Music Magazine - Front Cover Draft

This is the draft for my music magazine front cover. I haven’t finalised all of the details of the front cover yet however it is all coming together. The house style and colour for my music magazine will probably change to a different font and the colour scheme probably will be red, black and white. This colour scheme is more befitting my indie/rock music genre. Currently the masthead is gold however I may change it to a colour which matches the photo more.

The masthead for my magazine is in upper-case. This is another conventional feature of a magazine. In a lot of magazine their masthead is in upper-case. They've done this to make it eye catchy and so that it would stand out more from the rest. There I have also conform to that convention and made my masthead big and bold. 

Currently this is the image I am using however I think I would most likely change it to an image that I’ve shot a few weeks before. I am currently contemplating on which photo would be the best for my front cover and looks more professional and sophisticate. 

Music Magazine Contents Page Draft

This is a draft of my contents page. Through research and planning I have come up with an idea of what the contents page would look like. I the magazines I have looked at are: Q, KERRANG, NME, and MOJO.  

Currently I haven’t decided on what colours to use for the contents page that’s why currently it’s in black and white. The colour scheme for the contents page will be similar to the colour scheme on the front cover. When I have decide on what colour to use for the magazine and as part of the magazine house style I will then use the same colour on the contents page.  As for the images I plan to add a few more to fill up the page. These images should relate to the magazine.

 

As for the content of the page I will be adding names of popular indie/rock artist. This is to attract the audience interest and will intern convince them to buy the magazine. 

Music Magazine Double Page Spread Draft

When I shot this photo I composed it so that he is on the left or on the right side. This is so that I won’t have to change the background colour for the next page but instead use the background that is already there.

Also for the double page spread I need to add a line down the middle of the page. This is to indicate that this is a double page spread and where the spin is separating the pages.

I have already written an article for the double page spread. The article will be an interview with the artist OMNI. I have already double check the spelling and punctuation to my best. I have made the questions in bold while the answer will not be. I will also add a pull quote to the page that’s why there is a space in the middle of the article.  

The red title and the guitar is part of the house style. Although the double page spread doesn’t need any to do with the house style however because of the background colour and the colours on the page I feel that the dark colour red or burgundy red would suit the colour of the title.

 

An addition to the page is the page number. In all magazine pages there is a page number to indicate what content is in what page. Therefore it is important part of a magazine convention. 

Music Magazine OMNI Album Design

OMNI is the name of the artist in my magazine. By using Photoshop I created design based on looking at other indie albums. They all have similarities like symbols, shapes, and animals. Though this research I created this album art design as OMNI's new album. I am very satisfied by what I've created. To me this album design looks quite realistic to a indie album design. I feel that I've achieve what I wanted to do and satisfied with my work.

Music Magazine Best Photos (Shoot 2)

This my second shoot. This shoot was shot in the same location however this shoot was during in the morning instead of at night like the first shoot. Through these two shoot I can pick between these pictures when creating the magazine. In this second shoot I feel that I am quite satisfied with my shoot just the same as my first shoot. 

Music Magazine Best Photos (Shoot 1)

This is some of my best photos for my first shoot for my music magazine. For this shoot I have brought a tripod, a DLSR camera and some lighting equipment. The tripod is to stabilise the camera so that it doesn’t blur. The DSLSR camera is use to take high resolution photo and for clear and good quality photos. The lighting equipment is there is the location of the setting is too dark as we are good when it’s quite dark.

I feel that this shoot went quite well. I have completed my objectives and now I am able to start creating my music magazine. Based on my research and planning I will pick pictures which look good and which would suit my genre of music and appeal to my target audience. 

Analysis of a Music Magazine Double Page Spread

1.

2.

Analysis of a Music Magazine Contents Page

Analysis of a Music Magazine Front Cover

1.

2.

Masthead Research

Conventions of a Music Magazine

Front Cover 

Contents Page 

Double Page Spread

Music Magazine Digital Flat Plan

 

 

For my music magazine I have created a hand drawn flat plan and also a digital flat plan. The use of the flat plan has helped me think clearly of what I am doing. For my drawn flat plan I didn’t have a clear idea of what photos I would be using so I just drawn a first draft flat plan. After a lot of research I now know what the layout will definitely be based on. Initially the first draft for my flat plan was something you would typically see and conventional. My of the ideas for the layout came from VIBE the rap & RnB magazine.

