Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

This is the last question of my evaluation. To start off with, my first front cover for a school magazine is obviously not as good as my final product. This is because i was only using pixlr at the time and hadn't developed my skills enough at the beginning of the year. Although my preliminary task has a mid shot, logo, title, snippets of information and a colour scheme, it isn't as full as my magazine front cover now. The model in my preliminary task is off to the side therefore making her look less important where as my model in my music magazine is in the middle and using the rule of thirds correctly to what i wished to portray, which was to make him come across as an important figure.

What I've learnt during the development of my music front cover is how to use photoshop, how to create a logo, spacing, different colours of font, creating a slogan, editing the colour and positioning of the image and adding items over the top such as stickers.

I took my original knowledge of singling out one colour in the image but then developed it so I changed the colour as well as singling it out. To do this I singled out the colour and then changed the hue of it to match the colour scheme I wanted. I also learnt to use the 'doodle' application on pixlr to make the background completely white. This helped me out later so the writing of the snippets aren't lost in the background.

I also used a varied amount of fronts on my music front cover, such as the tile, slogan, headings and snippets. I used thicker writing to draw the eye in where as the thinner writing is to add a little bit more information to make the reader want to take a look inside the magazine. This is something I didn't do in my preliminary task. With my school front cover magazine I only used 2 different fonts, this makes the front cover look boring, not as full and doesn't draw your eye as much as my music magazine front cover.

The image quality of the front covers have changed dramatically. With the school magazine front cover I used the school cameras and didn't take the image as big I needed or wanted. When using my own camera the images where taken on the RAW setting which allowed it to be the largest image possible whilst still excellent quality. In both images natural light was used. Being an amateur photographer, I knew in both front covers I needed natural light for the best images. When using non-natural lights on a not so sunny day, the image doesn't appear as nice and more editing had to be used to make it look natural.

Now looking back at the preliminary task I now realise how far I've come and how much my skills have developed.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

How did you attract/address your audience?

Who would be the audience for your media product?

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Going back to my 'Publishers' post earlier in the course, I decided that Bauer would be the best institution to publish my magazine due to the fact that they published the magazine Q (which is the magazine I chose to get inspiration for layout from) and are a very successful publisher. 

I studied various other magazine publishers that could have been good for my magazine. Such as, Green Chilly Media produced a number of acoustic instrument magazines and would have been ideal because indie, rock and folk all use acoustic instruments at some point. The reason why I didn't pick Green Chilly Media or Volcano publishings is because they are an independent publishing company and therefor don't have the experience or money that is needed to make my magazine be able to run along side NME, Q and other big music magazine names. 

IPC is similar to Bauer Publishings but doesn't produce as many music magazines as Bauer. The reason why I picked Bauer is because they have more experience in publishing music magazines that IPC. Bauer is a highly successful magazine distributor with one of it's best seller selling over 745,000 copies a month.

Also, this magazine is highly based around acoustic sound and artists, a niche market that needs to be filled by a highly successful magazine publisher such as Bauer.

I then go on to who would publish my magazine. In my 'Publishers' post I went through a few of many places that could easily distribute my music magazine, these including superstores such as Tesco or Asda, and smaller but more spread out businesses like WHSmith. I went with WHSmith because although Tescos/Asda get thriving business all year round, people are more interested in buy their weekly food than buying a magazine. Where as WHSmith, or businesses like WHSmith, gets all year round customers and people go to these stores for more niche needs such as books, stationary or magazines. Also, WHSmith sell a large range of magazines so it would be the ideal place to sell my magazine.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

 

I used Q magazine to help design my contents magazine with the layout of writing and photo arrangement. I wanted to keep the same house style and the best way to do this would be to use the same magazine to help with designing. I've made the colour scheme easy to see in the contents page by using it to highlight titles, page numbers and the issue number. Most of my media conventions are on my contents page as I believed it made it look neater that to have it all crammed onto the front cover. These media conventions consist of page numbers, issue number, date and a link to the magazine's website. When you look at the page I used above, it isn't identical as that would be copying, but is very similar in the way the page numbers have been laid out and the sub-title 'features' is similar. I liked the way they had every image or piece of information in line with on another. This makes it easier to read and makes it more aesthetically appealing for the buyer. I decided to fit more images on the page to be able to fit more information on the page, given that my front cover doesn't have as much information as other music magazines.

