Music Magazine Drafts

This is the first draft of my music magazine. At this point, I hadn't chosen a professional music magazine to base my magazine on, so it has many unconventional features. For example the font style. I used a really thick font, which is unconventional as it's hard to make all the text fit neatly and clearly on the page in a small size.

The second draft of my magazine is as equally unconventional as the font style hasn't really changed and the background is still the same style. I decided to completely change the house style and overall look of my magazine as it was unconventional and didn't loo appealing to the buyers.

Mock ups of my front cover



I've used google images to set out a brief plan of how my magazine will look. I want to use a large bold font to attract the buyers eye, and also bright colours to make it stand out on the shelf.

Name for my music magazine

Name ideas for my music magazine on Prezi

Target audience, features and genre of my music magazine

My magazine will need to contain a mast head that is the main feature that stands out and is the most dominant icon on the page. It will also need to be the full width of the page to achieve this. It will need to be short and snappy to make sure it is memorable. It will need to do this so that it’s the one they keep coming back to and eventually buy. Many existing magazines have short snappy names like ‘NME’ and ‘GQ’. They’re usually just the first letters of two or three words to make it snappy and memorable. Some magazine feature either a music related TV show like ‘The Hex Factor’ or ‘Kerrang’ but others feature bands like ‘Clash.’ I have decided to name my magazine "RAVE" as it connotes happiness and also represents many students lives etc. It is also short, snappy and easy to remember, following the conventions of other music magazines.

It needs to have a house style that is consistent throughout the magazine, not only making it eye catching but also easy on the eye. The main image on the front cover needs to be large and the most dominant image on the page. It needs to be a mid-close up of the model and also the model needs to have eye contact with the audience to engage them. This will make it feel more of a personal buy, like the reader is actually looking directly into the models eye, catching the reader’s attention. I was thinking of having my house style red, black and white throughout the year, but the Christmas issue (published in December) in gold, silver and black to relate to the season and month the issue is published in. I think both house styles are good as gold and silver connote Christmas and Christmas decorations and red connotes passion and love as well as danger. This would make my magazine apply to all sorts of genre of music and also lots of different people would be able to relate to it as most people in my target age range are either in love, searching for love or want to take risks in life. I have chosen to create an issue for January, just after Christmas, so I will be following the house style or red, black and white.

I am targeting my magazine at 15 – 24 year old as I am within this age group and I feel I’ll be able to relate to them better and produce a magazine they would be interested in, both males and females. The S.E.G I will be aiming my magazine at are group E, D and possibly some C2 but focusing mainly on E. This is because most people in groups E and D fit into my age range as they’re either in full time education or newly employed. Some people in C2 may fit into this category if they have done apprenticeships instead of going to college, meaning they will be semi-skilled workers. I will focus my magazine on selling to outer and inner directed people as most if not all college and university students will fit into this category. This is because some of them will be belongers, wanting to belong to the group of buying my magazine, and also some of them will be I-am-me’s and some of the music featured in my magazine will be their type of music. All of these groups cover at least half of the UK’s population, making it a good target audience as a wide range of people will be interested in it.

I will be representing the people in the magazine in different ways. My main cover story I will want to represent the person featured as positive as I can to make the reader want to read about them and to create a main positive feel overall. However to engage and interest the reader I may also throw in a negative representation of something/someone featured in my magazine in a smaller story to also engage the reader because I think everyone wants to hear a bit of gossip. It may not come across as negative representation, but I think I need to add some gossip to make the magazine worth reading. For example, I may add this gossip under the letters page or review comments. Or it could just be a feature of an interview of a famous artist. I intend to create fully positive morals and values of the artists featured in my magazine to advertise the artists as well as my magazine.

I will be creating my own artist for my main front cover image and story to make it easier to write about and take images. However I may feature actual artists’ names to make it more interesting for the reader. These won’t only just include artists in the charts such as ‘Jessie J’ and ‘Katy Perry’ but also it will have other features that this particular audience will be able to relate to well. I will feature artists bringing out new albums or singles to advertise but to also engage every member of the target audience by featuring all different types of musicians and music.

Based on pre-existing music magazines the average price for a monthly issue is £3 to £4. I am aiming to sell my magazine for around the £3 mark, stretching to £3.50 if necessary. This is because the majority of my target audience are unemployed or just recently employed and therefore won’t really have the extra money to spend on a music magazine.

