How I made my frontcover

My first photo shoot

inspiration for my photo shoot

This video was the main inspiration for the location of my photo shoot for media. Although I dont live very close to a forest, i made the most of what i had available and took my pictures under a motorway bridge in Goole. I also had one of my models dress similar to Lewis Watson does in this video.

5 front cover drafts

change of font

I found a free type-writer style font on the internet that would look good on my magazine cover. I typed "The Shands announce second album" because that is one of the stories on my magazine cover.

The Kerrang! reader

I will used this reader profile when designing my magazine because my magazine will be similar to Kerrang! so the audience will also be similar.

How i designed and made my masthead

Focus Group

Before asking the group about music magazines we had to think of 10 unique questions. We decided to think of our own questions in stead of using 10 sample questions because they were more personal to the peope we were asking. The Questions we asked the group were:
1)what music magazines do you read? and what genre of music do they fit into?
2)what attracts you to buy a music magazine?
3)do you think that digital downloads should replace paper magazines?
4)how important is the price of a magazine to you?
5)do you think that buyers should have a bigger say on what is featured in the magazine?
6)what features are essential to you when buying a music magazine?
7)do you think genres are too generalized?
8)what would you change about music magazines?
9)do you think there is a stigma attached to people that buy music magazines?

Female Model Inspiration

All of these women would make good models for my magazine because they all have the image that i want for my magazine. All of the women have fairly light make up apart from their eyes which is important for me to try to stick to this if i use a female model. I like Amy Winehouse's hair because it is different and has a lot of volume. I also like her eye make up and will try to use something like this if i use a female model. I like Azealia Banks's hair and glasses. I also like that she has a visible tattoo on her collar bone because this will appeal to my target audience. I like Caroline Flack's hair because it starts brown at her roots and then goes blonde but it doesn't look like she's just let her roots grow back and ignored them, it actually looks good and quite stylish. Lady Gaga has some very unique and controversial outfits but i think that because if this she would fit into an alternative music magazine. I like her hair in the photo above because it is turquoise which isn't a colour that people would usually dye their hair which makes her unique. Lana Del Rey has hair that i would consider using if i used a female model. Paloma Faith also has hair that i would like to use if i decide to go with a female model. i think that the contrasting red on blonde colours combined with the volume of her hair makes her stand out from the crowd. I like that she is wearing a blouse because my target audience are the kind of peopke who would wear shirts and blouses.
                

Male Model Inspiration

I chose the bands/artists because they all look like people i would consider using as models for my magazine. This is because they have the image that is associated with indies. The Arctic Monkeys dress in vintage clothes which is very popular at the moment with indies. Morrissey has a quiff which has also become very popular recently with indies. Frankie Cocozza has the hair that i would prefer to use if i have a male model. He also has a slight 'butter wouldn't melt' kind of face. Noel Fielding and Serge (bassist for Kasabian) both look similar and both have a unique style and choice of outfits. I like some of the pieces Noel wears like his hat shown in the picture with the rabbit ear. Simon Neil (lead singer of Biffy Clyro) has the kind of style that i want for my magazine e.g. the leather jacket and tattoos. His hair isn't the right style for my magazine but i like his beard which could possibly work with my magazine. The View hav a a very stereotypical indie appearance which is why they would be great for my magazine.

Original Mock-ups (front cover and contents page)

Digital Mock-up with Images

Initial ideas spider diagram

YELLOW = thoughts that I liked and will try to incorporate most of them into my magazine. 
ORANGE = thoughts that weren't great but if i cant use something that was highlighted in yellow, i will use an orange highlighted idea as a back up. 
RED = thoughts i didn't like and will not use.

I like the idea of having a USP (unique selling point) for my magazine but I couldn't decide on which one to choose from so i decided to choose all three of the possible USP's. These will all be inexpensive items so that the magazine company wouldn't lose money through these offers.
          although i am only going to be writing out one article for the magazine, i decided to think about some of the other featured stories in the magazine. The reader profile for NME said that the people that read NME are also interested in film, mobile phones and music. I decided to put these things into my magazine as well as key issues which could be politics, crime, health etc. I decided to combine film with video games because my target audience are interested in video games. I highlighted it in orange though because I wasn't sure whether or not to include it. These other stories will be named on my contents page so that it doesn't seem like i am charching £2 a week for one article.
         

Price

My magazine will be aimed at mainly students and people up to their mid-twenties so they won’t be able to afford to spend a lot of money on a magazine. All the magazines I have looked at were weekly releases and cost between £2.20 and £2.40 which in my focus group, I found is too much to ask for as most of the people involved said they would only be willing to spend £2 a week. Rolling stone magazine is a bi-weekly release magazine which costs £3.60. Although the price works out better for the buyers because they are only spending £1.80 a week which is less than the amount my focus group said they would pay, I don’t think that bi-weekly is often enough for a music magazine due to the speed that music popularity can change. This will mean there is a higher chance that the magazine will miss out something that happened that some of the buyers are interested in. 

