Organisation: Secondary Band Names

I have decided what names I will call my secondary bands in my magazine and on my contents page.
My first made up band are called Tempest and this features the three girls from this image and they will have just released a new single entitled 'Storms'. Tempest are a trio that are all related as siblings/cousins who wanted to start a band together. They are brand new to the music industry and are a niche market band, which they prefer. This band are like typically moody teenagers and represent teenagers. They represent teenagers who are grumpy and angry a lot and their music is more heavier than most girl Indie/Rock bands. 
Another band name I have thought of is Conrad, which is inspired by Ben Howard (a real artist).
A third name I have thought of is Healers.
Other artists I have made up are: Hamlet, The Lighters, Blower's Daughter (based on a Damien Rice song), Lia (a word play on the name of the artist Sia), Every Kingdom (based on the album by Ben Howard), The Cohorts, Dark Paradise (based on a song by Lana Del Rey), Red Velvet, Roses and Thorns, The Fringes and Katelyn. Some of these band names are influenced from songs of albums by real life artists and some are made up which sound like they would be featured in an Indie/Rock magazine.  
I will also use some real artist names and I have a selection of a few such as Ben Howard, Tom Odell, Noel Gallagher, Arctic Monkeys and Lana Del Rey. 

Drafting & Planning: Tracklisting

For my band, The Lionhearts, I have created an album called Valour and songs for the album.

• 1. Flowers in Your Hair
• 2. Valour
• 3. Hold it Together
• 4. Sylvia
• 5. 1964
• 6. Emeralds
• 7. Last Summer
• 8. Storms
• 9. Memories
• 10. Little by Little
• Bonus Track: Equilibrium

I really like these song names and think they fit well with the theme of my artist's album.
These songs all have deeper meanings behind them which suit the artist's style and lifestyle. 'Flowers in Your Hair' is based on when Isabella was younger and her and her mother/father used to place daisy's in her hair.
'Valour' is exactly like the album name, meaning bravery and I would call this Isabella's single that she released before the album.
'Hold it Together' is based on Isabella's struggles and how everyone always told her to hold it together, so she wrote a song about it that has lyrics involving what she thought about those three words that people always said to her.
The song 'Sylvia' will be discussed in the double page spread article of Isabella's. It is about Sylvia Plath an author who struggled through what Isabella has also struggled.
'1964' is the year Isabella's mum was born, who is a huge role model in her life, which will also be discussed in the article.
'Emeralds' is a song based on Isabella's ex-boyfriend. 'Emeralds' were the colours of her ex-boyfriends eyes when light shone on them, therefore influencing a song from Isabella.
'Last Summer' is a song literally based on Last Summer and what happened during then and how it affected Isabella.
'Storms' is about the storms and crashes in Isabella's life and how it used to be a mess just like a storm had hit her.
'Memories' is a shorter song on the album, about Isabella's feelings of some of her younger memories.
'Little by Little' is a song about how Isabella gradually got better and felt more positive 'little by little'.
The bonus track 'Equilibrium' is about balance and the restoration of balance, especially for Isabella and what's happened in her life, finally everything is balanced.
I feel that these tracks and their meanings are all relevant to the artist and her character.

Organisation: Band Profile and Album Name

My cover star is called Isabella (Bella) and I want her to be part of a band but because she's the singer the article is all about her. Isabella's band is called The Lionhearts.

Isabella is quite Lana Del Rey like (as shown on her shirt in my images) and how she is wearing a long cardigan and skirt. The outfit she is wearing is quite indie/rock and I think fits her personality of a delicate yet bubbly soul. She has written all of the songs for the bands album, Valour.

Valour is often referred to as courage or bravery which I really like and suits Isabella's background of struggling as she has grown up and turned to music for help and inspiration.
I chose Valour to be the name of the album because Isabella's character is a brave one. Isabella has battled a lot of troubles throughout her teenage years, which is discussed in the double page spread article and as Valour means bravery I am confident that this word fits with my artist.
I chose the name The Lionhearts for the band name because there is a real life band called Of Monsters & Men and they wrote a song called King & Lionheart which I feel fits with my whole artist's style as she as a character is brave and a Lion is also courageous and brave so deep down my artist is full of bravery.

