Draft Coursework

These are the front cover, contents and double page article for my music magazine. They should, hopefully, convey what I wanted from my magazine (even though the pictures of the cover star will be taken again with more attention to setting, clothing and lighting) and any corrections will be made and evident. Also, because paint stopped working, for unknown reasons, I had to stop writing the content on the contents page but hopefully it conveys what I want from it anyway - apart from the fact that due to the size of the pixelation I wasn't able to add in small sentences corresponding to what's in the list.

Contents DRAFT

Front Cover DRAFT

Draft double page spread.

Edited photos.

After taking the photos I decided I would use the photo of Kerry and Kate as the main image as I think it looks natural and the photos of Dave are the type of images to fit in with my article. I decided it would be best to have Kerry and Kate by the white wall to make it plain and simple and also so that the focus is on them. I thought that by having Dave by the brick wall would add an element of 'normalness' to the photo as the article will be based on how he has became famous and how different his life is. After the photos were took I edited them to make them look more 'magazine like'. Above are the edited versions. I think for the double page spread i will use the four photos joined together in a square to make it have a different effect.

Origanal photos.

These two images are the photos I shall use as my double page spread. I think that they will be ideal with the article I have written and I also think the photos fit in with the magazine style.

The original photos.

The photo of Kerry and Kate is the image i will ahve for the draft of my magazine cover. I chose this image as I think it is a lighthearted image that would interest reader's to pick up the magazine. However I will not be using this image in my final magazine as it does not fit in with the 'edgy' style of my magazine masthead.

Publication Plan.

Masthead.
After deciding what genre my magazine would be I began to think what the ideal masthead would be. My favourite was ‘MFTP’. However the magazines I am basing my magazine on are ‘Q’ and ‘NME’. I thought ‘MFTP’ was to long and not suitable. When sharing my ideas with my teacher we decided that ‘MP’ was more simple and effective. I think I will keep the masthead as black as it is bold and shows its importance. However I will not have my masthead covering the main image.

Selling line.
‘MP’ stands for ‘Music for the people’ and this will be the selling line of my magazine. I think this appeals to my magazine audience as it is personal. This will be positioned underneath the masthead so that it can sort of ‘explain’ the masthead.

Price and frequency of publication.
From my questionnaire I gathered that the price should be between £2.00 and £3.00. For this reason I decided to price my magazine at £2.75. As ‘Q’ is published every month and ‘NME’ is weekly I decided that my magazine will be out ever two weeks.

Rationale
‘MP’ will be a magazine based around Interviews and reviews. There will be PUGs and PUFFs included to entice the reader into buying the magazine. Also new bands will be introduced. Lists of gigs near readers will also be included.

Regular articles.
The main regular articles will be;
Interviews
Reviews
Regular competitions
Posters

Change of Masthead

The original idea for my masthead was using the term "OMG!", until it was brought to my attention that the term OMG! bared the connotations of sensationalist magazines (Heat, OK etc) and celebrity culture, moreso than it was related to teenagers and the kind of audience reflected in the rique artist names I had concieved. The essence of this can be summed up within the song 'Piece Of Me' with lines such as "I'm Mrs. Oh My God that Britney's shameless" reflecting the celebrity, tabloid culture of the term OMG. For this reason, I decided (under the advice of my media teacher) that a change was needed.

In the creation of my masthead, I wanted a name that, like almost all music magazine names, was short and sweet, and reflected the nature of the type of magazine I wanted. This came in the form of a Rihanna title in the word 'Hard'. The song itself reflects a progression into harder styles of music and hip-hop and so it is fitting that this would be the title in that the connotations of the word itself, and the word within the context of the song reflects that my magazine would be an alternative/pop magazine. The connotations of the song are reflected below, summarising my feeling towards why this is a fitting title.

And, so the final decision I made was to stick with the masthead HARD for my final draft of the media magazines.

Ideas for masthead.

Above are the ideas for my masthead and possible colour schemes and layouts.

Magazine audience.

Before creating my magazine, I decided what kind of audience it would be aimed at. I decided that I wanted to aim my magazine at people who have an interest in newer/indie music. The magazine I decided to use as my inspiration are NME and Q. I aim to make my magazine suitable for teenagers and upwards.

Idea for my front cover, article type and layout.

The above image is what I am aspiring for my front cover to be. The masthead of 'OMG' which I intended to be interchangable between different colour schemes from each magazine (similarly to NME magazine) is yellow and blue as I intend for the main image to be the colour displayed above, a pale blue. The cover line will tie into the main image, in that the main image will use Jessie McDonald as the cover star yet also in the content of the picture and what has been said in the cover line.

