I have begun production on the magazine throughout the previous week and as a result of this have decided upon which logo was going to used to represent the magazine. After experimenting with several different fonts, i decided that the logo's featured in previous blog posts weren't eye catching enough and would not represent the magazine as being edgy. I decided the font featured bellow was eye catching and edgy, and generally represents the genre by being bold and out-there.
I have also begun production on the contents page, and decided upon fonts that are going to be featured throughout the magazine.
I have also taken and edited several photos for the cover, contents page and double page spread.
I posted my double page spread and logo ideas on the social networking site "Facebook" to carry out further audience research.
Logo's.
To gain a better idea about which logo would be best featured in the magazine, i asked my ideal audience to chose their favourite out of four ideas.
There was a mixed response to the fonts. The first logo in "Star Avenue" font and the third logo in "Fh Ugly" font were the most popular, and gained responses as follows:
"The third one, it's all quirky and cool and i like the colour combo of green and yellow."
"Third one down is my favourite. It's kinda fun and more informal."
"I think the best would be either the top or the 3rd one down - because the top one looks alot glossier but the 3rd is quirky and edgy."
"The top one, because it's yellow and when i think of juice I think yellow and it looks jolly."
Double Page Spread
To find out if my double page spread plan was sucessful, i asked my target audience the following questions:
Would the contents of this double page spread interest you and why?
What sort of band information would you like?
What kind of film would you like to be featured?
Ideally, the audience wanted quirky bands to be featured on it, with a mix of tour dates and album information. They would also like interesting films to be featured, examples given were films such as the "Breakfast Club" because it is unique and different.
Cover shot Mid shot, with a fairly plain background so all the focus is on the model. The model will be fairly unique looking female student, either holding an acoustic musical instrument or blowing bubbles at the camera. An SLR camera will be used to take this shot.
The cover image will be inspired by images such as these:
Large contents shot Wide shot, featuring the same female as the one on the cover. There will be an electric guitar featured in this shot, and it will be held in an quirky way to connote rebellion. An SLR camera will be used to take this shot.
Small contents shot Medium close up of an males face. This photo will be in black and white to give the page variety and the person featured will be smoking, in order to relate to typical readers. An SLR camera will be used to take this shot.
Double page spread, photo one This photo will display an image involving the same people featured on the contents page shot, however it will be in a street scene, as if they are walking towards the camera. It will be wide shot. An SLR camera will be used to take this shot.
Double page spread, photo two This photo has been previously taken, and displays a band and a crowd enjoying the live scene. It is wide shot, and a digital camera was used to take this shot.
Double page spread, photo three This photo will feature the cover star, in a similar scene to the one presented on the front cover. It will feature a quirky looking girl, close up looking directly at the camera. An SLR camera will be used for this shot.
Double page spread, photo four This photo will be medium close up, this time with a female musician. It will be black and white to give the page a bit of variety, and will be in ordinary flat scene. An SLR camera will be used for this shot.
Double page spread, photo five This photo is going to be a video still from the website 'Youtube'. It will be of an indie-rock music video, so it will appeal to the target audience. A camera will not be used to take this shot, instead a snapshot of the internet page will be taken and cropped.
Double page spread, photo six This will show a group of males in a studio scene, playing instruments to show the image of a band. It will also be wide shot, and an SLR camera will be used for the shot.
Further editing will be done to all shots on adobe photoshop.
This is the initial draft of the front cover. It shows a basic idea about what is going to be featured on the front cover, the colour schemes that are going to be incorporated and other details, such as the title of the magazine and what the main sell is going to be.
This is a rough sketch of the layout for the contents page. It will feature the logo incorporated on the front cover, and the other text on the page will correspond to the colour scheme featured on the front cover too. It will basically summarise what is going to be printed in the magazine, as well as providing additional information like how to subscribe.
This is a rough idea about what the double page spread is going to contain. There will be various photos featured on this spread, as well as lots of information about upcoming events, music and film. This was produced as a response to the audience research, as this is what my ideal audience would want to read about.
In order to get my results, i used the social networking site "facebook", allowing my target audience to view my moodboard and make comments about it. I also picked out various people who i thought would ideally read my magazine, and recorded video's of them giving their opinions about the moodboard and the music that would generally be featured in the magazine.
