Questionaire:
30/11/08
So far I've asked a group of six fellow students to fill in my questionairre about Music magazines; three male, three female. All of them say they have varied music tastes. Only one of them reads music magazines; this person says he reads every issue of the magazine that comes out. All six said they'd like to see a celebrity or music artist on the front cover.
Those who said they don't read music magazines, I asked why not and they gave me these reasons:
'I don't read magazines.'
'They're expensive'
'I can't be bothered to buy a magazine on music when I can download it.'
'I prefer gossip magazines.'
'I'm too lazy to go and buy them.'
I feel that I have asked enough students now and plan to ask five or six people in my other age bands to get a wider range of opinions. I also plan to look more into the idea of seeing celebrities and music artists on the front cover; I may do a second questionairre on this and ask if they'd sooner see famous artists or new artists etc.
10/12/08
I have asked more people in the different age bands. The results are still mostly for varied music tastes.
Although, it seems there are a lot of magazines out on varied music tastes. I don't think competing with them would be very easy so it may be better for me to choose a specific genre to narrow down potential attempts at competing. Or I could subvert to magazine conventions and do a magazine on a variety of genres.
20/12/08
I have to ask three more people to have an even amount of people from each age band. I also plan to show one person from each age band my rough work and my front cover and ask them what they like/dislike about it and for some constructive critiscism.
The most popular categories at the moment are other/varied music tastes and pop.
18/1/09
I have to ask three more over 30 year olds to finish my questionaire. The results are still the same (other/varied being the most popular with pop as the second most popular). The majority of people I've asked don't read music magazines and music artist is still the most popular for a front cover shot. I've also realised some faults in my questionaire.
The first question is the person's gender. But I've done nothing to separate males from females (i.e. age bands are separated by colours). I also give 'A beautiful model' as an option in 'What would you sooner see on the front cover of a music magazine?' but I realise I should have specified because I don't mean someone like a fashion model.
Existing magazines:
30/11/08
I have done my front cover de-constructions however, I have not finished my double page spread or contents pages; this will become a priority. I will use the fron cover de-constructions to inspire and aid me in the designing of my front cover. I can also look for something the other magazines don't have if I plan to challenge the conventions of music magazines.
I have done some extra research into existing magazines and potential 'competition' for when I design my magazine. I have found a variety of magazines. These are the ones I have found so far:
Songlines: Songlines magazine covers the world's most exciting music from traditional and popular to contemporary and fusion, featuring artists from all around the globe. – Extract from the Songlines page on isubscribe.
Future Music Magazine: Future Music brings you the most in-depth reviews by respected industry professionals plus news on all the latest hardware and software releases. . . get the most out of your existing set-up and improve your music making. – Extract from Future Music's page on isubscribe. A magazine on techno and mixing etc.
BBC Music: BBC Music, the world's bestselling classical music magazine, is the essential guide for music lovers everywhere. Free CD every month – Extract from BBC Music's page on isubscribe.
Clash Magazine: Clash is a bi-monthly music magazine bringing originality and independent opinion a truly unique style. Clash is for people who buy music and want to read about it. – From Clash's page on isubscribe.
Mojo: Mojo is the magazine for music lovers, bringing them face-to-face encounters with the most legendary and reveloutionary music makers, while celebrating tomorrow's stars today. – From Mojo's page on isubscribe.
Pianist: Pianist magazine is a magazine for people who love to play the piano. . . sheet music from classical to Jazz. Free Cd. – from Pianist's page on isubscribe.
There is a wider variety of music magazines than I would have guessed from looking at the shop shelves. This would make challenging existing magazines more difficult. Competing will also be difficult. I plan to do some more research into the music magazine market to try and find something new. I have not yet decided if I want to challenge the existing market.
- One of my Front Cover de-constructions.
Potential Front Cover shots:
30/11/08
I have yet to decide on the images I will use for the front cover. I have some photographs from a gig I took myself which I may use. Or a photograph I took of a friend with a member of the band; I'll ask her permission to use the photograph first if I decide to do this.
I shall use my research into existing magazines to look for inspiration and potential ways to make my magazine stand out.
7/11/08
Having looked at my de-constructions of existing magazine front covers, I have used paint to draw out some potential layouts for my front cover. These are only rough and I need to decide which idea I'll use.
