Completed Contents Page

I will make room for photoshoot photo's by replacing existing pics.

Completed Front Cover Design (Without Main Photo)

Choosing My Model

I have asked several people to be my models and have 'interviewed' them to see if I think they are who I want to model for my magazine. I asked each one several questions like "Do you mind having your photo taken?", "Are you prepared to model in any place and in any clothes? and "Do you know what it takes to make a photo look excellent?". After questioning my possible models I ended up choosing Beckiie because she has a keen interest in modelling and is a very confident and talented girl. She is happy to help me to any extent to make the photos as good as possible and is prepared to go the extra mile.

Changes To Initial Ideas

I wasn't going to focus much on making sure I make my magazine suitable for both genders as I would of kept it neutral but since I got almost equal results on my gender question, I shall try and make sure I am entertaining and pleasing both males and females.
I shall also be changing my colour theme slightly because my first decision was to use black/blue/white but it got outvoted by black/red/white so I shall keep to this more favoured colour theme and make any changes this makes to the rest of my house style. Although I had to change it slightly, I can see black/red/white working just as well as it still contrasts well and will give the right tone/style impression.
I got equal views on my magazine name "Bazinga!" therefore I will have to decide whether to keep the name or choose another name by thinking of a couple more and asking people which they prefer.

Questionnaire Results

The results of my questionnaire have been interesting and I have concluded that I need to meet the interests of my audience which means I shall have to alter a few aspects of my magazine. (Total of 20 people)

For the question “What genre of music do you prefer?” 45% of people voted for rock, 30% voted for pop and 25% voted for metal. This result is what I was hoping for as I want to focus my magazine around rock/metal. Although pop got more votes than metal, I can’t do both pop and rock as they are two very different genres of music. I will be taking into consideration the lack of interest in metal and shall only include a limited amount of this genre in my content.

My next question “What house style colour theme do you prefer?” had very clear results as two options shared equal votes. Both red/white/black and blue/white/black colour themes got 50% votes each. Therefore, I shall make my choice and choose to use the red/white/black theme because I think red works better with black than blue does.

From my gender question, 60% of people who voted are male and 40% are female. I shall take into consideration both genders and shall try to interest both equally throughout the magazine.

From my results, my age range is centred around 16-18 years of age which is suitable since it will make the magazine much easier to create as I can understand what the age group likes and does not like and I also know what is popular with these older teens.

My next question “Do you prefer a logo to be based on the name of the magazine or something completely different?” got a clear result of 85% wanting a logo that includes the full name of the magazine. I want to ask for a reason why this is so as it may help me design my logo better.

One of my most important questions “What do you like to read about in a music magazine?” got the most varied results with the top answers being new album releases and band reviews with a total of 85% of the votes. I shall have to reduce the amount of information I was going to include on various concerts/festivals and include more content about new album releases and band information.

My last and maybe my most important question “Does the name “Bazinga!” sound like a suitable magazine name for a music magazine?” got a 50/50 answer of yes and no. I shall have to think of more possible names for my magazine and ask my voters again which they prefer.

My Questionnaire

What genre of music do you prefer?

-          Metal       [  ]

-          Rock       [  ]

-          Classical  [  ]

-          Pop         [  ]

What house style colour scheme do you prefer?

-          Red, White and Black    [  ]

-          Orange, Black and Blue [  ]

-          Blue, Black and White   [  ]

Gender?

-          Male    [  ]

-          Female [  ]

What age range do you fit into?

-          12-15 [  ]

-          16-19 [  ]

-          20+    [  ]

Do you prefer a logo to be based on the name or something completely different?

-          The name of the magazine        [  ]

-          Something completely different [  ]

What do you like to read about in a music magazine?

-          New album releases           [  ]

-          Band reviews                     [  ]

-          Concerts/festivals               [  ]

-          Music celeb personal news [  ]

Does the name “Bazinga!” sound like a suitable magazine name for a music magazine?

-          Yes [  ]

-          No  [  ]

Institutional Research

Bauer Media is a large and leading publishing company operating in 15 countries worldwide. H. Bauer has more than 80 media brands including the popular music magazines Kerrang! and Q. The way the company focuses on the target audiences for each magazine is precise and entertaining. Kerrang! magazine has a target audience of older teens/young adults and the company focuses on the audience's interests by using the type of language that young people are using more and more nowadays -informal and slang - which encourages the audience to read the magazine. I can't quite explain why but I feel that Kerrang! has a more male approach to it in the way it is presented. Q is a much more formal magazine aimed at the more mature adult but still the young adults. The tone is more informative and has a wider genre focus than Kerrang!.

