Music Magazine Double Page Spread

Music Magazine Contents Page

 

Music Magazine Front Cover

Music Magazine Double Page Spread Flat Plan

Music Magazine Contents Page Flat Plan

Music Magazine Front Cover Flat Plan

Masthead ideas

Definitions of Genre, Sub-genre and Hybrid-genre

Genre: a category of artistic composition characterized by similarities in form or style.
      examples: music - kerrang
                        film - empire
                        lifestyle - good housekeeping

Sub-genre: a subdivision of a genre of literature, music or film.
      examples: pop - we love pop
                        dance - mixmag
                        rock - kerrang
  
Hybrid-genre: a genre of media that blends themes and elements from two or more different genres.
       examples: music/fashion - flux
                         music/film - no ripcord
                         fashion/sport - sports club

Summer Photos

Market research

As the majority of the people i surveyed said they like to shop for clothes and shoes and also selected a variety of shops as their favourite i intend to include a fashion sub section in my magazine. The most popular shop was topshop so I intend to inlcude a large feature about celebrities and ordinary people and what they buy from topshop (mainly clothes but accesories will also be included). as my target audience like other shops as well i plan to include a section comparing the products available at different high street shops for example i will compare the new collection at primark to the new collection at new look.

 

as a large portion of my readers also like to purchase make up, i plan to inlcude articles such as a 'what and where' section about the top make up, where to buy it and how to use it correctly to create specific looks which will change each issue. as my magazines main focus is mucic with a heavy 'indie' music theme i am going to have a gig sub section which from my research i know will appeal to my target market. this will inlcude reviews of relevant gigs/festivals, information about upcoming tour dates and tickets and fornightly competitions to win gig tickets.

 

from this piece of data i know that my target audience would be interested in the chance to win free gig tickets, free club entrances, shopping vouchers to certain shops and free music download offers. each magazine will contain different competitions and offers to win prizes that will appeal to the target market. from this data i also knmow that my readers would enjoy the article 'where to go' which would suggest the best bars and clubs that would appeal specifically to my target audience.

 

from the exsisting magazines that my target market read i can see that they are interested in celebrity gossip especially based around fashion and beauty.

 

as my tagter market like a variety of indie bands and artists i plan to include an article that looks at what the bands do in their free time and what their favourite places to go are. i also want to include questions and answers and interviews with different bands/artists. i plan to inlcude a 'new and upcoming artists' section which will showcase new indie talent chosen by the magazine.

in the gig section i will include details about past and future festivals that my tagret market will find interesting which from my research i can see that reading and leeds is a popular choice amongst my readers. these articles will inlcude exclusive photos from the top gigs of summer 2013 and chances to purchase and win tickets to 2014 festivals.

this data allowed me to specifically target my target market.

Reader Mood Board

 

Music Magazine initial ideas mind map and proposal

 

My magazine is a music and fashion magazine called INDIvidual; it has a specific 'indie' sub-genre which will be shown in both the music and partly the fashion content. My target market is females aged 18 - 25 who are likely to be in education (uni) or work. My music magazine influences are Q and NME because they link to a similar target market and my fashion magazine influences are look and company because they mainly focus on fashion. Mike William (publisher of nme magazine) will publish my magazine because he has good knowledge of this genre and the target market i have chosen.

 

Some features i intend to include are:

• fall fashion (my stereotypical reader will like to keep up with the latest trends and will spend a lot of their disposable income on clothes and accessories)
• men of the week (as my magazine targets women they will be attracted to the men in this article- this will be a regular feature and will change content each issue
• top 10 indie singles of the week (my readers will want to know what the magazine recommend they listen to - this will be a regular feature and the singles will change each issue to fit with what is being released at the time of the issue)
• where to shop (my target market will want advice as to what to buy and where from in order to keep up to date with celebrity styles, this will compare new collections at different high-street stores e.g. new look and Primark - this will be a regular feature, the shops will stay the same each issue but the clothes will stay the same)
• hair flair (this will showcase readers and celebrities with crazy hairstyles and colours and will suggest products and ways to create these individual looks)
• festivals/gigs (i will include information and exclusive photos of past and future gigs, competitions to win gig/festival tickets, relevant upcoming tour date information and tickets

 

 

 Photos i plan to use are:

• bands/artists in the articles
• models to advertise the clothes i talk about in the fashion elements
• bands/artists and people at gigs/festivals
• interesting hairstyles for the hair flair article

 

 

Adverts i intend to include are:

• Competitions to win prizes such as gig tickets, music downloads, shopping vouchers, music downloads etc.
• shops advertising clothing/makeup
• Bands/artists advertising their new albums.