I will be releasing my magazine monthly as the music industry doesn’t change that drastically from week to week, however it changes too rapidly to only release one for each season. It means the magazine will have more content as there will be more topics to cover over a longer period of time between issues. It will also cost less as there won’t be as many publishing and printing prices. It will also suit the target audience more as many of these people won’t be able to afford the money to buy a more expensive magazine weekly. It also means the buyers can save up if they need to to buy the magazine as they’ll have a longer time to do so. They may not have the time to sit down each week and read a weekly issue with busy college or university lives or focusing on new jobs. Having a monthly issue will mean they will have a longer time to read each issue. I will be creating a website to advertise my magazine on where the front page and contents page will be shown. This will show the reader the awesome things in the issue and engage their interest, making them want to buy the magazine to read more.

As the front cover is the main focal point of a magazine and therefore is the main selling point, I will include advertisements, competitions and free stuff featured in that particular issue of the magazine. The will include things like competitions to win tickets to a concert, free stuff you can claim when you buy the issue and also advertisements for albums or products that fit that age range. (e.g. hair products or fashionable clothing like the artists wear etc.)

Choice of music genre

Originally I chose to base my magazine on pop artists, but after I experimented, I decided to change the theme of my magazine as it proved hard to create a pop magazine. This is because there are very few pop magazines about, and I found it hard to find a model magazine to base mine on. So I changed the theme sightly. I still wanted to feature pop artists in my magazine as I felt that because pop magazines are hard to find, my magazine may sell more because of this. However the house style of my magazine will not follow this genre, as it has to appeal to a wide range of people, so I'm planning on adopting a neutral style to suit everyone.

Prezi on the LIIAR analysis of existing music magazines

LIIAR analysis of the brief for the music magazine

Typical music magazines have a large mast head at the top of the page. Conventionally, it is the top left hand corner, however a few magazines use the mast head to the full width of the page. Well established music magazines may have their model on the front page covering the mast head slightly. They can afford to do this as the magazine and institution are so well known, the reader will know what magazine it is just by looking at the house style and font. There is also an obvious lexical field of words used in music magazines to make it specific to that one group of people interested in it. Each music magazine will have their own style of writing but ultimately, all the language used will fall under the same obvious heading of music.

An 'exclusive' headline is often a convention of a music magazine as that is how they promote their main, most important story. This sells the magazine as readers can't help but read the headline, which makes them want to read the magazine.

Most music magazines are published monthly as the music industry doesn't change drastically enough to be written about weekly. Also, to be published once a season there would be far too much content, which would make it more expensive too. The price of the magazine mainly depends on how often it is published., If a magazine is published weekly it is likely to be around £2.00 to £2.50. This is because it wont have as much content. Weekly magazines are more like newspapers rather than magazines, such as NME. Monthly magazines are around £3.00 to £4.00 purely because of the content. There isn't many music magazines published once a season, but those that are in excess of £5.00 because they contain a lot of information, meaning their publishing costs will rise dramatically. The institutions also have to make a lot of money to keep their company going between issues published, so they put the price up to cover the costs and ensure they have money to spend on the issue for the next month.

There are many different genre's of music magazine, the largest being pop. The age range for this is huge as children can be interested in pop music such as Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber. These artists are largely admired by those from around 5 or 6 to about 12/13. However older teenagers and even some adults can also be interested in these artists. This means that there needs to be a range of magazines for all age ranges to buy as pop music can be listened to by people of all ages. There are other genres such as rock and indie which are mainly listened to by older generations from about 25 to 35 but also some teenagers are interested in these genres. Both of which in fact are very popular amongst teenagers.

The target audience for music magazines largely depends on the genre of the magazine. There are loads of different age groups that music magazines are aimed at,  but the biggest group is 15 - 24yrs. This is mainly because these are the unemployed people that have more time to read magazines and also the majority of them go out to clubs and other various parties and listen to music. This group also includes college and university students. These students are more likely to have a spare bit of time to read the magazines while resting before exams etc, as opposed to a business man or woman who generally doesn't have a great deal of free time.

Music magazines conventionally portray a positive image of the music industry and also of the readers. They do this by using positive language and focusing on the positive aspects of the music industry. However, the institutions know everybody likes a bit of gossip, so they will sometimes feature a few negative headlines of certain artists to engage the reader and make them think the gossip is 'exclusive' to that magazine.

Music Magazine Brief

Main task: the front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine (if done as a group task, each member of the group to produce an individual edition of the magazine, following the same house style).

