Number of Pictures Comparison

I decided to look at how many pictures each magazines contents page, to see how many I should roughly put on mine to see ensure that I don't have more than I need this would show that the contents page wouldn't be too crowded.

Here is what I came up with: 

 

 

Alot off the contents pages have a variety off different number off photos, ranging from one big one to anything up to 8, these look perhaps too over crowded. I think for my contents page I will stick to a maximum off FIVE photos to even them out.

Contents Page Examples

I decided I would use a layout  TWO page Contents Page after doing some research I found that the contents page columns differs depending on the magazine type. I decided for my magazine I would use two columns for my contents page.

Front Cover, Strapline

Front cover, for my front cover I decided to include a strapline so drag people into the exclusive interview, for my strapline I decided to take from my interview a line that will engage a reader and want to know more about what is on offer and why the celebrity or the artist is feeling like this. 

I used the line:

'I've had a fuck load off bad luck'

Front Cover Transformation

This is the final cover off my music magazine here is how I transformed it: 

1. This is the start of my cover, I used a white background, so I could easily put titles and cover lines, this all had to put on before the photo so the writing could go across the photo.

I decided to put the black background onto the red writing to make the writing stand out, this the magazine identity.

2.  The photo is now on, I changed the curves to sharpen the picture, I also used the qucik selection tool to cut out the picture the orginal photo was orginally taken outside but I decided to cut it out to make it a studio shot, as my research shows that most magazine front covers shots are studio shots. Using the studio shot would also allow me to have more access to have a wider colour scheme, I could also colour pick from the guitar to get the unified house style.

3. I then added the cover lines to the magazine front cover using different fonts and colors following the red from the previous questionnaire answers using colors from that I will put these onto the magazine as these are peoples preferences. However I made the decision to redo the outline off the photo because the edges are roughly cut out this makes it look unprofessional. 

Class View on contents page expectations

I decided to ask my class and peers to tick three things they would expect to see on a contents page for a music magazine, after doing my own research I become more familiar in what appears over the majority of magazines.

I decided to ask my class because they epitomise my target audience and some probably read music magazines often, here are the answers of the survey:



Pictures

Gig Information

Quotes

Chart information

Exclusive interview information

Advertisments

Message to reader

Competition

Adverts for upcoming album
Win!
Tours
Upcoming Artists
Poster info
Different sections
Perhaps a dominant photo
Website
Guides

Magazine Price, Addition and Frequency

I decided to research the magazine prices and addition frequency to gain a rough estimate on what I should put my magazine at:

NME Magazine: £2.20

Published NME: Weekly 

Kerrang: £2.20

Published Kerrang: Weekly

Q Magazine: £3.99

Published Q: Monthly 

Billboard Magazine: £5.24

Published: Weekly

Top of the pop magazine: £2.99

Published: Monthly 

Rolling Stone: £3.00

Published: Two Weekly

I decided that I would publish my magazine, at roughly the same price off Kerrang which is £2.20. I would choose to publish my magazine monthly although in comparison to the above magazines that publish them at a monthly frequency the price range is roughly at £3-4 (Rolling Stone and Q) I thought for my target audience perhaps this would be too high, after doing the following research:

After this research of asking twenty people I can see the average person would pay between £2/3 for a monthly magazine, I think the lowest price was the most popular because as teenagers we don't have a lot of money, I saw it was the top end of my age range because they are more likely to have more money to spend on the less essential things such as a magazine.

Therefore I will publish my magazine at £3.00 taking into consideration of the actual magazine prices with the research I have done.

Magazine Front Cover Plan

Here is my a very rough example on  how I will lay out my front cover out. These is a basic example that I could choose to follow:

It shows a rough outline on what colors I will use it also shows what I will include on my magazine, this again links to guidance and it will ultimately help me to chose my house style. Although the layout will change once  I have put it into photo shop this was just a rough understanding on where things would go. I would also allow me to compare with other magazines and there layouts so I could gain a sense of inspiration.

Magazine Front Cover Ideas

I decided for my magazine front cover I decided again to go back to my research and looking at the pictures on their front cover I decided to only go with one picture on my front cover.

There is some magazines with more than one picture such as Kerrang: however I think this can look messy because it takes away the image from the centeral image and main focus off the magazine. However for the magazine Kerrang it works well as it represents the heavy metal rock subculture, it shows the rock through all images such as facial expressions, tattoos on the artist and also the the big bold standout font, which does directly state it is a rock magazine!

