Front CoverFront Cover

Contents PageContents Page

Double Page SpreadDouble Page Spread

Front cover

My Front cover contains similar things to everyday Music Magazines; such as a masthead, main cover line, cover lines, pull quote, price and date line, etc.

Masthead:

My masthead is different to most Music Magazine mastheads because, unlike Music Magazines like ‘Q’ and ‘NME’, the masthead is bold and stands out with the colours, and goes all the was across the top of the page – whereas ‘Q’ and ‘NME’ are simple, and stay in the top left hand corner of the page. Also I chose to call my Music Magazine ‘INDIE CINDY’ because it relates to the theme of indie music, but the only downfall it that some of my target audience did think it’s just a female magazine – which is isn’t.

Background/colour scheme:

My background and colour scheme is simple yet bright, as the green and purple are from the triad colour wheel – I chose this because its contrasting, makes it stand out and give a powerful effect. This is different to Music Magazines like ‘VIBE’ and ‘KERRANG!’ since they have something perhaps going on in the background, or it doesn’t stand out all that much.

Font:

My font is different, as it’s more intricate and out there, rather than usual Music Magazines with have a bold but simple font.

Skyline:

My skyline, which would normally be at the top of the page, is at the bottom instead. Whereas, on Music Magazines like ‘VIBE’ it’s located at the top. I chose artists of the same genre as I intended the magazine and main artist so that people who were interested in the main artist were more likely to be interested in the other artist featured in the Music Magazine.

Main coverline:

My main coverline was based around the genre of indie, I attempted her (the image) to have a punk-indie look and feel to her, so it would entice people who were interested in that genre.

Coverlines:

My coverlines I chose were to do about things I thought would appeal to my target audience and genre, and things which would make them want to check them out – for example ‘Gigs for 2010’ because my target audience may want to see what will be about this year.

Imagery:

My image on the front is the image of a typical indie-styled girl, I went with a stereotypical look because it shows what the magazine genre is about straight off, rather than you having to work it out – since most people wont bother, they’d prefer having it laid out in front of you.

Contents Page

My Contents page contains similar things to everyday Music Magazines; such as a masthead, features section, regulars section, contents, etc.

Masthead:

As with the Font Cover, the masthead is bold and stands out with the colours, with the contrast of green and purple, and goes all the was across the top of the page. Again, whereas ‘Q’ and ‘NME’ are simple, and tend to be to one side.

Contents:

Unlike Music Magazine Contents Pages like ‘NME’ who have there contents organised, my Contents Page has it’s contents scattered around the page .

Features/Regulars:

I decided to break up my contents into two sections; Features and Regulars. This is because it makes it more easy to follow and understand. However, from my survey I have had some criticism with my contents page layout, such as “Inside features page is a bit too busy”, “Some of the letters on the contents page are hard to read “ and “The contents page can be hard to digest”.

Background/colour scheme:

My background and colour scheme is the same as on the Front Cover, but opposite – as in the background is now green and the boxes and the details like the page numbers are now purple – I chose to so this so, not only was it different to the Front cover which makes it more eye-catching, but it stuck with the ‘house style’ of the Music Magazine.

Imagery:

My image on my contents page is that of the main coverline, I chose to use an image of the main coverline purely to attract the audience to the article and to make them want to read on.

Double page spread

My Double Page Spread contains similar things to everyday Music Magazines; such as a masthead, interview, pull quote, inset, etc.

Imagery:

For the images on my Double Page Spread I wanted to show her looking relaxed and having fun, because in the article she is demonstrating how she is having fun with what she is doing, but is talking it seriously and has worked hard – as you can see from the pull quote.

Article:

In the article she is talking about herself is in a way that perhaps would appeal the to target audience, I believe this because she started off average and worked he way to the top with commitment – which is something some teens could relate or aspire to.

Font:

With the font I decided to had it different, compared to the Front Cover and Contents page, because it looked more catchy and edgier than if I followed the same text the whole way through – plus, some of the text looks more handwritten, making it more appropriate for her style and personality.

Standfirst:

I included a standfirst , just like they do in Music Magazines like ‘NME’, to entice the reader and to make them want to read on. Also on the standfirst I added a dropcap – which, unlike ‘NME’, the dropcap isn’t in the article – to catch the readers eye and make them want to read the article

Background/colour scheme:

Fro the background I used the same purple as on the Front Cover, but the writing was mostly in black – so it looked more like an article – however, I put the insets and questions in the green used before, this is because I wanted them to stand out and so the Double Page Spread would stick with the ‘house style’.

