Updated/Improved Cover Draft

I have made some changes and updated my cover draft further. I followed what improvements needed to be made and even did some little extra tweaks so I could make my cover look as effective as possible. I changed the text in the black boxes on the left side of the cover from dark red to white. This makes the text much more visible and easier to read. I moved the price of the magazine from the corner to alongside the barcode, and then moved the date of the magazine to underneath the masthead. I feel as though this is a better positioning of these features because it follows conventions. I also added more font styles to the cover so it looks more realistic and shows a wider range of text types. This means I now have a total of 4 different font styles, with the masthead, date & price, tag line, and the rest of the text featured on the cover having slightly different looks. Additionally, to ensure certain bits of text on the cover stood out more than others, I made the main bits of information have a bigger font size than others. This can be found on the feature stories along the sides of the cover, with the most appealing bits of text being larger than the others, as well as in the plug in which I made 'Free' bigger than the text that follows. By making these bits of text larger they are bolder and more eye-catching for the audience, making the magazine more appealing to them.

First Front Cover Draft

This is my first front cover draft. It was initially my first attempt at getting the layout, font, positioning and just the overall look of the cover right. From this, I now know what looks good and effective, and what I need to change and develop. I like the overall layout/positioning of my text and how it all falls around my model. I also think I made the right decision on my colour scheme as I believe it works well together and looks effective. I also like the skyline and footer, and how they have turned out. I think the main font I have used looks effective as it looks bold yet quite edgy, which was the appearance I wanted it to have. However, I have made an obvious spelling mistake in my tag line/pull quote which has taught me to check every little detail of my product before finally saving it and declaring it finished, but I will now edit it to be correct. The dark red text in the black box on the left side of the cover is quite difficult to read/see so on my next draft I will solve this by either lightening it or changing the text to white. On my next draft, I will also make the mast head spread across the page a bit further and place it behind my main image so my model's head overlaps it slightly, allowing her to be the main focus of the cover. I will also be changing the positioning of the price to be near the barcode.

Front Cover Draft- First Photo Shoot

These photos are from the first photo shoot I have done with my model Lucy using a Nikon camera. This shoot helped me get to grips with what lighting and positioning compliments Lucy the best and what would look the most effective for my cover. I also got her to wear one of my planned costumes (a black top with a white Peter Pan collar and a black leather skirt) which I feel reflects the Indie Rock genre as well as giving her quite simple makeup with just a bit of dark red lipstick and natural, wavy hair. This look is a possible final look for the cover but I will do pictures with other costumes, etc. as well so I have a wider range of options to choose from, allowing my cover to look as effective as possible.

Final Front Cover Ideas/Decisions

These are my final ideas/decisions for the features on my front cover. I have decided upon my feature stories, the included artists, the plug, and the headline/main story. I am now ready to start the production process of my magazine, and I will be starting that this week with a photo shoot for my main image. 

Indie Rock Bands Featured in My Magazine

As I am currently in the process of creating my music magazine, including having finished my first front cover draft, I decided to do some extra research into the bands (and some key Indie Rock record labels as seen in my previous post) which are going to be included in my magazine/are featured on my front cover. I feel as though this extra research further explains why I have chosen these bands by giving some information on their background, members and successes, and also showing how they are key parts of the Indie Rock genre.

Indie Rock Record Label Research

Box Mock-ups of FC, CP & DPS

These are my final box mock-ups for my magazine's Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread. They show where all the features on each page/spread will be placed, and represent the overall layout of my magazine.

Test Shots

Existing Music Magazines- FC, CP & DPS Image Analysis

Existing Music Magazine LIIAR Analysis: FC, CP & DPS (Q Magazine)

This is my LIIAR Analysis for the Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread of a previous issue of Q magazine. I only did the Language and Representation sections for the Contents Page and Double Page Spread because the Institution, Ideology and Audience is exactly the same as the Front Cover.

Development of Ideas for Features on Front Cover (Mind Map & Mock up)

After hearing the responses of my questions from my focus group, doing research into and deciding upon the demographics and social class my magazine will be aimed at, I have extended and developed my ideas for the features on my front cover. I have produced a mind map of what will feature on my magazine cover and began developing my ideas for feature stories, the headline story and possible plugs. I have also gone on to produce a hand drawn mock-up to show a rough idea of how my cover will be set out.  

