My Design Philosophy

The Four F's (formula, function, format and frame) are important to consider when creating a magazine. Formula is the elements that make up a magazine such as the number of articles and interviews. My style model 'Q' magazine has many interviews, gig/tour information and often features the top 10 or 25 of things like songs of the month.

Ideology

Alternative rock is usually associated with gigs, live music, bands as opposed to solo artists, who usually appear looking quite serious, moody and laidback and guitars. I will ensure that I take into all of these things and incorporate them into my magazine, either in the images, contents or double page spread.

Minimal vs Cluttered Design

They would both look effective on a magazine but, it depends on the genre of the particular magazine. for example a punk or heavy metal magazine would look better with a more cluttered design. Alternative Rock is seen as laidback and the people often look quite chilled out so, I decided that a more minimal design would compliment the genre and look more effective.

Retro vs Modern


I think a more modern look is more appropriate for the genre even though it did emerge in the underground of the 1980's, it only gained popularity in the 1990's - a decade that I don't regard as being particularly retro yet and so it wouldn't make much sense to create a retro feel as the two aren't really linked.

Conventional vs Unconventional 


Conventional:
Appeals to a wider audience and tends to be more successful - so I will ensure my magazine is quite conventional as the genre itself is not hugely popular and it would be too much of a risk to be too unconventional.

Unconventional:
Even though it does create an interest for challenging conventions and being different such as Ray Gun.

Use of colour

I chose to use the colours black and white for my magazine, with the exceptions of the page numbers on the contents page, the questions asked to the cover star and some quotations which are dark red.When I conducted my questionnaire the participants said that they associated those colours with the genre. They also said that bright colours tend to be used occasionally, I incorporated some brighter colours with my choice of clothing for the talent.

Eye for detail

I ensured that I regularly and thoroughly looked over and checked for any mistakes on the magazine I then, of course, correct them. Even is the mistake was very small - as not matter how big or small it would have made a difference.

Consistency vs Inconsistency

Consistent: Looks tidier and more professional

Inconsistent: could look edgy and the tagline I have chosen is 'shake it up' but I was conscious of creating as professional looking product as possible.

So, I decided to create a consistent product and leave the edgy 'look' to my model.

Conclusion...

Following those decisions I have tried to create a magazine to follow them the best I could - but still make something that looked 'alternative' - so a bit edgy and laid back.

Colour Scheme

Further Research

I asked two people, who had not previously seen my magazine, to write down what they see in the order they see it. I then asked who they thought the target audience was.

These are the results:

Person one:

• Model
• Win V festival tickets
• Title
• Sub headings
• Barcode
• Website/tag line

-Teens plus. Because the model is a teen and you're advertising V festival tickets which is a more young adult event.

Person two:

• Model
• Title
• Win V festival tickets circle
• Sub headings
• Plus box at the bottom of the page

- Young people, late teens plus. Because the model is young and also festivals are for that age bracket.

In conclusion...
The features I hoped would be picked out were, such as the masthead and competition.
They also seemed to have spotted the genre as they noticed the music festival tickets quite quickly.

Final Picture Edits

I edited all of these images using http://www.picnik.com/

This is the image I will use for my front cover. I auto fixed it, then removed any blemishes using the blemish fix option. Next I airbrushed the model to create an even skin tone and finally added  bit of mascara to her eyes.



For this picture I started off by cropping it to reduce the size - as it is the image of me that will be used on the contents page. I auto fixed it, then removed any blemishes and airbrushed - again to even out my skin tone. I finally added a 1960's effect.

This image is going to be used on my double page spread. For this I cropped it, selected auto fix, then I removed any blemished by using the blemish fix option. Finally, I used the airbrush tool.



For this, my double page spread image, I auto fixed it, then I fixed any blemishes, used to shine-be-gone tool, airbrushed her and finally added some mascara.



This is an image that is used on the double page spread. It is the album cover for the person the article is about. For this image I selected auto fix. I then chose the black and white option and finished the image off by adding text.



Possible Final Images

The images above are all images I am considereing using either on my front cover, contents page or double page spread.

Final First Drafts Of My Front Cover, Contents And Double Page Spread

These are my final first drafts - I will however make some changes to my final pieces but I will document those in a later blog post

Shooting Schedule

11.00am - Talent arrive
11.00 -11.45am - Possible make up, jewellery,clothes and shoe options tried out
11.45 -12.15pm - Make up applied + talent changed into the selected outfit
12.15 - 12.45pm - Pictures taken
12.45 - 1.00pm - Pictures uploaded to my computer

Risk Assessment

This is my risk assessment for my final image photo shoot

Weather - may be cold or raining = Don't be outside for too long is the weather is cold. Try to pick a day that rain is not forecast or rearrange the day is possible

Tripping or falling = Be aware of any potential hazards such as steps and uneven pavement slabs. Remove any other kinds of tripping hazards such twigs and branches.

