This is the collage of what I would like to do my main article on in  my music magazine 

 

This is the start of my front cover on my magazine that I have done on InDesign

Double page spreads I have looked at for my magazine

 I like the way the artist has a separate page to the interview because it allows them to have an introduction instead of the reader going straight into reading the article, they are able to acknowledge the picture as well. I like the way the write up has been set out in 3 different articles. And also the L in the background which seems to stand for the 'L' in Lady Gaga who the article is about.

 I like the way the picture takes up one page and also goes onto another. I like the way the articles also get bigger as though there is more and more to say about her. I also like the way the background 'USA got the love' as though it is saying that she is taking over the USA with her new single 'You got the love'.

To me this double page spread stand out more. This is because it seems to have more fun and a bit more of a theme to it. This is because with the picture it seems as though they are trying to beat up a rabbit and the title looks as though the background has a bloody feel to it with the words 'TEEN SPIRIT' written in it.
I have noticed that all the double page spreads I have looked at have articles split into 3. I also like the colour theme the page has to it, red, black and white. This gives the page a dark kind of feel. The quote of from the article also stands out as it is in red standing out against black.

Research for my music magazine

I have looked at some magazines in which I would like the front cover of my music magazine to look like.

I liked the look of the magazine because the picture is just of Taylor Swift and it is still attracting. The picture is in the middle of the page and stands out. I also like the writing as it is not bright but the colour scheme is just red black and white, and still stands out against the page. The front cover does not look boring but yet has a simple picture and lay out.

I liked the look of this magazine front cover because the band are in an outside area (Where I would like my band to be) with their outfits fitting the scene they are in. Yet again there is only one picture on the page and if there were other pictures I do not think the page would look as good. I like the theme to the page as it is a kind of Texas cowboy theme as they are in a dessert scene dressed in cowboy clothes. This kind of theme gives fun to the page and therefore attracts an audience.

This magazine stood out to me because the picture on the magazine was edited to be in black and white whereas unlike the other magazines there is no colourtheme to the words but it is the other way round. With the words having all the colour and the picture having none. This to me gives it an 60's/70's type of feel to it.

 This magazine attracted me because unlike the other it has a main picture and small ones around it. I was hoping to put small pictures around my front cover as well as a main one. I really like the way the band look like they are not pulling serious poses but are having fun, and the way there is a lot of colour to it.

Pictures I plan to use

I am going to take my pictures as a more of a natural pose instead of them being purposely posed for, this means that I would rather do them outside along a street rather than do them in a place with a plain background. I am going to have a boy band with 4 members, all dressed in fashionable winter type clothing, a kind of indie/rock style. Only one of the members is going to be holding a guitar which will be brighter than everything else because the costumes they'll be in will be dull and dark coloured.

Publication Plan

Name of magazine: Keep Up- This is because most people read magazines to 'keep up' with what is going on. 

Font of name:Cooper Black, but am still uncertain as other fonts may look better.

Positioning statement: I would like my front cover to stand out against any other magazine by having a different style background and a main picture of the band towards the middle but still stand out. I would like the title to stand out against the background in red and in different font to everything else written on the page.
On the contents page I would like it to say 'This week' instead of contents because most magazines have contents and i'd rather it be different. 
On my double page spread I would like the interview to spread over two pages with different pictures of the band spread around the page.

Frequency of publication:Once a week

Price: £2.50

Distribution:International, in local shops

Rationale: There are not many magazines that go into deep interviews with artists, and get the latest within minutes of release of the newest news. Go into more detail than any other music magazine

Style: Music Magazine

Regular content:Interviews, gossip, news

Feature content in your issue:2 page double spread of an interview with my band including pictures, gossip about celebrities, upcoming concerts and free posters

House style: The font from the headings will be more bold and stand out more than the font used in the articles, these means that they are more likely to vary throughout the magazine

Compare the covers of two music magazines

The two music magazines I have looked at and analysed are Q magazine and NME. Both of the magazines have different layouts, although they are based on the same kind of music.

Q magazine is aimed at people from their late teens to early 20's. These people may be interested in rock/indie type of music because that is what the magazine mainly specifies in. However, NME is also aimed at people from their late teens to early 20's but have done something different from what they may normally have done. NME is mainly based around heavy rock type music, but have gone a different way by putting Kate Nash on the cover whose music is mainly indie pop which means they have gone against the magazines streotypical cover. The fact that both the magazines have famous artists on the front, Coldplay and Kate Nash makes the cover more interesting and makes it more attractive for someone wanting to reead it.

Both the magazines have a main picture in the center  both are close ups of the artists showing down from their head to their waist. And both of the main articles featured are interviews with the artists shown. The picture of Coldplay is very plain, this is because they are all dressed in all black with blank expressions on their faces. However, on top of the picture says the word 'COLDPLAY' in yellow. Being against the black makes this stand out more so it may be more eye catching to the audience. However, NME's cover is bright, this may be because Kate Nash has more bubbly music so they are dressed brightly against a white background which means that they are more likely to stand out. The text on the front of Q is very simple, this shows that it is aimed at a older audience because they do not have to make the text or what is written interesting, just put what is in the magazine in a simple way. NME have done the same, it is based at an audience a little bit younger than Q because the cover has a more colour and interest to the text that has been written.