Another publishing company which works for another popular music magazine is Future Publishing who's biggest music magazine success is Metal Hammer which is an adult-based, metal focused read. The reason I say it is adult-based is because of the content of the magazine since I have seen a lot of strong language while reading it and some of the photos are not suitable for young teens. Obviously the company Future Plc aim to simply interest the specific type of person interested in rough, informal information on heavy metal bands.

Initial Ideas For Magazine

I have spent a lot of time deciding on my name of the magazine and I have decided on a choice of two - "Bazinga!" and "HardSound". My reasons for choosing these names is: Bazinga! because it is catchy and an informal word (made up) which makes it much more eye catching especially with the exclamation mark on the end. I used Kerrang! as inspiration for this name because I like the way 'Kerrang' is an odd word although it is an onomatopoeic word refering to "the sound made when playing a power chord on an electric guitar" as quoted from Wikipedia; HardSound because it relates to the genres of music I am covering in my magazine - hard rock/metal - therefore it is a suitable choice. Also, it describes the sound (the music) as 'hard' which could mean solid or heavy or it could be meant in another way - 'hard' could be related to loud/noisy which also describes the sound accurately.
For my house style, I want to use clear, simple sans-serif fonts for my chunks of text to increase effect and ease of reading. For my headlines and straplines I want to use a thick, bold and textured font which I will probably have to download to get the look I want. Along with the colours I have chosen for the text, the fonts will stand out and suit the tone of the magazine. For my colour theme, I want to use a black/blue/white combination - white for the page background and blue and red for the text. I chose these colours because I think they contrast well against each other and give the magazine an attractive style.
The issue month I want to do is February because it is around the time when a lot of music news such as upcoming album releases and concerts/festivals are leaked to the public.
The main headline I want my magazine to be focusing on is the a new band hitting mainstream popularity which will be related to my front cover and double page spread photos. I want my front page photo to be a simple but striking shot of my model acting as one of the new members of the headline band.

Second Similar Product Research Analysis

Metal Hammer

This front cover is slightly different to many other Metal Hammer front covers since this has a lack of puffs/banners etc. This is done to keep the reader's attention on the photo covering the page. The photo is of one of Slipknot's many guitarists and his mask is one of the most striking of the band's many outrageous masks. The extreme close-up and the sharp eyes really enhance the photo and causes the mask to almost jump out of the page. The headline "Slipknot. Take No Prisoners!" works well with the related photo by emphasising the emotion in the headline and quote "This band is at war!", and really sets the tone well. The only puff is located on the side of the cover, allowing as much free space as possible to maximise the potential of the photo and has been done to stand out as well as possible against the main feature of the page.
Unlike most other mastheads from the MH magazines, this masthead's fill image seems to try and match with the photo in both colour and texture. It does still stand out well however and isn't camoflauged which could of happened.
Also, this cover is one of a few from MH that the masthead overlays the photo instead of the photo overlaying the masthead. This helps the banner at the top stay seperated from the photo and achieve it's purpose.

First Similar Product Research Analysis

Rock Sound


The layout of this front cover is spread out proportionally and isn't cramming in a lot of text unlike some music magazines. Even the two banners are minimal and leave space around each for the white space (in this case black). A lot of the text is in columns to reduce spread and fitted around the model image in the center. I wouldn't say that it is wrapped around the image. Also, the text overlays over the image except the masthead which is typically under the image as seen in most music magazines - this is a fault in good photography because the rule of thirds has been broken and the medium close up has also been ignored.
The model image is very striking, not only because it is Marilyn Manson (who always looks strikingly unique) but the colour of his clothing and usual hair/make up contrasts well with the house style colours of the magazine. The headline is simply the name of the model (could also refer to the band of the same name founded by MM) and the strap line along with it is a quote by him, "People always want chaos" which is an attention grabbing choice of words aimed to make the reader want to read more about the headline.
The choice of location for the bar-code/price/issue number I think is badly placed because it interferes with the masthead and banner. There is a very limited amount of puffs on the front cover and I can only count 1 use of a puff. It is a potential encouraging selling point for the magazine because it mentions that a free CD is included with the magazine though no details are given about it but it still could encourage potential buyers to want to buy the magazine.

