Looking For Some Inspiration - Front Cover Shots

 This I know is the wrong style of music compared to the direction I am going, but this close-up in a classic, smart dresscode makes the whole front cover look sleek and stylish. The glasses add an intelligent effect. The colour scheme of the text branches out from the manipulation of the image - the red screams out on the black and white setting very effectively. The post is a semi-serious and portrays an element of sophistication.

This elegant shot is taken at an angle. The make-up around Madonna's eyes encourrages her piercing gaze. The black clothing theme allows her blonde hair to dominante the scene. The clothing also inspires the black background from which the white text fits perfectly.

Kanye West being the self loving and confident character that he is boasts his personality in this shot. This arrogant and defiant pose opitomizes the way he wants to be seen and this works brilliantly. He owns the front of the magazine and has a look that kind of says .."..I am the best...".

Pink is one of the most unique and rebellious female figures in rock. The black theme echoed by the leather jacket compliments her hair colour which is a direct contrast also as is against the bright red masthead. The Rolling Stone branding adds to the class of the whole front cover presentation. good job in all. The pose is slightly sexual perhaps but still in moderation making it classy and the neck scarf gives it a smart edge in comparison to the retro leather jacket.

Just to show the exceptions - at last a full body shot - Chris Martin pulling a stance that you would perhaps see where a Dad attempts to be Michael Jackson...but never mind. The graphic and vibrant scenery gives it a exciting feel though and you enables you to take the shot not in a serious way. This is also uncommon as there is no direct contact with the audience.




 This can also be said for the below. Despite my burning dislike for Green Day, I saw this mid-performance shot and noticed an instrument...on a front page. Which in my opinion is not a good look. Although the pose is a lot more natural and unaware I personally think this detracts from the  connection with the consumer.

Potential Magazine Name Fonts

Masthead Design Research

 Billboard is an American magazine, focusing on the most popular music out at the time whatever genre. The style of the font in bright  - spaces filled with primary colours, this being said it doesn't look too overwheming or tacky. In normal circumstances red, blue and yellow TOGETHER would create the impression of a pre school student without any knowledge of colour co-ordination but somehow it actually works against all odds. Its sans-sarif font is all in lower case par the first letter.

                             Mojo - A spin off of Q. All in caps but slightly curvy. A rather dull font and common masthead design if you ask me - but what do I know! Without wishing to offend anyone from Bauer any further, the small itallic scrawl of 'the music magazine' is slightly unidentifiable without a magnifying glass. Anyone would think that the red italics would stand out - but unfortunately Bauer, it doesn't. The name MOJO conveys the relation to a perhaps sexual nature inclining an adult target audience. It also implys enthusiasm which is not enhanced in the font style. Although it does make me think of Austin Powers strangely, an undesired intention i'm sure.

Q - Red to alert the reader and draw their attention. Q originating from prolonged name 'Cue'. Yes, a musical reference which is expected in a musical magazine. The box form/diameter segregates the logo from the main page and can be seen as a constant from issue to issue. The name Q in my opinion is short and sweet - unlike any other popular magazine it says it all with one letter. A simplistic masthead but a bold statement and corporal identity.

Rolling Stone is actually not just dedicated to music in fact but I can do a brief connotation regardless. Obviously inspired by the infamous band, the font creates a sense of individuality and style. It's a classy look. The darkened red is highlighted by the white slyly round the circumference of each letter enhancing it's  visibility and impact.

I have mentioned this before but I think this masthead has a unique connotation...like Q, the name is music related but the onomatepia makes it sound querky. KERRANG - the sound coming off a guitar when strummed. It is enhanced further by cracking the letters as if a window because is so loud. The white CAPS on black are plain but it jumps out at the customer.

The Fly - Published by HMV. The name I do not know the history behind really but it doesn't appear to have any direct links to music which I think a music magazine should have. I want to put a music related name in mine. It again,is simple. The black and white does not scream out to you unlike KERRANG. It is nothing special or creative but it works in a way. It appears to be a regular feature of most mastheads all being in capital letters making the words stronger and more emphatic.

Magazine Names

- Blue Moon

- Double Bass

- Max Limit

- Hi-Fi

- Bass Limit

- Treble

-Hi-Hat

-One Track

-Obsessed

-Sum 51

-Yday

-Synth

-Stave

-Sound Check

-Head Bang

-Encore

-Dynamic

-Fifth

-Slur

-Earworm (A song that gets stuck in your head)

-Crunk

-FOH (Front of House)

-Woodshed (Intense practice)

-XLR (Cable)

-Distort/Distortion

Result of survey 18-30 year olds to see what was the preferred option of name for the music magazine.

XLR emerged as the favourite.

