Final designs

Double page spread draft 6

I have now added a competition section to the page as i felt there was too much useless space that would be unatractive to the audience. I have also added small print below to make the magazine look more proffesional. I have now underlined all of the titles and small image with the pastel blue colour that i have used throughout the rest of the magazine. I have done this to break up the page and again link this back to the rest of the magazine. I have also added a few other components so that it looks more proffesional.

Double page spread draft 5

As you can see above i have now added tour dates above. although i did not ask any questions about this to my target market or focus group i have seen it in many other music magizines and so i beleive it will help the doupbe page spread look more authentic.

Double page spread draft 4

As shown above i have used a large image of my artist. i have used an action shot so that the page is more exciting for the audience and also stands out as the most important part of the page. I have also now added a small image to go with the interview. The image is of a gig that i have taken and should give the audience an insight into what the artist is talking about in his interview questions. This also makes the interview more engaging to the viewer as it is more exciting than just plain text.

Double page spread draft 3

Above i have now added a main image of the artist that takes up most of one of the pages. This is because i found that in my focus group they thought the main image was the most important component that should be on the page. This image is also a fairly good shape and so will allow me to ad text and information easily around the outside.

Double page spread draft 2

Above i have added an interveiw that i have conducted with my artist as this followed the codes and conventions of the other music magazines. I have used a black font with a red outter glow so that it stands out on the page and looks less boring. I have also made the interview more clear by writing my artists replies in italics.

Double page spread draft 1

I have used a pastel coloured red for the background so that it follows the same house theme as the rest of my magazine whilst also standing out to the target market engaging them and making them want to read on. I have also used a very informal font and backdrop for each of the letters in the title, this is to keep the page fun and interesting. For one of the letters i have used a drivers leaner plate symbol, this is because the audience will be able to relate with this as they will be using it a lot and also sybolises the artist learning new things.

Contents draft 6

I think there is too much empty space on this page however i also think that i have included all of the information needed and so i have placed arrows in spaces of blank space. These arrows serve two purposes, the first is that they tell the reader to go on and read the rest of the magazine in quite a forceful manor, the second is that they help create a house theme as they are the same pastel blue that i have used on all the other mages and appeals to my target market. I have also added captions to the bottom of the pictures to make them look more realistic and fill the white space.

Contents draft 5

I have now added images that that link to the double page spread and look like instant photos. I have done this to keep a fun feeling to the magazine whilst also linking back to the rest of the magazine. The images also mean that there is not too much text on the page and so is more engaging for the audience.

Contents draft 4

I have now added a band index to my contents page. i have created this so that when people are flicking through the magazine in the shop they can see if their favourite bands are in the magazine and then buy it. I made the title of this area the same pastel blue that i have used throught the magazine so that it is easily recognised in the house theme. I have also added an advertisement for the magazine for a subscription as this makes it look more proffesional.

Contents draft 3

I have now added a contents to make the magazine easier to navigate. I have not included all of the pages as this would take up too much space and look boring. This means i have only included the most important parts and ordered them neatly so it looks presentable and proffesional.

Contents draft 2

As shown above i have now added a second title that reads 'contents' this is to make the audience clearly understand that this page will tell them how to navigate through the magazine and where their favourite parts are. I have also added Black boarders for the text so it is very clear and easy to read for the audience whilst also leaving enough room for images.

Contents draft 1

As shown above i have used the same pastel red colour for the background as i have for the front cover. This is to follow the house theme and help the audience relate these colours to a brand. I have also desplayed the title again as it helps to advertise the magazine and helps to associate this as a logo for the magazine.

From Mrs S

This looks good Joe, make check the 'exclusive' word in one of your cover lines isn't falling off the page

Front cover draft 7

I have now added a barcode and edition date. This serves two purpose. The first is that it fill some of the empty space making the page more appealing. The second is that it follows the codes and conventions of other music magazines and so looks more proffesional.

From Miss D

Joe- I can't see much development from the last time i saw your front cover so upload some more please.

From Mrs S

Looking really good Joseph, but stop arguing with us!!

Front cover draft 6

I have now changed the positioning of some of my cover lines so that the page is more balanced and so will appeal to a wider target market. this also leaves the page with less free space without being crowded and so looks quite proffesional.