Second Front Cover Analysis

Kerrang!

Kerrang! has many puffs advertising the content of the 

magazine all over the front cover which all are unique (fonts/colours/shapes). All the puffs encourage the reader to want to buy the magazine by advertising some of the content in the magazine. The headline of this issue has been placed next to the related photo (Billie Joe Armstrong) which has been placed in a easily noticeable position, overlaying part of the masthead. The photo also represents the type of magazine Kerrang! is by the electric guitar which stretches across the cover. The tone of this magazine is informal for reasons such as the many puffs and the strap line use exaggerated language and punctuation to help make it seem more exciting and interesting – “This is the best show out there!”, “Slipknot storm memory lane”, “Plus!” etc. and in one puff there is an example of slang abbreviations – “WTF?!” which also has exaggerated punctuation with both an exclamation mark and a question mark which is seen as informal. The magazine is definitely aimed at the younger audience such as teens and of course rock/metal/punk fans which is the type of music the magazine focuses on. The issue number and barcode is snuck in nicely down in the corner and doesn’t stand out and ruin the magazine.

First Front Cover Analysis

The front cover of the magazine has many puffs as well as the main headline/banners/strap line which all surround the headline photo in a overlay style other than the masthead which underlays the photo. The house style/theme colours are used in the headline photo of Lily Allen as well as all the puffs etc. Her clothes (shirt) and her hair colour use the red/black/white which NME has styled themselves with. The various fonts on the front cover make all the puffs etc stand out really well against each other. The white background gives the front cover a clear tone and the occasional use of white font brings this out further. The quote next to Lily Allen gives an insight to the content of the headline story about her - “I can't keep on living like this, it's doing my head in”. The banners also give an insight to the content of the magazine so the readers know what to expect.

What I Have Learned So Far

So far, I have learned…

…the basics of taking photos and what makes a good, striking and interesting photo. I think I am clear on making sure the model(s) are not in the centre of the photo and photo angles which can alter the mood/tone of the photo and the model. I’ve also understood that the lighting and shadows of a photo are vital to a striking photo as well as the model’s pose, which can both change the tone of the photo. If there is one thing I have definitely learned about taking photos, then it is that it can be rather difficult to take a great pic.

…how to use a Mac, although it isn’t extremely different to a Windows PC when you get the hang of it. I did find it slightly difficult yet good fun to navigate around the Mac’s folders and desktop icon dock, which, after a few minutes of getting the grasp of it, can be simple to use. As for the software, I was already well acquainted with Photoshop which has made creating my front cover and contents page much simpler than it could have been.

…how to design and sketch out my magazine’s front cover/contents page which for me wasn’t too easy since I’m not very artistic or creative. I soon found it easier though and managed to do both pages without too much struggle.

Preliminary Task - Front Cover Analysis

For my front cover, I have made sure that I’ve covered all aspects to make my front cover attention-grabbing and worth reading. Firstly, I’ve gone for a colour theme that I think contrasts well with the magazine masthead and headlines. The colours (black, red and white) really stand out and I think the black and white photo of the model really helps it look good. I have made sure that my masthead stands out the clearest against the background image and colours. I’ve done this by making the backound behind the masthead is white so any of my theme colours will stand out against it. The reason I chose the photo of the model that I did is because I think the ‘stare pose’ really stands out and the black and white effect contrasts really well against the red and black. My background image is of SJN Upper School (Common room building) which I thought would be appropriate since half of the 6^th form went there before joining Y12/Y13. My main headline “TWAG Week” has been made very bold and clear against the rest of the front cover to ensure that a lot of attention is aimed at the top story. All together I think my magazine front cover has come out better than I thought and it has achieved all that it has needed to.

New blog reason/explanation

Me and Kyle thought it would be better to split up and go solo despite the bad timing due to serious contrasts in views. I couldn't see myself continuing working with Kyle and thought he would appreciate the ability to work without having to please someone else. I appreciate that now really isn't a good time to make this decision but I think I shall benefit from it, now and in the future.