An XLR cable is something used to give stable sound resolution and balanced connections on equipment such as microphones so in terms of the music industry this is relevant. XLR CAN ALSO BE A METAPHORICAL TERM FOR 'CONNECTING THE AUDIENCE WITH THE RECENT MUSIC NEWS IN THE MAGAZINE' - it can be justified in this way.

Magazine Genre Background Research

The direction of my music magazine will be heading towards an alternative rock scene. The magazines I have researched have been in relation to my desired genre, although Kerrang could be seen to be a heavier rock, these magazines can influence my work.

What is Alternative Rock?: "Alternative rock (also called alternative music, alt rock or simply alternative) is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent musicunderground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s. Although the term was most commonly associated in its commercial heyday with a loud, distorted guitar sound, its original meaning was broader, referring to a generation of musicians unified by their collective debt to either the musical style, or simply the independent, D.I.Y. ethos, of punk rock, which in the late 1970s laid the groundwork for alternative music" - di Perna, Alan. "Brave Noise—The History of Alternative Rock Guitar". Guitar World. December 1995.

 Oasis, a prime example of the genre in the concert form -

The movement started as many groups signed to independent record labels in the 1980s. The grunge phase emmerged taking inspiration from 60s rock. The UK and US were recognised as commercially motivated in terms of the musical culture with the focus on pop dominantly. In America, the underground circuit generated an interest in a combination of punk and folk music shown by bands such as 'The Feelies" and "Violent Femmes". Although record sales were not immense, these movements lay the foundations for their successors . As time progressed washes in sound did as well. Distortion and synthesised vocals as well as riffs. The 90s birthed an era of popularisation and heavy comercial influences from bands such as Nirvana and Brit Pop (Oasis etc). The decline of alternative popularity was evident in the 21st century, my estimations being that the download sites were introduced (most alternative musicians thrived on live environments). Current alternative bands in existance such as Coldplay, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Franz Ferdinand. Festivals such as Reading and Glastonbury show the alternative influences and fans attending expect this in comparison to the mainstream V Festival.

I personally am a music lover. Anything from Oasis to The Arctic Monkeys is right up my street. I in fact attempted to learn the guitar, rather poorly I must add, but an attempt none the less. When growing up my dad almost force educated me his musical tastes and Sunday mornings in the car on the way to football were normally surrounded with Blondie or The Verve - if not R.E.M. My cousin also heavily influenced my mentality, the best gift he ever gave me was the Killers 'Hot Fuss' which coincidently started a stage of continuity in my musical mind. I began to move away from the likes of mainstream 'Capital' and 'Kiss100' music which seemed to inspire my friends which was beyond me. I will take a good old fashioned bass, drums, guitar playing frontman band anyday. It is my intention to show the likes of my independent personality within my magazine, something which I am very passionate about.

Magazine Analysis

Magazine Review…NME (October 15^th) – Featuring Florence Welch

-       -Produced by IPC Media

-       The target audience would be alternative music lovers over the age of 18 (due to the nature of advertisements such as alcohol). Upcoming gigs and festivals are stated for those who are interested. Also advertisements for festival equipment e.g. boot and unknown artists wanting to get into the music business. – Video recording studios -. Complexity of magazine would incline is for 18 to late twenties perhaps. (Young adults mainly)

-      - Price = £2.40 or £74.99 for a years subscription

-      -Published every week

-       -Circulation is 29,020, in the first half of 2011 it's sales dropped 14.3%- the biggest decline in sales of all music magazines. According to recent figures, Kerrang was the only exemplar to increase at 0.2%. NME is actually the lowest seller in comparison. This could be to do with the fact that as NME has been going for a long period of time (since 1952), there can be doubts as to whether they have adapted their style to the current climate and judged their target audience effectively. As you can see the economic situation in recent times has been the main factor hindering sales for all magazines with a few exceptions.
       

             Circulation figures : Source - MAG ABC

•       The Fly (free) ; Channelfly Enterprises Ltd ; 100,386 ; -7.2%
•       Mojo ; Bauer Consumer Media ; 87,262 ; -4.8%
•       Q ; Bauer Consumer Media ; 80,418 ; -10.1%
•       Uncut ; IPC Media Ltd ; 66,004 ; -10.9%
•       The Stool Pigeon (fee) ; Junko Partners Publishing ; 51,750 ; N/A
•       Properganda (free) ; Proper Music Distribution ; 45,212 ; N/A
•       Kerrang! ; Bauer Consumer Media ; 43,033 ; -2.2%
•      DIY Magazine (free) ; RWD Creative Media Limited ; 38,125 ; N/A
•      New Musical Express ; IPC Media Ltd ; 29,020 ; -14.3%

     -£67,071 a month on advertisement revenue generated.

