Wednesday 7 December 2016

Target Audience for M4U

The target audience for M4U is males and females (50/50) aged in the 15-24, 25-35 and 36-50 age groups. The target audience will be interested in wide variety of music from multiple decades (80s, 90s, 00s, 10s) and will be interested in established artists but also interested in finding out about new artists. The audience are the kind of people who likely listen to music when they are working or doing other things. They may also (not necessarily) go to gigs, concerts or festivals. The audience are also likely to be interested in using multiple different mediums to listen to and access music - online streaming, downloads, CDs, etc. Their occupation is not important as they could have any job and still buy the magazine as it is reasonably priced for the audience (£4.99). They may also be in education. A lot of the audience would be using social media platforms such as Facebook and they may get music news from this platform.

On the JICNAR scale, I would expect them to be B, C1, C2 and E (for students).

Thursday 1 December 2016

Music Magazine Mockup 3

In this mockup I have used a different image for the main image and also I have moved the coverlines and the pug to different places on the magazine.

Monday 28 November 2016

Mockup 1 modifications

I have modified the first mock, trying two different layouts (the positioning of headline, strapline and pug as well as removing it one of the mocks). This involved moving the main image slightly to allow for testing of these layout sketches.



Sunday 27 November 2016

Photoshoot Plan - Front Cover

Time & Date
Shot type
Location & Lighting
Props, costume, hair
Character used
Preferred time and date - 6/12/16, lunch time
MS
A room with a white or grey background, potentially the drama room but other rooms are possible. Lit so there IS NO shadow of the character.
No props
Not 'casual' but not 'smart' clothes. In between. Potentially wearing jeans. The shirt or t shirt must not have any identifiable branding visible*.
The whole body is looking directly at the camera. 
Preferred time and date - 6/12/16
MS
A room with a white or grey background, potentially the drama room but other rooms are possible. Lit so there IS A shadow of the character.
Potentially a microphone. Not 'casual' but not 'smart' clothes. In between. Potentially wearing jeans. The shirt or t shirt must not have any identifiable branding visible*.
Standing looking at the camera, but the rest of the body is not looking directly at the camera.
Preferred time and date - 6/12/16
MS
A room with a white, grey or blue background. Potentially the drama room, but if required another room. Shadow or no shadow, doesn't affect the image.
No props. Not 'casual' but not 'smart' clothes. In between. Potentially wearing jeans. The shirt or t shirt must not have any identifiable branding visible*.
Standing looking at the camera, but the rest of the body is not looking directly at the camera.
*If required, any branding on the shirts can be edited out of the image in Sketch or other software at home.

Monday 21 November 2016

Brand values and ideology for M4U

My magazine is called M4U. It is aimed towards fans of pop, rock, alternative and indie music - ranging from the 1970s to the present time. It values all of the potential audience's opinions and views on music. In addition, M4U will support established and new artists and promote their work, to allow them to get their music out to the intended audience. In addition to this, it values all ways of getting hold of or accessing music - physically, such as a CD or digitally, such as on streaming services. As well as this, it supports, promotes and values music events - such as gigs/concerts and festivals. The intended audience for the magazine is for 18-65 year olds, allowing the younger audience to learn about and appreciate older music and artists and how it has influenced newer music as well as allowing older members of the audience the ability to learn more about newer music. M4U values how people access the magazine as well, selling it in shops, online, and via subscription - to allow the magazine to cater for as many people as it possibly can. M4U also values bringing music, and the magazine, to the masses - allowing new artists to get out there and established artists to continue their work - by offering a fair price for the magazine.

Monday 14 November 2016

Music Magazine Photography Plan

Photography for the main image.
Look of the person: The person needs to be looking confident, as they are going to be a new artist, and showing confidence shows that they will be good at it.
Background: The background can be any colour except cream or red, due to the masthead colour. The background could be red with the masthead colour changed to either black or white, which are the other two colours that should be prominent throughout the magazine. Not taken in school environment as unrealistic.

