Magazine Draft

Audience Data

 These are the  results I collected from my audience survey about my music magazine. These results helped me while I was creating my magazine and as I made each page of my final product, I took these answers into consideration.
-For question 1, as the highest percentage of my audience said they would rather contact my magazine through social media websites, I will include an opportunity for this on my contents page where they can contact my magazine's twitter and Facebook.
-Moreover for question 2 most of my audience said they use twitter over any other social media website therefore I will definitely include my own magazine's twitter account in the magazine - this way my readers can contact the magazine by tweeting the account. As Facebook was the second most popular answer I will also have my own Facebook page for my magazine so my magazine can reach a wider audience.
-In question 3 it was clear to see that most of my audience would like to see features on the contents page so I made a heading for features as well as making one for 'regulars' and 'on the cover'. No one wanted to see reviews therefore I didn't add a 'reviews' heading and instead of making one for 'news', I did one for 'on the cover' as this was a much more popular heading to see on the contents pages in typical music magazines.
-For the forth question as 70% wanted a more detailed article for the artist in the main feature, I went ahead with this idea instead of clear questions and answers. I feel my audience choose this option as they are more grown up (in their late teenage years and early 20's) so a clear question and answer interview would be too simple and boring to read.
-Again, getting involved via twitter and Facebook came out as the more popular choices so I will obviously include both of these social medias within my magazine.
-Even though in question 6 the responses were more spread out, the most popular choice was to have a list of bands/artist that will appear inside therefore I made this the main sell line on my cover. I also did include a list (top 10 tracks of 2013) and a competition as I sill feel these would attract my type of audience.
-At this point I am still unsure about my magazine's name however the most popular choice of name in question 7 was a clever pun so if I can think of one that would be suitable for my indie genre magazine then I will use it. If not I will use a word that links to the indie genre such as 'Alternative'.
-In question 8 the responses show that my audience would like to win festivals tickets in competitions therefore for my competition sell line on the cover, the prize will be tickets to reading as this is a very popular festival.
-For question 9, my audience would rather see 2-5 photos appear on the feature. Originally I stuck to this idea however for my last double page I thought it looked better to include around 5 pictures of my artists at the top of the pages in different effects. Therefore, overall I have included 7 images of my artist across the feature (only 1 on each other double page spread) - still trying to keep it quite simple for my readers.
-For the last question 100% said they would rather read a more detailed article about the artist's lifestyle as well as their music therefore I included both in my main feature article.

Behind The Scenes- Photoshoot

This post includes the behind the scenes of my photoshoot for my magazine. I have included a video and two pictures showing how I took certain images that I later used. For example, the certain long shots of my model Vanessa sitting on the floor - in these shots, I was able to include her entire body yet she was still able to do an interesting pose such as having her arms above her head plus the two images of her standing up holding her hands in certain positions. In the video, you can also see how I took bird's-eye shots of Vanessa from above. I thought this would be an interesting shot to include in my magazine, especially as this was also a close-up, showing Vanessa in detail - an aspect I thought my audience would be interested in as then they could feel as though they could relate to my artist through the type of emotions she is portraying. In the video, you can also see how I am demonstrating some poses to Vanessa that I thought would be effective to try out and the various equipment I used such as the lighting, the white screen and of course the camera.

Contact Sheet

This is my contact sheet which included two of my models that were presented in my magazine. As you can see, Vanessa is my main model as most of my photoshoot was based around her however I also took pictures of Mary who was one of my artists on my contents page. From my contact sheet it is clear that I have used a range of shots from close-ups to long shots, moreover the use of outfits I have used and facial expressions/body language from my model make it clear what type of magazine I have created. Although nearly all of my photos were appropriate to use in my actual product, some were harder to edit due to the background not entirely being the white screen therefore were not included in the final production. Furthermore some images such as where Vanessa is wearing the ‘Obey’ hat makes it look more like a R&B based magazine instead of an indie one, this is why I didn’t include these in the final product.

