Response to moodboard

These are a few "mock up" layouts of my magazine using pictures that I feel fits with the image of my magazine with my logo in order to get a better idea of what I want my front cover to look like.

For this mock layout I have changed the colours of my logo to suit the picture which now looks as if it is almost on fire. While I do like this I feel the logo was more effective and powerful previously and I do not feel that the logo particularly suits this image. However I really love this photograph it says a lot without physically using words. The image shows a powerful, strong woman with lots of attitude. This kind of image is what I aspire to achieve in my magazine.

This layout is much more feminine and I feel like this would appeal to a bigger range of people. The logo it clear but does not over power the image which is very important to bear in mind.

Mood board

Now that I have my logo, I need to start thinking about the photos and the layout of my music magazine. These are a few examples of some magazines that particularly caught my eye, though they are not all strictly music magazines.I feel they follow the conventions I am looking for. What I like from these examples are the simplicity, the image is striking and the information is clear. They have a sophication and sleek look to them and are all very feminine. From this I now have a clearer idea of what I want my front cover to look like and I now know i want a simple background but a fun youthful picture as my layout is going to be fairly miminalistic therefore I need a picture which can speak for itself. Another thing I have noticed from the magazines that are fairly well known and sucessful are hybrid meaning that they have a mix of genres included. This doesn't limit the direction of the magazine and allows the magazine to change with modern times. This is an element which I am also planning to persue. My magazine will predominatly be aimed towards indie/alternative music,however I also want to include pop and hip hop artists such a Jay Z, Lady Gaga and many others whos music appeals to a wide variety of people. This means my photographic must be fairly generic as it has to appeal to a large assortment of people.

Further Development

♡Further logo development♡


Although I was very happy with my previous design I was still playing around with colours and effects and inspired from my initial design i decided to give the "!" more definition. And despite this only being an experiment as such it infact works very well and just adds to the design.

Extending on the space theme from my previous adjustments I am now using the paint brush tool, adding small squares around the text giving it a star like feel. This has revoultionised my design and has brought it to life. I am very pleased and feel like this gives my logo the edge it needed and makes it different and unique.


I have made a slight adjustment to the previous design by adding a light glow from the bottom of the text. Though it is a simple and slight differnence I feel it adds real impact to the logo and makes it stand out that bit more and also gives it a space like feel rather that a club feel like a neon sign.

This is my second design, where I have now changed the font to "cherry light". The font works much better with the glow and I have also changed the colour to purple to make it more feminine. The design has a very party/club feel to it and I like this, however iIstill feel there is something missing from it which gives in that extra edge to it.

This is my first initial idea. I used an urban feeling font to try and keep it modern and hightlighted the exclamition mark with a neon glow to make it stand out. After creating this i do not feel as if the font works well with the colours or effects and have decided it is not suitable for my magazine. It is very masculine and would not appeal to my target market. However there are elements of this design I do really like. I think the colours work very well togther and i like the neon glow.




Now that I begun developing my logo I am playing around with fonts an effects on photoshop in order to create and imaginative, powerful brand for my magazine.

Development of masterhead

Now that I have chosen my name "No!se" I need to develop the font in order to present a look which is suitable for the front of a music magazine.

These are a few ideas that I have played with. I really like the first font which is called "pulse" as it links really well with the idea of music. However I do not feel like this is powerful enough alone for my logo and have decided that I may use it instead as one of the caption fonts. From this early experimentation I love the bold fonts which make a statement, however another element I am very fond of is making the exclamation mark in the middle of the word a different colour. This draws attention to the word and also gives it an edginess and youthful feel to it.

Naming my magazine

This was a task I found particularly hard as the name of the magazine is crutial to the fundamentals of the magazine.The name is all part of the image and connotation that my magazine will give out and I needed to think of a name that was unique, inetresting but also simple. Before I did this I thought of a few examples off good current music magazine names such as Kerrang, Q, NME, Spin. All these names are quite simple yet effective and this is an element I am looking for in the name of my magazine.These are just a few of my inital ideas
Elite Pulse Chord Wave Exclusive Alternative Intune Inspire Unplugged Melody Track Record Stage Door Overdrive Crisp Disconnected Distinct Sound Noise Pulse Download Anarchy
Out of these many names I wanted and understated simple name which still stood out. The main names which appeal to me the most currently are download, anarchy, sound, disconnected, pulse and noise. In order to choose the name I really want I will have to play with fonts and see which name LOOKS the best.