Overall, the main pictures on the front of magazines are what the magazines are more likely to be about, or what their mains story is. This attracts the reader to the magazine because it means that they may have an interest in that artist. It is also simple to tell the audience it is aimed at because of the amount of writing and colour used.

Contents pages we analysed

School magazine- 2nd draft

As you can see that I have used Photoshop to edit the background picture of the school, and have stuck to the font colour theme of the gold in which is related to Bishop Ramsey, being on the badge. 

As you can see comparing from this draft and my first draft that more articles are included on the front cover.

As you can tell from my first draft I have included more articles and a range of pictures to match the articles said. I like the background of the page as it represents the golden colour of the school. The picture of the 2012 poster shows how supportive the school are of it.

Questionnaire explanation

I chose to do most of my questionnaire questions as closed so that it would give me more of a simple idea of what people liked. I asked the age and then what music type the individual may like because most music genre's are linked with a certain age group. This means that because i'm aiming my magazine to a young adult audience of people who are interested in Indie music, it is important to find out if people of that age is really interested in that genre.

The closed questions make it easier for me to generalise what people may like to see on their magazines and how much they are willing to spend on it. The closed questions helps me to summarise what people are expecting from my magazine.

However, the open questions such as, 'what would you like to see in a music magazine?', would help me to see what type of things people like to see from my magazine, including what type of things they may look for in a contents page, or what colours they may prefer the magazine they are reading to be. Another question such as, 'What would you expect to see on the front cover?' could come back with many answers providing information on what people would expect to see in on the front cover of the magazine which is more likely to attract them to it.

Filled out questionnaires for my music magazine

Here are two of my magazine questionnaires filled out. Here is an example of a male and a female one. As you can see the male and the female both have the same type of interest for their ages. These two ages are the type I am targeting my magazine for. As you can see their taste in music is relevant for my magazine. The most popular genre's in my music magazine was Indie for females, and Indie and Rock for males.

Target audience

The target audience for my magazine is for people around the age of 15-22. This is because the aim of the magazine is to not be too simple and have more pictures than text because magazines with this type of lay out is mainly aimed at younger generations of children. Also, magazines with more text than pictures are stereotyped to be related to people of an older generation because they are seen as boring. Because of this I aim to use a wide range of pictures on my magazine that relate to music from the Indie genre. Because of this, I have to involve a certain type of style to my magazine so that i am able to attract the correct target audience. Because of the target audience age, I am to do this by producing a magazine that has a simple lay out but is attractive through the use of words and pictures.

What I have learnt

From doing my school magazine I have learnt the basic steps of using Indesign and Photoshop. By learning to use the basic skills of the programmes, I will be able to put the knowledge and skills learnt to use when making my music magazine. By doing the drafts of my school magazine, I have been able to point out small mistakes such as spelling mistakes.

Here are the steps of learning how to use Photoshop and putting them into InDesign. We were given a sheet which taught us the steps to develop a poster. This helps me to learn how to use the programme so I am then able to put the skills learnt to use when making my music magazine.

Contents page analysis

Contents Analysis Pages

The four contents pages we analysed were; Q Magazine, Mixmag, NME and We love pop. All of these magazines are set out in different ways, aimed at different target audiences and are all about many different types of interests. Each magazine has their own individual lay out of pictures, colours and fonts.

Mixmag has a different name compared to the others, their name may show that they have a mixture of many things within the magazine. This is shown on the contents page by having pages separated into different categories such as; Fashion, Tunes and Features. Because they magazine shows a big interest on fashion and music, the target audience may be based around older teenagers to young adults, but in an age range of 16-24. The pictures on the contents page have been put against a plain black background, this may be because with the pictures being so bright, it will be able to make them stand out more than they would on for example, a red background. The contents page shows a variety of 4 different pictures, all of these pictures have number page on which means they have something to do with that certain article. The big main picture shows a close up of a girl dressed in a bright pink top with bright make up, this shows a relation to the article because in the brief of what it is about it states that 'fashion is colourful'. Like this one, the other pictures show close ups and a group shot all with briefs of what the article they are related to is about. The language on the contents page is very brief, this is done in way that makes you want to read the article. It states what is happening on that page E.G. Love Bullets. Under what it says is on the page it briefly explains what it is, E.G. under Love Bullets it says 'Jewellery brand makes love not war' This makes the audience more likely to want to see what the article is actually about, or from the small plain brief, want to see more.