Drafting/Planning: Band Profile

I have decided that my band will be called The Lionhearts and the lead singer will be called Isabella and I am very clear on what her musical style will be (Indie/Rock). My magazine is going to be based around the music genre of indie/soft rock/rock.
I have decided Isabella will be based off of the following bands/solo artists:

• Lana Del Rey (mainly)
• St. Vincent
• Hayley Williams (some influence)
• Kristen Stewart, although not an artist is a big inspiration for the style and clothing choice for my artist(s).
• Ben Howard's style of music
• Tom Odell's style of music (where he mainly plays piano)

My small band or artist will feature Isabella Love. She has little experience in the music industry but has been involved with music all her life.
She will all be brand new to the music industry, resulting in an first exclusive interview for my magazine, therefore making the cover. 
She will originate from the USA just like Courtney Love who originates from San Francisco.

My artist will be the daughter of Courtney Love because when I look at her, she looks similar to her and she has a style like Courtney and Lana Del Rey.
To make it clear whose daughter my artist is, I will have a pull quote which mentions my artist's mother and then in the article questions I will make sure that there is a question or two based on her mother or what she did to help her get into music.
To make my artist similar to the two artist's she is mainly based off I will make sure that the questions she answers in the double page spread article incorporate them both some way to show their meaning. In my double page spread I will make sure there are questions that involve Isabella's music and how she decided to get into music so that there is a further music approach to my double page spread.

Organisation: Secondary Images

I took some photos of my three friends with dull facial expressions because that is what I want their 'band' to be like. I quite like these photos as they are simple and wouldn't detract from the main cover star story, they would fit nicely on the contents page for people to view and for people to know what page they feature on.
All three girls in these images also suit the style of indie/indie rock so I am glad that I used them to be a band to feature in my magazine. I adore their facial expressions because they're so simple and plain which is why they are effective. For my final use of these images I will crop out the black strips on both sides and shorten the top a little and probably add some effects.
I'm more than likely going to use the top image as the middle girl is looking directly at the camera and the other two are looking in each others direction whilst not noticing each other. I think this is highly effective and all three girls look like they could be a band similar to 'Haim'.

Organisation: Cover Star Images

Today, I took some photos of my friend for my magazine. She is going to be my main cover star so I attempted to take a wide range of photos that suit the cover, contents and double page spread. I feel confident that I have got images for my cover and contents but I may need some more images for my double page spread.
I really like all of these images but I need to narrow it down to just a couple that are right for my magazine. My cover star is wearing the outfit I discussed in this previous post as I think it suits the style of my magazine. She is also wearing red lipstick which is a huge thing that I wanted my cover star to wear. I think red lipstick will fit with the house style of my magazine.
I took a wide range of photos featuring different facial expressions because although my magazine is inspired by Q it may not be suitable for big smiles like in some of the photos so I also stuck to simpler facial expressions.
I will think long about these images and which ones I think suit my magazine the most and then practice with them on paint.net and page plus to see if I made the right decision. 

Drafting & Planning: Front Cover, Contents and Double Page Spread

This is the final drafting and planning that I have done that does not feature any of my own photography. I took three images of Tom Odell and used them for my cover, contents and double page spread. I then continued to add conventions such as the masthead. I really like how I placed the cover lines around Tom Odell and how the main cover line stands out so I think I will refer back to this when designing my own front cover.

I created my own contents page minus the images and the Q contents header. I like the layout of this contents but I'm not sure if I'd use it for my final magazine contents as it's not as neat as it could be.  

For the double page spread I added straight white lines around the border which I think goes with Tom's white shirt. I also put the Q in the corner to showcase the magazine more. I also added text boxes and inserted random text to see how it would fit. I love the idea of the image going over two pages but I'm not sure about where the text would go as of yet. 

Overall, I'm very fond of the house style as it all matches and I particularly like the fonts I have used. 

Drafting & Planning: Double Page Spread

After some messing around on Page Plus I finally understood how to work it. I added effects to the below photo of Lana Del Rey as practice for one side of my double page spread. I chose my favourite photo of Lana Del Rey from the same photo shoot that I used on this front cover and double page spread. After choosing this image I then chose an image of some blurred lights from my previous post on effects and merged the two images together.
I used the cutout studio the cut around the edges of the lights so they looked more like lights floating rather than lights with a background. I then faded the image of the lights so it became almost transparent.
I placed the final image of the lights on the image of Lana Del Rey to attempt to make it look like there is a reflection of light as there is in this image (which I discussed). Finally, I added Lana Del Rey's name in a big font, all in capitals to the center of the image to make her name stand out, which I think I will do on my final piece for my double page spread so that my artist's name is showcased.
Overall, I am really proud of my attempt at this effect and I hope I can make it look a lot better for my final piece when I come to merge my photos together for this effect.

