Mood Boards(Research&Planning)

My aim was to research as many rock bands I could find and to be inspired by them.

Also I found different rock magazines that will help me when I create my own magazine front cover.

Flat Plan For My Front Cover Magazine(ROCK PRODIGY)

 

The first one is the first draft of my magazine and the second one is the second draft and a more completed draft. I’m going to follow my plan, and take several photo’s in a medium shot for the sixth former(girl). I also want her costume to be a:leather jacket and black jeans and the props would be the sunglasses. I used advertisement to sell my rock magazine by using the words ‘FREE POSTERS’ because this would engage the audience and they would take the opportunity of having free posters. Therefore, I added additional photo’s with the ‘FREE POSTERS’.I also used quotes from interviews that will be issued inside the magazine, this would intrigue sixth formers(who are my target audience)  so they would be intrigue and want to hopefully read the magazine. In addition I used superlatives such as ‘AMAZING’ and ‘BIGGEST’ to attract the audience and so they would be excited. The masthead is different then any other magazine, the masthead has a ‘rocky effect’ also this shows my magazine will be unique. Even though the masthead is small compared to the main image, it still seems to grab attention with the ‘G’ and the fact that it also has ‘ROCK’ as the first word, the audience would automatically know this is a rock magazine.

My completed draft has all the typical conventions of a rock magazine because I used: skyline,barcode, main cover lines, cover lines, superlatives, interviews and plug. I need to improve my draft to make it more unique as well as adding conventions such as anchorage text to engage my audience more.

Lastly, I have done another draft for my front cover, however it is different from the other one, the other draft is more detailed with the main image, but this one has a different font with the masthead. The masthead’s are two different fonts and the second one is portrayed as plain and simple whereas the other one is more detailed. But the third draft has the typical conventions with the barcode&price, main image which is a medium close up shot, advertisement with additional photo’s, main cover lines, cover lines, superlative and skyline. Also the costume isn’t shown in the third draft like the second draft. Overall, after designing both drafts, I have to say the second draft’s masthead’s font is the kind of font I would like to use when I create my music magazine. Also, I’m going to use a leather jacket as a costume for my female model, as well as additional props such as sunglasses, I also want to use a guitar although it isn’t drawn in the magazine. In addition, I want to do an medium shot of the female so the audience would see the costume she’s wearing as well as the props.

The Main Task

The project I’m working is the genre I have chosen which is rock. I'm making a rock magazine which will include a contents page and a double page spread. My rock magazine will be aimed at sixth formers (16-18). I decided to aim at sixth formers because I'm also an sixth former so I would know what they would like to see  in the magazine as well as what they wouldn't want to see on a rock magazine. The key requirements of the rock magazine is:a masthead, main cover lines, cover lines, anchorage text, pull quote,additional photo’s,skyline and barcode.Therefore, I'm determined to make my magazine presentable for my readers and I would also like to follow the typical conventions. Also the key requirements of a double page spread will be: main image, text, heading, subheading and additional photo’s. I also would want to meet the requirements to make my double page spread also presentable. I would also want to make my contents page look professional and suitable for my target audience.However, I need to meet the deadlines I’ve set myself which is Friday 4th January 2013 for my research and planning, for my production it is Sunday 3rd March 2013 and for the evaluation it is Wednesday 20th March 2013. 

Contents Page Analysis

The masthead from the front cover of the magazine, is also inside the NME contents page with an added heading which is ‘THIS WEEK’ which tells the audience that NME is published weekly. Also the font is used throughout the contents page and is also simple and this engages the audience because they don't want the font to be just plain but the subscriptions below uses a different type of font and colour and this averts the readers eyes to it because its so bright. NME presented their contents page differently, the first one is more colourful and they use a range of colours such as red,black and white which are conventional colours rock magazines use. However the other magazine used the colour white and now the magazine is represented as plain and the layout is similar to a newspaper instead of a magazine.