 

 

 
 

Double Page Spread analysis

We love pop is a music magazine aimed at teenage girls aged 12 to 15. It focus’ on pop music and the artists involved in the genre. From a double page spread in a magazine in this genre I would expect to see bright colours, a main image and secondary images of the band/artist featured in the article and pull quotes.

The colour scheme is pink and white; the pink connotes fun and innocence which represents the stereotypical girl that would want to read we love pop and the white is plain and simple to show that the magazine is straight to the point. The main image is of Mindless who are an American boy band that young girls find attractive and be interested in. In the main image and one of the secondary images, all the band members have direct address which makes the reader feel as though the band is talking directly to them, this creates a bond between the reader and their favourite celebrities which is why the girls want to read the magazine. In the other secondary image the band do not have direct address as they are ‘messing around’ so the image is focused on them having fun. The three images show the band having fun and joking around, this shows the reader what the band members are like and will make the reader want to join in and know more about them.

The headline is ‘carrier bag of questions’, it is in the same font as all the main text throughout the magazine to show continuity. The title literally describes exactly what the article is about, this has been done because the target audience is quite young so the simple ideas make it easier for them to read. Each image has a caption describing what the band is doing, this is effective because it gives the reader an idea of how each image links to the article, it also shows readers who don’t know the band what they are like. The typography is bold and rounded like bubble writing, this could be linked to computer fonts as young girls tend to use social networking sites. As it is a question and answers article the majority of the text is black but the questions are in different bright colours to make the difference clear, bright colours have been used to represent the young target audiences ‘fun’ lifestyles.

Pugs have been included to highlight main pull quotes and information from the article; these are effective because if the reader is skim reading the page and sees a pull quote that interests them then they will want to read the full article.

To conclude, the most important features to any magazine double page spread, including this one, are the main image and the secondary images because they catch the reader’s eye and encourage them to read the article and the headline because the reader needs to know what the article is about which is often shown at first glance shown by the headline.

 

Contents page analysis

 

We love pop is a music magazine aimed at teenage girls aged 12 to 15. It’s the contents of the magazine is about pop music and the artists involved in the genre. From this genre I would expect to see bright colours, large font, colloquial ‘chatty’ language and lots of images to appeal to the young target market.

The colour scheme is bright yellow and blue; the yellow is girly and connotes innocence which represents the stereotypical girl that would want to read we love pop. Blue connotes happiness and enjoyment which is what the editor wants the reader to feel when they read the magazine. The main image is of one direction, a boy band that the target audience are likely to fancy/admire. In the photo they all have direct address which makes the reader feel as though the band is talking directly to them, this creates a bond between the reader and the celebrities which is why the girls want to read the magazine. 10 out of 13 of the other images on the contents page are of other male celebrities such as jls and the wanted, this is because the young female audience will like these male celebrities so will want to by the magazine for the photos that are inside.  3 smaller images of female celebrities have been included because these are people that the target audience look up to and may be able to relate to.

The headline is ‘WE LOVE THIS…’ this has been used because it is as if the magazine editors are chatting like friends with the reader which makes the reader trust the information in the magazine. The headline for the main image is ‘id pose naked for about a hundred quid’; this suits the magazine because the target audience will want to know why the band has said this and what the story is about. The typography is bold and rounded like bubble writing, this could be linked to young girls drawing and doodling in their free time.

At the top of the page there is a pug that says ‘for your eyes only’; this is effective because it makes the reader feel like they are receiving exclusive information, as if they are having a one to one interview with their favourite bands themselves. Another pug at the top of the page says ‘5 covers to collect’; this promotes the magazine because if the reader is interested in the band/artist on the front cover (in this case one direction) then they will want to collect all the covers to keep the photos.