Drafting & Planning: Article Layout

I have previously drafted (using publisher) a double page spread layout in this post showing where I wanted everything to be. I have changed my mind slightly about the way I want it to be set out.
Below, is my new idea for a double page spread layout. I put an image on the entire left side of my double page spread (like I did in my previous draft layout) but this time I have rearranged my article and moved my pull quote over to the right hand side. I think the pull quote being in the middle of my article is effective and will stand out to anyone reading the article, showing that the quote is significant. I prefer this layout to my old one and the image I have included in this draft is one that I made by learning how to use page plus. I added my own text and effects to the image (of Lana Del Rey) and I am quite proud of it. By using an image in this draft it helps to make my magazine seem more real. This layout is much more planned and neater than my old one and considerably more exciting. I have decided to have an entire page for my article because I think it looks neater and more sophisticated, especially in music magazines that I've seen.
Overall, I just prefer having one side of the double page spread to be an image because it showcases the artist more and makes my work look more sophisticated.  

 

Drafting/Planning/Organisation: Article Layout

For my double page spread in my magazine I needed to think of ideas and layouts for an article. I have looked at these two double page spreads featuring Liam Gallagher and Lana Del Rey.
I like the first double page spread for it's layout. I like how a pull quote is used at the top of the left page as it makes the certain quote stand out and doesn't leave the page half empty. I also like how the article fits on half of the left page as it looks neat and sophisticated. I also like how there is another pull quote on the right page but it is smaller than the other pull quote. I think the use of two pull quotes makes the double page spread look more effective and the smaller pull quote doesn't detract from the bigger image. I also like how in the article, the B and S stand out which is effective as it helps show where the sentence starts but also makes an impact that makes you look straight at the bigger letters. Finally, I like how on the top right there is a smaller image and I would like to perhaps do this with my double page spread to give the reader more insight or to show them more behind the scenes.
I like the second double page spread also for it's layout. I like how the whole left page is dedicated to the image of Lana Del Rey which showcases her more and draws people in. Similarly to the last double page spread I like how the article is on one page rather than going over both. I like how in the top right corner it says 'Lana Del Rey' in bold letters which would make her name stand out as someone flicks through the magazine and it would attract their attention as well as helping them find the right page rather than looking through the contents.
Overall, I like and appreciate both double page spreads equally and will take both into consideration when thinking of a layout for my article as they both attract attention and they both look neat and sophisticated. 

Drafting/Planning/Organisation: Inspiration for My Artist

When I take my photos for my music magazine, I aim to have my cover star in a certain position or close up to the camera. I have been researching different poses from some of my favourite stars such as Kristen Stewart and Lana Del Rey. I referred back to this post as I searched for different poses for my artist as I had already discussed blocking but wanted to further my research. Although, Kristen Stewart is not involved with music she inspires me to think of different poses and positions for my cover star to do.
In the first image, Kristen is half sitting on a chair and I am generally fond of this photo because it's so pretty. I may decide to include a chair in my final photo shoot for my magazine as I think it can look quite cool rather than just leaving the entire image to be simple and plain. I also adore Kristen's facial expression and am going to attempt to get the same facial expression from my cover star. I also like the boots she is wearing and I think that boots like these will fit with the style of my magazine and fit with the artist's image.
I really like the second image which is shot from a bird's eye point of view and I think this brings quite a unique feel to the cover. I may try this with my artist to see how they look from that angle. By using this angle I can get my artist looking down whilst also looking elegant. I adore the make up that Kristen has in the second image and I may try and base my artist's make up off of this image.
The third image is from the same photo shoot as the second, one of my favourite photo shoots. Just like in the second image, I love the make up from this shoot so will continue to refer back to those two images for make up guidance for my artist. I think I am definitely going to experiment with a close up of my artist doing a similar facial expression as Kristen in the last image as it's really simple yet effective. 