I have deicded that from this my name will be "Noise" with an ! replacing the i to give it a more modern "funky" look to it. The reason I have chosen this name is because it is bold on the page and makes a statement, it is an easy word to remember and relates to the subject of my magazine- music. The name is simple and straight forward just like I intend my for magazine. I want my magazine to be purely about music and about going back to basics.

Music Magazine Analysis

• Produced by IPC
  
• Costs £2.30


• Published weekly every Wednesday



• Target market men aged 17-30
  
• Circulation 40,948 (ABC Jan-Jun 09)


• Readership 388,000(NRS Jul 08-Jun 09)
  
  
• 69% of readers are males


• 31% of readers are women


• The average age that reads NME is 24 years of age


• Was launched in 1952 and is a British Magazine


• NME stands for news musical express


• Music tabloid magazine

Analysis of cover:

Title, masterheads/logos, typefaces and graphics

• Clear use of layers that have been used to put lead singers; Hayley Williams's head over the NME logo. Although this covers the logo NME is such a well known brand it is not essential for us to see all the logo to know what magazine it is.




• There is a clear use of house fonts and colours creating the cliche construction of an NME layout.




• A theme of primary colours are used for the captions and sub titles- red white and black which appeal to the magazines target audience of males. Red white and black are simple yet effective colours which still stand out but to not detract from the main subject of the cover.


• Simple bold fonts are used to emphasise them yet do not distract us from the main image.


• Three different fonts are used to break up information and make it easier on the eyes



• The bands name is in pink which is taken from the colour in the girls Hayley Williams lips
  



• This adds continuity to the magazine and establishes the idea that the image and title are linked making it instantly clear who the main feature of the magazine will be. Although the words "paramore" are in pink it is appropriate as the word paramore means lover and pink is automatically linked with the idea of love. Also it is a very deep pink so while being different to attract attention it does not demaculinate the picture.

Main image

• The men in the background also maintain the edginess and masculinity of the magazine

The image of Paramore is a reflection of their music which is slightly dark, edgy and quirky. This is shown in their clothing which are dark which adds mystery but also sophistication, yet are dressed fairly modestly showing their laid back attitude.This picture shows what the band is all about and reaches out to readers who enjoy this type of music.

• The lead singer Hayley Williams has a very intense gaze looking face on into the camera. This is intense gaze is engaging and enticing and draws readers in. Her body language shows she is fiesty and has attitude. It also a stereo-typical pose that is associated with teenagers/ youngpeople which makes the band appeal to this young market. Her hair and lips are a striking contrast to the rest of cover which draws our attention to the centre of the page. She has green chipped nail varnish showing she is unique and different, giving her a punky look and a sense of carefree attitude.

Content and Language

• "685 UK gigs listed"- gives the reader the idea of varitey and also that they are getting alot for their money.


• "everyone else has fallen for them will you?" This is a direct question adressed to the reader making the tone of the magazine friend-like and also personal to each individual.


• "Guns, gods and 4 million albulms sold"- This alliteration is a common technquie used in magazines to engage readers it breaks down the information created a relexed and fun tone to the magazine


• Persuasive language is used through the magazine using rhetrical questions such as "will you" which engages and adds intrest. The magazine also makes big bold statements such as "USA love us" which are also emotive and engaging.


• The magazine "tells" us what we want and tells us this is a good quality magazine this is highlights through the use of the bold definate statements and bold wording which can not be argued with.

All NME issues follow a similar layout to this magazine making it instantly reconginsable to its readers as do other music magazines such as Kerrang and Q magazine. However NME is made distinctive through its use of logo, signiture fonts and the use of bold and striking photography used to engage with the readers. The size of NME could be considered as its unquie seeling point as it is 300mm x 240 mm this gives the magazine more of a sqare shape where as opther magazines are taller and thinner. This makes NME stand out from the crowd because it is unusal and differnt making it instantly distinctive from other magazines.

Reflecting.

From this analysis of an issue of NME magazine I have learnt the techiques and stratagies magazine editiors use to engage thier readers and make their magazines disitnctive and unique. In order to make my magazine successful I will need to use similar techquies such as effective and persuasive language, striking engaging images, puns, allieteration, bold powerful statements, the rule of three and all the other various things that NME editors have used to attract their audiences.

