PHOTOSHOOT!

These are the photos from my photoshoot before being manipulated. For the first few photographs I put a white sheet on the wall and made my model stand in front of it. Props that I used were a guitar and the clothes that I wanted the model to wear (combats, boots, a scarf, a hoodie.) I chose these clothes because I wanted the artist to look casual and to appeal to the target audience.

I like this photograph because it is medium close-up and uses direct address, which draws the audience into the magazie. I think this would be a good photograph to use on my front cover.

I think that this image looks a bit more relaxed than the previous one. This is good for appealing to the target audience but I do not think that it will catch the audience's eye by being on the front cover.

I like this photograph. I think it jumps out at the reader because the guitar is facing the camera, and it looks fun and relaxed, which will reflect the personality of my artist. Rather than being used on the front cover I think I will use this image on the contents page or the double page feature.

I also like this image as it looks fun and relaxed. As the models face is not completely facing the camera I don't think it catches the audience's attention as much as the first image but I would like to use this image in my double page feature,


I decided to get a different setting with the next two images. Iused a crumbling wall as the background and had my model lean against it. I wanted there to be a relaxed feel to the photograph. I definitely do not think that this image catches the attention of the audience because the model is faceing completely away from the camera.

This is another possibility for the front cover. I think if i use this image I will leave the model on the background rather than cutting his out. As the background is quite plain and not very interesting, it doesn't draw attention away from the model.

Changed mind on font for magazine name!

After thinking about the font I have chosen for my magazine name, I have decided that the font looks a bit too associated with rock-music. This does not really fit with the genre of my magazine, so I have changed my mind on which font I want to use. The new font I am using is called Reboard. I like this font because it is quite simple and would not really exclude anyone in my target audience, but it is still very bold and eye catching. Here is my chosen magazine name, Volume, in Reboard font.

Logo!!!

This is the logo that I created using Indesign. I researched images on the internet associated with volume and music and came up with the idea to create this logo.

DECIDING ON NAMES!!!

After deciding on the font 'A bite' (from www.dafont.com) I have narrowed my ideas for magazine names down to these four. I have uploaded them in the font I have chosen so I can get an idea of how they will look. I will hand this sheet with the four names on, to people who are in my target audience and see which name gets the most votes. This will help me decide which name to use for the magazine, by seeing which appeal most to the target audience.

After asking ten people in my target audience to choose their favourite magazine name, three people chose 'Pitch' two people chose 'Record' and five people chose 'Volume.' This has helped me to decide on the name 'Volume.' 

Analysis of a front page and contents

This is the front page of NME magazine. As I am now starting to produce my front page and contents, I am going to analyse this to help me with making my own. I am going to analyse it using AIDA!

The bold fonts and bright colours of the front cover attract the readers ATTENTION! The red font stands out against the black and is eyecatching and attractive
The INTEREST of the reader is caught by using a famous band, 'Babyshambles.' People who read NME magazine will generally be interested in this kind of band, as well as the other band names on the front cover such as 'The Courteneers', 'My Chemical Romance' and 'Kasabian'.
Words like 'NEW' are used on the front cover of this magazine. The word is used three times in the line 'NEW ALBUM. NEW TOUR. NEW PETE.' This word makes the reader feel that they will be the first to hear about these things as they are 'new.' This makes the audience DESIRE the product. Another word often used on front covers of magazines to make them desire the product is the word 'EXCLUSIVE!'
Finally, the audience need to take ACTION and buy the magazine. For this to happen, the magazine needs to be recognisable so that the audience will WANT TO PURCHASE IT!! The colours red and black are often associated with NME magazine as you can also see on the contents page. Because artists that the audience will want to hear about are used, this should make them take action.



The contents page is attractive because it also used the familiar red and black colours that are often used in NME magazine. The layout of this contents page is simple, with the list of pages right down the left hand side.It is easy for the reader to read so they can access the pages they want to get to.
The title of the contents page is 'What's inside' rather than just using the word 'Contents' this makes it more interesting and different from other magazines. Although when the reader is looking at the contents page they may have already bought the magazine, it still has to be interesting to ensure that they will buy the magazine again!

Font Ideas

Using www.dafont.com i have found some fonts that I think will look good on my magazine. After thinking about it and consulting other people who are in the target audience for my magazine, I have decided to use the font 'A bite' for my magazine name. I now have to decide on a name for my magazine, and will hand out a questionnaire to decide.

Analysis of download top 40

1. Rihanna - Russian Roullette
2. Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
3. Black Eyed Peas - Meet Me Halfway
4. Jason Derulo - Whatcha say
5. Kesha - Tik Tok
6. Alesha Keys - Doesn't Mean Anything
7. Timbaland - Morning After Dark
8. Jay-Z ft Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind
9. Cheryl - Fight For This Love
10. Pixie Lott - Cry Me Out

Here are the top 10 songs in the current download top 40. As you can see, a lot of the music in the top 10 appears to be R 'n' B/pop music, for example Jason Derulo - Whatcha Say, Alesha Keys - Doesn't Mean Anything and Kesha - Tok Tok. This suggests that this is the most popular music genre at the moment. On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be any rock music currently in the top 10. This would suggest that rock music isn't very popular at the moment. However, from my research questionaire, I know that a lot of people who are interested in buying a chart music magazine are interested in rock music as well as pop and R 'n' B, so I will still include some rock music in my music magazine. Looking at the download top 40 has helped me because I now know that R 'n' B and pop music are very popular at the moment, so I will remember this when I create my product.