Another conventional media point in my contents page is the image of the artist playing the guitar. Many images have been used in the past of an upwards or downwards shot of a guy playing guitar. This therefor makes this a stereotypical shot and fits in well with the genre of my music magazine.I also used all my own images which of course is what a music magazine would have to do otherwise it would be involved in copyright issues. I made sure that the main article was the biggest image to get the greatest attention from my audience and then other articles around it but with smaller or no images.

Finally, my double page spread follows the typical conventions of a music magazine's double page spread. These are: a main image of the artist/band, title of the band, quotations and columns of writing. I follow all of these conventions in my double page spread, therefor giving it a typical layout of a magazine. I kept the same font that I had used for my front cover and contents page, giving it a consistant house style through out the magazine. I took inspiration from Q magazine by using a giant letter behind the columns which gives an interesting layout for the interview. I also added a few quotes, one on the image to the left and on in the bottom right hand corner to draw the reader in. With the photo I tried to make it look slightly vintage to keep to the house style and to match the genre of music in the magazine.

FINAL DESIGNS

Audience Feedback On Varied Front Covers

Notes From Looking At Others Blogs

Claudia Carr AS Media Blog

• Labels different parts of the evaluation in separate blogs
• A mixture of of different media e.g. video, writing, prezi
• DON'T DO 'DEATH BY PREZI!'
• Try out different front covers (drafts), making them different, then evaluate which works best
• If making a video with writing, make sure the slides are timed long enough to read
• Compare and give both images of the prelim task and the drafts of the music magazine before showing the final magazine
• Insert some images of sections of the magazines that show which parts you believe have progressed the most
• Time management? How well did I cope?

How did you attract your audience?

• The Masthead and Tag line - add images
• The positioning of these
• Conventional themes?
• Sell lines and Bursts (there to attract an audience) (promotional offers)
• Describe your target audience (what you said in previous blog)
• The main image
• Double page spread
• Enigma code (makes the audience question whats going on)
• Pull quote (maybe add this to the double page spread?)
• Conclusion

What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing?

• Macs/laptops (don't just have a picture of a Mac - boring, maybe me working at a Mac?
• Pixlr/ Adobe Photoshop
• Talk about things that have gone wrong, how did I solve them?
• Safari
• Blogger
• Prezi (explain why you have never used it before, was it difficult?)
• My camera  Canon DSLR/school camera
• Did i enjoy it?

Who would be the audience for my product?

• Socio-economic group
• Age (picture of friend?)
• Gender (NRS website?)
• Ethnicity
• Lifestyle (how they socialise)
• Who isn't? (images?)

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

• Definition
• Gender
• Style model (Q)
• Colour scheme? Why did you chose that colour?
• Age - how is it represented? Negative stereo types of young people? Do I go against that?
• Ethnicity (people more likely to listen to a similar ethnicity as them?)
• Class (price on the front?) (free tickets to get other classes involved)
• Lifestyle (model representing the age and lifestyle)

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

• Who I want to distribute and where do I want it to be sold?

In what ways does your media product use, develop, or challenge forms...

• The front cover style models (Q)
• Contents page (follows conventions? Colour scheme kept?)
• Double page spread

Double Page Spread Construction

After asking my target audience which image they preferred from the selection I gave them in the previous post, many of them picked this image to the left. This image works well because of the background and the fact that the artist is holding an acoustic instrument (tenor ukulele). The clothing the artist is wearing also fits in with the genre of music my magazine is going for and the genre of music The Yellow Pioneers. This image is also well photographed as I have used the rule of thirds to produce an image where the artist only takes up half the of the photo, which will allow me to add a snippet of writing like I have previously done in my prototype of my double page spread. Lastly, what is also good about this image is that it has good lighting. Some images that are taken inside or not with a natural light source can look dark or unprofessional. This image however was taken outside for natural light and was taken on a day that was sunny, which is good as I want the connotation of the image to be happy and sun usually reflects happiness or joy.

I then went on to editing the photos, I used Pixlr as I felt I wouldn't need to do anything to drastic to the image, such as removing the entire background. I first started with blurring the background. Pixlr gives an editing tool to blur the background in either a circle or a straight line. I chose the circle option as it gave a good gradual fade and I believe it looked better with this option than the other. Then looking at the colour and lighting of the photo I went on to editing this. The lighting was slightly too sharp, so I dulled it down a little, but not so much that it looks like it was cloudy. After that I went onto 'Effects' an added a few layers to give it a more vintage look. The first layer was slightly blue, then I added a more golden colour over the top but changed the transparency so it wasn't too noticeable but gave a even and subtle effect to the lighting. 

