FRONT COVER FEEDBACK

I gathered feedback on these front covers from my fellow classmates.

It consisted of both positive and improvements:

POSITIVE:

"Good layout"

"Clear layout and good masthead"

"Good colour scheme tying in with the main image"

IMPROVEMENTS:

"Add more things to the front cover"

"Include more stories / cover lines"

"You could maybe add more stories"

"You should change / manipulate the photo to give the magazine more of a boost with regards to colour as it massively deteriorates your products quality."

After looking at this feedback it is clear to see I need to add more cover lines / stories to the front cover. In my opinion, I feel as though the most important factor within the feedback is the suggestion of changing or manipulating the image to make it appear a lot more industry standard. The darkness of the main image consumes the whole product with regards to the fact that  it makes the whole production appear unprofessional and dull. This will be taken into consideration when creating my final product.



PEER ASSESSMENT 1

I created a slideshare to present the wide variety of peer feedback I gained on my fornt cover drafts 1 & 2

Technology used:

• Microsoft Office - PowerPoint
• SlideShare (www.slideshare.net)

4 FRONT COVER DRAFTS

 Here are the first four drafts which I created based on my indie rock/ pop rock target audience.

I created 2 November issues, and 2 December issues using different models. This gave me more of a variety of pictures when it came to choosing the images for the cover as a result of doing 2 shoots.

I used the masthead 'VIBE' in both the right and left corner to allow me to get an insight as to which side it looks best on. I also used a variety of camera framings ranging from medium close up's to long shots to help me see which type is more suitable for my magazine. A variety of fonts was also used to emphasise different aspects of the magazine in relation to importance. e.g the main cover line is in a bolder text in comparison to the others as it is the most important cover line on there - this would hopefully lure in potential customers as a result of an interesting cover line.

PHOTOS

I arranged a photo shoot with one my friends Emily, I collated a large amount of images which I can use to create my Pop/Indie rock music magazine. I feel as though these images will be effective due to the large variety of shots I now have to work with.

                  

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD MOCK UP

CONTENTS PAGE MOCK UP

FRONT COVER MOCK UP USING FOUND IMAGES

This is a front cover which sticks to my initial ideas front cover mock up layout. I used found images, from the internet, which feature John O'Callaghan from 'The Maine'. The Maine is a band which revolves around the music genre of my magazine; Indie Rock/Pop Rock.

FRONT COVER MOCK UP

MUSIC MAGAZINE - VIBE

VIBE by s0015108 on GoAnimate

Video Maker - Powered by GoAnimate.

This is a GoAnimate which gives a brief insight into the ideas behind my magazine.

READER PROFILE

This particular NME reader profile gave me inspiration when considering how I would like my magazines reader profile to look.

My aim is to maintain as close to the 50/50  male and female target audience as possible. To do so I used a colour scheme which consists of the colours grey and white. A scheme of this type will be maintained throughout the whole of my magazine to create a house style.

My magazine is based around the rock genre of music, with indie rock influences. This is the main focus when finding images to attach to my reader profile. I aimed to collect images which relate to this particular target audience of as close to 50/50 male & female as possible.

Below is my first attempt at a reader profile - taking into consideration the codes and conventions and my specific target audience.

PHOTOSHOP SKIN MANIPULATION

FONT EXPERIMENTATION

Here are some  of the fonts I experimented with when deciding which font to use. In the end I decided I liked the look of 'Gill Sans MT Condensed' and would persue my magazine using this font.

POTENTIAL COLOUR SCHEMES

The target audience for my magazine us based around as close to 50/50 male and female as possible. For this to occur i needed to create several potential colour schemes and choose the one most suitable.

The first scheme consists of grey, black and white. I feel this is very neutral and links with my initial idea of a neutral format.

The second colour scheme consists of green, orange and white. I chose these colours because they aren't harshly associated with a male/female orientation which I also felt was an advantage in relation to the initial ideas for my colour scheme.