For the digital flat plan the main inspiration came from NME, Q magazine and KERRANG! For instance for my contents page the layout is the same as NME contents page and also KERRANG magazine masthead has a spider web like design and I thought maybe I use that in my music magazine. I have used a lot of magazine as reference and inspiration for my magazine. For the front cover of my magazine I have placed majority of conventions you would normally see on a magazine. The conventions are there so that the audience are able to understand and interpret information of the magazine easily. For my double page spread I am still not very clear of the layout however it will all come together after I have created the front cover and the contents page.

Music Magazine Drawn Flat Plan

Based of the conventions of a music magazine I have created a flat plan of what my music magazine may look like. 

Music Magazine Mood Board

 

This is the mood board that I’ve created. The mood board is use to help me be inspired and get ideas of what my magazine will look like. In this mood board I have used a multiple image from a lot of different sources. I have never shot a photo-shoot before so I have looked at a lot of different images, this will intern help me to think of the different aspect of the photo-shoot which are more important. For instance looking at the mise-en-scene, some of the aspects I will be looking at are the location, costume, and lighting.

I have also added a couple of major magazines names like NME to the mood board. My genre for my music magazine is rock/indie. And these magazine are major company and had many experience and very successful. For the creation of my music magazine I will be looking into different magazine so I can pick up any convention and ideas to be added to my magazine to create this authenticity to it. The creation of my contents page I will definitely be able to base a lot upon NME contents page. The layout for the magazine is what I think will definitely be something that would create the feel and the look of a conventional rock/indie magazine.

Also Q magazine is another major music magazine. They have a range of different artist that have appear in the magazine, for instance Michael Jackson. Looking at some of the magazine front covers and double page spread I may use it as a key idea for the development of the magazine.

I will be also looking at the models that I will be using. I haven’t chosen whether it will be a female or male. Looking at a number of theories for instance the male gaze I have to think about composition. Composition is very important to emphasis particular features of the magazine and meaning. Looking at the male gaze theory the use composition will emphasise the features of a women. The use of the male gaze will help attract the male audience. The male gaze theory refers to the fact that women are objects to men and nothing more.

Also looking at the uses and gratifications theory most of the audience uses the magazine is a use of escape and also an inspiration; I also feel that. Looking at the magazine and the pictures the audience interpret things differently. The uses and gratification theory are very important theory for ways to attract the audience and have an understanding their views.

Music Magazine Questionnaire

(1) Age:                      Gender:    

(2) How often do you buy music magazine?

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

 - £0 - £1

 - £1 - £2

 - £2 - £3

 - £3+

(4) What genre of music do you regularly listen to?

 - Hip Hop

 - R&B

 - Pop

 - Rock

 - Indie

 - House

 - Instrumental

 - Classical

 - Other

(5) Which magazine name do you like most?

 - Auburn

 - Muse

 - IdN

 - Walla

 - SAINTS

 - Luminaires

(6) Would you like interviews and posters of your favourite artist? 
(7) Would you like information on gigs and concerts? 
(8) What colours do you think is best used for indie/rock genre?

(9) Can you name some Indie/Rock artists?

(10) Would you like a cover mount in a music magazine?

     (Cover Mount: Package product which is part of the music magazine e.g. vogue magazine - mascara)

From this questionnaire I am trying to found out more about my target audience and more information on music magazine and the genre. I have chosen indie rock as my genre for my music magazine. I chose this genre because there are many magazines which I can use as reference when creating my magazine for instance NME or Q magazine. Also I listen to a lot of indie and rock and I enjoy the genre so this would be something I would enjoy creating.

As I am targeting my magazine at teens and young adults I have ask the opinions of people with the age range of 16 – 18. In total, I have asked 20 students to complete my questionnaire (8 Males and 12 Females). Overall most students never buy music magazines while only a few said that they sometimes buy it but rarely do.  The few that said they do buy music magazine studies music technology therefore they are more interested in buying music magazine than others. Also students within this age range are not willing to spend a lot of money on magazines. More than half said they would spend between £0 - £2 therefore I should set the price to be a reasonable price.

 

There was a wide variety of genre that the students listen to. The genre they listen to most is pop and the genre they least listen is classical.

I have listed a number of names that I could possibly use for my magazine. From the results I have narrowed I down to which one I would like to use for my music magazine. And they are Auburn, Muse or Luminaires.

Everyone said yes that they would like posters and interviews with their favourite artists. Also they were very interested in information on gigs and convert. As they are between 16 – 18 year olds they are interested on what’s on and any interesting concerts with popular artist or low down indie artists.