Sunday 13 November 2016

Masthead Feedback

Feedback 1 (second across from top): It's incredibly eye catching, stands out to the audience.

 Feedback 2 (bottom right): Stands out as each letter is different, though the could have better choice of colour. 

Feedback 3 (second rown, far right): Stands out well, and the colours suit the font used.

 Feedback 4 (third row, far right): Font is bold and easy to see, however it could use a more vibrant colour.

 Feedback 5 (third row, far right): Stands out and is prominent.

Feedback 6: I do like the one in the bottom right but I feel for that to be a success it'd need to be brighter. And third row down middle is another good one but the colour could be a tad lighter. But if I had to choose one I think it'd be bottom right but with a lightish red colour because it's big, it's bold and it's unusual so I think it'd stand out well.

 Feedback 7 (second row, centre): Terrible. Due to transparent centre it won't stand out enough over the top of images.

 Feedback 8 (first row, left): Don't really like this as the 4 doesnt seem similar enough to the rest of the text.

 Feedback 9 (first rown, right): Doesn't seem different enough to the masthead below it, other than lack of border and shadow.

 Feedback 10 (bottom, left): Font stands out, but the colours don't go well. Too much grey.

Thursday 10 November 2016

Brand identity and ideology of Q Magazine


Q Magazine values a variety of music, such as rock and pop. When it was first created, its creator even made this clear when they said "Magazines tend to bracket people by taste, or what they assume that taste to be. This is a magazine that doesn't." As can clearly be seen from the front covers, it covers a variety. There are famous artists from multiple genres. They value their audience and want to be a magazine for all.  Q believes that all music is important and that everyone should be able to find out about that music in one place rather than just sticking with one genre or style or having to purchase multiple magazines. The magazine has a specific colour scheme, using largely red, black and white - although other colours are used. This is because they feel that they should be recognisable as Q and they make their brand easy to recognise. The masthead is always located in the same place, and the colours rarely deviate. This means that they have a house style and that allows Q to be recognised by the way their front covers, contents pages and article pages look. It is consistent and it look professional - as opposed to each page and issue using different colours and fonts, which would too childish for the audience that Q are aiming themselves at. In addition, it is not designed to be particularly specific to a specific genre (the house style and masthead). It's designed to be general to allow it to work with a variety of styles and genres in music - as that is the intention of the magazine as a whole. 

Background: Q Magazine was released in 1986, which is when the above quote from the creator (not the specific publisher, probably the first editor) was made. This shows that they have kept their values since the magazine was first published - therefore 30 years. In turn, this shows that they are very committed to sticking to their values and beliefs that they have had right since the start. 

Monday 7 November 2016

Masthead Ideas for Music Magazine


These are my masthead designs for the M4U music magazine. I particularly like the masthead on Row 4, third across. This is because this masthead seems different compared to the other mastheads, with the text being different lengths. I do however feel that a different, brighter and more clear colour could be used to allow the magazine to stand out more.

Below is a list of the fonts that have been used for the mastheads.

Fonts (l-r)
Row 1:
1 - Lucida Grande
2 - Lifestyle M54
3 - Kannada MN

Row 2:
1 - Euphemia UCAS
2 - Blackout
3 - AppleGothic

Row 3:
1 - Ingrata Regular
2 - Prototype
3 - Kakawate Font

Row 4:
1 - Pocket Thrilled FP
2 - The Outbox St
3 - Stentiga

Later addition to Mastheads (03/17):

Thursday 3 November 2016

Music magazine name ideas and introduction

I haven't specifically chosen a genre, it part due to my own interests and the fact that there will be people out there who like to have multiple interests - or maybe specifically in artists. As in, an artist may start with genre and then their style changes over the years - e.g, they may have started with rock and as time progressed their music gets more into the pop genre or vice versa. This means that people with a variety of tastes in music or who like an artist who has changed will be able to just have one magazine. In addition, this means that the magazine will cater for a much wider audience.

Name possibilities

  • Music4U
  • M4U
  • Variety Music Now
  • MaxMusix
  • MaxMusic

Contents page for school magazine


Thursday 27 October 2016

Music Magazine Analysis


Thursday 20 October 2016

Contents page conventions


  • Contents pages exist to tell you what is in a magazine. They provide the page numbers of where different articles are located in the magazine.
  • They are based on a grid structure and rulers are used to line them up correctly.
  • They are made of 1 or 2 columns, and these will have subheadings for each column.
  • Numbers are used to locate where different things in the magazine are located, these are the page numbers.
  • There may also be photos of content with captions which are used to engage the audience more. If the photo is large, the more important it is to the issue of the magazine.
  • Articles and features use larger, bolder text. 
  • Underneath each article or feature name is a blurb which gives a small amount of information on what the article or feature is about.
  • There may also be an editors letter or a section with information on the magazine subscription.

Wednesday 19 October 2016

Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds is one of the main rules when it comes to photography. It comes from the theory that the human eye naturally gravitates to certain points in an image. It is actually the most known rule of photography.
With the rule of thirds, photographs are divided with two imaginary lines horizontally and two vertically, splitting it into three rows, three columns and nice sections.
Important elements of the photograph should be placed on or near the imaginary lines on the image.

Some examples:
With landscapes, it is better if the horizon falls on the top imaginary line or the bottom imaginary line as opposed to directly in the centre (which is natural)
With portraits, it is best if the eyes are located where the horizontal and the vertical lines intersect.

Photos look better when they are located off centre.




Thursday 13 October 2016

Final school magazine front cover


I have completed my final front cover for the school magazine. It is a slightly updated version in comparison to the previous one displayed on the blog, with the headline and strapline slightly enlarged in comparison to before.

In comparison to the first draft, due to the positioning of the face, some of the text has been moved as to not cover the face in the main image.

The text is mostly red, because this is the man colour that the school uses (on the badge/logo, website, documents) which means that is very fitting. The red shows that it is the school's magazine as the red is part of the school's image.

The choice of a student (yr7-11) happy and with thumbs slightly visible s because it links with the headline of a great start - the photo shows that the student in the photo has had a great start to the year. It is even more fitting in that it is of a year 7 student as they are a new student. 

There is also a large banner at the bottom with white text that is mentioning an interview with Ms Campbell. This is in a different fill because of the transparent banner behind it being red. 

I have used a pug because it is likely to attract people to the magazine, especially considering it is giving an offer - which people often like.

The headline, as expected, is large. The strapline is sized specifically to fit directly under the headline to make it look neat.

The font is a sans-serif font. It means it looks a lot more modern and therefore as a result is fitting with the students. Each generation of students has a different 'modern' to other generations. In addition to this, the school is having a modern new building built and therefore a modern font reflects that the school is modern. 


Monday 10 October 2016

Possible images for the school magazine contents page

Screenshot of the website (relating to the article about new school website)

School Magazine Contents Page Layout Sketches

The images below show my layout sketches for the contents page, on the school magazine. Each one contains room for a main image and two smaller images (though one of the smaller images could be removed to allow for more text).



School Magazine Front Cover Final Draft


With the final draft I have changed to my real main image, this will be used on the final front cover for the school magazine. Some of the text has been moved so it does not obstruct the face on the main image in comparison to the first draft.

The only issue with this is the smaller size for the headline and coverline. This is because of image positioning not being complete checked and this will be fixed in the final front cover.

Photos for the school magazine





Thursday 6 October 2016

School Magazine Draft 1


This is my first draft. It contains all of the content that will be on the final front cover, except the main image. The main image will be replaced and the content will be slightly reorganised to fit around the main image for the final magazine cover.

All of the text, features, the headline and the strapline will be featured on the final front cover for the magazine, but as noted above, may be slightly moved around and reorganised to allow them to fit around the main image.