My Response to the Focus Group

Focus Group Response:

The Q&A within the focus group was very useful because it gave me a clearer idea of what people my age want and expect out of a magazine. It also gave me some more ideas of the content I should be putting in my music magazine as well as reinforcing some of my existing ideas, such as the price of my magazine being £2.00. The fact my focus group was made up of fellow students who are of a similar age to me, is also very useful because my magazine is actually going to be targeted at students from the age of 16 so I know direct examples for what my target market want/like.

Pretty much all of the responses to my questions were what I would have expected from my focus group.  I had an idea of what my answers would have been to each question in my head and they did prove to be similar to the actual answers I received. The only thing I didn't really expect was that they prefer physical magazines to digital ones, and they buy them at shops rather than downloading them because I thought most students would find it easier to use technology and have them on their phones to access whenever they please. However, I do agree with this response because I do prefer a physical magazine too as you can share it with others or reuse it, etc.  

From the responses I now know that students prefer to purchase quite cheap, weekly magazines from local shops or supermarkets. When they purchase these magazines, they tend to share it with family members or anyone who comes round to their house and takes an interest in it. I also know that there are certain bands/artists who I should mention in the magazine from the Indie Rock genre, such as Kings of Leon and Death Cab for Cutie, as they are well known in the genre and will attract people’s interest. The features I should include need to be directly about famous bands/artists, their music and their life, as this is intriguing for their fans who might read the magazine.

The responses didn't change any of my initial ideas but they helped influence me to extend and reinforce them, as well as giving me fresh ideas too.

Focus Group Q&A

In today's lesson we put together 7 questions we thought would be useful and helpful within the planning process of our music magazines. We then got into focus groups and asked one another these questions. The answers to the questions would enable us to know what people our age want/expect out of magazines, etc. which is all necessary to know in order for our magazines to be effective, interesting and appealing to the target audience.

 My questions were:

1. How often do you buy magazines?

2. Where do you buy magazines and why?

3. Who do you share magazines with?

4. How much are you willing to pay for a magazine?

5. What type of content do you enjoy the most in magazines?

6. What bands/artists come to mind when you think of the Indie Rock genre?

7. Do you prefer digital or physical magazines? 

We filmed my focus group's responses to these questions, and the video can be found below...

Demographics & Social Class in Relation to my Music Magazine

Front Cover Outfit, Hair & Makeup Ideas

These are my initial costume/outfit, hair & makeup ideas for the artist/model of my magazine. I have picked these specific looks because they reflect the Indie Rock genre, as after doing my genre research I found out these styles are conventional for the bands and artists within Indie Rock to wear. I have also done ideas for both male and female because it allows me to then have a wider choice of both genders when it comes to selecting a model for the magazine.

Colour Scheme Ideas and Final Decision (Including Feedback)

These are my colour scheme ideas which I came up with after looking at existing Indie Rock magazines and doing further research into the genre. These 4 examples are the ones I felt were the most suitable for my magazine:

I also asked a couple of people for their opinion on which colour scheme they thought was most effective and suitable for my Indie Rock Music Magazine to ensure I had made the right decision and it appealed to others rather than just myself.

One stated they thought it was between idea number 1 (white, black and bright red) and number 3 (dark red, white and black) because they were both attractive colour schemes that worked together nicely and fitted the genre well. The other person had similar thoughts but eventually came to the conclusion that they also believed number 3 was the best mix of colours for my magazine.

Therefore, this feedback reinforced my 'final judgement' and allowed me to decide upon my colour scheme with confidence that it will work effectively and appeal to potential readers of the magazine.

Magazine Title Font Ideas

Now I have decided on my magazine name, I have started to look further into some font ideas for the mast head of my front cover. I have used 'dafont.com' for these particular fonts. They are all quite bold and eye-catching which is the effect I want the mast head of my cover to have as it not only draws the reader's attention straight away but also reflects the boldness of the Indie Rock genre.

Music Magazine Name

Moodboard

This is my moodboard for the Indie Rock genre relating to my initial magazine ideas. It shows general costumes, existing magazines, different fonts and things that the target market would be interested in.

Google Mock-ups Of Front Cover

These are my Google Mock-ups for the front cover of the music magazine. For each mock-up I have put the original picture, the final mock-up and a brief description of the content/features of the mock-up on a slide. I created my mock-ups on the photo editing site 'pic monkey.'