Final Front Cover and LIIAR evaluation

I chose to use the mast head 'Wyke Knowledge' as it is catchy and refers to education. Also, 'knowledge' sounds a bit like 'college' which is the word it has replaced. I chose to use the logo as a part of my title as it is familiar to students and also advertises the college as well as the magazine. It also shows the institution of the magazine, although it isn't in the bottom right hand corner where the institution is normally advertised. I have used purple, blue and green for my house style as purple and green are the college colours and blue has connotations of calmness, representing the college as a calm and therefore relaxing place to be. The title mast head out as 'knowledge' is the only piece of writing on the page which is white, there is no other white on the front cover. It also stretches to the full width of the page, making it the first thing the reader will see. I have used a question just underneath the title starting 'what's your opinion.' This will draw the readers in as they think that the question is actually being asked to them. I added in the strap line ‘be in the know’ underneath the mast head to relate to the word ‘knowledge’ and to tell the reader what type of magazine it is (a college magazine).

I added in the picture frames in green on the images to keep within the house style and to make it look more professional. I also put the word ‘successful’ into the colour green as green has connotations of positivity, therefore relating to the word successful. I used mostly black text to make it easier to read and see against the background.

I’ve taken a medium close up image of my model with a folder. The folder represents college life i.e studying, again showing it’s a college magazine. I used the college as the background to advertise the college campus and to reinforce the fact that it’s Wyke college magazine. The background image represents is a bright and colourful image, giving off a positive representation of the college and its students.

I have included issues about the college within my front cover, showing images of the college facilities. I have also included the current topic of the second year where the new oak building is has been used. This will draw the readers in as they will want to know more about college life particularly the new AS students.

I have included the issue number, bar code and date my magazine was published in the bottom right hand corner which makes the magazine look more professional. My magazine is also free, as I don’t think students will pay for a magazine with information in it that they can find out on their intranet.

Mock up of my college magazine and feedback

I asked a number of people what they thought of this as a college magazine compared with the final magazine. I asked them about the background, the text (if it's clear or is related to the image), the image of my model and the mast head. The results are below.

Do you like the background of this magazine?

Yes – 32% No – 68%

Would you prefer an image of the college as the background?

Yes  - 98% No – 2%

If no, what would you prefer?

All 2% said they liked the background

Do you like the house style of the magazine?
Yes – 12% No – 88%

Do you like the mast head? Does it stand out?
Yes – 4% No – 96%

Do you like the captions of the images?
Yes – 7% No – 93%

Is it clear and easy to read?

Yes – 0% No 100%

Is the main image relevant?

Yes – 14% No – 86%

Does it stand out?

Yes – 73% No – 27%

Are the extra images well presented?

Yes – 17% No – 83%

Would you say adding a boarder around these images would improve it?

Yes – 100% No – 0%

Overall,  all the participants said they preferred the final magazine cover as this didn't hold many conventions of a magazine and also doesn't look very professional.

Marketing my college magazine

To market my magazine, I could create a website for my magazine which all college students from all colleges including Wyke and secondary school year elevens, interested in the college. It will have the current front cover and contents page available to look at and also information of where to get one within college. I could also advertise it around the college campus, putting up posters with the current front cover on it. If i were to create a website for this magazine it will also have a link from the college intranet making it easy to view. I asked a number of people in and outside of Wyke if they would visit a website for information about the current magazine and 76% said they would. 94% if the students within Wyke said they would find it easier if the website had a link on the students intranet. If my magazine wasn't free, I would show competitions and free stuff on the website or posters which would be an easy way to persuade people to buy it. For example, an idea for the current magazine would be the 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th and so on, magazines to be bought would get a free ticket to the upcoming Wyke Halloween party.

This is how my magazine would look if it were posted on a wall within the college.

If my magazine website had a link on http://www.wyke.ac.uk/ it would be up here with the rest of the sub-headings of the magazine.

This is where the link to my magazine will be if it is advertised on the student intranet, either next to the library subheading or within it.





Front Cover Development

Firstly I started off with this image of my model. I like it as it's a medium close up of my model and she is looking directly at the camera. This draws the reader in as they make eye contact with the model, making the reader feel the model is looking directly at them.

I cut around my model using the quick select tool in photoshop. I then copied the image and pasted it onto my background.

I chose my background as the college as it shows which college the magazine is for. I took a sample of the sky in the image to colour in the white space left at the top of the page. I then blended the painted colour into the image using the smudge tool.

I then added in my mast head "Wyke knowledge." I did this by choosing my font from dafont.com and downloaded it. I then cut around it again using the quick select tool and parted it onto the top of the page. I did the same for the Wyke logo.

I then added the strap line "be in the know" using the text icon and changed the colour to purple to keep within the house style of my magazine.

I added images onto my magazine by opening them in photoshop and copying and pasting them. I added the boarder round the images making it green to fit into the house style and also 50% transparent so you can still see the image behind the boarder making it look more professional.