Production Diary

15/12/13- Starting My Evaluation

 Recently, I have started to write out my evaluation for my magazine. At the moment, this will be a draft which I can later go back to so I can make any changes and also re-design it so my evaluation will look more interesting and overall link to my magazine. I decided I would first work on the questions about my targert audience as I feel I can answer these confidently already even if I haven't completed my whole magazine yet. This week, I answered the question about how my magazine would address and attract my audience. I made sure I included the uses and gratifications theory as I feel my magazine has successfully covered all of the theory's aspects when addressing my audience. I talked about the research I found about in my survey results and how I have carried this out when creating my magazine to appeal to my audience such as the type of the sell lines and features they would like to see.

 Also this week, I moved onto my second double page spread of my magazine. However, I am constantly changing my mind about the design of my magazine as I now think my first draft was too simple. Therefore I have been researching different double page spreads to gain more ideas on how I should display my images.

Production Diary

 9/12/13- Deciding On The Content & Images In My Magazine


I continued to create and design my magazine again this week; mostly working on the images I would include and  the type of fonts I would used for my front cover, content's and article text. Moreover, I started to complete my article by placing the text I had earlier typed up about my music star on my blog. I also considered what pieces of text I would use for my pull quotes as I feel these are quite important when it comes to the production of my magazine. I then made a note of these on my 'article text' post.
 Below are some examples of the images I may use for my front cover. As I have a lot of images to choose from, I am still finding it difficult to decide on one image therefore I have created a PowerPoint of different images from my photoshoot on templates of my cover. This way, I will find it easier to decide as I can visually see what the final product might look like. I may also get my friends and family to help me choose by showing them the PowerPoint and asking for their own views and opinions.

Production Diary

 01/12/13- Choosing My Images

This week, I have continued to create my magazine on InDesign. The hardest part of this task I think, is deciding on which images to use as I took many during my photo shoot. I have nearly completed my contents page however there is more content that I won't be able to add until I have more relevant pictures to show different gigs/concerts which will represent different pages.
 I also explained the equipment I have used throughout my product including the camera, lights, white screen and the types of software programmes. I discussed how the equipment worked towards my advantage to create high quality photos that create a dramatic effect and overall make a successful music magazine.

Equipment

Production Diary

21/11/13- Working On The Layout

 This week, I continued to create my magazine by designing the layout, placing images and adding texts. As I started on my contents page, I started to finish this off by writing out the rest of the text I had thought about in my homework before. After my contents page, I started to design my front cover. I tried to decide on the font I would use for my masthead by going through different fonts I had previously downloaded. I wanted to use an edgy disorted font to go with my indie alternative music genre. When I had thought of my font, I moved on to my sell lines.

 I knew that I wanted to include a list of bands on my cover page of typical artist that will be in my magazine. I tried different styles on how I would present this on my cover such as presenting them in another edgy font in the corner of my page. However I found this might look unclear and messy if I had a close up image for my front cover, therefore I researched more front pages for music magazines and thought that having the list of names in boxes would look more effective.

 

 

Cover Lines

Box Out Text

Vanessa on…

Imagine Dragons – They’re really cool! I like their vibes and the lyric meanings behind the songs are really personal. My favourite single by them probably has to be ‘Demons’ because it means a lot however I think some of their music is too slow for me.

The Vaccines – Ooh, these are definitely on my top list. I think their music is the sort of style I’m into. I think it’s great that they’ve recently become more popular, they deserve the success!

Vampire Weekend – I didn’t really listen to them much before but I brought their album in the summer and I was addicted! Their album ‘Modern Vampires of the City’ is definitely a must buy!

 

 I wanted my box out on my article to include my artist's opinions on different bands as this further promotes different indie artists and also helps the reader to make up their own opinion. I also made sure that the bands Vanessa talked about were included in this magazine issue as the reader may also read them and be persuaded to look at other various features. I will make my box out a different colour from the rest of the text on my article to help it stand out to the audience, especially if they don't want to read the whole article.

This is how I will likely present my box out:

Production Diary

18/11/13- Creating My Contents Page

This week, I have continued to draft my magazine, visually planning what it will look like overall. I started going into more detail with my contents page first as I came up with my contents ideas before I began with my article text. I filled out the pages under the appropriate subheadings and added page numbers to each. I made sure that I included my ideas I previously wrote up for my homework. I also began to consider what photo I would use on my cover page. As I took many pictures, I found it hard to choose one picture therefore I am going to plan out my cover page and then place an image in that goes well with my design.

