4th Front cover draft

This is my 4th draft for my rock music magazine 'Sound Hazard', I choose to follow the colour scheme of red,black and white as the red shows passion to music. My main image used was chosen because of the dramatic style of lighting which gave the effect of a more dramatic photo and the black background fit in more with the colour scheme. The main cover line was made on a slant so that the cover used a wider variety of angles making it more interesting then just horizontal lines of text. The font used on the cover line was chosen so that it was similar to the masthead but not quite as rough around the edges, making it easier to read for the audience as the cover line is one of the main features that draws people to the magazine. I used a splatter brush to create the edges on the white background of the cover line so that it looked rough and ripped which follows stereotypes of rock music. The photos for  other articles were layered on top of each other so that it looked like they had physically been layered on the page. 

Instead of choosing a name for the artist on the article 'light camera action', 'our' was used so that the audience feel involved in the magazine and it would make them curious to read on and find out who it was. Whilst the other sell line in the left third   is 'New tour dates' which I chose to use as it is something that needs to be regularly updated and the audience find it important to be able to see what bands and artists they can go see.

'Sound hazard' was chosen for the mast head title as the sound connects to the idea of it being a music magazine and making it obvious to the reader and the hazard part of the name connects to the idea that a lot of people deem rock music to be quite aggressive and dangerous. 

My feedback:

Change the image to a 'stronger image', one that fits the genre more and perhaps includes props.

Re-organize the 'top 5 artists' so that it fits in more

Front cover Draft 4

Front cover drafts 3

This draft was created using google images which enabled me to be able to test out a layout for my magazine front cover.

Photoshop draft 1: 

This is the same layout but this time using my own images to see give me ideas what type of photos I could use which would work out.

Costume ideas

I chose these items for my ideas because I want it to look relaxed and due to the amount of models I plan to use for different photos I need to have a large variety. The black and eyeliner used in the mood board follows typical rock music photos and the alternative style which normally is associated with the genre. whilst the white shirt is to represent those who don't dress following the alternative style as much as others but still enjoy the music.

Front Cover Drafts 1 & 2

Draft 2:
Front Cover:

Double page:

The box plans help me plan out where each part of my music magazine goes so that it stays organised and follows conventional magazine settings.

Draft 1:

Initial Ideas

Focus Group

The questions that we asked each other in our focus group in order to get some ideas on what to include in our magazine:

• Do you buy magazines, if so how often?
• What makes a music magazine appealing?
• How much would you be willing to pay for one?
• How much would you want it to be published?
• What would encourage you to buy a magazine?
• Do competitions in magazines make you want to buy it more?
• What free things do you want to be included?
• What type of music do you like?

Draft images

I like this shot though I wish I'd made her more central to the frame. I'd also possibly increase the lighting slightly as it appears quite dark.

These images were taken to practice with the lighting and possible camera angles before they are used in the final shoot. This meant that we could try a variety of shots and be able to judge what would work best with the music magazine with its chosen genre.

Behind the scenes of existing Photo shoots

Some examples of videos showing professional photo shoots for the type of genre I'm doing and behind the scenes.

The Wonder Years - Behind The Scenes: Kerrang! Photo Shoot

Kerrang Cover Shoot - My Passion - Behind the Scenes

Kerrang! Podcast: The Blackout

Price/Release times

Magazines that inspire my magazines price and release date:

• 'Kerrang!' released weekly for £1.99

• 'NME' released weekly for £2.20

• 'Metal Hammer' released monthly for  £4
  
  Music magazines related to my genre are more likely to be released weekly with exception of 'Metal Hammer' which I have included to be able to show a comparison as it costs more and is released less due to the fact it comes with more free items for its audience.

The average magazine is priced around £1.99 to £2.99 this makes it cheap enough for people to buy each week and still enables the companies to make money. For my music magazine I would price it at £1.99 because of the fact teenagers may have a lot of dispensable income they will still be unlikely to spend much more on a magazine which doesn’t come with for example a free CD. Young adults may be more likely to be able to spend a bit more on magazines but in order to still appeal to a wider target audience The price needs to stay with what teenagers would be able to afford. Due to the low price of the magazine, it could be produced weekly and would still be able to make more money. Following the example of ‘Kerrang!’ which is released every week on a Wednesday. With it being released weekly the magazine would be able to stay up to date with the latest music releases and news which would make it more reliable for my chosen target audience to purchase in order to keep up to dates what’s happening in the music industry.

Audience Research and Demographics

This reader profile for my magazine was created from the answers on a poll featured on this blog whilst the images are of objects or places that would generally be seen in a magazine of a rock genre. The information from these polls will help me choose the release times and the price of my magazine.

Front cover comparisons

A  similarity between all three of these covers is they all feature large amounts of black on the main photos, another similarity is the font of each of the magazines which is large, bold and in capital letters  which could symbolise the genre of the music it is advertising is loud and bold itself. Each of the main articles headlines feature the font associated with each band for the titles whilst the rest of the font is different. The kerrang! I have chosen to compare too features a lot of pale green which is unusual as it normally features a lot of reds like the other two magazines but the difference in colour could be to connote change to the audience that this magazine is different from the rest. Compared to the other two magazines Metal Hammer’s covers seems quite busy and over crowded with images and font, whilst the other two only feature 3 images at the most.

LIIAR ANALYSIS - Kerrang!

LIIAR ANALYSIS

Kerrang!