Next I zoomed right into his face so I could cover up any blemishes and smooth his skin slightly as it would then give continuity to the front cover and the photograph on the contents page.

What I now notice however is that he isn't wearing the same hat through out. On the front cover he is wearing a different hat 

AND a different shirt. On the contents page he is wearing the same hat as the one I am editing here but is then wearing the same shirt on the front cover. And now editing this photo he is wearing the same hat as the one on the contents page but a jumper. Whether the continuity with this is a problem or not I don't know yet, but I will ask my target market later on to ask them whether they like it or not.

Next I added layers on to the image to give some 'light leaks'. I have used these previously on an image I used for the contents page and thought it would give a little more colour to the image as it was just one block of green scenery. It also gives it a vintage look, which is ideal for the photos i have taken and placed throughout the magazine. I used 3 light leaks for this photograph, the first being the small blue as I thought it went well with the lighting of the photo as sun and a blue sky give off the connotation of a happiness. The next light leak I added was a red strip. I added this one as it tied in well with the red jumper he is wearing in the image. And finally I added a dim white light leak, then rotated it so it wasn't over his face but down in the corner.

I then took an old photo, rotated it onto its side, turned the brightness up to get it to become my background, then added my edited image on top. I had to crop the image for it to fit half way across the double page spread, but this didn't matter too much as the artist was still half way across the photograph its self.

Then, taking the layout of my prototype double page spread I created, I made up a snippet of what the artist says somewhere through out the interview and placed it on top of the photo. This makes the image more full and gives it more purpose other than it giving a visual of who the artist is. I made the quotation the same as the one I had used with Passenger as a few members of my target audience said that they liked that certain inspirational quote. I did, however, changed the layout of the writing to make certain words alone on one line. I did this to make these certain words stand out and they are the most powerful words in the quotation. Finally with the quotation I added the lines above and below it to section it off from the rest of the image and to state that this is it for the quotation and that if the reader wants to know more they need to read the article. I had previously on my prototype made the writing green to carry on the house style colour, but when I tried out the green on the back ground the words became confusing to read and became lost, so I changed the writing to white for it to stand out more. 

There isn't any green placed on to my double page spread but there is green within the photograph and this helps tie in the colour theme through out.

The other side of the double page spread I used the same layout as I did for my prototype and the similar layout of Q's double page spread. The layout involves a large letter (usually one that is the name of the band) behind the writing, a bold title, then the writing in two or 3 columns. I didn't use the first letter of 'The Yellow Pioneers' nor the second but used the third with 'P', I used with with Passenger and it fitted nicely on the page. I had tried the Y but it looked unprofessional even with all the different fonts that I had tested with, so I decided to go with the 'P' as I had previously tried this out and it worked well with the size of the page. I also decided to go with two columns of writing as 3 columns can look too busy on a page and then put people off from reading it, which isn't what I want from my music magazine.

After creating an interview with my artist I took his answers from his real musical life and then tweaked them a little so they related to as if he were a band and not a solo artist. If I were to now change anything I would change the size of the left column because I gave it too much room, therefore leaving little room for the right column and so making the writing smaller. I also do realise now that there are a few minor spelling and grammar mistakes in the main text, so it will have to be rewritten at some point.

Final Double page spread

Interview Questions?

For the interview for my music magazine I need a good amount of text to make it look professional. The only ways to get this information is to either ask a lot of questions OR ask questions which doesn't give the artist any choice but to reply to them in a long and in depth answer. Therefore the questions cannot be 'yes or no' questions, they must be questions asking for detail but still relevant to the artist or that musical genre. Having writers block almost all the time, I set out to work on finding the best possible questions for my magazine online through the power of Google. The believe the following questions are suitable and will possibly be used for my interview.

Which famous musicians do you admire and why?

Do you or have you ever gotten nervous before a gig? If so, which ones?

What instruments do you play? Or are you just a singer? (can change this to bassist)

Do you teach yourself to play said instruments?

What are your fondest musical memories?

Have you every been so moved by a song that you've cried? If so which one?

Who would you want to duet with? (Dead or alive)

Best advice every given?

Where would be the best place to perform and why?

What genres of music do you hate and why?

What are your hidden talents? Why haven't we heard of these before?