 For my homework, I wrote out my article text. I included a lengthy article that goes into detail about my artist’s rise to fame, their style of music and the recent songs that have released. I thought I would talk about the artist’s background as the results from my survey prove that people want to hear about the artist’s life as well as the music.

Article Text

Vanessa Wanner is simply the coolest star in music. At the moment her CV consist of a number 1 hit single, a platinum award winning album and even a performance at London's very own Wembley Arena, this young star has her whole future ahead of her and as she says 'this is only the beginning'...

 It was only 6 months ago that Vanessa was introduced into the hearts of many music fans. Before then she was simply unknown. “No one knew who I was” she explains. “I was trying to get into the music industry for so long but every time I was even considered I was let down again and again. It’s a very hard process reaching the top but I think I’ve finally done it”. Today, in our local studio in London, we get the exclusive chance to have a catch up with the star and get to know her from behind the cameras, as well as an excellent opportunity to go ahead with our shoot. It’s easy to tell that this girl of only 17 years is truly passionate about her music. Vanessa has been singing since she was very young (7 years old in fact) so to be where she is today, she herself couldn’t be happier. “I just can’t believe I’m actually being interviewed for a music magazine! Everything in my life at the moment just seems so surreal! Only 6 months ago I was releasing my first single ‘(single name)’ and since then everything just been crazy. I don’t think I've had a moment to myself to just take it all in yet”. Clearly fame hasn’t come at all easy to the indie star but for her age and experience, Vanessa has dealt with it far better than many young music stars we can name!

 Vanessa’s first single was released in the summer of 2013 and from the beginning the whole world could tell there was something special about her. Many reviewers agreed that her style of music sounded different and unique. “I didn’t want to be like everyone else" says Vanessa seriously. “I mean don’t get me wrong I enjoy chart music and everything but I wanted my songs to sound a bit more quirky and I wanted the lyrics overall to be more personal. I think it’s good that people can relate to your songs and really I guess, just have fun! That’s why I wanted the balance between both. I want my music to be catchy of course but I also want people to listen to it and think ‘oh yeah that does sound like my situation, this song is important to me’”. Personally we think Vanessa’s aim to make everyone happy seems to be working as her hit single was number one within its first week of release however she doesn’t think everyone can enjoy her indie vibes. “Of course not everyone is going to like my material, it might not be everyone’s cup of tea but if they like it and even go on to purchase my music then that’s fucking awesome” she laughs.

 As Vanessa answers our questions, it’s immediately noticeable to see how open and calm she is. She's clearly one confident chick for her age and we wanted to know how she was so relaxed. “I wouldn’t say I’m that confident, to be honest. I might seem like I’m alright but most of the time I’m shitting myself. Whenever I get interviewed at important events and especially when I’m on stage in front of thousands of people, I get so nervous beforehand that my body starts to shake all over. However when I’m finally up there singing my songs, all my worries seem to go away”. Although Vanessa confesses to us about how nervous she gets, she is seen as one of the most outrageous and lively souls on the planet. Her crazy performances definitely show her bold character which makes her a prime target for the music tabloids all around the world. “The attention thing, yeah that’s something I still can’t quite understand. To me my performances are just a way to express myself but my style is seen as unusual to many. My style just completes who I am. Everyday I’m just being me…what you see is what you get!”

 Speaking of style, not only is Vanessa seen as one of the hottest new music stars, she is also a style icon, making her a role model to girls everywhere. “It’s amazing to think I have fans that look up to me- not only for my songs but for my fashion too. Fashion is definitely important to me, after music of course! My style defines who I am, whether it’s my make-up, my oversized jewellery or my quirky clothes…they all link to my music, giving it an edge”. As far as indie goes, Vanessa definitely goes with the individual look. “I mean, it’s not something overly crazy. I wouldn’t go as far as Lady Gaga but it’s just more interesting than your everyday stuff” she smiles.

 So has style always been a main aspect for this artist? “Absolutely!” Vanessa exclaims “ever since I was little I always felt I had my own style but to me, music was always first”. As Vanessa brings back the subject of music, she again backs up our idea of how important this industry is to her. “Music has always been my life” she begins to explain. “I was born into a family full of musicians so in a way, I was lucky. I guess you could say I was forced into music but personally, I wouldn’t have it any other way. My siblings all play musical instruments and all have many different tastes in music – rock, pop, country – you name it! But for me, I always enjoyed the alternative indie stuff and I preferred singing on stage to learning how to play an instrument!”