‘War on Emo’ – Front cover

Language – The front cover of this magazine uses terms which would be commonly used by teenagers and young adults for example using ‘Ace’. Along with this the cover also uses terms like ‘the absolute truth’ which hints at other music magazine not telling the readers the full truth and changing it for reader demands whilst ‘Kerrang!’ is willing to explain it to the reader. ‘Limited edition’ grabs the readers attention as it makes the reader want what’s being offered as its only there for a short amount of time.

Institution – The Kerrang! Magazine focuses on important issues that will grab more readers, focusing on topics which are current and affect the readers, for example the cancelation of a festival. Along with this it advertises competitions and CDs that due to being advertised on the front cover will earn the company more money.

Ideology – ‘Has anything really changed?’ using a phrase like that engages the reader and challenges their views on a subject matter. Which is this case is ‘The war on Emo’ which involves a lot of the target audience. As a lot of people who listen to the music often featured in the magazine are often labelled as ‘Emo’ so it connect to the readers.

Audience – The audience of this magazine would be towards young adults or teenagers, focusing on ones who listen to the genres of music which include metal, rock , punk and Indie. The use of the term ‘Half a decade on’ could also be described as narrowing down the target audience into the older teenagers and young adults who remember the start of Emo.

Representation – The front cover has a colour theme of yellow and red which has shows connections to signs, red for the danger sign and yellow for caution. Along with this both colours are eye catching for the reader compared to the black and white also used. A rough texture is used in the background of the image which could connote to the audience that the stories are altered to appear happier they are the truth. The main image features 3 different well known band images layered together which connects to the ‘war on emo’ article’ due to the genre of the band.

Contents

Double Page spread

Language – The main article title is ‘World War III?’ which instantly shows drama and something that involves all the audience. It’s also a question so it engages the reader making them more interested in the argument shown in the article. It also uses the phrase ‘Half a decade ago’ to begin the first paragraph, this not only hints t explaining some of the back story to more recent readers but also works as a reminder to readers who remember the beginning. By using the term Half a decade a good it makes the passage of time seem longer then just five years ago.

Institution – By using images of a previous Kerrang! Article showing the story has been covered before in the past shows the magazines ability to keep up to date and follow current news in the music industry to the reader. Showing a capable and reliable company running the magazine which makes the reader trust what’s being said in the article more.

Ideology – The article uses the term ‘You’ on several occasion which includes the reader in the article making them feel more involved but it also says that ‘tabloid media declared war on you’. This accuses the reader of doing something wrong which could cause anger at the idea of them being falsely accused of doing something wrong causing more people to read the article.

Audience – This article mainly address the older teenagers and young adults who remember the beginning of Emo, this is shown by the constant use of ‘You’ in the article. Whilst younger readers may not remember the start there is enough back ground story on the pages to explain what’s happened so far.

Representation – the colour theme for the double page article is red, black and white. The black and white connects to the main image which takes up most of the two pages. Whilst the red contrasts against the black and white of the rest of the article drawing the readers eyes to certain aspects of the article. The main image being of ‘My Chemical romance’ in one of their most famous outfits for their album ‘Black parade’ which was one of the beginnings of Emo style music. The article also uses images of previous articles on the story and deliberately shows the worst ones to make the reader feel more emotional towards the story.

(images are on college computer, I shall add them)

Genre

Mood board appealing to rock music audience:

For my music magazine I choose to focus on the Rock genre. Using bands which would be normally featured in magazines like ‘Kerrang!’ and ‘Rock Sound’. I chose to focus on these genres for my music magazine because these are genres I enjoy and know more about compared to for example if I focused on rap music which I know very little about.

Examples of Bands which fit into this genre:

Jimmy Eat World:

The Pretty Reckless:

Green day:

Rise Against:

My Chemical Romance:

Linkin Park:

Slipknot:

The Birthday Massacre:

Top 40 downloads: 

Out of the recent top 40 downloads only 2 of the songs could be said to fit into my chosen genre of rock, this shows that a lot more people tend to prefer other genres when it comes to downloading songs but even though it isn't shown in the data from the download list there is still a large audience for this genre of music or it wouldn't be as successful as it is (for example the magazine 'Kerrang!' wouldn't be able to run but it instead is a very popular and successful magazine).

The Brief

The main task is to produce a Front page, a contents page and a double page spread of a new music magazine.
You must  use a minimum of four images

Front cover evaluation

For my college magazine front cover I decided I would chose my theme colours to be black, white and red. I chose these colours as the red connotes a passion for learning and it also is an eye catching colour. I chose the black and white as it matched the colour of most of the lockers, along with this black and white can connote class and intelligence. So combing this with the passion for learning it shows the college to be a good place for learning to take place. For my mid shot of my model, I chose to use the image of her in a relaxed stance and to stare at the camera as the eye contact would engage the audience. I chose to place the black banner down the side to enable the text to be easier to read as due to the lines and handles on the locker it made it harder to read the sell lines. But even with the block of black I chose to lower the opacity so that you could still faintly see the lockers and it gave the page more depth. The sell lines I created were chosen so that it would appeal to students. ‘All nighter horror stories’ could be quite a comical article which would be appealing, along with this I chose to include an article which would enable the reader to vote as it would include the audiences decision in the magazine. I also included a competition which has prices appealing to a student, I also chose to use the Xbox symbol instead of just typing it as it’s a well-known symbol and the green contrasts again the red making it a more noticeable. For the quote I used in my main cover-line I chose to use freedom in it as it could hint at independence as a student to the reader, I also mentioned Wyke as I chose not to mention it anywhere else as it is subtle advertisement for the college. The mast head is layered to give the page more depth and to give it a 3D effect which makes the cover more interesting.

Magazine front cover

Contents page mock up

Magazine Drafts