My magazine is going to be a indie music magazine who's intended audience is teenage girls of the ages 14-19. I chose to do teenage girls as i don't think there is a magazine out on the market that is especially intended for girls of the indie genre.
After public research with my questionnaire i had several unsure ideas especially about the name. It was a draw between Tribal and Koko and i know have decided to go with KOKO as it relates more to my intended audience.
I am going to use the red,black and white scheme, same as the magazine 'Q', but in a feminine way using black as the main text colour and red as a highlight for some of the words. It is going to be a running theme through my magazine with the contents page and double spread following.
The masthead is going to be a block font which is following on from the type of NME's style writing but i will try to find a font that is more soft and not so harsh and that will look good at the top of the front cover.
Several pictures are going to be used to show a differentation of shots and photos. For the front cover i am using a female model and she will be the only picture on the page so all attention will be on her. This will then go through into my double page spread which will be one main picture based on the artist. Other pictures will be of other 'artists' so a solo outside shot of a female and a solo shot of a male in black and white with a guitar.
The language i am going to use in my magazine is going to be quite formal but i want it to have hints of being unformal as to show a friendly relationship between the audience and the magazine.
Overall, my magazine is going to be made for the main attraction of my intended audience. I have changed some ideas that i originally was going for but i think it is for the best and will make my magazine better.
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Draft Drawings
I did a draft drawing of my front page, contents page and two page spread. They are not very detailed as they just highlight my ideas at the moment of where i would like things to be placed.
My contents page is based on other contents pages similiar to my genre. Looking at several magazines such as Kerrang there seemed to be one main image standing out which is related to the front cover picture and the main story. There is also several others that are part of the magazine. To not make things look to busy i decided to just add two other pictures in underneath the main one, just to show other artists in the magazine.
At the top, contents is clearly seen so that people know what they are looking at. Also when looking at other magazine contents pages there seemed to be an editors message. I have taken this in and am going to place it underneath the masthead at the top of the contents page- this adds to the realism. I created the contents page to look like this so it is very easy on the eye and that there is not too much going on without it being vague.Down the side there is going to be all the page numbers and additional text to explain what the subtitles are about. The boxes will highlight the page number and this will also link to the boxes on the images.
This is one of the magazine contents pages i have looked at and styled in my own way. As you can see this contents page has an editors message, several pictures based around a main image and the writing down the side.
Also, i really liked the idea of having the quote that was mentioned on the front cover also on the double page spread. It seems like the interview is then based around that quote more than the actual person which makes people more interested with a backing story to it. The main interview will be under the quote to show the link between the two.
I also wanted 'KOKO' and the page number at the bottom of each page to add to the realsim of the magazine as this is common in most.
Inspiration
I really like this front cover of NME magazine with Florence Welch on the front. I like it because it still goes for the female gender but without being overly girly. I also like the close up of Florence's face and how the red hair stands out. The black and white writing also works really well around the edge.
This is definately the magazine front cover i am going to take inspiration from as it has everything that i originally wanted to do. This double page spread is also from the same magazine as the front cover and i am going to take inspiration from this as well. I like how the red, white and black theme stays from the main cover onto the double page spread which is what i initially intended. I like the swirly writing of the first letter and the 'got the love' which is a lyric from one of the artists songs. Also, there is one main picture on the double page spread which is common in magazines i have looked at.
Mind Map Ideas
I broke each mind map into four sections- pictures, mise en scene, names and colours. As you can see under each section i have wrote a few ideas for each of them. When thinking of the rock genre i looked at other magazines relating to the genre and seen that the main image was a studio and others were mainly gig ones of the bands. Most of the people featured in the magazines were bands so i would carry this through to mine. Also, rock is seen as 'rebelish' and 'dark' so this would've been portrayed through my mise en scene. I struggled with the names for this the rock genre so i knew there was definately going to be a difficultness if i was to create a rock magazine. Also, the colours of the magazine would be quite dark and i was hoping to do something brighter and more eye catching.
Again, i looked at the pop genre and what i would include if i was to make a pop magazine. The pictures are quite 'clean cut' and perfect with the lighting bright but not natural and the models being made to look perfect. This can be shown through the pictures and the mise en scene. From researching other pop magazines i could see that they are more about gossip than music. Also, the pages are quite 'busy' with bright colours, different fonts and loads of pictures being on the page. This is what turned me away from doing a pop magazine as i felt like i might not be able to produce one to look realistic up to others on the market.
