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.