Demographics

“NRS stands for National Readership Survey (NRS Ltd).

          The NRS 'ABC1' demographics profiling system - often called 'social grade definitions' - is well established and widely used.

          Many people know and refer to the system simply as 'ABC1' or 'ABC' and may not necessarily understand that NRS developed and operate the scheme.

          NRS is a not-for-profit company which is funded by the UK Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA), and Periodical Publishers Association (PPA).

          The NRS social grade definitions have been in use for decades, mainly for audience profiling and targeting by the media, publishing and advertising sectors, and have become established as a generic reference series for classifying and describing social classes, especially for consumer targeting and consumer market research.

          See below for the NRS estimates of uk population by social grade Jan-Dec 2005, and for Jan-Dec 2004.

          More up-to-date figures will be offered here when/if I can agree to their provision.”

(source: http://www.businessballs.com/demographicsclassifications.htm#nrs-social-grade-definitions-uk)

The demographic table of social class shows the differences in social classes in the UK and gives examples of their occupations. The way the table works is by alphabetizing the classes with A being the highest ranking of the classes and E being the lowest. For C there are 2 sub-categories, C1 and C2. This is because although they are different, they can be very similar. The social statuses are the formal word or phrase for the social classes except for social grade E, which is called, “those at lowest level of subsistence” which is quite strongly worded and gives a negative image of these people.  

NME Reader Profile

The reader profile for NME suggests that it is read by a wide range of age groups because it gives the average as the median which is the number in the middle of the group of numbers. This means that the age gap in NME readers is wider than it might suggest .The median age is 23 which is quite a young age but I think that the ages of people who read the magazine spans from 15 to 29. The reader profile also suggests that its readers are mainly adults by using images of alcoholic drinks such as a bottle of Jack Daniels and a car. The images also suggest that NME is read by a younger audience too by using images of modern games consoles and a snickers bar. The images of the reader profile don’t really suggest that the magazine is a music magazine as there are only two picture of anything music related. The reader that’s is hard to understand as it claims that only 6% of readers are male which would mean that 94% have to be female but it says that only 24% of readers are female which leaves 70% of the readers unaccounted for. It says that 65% of readers fit into ABC1 on the demographic table which suggests that the majority of people buying NME are working class. 34% of the readers are students which might be why the majority of the readers fit into the ABC1 demographic. It gives three examples of the readers interests which are mobile phones, music and films with a brief description of why the readers like these topics most, such as, “NME readers are influential when it comes to mobile phones”. 

market research

Market Research

NME:  The image on the front cover of NME is in black and white which makes the image look a bit more edgy to suit the genre. The image is a mid-shot of Jake Bugg. The mid-shot is confirmative to magazine covers which helps the audience recognize that is a magazine. In the image, Jake Bugg is holding a drink as a prop which is quite common for alternative magazines. The audience can see that he is wearing a Fred Perry jacket which is a popular brand in the indie scene. In the top-right corner there are two photos of Kurt Cobain to go with the story mentioned on the skyline. There are no other photos used for any of the other stories mentioned but this is because the story about Kurt Cobain is about the ‘unseen photos’ of their pre-superstardom European tour. Under the masthead, there is a large plug displaying a competition to win tickets to see The Killers perform their first ever stadium show. This is a marketing technique because by using any of the words, “win”, “free” or “sex” on the cover of a magazine doubles the likeliness of people wanting to buy it. The date, issue number and price is under the masthead which isn’t the regular place. The audience would expect these things to be near the barcode which is in the bottom-right corner. The magazine has only used 4 colours, which stops the cover from looking too busy. The red and yellow text on the front cover and double page spread stands out from the monotone images.

          The Institution named in the magazine is NME which is owned by IPC Media. The bands/artists  featured are Jake Bugg, Noel Gallagher, Bjork, Paul Banks and The Killers which are al indie artists which suits the genre of the magazine. The other featured band on the cover is Nirvana, which is a rock band but is also appreciated greatly among the indie scene.

          The target audience of NME is people aged 15 – 28. The audience would stereotypically fit into the indie scene and their friends will also fit into this social group. The audience of NME are fans of music that enjoy being in-the-know about new and upcoming bands/artists.

          The images are mainly of male artists with only one image of a female artist in the contents page. This could reflect the target audience as the magazine is aimed more towards males than females. The monotone image on the front cover makes the magazine look like it is aimed at people in their mid-late teens or even a slightly more mature audience. The fonts of text also represent that the editor wants the magazine to be read by a slightly more mature audience as it is more formal than other magazines that sometimes use comical fonts. This will attract a wider audience as the content will make the magazine appeal to an older audience but the fonts will attract a younger audience.

