This is the draft I had drawn out in class as I began to plan my front cover. I had to make sure I included all the important elements as follows; barcode, date, price, issue number masthead, selling line, coverlines, main image, header bar, etc. I chose to have my main image in the centre of my page so that the audience would be drawn towards my magazine by seeing the artist/s first. I included a 'win' header footer which would also want the audience to read more, especially if there are items they can win. My masthead stayed the same as I'd planned beforehand with the date, issue number and price above so that it was obviously there, yet out of the way for everything else. I made sure I included my main cover line, small images, coverlines, etc into it too.

This is my draft planning that helped me to choose the title of my music magazine. As I began to plan it out, one of the most simple words had drawn me towards it, most probably because of it's meaning. I instantly thought of 'Lyric' for my masthead; it's simple and everybody knows what lyrics are, they are the story behind the song, well thought of, etc. I've also decided that it will be large and in an italic font, this will hopefully flow well with the rest of my front cover. My magazine will focus of alternative/rock and indie music, all of which also tend to have the most meaningful lyrics in my opinion.

Finished Double Page Feature Spread

This is my finished double page feature spread

Double Page Feature Spread: Step by step

Firstly, I added a black background to carry on with my colour scheme - my front cover and contents page are also black. I wanted to stay the same because it was the most popular colour choice in my survey results, it also works well with the rest of my colour scheme and my photographs. I did this by using the 'Rectangle tool' and drawing a large box over my double page spread. I then used the 'fill tool' to insert my black background. My next step was to include my written feature about the band I created. Unfortunately I had written way too much and some how had to cut it down. Throughout designing my feature, I had to change around, add and delete words/sentences so that it would all fit well together. I inserted my text using the 'Type tool' and once again, used the 'fill tool' to include my white text. I decided not to use the 'Stroke tool' and have an outline as I didn't want it to stand out too much, especially as there's so much written about the band and it'll be too dramatic; so dramatic it would no longer be striking to my target audience. I made sure I changed the first letter of my entire written feature to a larger scale than the rest of it, by scrolling to a size '30' whereas the rest of my written feature is size 12. I did this because most magazines also have their first letter a lot bigger than the rest of the text. To also position and rearrange all my text, I used the 'Selection tool' which allowed me to fit the feature in the way in which I wanted, as best as possible. Like I've said in my previous posts, I continued with the 'Stones Sans ITC TT' font as it works best with my magazine; fitting the standards of my target audience, looks presentable and the right size. 

Now I needed to include the photographs I have taken and edited of my artist/s. I decided to choose 3 photographs; 2 of the band altogether and 1 of the lead singer, as she is the main front man and has a pull quote positioned above her. I included my first photograph by using the 'File' tab, then I clicked 'Place...' to then I could browse and choose which photograph I was going to insert. I did this for every photograph. I also used the 'Selection tool' to position and rearrange all of my photographs - I decided to have each photograph in a corner, all of different sizes, so that my feature would still fit and my photographs would still lure my audience in. I'm very happy with my photographs and how my models posed for me, it fits perfectly with my written feature and the double page feature spread in general. I included a mid shot of 'Jas Heartly', a group shot and a long shot of the band. I then noticed my photographs were looking slightly plain and sharp, so I decided to try different edits until I found something that I thought fit perfectly. I did this by right clicking each image individually, clicked 'Effects' and stuck with the 'Outter glow'.  I really like this effect as it's quote creative, works around my text and still shows the photograph quite clearly.

I used the typical 'copy & paste' trick to include my masthead, which is the same throughout my magazine so that it is considered the magazine's 'logo' and something my audience will remember most about my magazine. I then used the 'selection tool' to move and position it in the top hand right corner so that it is still clearly seen, recognisable but allows the rest of my double spread to be seen more clearly. I've kept everything about it the same including the colours, font, etc. Once I had done this, I decided to add a bit of editing but couldn't think of what as I originally wasn't going to and just carry on with the rest of my double page spread. I decided to include the band's name in large letters, also using 'their' own font that I have used on my front cover, which is 'Lithos Pro' in size 72. I included it by doing the 'copy & paste' trick again, then used the 'selection tool' to move it nearer the space that I had blank, which was the top right hand on my left side of my double page spread. I then decided to add an edit by right clicking the 'Noize' text, then clicking on 'Edit' and had a browse of all the different edits I could use. In the end, I decided to go with 'Transparency' which is pretty self explanatory. I chose this because I thought it would look good if I had an intro part on the top of it, yet my audience could still work out what was said underneath and on top, as well as still having my band's name in large somewhere on my pages - which is what I aimed for.

Now I inserted my introduction over the most recent edit I had made and my magazine started to come together a lot more. I did this by using the 'Type tool', picked 2 quotes that I liked most throughout my written feature and used the 'Selection tool' to position and rearrange them over both of my pages. I chose to have one on each page so that there was something to attract the audience on either side, also that it was evenly spread out. I did them in 'Stone Sans ITC TT' italic font as well as making them a size 22 so that they are quite obviously bigger than the majority of the text on my double page spread. I also used the 'Fill tool' to colour the text in white, then the 'Stroke tool' to include a magenta outline for both. I also did the introduction the same way as both of these, apart from it isn't in italic and in a smaller font.
Next I included a 'Presents...' part underneath my masthead so that it is still quite formal and clearly states that 'Lyric' have spoken to 'Noize' - I did this in the same way as all of the text but decided to have a red outline so that it would mix it up a bit, as well as include more of the colour schemes. I also did the exact same techniques to the caption above my first photograph.