I've also experimented with black and white, sepia and pan effects to search for potential edits for my images.
14/12/08
Two of my images used on the front cover are enhanced.
One has been cropped and had the red-eye removed. I've added shadows onto it as well. This simply darkens the person and his surroundings very slightly. I liked this look as it gives a more meaningful look to the photo. It suggests a darker side.
The other has had the exposure brightened very slightly. This is simply to show us his face better and suggest that he is idolised. His pose and expression also suggest this as well. At the same time I hope I have achieved a sense of welcoming.
30/11/08
I have yet to decide on the images I will use for the front cover. I have some photographs from a gig I took myself which I may use. Or a photograph I took of a friend with a member of the band; I'll ask her permission to use the photograph first if I decide to do this.
I shall use my research into existing magazines to look for inspiration and potential ways to make my magazine stand out.
7/11/08
Having looked at my de-constructions of existing magazine front covers, I have used paint to draw out some potential layouts for my front cover. These are only rough and I need to decide which idea I'll use.
I've also experimented with black and white, sepia and pan effects to search for potential edits for my images.
14/12/08
Two of my images used on the front cover are enhanced.
One has been cropped and had the red-eye removed. I've added shadows onto it as well. This simply darkens the person and his surroundings very slightly. I liked this look as it gives a more meaningful look to the photo. It suggests a darker side.
The other has had the exposure brightened very slightly. This is simply to show us his face better and suggest that he is idolised. His pose and expression also suggest this as well. At the same time I hope I have achieved a sense of welcoming.
- One of the photos I've takenMy Magazine
10/11/08
I have decided my magazine will either be specifically on one music genre (most likely rock/metal) or on a variety since the majority of my questionaire feedback is 'varied' for music tastes.
I have a few more people to ask to do my questionaire in the different age bands so my results are balanced out.
14/12/08
I've decided to focus my magazine on rock and metal style music.
I have two rough front cover designs done in photoshop. Neither are fully finished. However, looking at them both, I feel they look very similar to one another. I may work on some more front cover designs to widen the variety. I might or might not use any one of them as my final piece of work with some editing or I may re-design completely.
27/12/09
I'm focusing on rock/metal. This is because it is more niche than focusing on varied music tastes. This would mean pleasing a variety of different people with different music tastes! This decision was also influence by the results of my questionaire which is that the majority don't read music magazines for whatever reason. And none of these have said because it is that there's nothing available on the music they like.
10/11/08
I have decided my magazine will either be specifically on one music genre (most likely rock/metal) or on a variety since the majority of my questionaire feedback is 'varied' for music tastes.
I have a few more people to ask to do my questionaire in the different age bands so my results are balanced out.
14/12/08
I've decided to focus my magazine on rock and metal style music.
I have two rough front cover designs done in photoshop. Neither are fully finished. However, looking at them both, I feel they look very similar to one another. I may work on some more front cover designs to widen the variety. I might or might not use any one of them as my final piece of work with some editing or I may re-design completely.
27/12/09
I'm focusing on rock/metal. This is because it is more niche than focusing on varied music tastes. This would mean pleasing a variety of different people with different music tastes! This decision was also influence by the results of my questionaire which is that the majority don't read music magazines for whatever reason. And none of these have said because it is that there's nothing available on the music they like.
18/1/09
I've written a sample two paragraphs for my double page spread. The first sentence is in Lure. This makes it stand out and hopefully capture the reader's attention. I plan to start my double page spread properly in the next few days.
I've showed a person from over thirty category my rough front cover work and the feedback was 'I wouldn't leave the background white! I'd do something about that!'. I kept this in mind while designing my front cover.
19/1/09
I realise I didn't post my sample two paragraphs on here to be viewed. My double page spread is a gig review, using photos I took myself at a gig I went to.
Below is my sample two paragraphs:
It is 11 'o' clock in the evening. The support acts have been and gone. There's a crowd of excited fans, proudly sporting their T-shirts and brandishing their cameras crammed into the small venue. They're ready. Backstage, Kill Hannah are also ready. The instruments are tuned and singer Matt Devine's make up is in place. The lights dim.