However most magazines such as Q, Billboard have a central image which is what I will do on my magazine, I think it will capture the magazine content better, giving it a better portraying of the music magazine. Also with me deciding to have the front image on the magazine this would link nicely with the double page spread example. The reason why I chose to have one photo as I hope this will be enough to engage my reader into the magazine, with the central gaze this will develop eye contact to the reader. Also with having one image it shows that the magazine is a main focus around this person, perhaps an exclusive interview with an new or upcoming artist. 

House style

After choosing the font for my title, I decided that in comparson to the fact my magazine is an indie magazine I decided with the studio shot of white and an outfit that is black I could use almost any colour, however when analysis the colours I could use, which could be any:

However I thought colours that are dark, like black, wouldn't fit the magazine right because it would seem too dark and dull, whereas colours such as pink and yellow wouldn't optimize to my target audience, to find this out I went back and asked my four people from my previous questionnaire what there favourite color was so I could find out and eliminate which colors not to use and which would be more appropriate.

Here are my results:

Person 1: Black

Person 2: Red

Person 3: Purple

Person 4: Red

I decided to do more research for the colours as I felt basing the magazine on four peoples opinion I got a wider data sample of this primary research whereby I asked another 20 Indie people there favourite color I got the following results:

The favourite color out of the sample was Red, therefore I will use Red as my house style color, this wasn't a massive sample to base my house style on however I felt that because they opitimize my target audience and they are indie themself they would know what they would like to see as this is the norm for them and they probably themselves read indie magazines so they know what they have on their magazines.

Background Color

The colour I have chosen for my background is a white studio shot, I decided this because looking and a variety of magazine and through research I analysed that all magazines have study shots for there magazine front cover, this would be easier for me as I would have more to work with, I could chose my own color scheme and this would be easier to follow as a house style. These all show the studio shot, with a white or grey plain background, this shows that the colours with can be more unique because they can chose the house style themselves, this add versatility to the magazine.  

Target Audience

I asked my Target audience for the following questions:

Here are the answers to all the questions and a picture of the people that answered them:

Person One: 

Male, 17

Radio Station: XFM

Favourite Artists/Bands: Gary Numan, The Killers, U2

Favourite Retail Shop: Hollister

Mainly use internet for: Social Networking, download and listen to music

Time on Internet Per week: 28hrs

Group: Indie

Person Two:

Male, 19

Radio Station: Kerrang or Absolute Radio

Favourite Artists/Bands: Asking Alexandria, The Killers, Of Mice and Men, Oasis

Favourite Retail Shop: H&M

Mainly use internet for: Twitter, YouTube

Time on Internet Per Week: 24hrs

Group: -

Person Three:

Female, 20

Radio Station: Capital

Favourite Artists/Bands: Lana Del Rey, Ed Sheeran

Mainly use internet for: Facebook 

Time on internet per week: 3hrs

Group: Dont Know

Person  Four 

Female, 21 

Radio Station: Radio 1

Favourite Artists/Bands: Paloma Faith, Lana Del Rey,

Mainly use internet for: (besides work) Twitter or clothes shopping

Time on internet per week: 2hrs Max

Group: - 

My target audience for my Music Magazine is Male and Female aged 17-25 so for my target audience I wanted to get a range of ages, rather than just focusing on one aspect of the age group (Eg aged 17), although I set my age range at the lowest being 17 this isn't excluding anyone because it would also be applicable to those from 14 upwards, however I didn't aim my audience this low they would still pick up the magazine and read it.  I decided to ask the questions that I asked above because I could therefore understand what sort of artists and bands I should include in my magazine and mainly to help with my double page spread article to show what style of writing it should be and to understand what clothes I should put my model in for the photo shoot depending on the majority retail shop vote. I decided to take photos of the people I asked because they represent and optimise my target audience.

Issue Published

I decided to look at the possible times for my issue to be published:

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

I decided in comparison to my chosen photo for the front cover:

I thought I would use the issue as an Autumn issue due to the lighting being dark and also the dressing of the Model.

After looking at my photo and in comparison to my research I decided to change my front cover photo as it should be a studio shot, rather than the out doors I therefore took more photos off the same model, to link with the double page spread photo continuing the house style, after taking another 60-70 photos I narrowed it down to the final few:

From these I will select which one would mainly fit the 'indie' look at which would mostly likely to appear on the front cover of a magazine.

Carrying out some more research, I decided to change my mind again and stick with an outdorr shot, although the reader wouldnt be aware off the outdoor shot because I used the quick selection tool to just select the outline and put this in the middle of the page this adds dominance to the magazine front cover.

Ideas for Cover Lines Front Cover Music Magazine

After looking at Magazines and analysing what they offer in their magazines for different target audiences, I decided there are many things I could include:

I decided to look at these straplines to see what I should add onto my magazine front cover, this will make the magazine more professional and will ensure that it could fit into the magazine industry.