When thinking about the indie genre i thought of the words 'hippy' and 'relaxed'. This is what i would want to portray in my magazine. To do this differnt shoots inside and outside would have to be arranged. Also, the costumes would have to relate to the different types of artists you can find in an indie magazine.The name of the magazine would also have to be unusual so at the moment i really like the names 'KOKO' and 'TRIBAL'.
After the planning and research i have come to the conclusion that my magazine is going to be of the indie genre.
Questionnaire
This is my questionnaire I asked people. I asked more women than men as i know that i want my intended audience to be women. I asked 3 men as i thought that their ideas were still valid and they might come up with some ideas that no one else had.
2) How often do you read magazines?
From this result I saw that the majority of people read magazines 0-1 hours a week. This then gave me the intention that maybe the magazines aren't big enough for people to read more of, or, that people generally have little time or interest in reading magazines.
3) What music magazines do you read or would read?
Most people said that they read or would read Kerrang which is an indie magazine. With this being a favoritism i am going to create a magazine similiar to Kerrang but with my own influences.
4) How much do you pay for your magazine?
£2.01-£3 is an equal vote on my questionnaire so it seems like they are of an average cost up to other magazines.
5) How much would you like to pay for a magazine?
I knew that people were obviously going to say the cheapest price going so that is why £1-£2 came up top for this question. However, when asking people about paying for a good quality magazine they said they would still pay in this bracket but nearer to the £2. For this i think i might charge £1.80/£1.90 for it.
6) What colour scheme do you like?
Black and white was the most favourite but the second favourite was white and red. With this i think my colour scheme is going to be black, white and red so that it looks classy but has a brightness of colour with it. The colours also work together and will be easy and attractive to the eye.
7) Which name would be good for a magazine?
This was the question i was most nervous about because i was stuck on what to choose. I had a draw between Koko and Tribal which is the ones i was confused on in the first place but i think i am going to choose Koko because it sounds more feminine for my intended audience.
8) What is your favourite part of a magazine?
Interviews and quizzes/competitions came up most popular, followed by reviews. I did this question just to see what types of stories i could put in my magazine to make it seem realistic and relate to the magazine. I know definately that interviews are going to be in it as it is my two page spread and competitions are- for example linking to a festival- 'win 2 glastonbury tickets'. A review page about festivals and gigs will also be a page in the magazine just so its more realistic.
9) What is your favourite font for a masthead?
The second and last font came out the best for the masthead. Personally i don't think that the swirly font is typically good but i am considering using it in the double page spread maybe to highlight the artists name. The last font i am going to consider but i am going to look at the others and try them out to see which one looks the best.
10) What two fonts do you like for text generally?
I asked people what their two favourite fonts were just for general writing. I did this because i wanted to see what people found easy to read on the eye as their views will probably be different to mine. In the end 'Goudy old style' came out the most favourite and i think this because it looks classy but also easy on the eye. The other two favourites were 'Georgia' and 'Euphemia'. I think i will try to use all these so there is a differention of fonts on the page.
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Preliminary Contents Page
From doing the preliminary front cover and contents page I have learnt how to use photoshop-using the texts, tools and inserting photo's and pictures from the internet. This has helped for the production of my real magazine as I know how to use the programme and all the tools better.
Preliminary Front Cover
For my preliminary I had to create a magazine front cover and contents page for a school magazine.
I used a student as the main image as she has the 'John Cabot Academy' uniform on so this links the costume with the magzine and intended audience- students. The masthead is 'CABOT'. I placed it at the top of the magazine in a aqua colour to link with the jumper the model is wearing. I also carried the aqua colour throughout the magazine with the stories on the from. I used a tag line 'EXCLUSIVE we talk to Grace about her day as reception assistant' as most magazines have a link from the main image to a story. I used white font as blue and white work together and they are easy on the eye. They also link with the uniform. At the top I placed 'issue no.4' to make it look realistic and also adding in the price and date at the bottom. I used a barcode from google so it looked realistic when compared with other magazines. Different sized font was used to make certain words stand out. Also, space was left to reveal the John Cabot Academy logo on the shirt. Grace(my model) is also making direct adress with the audience so that people pay attention to the magazine.
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Research on Institutional Backgrounds
The New Musical Express (NME) is a popular British based magazine in the United Kingdom that has been published weekly since March 1952. Two magazines, ‘Musical Express’ and ‘Accordion Weekly’ were bought by music promoter Maurice Kinn and relaunched as the ‘New Musical Express’. This is how NME made it on the market. Its current editor is Krissi Murison who is the eleventh editor of the magazine and the first female editor for NME.