What do you want from the future?

I believe these questions will give a clear insite to the musicians personality and will therefore connect to the target audience more so than if different questions were used that weren't so personal.

Images for the Double Page Spread

Contents Page Consturction

When first creating my content magazine I wanted it look as professional as possible. To do this I decided to take the look from one of Q magazine's contents pages. This contents page involved a 'main image' of the artist that was featuring on the front cover of the music magazine. I took this idea as I believed it was good for a music magazine and set to work on deciding and editing an image. The image was chosen by my target audience from the movie before hand with all the images I had taken. The majority agreed that this image was the best for a contents page. When I asked why they gave me reasons such as 'the composition works well with the image' and 'the props used, such as the hat, go well with the genre of the magazine'.

After finding the right image to use I needed to edit this image. Within the Q contents page, the image was cropped so it was a 1:1 image (square). I wanted to create a neat contents page in which all images are the same size. By making them all 1:1 images they can then easily fit onto the magazine without difficulty.

To the left are the photos during the process of editing them. Every time I made an adjustment to the image I would save it as a different file to then see the progress of the photograph.

The first major edit I used on the image was cropping down the the size I needed and liked. The 1:1 size looks neat whilst still being able to keep a composition that works well with the original image. The rule of thirds can be lost in 1:1 photos if you get too close to the subject or person, with this image I made his hand keep within the the sections as well as parts of his face. Within this photo as well I also changed the lighting by adding a layer on Pixlr. The layer came under one of the vintage collections, which kind of goes with the house style and genre of my music.

I then decided to remove the blemishes from the artists face as when you look at photos of other artists and on music magazines they are always smooth skinned and blemish free.

I then played around with different layers in the vintage collection to try and get the right look to the image before placing it onto my contents page.

I finally decided on this look to the photo to the left. The image isn't too blue nor yellow, which is what other layers gave to the photo. It also portrays a vintage feel which is a part, mostly, with the house style of photographs.
 

I then went about placing this image onto a white background and creating a masthead. To create the white background I used an old image from the photo shoot, then made the brightness of the photo as high as it would go. This made the background of my contents page not only white but of a large size, so when I come round to blowing it up to the correct size it wont become distorted or fuzzy. Next I looked back at the Q contents page and used my theme colour and logo instead of theirs. I also decided to place my slogan underneath my title in the theme colour to make it slightly more full. An issue I needed to get past was the thinness of the lines around the title and above the image. On Pixlr it doesn't give you the option to just draw a line so to get around this problem I went to the text box and used a large 'l', then turned it on its side. Because of its size I then needed to make it thinner. To do this I used another 'l', turned it on its side, lined it up underneath and then made it white to match the background. This then created the thin lines I use throughout the contents page.

The font I use throughout the contents page are the same or sections, so for the masthead and the subtitles I used a larger, bolder font. Where as for the smaller writing I used a thinner font as the detailed writing doesn't need to catch the eye, only the title which is what initially draws them in.

I next added a second image. This second image is very conventional as it involves a guitar. The way the photo has been taken as well is also very conventional as it is looking down the guitar whilst the artist is playing it. I used this image as I believed it went with the genres of my music magazine well and that it was an interesting image. I also wanted to try and make it not look like the main artist on the front cover and to the image next to it as I wanted a different image. But because I hadn't taken any more images of anyother people to use as artists for my magazine I had to try and crop the photo to get most of his face out of it. A reminder for next time would be for me to bring more people along to take images of and then I would have more options to chose from.

After I completed this I added a small title underneath and a large title of the band name underneath the image. I also added page numbers on top of the images so the audience know exactly which page to turn to without looking too hard. I got this idea from the Q contents page as I and others found it useful.

 

Next I added more snippets of information about certain pages which I believe would be most interesting. I have kept the colour scheme running through this contents page to give it more colour. Previously, members of my target audience said that they didn't like the fact that there wan't much colour on the front cover, so I took this, applied it to the front cover but also the contents page as well to keep the house style I have chosen.

With the titles in bold next to the numbers, I chose artists that related to the genre of the magazine and also to the artists that were mentions in snippets (sell lines) on the front cover e.g. Coldplay.

Lastly, at this stage I added a mouse cursor. A similar thing was used within the Q contents page. I thought it connected well with the title underneath as music is now usually downloaded and the hand cursor relates to this well. It also makes the contents page slightly more interesting to look at as it goes against the neat and simple layout of the page.