NME is a completely different magazine to Mixmag. This is because from the contents page we are able to tell that it is more likely to be based on rock music and have a target audience for mainly young adults. On the contents page, the pictures of music artists stand out more against the grey background. All of the 6 pictures show what the main articles in this issue of the magazine are more likely to be about. All of the pictures have a bold number in red on to show what page the articles are on, and underneath have a quote from each article that the pictures are based on. For example a picture shows an artist from the band crystal castles, the quote underneath says "I was wringing the sweat out of my clothes. My wig almost came off". This quote from the picture shows that there is an interview in the magazine from the band Crystal Castles. The only writing on the contents pages shows The page numbers with what is on the pages and writing showing quotes from the article. At the top of the page in bold says the words 'INSIDE THIS WEEK' this may to replace the word 'contents' to make the page seem more interesting and the whole point of the page is for the reader to know what is going on inside the weekly magazine. 

Q magazine is set out like NME. This is because the articles inside are also based on rock type of music. Like NME the magazine is more likely to be based for an audience of mainly young adults that are interested in these kind of things. Part of the magazine has been put into a 'Regulars' category, in this category they will have the different articles that are most likely to be in every magazine issue. Unlike the other two magazines, Q has more writing on the contents page. For the main articles they state more information about what the articles are going to be about, for example, on the cover story it says 'Eighteen months ago he was making a solo album just to get out of the house'. This example of the article will give the reader a brief idea and make them want to turn to read on. The pictures are yet again related to the articles, They mainly show medium shots of artists which stand out upon a white background. The pictures add more colour and interest to the page, this is because they are more likely to be seen by the reader and make them want to look at the article i they are interested in the person the picture is of. The pictures on the contents page are more spread out than they are on the other magazines, this gives the page more space to fill in with article briefs and also able to include larger texts. The word 'contents' is written in black bold at the top of the page, this is then covered in cartoon people which are supposed to resemble either artists or what people may be like at festivals. This gives adds a comedic side to the top of the page and adds more exciting to the plain words.

We love pop is a magazine mainly based for a target age of young teenage females. This magazine has more fun to the contents page, this is because it has more colour and pictures of more well known people. The pictures all show close up of celebrity's and another brief of what the article is going to be about. All of the pictures on the contents page has been purposley posed for, in the studio and on the street. This means that some of the articles may be some interviews and some gossip. The pictures all show a stand out of colour and are more spread out. The writing underneath the pictures are either pink or blue, these colours together are more girly colours. In the left hand corner has a 'editors letter'. In this they talk about what is happening in this weeks magazine, this is different to the other magazines because none of the others has been given an editors letter on the contents page. The writing underneath the pictures are very simple, this may be because it is a magazine for young people and which means they are less likely to spend more time reading the contents page than reading the magazine. The magazine has its website page written at the bottom of every page, this may be because they are trying to promote their magazine more and try and gain more subscribers.

Analysing these magazine contents pages helps me to know how to try and put my magazine together. This is because I know how magazines have tried to base their pages for the certain target audience E.G pink for a girls based magazine. It also shows that most of the pictures are close ups of the artists people are most likely to be interested in so therefore making the contents page more interesting. By analysing the magazines it has helped me realise what kind of things that i may need to include and what kind of things are not needed. I also know what kind of things to include for my target audience.

Questionnaire

1.How Old are you?

2.What is your sex? 

3.What kind of music do you listen to?

Rap  Pop  Rock  Indie  Other

4.What kind of magazine do you like to read?

5. What would you expect to find in a music magazine?

6. If you had to choose one, which music magazine would you rather choose?

NME  KERRANG  POP GIRL  SMASH HITS

7. What would you like to see in a music magazine?

8. How much are you willing to spend on a magazine?

50p-£1   £1.50-£2  £2.50-£3 

9. What would you expect to see on the cover?


10. What kind of thing stands out to you on a magazine front cover?

Front cover and contents page- 1st Draft

I have chosen to lay out my front cover like this because the gold outlining of the title 'The BR' is the colour of the school uniform. This makes it stand out because it has a relation to the school in that way. As well as the small writing, the small writing stand out against the picture background which means its going to be more eye-catching and drawing people in. I chose to put the picture of the school as the background because it shows that the magazine is more likely to be based around the school and what may go on.

Magazine collage

These are the pictures I would like to include in my magazine, this is because they show the brightness of the school, and what the school may be like.

Articles for my school magazine

Here are some ideas for some articles on my front cover of my magazine:
-Exclusive interview with gold paralympic winner Natasha Barker (ex Bishop Ramsey student)
-Top 10 tips on how to achieve good grades
-House competition winners
-Upcoming event

I chose to take these pictures for my school magazine because I believe that it would give the magazine a lot of interest and show off many things about the school. Most of the pictures show off things that go on within the school. For example, the posters of the Hairspray auditions are on show and art pieces done in class are on show, this may be because of how well the students worked and how proud the school may be. Also some pictures show the schools support for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics as an ex student of the school wins a Gold medal. I thought this would be a good picture/article to use in my magazine because it shows how proud the school are for being involved in the 2012 olympics.
I chose to take the pictures this way because they are at different angles and heights giving a wider and different view of the school.