SCREEN SHOTS.

Here I took some screenshots of how I was working and what tools I was using to create my front cover, contents page and double page spread. Also, I have screenshot what the pages would of looked like if I had used different colours or a different layout for certain parts of the page.

For the screenshot above I changed the colour of all the text to white, I thought that having all the text in white made the page seem a bit boring and would probably become boring and uninteresting to read after a while.

In this shot I changed the alternating text to orange because i thought an orange theme might go well because some of my album photos had orange tones in them. I liked the orange colour scheme but I decided I liked another colour better.

I shot screened this to show a tool I was using, the tool is called 'swatches' and this allows me to changed the colour of the font and allowed me to have an outline around my text.  The software I was using was called InDesign.

In this shot I am showing the toolI used to create the gradient effect I used on the front cover and the contents page. 

In this shot I changed the colour of the text 'Contents' to red with a white outline to see if it made the page look better. I didn't really like the text in red, I thought it made the page look taccy and unconventional.

Here I decided to keep the text white and change the colour of the outline to red, but I didn't like it and I didn't think it fitted in well with the rest of the page.

And then I changed the colour of the font to yellow to see if a colour within the theme would go well as the colour for the text, but I thought having the word 'Contents' in yellow made the colour yellow too dominant on the page.

I changed the X&O to red but it wasn't as eye-catching and blended in with her headband and I didn't want the masthead blending in I wanted it to stand out.

ANNOTATED DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD - Q

I annotated this feature from Q magazine because it is different to the feature in Kerrang magazine. In this magazine the feature on uses one photograph which is the background for the page, and it is a photo which would have been taken for this specific feature, unlike in the Kerrang article they used random photos of the artist.

However, both magazines use the usual conventions most magazines use such as, the drop capital, the text being in columns and body text. But, the article featured in Q uses sub-headings, has a headline and a uses graphic design.

I prefer the layout of this article, I like that the photograph is the background and the main focus of Florence takes up a whole page. Q has continued the red, white and black colour scheme into the feature, the red matches Florence's hair and the black matches her clothes which makes her stand out against the white/grey background.The image Q has used is Florence sitting down but she is posing in a strong position and creating many different angles with her arms and legs. Her clothes are contrasting against one another, she is wearing very short, black, leather shorts which are very prevocative, with a long sleeved, tutrle-neck, black jumper which is very subdude.

ANNOTATED DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD - KERRANG

I researched online music magazine double page spread to gain some ideas of how conventional magazine layouts are and what little extras I should remember to add to make my double page spread seem more real and believable. I should remember the obvious things like a page number and a date, but I should also concentrate on the layout especially with the text all in columns, and the little sub-headings on the photos. 

This double page spread was a feature I found in Kerrang magazine which is a magazine that targets rock and metal music. It features an interview with an incredible famous singer called Dave Grohl, lead singer of the Foo Fighters. Having an interview with him would make fans of the Foo Fighters or fans of just Dave Grohl want to buy this magazine and read the article. Kerrang uses block boxes applying additional information to the feature and making the page seem more interesting and better to read, as it's not all in black text against a white background. Kerrang also use drop capitals giving the readers eye more exciting and interesting things to look at on the page. In this feature they use a lot of photographs from his past and pictures including his wife/girlfriend, friends and family and Kerrang put sub-headings on top of the photos to give background information, giving a reason as to why they are appropriate for the page. The biggest photo featured on the page is of Dave Grohl holding a Kerrang award, which fits in nicely as the article is featured in the music magazine Kerrang.

ANNOTATIONS OF Q MAGAZINE COVER

 

Title

The title of this magazine is Q, Q doesn't seem like a music magazine name because it doesn't give much away, but Q is a music magazine which has a target audience for indie-rock/indie-pop music, which is perfect for my research because I am planning on basing my magazine on an indie-pop genre. The Q is in a capital, serif font, its very basic but its a recognisable logo and does stand out against opposing magazines on shop shelves. The magazine is quite unisex, nothing in particular on the magazine is girly or very masculine which creates a wider target audience who would be interested in buying the magazine. 