Drafting & Planning: Main Cover, Contents Page & Double Page Spread

I have been using page plus to begin creating draft music magazine covers, contents pages and double page spreads. I created these three drafts using Lana Del Rey as my cover star and using Q magazine for my masthead. I used a consistent house style for my front cover and these are the colours I wish to use for my real music magazine cover. I like the contents page but I'm not that fond of the layout of the text and image so I may change it in my next draft and practice some more. For my double page spread I placed a picture of Lana Del Rey in the center so that she is going over both pages. I like this as I think it would look really nice with the text (article) going around the edges of the image. I didn't include any text as of yet as this was just a practice of image placing, but I'm pretty sure I would like to create this type of double page spread with the image placed in the center and when I do my draft I will decide fully so I know what a full double page spread looks like when designed like this. 

Organisation: Effects

I am quite fond of blurred lights so I have researched them a lot and these three images were my ultimate favourite. I adore the effect that the images below have as it's very neat, unique and pretty. I have learnt that the proper name for this effect is Bokeh and it's the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light. I am overall, certain that I want Bokeh (this effect) to be used on at least one of my images, probably the double page spread as it would fit nicely and is similar to this image from a double page spread in Q magazine. I feel that by using this effect I could make it look like there is a reflection or a reflection of light on my artist's face and this would look very pretty and unique.

Organisation: Response to Blog Feedback

I am starting to be consistent with all of my blog posts and I make sure that I create a post about the areas that I am low in numbers on and this has helped boost my marks which I am happy about.
To Improve I just need to focus more on target audience so that I can get at least 11 posts about it done. I also need to put my complete focus on to organisation and drafting and planning as they are the most important things I need to do and they are the biggest steps I have to complete until I reach the stage of creating my final pieces for my magazine. 
Leading up to this blog response feedback, I have created more target audience posts, here and here which look in depth at the target audience of Q magazine which is my main inspiration for my magazine. By looking at the information in these two posts I can clearly see that my target audience is similar and I have learnt that my target audience should be 14 -29.

Organisation: Effects

I have been considering more effects for the image on my double page spread. I am fond of this one of Lana Del Rey as it's absolutely gorgeous in the way that on the left hand side there are blurred lights and I would love to have this effect on my image on my double page spread as it looks sophisticated, beautiful and unique. I love how in in this image the lights reflect of Lana Del Rey's face giving a brighter tone to the image and it almost looks like she is basking in the light. The lights reflecting on her face also make her look more angelic. I feel that if I had an image like the one below I could make the house style of my magazine similar to the image so that the house style is consistent throughout my front page, contents and double page spread. I am going to keep this image in mind as I research and learn how to do this effect on images.
On this previous post I discussed how for my magazine front cover I would like to use natural lighting with a black and white effect but leave the lips of my cover star their original colour (red). I still like this idea and plan on practicing with paint.net to attempt both the effects in this image for my magazine front cover and the image below for my double page spread.

Target Audience: Q Magazine

After creating this post I found out more information about Q's target audience.
I discovered that Q is actually read more by males than females and although more males read Q I hope to create a magazine that both genders would read equally.
The age range is also varied but the highest age range is 15-24 which is what I want my target audience to be. This information has been a big help to me and I now know that I definitely want my target audience to be between 15-24 as it seems that more people this age are attracted to a magazine like Q, which is an inspiration for my magazine. 

Target Audience: Q Magazine

Q is an alternative magazine which has a range of target audiences. Q is sometimes aimed at the older generation like ages such as 30-40 but sometimes it is targeted at teenagers to young adults between the ages of 15-29. Q is sometimes targeted at the older generation and attracts their attention as is it much more sophisticated than most magazines. Q allows readers to find out information quickly rather than what colour pants someone is wearing (which Kerrang would mention).
The first magazine cover of Q I looked at featured Matt Bellamy from Muse. This magazine cover would attract a younger audience who are interesting in rock music. Whilst attracting a younger audience, this cover also attracts an older one by featuring The Beatles on the bottom right corner. By featuring a more recent and an older band, Q has managed to widen it's target audience and attract different ages. The colour scheme for Q magazine is also quite simple with reds, blacks, greys and whites. The use of such simple colours like this and not pinks and blues shows that Q magazine is a gender neutral magazine (whilst also showing that this cover is more of a rock music cover) and it doesn't focus on one gender, it's for all.
The cover below that featuring Daft Punk would attract a much younger audience who like Pop and Electronic music. This is a contrast to the Muse cover but it shows that Q has a wide target audience and is willing to experiment with different genres of music to attract different audiences. The Daft Punk cover would attract ages from 14 - 25 as it is clearly aimed at younger people who are into that kind of music. The Daft Punk cover has the colour blue on it quite a lot which may signal that males often listen to Daft Punk more than females (but it may also just be the colour scheme chosen and have nothing to do with males).
Overall, I prefer the Muse cover and from it I take that I should probably keep a gender neutral colour scheme so that my magazine isn't aimed at one gender. I also learnt from Q that having a wider age range for my magazine would be useful (if I featured recent bands and old bands). 

