Recent work...

I have decided on the layout of my front cover.
It will be similar to 'Idea 4'.




This will basically include three people dressed as rockstar. The person in the centre will be standing ahead of the others.
I have three models ready to be photograped in an urban setting for this front cover.

Shot list:

• Front Cover - Three people standing together (as a band). One person in front, revealing two other people over each shoulder. The back two models will be staring towards the sky with a blank expression. Front model will smile at the camera.
• Contents Page - One model sitting in an urban/scabby area (possibly a skatepark or playground). Another picture of a second model standing in front of a wall smiling towards the camera.
• Double-page spread - Interview pictures, basically just some pictures the 'rockstar' being interviewed. Should just be relaxing in a chilled evvironment, sitting on a sette having a beer and a smoke.
  
  I have also carried out some pricing research.
  I asked a variety of people, different ages 'on average, how much would you pay for a music magazine'
  they answered:
  
• £2.00 (Nick - 17yrs)
• £1.60 (Liam - 18yrs)
• £3.00 (Sarah - 18yrs)
• £2.50 (Sean - 28yrs)
• £2.30 (Alan - 42yrs)
• £2.20 (Jess - 19yrs)
• £1.80 (Freya - 13yrs)

Most music magazines cost between £2.20 - £3.80. Although some specialist music magazines (Rhythm, DJ, Total Guitar etc) do cost alot more (up to £5.50)

Front Cover - Analysis 3

This is a copy of the 'New Musical Express' Magazine.

1 - Top Banner.
This top banner basically informs the reader that there is a free CD with this issue. They also boast that the tracks on this CD are 'Hand-picked by Muse'
To really catch the readers eye for this they have used an orange background with huge capital bold white text.

2 - 'Official Wembley Preview Issue'.
This suggests to the reader that they have had inside access to know what kind of a show they are planning to put on.
This would have interested many people as this show has been named by many as 'The Best Gig In History'. This was also the first show at the new Wembley Arena, which could have attracted many people to find out more about this place.

3 - 'NME' logo & Slogan
The NME logo is quite vibrant and easily recognisable. For this issue they have set the picture to overlay the logo slightly, but still enough to be recognisable.

4 - Image.
They have used an image of the main band they seem to be focusing on in this issue ('Muse').
This would suggest that this issue is aimed at 15 - 30 year old as 'Muse' tend to be for more mature audiences.
This image has been set out in such a way that it looks as if Matt (Lead singer of 'Muse') is holding the free CD.

5 - Main Feature/Free CD.
The free CD is located in the middle of the magazine cover to make it stand out more, they have also added Muse's logo onto the front of the CD.
In the top corner they have included a quote from Muse saying 'We'll be listening to this before we go onstage', this has probably been placed there to inspire other musicians to buy this magazine for the CD, so they can listen to it also.
They have also included a list of bands that are on the CD. This will allow readers to quickly browse through the band names and see if there are any they are fans of.

6 - Barcode.
This has been placed in a convenient place towards the bottom corner to allow them to fit all the necessary information around it easily.

7 - Bottom Banner.
This is the only part of the front cover that is not related to either the CD or Muse. This basically gives a round up of 'other features' in the magazine. It uses a black background with vibrant red text on top to make it very eye catching to the reader.

8 - Exclusive New Material.
This CD boasts a new track from Muse that was 'specially recorded last week' for NME. They have placed this as orange text over a black background, which looks very effective.

Front Cover - Analysis 2

This is the January issue of 'Rock Sound'

1 - Top Banner.
This top banner is quite effective.
This offers the reader a basic brief of some of the features in this issue.
It also shows that there is a free CD with this copy.
As the background is black the writing is white. This makes it very eye catching.
The 'Free CD' part of the banner is in a bright yellow font which has also been underlined, this will emphasise this point to the reader.

2 - Title & Slogan.
The 'Rock Sound' logo is placed right at the top of the cover. Also very bright white, capital, bold text is used. The font is quite simple to allow people to easily read and recognise.

3 - Main Features.
The image used on the front cover is linked into the main feature. They have used a quote from the interview that they have advertised on the front cover.
To make it more vibrant and eye catching they have also added the band's logo.
The photo they have used for the front cover is of Frank Carter, lead singer of the popular english band 'Gallows' This picture and band would suggest that they are targeting customers around 14 - 25 year olds. The image used suggests a 'hardcore' image to the magazine.

4 - Free Extras.
The magazine offers free posters which makes the reader belive they are getting something extra for their money.

5 - Barcode.
They have placed the barcode at the bottom of the page in an easily accessible area for the shops to be able to scan with ease.

6 - Other Features.
They have listed other bands that are featured in this issue to allow readers to simply browse through the brand names. This will encourage them to buy it more if they see any bands that they like.

Front Cover - Analysis

This is the front cover of a Kerrang! magazine.