Masthead
The masthead is 'Free music inside' enticing the audience to be intrigued and buy the magazine as it is featuring 'free music'.
Theme
The colour scheme for Q is usually red, white and black, and on this edition it s staying with the usual colour scheme. The theme of Q magazine is very basic but because Q is such a well known magazine it's got a reputation where it is easily recognisable, on this edition they have Florence and the Machine on the cover, her red, fiery hair ties-in well with the red theme and as Florence is a well known artist and has a big fan base, this could make the magazine more attractive for people to buy. 
Cover Lines
In this edition there are a few cover lines but other editions have featured more. One cover line states 'the 100 greatest front men' this would be more of an attraction for women because front men in bands are usually seen as good looking and desirable. But they also add underneath another coverline saying 'starring the best new front women' which will attract men as well as front women are usually seen as good looking as well. In this edition Q challenges the usual magazine conventions of placing coverlines on the left third and placed them on the right, Q has named a number of bands and artists which are highlighted in red to make them stand out against the black and white background. By doing this Q are widening their target audience because, they are naming bands a reader might be interested so, if the reader doesn't like Florence and the Machine but likes a few of the bands or artists named on the right third, then there is a chance the reader will still purchase the magazine.
Main Image
The main image features Florence and the Machine which shows that the magazine targets an indie-pop target audience. It shows that Q want to be associated with growing bands and artists which show a promising future in the indie-pop market.
Plug/Pluff
Magazine always include a plug/puff without fail, the plug/puff always stands out against the page and doesn't always match the magazine theme to make is seem interesting to the reader. In this edition of Q the plug/puff is '41 pages of reviews' followed by a few indie-pop artists and bands. This plug/puff is featured in a big white circle and the 41 pages of reviews is in red text or is highlighted by red which makes it an eye catching feature on the page. The plug/puff includes reviews of MGMT, The XX and Owl City which may attract more readers to buy the magazine because they might like them artists.

Buzz words

On this edition the word 'Exclusive' has only been used once but, it creates the idea that only this magazine has this exclusive information or feature, suggesting the content can not be featured in any other magazine.

USP

Q's unique selling point is an exclusive interview with Florence and the Machine with free tracks made by her, this is unique because the artist is giving away free tracks for the magazine to give out as the magazines are purchased.

Layout

The layout is very structured and uses lines to keep a nice composition to make it easier to look at, the magazine doesn't give away too much information just on the cover, creating a desire to buy the magazine and read the additional information inside the magazine.

Price

The price for Q magazine is £3.90, this seems a little high for a magazine however, it reviews most of the more popular music around, with a good mix of new bands and big bands from the past as well, creating a wide target audience. Also, because the price is quite high, it shows that the magazine is good quality.

FLATPLANS - prezi

FLATPLANS on Prezi

ANNOTATED MAGAZINE COVER

 

I based the layout of my magazine front cover research around NME music magazine, NME uses the usually conventions that most magazines use such as, cover lines, left third, plugs and puffs. NME usually stick to a certain colour scheme of black, white and red, but on special editions they re-arrange the magazines normal layout and colour scheme and base it around the featured artist or special occasion. 

I think the NME logo is easily one of the most easily recognisable logo's, its bold and double outlined to make it stick out, which is especially good when it needs to contend against other music magazine on the shelf. In this edition the colour scheme is yellow and purple, it is a special edition against racism through the median of music. The colours are both bold and clash against one another, which makes it a good contender on the shop shelf for catching readers attention. It features the same plug/puff 'FREE CD' twice, almost throwing it at the readers face to catch attention, and the magazine names the bands/artists featured on the CD and a lot are very famous and well known which would make the CD more desirable and make readers want to buy the magazine just for the CD.

On this magazine cover in the bottom right corner NME has used a 'ripped' effect, to make it seem as if someone has ripped a corner out of the magazine giving the cover depth and also adding another little feature to catch readers attention. A lot of people are featured on the main image which creates a lot of pairs of eyes enabling to catch readers eyes.

PLANNING MUSIC MAGAZINE.

I have tried to come up with some names for my music magazine, the genre of style I'm using which is Indie-Pop.


First I had to think of some names, 
ip - stands for 'indie-pop'
shift
X&O
acoustic
blur
hashtag

For my front image I have come up with some ideas:

Girl:

Bright red hair, 'indie' styled clothing - leggins, flowy tops, blouses, floral patterns, straight faced, head on eye contact, bright lip-stick, pale face. Try some weird make-up or outrageous hair-do's.

Boy:

'Indie' style, playing guitar, head on eye contact. I would experiment with weird angles low and high, taking photographs at different levels and trying lots of different settings.

CONVENTIONS OF A MUSIC MAGAZINE - PREZI.

Copy of Mind map for the conventions of music magazines. on Prezi

INDIE-POP MAGAZINE COVERS.

I researched indie-pop magazine covers to help give me an idea of the look I should be working towards for my own magazine cover. The magazines use indie-pop genre artists as their main image which creates a target audience that desire to buy their magazine. 

Indie-pop magazines usually have a very simple colour scheme to their magazines, usually using red, white and black and normally write everything in capital letters. Indie-pop magazines keep their sentences to just a couple of words keeping things short and snappy. 

Indie-pop's target audience are usually 15-24 year old female or males, with exceptions of older and younger fans.Indie-pop music is the conventional pop music but with an individual sound to their music. 

A list of indie-pop artists:

florence and the machine

hellogoodbye

gregory and the hawk

jack penate

kate nash