The main image will be taken on Monday 10th October with the final front cover finished by Thursday 13th October.

Friday 30 September 2016

Photography Plan

OPTION 1
Where: LRC or Outside front of school
Wearing: School uniform
Doing: Thumbs up
Camera shot: Medium Close Up

OPTION 2
Where: LRC
Wearing: Student in school uniform
Doing: Reading revision guide
Camera shot: Medium Close Up

E.g. Similar to below (previously analysed) but with revision guide and Plantsbrook uniform.

School Moodboard



Conventions of a magazine front cover and contents page

Front Cover


  • A masthead for the school magazine.
  • A headline, which is about the main feature in the magazine.
  • A strapline, talking about the headline's article.
  • Coverlines, which give the audience an idea of what is in this issue.
  • Pug/Starbust, something that stands out to the audience so that they are more likely to read it.
  • A main image. Usually about the article the headline talks about.
  • Date if issue.
  • A variety of font sizes (masthead will have large font, headline large font, streamline and cover line smaller).
  • Price.
Contents Page
  •  Some images about the articles in the magazine.
  • A table of contents, which includes captions giving the audience and idea about what the article is about.
  • Page numbers and information as to what articles are on the page.
  • Captions for the images on the contents page.
  • Columns

Contents of a School Magazine

The school magazine is likely to include things such as:

  • Interviews with teachers/staff.
  • Letter from headteacher/deputy/assistant.
  • School sports team fixtures.
  • Help/guides for revision and exams.
  • School events.
  • Information on the new build.

Target Audience for School Magazine

The target audience for a school magazine would be students at the school, parents/carers, and staff at the school. The target audience would be aged between 11-18 (students) and 25-65 (staff and parents/carers). This means that the magazine has to cater to a wide audience. These people are likely to be interested in the school and be in the local community.

More Masthead Ideas

Chosen due to being modern, which when the school gets the new building, it will be,

This is fitting as it is a school and therefore a handwritten font represents writing in a exercise book.




Analysis of a School Magazine Contents Page

Sunday 25 September 2016

Analysis of existing school magazines

Scribe

Analysis of Existing School Magazines NEW

Onedrive version (older)

Thursday 22 September 2016

Possible names for my school magazine

After thinking, I have come up with some names that could be used for my school magazine.


  1. PB Mag
  2. Plantsbrook Monthly
  3. Plantsbrook Mag
  4. PB Student
  5. PbM 
  6. PB Monthly
  7. YourPB
  8. The Brook Mag
  9. Plbr 
  10. Plantsbrook Magazine

Thursday 15 September 2016

Masthead research and analysis


This is the masthead for NME. It uses a bold, sans-serif font which is modern and informal. The colours are contrasting and eye catching, with red, white and black being a large contrast from each other. There is also a drop shadow separating the white and the red. This makes it stand out to the audience when they see the magazine. It acts as a logo and is placed at the top of the magazine. It is largely associated with rock, alternative and indie music. So that will be their audience.


The Kerrang! masthead uses a sans-serif font. it is bold and is mostly a white colour, however it is not a uniform fill as it has the black lines going through it making it a pattern fill. It acts as a logo and is placed at the top of the magazine. The magazine itself is aimed at rock music fans.

The Q masthead is very simple. It's a white Q on a red background. On the lower right of the Q, there is a drop shadow that can be seen on the red background. In addition, the font is serif. The magazine is the UKs biggest music magazine, featuring the most important bands.


The Rolling Stone masthead uses a serif font, is red with a white to make it stand out and then is 3D with the other sides being black with white stripes. It has been published since 1967 and the font seems quite fitting for the age.

This masthead uses a modern, sans-serif font. Again, quite fitting due to it being from the 1990s. The main font is black, with red text over the top saying 'The Music Magazine' in a handwritten style. The magazine is focused classic rock, which actually makes it stand out quite a lot as the more modern font is less kind of expected for classic rock, however more modern bands do also appear.