First draft of the front cover

This is the first digital draft of the front cover of my music magazine. I got the font for the masthead from dafont.com and it's called Bamboo Chopsticks. I chose this font as it relates to already existing pop punk magazines. The font for the text is OCR A Std and I chose this font as it has an 8-bit look to it. I decided to keep the font white so that it would differentiate from the rest of the text. I made the text a light blue so that the text would stand out against the black background. I kept the white background for the poster images so that they would have a border and wouldn't just be randomly placed there without a background.

Shooting schedule for Magazine Shoot

Below is the shooting schedule I have created for the photo shoot for my punk rock music magazine. I took into consideration the actor I was using, the outfit they would wear, there pose and how the shot would be taken and also how long each photo type would take to capture.

Evaluation of final blocking

I chose these specific designs for my blocking because they represent already existing punk rock magazines well.

I chose this as the final design for the cover page of my magazine because I feel that it is a good representation of the already existing punk rock music magazines that I have previously looked at. I have kept everything from my original plan in this final block because I felt that everything in my original plan was appropriate to the genre of my magazine. I chose this version of the cover because I preferred the placing of the model and the text on this version over the other designs I had created. By having the model in the centre of the page it attracts the reader to look at the image and subsequently look at the text articles surrounding the image.

I chose this as the final design for the cover page of my magazine because I think that it is well structured. The different pieces of information are well laid out with a well placed image in the top half of the frame. I have kept everything from the original plan in this final block because I felt that everything in my original plan was appropriate to the genre of my magazine. I chose this version of the contents page because I thought the layout was appropriate to the genre of the magazine. 

I chose this as the final design for the double page spread for my music magazine because I think this design had the best layout out of all the other designs. I think that the position of the text and image compliment each other and the text highlights the image in the centre of the page. I have kept everything from the original plan in this final block because I felt that everything in my original plan was appropriate to the genre of my magazine and the design is conventional as it is used a lot in existing music magazines. I chose this version of the contents page because I thought the layout was appropriate to the genre of the magazine. 

Comparing my blocking to already existing magazines

                                     

I based my design for the front cover of my magazine off of this NME front cover. There are a lot of similarities between the two covers like the positioning of the image, masthead, starburst and barcode/price. However I did change where the headline and pull quote position as I wanted to make the design of my cover page individual.

            

                    

          

I based my design for the front cover of my magazine off of this NME contents page. I based my contents page entirely off of this contents page as I thought that this design was appropriate to the genre of the magazine.

Flat Blocking of Cover page, Contents page and Double Page spread

 These are the flat blocking plans for the cover page, contents page and double page spread of my music magazine.

 This is my final design for the cover page of my magazine. I chose this as the final design as it has a lot of conventional aspects that are present in music magazines like starbursts, barcode/price and headlines accompanied by pull quotes. I also chose this as the final design because it is the design that focused most on the main article of the magazine by having a headline, image and pull quote advertising it.

This is the final design I chose for the contents page of my music magazine. I decided to use this design as it is similar to contents pages in already existing music magazines. The page has more writing on it than images, but this aspect is present in many popular music magazines being published today.

This is the final design I chose for the double page spread of my music magazine. I chose this as the final design as it has an equal amount of text and images which I think is essential to keeping the reader focused on the article. It also has the conventional headline and pull quote that is present on many published music magazines.

This is one of the designs that I decided not to use in my magazine. I decided not to use this idea for a contents page because the layout is untidy and unconventional and I don't think that it would appeal to the reader. I also didn't choose this design because the text was split on either side of the page which would split the readers attention.

Analysis of Existing Music Magazine(s)

I analysed an already existing music magazine (NME and KERRANG!) so that I could see how professional magazines layout there cover page, contents page and double page spread.I analysed these so I could see what works well in a music magazine and then apply those successful elements to my own music magazine.

Cover Page (NME)

Contents Page (NME)

Double Page Spread (KERRANG!)

The Progression of Music

I have mase a timeline of the evolution of music, including influences and political occurances to help with the ideas of what I can include in my music magazine.

1950

1950's music was distributed through vinyl records, concerts and radio shows. The influential artists (both in the musci and film industry) at the time were Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. Significant political events  that occured in the 50's was the Korean War (1950-1953) and The Cold War (1941-1991) between the U.S and the Soviet Union, This war created a military tension between countries.

1960

The 1960's showed a development in the way that music was distributed as music now reached the masses through vinyl records, music festivals and small portable radios. Artists that were taking the world by storm included The Beatles, Cream, Pink Floyd and The Who. The fashion industry at the time was heavily influenced by the artists of the time, an example of this was fans of The Who, who were seen as punks and would often dress in leather as this is how the members of the band dressed. Some of the big fashion icons of the time included Twiggy, who was a model famous for her iconic eyelashes, and Mary Quant who is most famous for designing the mini skirt which was based off the car the Mini Cooper. The signature clothing material at the time was PVC and was used for clothing items such as dresses and skirts. Many political events occured in the 60's but the biggest was perhaps the assassination of JFK (1963). Martin Luther King Jr also performed his famous I Have A Dream speach in (1969). The subculture of the 60's included Punks, Rockers, Mods and Hippes. Hippies were associated with drugs, environmental concern or 'flower power'.