The third scheme includes a dark red, dark blue and white, i also thought that these were colours which do aren't massively associated with male and female orientation as opposed to harsh blue and bright pink.

The last scheme includes the colours pink, blue and white. Although these colours are largely associated with males/females I though if the correct balance was maintained it may result in a neutral look to the magazine.

To conclude, i decided to use the black, grey and white colour scheme for my magazine, simply because i think it fits best with the aim of my magazine. It will not only make it look neutral and appeal to around 50% male and 50% female, it should also hopefully look professional.

POTENTIAL MAGAZINE NAMES

This is a spider diagram to show potential names for my magazine. I came up with 9 names to consider. I made them all one worded to ensure it would be enticing to potential customers and catch their eye as opposed to being long winded and boring. After contemplating the names I decided to use 'VIBE' as my magazine name. The reason being is because I felt it relates to the genre of my magazine and will attract customers into buying it.

MALE OUTFIT MOOD BOARD

 

This is a mood board which is based around the males within my target audience. It relates to the conventional clothing of people which enjoy the Rock genre of music

FEMALE OUTFIT MOOD BOARD

 

Here is a mood board of clothing which I feel is relevant to the females in my target audience in relation to the genre of my music magazine.

INITIAL IDEAS

PRICE

TARGET AUDIENCE CONTINUED...

My target audience is based around the demographic of the ages 15-24. Considering the SEG groups, my music magazine focuses on sections which appeal to groups C1, C2, D & E mainly. The reason being, that this is where the majority of my target audience (students) are located. I want to keep my magazine as neutral as possible by appealing 50% to males and 50% to females. I understand that this will be hard but I will try my best to maintain it.

In relation to psychographics, there are four main categories. My particular magazine is most likely to appeal to those which are outer directed; they have an interest in creating an identity for themselves and even possibly emulating people they admire, for example; their favourite celebrity.

Taking into consideration Maslows 'Heirarchy of Needs' my magazine would appeal to those situated in the 'Esteem' and 'Social' section mainly. This is due to my target audience being focused around student of the ages 15-24 and these are the conventional categories of which the demographics of my music magazine revolves around.

In relation to Blumler and Katz's theory, there are four broad needs to be fulfilled by media viewers. My magazine will aim to fulfil each of the 4 sections but will revolve around creating diversions; giving the audience to do when in need of an escape from the 'real world' or just for something to do with their undirected, leisure time. It will also provide the audience with Surveillance and an insight into what is going on in the real world in relation to news or current events.

TARGET AUDIENCE

MARKET RESEARCH - TARGET AUDIENCE QUESTIONNAIRE

Target audience questionnaire:

Which genre would you like an upcoming music magazine to revolve around?

Pop-(4)       

Rock-(6)

Indie-(6)

Jazz-(1)

Classical-(1)

 

What do you think is the most important element of a music magazine?

 

Competitions-(3)

Reviews-(4)

Up close and personal with the artists-(4)

Artist interviews-(6)

Outfit advice-(1)

 

Which colour scheme would you prefer to see?

 

Mainly male orientated colours (blue/green etc)-(2)

Mainly female orientated colours (pink/red etc)-(6)

Neutral (grey/black)-(10)

 

How often would you like a magazine to be released?

 

Weekly – (3)

Bi-weekly – (6)

Monthly – (8)

Yearly – (1)

 

How much would you be willing to pay for a new magazine?

 

£1.00 - (2)

£1.50 – (2)

£2.00 – (3)

£2.50 – (11)

£3.00 – (0)

These are results I collected to help me understand the niche market of which would be interested in purchasing my magazine. The poll helped me mould the magazine and begin creating elements suitable to this particular audience.

I concluded that the poeple qwhich cvompleted this questionnaire would be interested in seeing a indie rock genre, with a main focus on interviews with the artists. The magazine should follow a neitral colour scheme of grey/black, released on a monthly basis at a price of £2.50.