Organisation: Props

For my photo shoot I don't really want that many props involved. I think I may keep it simple so that props don't detract from the cover star and so that the main image isn't too busy as I want to keep it as simple as possible. I think I may include a guitar as a prop as my artist's genre is Indie/Rock but with some acoustic so I think I will use an acoustic guitar and have my cover star play a few chords for an action shot. I like the idea of using a guitar because a guitar is a typical instrument on the cover of a magazine whether it's a live photo or not and a guitar will not make the main image look too busy it will fit in perfectly. 

Target Audience: Rolling Stone Magazine

I have been researching Rolling Stone Magazine amongst others as it is a big inspiration of mine. Although Rolling Stone is full of a wide range of content, e.g. music and television I think I can just focus on the more musical side of the magazine rather than the television side. I have looked closely at Rolling Stone magazine and it's target audience. The target audience of Rolling Stone magazine is young and mainstream usually aiming at people between 15-24 with the magazine content being largely popular culture often focusing on actors, television and pop music. I looked at these two covers with contrasting artists who would both attract different target audiences. The first cover featuring Lana Del Rey would attract a younger audience who is familiar with her and she may attract more girls as she is more popular with females whereas the second cover featuring Thom Yorke would attract an audience from 1997 and up, so audience ages from 15-25. 
By looking at Rolling Stone I decided to slightly incorporate this into my thinking whilst coming to do my music magazine. I will use the idea of a music/film magazine but only slightly, as I will focus mainly on the music and a tiny bit on the film side (such as including a film page). My artist is similar to Lana Del Rey and therefore I will look back on this cover for reference when I take photos of my cover star and think of how to style her. 

Organisation: When, Where & Blocking

I have been looking at different female artists for inspiration on different poses for my cover star(s). I am particularly fond of these female artists so I researched images of them in black and white and colour. I'm not sure yet if I want two cover stars or one but if I have one I aim to have them posing like on of these four photos. I am particularly fond of the last one of Lana Del Rey as it's simple and elegant and her facial expression is also simple and this would be a typical facial expression featured on NME. I am planning to do my photo shoot either indoors on a plain white wall (like the first image of Demi Lovato and the third of Lights) or either outside on a plain brick wall or near the woods (like the second image, with perhaps everything else blurred). I plan to do my photo shoot throughout the next few months whilst the leaves are still changing colours to orange and browns or maybe whilst snow is falling. I prefer the idea of it being Autumn so that if my photo shoot is outside there is a lot of different coloured leaves around to fit in with the ethos of my magazine.

Organisation: Response to Blog Feedback

I am still consistent with my research and planning: Similar Products posts and my drafting posts. I have started to post more about organisation which was one of my focus for improvements. Since last time I have posted 3 more posts about organisation which I am quite pleased with.

To improve I need to focus more on target audience rather than Similar Products so that I can bring my total target audience posts up. To do this I will make sure that I move my focus towards target audience and create further blog posts about different magazines and their target audiences so that I get a wider knowledge of the different target audiences. I will learn more about audiences, especially ones that fit my music magazine.
I will write more about who my final target audience is and look further into magazines with the same or a similar target audience to my music magazine so that I can analyse those magazines and understand why their target audience is what it is. I will make sure that I get the correct target audience that appeals to my magazine otherwise my magazine would be a music magazine that features new artists that a target audience of 30 and above would not want to read about. 

Research into Similar Products

I have been looking more into music magazine front covers, especially ones that feature Lana Del Rey. I love the poses that Lana Del Rey is doing on her music magazine front covers. Lana Del Rey also inspires me to think more about my artist's style and overall she is a big help to when it comes down to facial expressions and clothing for my artist.
I particularly like the magazine covers below because they are simple. Lana Del Rey on the first one is smiling which I love as I had the idea of my artist smiling but I would have to think about changing my cover stars expression to fit an NME title magazine or I could change the style of my magazine so that I am able to use a more light expression. If I was to change the style I would follow Rolling Stone magazine as I love the way it is set out and the house style is great. The colour of the clothing Lana is wearing on the Rolling Stone cover is very simple but also effective as it helps to attract to her face rather than her clothes and I love this idea. On the front of the Spin magazine cover an extreme close up is used of Lana with her eyes closed and her hand on her face, her facial expression simple as her lips for an 'o' shape. I like this cover and the idea of a close up because of it's simplicity and Lana inspires me to be more simple or more experimental with facial expressions for my artist.