To conclude, the most important features of any magazine contents page are; images relating to the articles in the magazine to give the reader an idea of what the magazine contains, subheadings/ categories that the articles fit into so that the reader can quickly find what they are specifically looking for and page numbers so that the reader can locate the article in the magazine easily.

Contact Sheet

photos that i wouldnt use are:

• image 1 because it is to zoomed out to be a medium close up
• image 2 because it is not direct address which is what i wanted for the main image of my magazine
• image 3 because the lighting is to dark and there are to many shadows
• image 4 because the lighting contarast is to bright for my magazine
• image 8 because the background is red and the angle i am stood at doesnt look right
• image 9 because the shadows on my face dont look right

photos that i would use are:

• image 5 because the angle makes the photo look interesting
• image 6 because although it has a red background the lighting is corect, it is a medium close up and it is a 'rock aprropriate' image
• image 7 because it is a medium close up amd the expression on my face is appropriate for my aquinas magazine
• image 10 (this is the photo i have chosen to use) because the background colour is suitable, the lighting is correct and it fits with the theme of my magazine.

 
 

Aquinas Magazine Contents page

The main font I used on my contents page is Adobe Garamond Pro Bold; I chose this because it is the same as the font on the front cover showing continuity and again the font suits the topics my magazine covers. The majority of text on my contents page is black because it stands out against the grey background and easy to read, I chose to put the word contents in white because it tells the reader exactly what page they are looking at. The subheading ‘on the cover’ is in red to highlight that these are the main articles in the magazine and makes it easier for the reader to find the specific article that caught their eye on the front cover.

I think the main image is appropriate because it is similar to the front cover image so the reader knows that both photos relate to the same article, I think the 3 other images are suitable because they fit in well with the articles featured in my magazine for example the image of the boy band links to the article ‘top 5 rock bands of the year’.  I put a pull quote on most of the photos to get the reader interested in each article and make them want to read more.

The articles I have chosen relate to the target audience because they are about relevant issues that interest teenagers such as music (top 5 rock bands of the year), fashion (where to shop) and sport (top sports to keep you fit).

From my research I found the 4 topics my target market would be most interested in; these were music, TV and film, fashion and sport. I then used the specific data such as what is your favourite TV program to decide what articles I would use, from this data I chose the ‘top TV moments’ article. The four articles in the ‘on the cover’ section were based on the four subsections but were the four biggest articles of each subsection.

To improve my contents page i would fill up the empty space at the top above the word contents, i would also make the writing sections smaller so that i could include more images relating to specific articles. If i included more images i would ensure that they were positioned close to the section containing that article.

Aquinas Magazine front cover

 

The font is Adobe Garamond Pro Bold; I chose this because it stands out against the background and the boldness of the font suits the topics my magazine covers such as music and fashion. I chose to use black and white fonts because they are basic and simple which represent that my magazine is a serious document and has no gimmicks. Whether the text colour was black or white depended on what colour the background behind it was, for example the black text did not stand out against the black part of the main image as well as the white font does.

I think the main image is appropriate for my magazine because it is friendly and relaxed to represent the feel of my magazine. I think the positioning and facial expressions are appropriate because it is suitable for the target market. When I take my photo for my music magazine I need to use the DSLR camera instead or the small camera to prevent the photo from being slightly blurry.

The main headline is ‘I met Daniel Radcliff’, I chose this because it is a celebrity that my target market would most likely be interested in and want to read about. It also related to the main image which I the ‘Aquinas student’ who met Daniel Radcliff.

The articles I have chosen relate to the target audience because they are about relevant issues that interest teenagers such as music (top 5 rock bands of the year), fashion (where to shop) and sport (top sports to keep you fit).

My research was useful because it allowed me to find the topics that my target market were interested in. by collecting data I found out that my target market are interested in tv and film, music, fashion and sport.

If i was going to improve my front cover i would space the secondary cover stories out more because the 'where to shop' and 'new music and film releases' are quite close together which makes the cover look cluttered which could make it difficult for the reader to focus on the stories they are looking for. I would also position the main story further away from the edge of the page because it is close to being off the page.