On the other hand, the first contents page’s layout is typical, with a main image in the middle of the page and a sub heading below it which says ‘The moment that Everyone got on board Africa Exprez’. This is an quick feature of the biggest story that will be inside the magazine, this automatically engages their audience who are young adults or people who listen to the genre rock.

However the other contents page, shows all of the biggest stories on each side of the page or in the middle for example ‘The 20 sets that shock the Glastonbury festival’’ which are accompanied by page numbers. This is easier for the readers and helps them guide through the magazine. In addition, the first contents page also has page numbers but isn't as straightforward and large as the other contents page.

The main image of the first contents page is of a long shot of a random band, they used a long shot because they wanted the readers to be interested in their props which is a guitar etc and to be engaged in their costumes which aren’t typical clothing of a rock band. Also the band do stand out and engage us with the red lighting in the setting. So we do focus on the image rather then the text below it.

One of the main images of the second contents page which dominates the rest of the image because the image is larger and the lighting is black and white, this shows the readers its more unique and intriguing. The medium shot of the man shows him having fun at ‘Glastonbury festival’ this shows us that NME are advertising Glastonbury in a different way from advertisements. They want the readers to read it and be interested in the image.

Questionnaire and Analysis(With Answers)

Quick Questionnaire for Your Views on a Student Magazine (Audience-Sixth Form)

1) What colour scheme do you think is related to the term ‘rock’?

Black and Red   or  Yellow and White  or  Grey and Black

2) What would you prefer to be featured in a rock magazine: a new artist or an old artist?

3) Would you like to participate in the magazine?(e.g. have your picture as the front cover)

Yes or No

4) How often would you like to see the magazine?

Weekly or  Monthly or Daily or Never

5) How much are you willing to pay for a music magazine?

50p or £1.00-£1.50 or £2.00-£2.50 or Other

6) What rock magazine titles do you prefer: Rock Prodigy, Rebellion, Heavy Metal and Sound?

Analysis of the questionnaire

(The pie chart above shows the questionnaire results)

I interviewed sixth formers aged 16-18 because my target audience for my magazine will be sixth formers. My aim was to find out if my market research were interested with the genre I chosen and I also wanted to know a variety of different opinions from my year group to find out what they would like to see from my magazine.

Firstly, in my magazine I would use the colours black and red because the majority of the people I asked preferred black and red since these colours are related to the genre ‘rock’ and it also makes the magazine conventional because most well-known rock magazines such as NME(National Music Express) use those specific colours.

Also in my music magazine I would feature a new artist because in my answers or chart shows that ‘’New Artists’ are valued more than ‘Old Artists’. Majority of the sixth formers believed that new artists attract them more rather than reading about the same old artists. I decided I’m going to feature new artists because it would engage readers to find out more about them but I would include interviews from old artists just for those who valued old artists more.

Many of the people I interviewed didn’t want to participate or be the main image of the magazine and majority who said yes were males and were rather keen on being the main image however most females said no and this was upsetting because I wanted a female to become the main image.

Majority of my candidates purchase magazines monthly rather than weekly, daily and never. However some of my candidates purchased them weekly as well. Therefore, after reviewing my answer, I have chosen to make my rock magazine monthly as most sixth formers prefer that as a solution.

Many sixth formers favoured 50p as a price for my music magazine however I think that is out of the question because it is low-priced but they are just sixth formers and it is typical of a teenager to say that price. Also some have chosen 1.00-1.50 as well as 2.00-.50. But seeing as they are students and don’t work, I have chosen my magazine to be £1.50.

Before I handed out my questionnaires, I came up with some mastheads for my music magazine. They are called: Rebellion, Rock Prodigy and Heavy Sound. The audience favoured rock prodigy but some did favour Rebellion. I’m going to use ‘Rock Prodigy’ as my name because it has an ‘rock edge’ to it and my audience did like the name.

After analysing my results, I need to make sure my magazine follows this:

-Pricing will be £1.50

-Magazine Name will be Rock Prodigy

-Magazine will be monthly

-Colour scheme is black and red

-Will have to choose a male as main image as they are more ‘keen’ but will ask some females to be the main image.

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