First Drafts



This is my first attempt at a first draft of a music magazine. After making this I noticed several mistakes that I needed to correct such as: The title needing to be more central , one of the sell lines needed to say 'from the IoW to V the top 10' , the information about the cover model needed to be moved further up as the first two letters of 'front' weren't very clear , further down in the 'plus' box there was a word missing and a spelling mistake - it needed to say 'Lana Del Rey: love or hate? and 'The black keys' should have been 'The Black Keys' and finally the barcode didn't look very realistic.

 I made these changes to the first draft as you can see in version 1. I then decided to have a go at creating some other variations as can be seen in versions 2 and 3.  

Version 1

Version 2

Version 3

Final first draft This is my final attempt at a first draft. There are still changes I would make to my final piece for example the competition circle is not very circular and I would like to swap the tagline and website around, but overall I am happy with the layout and will use it for my final one.

Fonts

I decided to use the font 'All over again' for my title font. This font fitted with the genre and also with the edgy image that is connoted to it.

Also on the front cover is a barcode. This is actually a font simply titled 'barcode'. I chose this because I thought I looked authentic and had previously tried getting the barcode for barcode generator websites but I didn't think any of those looked very real.

For the editors name on the contents page I used 'Sweetly broken' this was chosen purely because it looks like handwriting.

For the main font I decided on 'Arial'. I thought this was simple and would look effective even for just a standard and quite plain font.

Recce

Recce: A military term that has been adopted by the Media industry. It is a pre-filming/shooting visit to a location to assess its suitability

I decided to go on a Recce for my final images. I used what I saw and liked in the inspirational pictures and found locations that followed my desired look

I think this image would be quite effective as it is quite a normal and casual location creating the laid back look I would like to try to create for some of my images

This background creates the bold and bright look I would also like to create with some of my images - as bold and bright is not always linked to the genre of alternative rock so I think this would be something fresh and new  

Again, with this one it would create a casual and laid back feel to the image

Same again here too

Here, I think would also be quite effective for perhaps a contents or double page spread image as opposed to a front cover image. This is because then I could show the reader the whole of the models 'look' and appearance - which is a very important aspect in any music genre

For this it is because of the laid back, normal and casual feel again

This has a similar meaning to the blue image above. However, this also would contrast the genre further as it is a pink background and pink is not usually associated with the genre of Alternative Rock at all

Inspirational pictures

For my magazine I would not want an image of a band like in this one but, I really like the casual background as this creates a casual and laid back impression of the genre

I like the bold and bright background for this image as well as her serious and quite moody facial expression

The same for this one really I like the casual and laid back feel as well as the model appearing as quite moody and serious

Here, I think the normal and plain background of the steps is effective in making him appear laid back - which seems to be the impression he is going for judging by his relaxed and casual body language and clothing









For this one I again thought the bright and eye-catching background looks good and would draw in attention from someone even if they just glanced at the image

Uses and Gratifications

McQuail (1983) classified the following common reasons for media use:

(Points marked with a * apply more to music magazines such as the one I am creating)

Information

* Finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world
* Seeking advice on practical matters or opinions and decision choices
* Satisfying curiosity and general interest
* Learning; self-education
* Gaining a sense of security through knowledge

Personal Identity

* Finding reinforcement for personal values
* Finding models of behaviour
* Identifying with valued others (in the media)
* Gaining insight into oneself

Integration and social interaction

   Gaining insight into the circumstances of others; social empathy
* Identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging
* Finding a basis for conversation and social interaction
   Having a substitute for real-life companionship
   Helping to carry out social roles
   Enabling one to connect with family, friends and society

Entertainment

* Escaping, or being diverted, from problems
   Relaxing
   Getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment
* Filling time
   Emotional release
* Erotic/sexual arousal

Attracting An Audience

Here are some of the ways in which I will use the front cover of my magazine to attract an audience:

Female model - Knowing that the majority of my target audience are male having a female on the front would attract their attention, but the females that would be interested would perhaps look up to her and aspire to be like her

Competition - A competition especially for something such as festival or concert tickets would be ideal for my target audience as they are likely to be interested by a live music opportunity

New band - My model will be a member of a new band and I think this would be intriguing for my audience as the genre is relatively small (compared to the likes of pop) and so a new band would be interesting and exiting for them

Reviews - Of festivals, albums, artists etc would draw in an audience as again these things interest them

Target Audience

Age: 18-25

Gender: Mainly male, but some females

Lifestyle: Laid back and relaxed

Interests: Music, gigs, live music

Why them?: I believe that they would be the most interested in the genre and the magazine itself

Is there a gap in the market?: I think there is as there are not many magazines for that genre - especially aimed at just Alternative Rock specifically as most other magazines (Q and NME for example) crossover into other genres occasionally

Mass or niche?: I would say niche because of the genre as it doesn't have a huge following, however I will follow typical conventions of magazines in order to appeal to as wide an audience as possible

Possible Ideas Sketches

These are some initial ideas for a front cover, content page and double page spread