19th November 2011

I have now chose which photo to use on my front cover and have started putting it together. I chose this photo because I think it is quite strong and will stand out on the page. Also she looks like she has a bit of attitude and has a bit of an edgy side but she is still quite cool and likeable.

    I wasn't too keen on the lighting in the photo though, so I edited it and made it brighter so the colour of her tights and on the bass guitar really stand out. I also cropped it and cut the background out, before cutting the floor out too so I had her on just a plain white background which I've found is quite common on magazines as it puts all the focus on the photo which is what I want.

 I then started placing the plugs around the photo, carefully as to not draw too much attention away from it. I decided on the font for my masthead as I found it complemented the theme of the magazine, and matched it to the girl's tights which are of the colour purple. I placed the name of my magazine across the top of my front cover as that way it is the first thing people will read when they see it, and it makes it obvious that it is the name of the magazine. Below it there is a tagline which reads 'A different take on music.' this sums up the magazine in a sentence, makes it clear what it's about and reinforces the fact that it's a music magazine. The font of this is black and bold so it is noticable as a tagline, but not so bold that it steals focus from the masthead.

The main plug 'CASSIDY WILDE' is in upper case and in larger size copy than the other plugs as well as being the same colour as the masthead. These features show the importance of the plug and make it the main selling point of the magazine. Below it is carried on with a quote from her " I'm more than just your average rock star" this is not in upper case as I feel this would overpower the page and be too much. I still feel the plug does it's job though and entices the buyer to read inside and find out why.

There are smaller plugs positioned around the photo also trying to entice the target audience to buy the magazine and want to look inside. 'COLDPLAY MYLO XYLOTO' is in upper case to catch the reader's eye and then the rest of the plug is below in lower case as not to take too much attention away from the first line of the plug as it is just adding a little extra information onto it. The plug is more specifically aimed at fans of Coldplay as they would know that 'MYLO XYLOTO' is the name of their latest album. Whilst other readers may not know this but still perhaps be intrigued to read inside and find out what it does mean. There are similar style plugs down the right hand side of the page. There's a quote from Ed Sheeran and his name below in upper case, blue font to complement the colour scheme. This style of plug is quite common in magazines and also quite effective. I looked at a few magazine front covers and found that they looked quite busy with lots of plugs around the main photo, this is the format I have tried to follow with my magazine. The plug 'THE SCRIPT on their massive world tour' has the name of the band written in black bold upper case letters, to draw attention to it, whilst the additional information is in lower case. I feel that if you saw a band's name on the front of a magazine that you liked, you would pick it up to have a read either way to find out what it features. Therefore the text written in lower case is not as important but still needs to be there as not all readers will do this. There is also another plug 'KATY PERRY and the meaning behind her new single' fans of Katy Perry would know what her new single was and be interested to know where it came from. Again the most important part of the plug, the artist's name, Katy Perry is written in larger upper case letters in purple for the same reason why the other plugs are done in similar ways. By featuring plugs of certain artists and having them say things that only someone who liked the artist would understand is a clever way of attracting my target audience.

     Another very important plug on my front cover is the black circle shape which has inside it ' FREE DOWNLOAD' in white font. This font is different to the other fonts on the page which are all the same, other than the masthead and the web adress. This makes it stand out more, as well as it being in a black circle which makes it stand out massively on the page. This is because I wanted to emphasise the plug as I think a free download is a big selling point of the magazine so showing it in this way highlights its importance as well as making it more eyecatching and noticable. The word 'free' is even typed in a larger font than the 'download' this emphasises even more that it's free and to get the target audience to buy the magazine and read inside to find out how to get the download. The format of a plug in a circular shape has also been seen in magazines before and is an effective way of attracting attention to a specific plug.

      For the final plugs there is a rather large + sign in the bottom left hand corner, this is supposed to link to the bar on the bottom which features more plugs, as if to say 'plus all these bands too'. I decided to use the plus sign as I had seen it used on a few other magazines such a Q and I liked the effect it had. The bar along the bottom of the page is also another common method of showcasing plugs. Mine is black with white font to make it stand out, with the names of different bands and music artists that feature inside the magazine. These are in the same font as most of the other plugs on the page to ensure that although they are in a seperate bar, they are not seperated from the magazine and there is still a link. There is also a link with the colour scheme which still follows the same colours, with a dot in the same colour blue as used before on the cover seperating the different artists to show they are all individual artists and it is not one long word. This avoids any confusion and again I feel entices the target audience to look inside and find out what there is to read about the artists that they like.

     Finally I have placed a copyright free barcode in the bottom right hand corner as I feel it fits in well here and gets noticed without stealing focus from any other features on the front cover. Alongside the barcode I have put the magazine's issue number and price so that the target audience can tell how much it is. I priced my magazine at £2.60 as I feel this is an approriate prize for a magazine  like this and after asking a few of my target audience they agreed that it was worth that and they would happily pay that price. I have also put the web address for the magazine's website next to the barcode so that if the readers want any more information they can see that there is a website they can go on to get this. It is written in the same colour and font as the masthead to show the link between the two and distinguish the fact that it is in fact the website for this magazine.