Reader Profile

I have created a profile of the typical kind of person who would read my magazine, to help to show the kind of audience I am targetting with my product.

Gender: male and female

Age: between fourteen and eighteen

Interests: going to concerts, hearing about celebrity music artists lives, the music industry in general

Music genre they are interested in: chart music (a range of R'n'B, dance, rock and pop but also open to hearing about other types of music)

Music idols: Kings of leon, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Ne-yo, Fall Out Boy

Feedback 6.12.09

Excellent work Lauren! Get stuck into the detailed planning now. You need to work on mood boards, sketches and drafts of your feature article. See me for guidance.

Mrs A

Circulation Figures for Magazines

NME - 40, 948 in 2009
Q - 103, 017
Mixmag - 30, 159
Kerrang - 52, 272

Above are some circulation figures for music magazines that are like mine. Although in many music magazines there has been a decrease in circulation figures, many people still want to buy music magazines which proves that there is still demand in the market for my product.

Institutions to produce my product

EMAP

East Midland Allied Press - EMAP are a British media production company. They used to produce SMASH HITS magazine, which will be similar to mine. This would mean that EMAP might be a good institution to produce my magazine.

IPC

IPC have produced magazines such as NME, so I know that they can produce music magazines. However from my research into their company I cannot find any evidence that they have ever produced a chart magazine. I think that this might be a good thing, because my magazine would be unique for their company. I have decided that IPC would be a good institution to produce my magazine.

Analysis of artist images (from posters and CD covers)

I think this image attracts the audience because it uses direct address. The people in the photograph are looking straight out at the person viewing it, which catches attention. This being used on the front cover of a magazine would invite the reader in to buy the magazine. Obviously, the people in this poster are celebrities, which are aspirational for the audience. Using celebrities like these on the front cover of a magazine, increases sales and therefore profit. The background of the image is quite plain, so it does not draw attention away from the main focus, but it is also not completely blank, so it isn't boring. The colours of this poster are quite plain and dark. If the image was used on a magazine, I think it would have to be brighter to catch the readers attention. The clothing of the band is very informal and relaxed, which can make the audience feel relaxed also. It relates to the target audience because this is likely to be the type of clothes that they will wear. The facial expressions are also relaxed and friendly, inviting the audience in.

In the image on this CD cover, Beyonce isn't looking directly at the camera. This is indirect address. For a CD cover, this image is still attractive to the audience because it is a close up a medium close up and the image is still eye catching. The image is bright and attractive which will draw the audience's attention, so it would still work on a magazine cover. The artists face looks like she is attracted or thinking about something she is looking at in the distance. This can make the audience intrigued to find out more, and therefore buy the magazine. Because the background is slightly blurred, Beyonce looks like she stands out from the background. This again attracts the audience to the image. I think that fading or blurring the background behind the image on a magazine cover is a good idea in making the artist image stand out, so I will use this image as inspiration for my front cover.

Unique Selling Point

I think that the unique selling point for my magazine will be that it does not just cover one genre. Magazines such as Mixmag, which is about clubbing music, and Kerrang which is about rock music, obviously only target the audience who enjoy these genres. Because my magazine is going to be a chart music magazine, it can be about lots of different music styles. This allows the target audience to read about the music they enjoy, and also be able to learn about music they don't know as much about. As well as meaning that the target audience is wider, this makes my magazine stand out and be unique to other music magazines

Target Audience

I have chosen the target audience for my magazine, using GRASS!
The gender of my target audience is both males and females, because I think that they can both enjoy music and reading magazines, and this means that there will be more profit for that magazine rather than just targeting one gender. There is not going to be any specific race of people who can consume the magazine. The age range will be between about fourteen and nineteen. This is because I feel this is the age of people who are most likely to be interested in chart music. Finally, the socio-economic status of my target audience will probably be group C1, lower middle class, and upwards because it is likely to be parents money that buy the magazines for their children. I think it will be C1 and above because they are likely to will have spare money to purchase magazines. People in groups below C1 probably will not have money to buy magazines for their children, because their children will probably be in school or be students, so they will be in group E and unlikely to be able to buy the magazines for themselves.

Reflection on Audience Questionaire

After deciding on my target audience, I made a questionnaire to hand out to people to see what music they enjoyed, what magazines they read and what attracts them to a magazines. This is and example f how someone filled out my questionaire.

From the results of my questionnaire, I have found that many teenagers do not buy a music magazine. Reasons that were given for this are 'because I can get all the information I wanted from recorded live interviews and on the internet' and 'because I'm not interested enough in music.' From this, I have decided that my magazine needs to have a unique selling point (USP) to make sure that my target audience does want to buy my magazine rather than just finding the information that they want on the internet. I am going to research music magazines further to decide how I can make mine unique.