 

I then went about adding images along the bottom of the main image to give it more colour and make the entire page look more interesting. Before hand I had taken these images after I realised I would need different artists for the contents page and not just other images I had taken of my main artist. When editing then I cropped both first so they were 1:1, then went to layers to make them seem more vintage and fit with my theme with the photos more.

The girl standing in the feild was just edited by applying different layers from the vintage collection to give it a more interesting look from the original. The girl leaning against the tree however took a little bit more editing to make it interesting. I first applied a layer which made the image more blue in colour. I then went on to apply different overlays to the image. As I have previously used Pixlr, I knew that within these overlays are some 'light leaks' which you can apply to an image to make it look old, but also add some more colour. I went with a red and white light leak as it is a contrasting colour to green and the red went well with the orange and red leaves in the background of the image.

I added these two images to the contents page, making sure they were both the same sizes.

Finally, I added a few more snippets down the side of the magazine, changes the page numbers and added a page number along the bottom. I had to change the page numbers as I thought it would be better if the snippets down the side would relate to the images, otherwise people don't know who the article is about if they aren't well known. I also added a date and year along the bottom as many magzines, inclding Q, included this. Noticing on the Q contents page that there was a webpage to subscribe to for the magazine, I went about adding a small piece of information along the bottom for people to subscribe to the magazine and be kept up to date with all the latest information. This goes well with audience pleasures and it will make my target audience feel more a part of the magazine community and feel like they are being given to.

Creating My Front Cover With Pixlr And Photoshop

Pixlr and Photoshop are two very good photo editing softwares, Pixlr being one I am most comfortable editing normal images with, but I want to learn a few tricks with Photoshop that I can eventually use for my music magazine.

I took it upon myself to look online for real music magazines and find what types of editing they have used on their front covers. One of the main edits were the title of the magazine half hided behind the person on the front. I found a tutorial online to do this and used the two highest voted photos I took beforehand. 

My first attempt didn't go too well as I put the writing too far down. This was just to test out the idea so I didn't edit the photo beforehand. If I did decide to use this technique then I would edit the photo on either Pixlr or find out how to make the background of the image all one colour.

The next image worked slightly better as I had learnt how to stretch the text to make it similar to the one I used on Pixlr with my draft music magazine. I like the technique of this and really want to use it for my final magazine but the fonts aren't as nice as the ones on Pixlr. Also, I cannot produce the mirrored K in photoshop yet, but if I only write 'INDIE RO' in photoshop, then go to Pixlr and add the logo in, then it will begin to look like the draft music magazines I produced originally.

Here is the next step in the process of my music magazine. I managed to create to two backwards K's on Pixlr. Pixlr isn't good in the Photoshop is because Photoshop is used by professionals, but Pixlr can do a lot of things in simple ways e.g. my entire prototype magazine was made on Pixlr and therefore can create a professional look. The next problem I faced was with the editing of the lettering behind the artists head. I want to use this technique because it gives a proffessional look but deciding which one of these photos will be the best is the problem. The one to the left is a good photo as it is the typical look of a male on a music front cover, but the photo above, although not exactly what i'm looking for, is ideal for puting the lettering behind.

I asked my audience which they believed was the best image and the majority said the image to the left. The reasons included: I like the pose, I think the light shining behind makes a good effect and the writing is more clearer in this image. After finding this out I then carried on editing with this image.

The first part I had already completed (the mast head) and the editing of the white strip along the bottom for the footer. I now decided to add a slogan for the magazine. I hadn't done this previously in my prototype magazines as I hadn't thought of it at the time and couldn't think of one during the making of my prototypes. It was only till the other day that a member of my target audience asked me if I had a slogan for my magazine and I realised I didn't. A slogan is a key part of a music magazine or any type of magazine as it is a way to remember the magazine. Some slogans

 have music to go with them and others are just words, but either way it helps the magazine stand out from others and helps the buyer remember the magazine more so thats why I decided to put the slogan in.

I next added the footer along the bottom of the magazine and then the snippets (sell lines) along the side. I had previously added lines between the snippets to separate them more clearly but these lines had been a dull black and not really standing out. This meant that the snippets weren't drawing my target audiences eyes in and therefore not reading them and not buying the magazine. I needed to add a bit of colour to make these lines stand out and so, following my colour scheme, I decided to make them a green that was between bright and dark. If the green were too bright then it could become neon and relate to pop music which isn't what I want, and if the green were too dark there would be no point in making it green as it wouldn't stand out. I did the same with the artists shirt, which was originally green. I isolated the colour before changing the hue of the colour red to fit with the colour scheme.