13th November 2011

   I have now done a rough design of what my front page and contents page will look like. They are not precise and I may end up adjusting them slightly when I produce them on serif to improve them.

  I have decided on a colour scheme of purple, black and blue as these are not ultra girly colours but still can pass as feminine. It also gives it a bit of a different or 'alternative' look from normal pop magazines as it is not pink, and the colours do not nescesserily resemble pop which was what I wanted as it is not a just a pop music magazine. The main plug will be in the same colour as the masthead to show it's importantance and the rest in the other complementing colours.

   I then did a brainstorm and came up with a lexical field of music to help me think of ideas for the name for my magazine. I eventually came up with the name 'Alternative Girl' as alternative means something different, or a different option and I think this is what my magazine is. It's an alternative option for girls who don't want to read more masculine music based magazines or extremely girly gossip-y music magazines that don't actually feature much information on music. Therefore I feel the slogan 'A different take on music' is quite fitting. Alternative is also a genre of music which my magazine could possibly feature in my magazine, although I thought about it I do not want to make it specific to this genre. Once I have made up my front page and contents page I will do a full evaluation of them both.

9th November 2011

For the photos for my magazine I decided I wanted a full length shot of my artist on the front cover. So I asked one of my friends who I thought had the right look for my magazine to do a photoshoot for me. I asked her to wear particular clothes which would complement the colour scheme of the front page and took a few photos of her in different poses. I will use one image for the front page, one for the contents and a few different ones for my double page spread.

7th November 2011

      After making a mind map and researching music magazines I moved on to planning my own magazine. I decided that I wanted to do a magazine for young but educated and mature girls, who are actually interested in the music. As I feel there is no middle ground for females between the childish pop-gossip magazines such as 'We love pop'. And the supposedly 'unisex' (I feel they are more aimed at males, in the tone they are written and way they are presented) but more informative music magazines such as Rolling Stone and Q. My magazine will appeal to girls, and feature bands and music artists that perhaps do not always make the front of magazines, particularly girl's ones. It will consist of interviews, music and more music related articles, rather than being full of gossip about the artists and posters of topless boybands which I feel is stereotypical of female music magazines.

I knew what I wanted my magazine to look like so I started drawing a mock up design of the front cover. Choosing a colour scheme of purple, black, white and blue as I feel these are slightly rocky, indie type colours but can also pass as pop without being too cheesey and girly. I also knew I wanted a long shot of a girl on the front, wearing purple tights to complement the colour scheme. The advantage of having a full length shot is that the reader gets to see the whole of the artist's outfit and a certain specific image is given off from this. The tricky part was coming up with a name for my magazine, as I wanted it to be something that made it clear the magazine was aimed at girls, but also something that wasn't cheesey and cliche. I have still yet to come up with a name and hope that this will come as I start production of my magazine.

21st October 2011

After looking at Rolling Stone magazine, I have decided to continue my research further by analysing an issue of Q magazine to find the differences and similarites between the two. Of course by doing this it is helping me come up with ideas for my own magazine, which I have yet to come up with a name for as of yet.

The name of the magazine is Q and it is set as a masthead title which is quite bold so it is very clear that it is the name of the magazine. The name 'Q' has the connotation of a cue, which is a part of a record player, this is an instant link to music. The masthead is in iconic rock colours of red and white. Also there is a slogan underneath it which says 'A different take on music' this sums up the magazine and tells us what its about. 

   There is a barcode in the bottom right corner which also has the issue number and price on it. There are plugs along the bottom of the cover, telling us names of the artists and articles featured inside the magazine, these are to entice the reader to make them want to read and buy it. They are in simple colours of black and white with hints of blue and red which all complement the colour scheme of the cover and the sleek look of it. The other plugs are in the top corner in a block carefully arranged around the main image as to not overlap it and steal focus. They are again in simple but contrasting colours which works really well. One of the plugs is 'I AM A TIGER!' which goes with the images of the panthers which I think is hardly done by accident.

    The plugs are of the type of bands that the target audience would like. But there still seems to be a variety of music in the magazine as the main plug is of Lily Allen but there is also a plug for 'The 25 Greatest Rock Movies'. This suggests there is a wide audience for the magazine, but it would consist of more mature young people with an interest in music and it could also appeal to an older audience too. I think this issue in particular is aimed more at males than females because of the fact Lily is topless on the cover and described as a 'Sexy Beast'. I can not imagine her female fans describing her that way, although they may still buy the magazine. The image is very sophisticated and sleek using the black of the panthers and her pants, teamed with her jet black hair to add to the sophistication of it. Her name LILY ALLEN is in a big clear font across the page to show her importance and that she is the main feature. It is also in two different colours, with the white font contrasting against her black pants and the black against the plain grey background. There is alliteration and repitition in 'her wicked, wicked ways' this is to emphasise the fact that she is wicked, as she is so wicked it has to be said twice. These key words are in red and match the colour of the title. The panthers are symbolism of Lily being a 'Sexy Beast' and that she can't be tamed, alike the beasts which is very clever.