The main image, will have a mid shot of Jessie holding a small cupcake, which a bite has been taken out of, with a label tag sticking out of it, to mimic the cake that Alice in 'Alice In Wonderland' eats to get big. And so the idea of getting big is a double entendre in that it reflects both the idea of Alice growing in size in the film and Jessie's explosion upon the music scene in 2011 (as expressed through the coverline). I thought this was a good idea in that the magazine style I am going for is a cool, retro look at pop music and in the past year, with the release of Tim Burton's version, the film itself and the whole 'brand' of Alice in Wonderland, has began to appeal to a more teen orientated market.

Questionnaire results analysis

The results of my questionnaires are below in various different forms.
The bar chart shows that 90% of people would like to see information on local gigs and 10% would 'maybe' like to see this information. I think that because nobody who answered the questionnaires said 'no' that information on local gigs should definitely be included.
The 'doughnut' chart shows that most of the people I asked do read music magazines therefore their opinions are the most useful. Only one person said they never purchase music magazines and the majority purchase them monthly. This should help me with my research as I can decide to make my magazine be monthly. This means it can then include monthly features.
The line chart shows the results of 'How much would you be willing to pay for a music magazine?' This shows that the majority (45%) think that £2.00-£3.00 is an acceptable price to pay for a music magazine. This is something o take into consideration when pricing my magazine. Also if overpriced this could put readers off buying the magazine.
When asking 'What is the main reason you buy music magazines?' 5 people said to find out about the latest music and 3 people said to read interviews and one person said because a certain heading would grab their attention. The other 11 people left this question unanswered.
When asked 'What colours do you feel are appropriate for a music magazine?
Most people answered 'bright colours' and 'primary colours' Other people answered with 'green and red' When making my colour scheme for my magazine I am going to try and keep the colour scheme bright to attract readers attention but also try to keep it 'neat.'
When asked 'Is there anything you dislike about conventional music magazines?' the most popular answer was 'not really.' However some people answered that some bands do not get the coverage they deserve.
From these results I have gathered that the colour scheme should be bright and the price kept between £2.00-£3.00 and most people would purchase a magazine monthly.

Masthead Ideas.

When creating my music magazine, I will also need to think of a suitable masthead. To decide on the masthead I would use I decided to take a look at existing music magazines and their mastheads.
The first masthead I looked at was 'Q' In my opinion, this masthead is very successful as it is short and 'to the point.' It is recognisable and in terms of space it would not take up much room. The colour scheme is a red background with the 'Q' being white. I think this is also successful as it stands out. I like the idea of the one letter/syllable for the masthead.
The second masthead I looked at was 'NME' Yet again I like the idea of the 'letter' title, however this time it has more syllables but I think it still manages to remain intriguing and interesting. The colour scheme is (like Q) white black and red. Although I feel this is effective in my magazine I would like to use different colours to make it original. The lettering of this masthead was in capitals which I think is important to make it stand out and it was also bold.
the last masthead I looked at was 'WIRE' I think this title sounds 'edgy' however I didn't like the colour scheme or layout. The whole title was black which I found boring and the font was also boring. Underneath the masthead was the phrase 'Adventures In Modern Music' I like the idea of having writ ting underneath my masthead however i don't think this particular phrase is interesting or grabs a potential reader's attention

Questionnaire.

I put together a questionnaire to find out what article/photographs and colours the reader of my magazine would like to see. This questionnaire will help me decide what audience I am appealing to. The questionnaire I used is below:

Music magazine questionnaire

1)How often do you purchase music magazines?
Weekly
Fortnightly
Monthly
Never
Other


2)What is the main reason you buy music magazines?



3)How much would you be willing to spend on a music magazine?
£1.50-£2.00
£2.00-£3.00
£3.00-£4.00


4)What colours do you think would be appropriate for a music magazine?





5)What elements of a music magazine would persuade you to buy it?
Exclusive Interviews
Reviews
Gig information
Competitions
Photographs of your favourite artists


6)Is there anything you dislike about conventional music magazines?


7)Would you like information about local gigs?
Yes
No
Maybe

I will as 20 people for their opinions and then use the information to build ideas for my final magazine.

Magazine Contents mockup & Proposed masthead

My Contents page mock-up

The above image is reflective of the type of look and layout I wish for for my blog. I propose that all of the images I use, which are taken for the purpose of being used upon my contents page are taken against a white background and are presented in a torn fashion. In case this is not clear the type of look I am going for is mirrored in the image below, from a recent music video.

I feel this gives the contents page a contemporary, quirky edge and reflects the kooky, fun nature of pop music (as it was essential upon reflection of the results from my questionnaire, that my magazine maintained this quality). On one hand, choosing to display my contents page in such a fashion will put more pressure upon the amount of photos needed, but I feel this is a small price in order to obtain the look and feel that is needed for this magazine to maintain a consistent approach towards pop throughout.