 “My mum though, was also a singer; she’s probably my own role model. I definitely look up to her!”. Suddenly a big grin is planted on Vaness's face as she lets us into her past, going through her childhood and school years, we can tell she is still grounded. “My mum used to sing to me when I was a baby all the way through my child years so I guess it came natural to me. It’s like learning how to speak a different language when you’re little; it’s just automatic. When I was in primary school I entered the school choir. Now, it seems pretty silly because that wasn’t my style at all but we all have to start somewhere. When I went to high school, I even joined a band for a couple of years. We were mainly rock focused. To be honest, I thought it was really cool and we all got on really well. We had a lot of fun but I just realised it wasn’t for me, I was born to be a solo artist.”

 “Even though I’ve been through some hard times getting to where I am today, I’ve always had my friends and family behind me and that’s all I can really ask for”. As we continue to discuss the positives of being born into a strong musical family and the security of great friends, we ask Vanessa if she has any new friends on the scene… “You mean any famous people? Ha! Well yeah, I know a few” she smirks. “I'm quite close to Hayley from 'Paramore'. She’s so lovely and I adore her music. I’ve always been a fan of Paramore, ever since I was a young teen so to become good mates with the lead singer, is really amazing. Surprisingly, we have a lot in common too like our backgrounds and stuff and the type of music material we like. I’m also good friends with Taylor from 'The Pretty Reckless', she’s so stunning! However, I think the most exciting person I recently met at Wembley was Rihanna. I saw her outside her dressing room; I was so star struck I couldn’t even get my words right. She seemed like a down to earth girl, you know just normal. I think she’s fucking amazing. Yep. She’s definitely one of my idols.”

 Speaking of idols, are there any other music inspirations of Vanessa’s? “Growing up I was always a fan of 'Evanescence' and bands like that so Amy Lee was one of my greatest role models, I really got into the goth-pop sort of sound as I liked how original and different it was and that’s what I plan to make others think of my own music”. She continues: “Recently however 'Artic Monkeys' and 'Two Door Cinema Club' have definitely been my favourites. I’ve attended loads of their shows and I just think they’re amazing live. The tones of their voices and the way they sing sounds really good, I like the edginess. I also think the overall sound of their songs is really interesting and this is something I have considered during my own trips to the studio”. 

 If her great music tastes are anything to go by, take it from us that Vanessa’s new album (that has yes, already gone platinum may we repeat) is a cool mix of alternative and rocky sounds giving bands such as ‘The Killers’ and indeed ‘The Artic Monkeys’ a run for their money. As well as the music and overall sound being up to scratch, the lyrics involved are also pretty great. As every song on the album has been written by Vanessa; each song has an individual meaning and message. “Yes some songs might be about generally having a good time with your mates” she confirms, “yet others really are about personal issues, the kind of problems you go through in your life. I wouldn’t say I’m as deep as ‘Evanescence’ are or as fun going and up beat like ‘Parmore’ and ‘Two Door Cinema Club’…just a bit in between”.

 It seems like talent just comes naturally to this young star so we had to ask is there anything this girl can’t do? “Don’t be silly!” she shouts. “I’m far from perfect. There are many things I can’t do and I’ve experienced many embarrassing moments in my career already!” Well, seeing as the topic of embarrassing situations has already been brought up, there was no need to urge Vanessa to reveal. “For my first TV performance, I was on a breakfast show singing my first single. I think the performance actually went alright, especially as it was my first one on live TV but the interview after was so awkward! I had to do my best to promote my music but I completely forgot the release date, my tour dates, everything! My mind just went blank. In the end one of the team members from my management had to whisper to me live on air. It was so obvious and everyone in the studio was laughing including the presenters”. If that wasn’t bad enough, Vanessa goes on to tell us about her recent famous wardrobe malfunction. “Oh god” she hangs her head in shame. “I don’t even know what to say, all I can remember is I was really nervous so I wanted to get myself ready, you know to calm myself down but I didn’t realise I had my shoes on the wrong feet till I started singing on stage. Everyone noticed but I tried to save myself by acting like nothing was wrong”.