NME was the first British paper to include a singles chart following from American magazine ‘Billboard’, and they sourced the top twelve by researching sales in regional stores around the UK. It was also produced as a newsprint until 1998 when it was then printed onto a tabloid with glossy, coloured paper.
In the 1960’s, NME frequently had new British Rock groups on the front cover such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. This then resulted in NME becoming a rock genre and applying to the rock audience.
Towards the end of the 1960’s NME saw the chart rise of the psychedelic genre. The psychedelic genre is a wide range of music made to have the effect that a psychedelic drug would. NME however struggled to keep up with the psychedelic genre and even the progressive rock as of rival magazine ‘Melody Maker’. This then caused NME to think about whether they were going to make changes to the magazine or let it finish.
A new editor was bought in ‘Alan Smith’ after IPC had bought the failing magazine. This then meant a radical change had to happen to get the sales back up. NME was then made into a smarter, hipper, more cynical and funny magazine which made it stand out from competing magazines. This was a difference from NME’s previous existence which was an uncritical, reverential showbiz magazine.
In the 1970’s NME was struggling again to keep up with the newly found Punk genre so they advertised for two younger writers to become editors. This then led to the Punk genre making a stamp on NME’s genre and audience, which meant sales increased. Also, following with the Punk genre the paper became more involved with politics and youth orientated issues were used as main stories rather than music. NME took stances against several parties such as the National Front and also took a socialist stance against the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979, which was shown through most of the following decade.
However, in the mid 1980’s NME was in a danger of closure again as of sales dropping and this was due to a newly found genre to the UK- hip hop. Arguments about whether NME should include hip hop or stick to the rock genre broke out and when people of the hip hop genre appeared on the magazines, sales would lower. This then lead to several articles in NME being unrelated to music, such as a computer crime article and an article about American troops in Britain. This therefore showed the desperation of the magazine.
A few years later though and NME got back into business with the newly found genre called ‘shoegazing’ which is an alternative to rock and the new British indie bands. NME also interviewed new bands from the US (mainly Seattle) such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam. These were under the ‘Grunge’ genre and were an inspiration from hard core punk, heavy metal and indie rock.
In the 2000’s a failure of several music magazines meant that NME was thought to be next but it survived although, sales dropped when NME tried to broaden the range of genre of music they used. Destiny’s Child, Hear Say and Missy Elliot was a few of the names mentioned in the magazine but just as in the 1980’s this did not apply to NME’s audience.
In the mid 2000’s new British ‘Indie’ bands were appearing on the front covers such as Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand and the Kaiser Chiefs. This then meant that the audience was widening and not falling as the indie genre and rock genre have similar links.
In 2008, NME received another make over this time with the way the language was used. NME wanted to reach the older audiences so used a more authoritive tone in the language. A free Oasis 7 inch vinyl record was also given with the new revamped issue in May 2008.
Q
Q is a music magazine which was first published in October 1986 and has been published monthly in the UK since. It was created by Mark Ellen and David Hepworth who wanted to reach an older generation of music buyers who were buying cd’s (which was still a new technology).
Q was different to other magazines on the market as of it being published monthly and having a higher standard of photography and printing. It was originally to be called ‘cue’ but as of not wanting confusion for a snooker magazine, it was changed to Q. In Q’s 200th edition it stated that they wanted a single letter as the masthead because ‘a single-letter title would be more prominent on newsstands’.
Q magazine has an extensive review section on things such as new music releases, film, live concerts, radio and television. It is also mainly filled with interviews with popular musical artists such as Madonna, U2 and Muse.
The magazine is well known for it’s lists such as ‘The 100 Greatest Albums’ or one of it’s most famous ones ‘50 band to see before you die’. It also has a ‘sister’ magazine-Mojo-and every other month these two magazines have a special edition which has been influenced by a musical time, artist or genre.
Q also tries to reach their audience by offering free gifts such as cd’s or books. This then is a promotion to the artists and writers as well as a promotion to the magazine.
Usual features of the magazine include ‘Cash for questions’ in which famous celebrities/bands answer questions that have been sent in by readers(the readers receive money if their question gets published), The Q50 where the magazine lists the top 50 tracks of the month and many more.
In 2008 Q had a new image with a smaller amount of text and an increased focus on subjects other than music such as charitable causes. Q also went dangerous in April 2010 with Lady Gaga posed topless in a shoot which was banned from the United States of the singer revealing too much. This gave Q a rebellious feel to the magazine and with several shoots before such as Lily Allen showing flesh Q is maybe trying to reach a wider audience such as men or ‘rebels’.
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