reasons that I have chosen to use the purple for my background colour.

Font choices

Below are three possible font choices for the masthead of my magazine. I am looking for a unique font that will reflect the genre of my music magazine and its overall style. Although I like the relaxed, handwritten style of option three I have dismissed this one because I think it would be suited to a more Indie/Alternative genre. I like both option one and two and think they are much better suited to my genre of Dance, however, I feel option two is more unique in its design and will be more easily recognisable by readers. So due to this and along with the fact that option one is not available in bold and so from a distance is not striking enough, I have chosen option two as the font to represent my magazine.

Option one

Option two

Option three

Other images

Edited images

 

 

Photoshoot one

Plan for photoshoot one

My first photoshoot will be the main shoot where I hope to get the image for my front cover, and predominant photos on my contents page and double page spread. I will be using the model mentioned in my introduction and aims, a teenage female acting as an up and coming female singer who music and interest is in the dance/clubbing genre. I plan for the model to be wearing party-wear (a black dress for example) to reflect the idea of being out clubbing. I do not want anything with too much colour as it will may distract the viewer and will affect the colour scheme. I will be creating quite a glamorous make-up look on the model, with glitter on the eye so it can reflect the lighting and create a point of interest for the viewer whilst adding attention to the eyes. I would like to use a variety of different lighting, but mainly high key so the model is evenly lit for the image on the front cover. I may choose to experiment with some more dramatic low key lighting in order to create a more creative and abstract image for the contents page or double page spread however. 

I will be taking a series of around 50 - 70 images to ensure I have a variety of facial expressions (serious, happy, seductive, facing away from camera, eye contact etc) and different shot types (some close up, medium and long shot). From this series of images I hope to get at least 5 successful photos that are worthy for post production in Photoshop and from these I will choose my front cover, contents page and double page spread images.

Double page spread draft

Contents page draft

Front cover draft

Introduction and aims

The target audience for my music magazine will be female and male young adults. I plan to make my magazine appeal to students who like to go clubbing and are interested in the dance/electronic genre and its current, most popular and up and coming artists. Therefore, in terms of an age group, I would say my magazine is targeted at 16-24 year olds. If I were to discuss this in terms of psychographics, I would say I am aiming to appeal to aspirers who like designer goods and are motivated by how others see them as the dance/clubbing genre is not necessarily mainstream and this particular genre is able to be portrayed as a glamorous and sophisticated. I therefore plan for the overall style of my magazine to be clean, stylish and professional, with a slight urban edge. I would like my magazine to be glossy as I think it will suit the genre and appeal to the demographic of my magazine being mainly aspirers (people motivated by how others see them). I think this professional style should also reflect slightly in the price, yet I do not want to exclude students on a budget from my target audience and therefore I will be choosing a mid-range price, something between £2.50 and £4.

The inspiration for my magazine mainly came from two current music magazines on the market, ‘Q’ and ‘Mixmag’. Although Q magazine was not related to my chosen genre, it reflected the polished style I wanted for my magazine, and Mixmag helped me understand how the dance/clubbing genre can be portrayed in a music magazine. I would say I was also inspired by the information I gathered from my questionnaire, as it helped me form a clearer idea of what would appeal to my target audience and what features I should include in order to make my magazine successful. From what I understood from analysing Mixmag magazine and asking my target audience, features of my magazine should focus on reviews of popular gigs, clubs and festivals, interviews with current and up and coming DJs and artists from the dance/electronic genre, and articles on inside info/gossip from the industry that will keep readers interested and engaged. The artist I will be focusing on in this issue of my magazine will be an up and coming female singer whose music and interest is in the dance/electronic genre. This will affect my magazine in terms of the main cover line on the front cover, the main article inside the magazine, and the main images. I will need to promote and mention this artist frequently throughout the magazine so they become the main point of focus for the reader. 