1 - Top Banner.
This banner is extremly effective as it stands out from the rest of the page and delivers lots of information in a quick glance.
As the background for this banner is a dark green, they have chosen to use capital bold text to make it stand out to the reader very easily.

2 - Magazine logo & Slogan.
The 'Kerrang!' logo is quite large and eye catching, this helps to make it easily recognisable in just a glance.

3 - Free extras.
They have given a space of the front cover over to show that you will get free posters with the magazine, this will make the reader feel as if they are getting something extra for their money.

4 - Other Features.
This is just basically a small list of other bands featured in this issue.
Readers will be able to quickly browse through these bands and if they see any that they particulary like, it will encourage them to buy the magazine.

5 - Barcode.
The barcode has been placed at the bottom to allow for the shops to be able to quickly scan.

6 - Main Feature.
The main feature advertised on the front cover is an interview with Ville Valo from HIM.
This would suggest that the target audience is mostly teenagers as HIM are generally associated with 13 - 20 year olds.

Possible Logos?

Heres a few logos that I sketched that could possibly be used for my music magazine.

Double Page Spread - Analysis 2

1. - Feature/content

This is a double page spread from 'Kerrang!'.
This features an interview with the band 'Slayer'.
Mainly involving images and text.

2. - Target Audience.

Slayer are a popular american thrash metal band also.
They formed in the early 80's, Meaning that this interview might possibly attract older readers.

3. - Use Of Colours

The main colours used here are white, black & green.
The background is white which makes the other colours very powerful and stand out.
The white background contasts with the dark text making it very clear to read.

4. - Images.

'Kerrang!' has only used one image for this interview.
This contains the lead singer and guitarist. Also this picture has been taken in black & white.

5. - Text

The text used in this is all for questions & answers.
They have used very simple fonts such as 'Times New Roman' and 'Arial'
Even for the quotes they have enlarged, simple font styles have been used.
The language involved is very informal and also contains some swearing and slang words.
This suggests that this article is aimed at younger readers aswell as older readers.
The questions have been highlighted in green to ensure the reader can cleraly understand that these are the questions.

6. - Layout

The layout of this interview is very simple.
The band picture covers all of the left hand page
There is a green borderline that runs across the top of the page which helps emphasise the article and make it much more eye-catching.
The right hand page is used for text mostly.

Double Page Spread - Analysis 1

1. - Feature/content.

This is a double page spread from 'Kerrang!'.
They have chosen to feature an interview section with Metallica.
This mainly involves pictures and text.

2. - Target Audience.

Metallica is a famous, American metal band from the 80's.
As they are an older band, this might attract older readers.

3. - Use Of Colours

The main colours involved here are black, white and grey. This is quite a bland use of colours, but as this is a metal band who would generally be associated with darker colours, this has probably been chosen specifically.

4. - Images

The images used are mainly close-up pictures of the members of Metallica. These are placed stratigically around the text. Each of the questions also has a picture of the person asking the question.

5. - Text

The text is mainly questions and answers.
When there is a grey background, black text is used, whereas, when a black background is used, white text is placed over it. This makes the text stand out from the page and alot easier to read.
The language used throughout this interview is very informal and contains lots of slang words. This suggests that it is aimed at a younger age range.

6. - Layout

This has a very simple but effective layout.
Its basically two pictures with surrounding text boxes to fill any space, Also there is a vertical black border across the right side of the page that has a much darker background than the rest of the article, which makes it stand out quite effectively.

Today.

Today, I have decided on the title and slogan of my magazine (Loud Magazine - Turn it up, keep it loud), and I'm currently creating a logo.

I have also started the planning for my double-page spread.


This will contain an interview with a rock star. This will include pictures of the star being interviewed and show text with the questions and answers.

Similar to that done in Kerrang:

Usually on these types of double page spreads they show a few pictures of the band/artist being interviewed. They then slot in the text (questions and answers) around these pictures.

The last few days.

Over the past few days I have been researching exsisting rock/metal magazines to gain an understanding of how the images, text and names are relevant to their readers.

After analysing these exsisting magazines, I have found that the target auidence is:

• Mainly males
  
• Ages 14-24
  
• Low-Mid Class

Using this information I was able to write a breif specification for my magazine:

Type Of Music - Rock/Metal/Alternative

Audience - Mainly males, ages 14-24

I have also been trying to figure out a catchy, relevant name for the magazine.

I came up with three possible names, but cannot decide which one to use just yet.

• Loud! Magazine
  
• Amplified


• Distortion
  
  

Also, I have designed some intial Ideas for the front cover:

Now, I'm goning to choose the right layout for the front cover and make a plan of whats going to be on the front cover (e.g image, text, font style, effects etc).

After I have decided this, I will be able to make sketches of what it might look like and create a mock images on the computer. Also, I will be able to select a location for the picture to be taken and the people to be used for it.

=]