Front Cover InDesign Draft: 1

 





I have started my front cover of my music magazine. I have decided to use this photo of the band 'Rage City' because I believe that it creates an appropriate representation of the band and reflects a positive image for the magazine, evidently showing the audience the magazines genre of music present due to the rebellious pose of the band. Also I decided to use this photo as I wanted to make sure there was 'the gaze', to keep to the codes and conventions of a magazine. I decided to keep the background of my front cover white with a grey gradient at 90 degrees so that it gave the magazine a professional feel and made the front cover look fresh, as it allowed different colours of text to stand out on the page, against the background. Also I felt that the background would be complimentary to the primary colours; red, yellow, black and white. I then used the feathering tool to blend the image in with the background around the edges, so that it didn't look too harsh. I then added a header bar and footer line to my front cover because it then gave me an idea of how big I wanted my main image to be on the page. I decided to include a header bar and footer line on my front cover as I felt that it was a quick and simple way to catch the readers eye and let them know some of the competitions and artists included in the magazine this way the reader would decided whether this style of magazine is for them. The header bar and footer line help entice the reader in by identifying the acts present in the magazine 'Pitch'. I also started to work on my splash, I decided to use the font Copperplate Gothic Bold because it was so similar to the font that I originally wanted my splash to be in when I drew my draft design of my front cover. Also I decided to make the splash bold as I felt that it was the most important part of my magazine as we want the band to gain fans and we want their already existing fans to buy the magazine to read about them so that we then get more customers and therefore profit. Also by using a bold font it allows the magazine to entice the reader to buy the magazine.
 

Photo Shoot for my Music Magazine

Magazine Image Planning Document

Shoot date and time: 6th of February 2014

Image Description: Medium shot of the band 'Rage City' looking into the camera whilst they are positioned with the main singer josh at the front of the shot with the two other band members positioned behind him.

Shoot location: On the school premises, the photo is taken in front of a plain white wall in the hall way.

Model/person contact Details: My model's are peers within my class, I chose to take my front cover photo of these three boys due to the fact they are within my target audience age range.

Permission Details: Yes, my model gave full permission for the photos to be taken and used.
Props: I used a plain white wall as my background (previously stated in my image description), the costumes/clothing for my models (which helped to create the image of a rock band).

Plan of Shots: I modelled most of my photographs on magazine poses, I have taken ideas from some existing music magazines images of individual artists poses and have put them together as a group image (of the three members of Rage City), for example one boy modelled a pose I found in one magazine that I felt would be effective and fit the genre of my music magazine (rock) and the two other boys modelled different poses from different pictures/magazines that I felt would fit together for the whole pose of the band 'Rage City'. Though some of my photographs was taken just from my own ideas of effective poses and were taken on initiative. The basic idea was to create a variety of shots of the band "Rage City" that my target audience would be able to relate to in some ways (e.g being young, fun and rebellious). My over all aim was to use effective shots that would make my target audience want to buy the magazine and read the contents of the magazine, which would generate profit. The initial plan was to take a few photos of the band with a variety of angles to choose from so then I would be able to narrow down my optional front cover photo and choose the one that I felt would be most effective.

These are my initial photographs that I thought would be appropriate to use on the front cover of my music magazine, due to the fact these images represent the 'style' of my target audience which means that the image fits the genre and style of my music magazine. The three members of the band 'Rage City' on the front cover are within the range of my target audience's age. I have also used similar clothing to other models featured on the front cover of magazines with the same genre of music (rock), such as magazines like Kerrang, NME, Q etc. I have kept similarities between my music magazine 'Pitch' and magazines like 'Kerrang' because they share the same genre of music and already establish the audience's preferences. I decided to almost clone some poses of rock bands on the front cover of music magazine because I felt that they would be effective for my new released music magazine. I tried to re-enact the pose of 'Biffy Clyro', with the main singer touching his beard at the front with the two other members of the band behind either shoulder, all with serious faces but decided that this wasn't the image that I was going for due to the fact 'Rage City' is a fresh, new band that has only just made it big so I wanted to make a positive first impression of the band.

 

 

 

I decided to use this photo as my front cover image because I felt that it gives the best representation of the band and it allowed the audience to get a first impression of the band 'Rage City'. Also I decided to use this photo due to the fact it had the best quality out of all my potential images and had the right positioning of the band (e.g the main singer at the front wasn't blocking the view of the two other band members also all their arms were fitted in the shot correctly). I decided to put these three individual poses of the boys together because I felt that they gave the audience the impression that the band 'Rage City' are rebellious and serious about their future and are prepared to stop anyone coming between their chances of success. But I also decided to mix these three poses together as I felt that they mellow one another out, so that the boys don't look too aggressive and serious but they are still represented as being rebellious, young and enticing to the target audience of their age group. I also decided to use this image of the band as they evidently portray a similar representation of my target audience.

 

Music Magazine: Contents Page Draft

First draft of my contents page for my from elliereedx

Music Magazine: Front Cover Draft

Target Audience: Focus Group Results

Focus group masthead results from elliereedx

Masthead Options For My Music Magazine

In order to decide the masthead for my music magazine I had to carry out primary research in order to gain results from the public on the basis of what masthead they prefered. I decided to carry out a focus group due to the fact I didn't involve masthead options in one of the questions in my questionnaire. A focus group is when a group of people are assembled to participate in a discussion about a product before it is launched. I asked the focus group this question.....

 

 

1. Which of the following masthead's would you prefer to appear on the front cover of a rock magazine?

• Symbol □
• Amplified □
• Pulse □
• Pitch □
• Cable □
• Music Tuner □
• Chord Chart □
• Power Chord □

First Draft: School Magazine Content Page

I have designed a draft contents page for my school magazine, this draft is only rough meaning that it isn't necessarily the end product. This contents page may need some improvements when in the development stage, such as improving the layout and also the images need to be reconsidered more in depth e.g who will be in the photos and where will the photos be taken. I have decided to use the same colour scheme for the contents page that was apparent in the front cover of the school magazine which is red,black, yellow and white. I used these colours as they are the most present colours used in magazines today due to the fact they work well with one another, they allow eachother to stand out. I have decided to use a formal layout which is precise and smart which matches the school approach.

 

I have decided to keep the masthead present in the contents page, so that the reader is always informed of what magazine they are reading so that they can remember the magazine in the future if they thought it was sucessful and want to purchase it again. I have included the issue number of this magazine on the banner due to the fact it needs to be present somewhere in the school magazine. I decided to use capitals for the word "contents" so that it stands out over all other texts on the page so that it gets the readers attention to inform them that it is the contents page which immediately gives the reader an idea about what will be on this page e.g information about specific pages, what is on them and what is rated the best etc. I used these colours on the banner so that they are in contast next to one another so that we evidently recognise that the left hand side is the masthead and the right hand side is the title of this page. Also I decided to use a smaller font for the masthead due to the fact it isn't the main importance of this page it is only a reminder, whereas the word "contents" must be seen immediately for the reader to know what to expect.

 

I have decided to list the page numbers in a column so that it is neat, tidy and is all in one place so that the readers can identify what pages to look at for specific information. I have decided to use a yellow text on a black background for the headings so that each new topic is identified clearly. I have decided to use a white background so that it increases the visibility of the text present so that it is easy for the reader to read it.

I have decided to include an editors letter so that it follows the same format as other magazines, this letter allows the reader to connect to the magazine as a whole.