Target Audience: Questionnaire

I conducted a survey on survey monkey which included six questions to help me decide my target audience for my music magazine.
The first question I asked was 'Which age range are you?'. My classmates completed my survey for me so all of my responses are from people age 0-16. I originally wanted my magazine to be age ranged from 14 and up and I'm happy that this age range has been selected by everyone as they are within three ranges that I want to be included as my magazine target audience. 

I also asked the simple question of 'Are you male or female?'. The highest response was female which makes me think my magazine should be more female friendly but I do not want it to be. I would prefer my magazine to be aimed at everyone.

I continued my survey by asking 'Which magazine do you prefer? Which has the best layout and style?' A number of my responses prefer the NME styled magazine which I put alongside the question. I am happy that this is the top answer because my magazine is going to be based off of NME with maybe a little bit of Q mixed in.

I then asked why they preferred that magazine. Many said the layout and the colour (house style) is why they like it. I feel that I should make the layout and the colour scheme a bigger focus so that I spend more time on it and make it look like a professional magazine.

I asked what price people would be comfortable spending on a magazine. The top answers were £2.99 - £3 which I approve of as I would spend this much myself. I feel that this price is reasonable for a magazine such as NME and Q as it is packed full of information and images. 

Finally, I asked 'Which music genre do you prefer?'. The most popular answer was Indie Rock which I am happy about because NME is full of Indie Rock artists and I want my main artist to look like they are from an Indie Rock band so I am happy with my results.

Drafting & Planning: Re-Make Re-Model Further Task - Draft Contents Page & Double Page Spread

I have started to draft my contents page and my double page spread for my music magazine. 

I have set out my contents page with help of looking at resources such as real music magazine contents pages, e.g NME and Q. I have set it out like this because this is how I imagine my own contents page to look like with maybe a few alterations. This contents page is simple but effective as it holds all the information a reader would need to know about the magazine. As much as I like this simple idea I may change it to make it look less formal and change it so that there are more images and text darted around the page in a neat, readable way.

For my draft double page spread I have used one whole side for the main image as I think this helps set a house style for the magazine yet also shows the importance of the cover star/artist. I like the idea of the article going over to columns so it looks neat and structured rather than across pages and all over the place. I put a quote in the right hand corner of the main image because this will stand out alongside the artist and make it look more neat rather than the quote being in the middle of the text. I included a headline and small introduction to the article because these are necessary to a double page spread and a small introduction will include who the artist is or what they've been doing and what will be featured in this article which I think is important. I have looked at many double page spreads and have concluded that the way I have set out my draft is similar to others. For inspiration I looked back on my old blog post of this double page spread.

Organisation: Response to Blog Feedback

I am consistent with my research and planning: Similar Products posts and I am slowly improving on my drafting. Since my last feedback I have done 2 organisation posts which is more than I had before.

To improve I need to post more about and discuss target audience and who my magazine is aimed at. To help me with my target audience I will create posts involving a questionnaire which will ask questions such as, "Which magazine layout do you prefer?" as then I can get people to answer this and from the answers I can round up the information and I can learn what I will need to include in my magazine so that it is similar to ones that I have looked at (NME, Q). From it, I guarantee that I will look back on the answers from he questionnaire to construct my magazine.
I also need to post more about organisation and talk about when I want to do a photo shoot for my final magazine and where I want it. To do this, I will create posts about when and where I will take photographs. I plan to do posts about effects and props, which will discuss if I will have any props and why and I will discuss what effect I am going to use for images in my music magazine. To help me do these two things I can look at the blog suggestions list.

This blog tracker will help me consistently when I look back at it. By looking back to this I will learn from my mistakes and know what I need to do to get more marks and blog posts. 

Re-Make Re-Model: Peer Assessment Feedback

I was peer assessed on my Re-Make Re-Model magazine cover. My assessor said that the facial expression and pose of my cover star entices an audience. She also said that the way the cover lines frame the image looks neat and the colours of my cover lines harmonizes with masthead. They also liked that my cover star looks like they could be in a folk rock band.