 Interview nearly over, Vanessa relaxes on the sofa with a cup of tea in one hand. She seems close to world domination but really she’s still a family girl at heart and we can safely say fame hasn’t changed her.

Check Vanessa’s new single ‘single name’ as well as her new Album ‘album name’, both available to buy on iTunes now.


-The pieces of text that are highlighted above are ideas for my pull quotes in my articles-

 

Drafting 4

 

 This is my last piece of drafting I produced. Here you can see the drafting for my third double page spread - this will be where I wrap the whole article up, include a wider selection of images and also write about the artist's interests in the red box in the lower right corner. I thought this was a great way to end my article plus it is also an excellent way to include exclusive information. I may also include an image of my artist on the left so the text can wrap around my photo. I think this way of presenting an image is perhaps more interesting than the box examples therefore I will include one example of this.

Drafting 3

 

 I then produced the drafting for my second double page spread. I thought I would have a large image of my model on the left and then text of the article on the right. I wanted to have a short paragraph at the top to briefly describe what the article will be about/who my artist is, as well as a lengthy piece of text, again with an interesting pull quote to stand out to the reader.

Drafting 2

 

 

 This is my daft for my first double page spread. The large black space represents the large image I will later use for these two pages. I wanted to include a big photo of my model who is the artist in my magazine over two pages as I thought this looked effective in other examples of magazines I had seen. I also wanted to include a pull quote from the article to make it look even more interesting and also appropriate for the feature. I will include a quote that is entertaining or looks of some interest to the reader.

Drafting 1

 This is my first drafting double page spread that I created in InDesign. This draft was based on other contents pages I researched from other music magazines. The black boxes represent images I will later place. I also thought it was appropriate to include an editor's note on the bottom part of my content's page to make it more personal for the reader as well as heading and subheadings for the pages. For now, I have gone with red as my main colour in my colour scheme however I may change this later on if I think another colour looks more suited as this is just my draft.

Production Diary

10/11/13- The Drafting And The Photoshoot

I have now started to think about the actual product of my magazine and how it will finally look like. In class, we started a rough template of our pages we will create including the front cover, the contents page(s) and the various double page spreads. Firstly I researched other music magazines for ideas to help me make my contents page. I liked the idea of including many images, different subtitles for sections and an editor's note to make it personal for the reader therefore creating a closer relationship. We created our templates in InDesign so we could place boxes where our images would later go.

This week I also had my photoshoot with my model Vanessa. I made sure I brought in appropriate outfits and props to make my photo shoot look realistic and interesting. I took a range of shots including close-ups, mid shots and long shots as this would create different effects and I needed these to use on various pages of my main article. I thought my photo shoot was an overall success as I ended up with many great looking photos, all ranging in facial expressions and body language.

After, I also made note of what I would write on my contents page and what sort of text I would include. I therefore wrote the title of certain sections of the magazine and their subtitles explaining what each page would be about. I also typed up what would be on the cover and my editor's note.

Contents Ideas

 On The Cover:-
 .Top 10 Tracks of 2013
Who's made it onto this years list?
.A-Z Of Gig Listing
The only gig listing you'll ever need
.The Fray
The meaning behind the lyrics
.All Time Low reveal all
The band reveal all about touring, shows and fame
.Indie Queen Vanessa Wanner (the main feature)

(also have a list of artists on the cover including Mumford and Sons, Of Mosters and Men, Fall Out Boy, All Time Low, The Script, The Fray, Imagine Dragons, Arctic Monkeys, Rihanna, Lawson, The Vaccines, Evanescence, Bastille, Linkin Park, Coldplay, Paramore, The Pretty Reckless, My Chemical Romance)

Regulars:-
.The Ultimate Fan Review
Fans from around the world share their opinions on this week's most exclusive indie album
.Rate Or Slate?
We give our reviews on the biggest indie stars of all time
.The (magazine name) Test
Take our quiz and find out how much you really know about your music
.100% Gigs
We head to the latest gigs and supply all the inside gossip
.Lives
Reviews from this month's London shows
.The Last Word
Fans send in their letters to (magazine name)
.Win Win Win
Your chance to win this week's hottest prizes
.Artist Of The Month
Who proved to be succesful this issue