I added text above and below the images to describe the images using the text icon, telling the reader what is in the magazine drawing them in. I've used the same font as the strap line, using black, green and purple to create the house style. I used the colour green to emphasise the word "successful" as green has connotations of strengths. Images and captions are very conventional of magazines, including a lot of information of what is going to be included in the magazine.

I then added the bar code, issue number and date in the bottom right hand corner using the bar code generator.  I used free transform and scale to make the bar code just the right size to fit on. This adds to the conventions of the front cover as all professional magazines have a bar code, issue number and date.

I then added the Wyke website to the bottom of the page n green to make it stand out. This adds to the professionalism of the magazine as it shows the institution off to the reader and it is also a convention of a magazine.

Overall, I am pleased with my magazine as it has many professional, conventional features. However I could have included advertisements on the front cover as that is a massive convention of all magazines.

Final draft of contents page

First Draft of contents page

Prezi on my image ideas for my college magazine

image ideas on Prezi

Idea for my college magazine using Google images

Prezi on my initial ideas for my college magazine

Initial ideas for my college magazine on Prezi

Research for my college magazine

I have chosen to feature Wyke College in my college magazine. I have chosen this as it is the college I attend, and therefore I know a lot of information about the college, and will be able to include upcoming competitions and events in the magazine.


 Cheadle and Marple College Magazine

This magazine cover has a very bold house style. It includes extremely bright colours, instantly drawing the buyers in. It also includes many pictures of topics included in the magazine, giving detail about the main story by including the page number also to draw the reader in. We know the institution is Cheadle and Marple college immediately as the name of the college is shown directly underneath the mast head. Underneath this it has the issue number and term, conventional of a college magazine. The mast head for this particular magazine is very eye catching. It’s in a large font, covering the full width of the page. This draws the reader in by catching their eye. It portrays the students in a very positive way as it shows many pictures of successful students from the college, also drawing in possible sixth form students. However this magazine doesn’t feature a main model, which is unconventional of a college magazine.

Lewishm College London Magazine

The mast head of this magazine is very eye catching. It is very large which is conventional of any magazine, and also has the college name within it, instantly telling the reader which college the magazine is for. It also includes the college logo at the bottom right hand corner of the magazine which is again, conventional of any advertisement, including advertisements of colleges. The model featured in this magazine is also extremely conventional as the college is a performing arts college. This is a stereotypical image of a performing arts student and therefore will draw the reader in as they now know what the college features. It also has information of topics within the magazine, showing the readers what will be in the magazine, also interesting them. In the top right hand corner it has the issue number and term, conventional of a college magazine. However, there is a lot of black space around the image, making the magazine seem empty or making it seem like there isn't much content.

Mid Kent College Magazine

 The mast head for this magazine isn’t particularly large, making it unconventional as it doesn’t draw the reader in. However the two models are conventional of a college magazine. As they’re pointing directly at the reader, making the reader feel involved in the magazine. It includes some information about certain topics covered in the magazine but not many. We can see an obvious house style for this magazine, as we can see the next page of the magazine has a black background, making blue, grey and black the 3 main colours. These colours are unconventional of a college magazine as the colours are usually bright and have conventions of happiness and cheerfulness. The next page has an editor’s note, which is also conventional of a magazine, including some images underneath it of the editors.






Demographics and Psychographics

Demographics -

Gender and Age:

The target audience for my college magazine is 15 to 24 years, both genders. This is because the majority of students are this age, and the majority of people aged 15 will be looking to go to college the following year, so I will make my magazine appealing to them also.

S.E.G:

I will be aiming my magazine at people in category E. This is because students fall into this category, and many people in any other category are already employed and not looking at colleges. However I may also include category D as these people may be unhappy in their job and may want to improve their skills and attend college to do this.

Psychographics –

VALS:

I will aim my magazine at those who fall into the outer and inner-directed category. This will include belongers, emulators and achievers as well as i-am-me, experimentals and societally conscious people. This covers a wider range of people, creating more potential buyers. This will interest many people at my college as there are a wide range of interests at my college. This will also show how diverse the college is, also representing students in a positive manner.

Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs:

My magazine will also cover all five stages of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. This again broadens the potential buyers, aiming to satisfy every college student or potential college student that picks up my magazine.

I am aiming to make my magazine free as I don't think students would be willing to pay for a college magazine purely because the vast majority are unemployed and would rather spend their money on other things. I will publish new issues every term as it is beneficial as it would be the best way to inform the students of new happenings going on every term.