My logo mock-up

The two images above show the type of look I am hoping to achieve through the masthead of the magazine. The choice for this name and colour scheme, came, following the questionnaire results, in which it was clearly shown that the magazine needed to maintain a teen friendly, bright design. This is when the decision to use a slang term came into my head, in that he phrase "OMG!" is automatically identifiable by a teenage audience and so it is obvious straight away who the magazine's target audience is and the tone of the magazine.

Questionnaire, Results & Analysis Of These Results.

Pop music magazine – questionnaire

The following questionnaire is comprised of eight questions intended to educate myself about what the average reader of my magazines demographic would want/expect from my magazine.

1.       Which is your preferred genre of music?

·         Pop music            

·         Rock/Alternative

·         R&B/Hip Hop

·         Other

2.       How often do you generally buy music magazine?

·         Daily

·         Twice a Week

·         Weekly

·         Fortnightly

·         Monthly

·         Bi monthly

·         Rarely

·         Never

3.       Which type of articles would you most like to see in a Pop music magazine?

·         Reader Letters

·         Editorials

·         Artist Interviews

·         Reviews of Music, Film, Books & TV

·         Live Reviews

·         Other (please specify)    ........................................................................................

4.       What connotations do you associate with Pop music?

.........................................................................................................

5.       What tone towards pop music would you like the magazine to adopt?

·         A formal approach

·         An informal approach

·         Other (please specify)................................................................

6.       How much do you spend on an average music magazine?

·         £1.00-£2.00

·         £2.00-£3.00

·         £3.00-£4.00

·         £4.00 +

7.       Who are your favourite artists in pop music?

............................................................................................................

8.       What colours would you like/expect a pop magazine to follow?

·         Bright colours: pinks, oranges, yellow, greens etc.

·         Sophisticated colours: reds, gold, silver, blacks etc.

·         Dark colours: Violets, navy, black, browns etc.

·         Light pastels: Peach, sky blue, meringues etc.

The questionnaire was carried out on twenty people throughout the course of the week. To suit the teenage based target audience of my magazine (and to make it alot easier for me to collect people to take part) it was carried out on fellow students over the course of a lunch time in the common room and the results were all recorded by me, on the same sheet of paper (as this allowed me to save the effort of printing off many different copies). The results of this questionnaire are displayed below, with the questions which I felt were most benefitial towards the making of my magazine, being anaylsed and displayed in charts.

Questionnaire results and analysis

One thing I found, when carrying out my questionnaire was that, if my magazine were to be soley based upon pop music then the first question of my questionnaire was not needed.

The results for question 2 of my questionnaire are displayed in the pie chart below.

The pie chart above expresses the data which was collected in order to find out how often the average teenager (as I carried out all of my questionnaires upon sixth form students within the common room). The data shows that the most common, rate of purchase (after never) is Monthly. This reflects the decision I have made to make my magazine a monthly magazine, in similar vein to Q Magazine.

The results for question 3 of the questionnaire are displayed in the bar chart below.

The bar chart above expresses the results I collected, regarding which type of article out of the selection I specified, people would most like to see feature in my magazine or in any other magazine. They express that people feel artist interviews are the most essential part of a music magazine, followed by reviews of music and reviews of gigs in joint second place. From this graph, it is indicated that to a teenage audience editorials are not essential, though I presume this is due to a lack of knowledge as to what they are and why they are used, as teenagers are unlikely to be educated in editorials, compared to the more ‘obvious’ features, such as reviews and interviews.

When I asked people what connotations they would usually associate with pop music, I recorded the words they said on the piece of paper and the results were as follows:
- the word "dancey" was remarked twice
- fun was the most common word, as six people said this.
- three people said "popular" as a literal translation.
- one person's comment was "girly"
- the rest of the people I tested simply said "Dunno" (presumably as this was the first question to actually make them think!)

The results for question 5 of the questionnaire are displayed in the donut graph below.

The donut graph above shows an overwhelming response towards the magazine adopting an informal tone. 18 out of the 20 people I asked opted for this style and this is clearly reflective of the teenage approach towards the media. However, I do agree that taking an informal approach towards the magazine would be a more suited way of writing, as there are many magazines and forms of music commentary (such as NME Magazine, Popjstice blog) which use this approach, and it is a much more engaging way of reaching out to a yound audience.

The results for question six of my questionnaire of displayed in my bar chart below.

It is clear from the bar chart below, that if the results are disected in half, many teenagers favour paying £3 or less for a magazine than over this amount. This is the response I would have expected from the teenage audience whom I tested, as in theory to many youngsters (especially those not working) £3 a month on something that can be easily accessed through the media and internet for free, is not a very inticing idea. The idea, however, is at odds with their earlier inclination for a monthly magazine as most magazines which are printed monthly, cost within the £4+ region e.g. Q, MOJO etc.

The results for question seven of my questionnaire are displayed in my pie chart below.