Features:-
.View The Music
The greatest music videos ever
.One Republic: Living The Dream
One Republic tell us all about their experience within the music industry and life in the lime light
.Mary: Rise To Indie Stardom
The stylish star talks about her latest single
.A Trip To Reading
Our writers head down to the most famous festival in history
.You Me At Six
Behind the scenes on their world tour
.Lawson
Lawson get down and personal
.Paramore
The coolest band around give us a lesson in music
.Upcoming Bands
The artists you need to hear!
.(magazine name) Awards
Your votes are in
.The Pretty Reckless
We get to know Taylor
.Lorde
The young star on her hit 'royals'

Editor's Note: Hello readers! This fortnight we've had the exclusive chance to interview new indie queen Vaneesa Wanner. We get the lowdown on her latest album and talk to her about her successful rise to stardom. Make sure you also check out our gig listing on page 24 and let us know about your own opinion on our cover star by getting involved on page 72. Hope you enjoy the latest issue, till next time! Chelsea x

Production Diary

03/11/13- Learning About New Media

During this week, I did a lot of research into new media and the ways I can gain distribution through my music magazine. I researched how new media is affecting the youth today and looked at shocking figures of how much teenagers and young adults use this type of media daily. I also found out about how social media websites like Facebook and Twitter are so popular by the way they help people get involved and interact with others. Moreover I researched more websites and computer multimedia such as Youtube and how this is important in the way it contributes to the music industry.

 I then linked all these aspects of new media which I learnt about to how this would help me when making my own target audience get involved with my magazine, if it’s through the magazine’s own website or their various digital interactive content.

New Media

New media from chelseaharper

Proposal Feedback

 

 This is my proposal feedback I received from a fellow student. By gaining feedback from others, I can see on the ways I can improve my work and look at this for future reference. It is also good to receive opinions from other media students as they know about the topic and will be able to give you useful and relevant information.

Production Diary

28/10/13- Images And Promotional Methods Ideas


This week, I have continued to expand on my image ideas my looking at props I will include for my music magazine. I again talked about how important the clothing is when it comes to my model and also how props such as headphones will link to the style aspect of my magazine. I got my model to sign a model release form to agree to take part and then went on to do more research of different photo shoots as I will be going ahead with mine soon.

I also planned different promotional methods when thinking about promoting my magazine to gain a successful circulation and readership, especially for the first sales. I talked about advertising my magazine across busy locations (for example on billboards in shopping centres and also on buses across the city). I also talked about how social media would help raise my magazine's popularity and how including competitions may persuade my audience to buy the first issue and therefore continue to buy it if they enjoyed reading it.

Promotional Methods

Props/Costumes

Colour Ideas

 These are the different types of colour schemes which I may use for my magazine. As I am not sure what I want my overall product to look like, I have used a variety of colours that will be aimed at a variety of audiences. My target audience in particular will be a mix of both genders therefore using a colour such as pink may be a problem however I consider blue and red as netural colours, meaning they will be more appropriate to use. Seeing as most successful music magazines only have one main colour I will also go ahead with this idea meaning the other colours I use throughout will be basic shades like white, grey and black.

Production Diary

21.10.13- Name Ideas

 This week, I started to go into more detail when planning my music magazine. Earlier in the week, I started to come up with different names I might call my magazine. I came up with many ideas as I wanted my name to be quite original and unique. I also wanted my name to link to the indie genre well so even including 'indie' into a phrase or compound word may turn out to be successful. Overall, my favourite name ideas were Diverse, Altered, Outspoken, Ego and Think Indie however I am still unsure about what my final name will be.
 After I went over what my magazine may be called, I looked at different fonts to plan how my name might look. Most of my chosen fonts have an edgy look to them which I think makes them look interesting therefore unique and appealing to my target audience. Moreover, in my opinion the unusual and wacky fonts work well with the quirky style of the indie genre.
 Finally, I considered a variety of ideas for my photo shoot. I looked at poses, backgrounds, costumes, props, hair and makeup and made sure I researched the indie style so I could make my artist look realistic and appropriate within the music genre. I also think the types of images I thought about will interest many indie fans as they will be able to relate to my images.

