Initial Ideas

Front Cover;

     I want my front cover to to be simple but still eye catching, and very proffesional. I want the masthead to be behind the main image across the top, such as the likes of the Rolling Stone magazine. I would like a main image with a plain background.
     I have decided to call my magazine 'Rocka' as it's short and catchy but not too immature or stupid. This will also give it quite a 'vintage' sort of feel as the word 'rocka' seems to conjure up scenes from the 80's or 90's. This will help my magazine also appeal to a more 'indie' audience who like things to be unique.

Contents Page;
     I want my contents page to be mainly dominated by images with less writing, as the images would appeal to my target audience more. This will be a pretty organised formal page as to just get the message across to the audience. With some images of what's inthe magazine.

Double Page Spread;
    I want my double page spread to consist of a large main image with other images and not much writing, as i'd like it to aim at a younger audience who'd probably be more interested in 'cool' photos.

Price / Publishing

As I am going for a more proffesional whilst still edgy magazine I will be aiming to sell it around £4.50. For my target audience of 16-25 year olds I wouldn't be expecting them to afford £4.50 weekly or even fortnightly, hence why I shall publish my magazine monthly. The magazine which I've looked at and is most similar to the way I want mine to come across is Q magazine, who's magazine is roughly £4.50 and they publish every month; as my magazine is the same price, and will also offer a very high quality of contents, it is able to compete with the likes of Q magazine. Also, my magazine will appeal to a slightly younger audience than Q magazine so a £4.50 a month cost is perfectly feasble for the target audience i'm going for.

Target Audience

The target audience for my magazine was initially 'alternative' music fans between the ages of 16-25. I have now looked further into this to narrow down the specifics of my target audience even further...

Demographics is when audiences can be classified into groups using quantitative (anything which can be placed it a graph) data about age, gender and socio-economic group (a group about proffesion, class and income).
The demographic audience of age I will be aiming at is ages 16-25. And I would also like it to aim at both genders although music magazines generally appeal to males more than females.
The demographical audience I will be aiming at within the National Readership Survey's social grades is C1 and C2, between them these two catergories cover 51% of the population. These are the largest two areas so my magazine will be aiming at a large audience, rather than a group like A, which only covers 3% of the population.

Market Research (3 existing magazines)

For my market research I have looked at Q magazine, NME magazine and Rolling Stone magazine.

FRONT COVERS;

Q

Here is an example of a Q magazine front cover.

     On the front cover there is a large bold masthead, of the letter Q in white ontop of a red square. The institution of Q magazine is, Bauer Media Group; these are the publishers of the magazine. The magazine is called 'Q' which relatyes to 'Que the music'; as in the saying 'cue the music'. Also, the fact that the website is called http://www.qthemusic.com/ strengthens this idea. Having a large easily identifiable masthead is a convention that the audience always expect from a magazine, it's something easily identifiable, when you see it you think 'oh yes this is Q magazine' straight away. There are also many different taglines and features on the front. These are smaller than the mast head and there is more emphasise on the 'larger' features; such as, for example, the 'Lily Allen' feature line is almost as large as the masthead. This would attract people who are fans of Lily Allen to the magazine, it also lets the audience easily see what to expect to find in the magazine. The fact the image has panthers on adds interest rather than having just a plain photo of Lily on the front. Also, there is a block along the bottom which has the other features of the magazine in, this is a convention as the reader always expects to be able to see what's in the magazine on the front cover. The ideology behind this front cover is to convey a more 'adult' sophisticated message of the magazine itself rather than an unorganised 'teen' sort of magazine. The Audience would probably be slightly older than the traditional music magazine audience as Q magazine has a more proffesional look about it. It would generally aim more to men as it features Lily Allen with revealing clothes on on the front. Although women who aspire to be like her would also be attracted to the magazine. The way this front cover represents itself is in quite a sophisticated manner which subsequently makes the magazine look good quality and gives the music it consists of a better look. This is positive representation for the magazine and everything in it.

NME

Here is an example of a NME magazine front cover.

     This front cover also has all of the main conventions that a good magazine cover should have. The institution would be the publisher, in NME's case this is IPC Media. It has the main mastehead of 'NME', this is in red bold letters outlined with white. The colours of the masthead could represent England as it majorly features british music and the English flag is also red and white. There are also all of the tag lines and special features on the front, as well as a barcode and price. All of the taglines and stories follow a uniform style, font and colour; this is called a house style. The main image is of Pete Doherty and this stands out as it's in the centre of the cover with all of the writing surrounding it. The way 'Pete' is written in a more creative way shows that the magazine appeals to a younger market. NME is more of a 'young' magazine compared to Q as it has quite a rough look and gives off the messages in a more edgey way. The target audience of NME appears to be more 'studenty'; people aged between 16-25. It appeals to a much younger audience than Q magazine. It would also appeal to more women than the stereotypical music magazine which appeals to men, it does this by the main image being of Pete Doherty, and also much of the text is pink. The magazine on a whole is represented in quite a edgy 'street' way which helps give an ideaof what's it he magazine. NME magazine represents it's contents in a positive light.