I also needed to make sure the writing didn't go over his face like it did in my very first prototype. I realised that the picture I had taken was too close, and that I wasn't going to have enough room on the sides to place the writing without it going over his face. This isn't a HUGE problem as I could get the writing large enough to be seen clearly and only overlapping slightly onto his face. Also, for a neater look I made sure the writing was in a straight line on both sides. Not many magazines do this so I believe it gives my magazine individuality and a house style.

I next went on to creating a sticker, which my target audiences liked as it drew their eyes to the competition within it. I followed my second prototype front cover and put a competition inside of the sticker instead of information about the main artist show on the front cover. Many music magazines use stickers of information to list a competition or a prize within the magazine which draws the readers eyes onto the magazine.

Finally, I added the main writing at the bottom for the double page spread. Thinking of a band name for the boy on the front was difficult on my own, so I resorted to using an online Indie band generator. Many names showed up that didn't match my idea of an Indie band at all, but then the word 'pioneers' showed up. There wasn't a word before this and but I thought the word would go nicely with the front cover. But the word 'pioneers' just on its own didn't sound right and I felt I needed to add a couple of syllables.
I ran though the idea of placing a colour before 'pioneers' and it seemed to fit nicely. After going through a few colour options with my target audience the majority agreed that 'The Yellow Pioneers' sounded like a professional band for the genres of Indie, Rock and Folk.



Next are a few more images of a few possible front covers, including the one to the left. I will then ask my target audience what parts they like of each to create a final front cover.

There isn't a barcode nor a price on the front of this magazine because I believe it makes it look messy on the front. I would place the barcode and the price on the back of the magazine to free up space and keep the minimalist but effective look. The price on the back would be £3 as when I asked my target market if this was a suitable price to pay once a month they agreed.

Original Images

After taking these photos I then went around and asked members of my target audience which photo they preferred for the front cover. It was finally narrowed down to these two below.

Shooting Schedual

For my final music magazine front cover I need to have someone who looks like they are in a band or an artist and is available to have photos taken of. I also need to decide where i'm going to take photos. Previously in my RECCE blog post I posted a view areas that looked like they would match my magazine genres well.

I have chosen to use George Hersant as the main artist on my music front cover. George is a 17 year old music student who plays many instruments and will be perfect for the front cover photo as it means I can then add instruments in if needed.

The place I have decided to take images of (if the weather is good) is within Brambleside Estate, Kettering as it is convenient for both. There are also many different areas within the estate with different areas of trees and paths. This area is also convenient to get to and get home if the weather turns bad (which is typical for English weather). I will move around slightly in this location to gain a variation of images to put into my magazine as well as a front cover and double page spread.

The equipment I will need: My own DSLR camera, tripod (for sturdy images), umbrella (incase of bad weather), instruments as props (such as guitar, ukulele), maybe different hats, chequered shirt (for an Indie Rock look), charger packs incase my camera runs out of battery, boots (if it gets muddy I can't have this seen in my images)

These images will have to be taken as soon as possible because the weather will only get worse now it's winter.

Compare my 1st to 2nd draft

1st Music Magazine Front Cover Draft

Below is the first draft of my music magazine that I created in the genres of Indie, Rock and Folk. After asking a few members of my audience what they believed would be a suitable title for my magazine, I got to work on finding a suitable artist for the main mid shot image for the front cover. To do this I typed into Google 'Indie Rock bands' It came up with many different results, but I needed someone who was new and someone who wasn't particularly in a band (to make it easier to place them all onto the front cover). I found out that Passenger, a musician who has only recently become well known from his chart song 'Let Her Go' was perfect for my genre and would work well for the front cover as he isn't part of a band. Passenger is also an interesting artist as he writes songs as well as performs them, he also had an interesting back story onto how be became the artist he is today.

After finding an image of him facing the camera I set to work on the title. For the title I didn't just want the name of it, I wanted it to be interesting but minimalistic. Some fonts can make a magazine look unprofessional and cheap, so keeping it minimalistic would be an easy way to keep it under control. After experimenting with a few ideas, I finally decided that two K's back to back would be a simple but interesting way to go about it. Other ideas for the title included having the C and the K to overlap, two K's to overlap or to just have one K at the end of 'Rock'.