Front cover draft 5

I have now added a few more cover lines to my front cover. I think that this makes the page look a bit one sided however and leave too much empty space.

Front cover draft 4

I have now added some cover lines. They are quite large so that they stand out to the audience and make them want to read the stories inside. i have also used diffirent colours for the font as this will now go with the house theme.

Front cover draft 3

I have now added a footer that displays some of the artists that will feature in the magazine. This will help attract audiences as famous artists would be displayed on the front that people find interesting to read about. This also follows the codes and conventions of other music magazines.

Front cover draft 2

As shown above i have now added my title that i had previously decided on. I have made the title fairly large however not central as i need it to be important but not the main focus. I have also added my main image which takes up most of the page as from my research and planning i have found that this is what attracts the audience the most. The image is black and white to look inivative and new as this suits the magazine genre.

Front cover draft 1

For the backgroung i have used the pastel red colour that i decided on after looking through my questionnaire and focus group. I have also used a gradient on the background so that it fades to white. I have done this so that the cover is more exciting and looks less cheap.

Final name, colour scheme and fonts

From Mrs S

I think that making decisions about which font / colours etc you think are the most effective would be good now.

Name development

Colour schemes

I have looked a diffirent colour schemes used by a magazine with a similar genre to mine. Some front covers have been displayed above. i have found that indie magazines generally us greys black and whites with small injections of colour to draw more attension. Because of this i will try and keep my colour schemes quite similar.

Below are a few colour schemes that i could use:

From Mrs S

The planning's looking good Joe, just keep on top of things.

Front cover layouts

The above design is similar to a recent NME magazine layout and displays the information a cover lines arount the whole page. The image would have to overlap the coverlines to ensure it maintains it simportance.


The Front cover layout shown above contains all the codes and conventions of a magazine however this particular design push's most of the information to the right of the page allowing more free space on the left for the image. This will put more emphasis on the image and show more importance.



This design leaves more room at the bottom of the page for the picture whilst also containig a lot of information and coverlines. this layout would also minimize blanc space however make the image less important.

This design has been taken from a recent NME magazine and so fills the page well whilst also displaying a good amount of information.

This layout design still displays quite a good amout of information however is still quite messy and so could be improved.

This layout design displays a huge amount of information however not very many pictures wich will not attract many readers.

Above is a layout design for my contents i will use this basic design for my magazine as it i quite universal however will be altered slightly for my diffirent pictures.

Name designs

From Miss D

Plann some ideas for images and coverlines as well as font. Lots still to do.

From mrs S

Some good work here, Joe. Keep it up.

Magazine name

I have chosen to make an indie/rock magazine. Because of the type of music this genre of magazine will contain i will have to use very strong meaningful words to allow the magazine to stand out in such a diverse market. I thought that the best way to do this was buy using titles with double meanings. A good example of this is the magazine NME. NME stands for new musical express however sounds like the word enemy. This is good as the word enemy is often associated with violence and so corresponds with the rock genre of music. I thought that a good name for my magazine would be ‘IN.D.’ which would stand for in development as a lot of indie music comes from new artists that are still under development. The letters also sound like the genre giving the magazine a unique title with a versatile double meaning.

Product placement

I have researched into were my magazine would be sold and were would be appropriate to advertise my magazine. I found that most large supermarkets now sell a range of magazines. This is because it is so easy and convenient for buyers and creates a wider market for an audience that wouldn’t otherwise have access to music magazines. I have also found that music magazines can be bought from large music stores such as HMV. This is a perfect place to sell the magazines as the people going into the store are likely to enjoy music and so are more likely to buy magazines as they are a more concentrate audience. This shows that there have been large developments as magazines used to be mainly sold at news agents but can now even be bought on the internet. As music magazines are now more readily available the audience for them has grown dramatically and so can be advertised and sold almost everywhere.

Below i have displayed some sales figures of music magazines to show the scal of which these magazines are being sold.

IPC is one of the leading magazine publishers in briatain at the moment and publish popular magazines such as NME. This menas that they are very good in their field and so would be perfect to publish my magazine. This would also be a good advertisment tool for the magazine as saying that this large company publish my magazine would attract potential buyers.