          Overall, this issue of NME fits together well and will attract the audience that is set out to because it used features that will appeal to them. The contrasting text on the front cover and double page spread makes them stand out so they will look more appealing to the audience.           

PewDiePie - Funny Gaming Montage

I like this video because it is funny and it is very popular Youtube gamer who is very popular in particular  with my target audience.

Nirvana - In Bloom

I like this video because it starts off with the band in suits all looking fairly smart with a middle class audience (including children) and by the end of the video they are smashing their instruments up. The audience still however enjoying the performance with the same look on their faces as at the start of the video. I like the idea of the band being imposters and posing as a fancy, family friendly band from the 50's/60's and i also like that they are wearing suits because it can link to my genre easily.

Guns n Roses - November Rain

I like the part of this video near the end when Slash is stood outside the church, in the desert plying his guitar. I like how there is nothing around him which if i could find somewhere like that would be great for a location shot for my magazine.

Kasabian - Club Foot

This is a very good song which is popular within my target audience. The dark video is a good idea for my images and the derelict buildings are a good idea for a locational shot.

Lana Del Rey - Born To Die

Thsi sis a very popular song with my target audience. The man in the video has lots of tattoos which is the kind of person thta i would like to model for my magazine as they are a very iconic image of alternative culture.

As well as being a good song which is very popular with my target audience, i think that the video is good too because of some of the 'old style' shots that are supposed to be the mans memories. When the singer is under the sheet i think it looks quite good and the hut that the man is in for most of the video is a good idea for my locational shots.

Red Hot Chlil Peppers - Dani California

This video features the red hot chili peppers dressed as lots of iconic rock bands which i think is a good idea which could be easily replicated for my magazine.

Razorlight - In The Morning

I like this video because of the outfits worn by the band. I think that clothes like this will look good as part of my magazine.

Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

This video gave me inspiration for my magazine because Amy Winehouse is wearing black which is a popular colour of clothing for my audience. She also has a few tattoos which are popular with my target audience. I also like Amy's use of make up and could try to use if i decide to have a female model for my magazine.

I like this video because of the outfit worn by the singer in the video. i especially like his jacket. I think i can take inspiration from this and put my own twist on it for my magazine.

Brief for my music magazine

To make a front cover, contents and double page spread for a new music magazine. All images and text must be original; a minimum of four images must be used.

Analysis of my front cover

The main image used in my front cover is a student collecting her folders from her locker. She is smiling which gives the impression that she is enjoying her time at college. This is good because the main audience of my magazine is college students and year 11 students that are choosing which college to study at. The date on the magazine is April so I have chosen the colours accordingly. I have made the stories appealing to students because I feel that if they are interested in the subjects raised, they will be more likely to buy the magazine. The background for my title is purple and green because those are the colours that Wyke College use in their logo. In my footer I used “10 things college students do best” as the story. I used the American magazine, “College Magazine” as inspiration as one of their stories was “10 things university of Pittsburgh students do best” although this was a university so the 10 things were mainly alcohol related so I couldn’t put any of those in my magazine. I also mentioned equal voting rights for students which I feel will be quite a popular item to read about in spring 2013 as there may be some political elections in the summer that students will to be allowed to vote in if they are under 18. I only used 4 colours in my front cover because that was one of the conventions I found with magazine covers. In the bottom corner of my cover I put a plug saying that there are offers and discounts in the middle pages. I put the plug in the bottom-right corner because that is where people naturally put their hand when opening the page to avoid covering any text on the next page with their hand.

          In my magazine I came up with the title myself to avoid breaking any copyright laws. I named it College magazine because I wanted the audience to know what the general idea was in my magazine. I wanted to call it C magazine but I thought it might be a bit too brief and people might confuse it for a music magazine such as Q. I also incorporated Wyke College into my main story by saying “Wyke Sixth Form College student sets her sights for Oxford”. I put ‘Wyke Sixth Form College’ and ‘Oxford’ in bold to draw attention to them because Oxford is famous for being one of the country’s top performing universities and Wyke isn’t known world-wide for being one of the best colleges and you expect most of the students at Oxford to have been privately educated.

          My specific target audience are college students or year 11 students who are planning on starting college in the next academic year. This is because children younger than that aren’t worried about what college they are going to go to or what A-levels they want to do yet and people older than my target audience will be more interested in university magazines or work related magazines. A secondary audience could be parents of college students so that they know what actually happens in colleges but I wouldn’t bother making a section for the parents because I feel that it would be too small of a section that it would be pointless and could make students not want to read the magazine anymore.