To also make the image more interesting, I used my previous knowledge of Pixlr to edit the photo so only the eyes where in colour. Then I boosted the colour and changed the hue of the colour to make them stand out a bit more. This gave the image a focal point and draws the eyes of the audience/buyer to his face.

Next I added some relevant snippets down the side relating to similar artists and bands in that genre that I had previously found when searching on Google. After this I took inspiration from Q magazine to add a sticker and a sub heading to draw attention from the audience.

2nd Music Magazine Front Cover Draft

This is my second draft. I took in what my target audience had to say and changed it accordingly. The first thing I changed about the front cover was the positioning of the artist. Although Rule of Thirds states that if someone or something is placed in the middle it will therefore give it greater purpose, I needed to move him more to one side so the writing didn't overlap onto his face, which was something many of my audience picked up on and disliked. I also moved the sticker further down so it didn't cover his face.

The next thing I changed was the brightness of his eyes. Previously, although his eyes were green you didn't really notice it that well. This time I boosted the contrast more so his eyes were brighter, I then went on to making the sticker match his eyes and make the colour theme more obvious. Within the sticker I added a chance to win tickets to the front cover artist's new concert. Adding a competition adds to my audiences pleasures but was also suggested by my target audience during the questionnaire. This will make my target audience more willing to buy my magazine as they would feel they are being given to and would make them feel more part of these genres of music and this magazine. 

Overall, the second draft is far better than the original as you can clearly see the theme colour, it interacts with the audience and none of the writing covers the artist's face. I have also managed to change all of this whilst still keeping a minimalistic effect on the magazine front cover.

Questionnaire for my Magazine

The purpose for this questionnaire is to enable me to create the best magazine I can when designing for my target market. To do this I will need to ask a series of questions, analyse these, then use the new given information to create and adapt my music magazine from a prototype to a real one. The following questions are ones I have asked to my target audience about my prototype magazine and what they said in return.

Do you like the mast head font?

Katherine - Yes

Micheala - Yes

Chloe - Yes

Rhiann - Yes

Aneisha - Indeed

George - Yep

Gabrielle - It's a little boring

Kezia - Yes

Sarah - It's simple, but yes

Darren - Yeah

Amy - Yes


What can I change about the main image?

Katherine - Maybe chose an image where he looks slightly happier or more emotional... because he looks like a robot...

Micheala - Make the eyes more noticeable.

Chloe - Airbrush his face and his eyes need to be greener

Rhiann - More expression

Aneisha - Nothing

George - A clearer image

Gabrielle - Some more colour

Kezia - Make his eyes stand out more

Sarah - Add a little more of the theme colour

Darren - Get a better photograph of the artist

Amy - Highlighted more of the colour or more prominant


What do you like most about it?

Katherine - I really like the sticker because it looks realistic and I like the mast head and how you have flipped and connected the K's together. I also like the use of lines to separate the different sell lines which makes it look proffessional.

Micheala - I like how minimalistic it looks but still has a good amount of information on it

Chloe - The originality about it and it isn't cluttered

Rhiann - I like how the eyes are a different colour

Aneisha - The eyes, I like the green

George - The theme colour and how it isn't cluttered

Gabrielle - It isn't busy, so I can read everything without getting confused

Kezia - I like how there is only so much information and it isn't busy. I also like the sticker.

Sarah - It's easy to read in most parts and looks professional

Darren - It isn't cluttered

Amy - (his face) I like the layout and the colour scheme


What needs improving?

Katherine - The sticker can be further away from his face and put his face to one side so you have more room to place the snippets on the side.

Micheala - The overlapping text over the face. Move the text.

Chloe - The overlapping text and move the sticker.

Rhiann - Move the text off of his face and try and get the logo on INDIE ROCK on the bottom.

Aneisha - I think you should move the sticker.

George - Move the sticker down a bit and maybe move the text so it isn't overlapping onto the person on the front.

Gabrielle - The writing over his body needs to be moved

Kezia - Move everything on the side down a bit

Sarah - Make sure all the text can be seen, and watch out for spelling/grammar mistakes

Darren - Some of the writing can't be seen, so change that. Maybe move the circle down a tad and add a little bit more information

Amy - Carry on the logo throughout e.g. make some of the letters backwards


Would you add more information/snippets?

Katherine - Maybe add another sell line but the amount of information you have there is good.