Preliminary Exercise - LIIAR evaluation of existing magazines.

East Riding College

Firstly I will look at the East Riding College student magazine. The front cover for this magazine isn’t particularly eye catching. Although it seems to hold a house style, it is boring and doesn’t grab the reader’s attention. This issue of the magazine was published in spring 2010, and the image doesn’t really correspond with this. The mast head stands out as it is in a large font, and also in a bright colour. However there is a lot of bare space above the headline that could easily have been filled, making the magazine seem more interesting. Because of this, it isn't the dominant feature of the magazine For me, the anchorage of this front cover doesn’t draw the reader in as in my opinion, it's boring. The front cover doesn’t include a slogan, relying on the mast head to draw the reader in. It is also free, which contributes to drawing the reader in as we all know people love free stuff! It also contains the bare minimum of information about what is actually in the magazine, which is not conventional of a typical magazine front cover. However I do like the way that it incorporates the college logo and name into the front cover. It is also in the bottom right hand corner which is conventional of a typical magazine as it’s where you put your fingers to turn the page, forcing the reader to look at the logo. The audience for this magazine is largely students aged from 16 to around 18, but also certain staff who show an interest in what is going on within the college. This target audience is portrayed in a positive light, however the main image isn't backed up by any main article mentioned on this cover. The main image here isn't a full page image. It isn't clear and also the people featured in the image aren't making eye contact with the buyer. This doesn't draw the reader in, making them less likely to purchase the magazine. There are also no advertisements or competitions advertised. No fund raising is mentioned which doesn't really give the reader any reason to buy the magazine. A conventional feature of a magazine is the teasing features advertised on the front cover as they draw the reader in,  making the magazine more appealing to them and therefore they buy it.

The contents page eliminates any house style that the front cover may have given the impression of. It has a very basic layout, including a few pictures without captions. Without these captions, the reader has no clue which page to look at to find out more. Also the borders around the images are not continuous, giving the contents page a messy finish. The information for page numbers contains no detail, so the reader barely knows what the topic on the page will be about. There is no more mention of the institution logo or name, meaning the anchorage isn't drawing the reader in, this may result in any potential buyers not purchasing the magazine as it doesn't visually appeal to them. It doesn’t really contain any continuity, and if the two pages were ripped apart, the reader wouldn’t realise both pages were from the same magazine. On the other hand, it does contain conventional features of a contents page. The bright green box draws the readers attention to the most important section of the page, the topics featured in the magazine. The masthead for this page stands out much more than the one on the front page as it takes up the majority of the space and is also in a bold font, standing out to the readers.

The Grimsby Institute

The mast head for this magazine is extremely effective. It is large and covers a fair amount of the page, making it the main feature that people look at. The complimentary colours also draw the reader in. With the image also being the background to the magazine, it stands out more. It also gives the reader a large amount of information about the college and also the content of the magazine. It also gives the reader an email address where they can contact the college and also find out yet more information. This is a very informative front cover drawing the reader in and also, containing a house style. I particularly like the image for this magazine as it is informal and easy on the eye. With it being in cartoon form, it appeals to a much larger audience. It also includes a couple of images giving the reader an insight into the information about the topics within that specific issue. The audience for this magazine is largely students aged from 16 to around 18, showing this by the use of the cartoon image. Staff may also have a quick glimpse, but it’s evident it’s mainly intended for student usage. This front cover also includes the college logo and slogan, making the reader constantly remember which magazine they are reading, but more specifically, which college it is form.

The supposed house style for this magazine is now completely different to the front cover, much the same as the East Riding College magazine. However, there is a lot going on, which makes it appealing to the reader. Although the images don't have captions, they are much clearer than the East Riding College images It has advertisements on the left hand page, which appeal to the target audience of students. The images relate to the topics on certain pages, and we know this as each page number has a title and extra information about that certain topic. Also, the headlines on the pages have connotations of college life, relating to the students and therefore appealing to them. It also has extra information of how to contact the college which again, appeals to the reader. The colours on this magazine are very bold and bright, making the topics on each page stand out and catch the readers attention. This is a conventional style for a contents page of a magazine as it has a detailed description of the topic on each page and also includes images to give the reader a visual interpretation of these topics. The anchorage of this contents page is particularly good as it draws the reader in and also follows on from the front cover. It has the name of the institute printed on the left hand page along with the advertisments and also has the masthead 'contents' on the right hand page, which constantly reminds the reader of the magazine they are reading.

College Magazine Brief

Preliminary exercise:

Using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead. Additionally you must produce a mock-up of the layout of the contents page to demonstrate their grasp of DTP.