Drafting and planning- Analysis of first magazine draft

I don't like my first magazine draft very much as I don't like the layout. I have four separate photos of the band members which I saw in an edition of NME with four different pictures of the Arctic Monkeys members in a similar format. However I don't think this worked as well as all the pictures were different and there was no link between the members, such as wearing similar clothes and doing similar poses in the same location. I like the logo 'CMM' because I like the simplicity with the plain dark red colour scheme. Although I might consider changing the font and perhaps adding the whole title 'Cobain Melodic Music' in small underneath the acronym.

Drafting and planning- First magazine draft

                                              This is my very first attempt at creating a magazine cover with the band that I have created.                      

Drafting and planning- Analysis of page plus project

I used the majority of codes and conventions for a music magazine to make it realistic, such as, masthead, bar code, date line and price. I chose to use a red, black and white colour scheme as i wanted to keep it simple and plain ensuring that the headlines are simple to read. I chose to have Arctic Monkeys lead man as my cover artist as he is a massive indie/rock icon which I feel fits the simplistic design of the new magazine. On the contents page and double spread page I used pictures of the whole band to make it feel more about the music. I used other artist's names on the contents page that I think would fall in to the same genre/target audience as Arctic Monkeys. I stuck with the same colour scheme throughout my creation of the cover page, double spread page and contents page to make it feel like a realistic magazine. On the double page spread I used a picture of the whole band with a gap in between two of the members which I thought was a good space for some simple writing to introduce an article. The writing I used was a real quote from Alex Turner saying 'I wear my sunglasses too much, it just makes me feel better'. I thought this was humorous as it is irrelevant to the article however in the picture he is wearing sun glasses.

Drafting and planning- PagePlus project

  

                           FRONT COVER                                              CONTENTS PAGE

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

Whilst experimenting with 'PagePlus' I used Arctic Monkeys to create a front cover, contents page and double page spread for a new magazine.

Research in to similar products- Analysis of questionnaire

This is the results of research in to the target audience for my genre and what they would like to see in an indie/rock music magazine.

Organisation- Images of my artiste/band member

This will be the lead singer of my band 'Sam Turner' and the image, style and personality the whole band will have. I want him and the rest of the band to be young, care free and rebellious. This is shown through the young eccentric fashion sense and image with the long messy hair and denim. Also, the fact that he has a cigarette in his hand similar to pictures I found of Arctic Monkeys lead man.

Organisation- Band identity

Band Name: Faux Fur
Harrison Taylor- Lead guitarist and backing vocals
Jacob Robinson- Base
Sam Turner- Lead vocals and guitar

Age: Late teens
Image: Rebellious indie style, leather and denim.
Information about the band: Up and coming indie/rock band, inspired by the likes of oasis and arctic monkeys, releasing their first album with the theme of life as young teenagers having fun and doing what they want and occasionally the struggles that younger people face such as 'girl problems'.

Album Name: For the laugh
Track list:
1. Sunglasses indoors
2. Please stop talkin'
3. Forever isn't for everyone
4. Didn't do that much wrong
5. Noughties
6. Pretending to dance
7. Mysterious ways
8. Boys in blue
9. Walrus on the dancefloor
10. Ice age sugar
11. Shiver

Organisation- Name of magazine

 These are two options for the name of my magazine. 'COBAIN' is dedicated to possibly the biggest name in the genre Kurt Cobain the lead man in Nirvana. 'MELODIC METAL' is how I think the type of indie/rock music I'm thinking about could be described.
However whilst testing fonts with the two names I had the idea to combine the two and use the abbreviation 'CMM' similar to 'New Music Express' being abbreviated to 'NME'.

Organisation- Name of band

When trying to come up with band names for the main original band that will feature on my magazine i thought about current indie bands being quite young and rebellious but also quite eccentric and strange. I think the band name i will use is 'DROPOUTS' as it is simple and memorable and also forces connotations that the band are young and rebellious.

Although i didn't think 'MELODIC METAL' would be good choice for my band name i may use this for the name and masthead of my magazine as i think it represents the 'indie' genre and sound perfectly.

Drafting and planning- fonts

I found a range of different fonts that fit in with the indie genre. I dislike 'indie hand' as i disagree that it is indie and think it would look quite cheap on my magazine.

I think the rest would all fit in with different indie/rock bands but the one that would suit the band i wish to create is probably most likely to be 'Indie Press'.

Research in to similar product- Same music genre

I have decided to do an indie style magazine and feel that a lot of what I produce will have some similarities to NME. I'm researching further in to my favourite band Arctic Monkeys to learn more about the ethos of the magazine and what type of things i'll be including on my front cover. I have already established that for the main image I will need a band of rebellious young men who have a very cool, laid back attitude. I think an interesting feature of this front cover is the headings for each cover story as it is more likely to catch a readers eye and engage them. The colour scheme remains very simplistic and keeps to the traditional house colour of NME. I will definatly have my band's name the most stand out across the middle like shown on this edition of the magazine.