I asked the question 'What music do you enjoy?' Lots of the questionairres that I recieved back showed that my target audience enjoy a wide range or music genres rather than just one. Here is a bar chart to show the results of this question.

This has helped me because as chart music can cover a lot of genres such as rock, dance and Indie, I know that there will be a wide audience of people who would be interested in my magazine as it doesn't really single anyone out. This will increase sales and therefore profit. Also, as the highest result was for pop music, I now know that I should cover quite a lot of this genre in my magazine. As jazz and classical got very low results, I have decided that I will leave these two genres out of my magazine. Atleast the people who chose jazz and classical also chose other genres of music as their favourite, so this does not mean that they wouldn't still be interested in my magazine.

Another question that I asked was 'If there was a chart music magazine availbable, would you be interested?' I asked this question to try and find out if I was targetting the right audience, or if they would not want to read about chart music. 7 out of ten of the people I asked answered 'yes.' The three that answered 'no' did not give a reason for this answer.

To try and decide what features I should use in my magazine that would make sure people would buy my magazine, I asked the question 'What attracts you to buy a music magazine?' I have produced a pie chart to show the results of this question.

As I have already analysed a front cover of a music magazine, I know that they need to have bright, attractive colours and usually a celebrity to draw the attention of the target audience. From this question's results I can see that the articles in a magazine are very important to if the audience want to buy it. I am going to analyse the features of a double page spread in a magazine, so that I can take inspiration for my own.

Finally, I asked the question 'What do you expect to find on the cover of a music magazine?' Answers were given such as; artists, bright colours, headlines, lots of things to look at and price of magazine. I can use this information when creating my own front cover, to make it stand out from other magazines, so it will catch the target audience's eye.

The Conventions of Music Magazines

I have analysed the front cover of 'Billboard' music magazine to show that I have learnt the conventions of a music magazine. I chose to use this front cover because the magazine has a lot of chart music in it, and I feel it relates to the magazine I am going to make.

Feedback 24.11.09

Good work Lauren. Good prelim and refelction. You now need to get stuck into the research. You need to be doing this at home in your own time also. You need to outliner the conventions of magazines and upload and analyse a front pg, contents and dble pg feature from a magazine of similar genre to your intended product. Discuss how genre is suggested through the media language and how it attracts the target audience etc. Inclede relevant theory - AIDA, Maslow, Uses and Gratifications etc. See checklist for more.

Mrs A

Preliminary Task

This is the college magazine cover that I have done for my preliminary task. I chose the colour scheme blue and orange to match the St Mary's logo and also I feel that these colours will appeal to both boy and girl students, so more people would buy the magazine rather than only targeting a small group of people. As well as using the St Mary's logo and colour scheme I have also used the initials, 'SMC' in the magazine name. This is because I think it gives the magazine an identity that the target audience will recognise easily. I have used a masthead so that it is clear straight away that this is a magazine, and I think that because the masthead is bright orange on top of dark blue it is eye catching and likely to make people stop and read it. I used a strapline on my magazine cover to give the reader an idea of what the magazine will include. However I have kept it short so it doesn't give too much away. I think this will make the readers want to find out more. One thing I was quite worried about when I was making my magazine was cutting out my image for the front page on Photoshop as I didn't think I would be able to make it look professional. But I think that I did quite well with this and that the image fits well on my front page, and doesn't look like it has been cut out.

Although I am quite happy with the result there are a few things I would change if I could do the task again. I think that the colours of my magazine cover could have been more striking, so it would catch the target audience's eye. As the magazine is aimed at students, I think they might find the dark colours a little bit boring and brighter colours could have been more exciting, so I will consider this when making my music magazine cover. I also think that there may be a bit too much empty space on the front cover, and when I was making it I had trouble thinking how I could fill it without making the page look crowded. I think I could have solved this by planning out my layout properly before choosing my image for the front page, so that I could make sure it would look good. If I could do the magazine again I would also vary the font more, because I realise that it looks a little bit repetitive and not enough variety. 

This is the design I made for my contents page of the college magazine. I like the title 'This month...' rather than just writing 'contents' because I think it gives a more relaxed and informal feel to the magazine. However I was not too happy with the layout, because I do not think it looks very interesting with just the page numbers written down one side, and pictures on the other. I will make sure I think about this when I am making my contents page for my music magazine.After this task I feel a lot more confident using Indesign and Photoshop, because before this I didn't know much about either of those programs. This has helped me a lot with my final project because I have had to think a lot about what would appeal to students, and in my music magazine I will probably be targeting the same age range.

 

Initial ideas for my project.

For my AS media coursework I have decided to do the print option, making a music magazine. I will be doing this project on my own. The genre of my music magazine will be chart music. I have decided to do this because I feel that chart music is the genre I know most about, so I will enjoy it. The audience I have decided to target with my magazine are teenage males and females, between about fourteen and seventeen, because I think they will be interested in chart music so they are most likely to want to consume my product. I will carry out research by analyzing chart music magazines and carrying out a questionnaire on teenage males and females to decide how to target this audience.