To improve, my assessor said that I should investigate further into facial expressions used on magazines such as NME so that the facial expression of my cover star matches the ethos/philosophy of the magazine. I will further look at more NME magazine covers and focus more on the facial expressions of the artist(s) rather than colour schemes. My assessor also said that I should re size my cover star to make her bigger so that the cover lines frame around her face more neatly so that there isn't so much space.

Organisation: Effects

For my music magazine I am going to natural lighting, preferably high key lighting with a black and white filter to make my photos stand out and to look quite bright.

I like the effect of a black and white filter because it is simple yet professional.I like the idea of having the entire image in black and white except for my cover stars lips (like the image of Lana Del Rey below) which I would like to be either a dark red or bright red. I think having the red lips the only coloured bit of my main image will make it stand out and the colours will compliment each other throughout the cover as my text will most likely be in the colours of reds, whites and blacks. All of this is extremely simple but I feel like some aspects of my magazine will make it stand out and make it look amazing.

 

Drafting & Planning: ReMake-ReModel

This is my draft music magazine cover which is inspired by NME. I chose NME because it is full of good content and there is always a variet of different artists and genres featured in the magazine. 

I used the masthead as almost a guide for my colour scheme/house style and decided to match it with some of the red coloured text on the front cover which creates consistency throughout the cover and all of the colours then compliment each other. I have used a main cover line which also features anchorage text (a quote from the article) which is bigger than the rest of the text to show that it is the main story in the magazine. The bigger, coloured text of the name "Katelyn" also shows that this is the main artist in the magazine.

The main cover star is using direct address to draw the audience in whilst simultaneously, almost building a relationship with them.

I have also used a pug on the right hand side including free posts which would entice an audience and pull them in more. I have also included cover lines as it is important to make sure that a reader knows there is other things besides the main story in the magazine and I included quite a few cover lines to show that this magazine is packed with features.

I put in a barcode, dateline and price as these are vital to any magazine which has a price on it so that people know how much it costs. I included the cover stars credit by putting her name, "Katelyn" on the front cover.

The main image is quite dark which generally fits with the type of magazine that NME is as it is quite edgy and darker than some other magazines. I mainly used a bigger, bold font rather than a small one because the bigger fonts stand out more and fit with the type of magazine that NME is.

Research into Similar Products: Genres

In my previous post I looked at DIY music magazine for inspiration for my own music magazine. I decided to look at other editions of the magazine and this one stood out the most to me. It is very simple but clear and like I said in my previous post I decided that I wanted my layout to be similar to this.
The reason I have posted another edition of this magazine is because this edition features the artist St. Vincent who's genre is alternative/art rock which is completely opposite to the magazine cover featuring Gerard Way. In contrast to St.Vincent, Gerard Way is a pop punk/rock/alternative rock artist and although these genres are not far apart they are still different genres. I think this is quite interesting because it's the same magazine expressing it's style through two different artist's genres. With using two different artists, DIY magazine manages to attract different readers (whether the magazine is free or not, readers will pick up a free magazine if they are attracted to it) and the two different artists give a wider target audience for the magazine which will make it more successful.

Research into Similar Products

I have continued looking at music magazine front covers and I came across DIY magazine. On the cover DIY says it is free (although my music magazine will have a price and bar code on) but on the website for DIY it costs £3, which is a reasonable price for a music magazine. I think they have done prices on the website because the magazine costs for different countries but in the country it originates from it is free. I love this magazine cover, partly because it features Gerard Way, but mainly because of the layout. The masthead is big, bold and easily readable. The date, issue number and link to the website is directly underneath the masthead and I think this looks neat and sophisticated. I love the background of the main image because it features quotes from Gerard Way's interview with the magazine. The quotes stand out to me just as well as the main image/cover star but the quotes do not detract from the cover star, which I like because they are then both equally as important. The cover stars name being in the center looks great and stands out and really lets people know who the cover star is. I also like the red circle featuring the reading & leeds festival special because it lets people know that this magazine has more to it than just one interview from Gerard Way.

There is an online version of the magazine which I have skimmed through. The magazine is full of reviews and features of other artists - it is literally packed with other information other than just Gerard Way, but to the magazine, Gerard Way seems to be the most important aspect. I like the cover for DIY but I wish that it included cover lines to show that the magazine has other things in it other than just what's on the front. From this magazine cover I have discovered a clear, simple yet effective layout that I adore and my music magazine may have a similar layout to this one.