     -Brand identity…NME – New Musical Express

-      The Cover

-       -The USP is the WORLD EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW to pull in customers. This global exclusivity is attractive. The title is FLORENCE – the name of the artist, which is rather obvious, and the reader can easily relate to the name.

-       -The logo/masthead is continuously the same size but I know from observation that from time to time the colour changes, for example to correlate with the theme of the font cover, yet the text style remains constant.

-       -The main image is of Florence Welch (Florence and the Machine), and her iconic red hair is clear. She is wearing a burgundy retro styled hat, which contrasts, with her hair colour. Her clothes too are too rather retro and are classic plain colours, which allow the hat and her hair to stand out. We are also as consumers drawn into the necklace, which is centred pretty much in the centre of the page.

-       -Her gaze is locked on the camera also connecting with the reader. The background is a plain grey blue, which reiterates the same effect of the classic clothes.

-       -The other image on the cover is a small portrait photo of another artist with a small feature within the magazine and is simply for advertisement of this feature.

-       -The font is a constant on the front page even though the text size and colour differs. It is also all in caps. -The largest example is the main coverline in bright red which is in relation to her infamous hair colour.

-       -The context of the writing is in note form as such – simply not very descriptive and brief, which is fitting for a front page.

-       -The cover is similar to other music magazines in the respect that it has a featured artist on a medium close up shot on the front page surrounded by text. Also the logo is generally in the same place in the top left as in other magazines. People probably but NME also for the name as its famous and well recognised as a good music magazine.

Inside

-       -66 pages.

-       -17 pages of adverts. (26%)

-       -Advertising pages of: Fashion, itunes, books, radio, mobile phones, alcohol, TV shows, music gigs, stores, Cds. Here shown is a selection of upcoming gigs. This also indicates the target audience. In my opinion I believe that the target group would be individualists as there are not a lot of fashion advertiements hence the irrelevance of trying to influence the readers to buy these product as such. Branded clothing companies would recognise this.

-       -10 double page spreads. To note, only one of these is dominant/takes up over two pages which in fact is the main feature shown on the front - the comeback interview of Florence Welch. In fact it actually is dedicated 5 pages.

     -       -The house style is modern and vibrant which is in correspondence with its young audience. There is a continuity of stylish and relaxed tones throughout which makes the structure of the magazine organised. Many images make the setting far more interesting. The font itself is rather small - hence the detail of content being comprehensive and thorough as more can be fitted in.

     -     The bulk of the text regarding the main feature is situated on a double page and then another page after (the interview itself). Before this there is a large scale picture titled 'THE EXORCISM..." with a brief description of the approaching article. It can be seen as an introduction.

-      
 -
The style of the images relates back to the front page (traditional/retro)
       ... there are also examples of continuity of text and the colour scheme of red in correspondance to her hair as mentioned. I feel this is a nice considerate touch.
      - The language used in the feature is directly taken from the interview   thus creating a relaxed and casual tone although sometimes it can be developed to create a sense of drama and exposure with factual evidence- "Watched by a billion people at the VMA's last September. Officially the most googled person on earth the day after. Still living at home with mother in..Camberwell?". Here is the percieved sarcastic and rhetorical manner in which it was written but it cannot be taken in a serious way.Every so often the writer conveys a humourous take on the proceedings in their own way or Florence's career. The language used can also identifiy the target audience as its complexity and adult humour would obvious imply it is not for young teenagers as such. A quotation is enlarged which is attention grabbing and summarises some of the interview " I WAS A SCARED KID. IT GIVES YOU THE FEELING OF BEING HAUNTED". To the right of the double page is a timeline type account of her in NME itself. There are several small images and noteably a larger more dominant image in the centre of the two pages.
   

      KERRANG – (December 19 2009) – Featuring Paramore, Metallica, BMTH, Slipknot, YMAS.

-       -KERRANG is produced by Bauer Consumer Media. I can assume that audience targeted is rock music lovers between the age of late teenage years to early thirties as there is a wide variety in the focus of bands such as Metallica to relatively new bands like You Me At Six.

-        The cost of the magazine is £2.60, the same price as the current NME.

-       -KERRANG offers a subscription of £35.50 for sixth months or £77 for 12 months.

-       -It is published weekly and has a circulation of 43,033 on average.

-       -Advertisements – similar to NME. Upcoming music concerts/festivals etc. e.g.) Sonisphere Festival, Dance Gavin Dance, KISS, Airbourne, A Day To Remember. Quite heavy music as you can see. Also a section at the back of the magazine called :small ads”.