I plan on the images I use throughout my magazine to reflect the energy and movement of dance music as a genre. On the front I will most likely just have one single main image relating to the artist featured in the magazine. On the contents page I plan on having a few images that anchor to certain articles I want to attract attention to. This may involve having professional shots of artists featured and more snapshot type photos from gigs/festivals. On the double page spread article all images will relate to the artist featured. I am going to have a main image taking up most of the space, which needs to look professional and so taken in a studio. Further images could be of the artist performing etc so could have a more casual style. The main model I will be using for these images will be the featured young adult female artist. I want to create an image of a person that males can be attracted to and and females can aspire to be like so I will appeal to both genders, such as current Pop/Dance artist Rita Ora. I plan on using different lighting throughout my main shoot so I have a variety of images to choose from when it comes to creating my magazine, such as a mixture of harsh artificial lighting (low key) and softer high key studio lighting. This will be in order to create a professional feel to my images. The clothing my model will be wearing will be casual party-wear, something plain but sexy. I plan on creating a dramatic make up look possibly using glitter in order to catch the light. I will select my favourite shots from the shoots to edit in Photoshop by creating a contact sheet and circling the most successful photos.

The double page spread article is going to be an interview with my magazine’s featured artist. Questions will be separated in some way in order to create structure and break up large amounts of text. In terms of the general layout of my magazine, I plan for it to be quite structured. I don’t want the layout of my magazine to look too busy, so my focus will be on using smaller amounts of text and small font sizes to increase free space. I will need to follow certain codes & conventions of music magazines such as having a recognisable masthead that can feature throughout the magazine, a consistent colour scheme, a main image relating to the featured article, other smaller images relating to further articles, boxing devices to feature important information and break up text, and columns for large amounts of text (usually 2 or 3). The colour palette of my magazine will focus on quite muted colours such as greys and purples (which have connotations of elegance, innovation and fashion) with one bright colour, reflecting the results of my questionnaire and chosen genre. I want to incorporate lots of white text as I think it also helps the magazine look stylish and modern.

I have chosen the title of my magazine to be ‘Electric’ because I think it relates to the connotations of dance/electronic music and clubbing. It is not too long so will easily fit as a masthead, and it is easy to read and recognisable.

Mood board

Production schedule

Mind mapping ideas

Summary of primary research

I started my primary research with a preliminary task, involving creating a college magazine. This helped me understand the process of creating a magazine, the steps involved and the shortcuts I can use in Photoshop to make my life easier.

I then carried out 15 textual analysis's of 5 magazine front covers, contents pages and double page spreads. This helped me understand the typical codes and conventions of music magazines and made me realise the features I felt were successful and wanted to include in my own magazine. I furthered this understanding with my essay on codes and conventions and then wrote a second essay on music genre where I learnt about the stereotypes of different music genres, how they are presented in a magazine, and what effect different genres have on the features of a magazine.

From my questionnaire, I learnt about what my target audience want from a magazine and what appeals to them, therefore hopefully helping me with the process of creating a succesful magazine that my target audience will want to buy. It also gave me inspiration for genre and colour scheme ideas.

I am now ready to begin mindmapping magazine ideas and chose a genre to focus on. I will then be creating a production schedule, mood board, making drafts and eventually start producing the final thing.

Questionnaire results

After creating a questionnaire relating to the target audience, layout and content of my future music magazine, I am now able to analyse the results and use my findings to help me create a successful magazine suited to my target audience.

1) What gender are you?

As you can see from these results, I managed to ask a pretty even amount of males and females so I should be able to attempt to make my magazine multi-gender friendly.





2) How old are you?

You can see from these results that most of the people I asked were aged from 16-19 so I need to make sure I take it into consideration that most of the following results are the opinions of that age group.






3) Per year, how frequently do you read music magazines?

These results show that of the people I asked, over half read music magazines once or twice a year or not at all. A very small amount (7%) read music magazines weekly. This suggests that my audience may be hard to engage as regular readers and that the aim of my magazine should be to capture their interest enough for them to want to repurchase it.




4) If you were to read a music magazine, what genre would be your preference?

You can see from these results that there are some obvious unpopular options, such as R&B/Soul and Jazz/Classical, suggesting these don't exactly appeal to my target audience in general. The most popular genre turned out to be Indie/Alternative, with Pop and Dance/Electronic both being second most popular. I think that these results have helped me narrow down to a list of genres, but I need to mind map these further in order to decide on a final choice.
  


5) How much are you willing to spend on a music magazine?

This information tells me that over half of my target population would spend £1-£2 on a music magazine and that none of them said they would pay £5 or more. This is important to remember because I can't afford to lose most of my readers due to a high price.

