I have previously stated that my target audience is both males and females aged between 16 and 25. I did this because my research showed me that females felt the music media industry was predominately aimed at males. Because of this information I dcided to make one which targets women. However I also know that it is mostly males who buy music magazines and didn't want to limit my audience. Because of this I decided that I would create a music magazine for both genders.

 

For the age range I decided it would spread from older teenagers to mid twenties. This means that I had to make sure I used language suitable for a large age range.

From constructing this product I have learnt that using online tools such as twitter, facebook, instagram and tumblr are good ways of engaging with your readers and buyers but are also a good way of gaining audience feedback instantly from people within a particular age group or gender. I believe that this is also a good, modern way of gaining interest in something before it has been created to create a hype over it and creating a market for it before it has been created. 

Magazines often create social networking sites in order to keep up with current trends and to gain feedback from their followers who will also be their audience, this helps them to understand what is wanted and expected of them when creating the print magazine. 

I think if the magazine would be created for real and printed to sell it would be necessary to keep up with what the target audience are interested in and therefore being regularly seen as having an online presence would be important. This would give me more of a connection with the readers, and a way of encouraging masses into buying the magazine. 

It will also mean that bands can easily promote the magazine (particularly if they feature in it) to their hundreds of followers which could mean the amount of readers the magazine has will increase dramatically. 

After looking again at my preliminary task which was to create a school magazine, I feel I have improved greatly not only in the design aspect of how I created them but also in the depth in which I can now analyse work. I feel i have a deeper knowledge of how a magazine is made and how each factor is equally as important as the other to successfully create an aesthetically pleasing magazine which also has substance. Looking at the cover I created for my school magazine, my photoshop skill was not very good however I now believe I can easily use it to create anything I would like.

As I stated previously I wanted to ensure my magazine would be gender neutral therefore supplying to the general audience however I intended to make it predominantly for females as my research showed that existing music magazines do not regularly appeal to females as they feel intimated by them because of the male dominated general demeanour of how the magazine is represented to the public. On the cover of my magazine for example I have used an image of a young woman alongside colours such as red to indicate love and femininity. I also used a black and white gradient which shows a classic style, often used by fashion designers such as Chanel. The contents page shows continuity as I used the same black, white and red colours which were incorporated into the cover along with a blue/green colour which was found in the models hair. I feel that my target audience will be 40% males and 60% females aged between 15-25 as it will appeal to both genders but will be for a younger reader. 

This is the title of my magazine which I made using another font from dafont.com which is called Marte. I am not yet happy with my title as i don't think it is eye catching enough and therefore doesn't stand out on the page. 

I added the name of the model slightly below her face using a font I found on dafont.com called Pangraph which I downloaded. I decided that red was a good colour to use as it matches the colour of her lips. 

This is the beginning of my magazines front cover which I am creating using photoshop.I cut out the original image shown below using the quick selection tool and then making the edges smoother. I also evened out the tones as the lighting made the model appear quite yellow. 

The background for my model is a rectangle of colours graduating from light grey to light purple as I thought a plain white background looked boring. 

CONTENTS PAGE PLAN CHANGES

This was my initial plan for what my contents page was going to look like, however after analysing existing contents pages I am going to draw up a simpler design with less writing and images. I feel that this will make it more interesting to look at as the one I have drawn so far is complex and crowded. I also feel it would look messy if I were to create it as the images are different sizes and there would be lots of blank areas.

CONTENTS ANNOTATION

I decided to look at three contents page designs while creating my own so I can gain a clearer understanding of how mine should look.

From doing so I have learnt that I prefer a simple design as some which have a lot of writing and images look crowded and are difficult to follow. I am going to have colour on my page as I think this makes them more engaging for the audience. They are all from very different magazines so I can get more of an understanding of how magazines are created.

CONTENTS ANNOTATION

CONTENTS ANNOTATION

CONTENTS ANNOTATION

 

 

 

PICTURE SELECTION

 

From my contact sheet I circled the images I like most and therefore intend to use, and crossed out badly take photgraphs which are either blurred or have poor lighting.

 

The images I like are circled so I may easily select them when creating my magazine.



 

FIRST DRAFT OF CONTENTS

 

This is my contents page so far, I have followed my colour scheme by using gradients of black and white along with pink. I have included images of the cover model to show continuity between the pages.
The font used to write contents is the same as the font I will be using throughout.

CONTENTS PAGE PLAN

I drew up a plan for my contents page so I could have a clear idea when it comes to creating my finished magazine. It was drawn in pencil with no colour so I have more freedom, however I have a simple colour scheme in mind.

                      

 

These are just the initial colours I have in mind. I chose to use black and white as when I was previously researched about colour theory I discovered that an accented neutral pallete looks effective as colours are made to appear brighter. Also it shows a sense of unity as most of the colours are variations of each other (black and pink). The blue is a contrast to the other colours I have selected and I am planning on only using this for words or sentences which I want to make stand out, I may use variations of the blue when making my final page. I would like to use gradients on my contents page as I think they are minimalistic yet will make it look more interesting.