-       -There are 87 pages. There is a lot more content than NME and notably less large advertising space taken up hence the point there are more features. As this is a Christmas/End of the year edition, it is more of a summary of many factors and not focused on one or two bands as per. There are in fact five bands mainly with double page spreads. These are set up all similarly which shows continuity in the house system. Only changed made are obviously as expected- fonts, images.

-       The images in general on these double page features are rather large, sometimes covering a whole page with the interviews being displayed on the opposite page.

-       The front page itself is rather cluttered/crammed. The band that are featured. The coverline @WHY 2009 ROCKED! Simply shows what the content of the magazine will be referring to. Everything on the front page as it goes is in CAPS.

-       All featured bands/artists have their images displayed in a semi circle type formation – over the KERRANG logo. The KERRANG masthead is done in the style of a smashed window to show the loudness of the 'kerrang' of a guitar, which I think is actually a nice touch. It is an emphatic name which is unique.

-       The stamp has small writing of upcoming topics, which are not as important but can still inform the audience of what is in this weeks magazine.

-       The xmas theme is further demonstrated as Oli Sykes is holding a cracker for example. The facial expressions of the artists are rather dramatic and theatrical and are mid shots. Their top half is only displayed though.

-       -Posters again are cropping up. KERRANG offers ‘posters of 2009’. More pulling techniques are shown by competitions ‘win over £1000 of Xmas presents”.

-       -The contrast in the difference between the style of the double pages is perfectly shown between Hayley Williams’ and Jared Leto. The house style is adapted to the nature of the interview. Colour schemes also differ but the structure and lay out of the page is constant. As in an interview the language is casual and colloquial.
     

    Q Magazine – (November 2011)- 25^th Anniversary Collector’s Edition

    -Produced by Bauer Media Group

     Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were frustrated by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then they were still a new technology.

    - Was originally called Cue but Q would stand out on stands. Cue – “cue the music”. The masthead is iconic – short and snappy. It makes sense and is relative to the music theme. The red background alerts the customer to the top left of the page, to its core identity.

-     As of the first half of 2011, Q’s circulation was down 10.1% as anticipated in the current market.

     - The target audience of the magazine would be those that are slightly more affluent as advertisements such as Audi are shown. Also the price is considerably more at £3.99. Saying this, the magazine is only released once a month, therefore, there is a lot more content and advertisements need to be of a higher income to make a good profit as only released once a month. Higher ended brands in the market would pay these competitive prices to be featured and meet magazine requirements.

     - Tbe USP of this magazine is the “#01 of 25 covers to collect” and the 25^th anniversary.

     - The style of the music intended is alternative and pop/rap – Tinie Tempah on front cover, then Mumford and Sons advertised and Arctic Monkeys etc. A real variety.

    - Tinie Tempah in a mid shot, sunglasses show mysterious element, also iconic to Tinie.

    “THE MUSIC THAT CHANGED MY LIFE” – strapline. Referring to special features of Jay Z, Muse, Coldplay etc.

    - “Plus! 145 albums to discover” – intriguing and pulls reader in.

    -Unified house style, continuity of red and white theme linking back to Q masthead.

    -Comparison to the Florence feature in FHM - as there are many features not focusing on one individual in depth as in NME this was bound to be shorter or less unique. The shots of Florence are of a vintage or classic intention in NME, whereas in Q they are more current with the colours enhanced. Lighting is much brighter. The purpose of the feature is to interview Florence and find out her favourite albums – this cropped up in NME notably. There is further recollection to the strapline of “THE MUSIC THAT CHANGED MY LIFE”. Quotes are again hightlighted “I paced the streets of London sobbing to the first Bon Iver album” – showing her vulnerable side and the reader sympathises with her. It’s clever how the writer can slyly make the person in hand be perceived in many lights.      

Preliminary, Contents page

Preliminary, Front Cover

Preliminary Task Planning

Our first steps in the task started with us making a spider diagram and putting down ideas regarding the layout, title, coverlines, images to use, themes, target audiences and content of the magazine. This was done in our own time and when returning on the Monday morning we acted on our notes and went and took pictures (using an SLR camera) we thought we could incorperate in the school magazine whether on the front cover or contents page. I personally took several images whether relevant or not therefore I had a vast selection to choose from. I did not particually have a dead-set image in my head for the front page but I knew that I wanted it to comply with the theme "Juggling School Work And Social Life". It is quite a comprehensive topic which allowed me to capture lots of photos that I could relate to the theme. I also came up with the idea of the name being "WilmoWatch" - all one word. The name relates to the school and it rather catchy I believe towards the target audience which is ultimately the students within the school.

AS Brief

Preliminary exercise: using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead. Additionally you must produce a mock-up of the layout of the contents page to demonstrate your grasp of DTP.

Main task: the front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine (if done as group task, each member of the group to produce an individual edition of the magazine, following the same house style).