MUSIC GENRE PREZI

Music Genre on Prezi

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD LIIAR ANALYSIS

A double page spread is conventionally laid out in with the main image located on the left hand side of the 2 pages, with the article located on the right hand page. As shown above.

'THE TEENAGERS' font almost looks as though it is highlighted to emphasise its importance in comparison to other bands such as the others located on the far right hand side of the page, such as 'the rascals' and 'crystal castles'.

The main article features pull quotes, this is possibly one of the more explicit terms in the article. By doing this, NME, lures the readers into reading the article to make sense of the pull quote if it was to catch their eye. Once again, similarly to the contents page, a drop cap is used in the featured article to lure in the readers. This has become an iconic convention for both NME and magazines of this sort.

The 'need to know' box on the left hand corner gives us a bit more of a general insight to who the band are and what they're about, this implies that this band is new on the scene and are needed to be given an introduction. The main image featuring 'the teenagers' is very typical of a teenagers bedroom; quite cluttered & full of posters. The band's style is likely to reflect to both their name, and the music they play, suggesting that their music aimed mainly at teenagers or those similar to that age range.

The band's fashion also links with the genre of the music they play, and the genre of music the magazine promotes – indie/pop rock. Their style is a typical reflection of not only teenagers, but the indie fashion too, with the skinny jeans and plain t-shirts sporting some sort of quote/text.

Underneath the 'RADAR' text, credit is given to the musicians and possibly the stylist too. It may also give some information about the main picture. There are also smaller images featured within the article to show one of the members in action which also includes captions with information about the band/ image.

At the end of the article, the NME website is promoted. This helps fans engage on another level, whether it is to interact with the band and see what they're currently up to, or even to subscribe to the NME website. There is also small text next to the NME website box, this gives credit to the journalist responsible for writing the article.

I decided to create a SlideShare to specifically outline the key aspects of a double page spread that I though were particularly important with regards to understanding industry codes and conventions and what I should conform to when it comes to creating my own product.

Technology used:

• Google Images (www.google.com)
• Microsoft Office - PowerPoint
• SlideShare (www.slideshare.net)

CONTENTS PAGE LIIAR ANALYSIS

This NME contents page once again features the NME logo at the top of the page, this makes it clear to the customer which magazine they are reading due to it being a constant reminder of the institution. A convention of this page is the fact that it has the masthead 'this week' at the top in big, bold letters which makes it clear for readers, it also emphasises the fact that this magazine is released on a weekly basis. The font throughout the contents is also the same and either red, white or black which maintains the magazines house style. Similarly to the front cover, the date is also printed at the top of the page.

The format to this page is very structural which makes it easy for the reader to find the article they desire, the sub-headings of 'news', 'radar', 'reviews' etc. categorize the different sections to make it even more simple. The page numbers vary in size depending on the importance of the article. Those feature in the 'band index' are considered less important in relation to those featured in the main articles of this issue i.e. the 'LIVE!' section.

The target audience for this magazine is specifically aimed at those interested in rock/ indie music, this is clearly shown by the bands which are actually featured in NME magazine e.g. The Cure, Franz Ferdinand...

The main image of this contents page will conventionally link to the front cover image, re-emphasising the main article and the page of which it is featured on, similarly to the main articles within the magazine it begins with a drop cap. This could be done to lure in the viewer to reading the article on the contents page, which will then pull them in further to reading the other articles.

Subscriptions are also available at the bottom of the page to entice loyal customers into paying for an annual package. It also gives access to the main website for extra information or to read into something further. This helps widen the fan-base of NME, making it a lot more popular due to it now having a link with customers through not only paper – but the internet too.

I devised a SlideShare to outline the key areas that I feel are important in creating a conventional, industry standard contents page for a professional magazine.