Pull quote:

I decided to include a pull quote that shows the hard work and motivation she put into what she’s doing, so that when the target audience read it they may be inspired.

My aim was to make my Music Magazine represent Indie music and the Indie social group, I chose this purely because it is a particular genre of music that I am into and, because I like it, it was easy to relate it into my Music Magazine – as I included a main coverline that represented a indie-styled artist, coverline that were subject to an indie-theme, and the general layout which came across indie-punk.

This succeeded, as when 20 people –age range 16

to 19 – done my survey, 73.7% said it appeared to

be Indie style, out of the other options (as seen below).

It could perhaps be a larger, more well-known producing studio since the house style of this magazine is mainstream – like magazines such as ‘Kerrang!’ .

It could be distributed in ways, such as the internet, to start off with to get people more interested in it – it could contain a few articles, or just information about it, to get people interested it in. But after a while it could be distributed through shops like HMV once it’s more popular and more known about .

My audience age range for my Music Magazine is roughly between the age of 15 to 19 – this is because of how it is laid out, the style of it, the genre of music, what is included inside the Music Magazine, etc.

My audience gender for my Music Magazine is more towards females – since the layout, title, imagery, etc is more feminine – but it also could appeal to men – because of the articles included in the magazine.

And my audience genre for my Music Magazine was indie, which aimed to show throughout my Music Magazine work with the layout, contents, etc.

In my survey the target audience said that it appeared

to be more for 16 to 18 year olds, which is in between the

age range I had been aiming for (as shown to your right).

And on my survey the target audience agreed that it

appeared mainly for females, but could be read my

males also (as shown to your left).

And also the target audience agreed that the genre

appeared to be indie, which is what I was aiming for (as

Shown to your right).

These are a few selected comments made by the target audience that done my survey, telling me what they liked about each

part of my Music Magazine and what attracted them to it.

Overall view of my Music Magazine- “The contrasting style and bright colours that grabs the attention of potential customers.”

- “It stands out quite easily, very teen based as it suggests from the pictures and the layout. Kept house style and good interview.”

- “It’s colourful and eye catching, easy to read, looks catchy and edgy, and pages are not too over crowded.”

Front Cover- “Good use of brushes and house style.”

- “The headlines which need the most focus on are highlighted very well.”

- “The masthead is really unique and the image is brilliantly edited.”

Contents Page- “The layout is easy to understand, and there’s plenty of content.”

- “The information is relatable to the target audience and the house style is apparent.”

- “How the writing is mysterious, makes you want to read what its about straight away.”

Double Page Spread- “The insets on the photos.”

- “Appealing, nice to look at and appealing to read the interview”

- “Clear, easy to understand, photos made for both purposes, main lifestyle and modelling. Shows reader true side of

the artist.”

From constructing this product I’ve learnt to use;

- SurveyMonkey: I’ve learnt how to create and publish a survey, from which it has help me gather my audience

feedback.

- Slideshare: I’ve learnt how to upload Microsoft Word and PowerPoint work onto the site, and how to place them from

Slideshare to Blogger.

- Blogger: I’ve learn how to upload all my work, such as text work and images, onto this site.

- Photoshop: I’ve learnt a lot about Photoshop, since I've never used it before, it help me with doing things like editing

photos, designing my Music Magazine exactly how I want it, using different PS brushes on in, etc.

Looking at my two preliminary tasks, the CD Cover and the College Magazine work, I would say that my Music Magazine is presented a lot better as I've learnt more Photoshop skills since the preliminary tasks.

And with my College Magazine, certain parts – such as her hair – are noticeably badly cut out, and there isn’t all that much included on the front cover and on the contents page, and what is included doesn’t stand out all that much – but it is an improvement compared to my first preliminary task, since I've learnt more skills since then.

As you can see in my CD Cover work, it’s not all that well presented, the cutting out is poorly done, and the background doesn’t look realistic – but for my first attempt at Photoshop it isn’t terrible.

But with my Music Magazine, I have learnt a lot more skills on editing images – such as how to airbrush photos, adjust the colour of parts like her hair, eyes and clothes, and adjust the size of parts like her lips, etc – and also skills on editing the Music Magazine – such as using new PS brush tools, making the text stand out more, and using triad colours to make the Music Magazine stand out more, etc. In learning these skill it has helped me to improve my work, therefore making it look more like a real Music Magazine.