Rolling Stone

Here is an example of a Rolling Stone magazine front cover.

     As well as the other two this front cover also follows the main conventions that a magazine cover should. The institution (publisher) of Rolling Stone is; Wenner Media. The main masthead of''Rolling Stone' also colour coordinates with the main feature's name 'Amy Winehouse'; with them both being a light blue colour. This is odd for Rolling Stone as they normally have their masthead in red. For this issue it appears they have changed it around as some of the smaller feature titles are infact red. There is no barcode on the cover of this magazine, which is unusual, but this could just be from the nature of this picture not being a first hand photo off the shelf. All of the taglines on this cover are featured down the left hand side of the image. The image also overlaps the masthead which shows that it is the dominant feature on the cover. Also, Rolling Stone is more than just a music magazine as it features political stories and feautures about non-musical celebrities. This is what sets this magazine apart from NME and Q. Although Q is becoming slightly more like Rolling Stone as it includes film information and sometimes more non-musical/film celebrities. The target audience of Rolling Stone appears to be more 'adult' as it includes some more 'mature taste' music and with it's political stories too it goes out to a wider audience. The magazine is represented as a more adult and intelligent magazine compared to the other two, as it has a more sophisticated, traditional look about it.

CONTENTS PAGES

Q

Here is an example of a contents page in Q magazine.

     The contents page carries through the 'house colour themes' and font styles which are shown on the front cover. There is also a main image which takes up the majority of the contents page. There are all of the features and then a section for 'every month' recurring features. The contents page for Q magazine conveys a proffesional and serious sort of impression, as it is pretty straight forward and simple, it just gives the information the reader wants with no gimmicks. This also reflects back to the target audience of Q magazine as the older type of reader wouldn't want the same types of 'edgey' gimmicks that NME has. It also gives a more 'serious' impression of the music which is featured in the magazine. The musicians are represented in a way which makes them look serious and not 'jokey', by being shown in this light it gives them a more proffesional look.

NME

Here is an example of a contents page of NME magazine.
     Like the Q magazine contents page the NME one also follow all of the front cover house styles through to the contents page, this gives the magazine continuity and allows the reader to idenify that the contents page is from the same magazine. Unlike the contents page of Q magazine the NME one appears to want to give off a more 'street' sort of look, it wants to interest the reader and make the features seem more exciting and bold. Also, unlike Q it features a 'band index' for the reader to quickly find their favourite bands and locate them in the magazine. There's not really any 'main' photos on this contents page as it all seems pretty 'graphicy'. The target audience; younger music fans; would appreciate the design of this contents page as it appears to look more 'young' and bright than that of Q magazine. It wants to represent the musicians in a fun sort of way which sees them as 'cool young people' as well as talented artists. This lets the readers connect with the artists as underneath the fame and fortune they have similar sorts of lifestyles.

Rolling Stone

Here is an example of a Rolling Stone contents page.
     This magazine also follows through the house styles of the front cover, this seems to be the same with all magazines, so it is a convention that the audeince expect; having a house style following through the magazine. This contents page appears to be similar to the Q magazine one with it's more sophisticated and proffessional feel. It has clearly marked areas with different features in, and unlike the other two it gives more detail of what the feature's are about with a brief summary. There are also more images which link to each of the more major features. This contents page is also pretty much monochromatic except for the red hints, which are very minute. This appeals well to the target audience as it's more 'grown up' and has a better feel to it. It represents everything in an actual way as it is, not in a stereotypical way as it wants everything to be represented as it is in reality.


DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

Q

Here is an example of a double page spread in Q magazine.
     This double page spread consists of one large image which fills the whole of thje spread and all of the text is overlayed ontop of this, carefully placed as to not cover any important parts of the image, and so that it doesn't conflict with the image. The main block of writing is in white at the bottom right hand corner, this writing is clearly readable as the background is darker. You wouldn't have been able to use black writing here as the photograph has black in it here. There is also a title 'Friendly Fires'; this stands out from the main writing as it is much larger and where it almost hits with the black background it appears that some shadow has been added on so that it is still defined. These two pages still follow through with the Q magazine house styles as it has the 'Q' logo which features on the front cover as the masthead. Also the 'New to Q' part is in the same style as the 'Q' masthead logo. The main image gives off the impression that Friendly Fires are a band you've got to look out for, as the photo has a 'police' style look. This appeals to the target audience as it's majorly a 'jokey' sort of image and this will stand out to more 'fun loving' people who read Q magazine. The whole double page spread is still quite sophisticated and proffesional despite the jokey side, so it's still in keeping with Q's 'quality' standard. The photo represents the band as being unique, which therefore makes the reader think they must be a unique band which they could then go look for music by, as Q have shown them in a positive light.