6) Do you prefer the front cover of a music magazine to...

I can see here that my target audience agree that the front cover of a music magazine should have one main image or one main image with a few smaller ones, not many images. It is important that I follow this when designing my front cover as this is the first thing readers will see and it needs to appeal to them.

7) How many cover lines do you feel is appropriate for the front cover of a music magazine?

These results show me that my target audience feel 4 - 6 cover lines is the most appropriate for the front cover. I will be following this when I begin designing my own front cover so I know I have created something that will appeal to my readers.





8) What would your favourite type of double page spread article to read be?

Out of the six options I gave my target audience, it is clear that nearly half would prefer to read a double page spread interview over other things such as reviews, competitions and gossip. My plan is to listen to this feedback and create an article involving an interview with a current music artist related to my chosen genre.



  

9) What ratio of text to image would you prefer on a double page spread?

It is clear from this response that my audience would prefer an even balance of text and images. This may involve having the majority of one page covered by a main image like I saw in quite a few of the double page spread articles I analysed.






10) What's your preferred colour scheme?

Colour scheme is something that I think depends on the genre, which I have not yet chosen. Therefore I feel I can take on board these results, but will be further brainstorming colour schemes before I make any final decisions. I get a rough idea from this data that a bright or pastel colour scheme may not be popular, but that neutral, basic colour schemes would be more successful.

Questionnaire

Understanding genre in music magazines

Genre is the basis of the design of a music magazine. The layout, colours, main image, language and font are all influenced by the music genre of the magazine and the people it’s aimed at. There are many different music genres, and here I will be exploring a few of them and the stereotypes they hold that effect the design of a magazine.

Emo and Punk music genres are presented in similar ways. The music magazines themselves tend to feature a lot of dark colours and bold, distorted fonts. The artists are typically presented wearing dark eye make-up and black clothing, with large amounts of leather and studded & spiked items. Their hairstyles are often messy and some extremely unique, creating a statement along with their many facial & body piercings and tattoos. These characteristics reflect the rebellious, rough and typically negative stereotypes of punks and emos, further emphasised by serious and moody expressions.

Heavy Metal and Rock genres overlap slightly with Emo and Punk in the way they are portrayed. Artists are commonly presented wearing dark colours, with long, messy hairstyles, however they lack the dark eye make-up and shocking body modifications that emos and punks are typically seen with. This reflects the slightly aggressive & angry stereotype of metal and rock music, effecting the magazine in the type of language used (quite explicit) and the colour scheme (dark).

Indie and Alternative stereotypes are not as easily identifiable. People of an indie style typically do not follow mainstream trends and dress slightly quirky and different. Indie/Alternative music magazines have a laid back, casual style. Artists tend to be presented wearing smart/casual clothing, looking relaxed and relatable. The general design of indie music magazines tends to be simple, with no bright colours or extremely bold text, reflecting the general relaxed approach of indie artists.

The way pop music is portrayed in music magazines makes it tend to appeal to a younger audience. Pop is a mainstream culture, and in music magazines it is represented using bright colours, a busy layout, and lots of variation in fonts, shapes etc. The models tend to be presented with happy/smiley expressions, wearing coordinated clothing. The language used on the covers of pop magazines and inside them is often very upbeat and enthusiastic, keeping the magazine exciting to the reader interested in pop.

Hip-Hop/Rap artists tend to be stereotyped in the media and music magazines, being frequently associated with crime, drugs and violence. Most hip-hop & rap artists are black and are often shown in music magazines with serious/stern expressions, wearing jewellery (chains), caps and sunglasses. Many are also pictured with tattoos visible. Language used on the covers and inside of hip-hop magazines tends to be quite explicit, reflecting the rebellious stereotypes of the rap industry.

Dance, dubstep and clubbing music magazines tend to appeal to an older/young adult audience. This is reflected through the style of the magazine - they often have a tidy, clean layout, with minimal variation of colour, shape and typefaces. The main images quite frequently capture the subject mid-motion, reflecting the energy and movement of dance music. Dance music magazines tend to have quite a muted colour scheme and use modern, stylish typefaces for the text. Language used is often explicit, but this appeals to the target audience.