Contents page flat plan

Double Page Spread Conventions

Detailed Textual Analysis of a Magazine Front Cover

We love pop is a music magazine aimed at teenage girls aged 12 to 15. it focus’ on pop music and the artists involved in the genre. From a magazine in the genre I would expect to see bright colours, posters, free gifts and big fonts to represent the young target audience.

The colour scheme is bright and includes a lot of pink; this is because the magazine targets teenage girls. The pink connotes fun and innocence which represents the stereotypical girl that would want to read we love pop. The main image is of the Saturdays who are a girl band that young girls would look up to and aspire to be. In the photo they all have direct address which makes the reader feel as though the band is talking directly to them, this creates a bond between the reader and their favourite celebrities which is why the girls want to read the magazine. The image shows the band facing everyday problems such as bad makeup and hair problems etc which is appropriate to the target audience because the teenage girls can relate to how the band look and feel in the image. Another colour used (mainly for the text) is bright blue, this connotes happiness and enjoyment which is what the editor wants the reader to feel when they read the magazine, the bright colours also highlight some of the most important text.

The headline (which is also the logo of the magazine) is in a speech bubble which gives us the idea that the readers like to gossip and chat with friends, possibly about the information inside the magazine. The word 'love' is replaced by a heart, this text language connotes that the readers often use social networking sites such as Facebook and twitter which means the magazine could use cross media to appeal to their target audience. By using the text language, the reader also feels as though the magazine understands them and knows what they want and like which will encourage the target audience to keep buying the magazine. The headline for the main image ‘Saturday’s soap opera’ is effective because it is comical and the reader will want to know why the bands life isn’t perfect as we would expect it to be.  The anchorage for the main image says ‘tears, tantrums and total meltdowns’, this suits the magazine because the target audience can relate to what they are talking about in the article and will want to read it to get advice on how to deal with the problems themselves as they look up to the band. The typography is bold and rounded like bubble writing, this could be linked to young girls drawing and doodling in their free time.

The magazine has a pug at the top of the magazine in a bright blue circle advertising the 12 page one direction pull out that is inside the magazine, the front cover also tells the reader about the free ‘girl power posters’ that are inside. The pugs promote the magazine and encourage the reader to buy the magazine because they think they are receiving exclusive information and free gifts. There are 5 sub images on the front cover, two of other female artists that the readers will look up to and three small images of male artists. The male artists have been included because the female readers will be attracted to the boys so will enjoy reading about them.

To conclude, the most important features to any magazine, including this one, are the main image as that is what first catches the reader’s eye and the main headline linked to the image because if this seems like a good story then the reader will not hesitate to purchase the magazine.

Aquinas magazine flat plan

Audience Research

The most popular subject amongst the people I surveyed was media; this tells me that my target market is interested in media related issues such as music, TV and film. Because of this I plan to include a music subsection and a TV and film subsection including different articles in each.

3/5 of the people i surveyed said they like sports, this tells me that a subsection about sports would appeal to my target market. Stories I intend to include are about sports celebrities and ways to keep fit as I feel a young audience would be interested in these topics.

 

The people I surveyed suggested 9 different shops as their favourite, and over 50% said they mostly spend their money on clothes, because of this I plan to include a fashion and shopping subsection aimed at both males and females. As my target market shop at such a wide range of shops I plan to include an article called ‘where to shop’ which will be a regular feature and will advertise new products from different high street stores.

The most popular music genre based on the people I surveyed was rock music, because of this I plan to include an article called ‘top 5 rock bands of the year’ which will include band ratings, information about each band and images of the bands. I will also put small images in the front cover to advertise this feature of the magazine. This article will fit under the music subsection. As my target market also suggested such a wide range of music genres I plan to include smaller articles about different types of music including a new releases page.

The people I surveyed didn’t have a specific favourite film or TV program so I plan to include articles that appeal to everyone by not specifying a particular genre. In my TV and Film subsection I plan to include the cover article which will be about a student who went to a film premiere and a new film release page.

Rule of thirds

Front Cover Conventions