Micheala - No, i think thats enough information.

Chloe - No

Rhiann - No, but could add a competition

Aneisha - No, that is the right amount

George - No, but you could add maybe a prize to the front or something?

Gabrielle - Maybe a few more lines of information, but keep it to on side

Kezia - Not really, but spread them out a little more

Sarah - Add a little more information down the side

Darren - Add a little bit more information

Amy - Err, no


What else can I add?

Katherine - A barcode and a price

Micheala - A barcode and a price.

Chloe - More snippets and a barcode and a price.

Rhiann - Add a competition

Aneisha - I think there should be a price

George - A price

Gabrielle - Barcode and price

Kezia - Barcode

Sarah - A price?

Darren - A price and a barcode

Amy - (topless photo?) I don't think you can really, maybe a barcode on the back of the magazine

Analysing The Audience's Feedback

After receiving these responses from are varied audience of my target market, I now know what I need to do, not only how to improve the look of my magazine, but to make it appeal more to my target audience. 

The first question I asked was to do with the mast head font. I needed to ask this to my audience as it is one of the main things you see when looking at the magazine and when searching for the magazine. I hadn't asked my audience what font they preferred before I made the prototype magazine, which would have helped me more so, but after asking this question now I now know that the majority of my target audience like the font. This will help me with the overall look and sales of the magazine.

The next question I asked was 'What can I change about the main image' because this what sells the magazine. If a rock music magazine put Miley Cyrus on the front, it wouldn't sell, so I needed to know if my target audience found the image suitable. What they replied with will now help me when taking an image of my own when constructing my new music magazine. Some of the improvements that were suggested where: The quality of the image, airbrushing the skin and adding more colour to the eyes. When taking my own photograph and editing it, I can now take this into account and make sure the image is the best it can be.

What I will keep the same however in this magazine is the minimalistic look to it, and the amount of snippets on the front. The majority of people I asked liked the 'un-cluttered' look and said it looked more professional that way. I will also keep with the theme colour as many of the people I asked liked this. They said to improve with the theme colour though, to add more off it. I could do this with certain parts of the text to make them stand out.

Another part to improve is to make sure that none of the writing is crossing over onto the face or body of the artist as it makes it look messy and sometimes makes it harder to read. My audience highly disliked this and also said that to improve I could move the sticker down slightly so it isn't bunched up all in once corner. The audience also advised me to not add any more snippets of information but to add maybe a competition or a prize - this could include free tickets to a gig or a free guitar pick with the magazine.

Lastly, the majority of my audience told me to add a barcode and/or a price. The reason why I haven't put one on the front is because I believe it would ruin the look of the magazine and make it look messy, which doesn't go with the minimalistic look. What I will say with the final piece I produce is that I will put the barcode and price on the back of the magazine so it doesn't detract the look of the front cover.

Socio-economic Grouping

Socio-economic grouping is when you are placed into a category based on either your status or job. This method of looking at people is very dated and untrue as it only looks at people on an individual scale and not their living conditions etc.

When looking at my target audience I have to take this into account when deciding exactly what i'm aiming towards when selling to my audience. Originally, I said that my target audience would be of only the ABC1 category, but after looking in these categories in detail I need to make alterations.

The category of A only consists of  landed gentry, large business owners etc. These people are known as the upper middle class. The next band down of people are called the middle class which sits them in band B. These people usually consist of professional working people or people who are high up in the army. Next two bands are C1 and C2. C1, also known as lower middle class, consists of professional admin workers. C2 then jumps down to people who are in 'skilled working', these people include: plumbers, carpenters, roofers, 'white van man' etc. The last two bands of people are D and E. D is classed as 'working class' in which people work with no or little skill in their job - these jobs include supermarket workers, cleaners etc. The final band of people, E, contains people who aren't employed or students.

This way of categorising people, as I have previously said, is an old and inaccurate way in placing people. This method of categorising doesn't take in to the equation what these peoples backgrounds are like, their hobbies or their personalities. This method only really takes in what your job is, then from this placing you in an unfair hierarchy. I have therefor decided that the band of people for my target audience doesn't matter, as each band is filled with people with the same tastes in music. So i'm not going to base my target audience on any particular set of bands from this method but will focus more on

what peoples hobbies are and what type of person would truly buy this. For example, a person of age between 15-21, loves acoustic music, likes bands such as Jake Bugg or Oasis and would like to buy a magazine with similar bands to these.