Image Ideas

Model Release Form

This is my model release form which my model had to sign so I could gain her permission to appear in my magazine. By signing this form, my model has agreed to take part in my photo shoot as the artist in my main article. I may use these photos on my front cover, contents page and across my double page spreads. As I am the producer, I also had to sign this form to confirm that this my model.

Name Designs

 

As you can see, I want my masthead for my music magazine to look edgy and unique, again linking to the indie genre. Although my target audience is mainly females, a lot of males will also read my magazine therefore I thought the almost destructive fonts will be appropriate to use on my front cover to help advertise my product. I also thought these font designs will work well with the image I will use on my front cover as my aim is to make the images I take original because of outfits and clothes my model will wear. 

Name Ideas

 

These are the name ideas I came up with for my music magazine. I used a variety of different name types and put them into different groups (these were also the groups I researched for my previous homework). Personally, I found that connotative names were the easiest to come up with as I researched and thought about specific words that linked to ‘different’ and ‘unique’ as I thought these words described the indie music genre well. However I also thought the compound names I came up with were interesting as ‘indie’ seemed to go with other words better than other music genres.

Sketches

These are the final sketches I drew of how I wanted my magazine to look like. At this stage I knew how I wanted the layout to look like however I was unsure about some of the images therefore I drew some of them very vague so I could decide later on. I labelled every aspect that was unclear such as the sell lines, what some of the images will look like (for example, if they are in black and white) and other things that will appear on my feature article like the box out text. I also made a note where my text would go. As there are many different conventions presented on the contents page, this page in particular during my sketches looked the most complicated as does the cover page whereas my double page spreads look quite plain as they mostly only include the article text and images.  

Production Diary

13.10.13- Thinking About The Style Of My Magazine

This week, I created my mood board as well as carrying out more research of typical music magazines. Personally, I enjoyed the task of having to create our own mood board as I thought this gave me a better visual idea of what my magazine might turn out to look like. I thought this was successful as I wanted my magazine to carry out this specific style/look therefore I am pleased with what my mood board looks like.

Also this week, I researched different mastheads from various magazines. I learnt what it meant in terms of placing different magazine names into groups such as acronyms,  phrases, connotative and compounds. I also found out which ones looked more successful than others. Overall the more simple mastheads (due to both font and colour) seemed to look the most professional. I also took note on why this was and if in fact it was so the audience would  pay more attention to rest of the page or indeed if the simple colours were bold enough to stand out to make the reader aware of the name.

Masthead Analysis

Mood Board

 

One of the tasks we had to carry out was to create a mood board for my magazine (this included images of the specific style associated with the indie genre). I added pictures of the clothes indie fans normally wear, the type of activities these music fans take part in (for example festivals) and other quirky images linked to music. As I had already decided on the genre for my magazine, I was certain on what type of images I would put on my mood board. The main purpose of this task was to consider what I would include in the magazine I plan to create (the pages inside such as the main article). When I go on to take photos of my model and design my magazine, I would look back to my mood board for ideas.
 Overall my mood board gives a general feel of my magazine and the music genre. Although my mood board comes across as quite girly, it also creates a quirky and original vib - linking to the style of both the artists and the fans. My mood board also uses bold and bright colours which is the type of theme I will carry on throughout my product.

Production Diary

05/10/13- Deciding On My Target Audience And Looking At Key Concepts

 This week I considered the target audience of my magazine. I thought about the typical type of person that might want to purchase my magazine, depending on my music genre and the type of style and format I would use. I think my target audience is a really important aspect when deciding on how to promote my magazine. By promoting my magazine, this may include how it is presented (for example, what it will look like and how it will catch my audience’s eye).

 I wrote that my target audience are passionately into their music and enjoy keeping up with the latest styles and going to festivals. I will take this on board when designing my magazine and for my photo shoot.

 Also this week, I found about the key concepts of a music magazine. This included the audience again, the representation of the magazine and the institution. Therefore I wrote about someone likely to buy a music magazine, what they can offer and how they make money. I discussed a lot of things such as the age of the audience, what might be included in articles and advertisements.

Below are some images of the type of style linked to my audience and ideas about a magazine’s key concepts: