Magazine Images

This is my main image for my front cover

These are my photos for the contents page

These are the photos I am planning on using in the double page spread

Title Block

 In order to decide on a final design for my title block, I Started by looking online at the sorts of fonts I liked. As my magazine is going to be mainstream, I wanted to give it a name that doesnt really hint towards anysort of genre. I come up with the name remix because remix's are edited versions of songs and implies a mmix of somesort, and as my magazine is mixed genre I thought it fitted in with the idea of the magazine well. I then decided that i wanted a plain sort of font but a bit edgy and different, so I went online and looked at fonts such as these above. I liked the last one as it was simplistic but still a bit different as its more rounded than normal fonts.

Once I decided what sort of style I wanted, I went onto font genreator sites and looked for a font like the one above. When I found it, I played with colour schemes and decided to do it orange and yellow as its quite firery and bright. Also the colours blend well together and the glow on it makes the title block really eye catching.

Magazine Layout Plan

This is how I aim to set out my magazine based on what I think will work best from my reasearch.

FRONT COVER DESIGN

CONTENTS DESIGN



DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD DESIGN



Audience and Institutions

Before I started deciding on magazines and layouts, I thought that I should research some audiences and institutions to see how music magazines branch out into other areas and what comapnies own certain genres.

BAUER

Bauer produces many different types of magazines. They own a wide range of all the popular gossips magazines like Heat! and More! As well as men’s magazines, fishing magazines, motorist magazines and music magazines. They produce a mixture of niche and mainstream magazines which means there company extends to all parts of the market as they have magazines for niche markets such as photography as well as huge markets like women’s gossip magazines. As they make so many different types of magazines they have many different audiences, for example magazines such as Zoo are mainly aimed at men or young boys who like to look at women, whereas they have niche magazines like Rail which are aimed at people who are interested in trains. As a result of this Bauer has targeted all sorts of people and produce for everyone, whether it is as small of a market as golf or a huge as women’s gossip magazines. The brands image is also very wide because of this as they don’t just do one thing; they do many different genres and address many people in doing so. Bauer also has linked many of its magazines to radio and TV, such as Kerrang and Q because they both have radio stations and TV programmes which they own. They also have extended gossip magazines such as Heat! Into radio, therefore there media group is very large and is involved in all parts of media. Most of their magazines also have online sites and some are even available on mobiles, so there business expands through all media aspects.

IPC MEDIA

IPC media makes many different types of magazines, such as music magazines (NME), Fashion magazines (In Style) and Television magazines (TV Satellite). Because they produce so many magazines they cover main markets such as music and fashion as well as less popular niche markets such as boating (Boat Owner) and Hunting magazines (Shooting Gazette). This means that they have more specific audiences for some magazines than others. The target audience for a television magazine will be everyone, as most people watch TV programmes and will want to know about what will be on in the next week. However for niche market magazines such as the Shooting gazette the audience is more specific as it is aimed at people who like hunting, and mainly men because not many women hunt. There overall brand image is very wide much like Bauer’s because they produce so many different types of magazines for many different audiences, so there brand image is quite universal. ICP media doesn’t really link any of their magazines to other media apart from online websites so people can access the magazine from the internet rather than going to get the magazine.

BBC MAGAZINES

 BBC magazines are owed by immediate media co, therefore are produced by the BBC but are published by immediate media co. The BBC does a wide range of magazines again for many different markets, however not as many as other companies. They have magazines mainly for niche markets such as gardening (Country file) or motoring (top gear) however it produces a lot of children’s magazines such as CBBC weekly, Dr Who Adventures and in the night garden.  As they mainly have children’s magazines, their audience for the majority of their magazines are children or teenagers. However for some of the other magazines, the target audience are more specific, like match of the day is mainly targeted at men who like football. There brand image overall is quite big as the BBC is also a television channel and is the source of most British television alongside ITV, therefore the brand is well known and big. There are big links within the media to the BBC as obviously they are a big brand who has online access, radio stations, multiple television stations and magazines, therefore they have many links throughout the industry.

DEVELOPMENT HELL

Development hell is only a small producing company as it only makes two magazines, the word and mix tape, both being very different. Mix tape applies to a niche market of the music industry, as it targets people who are interested in dance music, and although dance music is popular, there are other genres that are more mainstream. The other magazine ‘the word’ is a media magazine that talks about all aspects of the media: music, television and books. This is quite a large market as a lot of people want to know about these things on a regular basis, so the magazine is more mainstream. The overall brand image is basically all about the media as they are involved in magazines that talk about other sections of the media, so they are known for what they write based on that genre. The only links they have to other media is the internet as each magazine has a site, but it isn’t linked to anything else.

FUTURE PUBLISHING

Future publishing is a leading film magazine producer in the UK and USA. It also produces guitar and music making magazines, some of which are the best selling magazines in the industry.  They make many music magazines based on multiple genres to suit all peoples tastes, however they mainly produce rock or guitar based magazines for people with an interest in that kind of music. They cureently produce ‘guitars rock’ which is the top guitar magazine in the United Kingdom at the moment. They also produce links to websites that give more information on the magazines. Other popular magazines they produce are ‘metal hammer’ and ‘revolver’ which are based around heavy metal rock music. They have links to rock events and website so that their audience can find as much information about the rock genre as possible.

Title Block Analysis

Before creating my own title block I decided to research and analyse some exsisiting magazines. I looked at the in detail to see what connotations they had and what they did to attract the audience. This will help me decide on how I want my title block to look and what I could do to show my specific genre.

            From the style of the title block suggest that this is a rock magazine, as the text is broken and has splats, suggesting a reckless kind of lifestyle which fits in with rock music, so we know that this is aimed at an audience interested in rock music. The colour of it is black and red which is dark and mysterious. This connotes to gothic and rock because black is something we associate with the genre of music as most rockers wear black, and the red symbolises danger, which is something often associated with the music and the lifestyle that comes with being involved in it.  The font is really edgy as its got line inside it which makes it look broken like shattered glass. This makes you think of rock music because the artists are notorious for smashing and breaking things and the music is loud and with loudness come the idea of glass shattering because of it. The title ‘Kerrang’ is onomatopia, as it’s like someone playing the guitar and it vibrating, this connotes to rock music as the guitar is associated with it as in most rock songs there is a heavy guitar influence. I think the target audience magazine will be people interested in rock because we can clearly tell from the title that it’s a rock magazine, and the style of it emphasises this.

The title and style of the title is quite simplistic and plain, and this could suggest that this doesn’t have a specific genre but as it is quite plain and doesn’t suggest a lot, it could be focus more on the artist. The colours used in the title are blue and white. Blue suggests a calm, careless feel and white emphasises the plainness. The laid back style could suggest that the magazine will be about people who are carefree and are bold characters, because they don’t need the title to tell them about their music. The font is simple and smooth but square cut at the ends. This suggest that the music is quite smooth but edgy, and the plainness again emphasises perhaps that the music speaks for itself. The title ‘Mojo’ connotes to someone having that special something that makes them stand out and be different. This could mean that the music and artist featured in this magazine have that special something that makes them popular and a good artist, whether it is in a good way or a bad way. From the title, I think that the target audience will be adults who are in to all kinds of music, as there are no bright colours or extravagant fonts which you see in magazines for younger people. Also because the title is plain, the magazine isn’t just limited to one genre, which means it will address a wide range of people.

            From the title I assume that the genre of this music magazine is rock music because of the style of the title block. The colours used are red black and white which connote to typical rock colours as black is very dark and mysterious and is also a colour typical of the rock genre. Also red connotes to danger and passion and the life of a rock star can be dangerous because there is normally a lot of drugs and mad parties and they are also very passionate and into their music. The font is very square and straight, and it’s also in capitals which normally in writing suggest that someone is shouting. We know that rock music is very loud so the capitals and the squareness make it feel as if the title block is being screamed or shouted at us. The title itself NME stands for the new musical express, which tells the audience that they are all about new music and are taking the readers on a musical journey, as express is often linked with trains. I think that the target audience for this magazine will be people who like to know about new music and are interested in the rock genre because the title blocks colours and meaning show that they are aiming the magazine at people who want new music and like rock and roll.

This title block is simplistic but bright and eye grabbing, which suggest that this is maybe a mainstream, popular music magazine, as the colours or fonts don’t link to any genre styles. The colours used are white and red mainly, but a small amount of black for shadowing. The big block of red makes the ‘Q’ stand out and is quite eye catching. Red also connotes to passion, so it could suggest that the target audience is for people who are passionate about music. The white also connotes to purity which implies that there is no scandal in the magazine and it’s all about the artists and the music they produce. The font is quite rounded and the flick on the ‘q’ is quite posh and sophisticated. It’s a normal but sophisticated font, which again suggests that the magazine is aimed at an audience who is seriously interested in music. The title ‘Q’ is also simple, but ‘Q’ can sometimes be an abbreviation for question, therefore the title implies to the audience that it will answer all their questions on the music and artists featured in their magazine. The target audience for this magazine are people who are interested in all kinds of music and have a passion for it , as the colours and the simplicity show that the magazine addresses all sorts of people and genres of music.

From the title, we can tell this is going to be a rock magazine as the rolling stones were a famous rock band, therefore we can assume that this will be the type of genre of the magazine. The red, black and white is a quite classic set of house colours and it suggests that maybe it’s a mainstream music because it’s something people normally see. Also its quite a formal use of colour so it suggest maybe it’s aimed at more sophisticated, older people rather than teenagers and children. The font is quite smooth and fluent, which suggests that this is a more formal and sophisticated. Also the style connotes to being quite posh as its flows.  The title is also a song my muddy waters, and the song was a blues song, so this also suggests that blues music is involved in the magazine and blue music is something that most genres originated from, so it emphasises the fact that this is a more sophisticated, mainstream magazine.

Planning a Music Magazine

My target audience for my magazine will be teenagers who listen to mainstream music, as they are normally the people who buy them and keep up to date with music, therefore it will sell more if I aim it at them. By having a mainstream magazine, my magazine will show all main music types, as I gathered from my survey that most people had a wide range of favourite music types. Therefore I think it will be more effective to have all types of music as it will attract a broader range of people with different tastes. It will also be more appealing because people who like a lot of different music don’t have to buy loads of magazines they can just buy one. My magazine will be released monthly as then it can give a review of the month in advance. This will attract teenagers because if I release it monthly it will cost them less money and this will appeal to them more as they don’t have their own income.

          I want to make my music magazine relatively cheap as my target audience is teenagers and they do not have their own income, so if it’s cheaper it will attract them more. I aim to charge around two pound fifty, because it’s not too expensive and it only comes out monthly so they only have to pay it once a month.  I want to make my magazine a glossy magazine because I think it looks more attractive and it rips less easily, and if someone wants to keep it for the month it will be less likely to break. Also if I want to include a lot of pictures, they would look better on glossy paper.