On the bottom of my contents page I am going to have a bar which gives the reader names of the magazine's various social media accounts. This is a modern way of encouraging audience participation so will be suitable for my target audience and will possibly result in a larger amount of people hearing about, and therefore buying, the magazine.

As the title of my magazine is "foe", I am going to put four images of the model together as though they were taken in a photobooth and name this 'FOEtobooth'. Foe and the beginning of photo sound similar and will therefore make this familiar to the reader and should create a sense of comedy, making the audince more comfortable when reading.

The writing I am going to have on the page will be split into three columns titled 'cover articles, 'the usuals' and 'extras'. Clearly labelling them and spacing them out will make it look neater and will mean the audience are able to distinguish each section.

 

For the page numbers, rather than just having the number I am going to have them laid out as hundreds, tens and units to give it a more interesting feel and so all numbers will be same width, therefore making it look less messy.

 

I'm not sure wether I like my contents page design so I may make some changes as I think the background being white would look too plain and boring so I might make some graphics to place behind the text and images. I also might only make one column of text on my contents page showing where the cover articles are inside the magazine as the usual articles will be in the same areas, this will give me more space to place photographs.
 

CONTENTS PAGE SKETCH

SHOT LIST 2

PHOTOSHOOT

In the plan I made for my photoshoot I said the pictures were to be taken at Bussey Building in Peckham, however I changed this and they were taken at my house instead. I still managed to take the photographs in front of a blank wall and the model was able to change into the outfits planned. 

PHOTOSHOOT

These are the photos i took of my model on the shoot. They are taken against a blank wall to make it easier for me to photoshop them, and also making the images look more simplistic. The model is wearing simple dark colours like I planned to make her hair and make up stand out. There were five outfit changes so i had several options on what images to use. 

The photographs are mainly close up or mid length shots as I want them to look intimate when I create my magazine. 

I am going to edit some pictures into black and white to enable me to add colour with fonts and graphics.

SOCIAL NETWORKING

Using social networking sites in order to communicate with my readers would be a good idea, several excisting music magazines have succesful accounts on sites such as twitter and facebook in order to interact with their target audience, or to try and gain a younger following.

"It worships the creative amateur: the self-taught filmmaker, the dorm-room musician, the unpublished writer. It suggests that everyone- even the most poorly educated and inarticulate amongst us- can and should use digital media to express to express and realize themselves. Web 2.0 'empowers' our creativity, it 'democratizes' media, it 'levels the playing field' between experts and amateurs. The enemy of 2.0 is 'elitist' traditional media"

-Andrew Keen, The Weekly Standard

Andrew Keen's idea is that anybody who uses social media is some sort of publisher. Any time a tweet is written, no matter who may do it, they are a media publisher, sharing their ideas with the world.
This is also used as a way of engaging with the audience, in the modern age when a new film is released a website is then created for it. From this several accounts are created on seperate social media networks. For example the website for the 2013 film  American Hustle gives you the option to share the site address on twitter ot google+, and also has icons which link you to popular apps such as instagram, facebook, twitter and tumblr.  This means that any fan of the film is able to communicate with the stars or producers to voice their opinion, which their idol may respond to, furthermore making them feel included in the film industry.

TYPOGRAPHY FEEDBACK

I posted this tweet in order to gain more audience feedback from my followers, they all fit into my age group and therefore are the perfect people to ask. Using social media to do research is useful as I have the ability to gather information quickly from several different people.

Eight people replied telling me the font they preferred out of the ten options I gave them from which I learnt that number 3 and number 6 where the most successful. The majority of people told me they favored number six, I also like this font and will therefore be using this for my magazine title.

INSPIRATION

I created a mood board from images I gathered online which I am going to use as inspiration when I take my photographs.

In the mood board simple images have been made interesting through the use of colour and facial expression. 

I am going to use a white wall for the background of my pictures as this makes the person stood at the foreground the focus of the image. As my model has brightly coloured blue hair, I am going to dress her in plain colours such as black or white in order to make her face stand out, to achieve this I will use glitter or stickers/bindis to make her face more eye catching.

MY MODEL

My model is going to be Lucca Joy, she is 21 and runs a trendy music venue and bar. 

 

The reason I want to use her for my magazine is because she has the particular look I am going for. On the shoot I am going to have several costume changes and will also alter her makeup and hair in order for the photographs to be different. 

SHOT LIST

RESEARCH ANALYSIS

From speaking to several people who fall exactly into my target audience I have learnt that simplicity is key when it comes to designing my magazine. I must make it eye catching by using bright colours yet minimalistic with short interesting articles. Art and design must play an important factor as this is something which interests the majority of people I interwieved. It must be a magazine with substance and style from which people will be able to gain inspiration as will as information. I need to create pages that engage the reader on both a design level and in a way they would want to read the articles featured

Discovering new music will play a key role in my magazine as this is something that the people I spoke to told me they would be most interested in. On the side of each large interview (more than one page) I will include information on the artists tour dates (if any) and will have a small paragraph with an image describing one of their albums or new releases, particularly if they are relatively unknown as this will support them in gaining fans. 