Research

As a music magazine reader myself I am very excited to start this project. As a consumer of the product I am trying to market the question I have to ask myself in order to design a good magazine front cover is what attracts us to music magazines? Is it the pictures? Or the font or logo? Or the persuasive language we sub-consciously are enticed by?

In order to be able to design and market a good magazine it is important for me to understand the key concepts and conventions of a music magazine. I will therefore be doing some research into the leading brands of music magazines in order to identify aspects that make then successful and appealing.

NME

These are just a few past NME front covers however from these few examples I am begining to see a clear theme and uniform to the brand. The covers are all very visual and have striking crisp pictures which our eyes are automatically drawn to. The pictures are fairly simple yet have an omnicent, powerful edge to them. The page is then full with lots of information in a varitey of house fonts. I notice that throughout the editions many font are the same or similar. It seems to me that NME almost has a make-up or uniform and its style is so distinct that before even seeing the logo you know that is NME. This is an effective and unquie selling point for the magazine and is arguable one of the many reasons it is so sucessful.

Another thing I have noticed circles are used to draw attention to competitions and bands which is intresting way to draw attention to certain aspects of the magazine.Also the front cover is ALWAYS taken by the feature act of the magazine and very often has small snippets of interesting, unique quotes from their interviews to entice readers.

Kerrang!

From also looking at "KERRANG!", another leading magazine brand the convetions of music magazines are becoming clearer. Similarly to NME the covers of Kerrang are very visual and are packed with information. In both magazines it is the name of the featured act which is biggest and clearest and again our attentions are draw straight to the act. Both magazines also appear to have simpled but effective logos which are memorable and unique and the way the sub headings are arranged around the pictures are very similar. However there are some clear and fundamental differences Kerrangs layout is much more simplicitic and is less comercialised than NME. However it is obviously important for magazines to have differences otherwise we would all by the same one.

Main Task Brief

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).

All images and text used must be original, produced by the candidate(s), minimum of four images per candidate.

The presentation of the research, planning and evaluation may take the form of any one, or combination of two or more, of the following:

* a presentation using slideshow software such as Powerpoint;

* a blog or website;

* a podcast;

* a DVD with 'extras'

Reflections

I am very pleased with the way that my preliminary task has turned out and think it has been a good starting point in my coursework. I have learnt a lot from this task and the mistakes I made in this point will hopefully now be avoided in the future, for example my picture was slightly blurey and needed to be sharper. Also at times some of my fonts were slightly hard to read and detracted from the point. However there are also some aspects of the task I think I did do well, I think I made an interesting, eye catching modern front cover and I liked the way the colour scheme fitted into the theme of the magazine. These are the kinds of things that I will apply and bear in mind in the future in my project.

Preliminary Completed

Front cover

This is the final product of my preliminary task for the front cover of my school magazine. I have called the magazine WOW which stands for Wired on Wilmington which could be a bit of a mouthful. The words WOW are captivating and memorable and are also quite modern and will draw readers in as they will feel like instantly they can relate to the dialouge. I have used the maroon and blue colour theme to link with the school colours to reinforce the idea that this is the school magazine and in ways is patrotic to the school in this way as the purpose of the magazine is not just to inform readers of school event, but it is also to show off what is good about the school and celebrate its achievements.In order to make the magazine sucessful and maintain readers I have decided that each months edition of the magazine will be on different topics. This keeps the face of the magazine fresh and up to date and can then reach out to all areas of the school. This particular edition is the music one and after my questionaire I carried out earlier gernally people felt the music department was often neglected and forgotton. People wanted a school magazine that would change this and make music seem more apealing and change the sterotype that music is all about classical music and playing the piano. In order to this this my image on the front cover is of a girl playing the drums. The drums have a "rock and roll" connatation and seem very hip and cool. This will draw in readers that otherwise may not be intrested and enables them to see the school in a new light. I have used a range of fonts that also appeal to a more modern market, however i have tried to make the most important information clear.

Contents Page

This is the contents page for my school magazine. I have tried to keep the layout quite simple and easy to use. I also tried to make the contents quite visual in order to interest and engage the reader. While i feel i have achieved this I do feel that it has a slight immature look to it and it I were to re-do this I would have made it look slightly more sophisticated.

Preliminary 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.