Last but not least, I needed to include my very important page numbers and captions for the photographs. I used the 'Type tool' to insert my page numbers, which I knew from my Contents page, and used the 'Selection tool' to move and arrange them so that they were at the bottom corners. I decided to have them there because the majority of music magazines do so, it looks professional and they're still easy to see even though there is a lot going on in my pages. I also did these at size 30 with a white fill and white outline, just so that they stood out a bit more and still easy to see.
I then included all of my captions, all at the bottom of each photograph. I had slight trouble thinking of different captions that would lure in my target audience and still stuck to the point of each photograph. In the end, my mid shot photograph of 'Jas Heartly' I decided to make it pretty self explanatory and have her name, and the band that she's in. I then moved onto the long shot photograph, on my left hand side, which I struggled with most. I then decided to include a well known saying that they could work by, like some sort of motto for their band which is 'See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.' I then moved onto my high shot of the group and chose a 'trendy' and 'in fashion' sentence that would attract my target audience some more. I wanted to give it a child-like edge to it and meet my audience's expectations. I inserted all of these using the 'Type tool' and typed them up, the 'Selection tool' to rearrange and position them all, and the 'fill tool' as well as the 'stroke tool' to use more of my colour scheme. My pull quotes are white with a magenta outline so I decided to have my captions filled in white with a red outline.

How will I attract/address my audience?

My audience consists ages between 14 and 25, both of sexual preferences, of all sexualities and of the 'alternative', 'rock', 'indie' subcultures. I will include both male and female artists and bands because of this, as it credit my magazine and satisfy my audience.

What would teenage males want in my magazine?

• comedy/funny articles and features
• good-looking women (if heterosexual)
• good-looking men (if bisexual, homosexual or are heterosexual and want some sort of role model.)
• chords for musical instruments
• lyrics
• posters
• interviews
• merchandise pages
• music that they like
• style tips
• swear words
• advice
• technology (old or new i.e. ipods, ipads, mp3s etc.)
• games (wordsearch, sudoku etc.)
  
  
  What would teenage females want in my magazine?
  
• horoscopes
• fashion & make-up
• fashion & make-up tips/advice
• good-looking men (if they are heterosexual)
• good-looking women (if they are bisexual, homosexual or heterosexual and want some sort of role model.
• posters
• technology (old or new i.e. ipods, ipads, mp3s etc.)
• gossip articles
• music that they like
• style tips
• merchandise pages
• clothing websites
• interviews
• chords for musical instruments

The typical audience for my music magazine

My magazine would appeal towards a younger generation, most probably teenagers/young adults of both sexual preferences and a typical white audience. This type of audience would usually shop at local places such as primark, new look, topshop, topman, charity shops, vintage shops, band merchandise etc. and online clothes stores that would be slightly 'alternative'. They will be keeping up with the trends but also altering items slightly, as well as maybe wearing 'vintage' style clothing.

Brands like:

• Urban outfitters

• Brand Neusense

• H&M

• Topshop & Topman
  
  
  
  
  Alternative/rock types of people like tattoos, body piercings, unsigned bands, bands in general, books, photography, guitars, parties, alcohol, clothes, socialising etc.
  Their preferred music is normally alternative, rock, alt-rock, indie, indie-rock, acoustic and unsigned bands or artists that nobody else knows about. 
  
  
  
  

  

  • Females like most things natural i.e. hair, make-up, skin etc. They tend to have 'bed head' or wavy locks and at least a side fringe, will straighten their hair now and again. They won't have too much make-up; foundation, concealer, mascara, maybe some eyeliner, maybe some eye shadow now and again. They'll either be pale skinned or naturally tanned, maybe a slight tan even. May have tattoos or some body piercings. Females will wear t-shirts, band t-shirts, checked shirts, leggings, tights, skinny jeans, floral dresses, cardigans, pumps, military boots, converse and lots of 'vintage-looking' jewellery.
    
    
    
    
    
    

  

  •  Males tend to have slightly long hair, not too long but not short at all and with a 'swoopy' or short fringe. They also like band t-shirts, they like skinny t-shirts, skinny jeans, pumps, converse, cardigans, beanie hats, skinny jumpers etc. Males tend to drink, smoke and do drugs more than the women, very much like gigs too. Some may skateboard or play a musical instrument. May have tattoos or body piercings.

Conventions in Magazines

        A convention - a range of rules and standards expected/required for a specific genre. 

             Conventions can be applied to many different circumstances, they can also be developed and challenged. 

1. Convention - wearing clothes
2. Develop - wearing only black clothes
3. Challenge - wearing no clothes
   
   OR
   
   1. Convention - having a computer
   2. Develop - using a computer
   3. Challenge - reading a book instead
      
      
      My Front Cover
      I have used conventions of a
      

      

      • bold and italic masthead like 'TANK' has done

      
      

      

      • Corner grabber used like in 'Time Out'

      
      

      

      • Coverlines used like 'NME'; one main coverline that is larger than the rest and the others are all a similar size as one another.
        
        
        

      

      • Footer header that includes a list of bands and symmetrical to the bar code, both also at the bottom of the front cover, like 'Rock Sound'.
        
        

      

      • No text touching the edges, all in align with one another and coverlines/text written on the left and right side like 'Elle'.
        
        
        

      

      • Header Bar and main image (mid shot) like 'Kerrang!'
        
        
        

      
      
      
      I have challenged the conventions of the usual presentation of
      
      • the selling line by having it as a 'quote feel' and would have it the same for every magazine issue so that it is recognisable.
      • not having as many coverlines and mixing up their positions a bit more, rather than continuously on the left and right hand side.
        
        
        
        

        

        • I have also changed the usual eye route that 'Rock Sound' uses to not look at the top, my magazine focuses more on the centre of the page.

        
        

        

        • I have not positioned my main image to overlap my masthead like 'Kerrang!' does most of the time.
          
          
          
          
          I have commented on the conventions used in my stages for my magazine front cover and it's contents page.