My final evaluation

Changes after feedback, front cover

 After the feedback I began changing my front cover, the image, I tried it a bit more zoomed in, which would fit with my style models, Billboard and Q. Which meant I had to move the artist name around as it looked as if the model was licking it.

rough cut feedback from the class

 

 

preliminary task

rough cut feedback from teacher1

rough cut feedback from teacher2

final double page spread

final front cover

front cover after editing

female artist pose suggestions for the final DPS

contents before the final background

indesign DPS

Making the front cover

Choosing the main font

On website, Da Font I searched for some fonts that would suit my magazine genre of chart music. These fonts were my favourite and I felt they were the most appropriate. After conducting some market research, I chose 'abeat by kai' as 75% of the people asked, thought it was the most appealing and best suited font, as it is clear but has a uniqueness about it.

Basic layout for double page spread

The background on contents page image

On the contents page that had all of the studio shots, I was told through the feedback that variety in the background of the images was needed. I liked the natural pose of the model touching her hair and brushing it off her face, so I tried to recreate this image. The colour of the jumper on the studio shot worked well on the contents as it was a good mix with the greens and bit of red from the other images. The shirt in the second photo was chosen to keep the mix. and it is the type of clothes that the target audience would wear.

Adding backgrounds after feedback

I had to add backgrounds so that the images on my contents page wouldnt all be studio shots, I had to add variety to them. I edited the brightness and contrast on the sky because the image didnt match with the artists I was putting it behind.

After feedback for the double page spread, the new photos

After feedback for the double page spread

The rough cut double page spread

 

Im not too positive about my double page spread as the image is way too grainy and I dont like the angle of the photo. I looked through the same group of photos I took at the time, and none seem to be better. I feel both sides need a bit more colour added to it to make it look more sophisticated and like the image and text are actually linked.

Contents page photos

I took a range of photos to be include on my contents, as one of the smaller images. I narrowed my selection down to these as I feel they show personality by the messing about. I will choose the image to fit in with my magazine but one that looks relatively professional.

Contents page basic drawing with notes

Front cover basic drawing with notes

Front cover basic drawing

My questionnaire questions

1. Do you expect to see an interview in a music magazine?
          Yes
          No

2. How do you listen to music?
          Online
          Radio
          TV
          IPod
          CD

3. How often to you buy a music magazine?
          Everyday
          Once a week
          Every few weeks
          Rarely
          Never

4. How often do you go to live music performances?
          (Own answer)

5. How often do you listen to music?
          All day
          A little a day
          Few times a week
          Rarely
          Never

6. What type of magazine would you buy?
          Indie
          Pop
          Dance
          Rap
          Rock
          Metal
          Country
          Charts

7. How old are you?
          15 - 16
          17 - 18
          19 - 20
          21 - 22
          22 - 23
          23+

8. Are you male or female?
          Male
          Female

9. In an interview of an artist what would you find interesting?
          Career currently
          Career future
          Past life
          Love life
          Party life
          Talk of an album

10. On a contents page what is your preferred?
          Different sized images
          One main image
          Focus on text content
          Neat and in line
          Scrapbooky

Questionnaire

Follow this link to answer my questionnaire

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VM7P8MH here to take survey</a>

Audience Research video 2

 

This person when questionnaired, said that for a recent music magazine they would pay £2.00-£2.50. The price is of a high end magazine which is where I aim for mine to be, so this person would be part of my target audience price wise. But the price may possibly have to be raised if I decide to have freebes included or if it's a special edition.

They prefer the simplistic front cover which would show clearly what is included and wouldn't be over crowded with either images or text. I do want mine to be easily seen but I don't want it looking sparse or bare.

One main image on the front, which this person likes, as opposed to several, would link with the simplistic look. I will include one main image but I will probably have a couple of different advertisements or previews of feature stories on it too, to make it look more professional.

For this person, again the artist would be the main appeal but it would also be the interesting stories advertised that could catch someone's eye.

The blocky look would be neat and simple, looking quite minimalistic. I will make my contents page look very neat but it won't be too uniform that it looks unrealistic, I'd like it to look as professtional as I could.

On the contents page I will also include image with page numbers in the corners and text with page numbers this will add variety and professionalism. This person likes both in her ideal magazine.

