A taster of the music genre my magazine is based on!

Music This post is looking at a few bands in the same genre as what I am aiming my magazine at. Here are a few videos of them (including one from the band I will be interviewing).

Stone Sour - Digital

Slipknot - Duality

Sonic Syndicate - Burn this City

A little look at the band - Animus Sadist, Who I will be interviewing and photographing. This isn't a proper video yet as they are in the process of making it.

Flat Plan Evaluation!

Front Page

The front page will have a lot of similar conventions to that of 'Kerrang!'s' front cover, this is because it is a similar style of music and is also a very successful magazine so its layout has obviously worked. My magazine will have the selling line at the top above the masthead - this will be red/yellow writing with a black background. The Masthead and name of the magazine itself will be a black background with white writing inset into it (made to look like its been dented into the masthead rather than just being plain and flat). The text of the magazine title will be the same as/similar to the blog title font (which I cant actually read what the name of it is, so will be as similar to it as possible).

Ill have a button on the front page that will be placed slightly over the masthead (as well as the image if it has too) which will entice the audience by advertising free posters within the magazine. This will have white writing with a big red 5 (the number of posters) and a blue background so that it sticks out of the magazine enough to catch someones eye and pull them in. However it wont be too big so that it doesn't become too outstanding and take interest from the rest of the magazine and just pulls the viewer in.

The image will be placed centrally on the cover (the whole band standing together, lead singer in front with other members behind) black background or smokey background. The band members will all wear whatever they want as this shows that they don't follow mainstream conventions of dressing a certain way for their band.

Band name will be in a clear font (similar to: Copperplate Gothic Bold [However this may change as I may use the same font the band chose for their name] - same as the rest of the writing on the page) with writing above/below it saying: A look into the lives of ANIMUS SADIST newest upcoming metal band.

Ill use a Pull Quote - taken from the double page spread on the band, to entice the readers into wanting to read the article which will make them more likely to buy the magazine.

The Bar Code will be in the bottom right hand corner, so that it is out of the way of the main image and everything else on the page. Keeping it in the corner will make it less noticeable and wont make the magazine look so messy. The price of my magazine is going to be around £2-£2:99 as this was the most voted for price from the market research I carried out.

Contents Page

The contents page is also influenced by 'Kerrang!' magazine as it works very well and is very easy to follow and understand. The top third of the page will be taken up by an image of the band in position as if they were playing a gig. This will be there as it is the main cover story that the readers will want to see if they picked up the magazine for the band interview. Overlaid onto this picture in the top left will be 'Contents, issue number and cover date' and in the top right the magazine name. In the bottom right of the image the bands name and the page the interview is on will be put over the image.

The left side of the page will have a picture of the editor and a letter saying thanks for buying the magazine and giving you an insight into what it was like to create the first issue.

In the middle of the page there will be an image, showing a gig guide, which is the second biggest article in the magazine (this has the page number in the bottom right). Under this there is the rest of the contents in 2 columns and to the right of this there is small images of the 'free posters' and what page they are on.

The font on this page will be the same as what is on the front page, so that it follows things on and keeps it clear and easy to read without the page looking messy. This will be the same for the colour scheme too as if I changed the colours from the cover to the contents the magazine will look a bit strange and confusing.

The contents will have subheadings to make things clearer as well as the page numbers. This will help readers to go straight to the area they wish to read about first or go straight to a certain article from the magazine.

Double Page Spread

The double page spread will again have the same fonts and colour scheme as the contents page and the front cover, so that the magazine flows and looks professional and clean. This will also help with people buying the magazine because it wont look cheap, messy and unprofessional.

The spread will have an image going across both pages, this will make the article flow. At the top of the spread there will be a pull quote from the interview, this will go across both pages so it shows they are linked. The main part of the article will do the same thing but at the bottom of the page - this will be in columns so that it makes it easy and quick to read. The standfirst will be in the middle of the pull quote and main article, keeping on the right page.