Although this question was intentionally an open ended question there were only 5 results given so I thought I would display the results in a graph. The reasoning behind this question was so that I could get a sense behind the favourite acts of teenagers today and so I would know what type of “fake acts” to conceive for the making of my magazine. The results show predominantly female acts with Lady GaGa, Rihanna and Britney spears (earning 4 votes, 2 votes and 1 vote each respectively) and so this may be something that I have to keep in mind during the making of my magazine.

The results for question eight of my questionnaire are displayed on the bar graph below.

This question was intended to educate me towards what sort of colour scheme I should go for with my magazine. Although some might feel that the obvious colour scheme to go for would be the bright colours, as it reflects the “fun, dancey” nature of pop music, I felt that a teen audience may wish to challenge the conventions of this through a more unconventional colour scheme. However, the general concencus from collecting my results was that the typical associations of a pop magazine should be maintained for my magazine with only 4 people opting for a different option.

So, to conclude, generally from analysing my questionnaire results I can make the decision that the things my magazine needs are: A bright colour scheme, to be a monthly editional magazine, to take an informal approach, to feature artist interviews (essentially) and to cost £3 and under.

Remake & Remodel

I decided to make this magazine the Christmas issue. Using ‘YOU must’ is an imperative and I decided to have Liam taking different views on Christmas to intrigue the reader. The alliteration 'Gaga goes green' and the 'new year, new bands' also grab the reader's attention. I editted this photo to make the focus on Liam's face against the white background.The barcode and date are in the conventional place with listing underneath.

Remake and Remodel

Remake and Remodel

My magazine cover featuring Rachel. The magazine cover features Rach making an 'X' (the figurehead of Simon Cowell's X Factor) out of her middle fingers expressing the feelings expressed in "F**K THE X FACTOR". The magazine cover features direct appeal through her use of eye contact with the reader and the incredibly bright light making her appear sub-human and showing that she doesn't conform to the normal (such as the X Factor). "Simon's self..." is a use of alliteration and "Wild Child" is assonance.

P.S. The spelling error on Festival was unintentional but cannot be changed now :(

School magazine.

School magazine; Final contents page and Contents and front cover mock up.

For the contents page i decided to keep the colours red and black against a white background to keep to the school colours. I wanted the contents page to look interesting and so i added photos and kept to the colour scheme.

Before creating for the front covers of our school magazine 'SFM' we discussed the outcomes we wanted from the front covers. I didn't want to make to much reference to school with the colours so that it seemed more mature for sixth from students and not just the regular school magazine.
I used the colour blue for the masthead as i decided that it was a neutral colour and would not be just associated with boys unlike if i would have used the colour pink which may have only attracted female readers.
By using the alliteration 'Teachers, trips and timetables' I decided it would interest readers more than a regular sentence as it is eyecatching.
I kept the barcode and date in the standard place and kept the coverlines school related.

Before creating the final magazine i made basic layouts. This gave me to a chance to think about how my articles would be situated and what would look best. As you can see for the contents page I did not stick to my mock up as i thought it looked un tidy.
As for the front page, I took my own photo for the front cover and kept to the same layout.

2 Week Task: Analysis Of 'Rolling Stone Magazine'

2 Week Task: Analysis Of 'Kerrang Magazine'

'Freedom' magazine is aimed at a niche market. I decided to keep the colours black and purple and one coverline being red as it is a PUG. Changing the colour of the PUG draws the reader's attention to it. I used the alliteration 'security scrutiny' to draw the reader n. Also i think the main cover line 'Who is watching you?' would intruigue the reader as it includes them and makes it personal.

'Photography Now' magazine is aimed at professional and amateur photographers. I dislike the colour scheme i have used here as i think it makes it look untidy. I have used the PUG of winning 'a complete photography starter kit' as I think this would encourage new photographers into buying the magazine. The PUFF 'top 10 cameras' would also interest professional photographers. The 'exclusive' interview with a famous photographer would also interest the target audience.

The cover of 'Pitch' is aimed at a mass market audience. Therefore i decided as the main image was Marilyn Manson I would keep this as the theme for the issue. The magazine would obviously be purchased by fans of Marilyn Manson. By using the PUG winning free tickets would entice and intrigue the target audience resulting in the buying the magazine. As the main image has an eerie feeling about it, I decided the best colour to use would be black to add to this theme. The main cover line 'must read shocking interview' is an imperative and the choice of adjective 'shocking' would grab the reader's attention. The bar code and date remain in the conventional place as does the masthead.

Film X appeals to possible cult film audiences. When creating this magazine i decided that i would keep the colour scheme the same as the main image and masthead as I felt the main image should be the dominating feature on this front cover. By choosing red and white as the font colours i think this allowed the main image to stand out and the writing slotted in, making the cover look 'tidy.' To interest potential readers I included a 'PUG' and 'PUFF' which included winning free cinema tickets which i felt fitted in as magazine is aimed at people interested in film.