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.