This contents page isn't too bad.
I just don't like the layout of the pictures because they don't jump out and excite me.
The text looks like a cool font style but yet again I don't like where it is set on the page
All in all this contents cover is quite bland.

I think the main text on this contents page is really attractive but the size of the smaller text needs to be bigger.

The two image choices displayed are poor because they are both largely different in size which brings attention away from the smaller of the two.

The pink box and white text are effective colours which I could use in mine.

I really liked this contents page because of the positioning of the images and use of colouring.
Although I don't like how the titles at the top of the page and on a weird angle which makes it hard to read, and also the price and Issue number aren't made big enough.

Preliminary progress...

This is my first magazine preliminary.

I tried it with one colour for the background which I feel worked well.

But I haven't quite finished the text, I'll need to research some text styles this lesson and edit my preliminary.

The text here is too unprofessional looking, although I'm quite proud of how the main 'Vogue' and 'September 2008 Edition' titles have turned out.

I was thinking of a name I could give my magazine and came up with '8 Ball' which was inspired by I-D magazine and their on-going theme of one eye being hidden in every front cover.

I chose 'Ball' because I thought it would be an effective prop to use and easily re-used in any location and the in the next articles to come.

I could even incorporate the image of an 8 Ball as part of the logo.

What I'm doing...

These results are very interesting because they help me feel more confident in why I am doing a rock music based magazine, although I am now contemplating in expanding the genre I cover to Acoustic and Indie bands aswell. I can now start planning what to put in my magazine instead of just using my own opinions in what I've looked at so far, athough my ideas will still play a big part in what my final design will be.

Front cover- Not many people are interesting in what the text an colours are, so something simple yet effective might work better than loads of text.

Articles- I really want to write my own article so that I can put some more input into it, but I will use some articles that are already written to give a more professional feel.

Interviews- I think I will do an interview with my model Sophie a.k.a Jin-Su who will act as my strong female artist, I like the fact that she is female and on her own because on music magazines there are usually bands featured, by doing this I am challenging the common theme of music magazines.

Free gifts- I don't think I will include a free gift since the front cover will be covered.

Photography- I'm planning on emulating the I-D 2008 front cover but in a different location and using a different prop.

Extras- Featured albums could be included.

Results

The results are as follows...

Girls
1. Most girls prefer Acoustic and Pop.
2. Most girls buy a music magazine Once a month.
3. Most girls buy Gossip and Fashion based magazines.
4. Most girls are attracted by the Photography on the cover.
5. Most girls are interested in Interviews & photography.
6. Most girls prefer Vogue Rolling Stone magazine.

Boys
1. Most guys prefer Rock and Indie.
2. Most guys buy a music magazine Once a week.
3. Most guys buy music based magazines.
4. Most guys are attracted to the Articles and Free stuff.
5. Most guys are interested in Old bands and Unsigned bands.
6. Most guys prefer Q magazine.

Questionnaire

To create a successfull magazine finding out the consumer's opinions beforehand is vital. This is why I created this questionnaire.
It'll give me an insight into how I should design my cover in order to attract buyers and help decide what to include in the contents of my magazine.

Questions

1. What type of music do you listen to?

Rock

Jazz
Reggae

Classical
Pop

Acoustic
Indie

Grunge
Other..

2. How often do you buy a music magazine?

Once a week
Once a fortnight
Once a month
Once a year

3. What makes you pick up a magazine?

Magazine logo
Front cover photography
Celebrities
Free merchandise
Featured articles

4. What are you more interested in...

Interviews
Old bands

Photography
Worldly updates
Unsigned bands

Gossip

5. What is your favorite music magazine?

..................................

Research

In the past few lessons I have been looking through old magazines and other books such as "The Art Directors' Handbook of Professional Magazine Design" written by Thames & Hudson to give me wider look at different things I could incorporate into my magazine. In this book I found some great examples of magazine designs that I could use for my final piece and one magazine that particularly caught my eye was i-D Magazine, especially the February 1996 volume with Kate Moss on the front cover.

The main reason that I liked this particular version was because of the magazine's logo, colour scheme and also the main image on the front.