Research in to similar products- similar artistes

Although i do like the hip-hop/rap genre i am likely to produce an NME style magazine.
If i was to do an indie/rock type magazine i would hope to use a main photo similar to these featuring the band Arctic Monkeys.
I would photograph people wearing similar young rebellious outfits that match the personality of the band as we see in these pictures the lead man Alex Turner always has a cigarette.
I also hope to make my 'band' look as cool and care free as arctic monkeys as they're just sitting there in sun glasses looking away from the camera.

Drafting and planning- visual thesaurus

Drafting and planning- organizing my own front cover

I have produced a XXL front cover and have thought about the ethos of the hip-hop/rap magazine whilst creating the cover. 

I have included lots of different codes and conventions of a music magazine, such as, left third, main cover line & cover lines, date line, price and barcode. All of these typical codes and conventions make the front cover more professional and easy to read. 

I've used a mid shot of Jae to ensure that he takes up most of the cover aswell as his head covering the masthead highlighting the importance of the artist to this edition of XXL. I think he has the hip-hop/rap image and is appropriate to the style of this magazine. 

I've used a puff with the buzz word 'FREE' as the magazine offers a free demo of the cover star's music, this would attract hip-hop/rap music fans as they would like the chance to hear a new artist's music.

The name of the artist is the largest boldest piece of text on the cover as fans of the magazine and genre would be intrigued by a new artists name.

The colour scheme and layout is very simple and all sticks to the simplicity and plainness of the masthead. 

Research in to similar products- Other style magazine for ideas on contents page

The main image, a photo of Ciara lying on her back, is placed purposely to grab your attention as the left third rule suggests that the first thing the reader see's is her legs in the air in a seductive manor, this is is likely to appeal to the male reader and catch their attention as well as fans of the famous artist used for the main image. 

The artist's feet are covering the faint 'V' at the top of the page representing the name of the magazine highlighting the artists importance on the page. Ciara's legs matching the magazine in the shape of a 'V' makes the artist feel very specific to the magazine and would attract fans to read the article. 

The colour scheme fits in with the formal nature of the magazine and in keeps with the classy, elegant style that the font connotes.

Main cover lines are used to separate the articles in to different categories. There are lots of different cover lines representing the fact that there is lots of exciting things to read about in the magazine. More important words in the cover lines are bold and spaced out to stand out and grab your attention.

Drafting and planning- Original photography analysis

This is analysis of some original photography as practice so i could understand how to get the perfect pictures for my magazine.

Research in to similar products- Other style magazine for ideas on double page spread

There is a whole page in this magazine for a picture of Katy Perry, a very attractive female wearing hardly any clothes posing in a very provocative flirtatious manor, this is effective as it would immediately catch a young man's eye and then they're likely to want to read the magazine as Katy Perry is a huge global pop star. The font is similar to the rolling stones logo and the lay out of the text is similar to a news paper article. The headline of the article is very central and is the biggest text on the page which similarly to the picture is quite provocative as it talks about her showering fully clothed.

Research in to similar products- Same genre contents page

The layout of this content page ensures that it is easy to read and find what you want. Everything is sectioned off under different category's, such as 'NEWS' which makes it clear to the reader where they can find different features in the magazine.

The contents page features one short main story which is kind of like an a taster and advert for the rest of the magazine.

I like the use of the 'band index' feature in NME magazines as readers who are only interested in bands that they like may like this as it becomes easy to avoid anything that they do not wish to read and simply go to sections of the magazine about bands they like.

The colour scheme and layout accompanying the contents of the magazine make it clear that the magazine is targeted at indie/rock music fans.

The use of informal writing with 'slang' terminology would appeal to the young, trendy target audience. 

The colours used follow the conventional house colours used in NME with red, black and white dominating the page. However, yellow writing on a black background is used to advertise a monthly subscription, this is because they wanted it to stand out so more people are drawn in to subscribe.

Target audience research

I think i'll aim my music magazine at a similar target audience as popular magazines like NME. Indie/Rock artists and bands are most commonly the cover stars on the issues of NME, for example, Arctic Monkeys have featured on the cover of the magazine many times throughout their career. This makes me think that the magazine is mainly targeted at older teenagers/young adults as people around this age group, male or female, can relate to the music featured in NME. However, whilst NME is aimed at a mass market on a whole, i'll aim my magazine at more of a niche market, sticking to indie/rock music.