From Miss D

Don't get bogged down with analysis Joe. I would move on to planning some ideas for your own product based on what you have learnt so far.

Contents page analysis 2

From Mrs S

I like what you're doing Joe, the analysis is pretty good

NME double page spread analysis

From Miss D

Your analysis is well-considered and thorough- keep it up...

Contents page analysis

Miss D

As far as research goes, look at a couple of contents and double page spreads and link to teh front cover then start looking at product placement to see you product in the real media world- how and where will people consume it? Where would it be distributed?

From mrs S

you analyse what you can see on the front cover, you need to suggest what the effect of these elements would be on a customer.

From Mrs S

Oops! Don't post a heading without the work that goes with it - it looks like you haven't done the work...which I'm sure is not the case!

Magazine front cover analysis

Focus group questionnaire and analysis

Focus group questionnaire analysis

I have now analysed the answers from my focus group questionnaire so that i can use the information to create a product that my target market will want to buy.






4) The Majority of my target market said that they thought the main image should be the most important part of a magazine front cover however one person said that the title was the most important and so I will have to take this into account when creating my front cover.

5) Everyone that filled out my focus group questionnaire said that the most important part of the contents page was the page index and so I will have to make this very clear.

6) The majority of my target market said that the most important part of a double page spread is the image and interview and so I will have to make sure this stands out so that it will appeal to my target market.

I will use this information throughout the rest of this project to create a product that suits my target market well and would sell well.

Focus group questionnaire

Below is a focus group questionnaire that i have given to a small group that fit my target market. This is to get a better understanding of what my target market would want in an indie magazine.

1) What colours would you most like to see in the music magazine?

Orange/Red/Yellow
Blue/Red/Grey
Black/White
Blue/Yellow/Green
Other

2) Do you think the colours should be vibrant or more like pastel?

Vibrant
Pastel
A mixture

3) Do you think that the front page, main double page spread ands contents page should all have elements of one main story?

Yes
No

4) What do you think should be the most important part of the front cover?

5) What do you think should be the most important part of the contents page?

6) What do you think should be the most important part of a double page spread?

Questionnaire analysis

1) The first question I asked was are you male or female? The result was 6 males and 9 females. As a result my answers will be more female based.


2) The second question I asked was how old are you ? The majority of people who answered my questionnaire were between 15-17 and so the rest of the answers are likely to be on younger music however there are some older and younger people carrying out this questionnaire. No one between the age of 21-25 has answered my questionnaire.


3) The third question I asked was what music do you listen to? The highest scoring genre was Indie/alternative however R’n’B and pop followed closely behind and so I will have to consider all three of these genres for my magazine.


4) The fourth question I asked was do u regularly buy music magazines? Over fifty percent of the people I asked did not buy music magazines regularly and so will have a fresh outlook for the rest of the questionnaire.


5) The fifth question I asked was do you keep up to date with music? 12 out of 15 people said yes meaning that they will know quite a lot about artists and magazines which will give me better answers for the rest of the questionnaire.


6) The sixth question i asked was how much would you spend on a music magazine? The majority of people said they would pay between £1-£3 and no one said they would pay more than £5.


7) The seventh question i asked was what would you expect to see on your favourite magazine? i allowed the audience to tick as many as they wanted as they may have wanted more than one answer. All of the answers where chosen however concert information and interveiws were the most popular.


8)The eighth question i asked was where do you buy your magazines? mostpeople said that they bought their magazines at either a supermarket or corner shop showing that most people wont go far to get it.

9) The ninth question i asked was do you prefer bands or single artists? The majority of people said they prefered single artists showing that this is what they would like to see in the magazine.


10) The tenth question I asked was would you prefer to see up and coming artists or well known artists? The majority of people said they would prefer well known artists. This shows that more people look at magazines that they are familiar with.

11) The eleventh question I asked was do you buy magazines based on appearance, freebies, information or other? I allowed the people who took my questionnaire to tick as many answers as they wanted as they may want more than one. The highest scoring part was the appearance and information showing that these are the most important parts of the magazine for my audience.

12)The twelfth question i asked was who is your favourite group or artist? i got a range of answers for this question from rock bands to pop bands however most people chose single pop artists such as Britney Spears, Robbie Williams and Michael Jackson.