In my double page spread I could possible add information on gigs and concerts but I would definitely add it into my contents page.

For the colour that I could use for the indie rock magazine many have said red, black, white, yellow green, gold and so on. They have listed many colours but depending on my photo shoot my colour scheme would change. I think I would definitely use red are part of my colour schemes as it’s a good indie rock colour to use.

A lot of the student said that they would like a cover mount. A cover mount is a really good way of attracting customers into buying the magazine because they can get something some it. I could use a cover mount is it help cover spaces of the magazine.

From this questionnaire I have found out some useful information that can be beneficial. Also because of the students opinion I have narrowed the list of name that I could use for my magazine. I have decided on some of the colour scheme that I will use and additional ideas for my contents page and front cover. 

Preliminary Task: College Magazine Final Product

 

This is the complete version of college magazine front cover. I have use the colours scheme of gold, white and black. I use these colour schemes because the gold represents number 1 and winner. As a college magazine we want the students to succeed and achieve their goals. That’s why the main cover line ‘Your Future’ is also in gold like the masthead as it is very important.

For my front cover I have conformed to the conventions of a magazine. This is so that the college magazine is easy to use because student probably won’t spend a lot of time on the magazine so the conventions will help.

For the front cover I have used a medium shot of a female student. There is direct address so it shows her confidences and personality. This is to give courage and strength to other students who aren’t confident and we wouldn’t want the front cover to have a student who looks apprehensive.

 

 

For the contents page I have separated the different section with the lines. After looking at examples of college and university magazines I have a layout of what it’s going to look like. The title of the contents page is a black box and I have put cross white lines for the background on the box. The contents page was really plain and empty therefore I have a digital art background design to create this fuller feeling. By doing all these designs it would appeal to the college students because it looks cool.

 Also because of the limited space I only used two images and they are both students of the college. They both like students because they are either holding a folder or they look like they are doing something. Without these photos the contents page wouldn’t look like a college magazine unless you read the content so the photo was rally effective.

Textual Analysis of College Magazine



Looking at this college magazine cover there are all the convections of a normal magazine. They have a masthead, cover lines, barcode, a plug and other convections. This magazine has a colour scheme of yellow, black and white. The magazine masthead is College Lifestyle and has a yellow colour scheme. I think they use yellow because it is a similar colour to gold which could symbolise 1^st place. Also the main cover line ‘Dancehall’s Bright Future’ relates back to this colour too. The word ‘Bright Future’ and the yellow symbolises that meaning.

The main image is a medium long shot of a college student. In the shot there are props like the school books. Also he is wearing a cross necklace, this could symbolises his work ethos to show he is serious about college. Looking at the magazine we can tell what genre of magazine this is and who they are targeting their audience at. We can tell that this is a college magazine because one, it says College style as it masthead. Also use of props and the cover line says that it is a college magazine. The target audience they are targeting at is college and university students or those who will benefit reading a college magazine.

The plain black background which matches with his clothes gives this sophisticated look to the whole magazine. He looks proper and smart. This magazine cover could be trying to represent the college. The smart sophisticated look and professionalism could be what the college is trying to portray itself to the audience. They are trying to attract students to maybe join their school and get them to buy the magazine.  

College Magazine Photos

Shooting Plans

Things needed for this shoot:

-Model

-Camera

-Tripod (not necessarily needed)

-Costume

-Lighting

I have decided to shoot this in school because this is a college magazine therefore having the school as the background will be good because we can see the schools environment and maybe pick off of something about the college for instance the good relationships between the students and teachers. For this shoot I will be shooting a variety of shot so that I can get choose between varieties to use in my magazine giving me more options in what pictures to use instead of having limited pictures. For the front cover I will be shooting a medium long shot of one person in the frame.

Some of The Best Photos

Image 2: I quite like this photo and I think I could use this for the front cover the only problem with this photo is that I can see a student in the background. For improvements I could reshoot the photo again but without the student in it this time.

Image 5: this photo is a medium shot of two students. The requirement for the front cover is a medium shot of one person therefore I can’t use this for my front cover. Instead I could use this in the contents page as a sub image. I think this photo looks really nice. The photo doesn’t look too overexposed and it’s not too dark.

 

Image 7: in the photo you can just see him standing in the corridors in school. I don’t think this would be suitable for the college magazine front cover. It doesn't look professional; it’s more like a random photo of a student in the corridors.

