Double Page Spread Final Piece

Here is my Double Page Spread final piece. This, like the front cover, is almost identical to the draft with some slight changes. For his piece the only thing that was changed was that I added a link to the website at the bottom of the page. I felt that this piece as a draft was my best and that it didn't need much changing in transition to my final piece.

Contents Page Final Piece

Here is my final Contents Page. I have chosen to use a different picture of my model, as I felt like the draft picture was not relevant to the genre. This picture gives a more urban feel because of the crate background, and also adds a more dramatic feel with the lighting being angel-like down on his face. Because of the change of picture I had to move my twitter section to the middle of the page, and because black was too apologetic to the background of his top I had to change the colour of the font. The reason I chose the blue was to empathise with the twitter colours.

Front Cover Final Piece

This is my Front Cover final piece. I have decided to keep it almost identical to the first draft but with some subtle additions. The reason I have kept it so similar to the first draft was because I liked the layout and how the picture lent itself to the text. By this I mean there was adequate space either side of the model to give it the 'free magazine look' - a simplistic feel. Although the gesture by the model alienates the audience, I chose to keep it as I thought it fitted in really well with the genre. The first change that I made from the draft was to add an issue number in the top right corner, this had been one major thing that I left out in my draft. A "free" addition to the title was my second change and I took inspiration from free magazine "Crack". The final change I made was to add the website address which is placed at the bottom left of the cover and by using a small font it kept the look of simplicity.

Evaluation

Here is a link to a Prezi with all of my Evaluation Questions posted.

Fonts for My Music Magazine

I have also considered the font and drew up a shortlist of the fonts I was most likely to use. I then narrowed it down to one font, called 'Silom'. I have chosen this font because it combines a professional look for a magazine and also fits in with my music genre without looking overly 'tacky'.

Silom

I have used this font on all three pages: front cover, contents page and double-page spread and they all compliment the content. The competition for this font was 'Hobo Std' and 'Gill Sans Ultra Bold'. I chose not to use either of these fonts as I felt 'Hobo Std' was too colloquial for the genre and felt that it would fit more into a country/western type genre. 'Gill Sans Ultra Bold' was not considered to be the final font as I felt that it was too bold so would steal to much attention away from other content on the page and would look more crowded as a block of text, which contrasts to the free magazine simplicity.

Hobo Std

Gill Sans Ultra Bold

Another Photo Shoot

Here are the examples of my second photo shoot for my cover, contents page and double page spread. This shoot was very useful as I knew that I had a certain theme that I wanted to project through the photos, this was that the artist 'A$AP Callum' had two sides to his personality and thats what my double page spread was about. This meant that I could get contrasting photos of Callum to match the article on him.

Stereotypical Hand Gesture

"Two sides" pictures (Top & Bottom)

Close Up

Stern Facial Expression

Genre specific pose

My Free Magazine

From my first drafts I have decided that my magazine will be a free magazine. This means that it will be  a lot less cluttered than the leading music magazines such as 'Q' and 'Vibe'. Examples of free magazines include 'Loud and Quiet' and 'Crack'.

First Draft of Contents Page & Evaluation

For my contents page I decided to add a twitter column for readers to contact the magazine and comment on previous issues or what they would like to see in the next issue. I have followed the conventions of a free magazine and not included many pages or items to keep the theme of a fresh mini magazine based on the Hip-Hop/Rap genre. I also didn't want to fill up the page too much to also follow conventions of a free magazine.

First Draft of Double-Page Spread & Evalation

For my first draft of the double page spread, I followed the theme that the artist that I was interviewing, "A$AP Callum" has a split personality. This is shown by the two pictures with different facial expressions of the artist and also in the use of the two opposite colours which emphasises this. I have kept the same font as the front cover to follow the same impression throughout the magazine, this will also be kept the same for the contents page. After gaining feedback I have discovered that the two pictures do not contrast enough to be considered opposites and therefore will need to be changed when it comes to the final piece.

First Draft of Cover & Evaluation

For my first draft of the front cover I have stuck to the conventions of a free magazine. The main conventions of a free magazine are that the cover is plain and simple, giving every page the look of a poster that you could hang on your bedroom wall. These conventions are clearly shown in my front cover first draft. This cover does alienate audiences however, with the bars seperating the artist with the readers, making it less likely for readers of other magazine ginres to make the step to buy this specific magazine. Also the obvious body language has the same effect, while fitting in with the Hip-Hop/Rap idealisms it still alienates other audiences which would have a big effect on readership.