Audience Research video 1

This member of the public would pay £1.50-£2.00 for a recent charts music magazine, which would be a low budget, poor quality one. I am aiming to make my magazine seem more high end therefore will increase the price to more than this.

They like to see a magazine with lots going on, on the front cover, this would involve a lot of features and stories, which I do aim to include and I will have some references to them on the front page but not for it to look too busy that it would look messy and unprofessional. They have said they like to see several images on the front so i will include maybe one or two that relates to one of the feature stories.

The artist on the front would always be the main attraction and this person says that the artist is what is one of the main things that persuades them to buy the magazine. From this my predominant image will be of the well known artist I choose to do. The features mentioned on the front will need to be interesting stories, so I will find some recent big stories of artists or festivals.

This person prefers the image dominated look when asked what is prefered on a contents page. I will have images on my own, possibly 3 smaller ones with one main image, then the text on one side.

The text will need to be clear and stand out in it's own right as this person prefers to tell the stories form the text not from the images.

Contents page analysis - Q magazine

 

The top of the page has a red banner, this is traditional of Q magazine, it's like their trademark colour with the white 'Q', and always has a relevance on each page. It informs the reader of the issue and of the specific page 'contents'. Part of the word is covered by the image of the main artist because he is more recognised and is the main aspect of the magazine. The red of the background of the Jay-Z image and the banner is pulled together by the artist himself as the image has been edited to look like his face is red or at least has a red light shining on him.

 

There is a showing of the front cover in the top right corner, also referring to what will be the most interesting parts of the magazine. Although there are 10 images, Jay-Z is still the most dominating, he stands out the most and rightfully it's him the magazine is trying to sell as they know how big of an artist he is and the masses of fans they can reach through an interview with such a huge star. And with that huge star it shows the magazine is big enough to afford and be able to get Jay-z to do a feature for them.

 

The smaller images, including two double page spread previews have their page numbers shown in the corner, so you know what are main topics and can give an insight as to what the article is about. It can also be used as an advertisement because if a reader spot even just a small story is included they may want to buy the magazine and see what the story is, it will strike their interest. Seeing current artists on the front or on the contents page will inform that the magazine knows what it is talking about and are up to date

 

Because there is so much text, it needs something to break it up, so the images are used in the middle and the text is more or less around, framing them. In a sense there are three sections to the pages, which makes it easier and clear to read. Because people read and look from left to right, the first part of the text has been put on the left which will consist of the bigger, more popular stories and to the right of the images are the last things the reader would look at and so the text, consists of the other stories that are regular in the magazine. The text at the bottom of the pages are the Q reviews, which are in a different colour to the stories and articles to show it's not the same, its shows a professional look, having reviews.

 

A red line separates the the different stories and makes it easy to locate the different topics. On top of it shows the page number and name of what the article is in a serif font, underneath the line, in a sans serif font, is a quick description of the article. The amount of text and the fact that it is small suggests that there are a lot of stories and they are trying to feed the interests of all of the audience ranges they may have. This could be why the magazine is a popular one and very known.

 

In my own magazine I hope to include the look of a scrapbook photo, stuck on slightly off angle because i feel it adds personality to the page.

Contents page analysis - Vibe

 

 

The magazine has chosen to use a very well known artist, Kayne West. Passers by will recognise the artist and be intrigued as to what the article will be about as he was very big at the time of the publishing.

 

There is a suggestion of what the article could be about, by the arm over Kayne's shoulder holding the heart on his, it gives the impression that the article will be about Kayne's love life and what he generally loves in life, somethings that are personal to him. The red heart, is the only bit of colour on the page, so it instantly stands out.

 

The page, being in grey scale suggests there are a lot of things Kayne has hidden in the dark from the public. The background of the page is lighter than that of the foreground so makes the artist stand out, which would be the aim of the magazine. The 'V' in the background represents the title of the magazine, it's purpose would be to show what magazine it is, and add their own little touch onto each page, like a personal trademark.

 

The layout of the magazine, much like the Blender magazine, it has the image on the left and text on the right. The subheadings are in a slightly bigger, more fancy fonting to make clear that it is a different section, which highlight what is to be expected to be seen in the magazine.

 

The convention of including credits, magazine name, page number and issue is followed by this magazine on the bottom right of the page.

 

From this magazine I will use inspiration from the letter in the background, I think this adds a distinct identity to the magazine, and I think it adds a bit of familiarity.