Image 8: I have chosen to use this photo to be my front cover because this photo is a medium long shot which was what I needed to use for the front cover. Also the direct mode of address and the whole look of the photo make this a good picture to be a front cover of the magazine.

What can be improve about this image is retaking it but without the sun ray in it but this can be easily sorted out by going on Photoshop and cloning that part of the photo so that the sun ray isn't there anymore.

Image 11: I won’t be using this photo because the photo looks like she is just standing there behind a white wall having her arms folded behind her. It doesn't look that good and professional. Also the lighting in the photo isn’t really that good because it kind of looks a bit dark. 

Image 14: I think I could use this photo in my magazine because the composition is good. However he isn’t directly looking at the camera so I could always use this photo as a sub image in the contents page for instance. He is a holding a school folder. The use of this prop makes it look like it is about a school because the folder reminds us that.

Image 15: in this photo the sunlight make the picture look really bright and the composition of the image would make a good front cover of the magazine however because of the use of props in this image, (the camera) it doesn't really look like it’s a college magazine. It kind of does however it looks more like a photography magazine than a college magazine.

College Magazine Questionnaire

1.      Age:          
2.      Gender:            
3.      What are your hobbies and interest?
4.      How often do you read magazines?
5.      How many hours do you spend reading in a week?
6.      How much would you be willing to spend on a magazine?
7.      What would you expect to be in a college magazine?
8.      What would you like to read in this college magazine?
9.      Would you participate in a college magazine?
10.  If yes, what would you contribute?

Summary of Results

Since this will be a college magazine I have targeted my audience from the age range of 16-18 and I have asked 5 girls and boys to do the questionnaire. Looking at hobbies and interest a lot of the boys have written down football as their main interest while girls have more of a range of interest. Some were photography, TV and films, music, and dance. Within this age group the majority of them have an interest in music and films.

A lot of college student do not read magazines at all. Out of 10 only 1 person read magazines often while the rest never or rarely read magazines. In fact a vast majority of them do not read at all. Students spend a lot of their time in their hobbies and other activities instead of reading. Also the students are willing at most to spend 50p on a college magazine as they rarely read magazines and have no interested in buying a college magazines.  

When asked what you would expect to read in a college magazine a lot of students responded very similarly. They listed things like UCAS information, employment, future plans, events, university taster days, and college information.  However when asked what would you like to read in a college magazine a lot of them said things which relates more to their hobbies than college topics.

Also a vast majority of the students said they wouldn’t participate in the college magazines even if there were an opportunity to. One said that if they did participate the only contribution they would really give is take pictures for the magazine.

Judging from this questionnaire I now know what i can add in my college magazine so that it will appeal to my target audience and attract their attention. My college magazine will be either free or cost less than 50p because I personally wouldn't spend money on a college magazine let along other students of my age. I know what are their main interest so I could focus on that and have information on topics to do with university, UCAS and future employment.

College Magazine Flat Plan ~ Front Cover & Contents Page

College Magazine Front Cover

I have drawn a flat plan on what my college magazine would look like when I create it. I have design it to look like this because those are the convections of a magazine front cover. Things like barcode, main image, masthead, plug and other convections.

I will be using a medium long shot for the main cover image. I have also added a plug so that the magazine would look better but also if there were any spaces this will fill it up.

I have the main cover line as “YOUR FUTURE”. During these time students will start to look into universities and start to think about their future and where they are going to after college therefore using this as main cover line will help to attract the student’s interest. I have also will be using a lot of cover lines to let the audience know what is featured in the magazine are.

College Magazine Contents Page 

In this page I have, in bold letters, wrote contents page at the top to let the audience know that this is of course the contents page. I haven’t decided what kind of what shot to use for this page but I may use a medium shot or a long shot.

At the bottom of the page it has the word guidance which is the title of the college magazine and the page number. Like all the other pages it will say guidance and the page number.

In this page I will have the headings and the subheadings of what’s going to be featured in this month magazine and the page number that you’ll be able to found the articles on.

Empire Magazine Recreation

Original Empire Magazine

My Version of the Empire Magazine

Our first task was to recreate the Empire magazine. We did this by using Photoshop or other programs/applications. By doing this task we, as a class, are able to found out which software/applications were better to use and also who needed help. By doing so, we can develop certain skills that is needed to create the magazine and to help those who never used it before. I personally feel that Photoshop is the best option to use because it isn't limited like other photo editor e.g. Paint.