1970

In the 70's music was distributed as cassettes, records and radios. Popular artists at the time included Elton John, Queen, David Bowie and Metallica. The genres of music that were popular at the time were Glam Rock, Disco Funk, Jazz and Rock. Many of the fashion icons at the time were heavily influenced by Glam Rock and Hippies, people were often seen wearing three piece suits. One of the biggest fashion designers of the time was Vivienne Westwood. A main political event that occured in the 1970's was Bloody Sunday (1972) where 26 civil rights activists were shot in Northern Ireland. On May 31st, 1970 there was an earthquake in Peru that killed 50,000 people.


1980

In the 1980s music was distributed by records, mp3 players and the creation of MTV in 1981. Influential artists at the time were Michael Jackson (known as the King of Pop), Phil Collins, George Michael and Wham!  Changes that influenced music in the 1980s were war which  influenced music, such as a song by UK Decay such as “For my Country”and “Straight to Hell” by The Clash, which were both seen as anti-war songs. Famous clothing items in this decade were Fanny Packs, Slogan Shirts, Smily Faces and hair that was often worn in a bun or scrunchie. Spandex was also widely used throughout the fashion industry.



Music Magazine Target Audience Research

I created this survey to see what my target audience would like to see in a punk rock magazine. I included questions such as 'What interests you when reading a music magazine?', 'What colour schemes would you like to see in the magazine?' and 'What types of bands would you like to see feature in the magazine?' I asked these particular questions so that I could begin to think about how my magazine would look colour wise and what articles I could feature  on the front cover.

This high female rating means that the majority of my audience will be female. If this is so then I think I will make the models on my cover page female so that they seem relatable to the readers. 

These results specifying the colours that readers would like to see help me to visualise what the magazine would look like, especially the front cover as that is the part of the magazine which needs to attracts the audiences attention. Some bands that are associated with colour are My Chemical Romance (black and white) and Green Day (black and red).

This results allow me to start thinking about what will be the focus of the magazine. I will advertise album reviews and artist bios but my main will feature will be a band interview as the USP (Unique Selling Point) of my magazine is to promote new and upcoming artists.

These results show that my audience would like to see a lot of images in my magazine as that is what interests them when reading. These results therefore mean that my images will have to be interesting and stimulating to the audience.

Although I already know that the genre of my music magazine will be punk rock, however these results indicate that readers like to also see artists that fall into the rock genre. If this is what readers want to see then I could also feature rock artists such as Fall Out Boy on my front cover.

Mood Board for music magazine

This is my mood board for the Pop Punk music magazine I am going to make. In the mood board I included the possible fonts I will use for my magazine title, already existing music magazines and aspects of my reader profile. I included what my audience may wear, what TV shows that watch, what bands they listen to and what websites and apps they may use.

Evaluation of my final outcome

The first thing I did in the process of making my school magazine was analyse an already existing school magazine. This was so that I could see what features were presented in a school magazine. I also used it as a guide to what my magazine could look like. The school magazine included:
- A masthead
- Bold headlines
- Pictures that accompanied articles
- A link to the school website
- Both the date and issue number
- School ‘badges’

After analysing a school magazine, I made a brief design of how the cover of the magazine would look, showing where I would place articles, images and headlines. I did this so that when it came to designing the final product, I would have an idea of what my magazine would look like.

I then created a survey. This was so that I could identify my target audience and see the sort of features they wanted to see my magazine. The questions included:
- Are you male or female?
- Which year are you in at school?
- Which type of magazine do you normally read?
- What do you want to see in the magazine?
- Which size is suitable for a headline?
- Which format is best for a headline?
- What font do you prefer for articles?
- Which layout would be best for the magazine?
- What colour scheme would you like to see in the magazine?

I then closed the survey and collected the results. I collected the results so I could see who my target audience was and what they wanted to see in the magazine and also how they wanted the magazine to look. This therefore meant that my magazine would reflect the audience’s styles and opinions.

The survey results showed that my target audience wanted images in the magazine. So I went around the school and took multiple pictures that would relate to the articles that would appear on both the cover and contents pages of my magazine.

Finally, I created the cover and contents page of my school magazine. I made them both in Microsoft Word. I experimented with the layout and finally decided on where the articles, images and headlines would be and how they would compliment each other. My cover page and contents page fully reflect the results of my survey, showing that I modelled my magazine to the audiences needs.

Final Magazine Outcome

This is my final outcome for my school magazine. All aspects of the design are due to the results of the survey including the colour scheme, font and layout. Showing that I have looked at and applied the results of the survey to my own magazine.

Reviews of the images I am both using and not using in my school magazine

Newsletter image reviews from LouLilburn

My school magazine survey results

These are the results of my 'AS Media Magazine Survey'.
These results will determine what my own school magazine will look like and what type of information will be in it. I also made the survey to find out the target audience and what they want to see in the magazine.
The questions were based on finding out, target audience, and design and formatting preferences. 

Here are the results:

My School Magazine Survey

My school magazine survey to see what students look for in a school magazine. The results of this survey will determine what my magazine will look like and what will feature in it.

School newsletter survey

The Draft for the Cover of my School Magazine

This is the original draft for my school magazine. This is the initial design however this may change due to my survey results, as I will have to mold the magazine to what the public thinks the magazine should look like. 

  The original draft includes a 'masthead', two headlines, two images (relative to article), two pieces of article text and one link to the schools website.

Analysis of an already existing published school newsletter

This is an analysis of the school newsletter 'Plumline'. I've highlighted the aspects that make the newsletter successful and unsuccessful. I also analysed this so that I could apply aspects that are successful to my own newsletter.