Free Magazine Research

Here is a link to an article about the rise of free magazines.

Looking at this article it explains that 'they are funded by advertising alone', this means that the advertisements are likely to portray the audience however they are not necessarily going to be linked to the music industry. What makes these free magazines so refreshing and different to mainstream paid-for magazines such as 'Q' and 'NME" are that 'they're not just about information; they are filled with beautiful designs and unique features that cater to a niche but committed market of the underground music obsessives.'

"Because they don't have a publishing house to answer to, independent magazines have more freedom to feature what and who they want." -  This is a huge advantage towards the free magazine industry as it means they can cover a wide range of music genres which will in turn cover a wider audience. This can make up for the fact that the magazines are unheard of.

"We put Coldplay on the cover [in 1999] long before they were signed" says Be Rozzo, co-founder of emerging free magazine 'the Fly'. This shows that although free magazines are only just on the rise now, they have been involved in artists that have gone on to be stars beforehand. Other examples include the Vaccines, Franz Ferdinand, Jessie Ware and Peace.

Key Pictures from First Photo Shoot

I used this shoot as a practice so that I could get used to using the camera. These are some examples of shots from my first shoot.  The theme of these shots is links to the genre of my magazine as it about rebellion and a 'hard-up lifestyle'. These are typically the sorts of images that you will find in magazines with a Hip-Hop/Rap styled genre. The last picture differs to the first two in the fact that I won't be including it in any of my drafts, it was just used as a chance to experiment with taking close-ups.

Flat Plans

These are my inital flat plans for the cover, contents page and double page spread. I used inspiration from magazines such as "Q" and "Vibe" which have a similar genre and therefore have a similar audience.

The layouts of each flat plan follow a similar format, with two out of three covers having a central masthead, all having a central photo that covers most of the page with sub-headings coming off of it. With the contents pages I liked the idea of having a photo to the side of my list of what's in the magazine and with the final two flat plans almost identical, that was my favoured choice. Finally, the double-page spreads all vary in their layouts and I couldn't decide which one was my favourite. However, in the last flat plan I realised that I could not use this as the photo would be interrupted because of the page split and although this isn't a main threat, it is the main photo anchoring the two pages, so I decided not to use that.

Music Magazine Title

I have now thought of a title for my music magazine. As it is based on Hip-Hop/Rap, and most titles being colloquial, I have decided to call my magazine "Hop". Although this does not jump out that it is a music magazine, it is colloquial and does have some connotations to it's genre.

For the font of the title, I went through all the fonts available to me and selected three fonts that I thought would suit my magazine and looked professional enough to use. The three fonts I chose were called 'Gill Sans Ultra Bold', 'Hobo Std' and 'Silom'. In the end I decided to go with 'Silom' as it had the best blend of matching the genre of my magazine but still looking professional enough. Also, it had the simple feel to it that goes with the simple image of my free magazine.

Music Magazine Content Analysis & Findings

Here is some content analysis of 'real media' magazine examples.

Music Magazine Title	Vibe	Q	Billboard	Kerrang	XXL	Mixmag	DJ	NME	Clash	Spin
Formal Title	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
Colloquial Title	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Image 1 person	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO	YES	YES	YES
Image 2 person	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO
Image 2+ person	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
Logo	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
Primary Colours	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Secondary Colours	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO
2+ Sub Headings	YES	YES	YES	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Quote Used	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO

Findings

From this content analysis I have found that no music magazines have a formal title, which is not a suprise as no music genres are very formal. What did suprise me is that hardly any covers have used quotes considering almost all have interviews with artists, so there would be a posibility to have a quote. This means that it is not a feature that is used very much anymore.

The content analysis was useful as it helped me to find the conventions in music magazines. From the content analysis I noticed that all magazines tend to have a colloquial title. In terms of images, there tends to be a close up of one person on the cover instead of several people, unless a band is the focus. The photoshoot on the cover then tends to remian throughout on the double page spread and sometimes even the contents page. No magazines had a logo, unlike several school magazines I researched for the preliminary conetent analysis. Most magazines followed the convention of using mainly primary colours, "DJ" being the only example where secondary colours were used, even then it was only small gold font and was mainly dominated by primary colours. Finally, almost all magazines had 2+ subheadings. This gives an in-depth look into what is featured in the magazine, making readers more likely to buy it.