They come back on again, revealing the band already standing there and ready. The LED lights on the guitars start to glow. The crowd screams with excitement. Matt grins in reply and the music begins, opening with 'Believer' off of the band's album 'Until There's Nothing Left Of Us'.
19/1/09
I realise I didn't post my sample two paragraphs on here to be viewed. My double page spread is a gig review, using photos I took myself at a gig I went to.
Below is my sample two paragraphs:
It is 11 'o' clock in the evening. The support acts have been and gone. There's a crowd of excited fans, proudly sporting their T-shirts and brandishing their cameras crammed into the small venue. They're ready. Backstage, Kill Hannah are also ready. The instruments are tuned and singer Matt Devine's make up is in place. The lights dim.
They come back on again, revealing the band already standing there and ready. The LED lights on the guitars start to glow. The crowd screams with excitement. Matt grins in reply and the music begins, opening with 'Believer' off of the band's album 'Until There's Nothing Left Of Us'.
2/2/09
My teacher has told me that I need to get rid of all the boxes on my front cover as they look very blocking. Whilst ridding the cover of these, I also tried experiementing with my masthead to try and make it stand out better.
I experimented with having the masthead in a brightly coloured box and without one. I also experimented with colouring the first letter of each word different to the rest of the word.
23/2/09
My coursework draft has been handed in for my teacher to view. I've handed in a different front cover to my previous work and a contents page. My contents page still needs more work and changing.
With my contents page, I've experimented with putting the actual contents text in the middle of the page with textboxes around it containing quotes from the features in the magazine to act as teasers. It also has the magazine masthead in the left hand corner with 'This Week In: Guitar Drums Bass'.
Below: My contents page.
My new front cover is also set on a white background. I've used a different main image to what I used previously. This is following advice from my teacher as she informed me that the image I'm now using seems much stronger compared to the other image.
Below: My previous front cover (blurred because it's been saved as a JPEG?) There are also different variations of it that have been saved where I've experimented with ridding it of the boxes and the masthead has been experimented with.
Below: My latest front cover after listening to my teacher's advice. This is the one I handed in as my first draft.
I've been told there is too much white space on my front cover so I plan to fix this. If I find time, I'm going to capture a more powerful image. I'm considering using one of someone holding a guitar towards the camera. I think this would be a good image because the neck of the guitar will look like a path towards the models face, drawing the reader's eye towards him. Especially if I have the neck beginning in the middle third of the page.
I've also written more of my article and plan to get the article done before I continue with the double page spread. Once this is out the way, I will decide which image to use and how to crop it. I need to ensure that the hands from the crowd are not in the image too much. If necessary, I may be able to photoshop these out using the clone stamp tool and using the area around the hands as the source.
My contents page could do with some tweaking. I plan to change the page numbers to the same colour pink as used for the 'C' in the word contents. I may also change to background to either a cream/off-white colour or use a faded image so that it isn't completely white; this image may be something like an ipod.
My contents page! I plan to change the number colours and edit the background!Having read the editorial profiles of Kerrang! and NME in the BRAD book, I've written my editorial profile for the magazine and started on the target readership profile also.
Editorial Profile: Bringing the scoop of the wide-ranged ever-growing world of rock right into the reader's hands in the form of news, reviews and interviews.
Target Readership (so far): For those who are serious about their music and the changing music world around them. For any age group but aiming mainly at those in their late teens. Emos in their skinny jeans or metallers with their bizarre piercings, we'll feed them the content they want.
8/3/09
I have my new photos for the front cover re-design. Hopefully, these are more striking/powerful images that will grab the attention of the reader. This will hopefully then grab their interest if they pause to look at the image that has captured their attention. As the reader scans the front cover, hopefully they will want to buy (desire) the magazine. As a result, they purchase the magazine.
One of my new images. Originally taken in colour. I then used the channel mixers on photoshop, using mainly green and blue but not abolishing red completely.I have quickly began working on my new front cover. I am using the same masthead and slogan from my previous magazine covers. I'm also using basically the same teasers. Little is changing apart from the cover image and my efforts to avoid coloured boxes that take up room and look unprofessional.
My new front cover - so far. I may leave it like this or add a couple of more teasers. I plan to show a few people and see what they think.