I have decided to conform to all the magazine conventions I wrote about previously. For example I am going to use a colour scheme because this will show continuity throughout the magazine. A headline, masthead and price/barcode are all necessary features of a magazine so will therefore also be included in my cover. I am going to use a mid length photograph with emphasis being on the face to engage with the audience. 

I need to consider my audience feedback when deciding my colour scheme to ensure it will be like by my target audience. I was told that minimalistic is most important and therefore will use a lot of black, white and grey. However this may be boring so I will also include brighter colours for fonts and graphics.

MAGAZINE NAME

The name I favoured was 'the face' however I researched and discovered that this is an existing British music, fashion and culture magazine established in 1980, the last issue was published in 2004. I liked this name and had several ideas regarding what future issues could be like to show continuity.

Names such as 'junk', 'loser', 'waste' and 'brat' are words related to the stereotypes certain people use affiliated with the people who fall under the indie rock category.  

As the name I chose is already a published magazine I'm choosing to name it F.O.E (figure of eight); this being a music term which describes a microphone which is sensitive at both the front and rear however rejects sound coming from the sides.          

 

 

This name connotes the idea that my magazine is the biggest opponent to existing music magazines. It also connotes a punk ideoligy that the audience of this magazines are the enemies of society and want to do things differently.

INTERVIEW

I spoke with Ellie Leverett, a 16 year old music technology student who is interested in music culture and discovering new bands, she plays piano and guitar and likes drama.

From speaking to her I learnt that having an online presence as well as a print magazine is extremely important if I wish to engage with a younger audience. I also learnt that I must make it individual .

 

 

                                     

FOCUS GROUP

Luke Vosper is a 17 year old boy interested in skateboarding and his band. He fits my target audience and therefore I spoke to him about what he would like to see featured in my magazine and he said:

 

“I don’t really enjoy the reading part of a magazine so I wouldn’t want long articles but some writing with cool graphics and pictures would really interest me, magazines work best when they look good”

This tells me that I need to focus primarily on the design aspect of my magazine more so than the writing, I should have short articles which engage the reader.

Another person I spoke to is Matt Stolworthy, a 24 year who spends most of his time travelling or writing songs for his band, about what makes him interested in buying a magazine and he said:

"I think the cover is always the main thing to draw me in, I'm not as interested in the contents, if there's a well-known musician shown or someone I haven't heard much about I'll buy it. I like finding new music to listen to so that is always important to me"

Again this shows me that the appearance of the magazine is most important and also that I should feature an up-and-coming band or artist

To find a female point of view, as I am trying to make a music magazine to be bought by more females, I spoke to my sister Lucca Joy. She is a 22 year old bar manager and event organiser who lives in Peckham, she is interested in fashion and graphic design. I asked her if she would be interested in buying a music magazine rather than finding information online:

"I often feel intimidated by music magazines as they are normally aimed at guys and aren't really female friendly. If you were able to make a unisex magazine I would definitely be interested in buying it, getting information online isn't the same as reading published fact, and I find interviews very interesting. Plus modern media is always filled with interesting pictures by new artists and that is just a bonus for me"

This shows me I need to make sure my writing and layout isn't aimed at one gender in particular as this could intimidate the audience and make them feel as though they don't want to read it.

TARGET AUDIENCE

My target audience is going to be males and females aged 16-25.

Existing music magazines are predominantly bought by males and therefore i would like to create one for both genders, this will also bring in more revenue as more people will b buying it. My age group is also different to other music magazines as they normally have a primary demographic aged between 18 and 30. I would like to create a magazine for a younger generation as they may not feel included when reading existing magazines because of the language or artists featured. 



Despite my magazine being for both genders the genre of music has more of a male following than a female one, therefore my magazine will still be bought by more males than females.

AUDIENCE PROFILE

My audience will live in major city's and will be interested in fashion as well as music, choosing to listen to artists who dress well in addition to creating music they enjoy. They will not limit themselves to a handful of popular bands but will be interested in finding new musicians as well as music from ones they are familiar with, it is important for my audience to know both modern and old music of the genre to know where it originated from and how it has developed over the years. They will be students with a low income and therefore the magazine will need to be cheaply manufactured in order to be cheaply sold, the male percentage of my audience will have hobbies such as skateboarding and ,along with the female percentage, will also be able to play instruments. They will also be interested in art and photography as these both play important roles in the music industry. They will enjoy going to gigs and concerts as well as festivals and art exhibitions. Fashion will be important to them, it will be individual yet will be similar to the way other people with similar interests dress. They will buy clothes from vintage or second hand shops as well as popular high street shops such as Urban Outfitters, American Apparel and Topshop. Their friends will be very important in their lives as these will be the people they spend the majority of their time with who will have the same interestes and values.