Technology used:

• Google Images (www.google.com)
• SlideShare (www.SlideShare.net)

FRONT PAGE LIIAR ANALYSIS

NME is a front cover of which I believe the genre of music I’ve chosen will fit into. NME is an institute which caters for a variety of genres, although, the main focus being indie rock / pop rock. Which is the exact genre of my potential magazine.

The iconic 'NME' (New Musical Express) masthead has become the significant logo for the magazine. Conventionally, the name of music magazines are located at the top left hand side of the cover – as seen in the magazine above. The fact that 'NME' is in a bold format, links with the fact that it is a short name and makes it a lot more memorable to both the public and consistent buyers; it becomes incredibly recognisable.

This cover is dominated by an image of The Killers, this allows us to believe that the main feature of this issue will revolve around this particular band. The pull quote 'we've never forgotten where we came from' located over the top of the picture supports this. This font is very big in comparison to the other cover lines on the issue, making it clear that this story is of more importance. This pull quote is located on the front cover to entice customers. Although, this particular pull quote could be considered the most sentimental to fans, resulting in even more purchases to make sense of it. It then proceeds to say The Killers are going to ditch the 'disco sh*t' which is probably one of the more explicit lines in the magazine, indicating they are going back to their old music – where they 'came from'. This cover line also implies The Killers should 'get back to basics' this is portrayed by the simple, all black, neutral outfits the band are seen wearing on the front cover of the magazine. This article is labelled a 'world exclusive' which also lures in customers due to them wanting to discover what is so majorly 'exclusive' about the band.

The left third of this magazine features cover lines of less importance, this is shown due to the font being smaller and not as dominant, it also blends in with the house style colour scheme of white/pink which supports this.

The sell line features another pull quote: 'this ones for Wiggins!' which is features 'inside' which lures in customers further. This is located next to the bright yellow bubble which entice customers to purchase the magazine due to the free items available inside.

The publication details are featured in tiny font, located next to the 'NME' masthead, with the barcode in the bottom right hand corner – all in the conventional place.

The bottom of the magazine features even smaller cover lines which don't to seem to be of as much importance in relation to the main image. These are just considered added extras.

The target audience for this magazine is those interested in the musical genre of rock, although does feature other artists such as Bob Marley and even Plan B. This shows that typically the magazine is aimed at those with an interest which is based around rock; from the ages 18+ with a possible 60% male, and 40% female orientation.

I decided to create a SlideShare to specifically outline the key aspects of a front cover that I though were particularly important with regards to understanding industry codes and conventions and what I should conform to when it comes to creating my own product.

Technology used:

• Google Images (www.google.com)
• SlideShare (www.SlideShare.net)

MARKET RESEARCH - DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

 
 These particular double page spreads are taken from 3 different magazine; NME, Q & SPIN. They each have various similarities and differences.

The top magazine, from NME is similar to the second one down (SPIN) this is due to the fact that they each feature a main image which covers over one full page, leaving space for around 1/3 of the page to be filled with text.

Also, a similarity between the three DPS' is the fact that they each use the convention of a drop-cap at the beginning of the article, this draws attention to the article and lures the customer into reading.

Another similarity between the 3 articles is the fact that they each feature an iconic celebrity. This boosts the sale of the magazine due to the artist it features being well known - if it is your favourite celebrity in the article you are more likely to buy it as opposed to if it features someone of a low importance and less iconic in relation to the music industry.

MARKET RESEARCH - CONTENTS PAGE

Once again, the background of these contents page is particularly plain/blank, this draws attention to the main images that features on the contents. Both 'NME' and 'Q' are similar in relation to their layouts: they include a main image which fills a section of the page, which is then surrounded by text with information about articles. Whereas, 'SPIN' has a different layput in comparison to the other two. This includes a main image which fills a sufficient amount of the page, a scarce amount of text is included with a pull quote in the top corner. This is unconventional of a magazine cover which makes it look individual which could connote that the music the magazine features is also individual in comparison to other tracks in the music industry.