From my research I've gathered that my moodboard definitely appeals to my target audience, and in the magazine on the whole, they would expect to read about film and fashion as well as just music. My target audience typically share the same kind of interests which are generally featured on the moodboard, making it fairly sucessful. The majority preferred the font displayed saying "festival" on the moodboard. As a result of this, i am definitely going to feature it in my magazine and perhaps use it for the masthead on the front cover. The colour scheme featured (red, white, black and yellow) appealed to the audience on the whole and therefore that will be incorporated into the overall design of the magazine.
Here is a video of a short interview with a person of my ideal audience.
I have presented both mood boards to my target audience and asked them a few questions enquiring as to what they thought about the general feel of the magazine. I asked them the following questions: Does this mood board appeal to you? Why? Would you read this magazine? What features would you like to be included? Are the fonts eye catching? What do you think of them?
I recieved the following feedback: "It appeals to me because of the reference to relevant TV programmes and films like Skins and Juno. I am also very interested in the music (particularly David Bowie). I'd want it to include the fashion side of the genre as well as the music. I like the fonts, the 'festival' one is my favourite."
"Yes, because it has all the 'in' things on, such as 'The Mighty Boosh' & 'Skins'. I also like all the bright colours, which make it appealing to look at. Plus there is a nice range of musicians. I would read this magazine. I would like it to feature articles about upcoming festivals, new musicians, new shows and new films. I would also like to see some fashion pages, because it relates to the genre. I like the variety of fonts and the use of colour on the fonts."
"This does appeal to me because it targets the magazine audience well. It not only includes music, but there are also tv shows and films that the audience you're aiming for would like to watch. I think that everything i would want to see in a magazine like this has been included and the fonts are interesting."
"This appeals to me because it has lots of things which I enjoy reading, watching, listening to and going to. For example, NME magazines, Skins, iPods, festivals and places like Topshop. There are lots of vibrant colours which would attract an audience like me, because there is nothing dull about it. I would read this magazine because it has things which I like and would want to find out more about. I would want it to include infomation about these festivals, the latest film releases and reviews, and of course music. I like the NME font the best, because its the most bold and striking."
"It does appeal to me because it shows pictures of things I'm interested in. I would read this magazine. I would want it to include interviews with artists and information about different festivals and new films that have been realeased. The fonts are eyecatching and i like the colours."
"It appeals to me because it includes everything i'm interested in and if i'm the target audience it definitely works for me. I want to know why there isnt a magazine like this?! I would definitely read it. It should include festival highlights, new releases, new indie bands, film reviews and little boutique shops! The fonts are great!"
There is a fair distinction between distribution strategies employed by major and independent magazine companies. Companies such as ‘Bauer’ distribute their magazines on an incredibly large scale, selling millions of copies every week and fulfilling their goal to earn a vast amount of money. They do this by producing magazines which are fairly mainstream and will appeal to the majority of the population. They make use of convergence in the media industry, distributing their product over a variety of media. For example, ‘Kerrang Magazine’ is broadcasted on radio and television, as well as being a popular magazine. Magazines such as this are available from popular outlet stores such as ‘Tesco’ and ‘WHSmith’, so it is easily accessible to the public ensuring that a maximum profit is earned. Weekly magazines such as “Bella” and “Take a Break” feature an audience profile which would apply to a large scale of people, making their distribution rates a lot higher. This differentiates immensely to independent magazine companies such as “Vice”, whose aim is to appeal to a quirky, niche fan base as apposed to making a great deal of money. Their distribution relies on a “pick-me-up” strategy and is not stocked in mainstream stores such as “Tesco”. As a result of this, fans will have to visit the niche stores that supply the magazine. This adds to the general image of the magazine, making it quirky and interesting which continues to appeal to the target audience.After researching major and independent magazine companies, I have concluded that my magazine would be distributed through fairly mainstream stores such as "WHSmith" and would appeal to a fairly wide audience. Although the music featured in the magazine would mostly consist of indie-rock, this genre of music appeals to quite a vast amount of people and would therefore be fairly successful as a mainstream magazine. It would have a multi-platform strategy; therefore fans could read the magazine and also learn more about the music featured on the internet and radio. The ideal audience would have lots of individual ideas, and would enjoy spending their time at festivals and gigs. They would most likely be radicals and aspirers, and would possibly enjoy making music themselves.