I then looked on the internet and found a more recent volume (2008) with Agyness Dean and loved the bright colours and retro 80's theme...although I'd like to make the shot a mid shot instead of close up.

Further thoughts...

I think my target audience is people who like rock music of any age, they just have to appreciate the artist & bands featured to enjoy the magazine.

I haven't had many ideas for adverts in my magazine.

Here are the ones I thought of:

- Festival poster

- Some sort of electrical device advert

- Clothes advert

I chose the festival poster because people who usually read music magazines are interested in visiting the festivals to see the artists live.

I included the electrical advert because I was thinking it could be about a music player like a cassette or amps etc.

I've also added the clothes advert because people who are into certain types of music usually dress in a certain way to fully show they like that particular genre.

I want to focus on making the front cover really eye catching and approachable by putting a singer who gives off the feel of  being attractive and mysterious at the same time, whilst keeping the rock & roll look. Debbie Harry does this well.

I want both genders to be attracted to the magazine.

I will also need to think how I'll add things like a barcode to the bottom of the page and the price of the magazine but i don't want these to take up much room, just enough for it to be visible and quick to find.

Most magazine's produced to a high standard are usually £2-£3, which is a reasonable price for the contents.

Q Magazine

I love this front cover because it has a clear logo in bold colours and is easily recognisable.

Another reason why I like this front cover is that it has extra accessories like a 70 paged special of Women in Music magazine.

The picture of Madonna here is very striking and upclose which is effective, I could replicate this with the single female I want to cover my magazine.

Although it is quite a busy cover and a more simple design could look more attractive.

Other magazine's on the market.

I love the colour scheme in this issue of Mojo because it's attractive and nice to look at.

Also the free CD makes the magazine more interesting and gives the person more incentive to purcase it.

The simple image of Bob Dylan definitely ties in with the 80's rock theme, which is what I want to achieve.

Although it could be made more exciting with more colours and titles.

Rolling Stone Cover

I like the monochrome colour scheme and the one strong colour.

The fact that Ken Kesy's trousers go with the colour scheme stands out from the rest of the imagine and makes it an exciting and bold magazine front cover.

I want my magazine to be like this too.

The first magazine that came to my head was Rolling Stone.

I really liked the way they cover such a wide variety of topics and don't just have music artists but also include politicians etc.

Rolling Stone is a very old magazine founded in 1967.

I definitely prefer the older volumes because of their musical content and design.

Recent volumes have still stuck to the same sort of design well but have broadened their subjects to cover a wider range of topics for more readers to enjoy.

On second thoughts...

I know before I said i'd like to base my Magazine on 1930's music but it does seem increasingly harder to achieve every time I try to think how I could do it.

So I thought of what other genre of music I'm really into and have decided to focus more on the 70's-80's when bands like Bon Jovi, Led Zeppelin and Lynyrd Skynyrd were popular.
So I've been looking at many magazine's to help me finally make my mind up.
I also like the thought of having just one single female on the cover like Deborah Harry in the image below.

An Idea

I'm really into old Big Band music like Glen Miller's orchestra and was thinking whether or not that I could base my magazine on that era of music?
I'm not sure how I'd do this, maybe just as a feature in the magazine?
Or set the magazine in those times?
I'm particularly looking for a female artist to 'grace' the cover, I'm not too sure who this could be but I want to make it a classy and glamorous front page image.
I have a few rough ideas:
+ Vera Lynn
+ Billie Holiday
+ Patsy Cline
+ Marilyn Monroe
+ Judy Garland
+ Doris Day

I could also use a male singer like:
+ Frank Sinatra
+ Bing Crosby
+ Nat King Cole
+ Perry Como
+ Buddy Holly

I already know a lot of background information on these singers so could make sure that their personality traits are shown through the lense.
Of course I know I won't find anyone who looks exactly like them but I can base it on their general look.

To do:

•Analyze different magazine covers.

•Include a questionnaire.

•What extra features need to be included.

•Think about a target audience.

Start of Media Course

On the first few days of Media we talked about what we wanted to do for our project,
I took a look at many different music magazine's and movies to decide which one I waned to carry on doing. At first I was looking at producing a movie with Cordelia but this deemed difficult as we both had different ideas of what the film should be, so I decided on making a magazine on my own.