Overall, I have learnt that most magazines keep their covers simple, with primary colours and close-ups of one person and several subheadings to give readers more insight into whats in the magazine itself.

This means that my magazine will be kept 'clean' meaning not very cluttered and will have a picture of one person to keep it simple.

Preliminary Task & Analysis

Analysis

From finishing the preliminary task I have noticed that the font is very apologetic, although it does follow the colours of the Marlwood badge so there is a theme throughout. The layout of the picture fits well for other features to fit around it, such as the logo and sub-headings etc. The title is colloquial but it  is clear that it represents a school magazine.

Genre Examples for Music Magazine

These are a few example of the genre that I am basing my music magazine on, the genre is Hip-Hop/Rap. I chose to use this genre in my coursework as this is the music I listen to. These examples are effective as the three artists on each cover are very well known which  attracts attention to the magazine. The simplicity of the layout of the magazines allow you to fully focus on them and make them the 'face' of that certain issue.

The font in all issues remains the same to create a specific image for the magazine, with the font being unapologetic which matches the whole outlook of the genre. It is worth noting that the Kanye West cover on the far left is the oldest cover and that 'Vibe' have since changed their colouring to make it unapologetic and follow similar colouring of black and red. In all 'Vibe' covers the title is features behind the picture of the artist, this shows the confidence in the magazine as they are well known enough to not have to be 'in your face' with the title.

Competition for Preliminary Task

Here are four examples of the closest competition the school magazine would face. The first two have pictures of several people, and the others keep a more professional look following mainstream magazines, with a picture of one school pupil on the cover. What remains a constant between all four is that they are all colourful designs. Also, the design of the title has changed for both 'Grapevine' magazines which gives a fresh look and keeps readers interested.

Magazine Design Tips

Here is a powerpoint I found using Slideshare, this helped me with design ideas and the magazine design system for my school and music magazines. I have chosen not to use any features explained in the slideshare because although being very professional, the features are for a very formal magazine and so therefore would not match the themes and ideas of my music magazine.

Target Audience for Prelimenary Task

The target audience for my preliminary task of the school magazine is Secondary School students and parents. Secondary This target audience would be ideal as it would give them a lot of information on the school. My school magazine front cover would appeal to the students as it includes a photograph of a student so they would feel that the magazine is inclusive to them, which would make them feel involved in the magazine itself. The fact that the student on the cover is a sixth former would appeal to the younger students as it is a figure to look up to. The sub headings on the cover would appeal to parents as it would give them an idea of what is in the rest of the magazine. Also it would interest them as they can find out what is going on in their childs school, perhaps information that their child could forget to tell them or not be aware of. The magazine would be free to students from that school so it would be a good challenge for rival magazines.

Content Analysis and Findings for Prelimenary Task

Here is a content analysis of school magazines which will help me in my prelimenary task.

School Magazine Title

Grapevine (Marlwood)

Contact (Castle)

School Weekly

Fly

Upbeat

FHH

All Sports

The Griffin

Heworth

CHS Mag

The Kings School

Prep School

Get Ready

Formal Title

NO

YES

YES

NO

NO

YES

NO

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

NO

Colloquial Title

YES

NO

NO

YES

YES

NO

YES

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

YES

Image 1 person

NO

YES

YES

YES

YES

NO

NO

NO

YES

YES

YES

NO

YES

Image 2 person

NO

NO

YES

NO

NO

NO

YES

YES

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

Image 2+ person

YES

YES

YES

NO

NO

YES

NO

NO

NO

NO

YES

YES

NO

School Logo

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

YES

NO

YES

YES

NO

NO

NO

YES

Primary Colours

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

NO

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

Secondary Colours

YES

NO

NO

YES

YES

NO

NO

YES

NO

YES

YES

NO

YES

2+ Sub Headings

NO (1)

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

NO

YES

Quote Used

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

YES

NO

Findings

From the content analysis I have found that almost all school magazines have 2+ sub headings to cram in information to entice the reader to the magazine. Other trends include primary colours being used in almost every magazine to keep the image simple as it is quite a formal magazine, with no need for radical colouring. What suprised me about this content analysis is that less magazines had a school logo on them than I expected and only one out of the 13 school magazines analysed had a quote used on the front cover.