          The girl in the image on my cover is dressed smartly which gives the impression of a friendly community within the college. This is good because it will sway undecided year 11 students more towards this college rather than a college that would use somebody stood in a track-suit which would make the readers feel like it would be quite a rough college and make them not want to study there. By using a girl in my image I have also made it more appealing to both male and female students because males will want to come to the college because there are a lot of girls studying there and girls will also want to come to this college because they will have more friends than a college with more male students. In my skyline I have put in an interview with the cast of skins to appeal to my specific target audience. This is because most teenagers either enjoy the show or have at least seen a few episodes and will want to find out about more of their college stories. In the background there are a couple of people who appear to be holding hands which gives the impression that the college is a good place to come for relationships which could appeal to some of the people reading my magazine.

          Overall I think that my magazine cover looks good and will appeal to my specific target audience. I think that the colours will be more appealing to girls than to boys but boys will still buy the magazine for the other stories displayed.  

Original front cover design

Initial ideas spider diagram

3 existing college magazines

word mock-up of front cover and contents page

Initial ideas

mood board

LIIAR analysis of front cover and contents page

Contents page: The language on the cover of this magazine is suggesting that Kings of Leon are breaking through from performing in small music bars into the professional world of music to play main stages. The image helps suggest this because they are smashing through a pane of glass which could be a metaphor for the barrier between being an unheard of band and a signed act. The facial expressions given by the band members look excited but deterministic. This shows that although they are excited that they have been given a record deal they aren’t going to take it lightly and will continue to work on their music. The background of the image is grey which is a very dull colour and could be used as a metaphor for their dull past. In the image they are breaking the glass to get through and get away from their dull pats and into their bright new future. At the top of the page it says “The 50 BEST ALBUMS of 2008” the words “50 BEST ALBUMS” are written in red which is a colour that people’s eyes are naturally drawn to so people will see this straight away. Those words are also in capitals whereas the other words are in lower case because the 50 best albums is the key part of the story so this is the part of the story that the editor wants the reader to see. The Killers is also in red which can be portrayed as quite a playful colour which matches the rest of the story, “play time for the killers”.

             The company displayed on the cover is Q. The logo is shown at the top of the first third which is where most logos are for magazines so that when they are stacked in shops the logo is still visible and easily recognisable to the audience. There are no other institutions on the cover but the band names could be seen as companies because they are trying to sell their CD’s and other merchandise.           The audience for this magazine would be people aged 14-21 because of the genre of music and the layout of the cover. I think that it would be mainly bought by females although some males would buy this magazine. There are no competitions displayed on the front covert which gives the impression that they are trying to sell the magazine to people slightly older than teenagers. I also think that the band in the main story suggests that the audience will be teenagers or around that age because at the time of release Kings of Leon were a popular band with that age range. The price suggests that the audience would be young as it is £1.90 which is an affordable price for children, teenagers and students.

      Stereotypes used in this magazine would be people the like rock music because the middle band member has a tattoo on his forearm and tattoos are associated with that kind of person. Another  reason that the stereotypes used are mainly people that like rock music is because that is how the Kings of Leon and that genre of music are represented, however the way that the band members are dressed in the image suggests that maybe the magazine is aimed at indies. The way that they are dressed is also quite casual and relaxed which makes it easy for the reader to relate to the band members.

        The ideology of the magazine is good as it conforms to how a magazine cover should look. I think that it looks a bit blank though because there are only 2 side stories and the descriptions of them are spread across the page. This makes the cover look less professional than if they were together. There are no plugs on the cover which doesn’t look right because all of the other covers I have looked at fir research had plugs on them. I think that the fact that there isn’t a plug on the cover adds to the blankness. I do however think that if it weren’t blank that the ‘breaking through’ metaphor might not have worked as it would have appeared as if there was too much happening for one cover. If it was me that designed the front cover I would try to put the side stories closer together, with one on top of the other along the right side of the cover.   

Contents page: There are a lot of images of people in this contents page and all of them are wearing black. This is because the magazine is a rock magazine and rock music is associated with the colour black. The main image is focused on the artist, Slash. There is no text about the story apart from the word, “Slash”. This is because Kerrang! think that the audience will recognise him and without needing to know much about the story will immediately turn to that page to find out. He is taking off his iconic sunglasses with a cheeky looking grin on his face. This is also representative of the rock genre because rock stars are stereotypically badly behaved. He is wearing a leather biker’s jacket because bikers stereotypically are the type of people that listen to Guns N Roses. The text is drawn out because the images are all dark and the text is in light colours.  The word Kerrang! is in a different colour to the rest of the writing which helps the reader identify that that is the title of the magazine. They have used sub-headings in this magazine to highlight the key parts of the magazine e.g. “feedback”, “K! Quiz” and “win!” This will make it easier for the reader to find the page number for the specific parts of the magazine they want to read about. In the bottom left corner there is the editor’s column which tells the reader about what the editor thinks about this week’s issue of Kerrang! I think that Kerrang! Have used a good amount of images because it helps to balance out the ratio of words to images which stops them from making the first page jam-packed full of information and boring the reader.  

Conventions of front covers