NME

Here is an example of a double page spread in NME magazine.
     This double page spread features a large image, as like above but slightly more plain with the writing not covering any of the image. The image features a USA flag which relates to the word USA in the background, this is also red and white which relates back to the masthead colours for NME. Also, Florence Welch has red hair which is the only colour outside of whites and greys which features on this double page spread. The writing is all to the bottom right hand corner which leaves more space to the dominant image of Florence. This portrays Florence as a powerful woman, and her stance i nthe photo also strengthens this point as she looks omnipotent. The headline 'USA got the love' is also a play on words from Florence and The Machine's 'You got the love' song. This double page spread as a whole gives off a more sophisticated look for NME magazine as usually their stuff's more 'thrown together' than set out in a proffesional manner. This would appeal to the target audience as it features a modern pop star and has bold colours, such as the striking reds.

Rolling Stone

Here is an example of a double page spread in Rolling Stone magazine.
     This double page spread is quite disorganised compared to the likes of the other two I've looked at, which is unusual as the contents and front cover of Rolling Stone appear to convey a more adult, proffesional look. Although I do like the contrast between the sophisticated parts and more unorganised parts, I like the 'collage' like effect of this double page spread and the differences between the pictures. I also like the way it looks as though they're just pictures cut out and placed over one another, it gives it a more creative DIY effect. There's not really a main headline to these pages, which is unusual for a magazine, although any titles could be on a previous page if this is an ongoing story though more than two pages. The pages do follow a house style with the similarly colour photos and pinks, whites and reds. There is also a headine in the top margin reading 'Madonna'. All of the main writing is located right down the right hand side, except for a part in the centre. The double page spread is mainly dominated by photographs. These pages give the message of Madonna been a 'star' of tours as all of the pictures appear to be taken from her live shows. This obviously links in with the story as you wouldn't have pictures totally different from the story.This would appeal to the target audience as it shows a well matured pop star rather than some new one hit wonder star. Although, it wouldn't appeal much to the older target audience due to the fact there's a very minute amount of writing, whereas the Rolling Stone audience are probably looking to read more rather than look at the pictures. The pages give the impression of Madonna as being a 'fun' exciting star even in this late stage of her career, it's showing her as still being 'socially relevant'. Rolling Stone aren't putting Madonna in the stereotypical 'old singer' category, it shows that she has longjevity and can still be as good now as back when she started out. Some of her photos look like something you'd find at a Lady GaGa concert, so this is representing Madonna as the original 'Lady GaGa' type figure.

Music Genre Choice

For my music magazine genre is important, as it will define my audience and will help me to design my magazine. For example, a pop magazine would be more lighter happy colours, like blues and greens. Thought a metal magazine would be more black and red and other dark colours.

For my magazine I have decided to to use the 'alternative' genre of music, mainly as this is my favourite type of music and the genre I know most about. It also fits in with my favourite music magazines, such as; Q and NME.

For this genre of music my magazine would need to be quite stylish as to stand out to 'qwerky' music fans. Although, it still needs to follow all the conventions that music magazines do.

My early ideas of how I want my magazine to look are that I want it to be quite edgey with a restricted colour scheme, for example just black, greys and red. A very limited colour scheme would make the reader associate that colour with the magazine as oppose to just having a lot of different colours. Also, I'd like the main image on the front to be focused on the person/people with a plain white background, possibly with some interesting props; but at this early stage i'm still unsure. Another thing I'm thinking at this stage is that  my magazine name should be something short and rememberable, perhaps an abbreviation of a longer word.

Before I go on to plan in any more detail I'm going to analyse some existing music magazines which focus roughly on the genre I'd like to be doing a magazine for.

LIIAR Interpretation of the Brief

Language; The language of my magazine will be the things which it actually contains. For example, the masthead, a convention of mastheads is that they should be big and stand out. Also, the main image will be a part of language and a convention of this is that there is usually one main image which fills up the whole page.

Institution; The institution would be the publisher.

Ideology; I want my music to give the ideaology of a music magazine and show different bands/artists within a genre.

Audience; The target audience for my magazine would be anyone who likes 'off mainstream' music and to go even further they could be more between the ages of 16-26.

Representation; I aim to represent all of the music and artists in a true way, for example; not everything said will be positive, it will be realistic. There will also be some opinions within the magazine.

Music Magazine Brief

For my coursework I will be making a music magazine. I need to produce a front cover, contents page and double page spread for it. All of my images and text must be original, produced by myself and I must make sure I use a minimum of four images. The magazine must be created using DTP and an image manipulation programme.