Research in to similar products- codes and conventions

Oasis are well known for the falling out of the two lead men Noel and Liam Gallagher so the fact that the image is them standing far apart from each other wearing light and dark contrasting colours accompanies the main cover line 'ROCK'S MESSIEST BUST-UPS'  and would attract indie/rock group fans to purchase the magazine. All the usual conventions of a magazine cover are featured such as the bar code, date line and price and sub cover stories which in this case is just names of other bands that feature in the magazine, this is good as it may attract people who particularly like one of these artists. I like the NME type indie/rock genre artists on magazine covers as the bands usually look good on the cover and their rebellious style, similar to the Gallagher brothers, makes good cover lines to attract readers.

Research into similar products- Genre crossovers

On this hip-hop magazine VIBE there are two cover stars used as famous rapper Eminem and rapper and producer Dr Dre have a lot of fans who would be very excited that they are making music together. Therefore the cover line 'What are eminem and dre cookin' up?' is very clever as it suggests they are working together on music and would attract a lot of readers. The font is all yellow to fit with the theme of the magazine and the font is the same that is typically used when Eminem's name is wrote with the second 'E' backwards.

Research in to similar products- Same genre

The Arctic Monkeys have been used as the cover stars on NME, they are that well known to the target audience of NME that that the name of the band is not included, just the initials which is also the title of their new album which has a review advertised at the bottom titled 'The NME Verdict'. Fans of the band would be intrigued by what the critics think of the new album. All the typical conventions of a magazine are included such as date and price, left third and bar code. The main cover line 'THE FINAL CHAPTER' is used well as anyone reading would question what the final chapter for the arctic monkeys is and whether this will be their last piece of work. The plain white, bold writing contrasts with the dark clothing the artists are wearing therefore stands out well.

Drafting and planning- codes and conventions task

I used alliteration with 'Drake Dominates' as i think it would immediately grab the reader's attention. I used another massive hip-hop artist Eminem for my sub story as his music fits in with the genre of the magazine and he has a lot of fans who he could attract to purchase copies. I researched hip-hop/rap artists on magazine covers and realised that the font is often big, bold and stands out which is why i decided to use the font i did.

I researched R&B artists who often use jazz instruments like those shown in the image of the band and found the group destiny's child so decided to make this band very similar to them as i thought the name was fitting with the genre and it enabled me to use the 'Destiny's Child anger' cover story which i think would attract a lot of readers. After research of R&B music i decided that quite a simple but bold font would be the best for this magazine.

I researched Bjork specifically and used a real story about her channel 4 documentary as the main cover line as the magazine appears to be a special edition all about Bjork therefore readers would be interested by the documentary advertised. Bjork is a very eccentric artist therefore picking another eccentric artist for the sub story and the fonts were easy to pick.

I wasn't too sure what to add to this cover and would need to research further in to the rock genre but i chose to use 'the kings of the charts?' as it fits in perfectly with the name of the band. The font was easy to pick as it is just very similar to the font used on the name of the band.

I advertised a free give away of a Marilyn Manson CD on the front of this cover as the target audience of this magazine may be tempted to buy the issue just for the free music. I used this font as it is literally called '84 ROCK' and suits the rock genre very well.

Drafting and planning- Looking at typography

Target Audience- research content questionnaire

I asked 10 people to fill out audience research content questionnaires with 10 questions all about what content they would expect to see, for example what colour scheme they would want to be used or whether they would prefer the magazine to be dominated by pictures or text.

80% of the people i asked said they would rather see more pictures in the magazine than text, only 10% said text and the final 10% said they would like to see it evened out.

When asked who's point of view they would like the content to be written from 40% of the people asked said they would like most of the magazine to be written by students. 20% said they would like an even balance of writing from students and teachers. Therefore the remaining 40% said they would like to see the content written by teachers.

I also asked the people completing my questionnaire whether they would like the magazine to be focused on sixth form rather than lower school years and exactly half of the people wished for the magazine to be just for sixth form leaving the other half wanting the magazine to be about the whole school.

Drafting and planning- practicing layout

Research in to similar products- conventions of a magazine

Drafting and planning- preliminary task

Drafting and planning- Preliminary task

Target audience

Genre for music magazine

I intend to produce an indie/rock music magazine similar to famous magazines like NME where the main focus of the front cover will be a big central image of an indie band. It will be aimed mainly towards teenagers/young adults who I feel are mostly likely to buy a product from this genre.

Research in to similar products- Magazine with same genre

The massive central image of the huge hip-hop star Eminem will attract a lot of readers who are fans of his music, the title is also very eye-catching as as the big bold white lettering contrasts to the red background.

The 'T in the park' logo stands out as the yellow stands out on a black background and will attract any fans of the festival who will be attending.

The white sub-articles and artists names on the black background also stand out which is very effective as not all readers will be a fan of Eminem but may be interested in the sub-articles.

Drafting and planning- adding links

Best Song Ever by One Direction truely is the best song ever

Drafting and planning- Cropping images



This was an exercise I did cropping a picture and adding a masthead to demonstrate ICT skills in preparation for my preliminary task

My first post

Hello, I'm Luke Barnacle and this is my first post on my AS media blog