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My magazine follows many styles and techniques from 'Kerrang!' magazine however I have made my own changes and put my own ideas in so that is not the same. My contents  and double page spread will be linked using the article, images and the colour scheme of the magazine will flow through all three.

Change in Blog Colour and Background!

I have changed the colour of my blog because I felt that my previous colour scheme (of Red, Green, Black and Purple) looked a bit too Christmas like. This doesn't really go with the music genre I have chosen either, so I looked round at other magazines to see how they related the colour scheme to their genre of music. I then looked at magazines such as 'Kerrang' and 'Metal Hammer' to see what colour schemes they have used. This led to me changing the background from purple (which is seen as a more feminine colour) to blue, as well as changing the green to yellow and keeping the red. These colours match the music genre I have chosen a lot better, as they have worked well in magazines already out there and after asking a few peoples opinions this colour scheme was chosen to be the best.

Blog/Magazine Name!

I came up with the Magazine/Blog name just by looking at other magazines names and seeing how they related to the music genre they were targeting. Some of them seem to have no relevance to it at all whereas others do relate in some way to the music its based on. A good example of a magazine name that is related to the  music is 'Metal Hammer' as this magazine targets Metal music and the music can be seen as industrial/related to building works as its a large amount of noise.

The name for my magazine relates to the music because many people that listen to this genre of music dont like to follow main conventions and are seen as a more outcast group. Therefore defying mainstream music and its followers.

Summary of Magazine Analysis'

From analysing the music magazines, I have found that Kerrang!'s layout and conventions are much better suited for the audience that I am aiming for and that NME is a bit strange for what I wish to do in my magazine. The NME magazine has tried to break many conventions with its contents page and this would only work if the magazine is already successful or if it is executed very well and professionally.


Analysing the magazines has helped to show me different ways of attracting an audience to buy what they have to offer, using many different techniques and interesting layouts/styles/fonts/images etc. This will help me to decide what I am going to do with my magazine to help me attract my audience and make people want to buy my magazine.

Overall this task has helped me to see what design would be best to take away and use some of its conventions in my magazine.

Contents Page Analysis

This post is for the analysis for both 'Kerrang!' and 'NME' magazines contents pages. This is to help me to see what conventions would be best to use whilst creating the contents page for my magazine. Both magazines have very different views/ways of going about their contents page.

(Below: Kerrang! Contents Page)

(Below: NME Contents Page)

After analysing both magazines contents pages, I have found that Kerrang!'s contents page is a better and more suited style for the type of magazine I wish to create. However the NME one is a very interesting layout but is only possible to commit too due to the popularity of the magazine, as it is hard to follow, and for a new magazine that is just starting out this would probably not be the best way to attract an audience.

Double Page Spread Analysis

This post is for my Double Page Spread analysis of both magazines; Kerrrang! and NME. This task of analysing different magazines double page spreads will help me to design how my article for my magazine will be set out and what conventios I will be using. Also it is an effective way of seeing how different magazines link the articles throughout thier front page and the rest of teh magazine, or even if they do at all.

(Below: Kerrang! Double Page Spread)

(Below: NME Double Page Spread)



Front Cover Analysis

To get an idea of the main features and attractions to a magazine front cover, I looked at two magazines; 'Kerrang' and 'NME'. From these two examples, I will start to base my ideas of what my magazine will look like, using their success within the music genre as they obviously are doing well.

(Below: Kerrang! Magazine analysis)

  

(Below: NME Magazine Analysis)

From these two examples of magazine front covers, I have learnt that to create a successful, attractive and appealing cover for a magazine, it needs to have a set colour scheme which works well and to not look like paint splattered all over the place. I have also learnt that the page shouldn't be too cluttered but have enough on the front to make it look interesting and full of great articles/posters and to appeal to the reader. The plugs and buttons are a useful way of adding in extra enticements for the audience to see and help persuade them to buy the magazine.