Sunday, 27 February 2011

Shot Plan:

Our next task was to create a shot plan that we will be following on the Deep Learning Day on Wednesday. Below is my detailed shot plan:

Front Cover:

 Contents Page:

Double Page Spread:

Friday, 25 February 2011

Evaluation of Flat Plan: Double Page Spread.

For my double page spread, I took inspiration again from the magazine; Q. For their double page spread, they used the singer; Adele. This is the double page spread I am hoping to use for my final magazine. Below is the analysis of my double page spread. With this, I'll justify the decisions I have made.


Colours:
For the colours on this page, I've carried on with the conventional colour scheme for an indie magazine: red, black and white. In contrast to these colours, I have asked my model to wear different shades of blue to represent the stereotypical male (as blue is associated with the gender.) I've tried to limit my colours as I don't want my double page spread to be too cluttered. 


Layout:
For the layout of my double page spread, I wanted to keep it quite simplistic. With the columns on my double page spread, I took inspiration from Q magazine and various magazines I've read in the past. Most people are going to put a box around their columns however, I feel this represents the barriers that will slow solo artists and bands down. I've decided to let my columns flow throughout the page to show that my model is going at a steady pace throughout his music career. 


Main Image:
My main image on my double page spread is on the top right of the second page. In this image, my model will be positioned in the middle of the set that I will be using. I've kindly asked my model to bring in his ukulele and guitar on the day of the photo-shoot which will be positioned either next to him or behind him (however, the consumers will still be able to see these instruments.) I didn't want this image to be too big as I want the interview to be the most important feature on these two pages. In my main image, I will have a spotlight on my model showing that it's his time to shine. However, I might change this position and have my model play either his ukulele or his guitar. 


Other Images:
As I didn't want my double page spread to be too cluttered, I've only placed two more images on it. The image with the black line going around it will represent everything that my model likes e.g. drama, music etc. I've decided to have my model give a natural pose to show his laid back personality. However, this might change as this might seem dull and tedious. One other option could be him praying (symbolising that he's hoping he'll have a long career ahead of him!) The image next to his name at the top of the page was just used to fill up the gap. However, after I thought about it, I might photoshop this image to make it look like a polaroid showing that my magazine can be vintage and retro.


Text:
The text on my double page spread will be very simplistic as I don't want it to look too cluttered. All of the text on this spread will be black to contrast against the white background. The quotes I'll be pulling out from the interview will either be in red or blue. I'm liking the idea of having them in blue to again, represent the stereotypical male. The quotes will also be in bold and italicised to show its importance in the interview. The font size of my model name will be large to remind the readers who the double page spread is about. 

Monday, 21 February 2011

Evaluation of Flat Plan: Contents Page.

For my contents page, I took inspiration from the popular indie magazine; Q. Below is the analysis of my contents. With, this, I'll justify my decisions made and how it stands out from other magazines.


Colour: 
The main colours on this page are red, black and white. I decided to carry on with this colour scheme from the front page as I wanted my consumers to know what magazine they were reading. As my music magazine is based on indie music, as these are the usual colours for a conventional indie magazine. The red page numbers on my contents page also stand out against my white background which links to the masthead on the front cover. 


Layout:
The layout of my magazine is very simple and concise. The contents page is aligned to the left, centre and underneath the small picture which makes the contents page a lot more clearer to my target audience. For the 'COVER STORY', 'FEATURES', 'COMPETITIONS' and 'REGULARS', I've decided to use the iPod logos. This relates to my target audience as almost every single teenager has either an iPod or MP3 player. The main titles for my articles have to written in black whilst the description has been written in red. This makes it easier for my audience to understand what the articles and interviews are about. 


Text: 
The font of the masthead: 'Indie Jam', is the same as the front cover. Although on the image of my contents page there isn't a '16' in bold on the picture of the boy playing guitar, for my final contents page layout, I'll have the number '16' in bold to show that this is the cover story and the most important article in the magazine. The names of the articles have been capitalised on my contents page to show the difference between the titles and descriptions. 


Image: 
On my contents page, I've only included two small images. However, the main image on my contents page is of the boy playing the guitar. I've decided to include not as many images on my contents page as opposed to a regular magazine as I wanted my contents page to be concise and simple.

Wednesday, 16 February 2011

Evaluation of Flat Plan: Front Page.

For our next task, we were asked to design a flat plan for our music magazine. Whilst carrying out this task, I took into consideration what I had discovered when completing my questionnaire and when carrying out my market research (i.e. researching indie magazines and the conventions of two particular magazines - mine being 'Q' and 'NME.' Below is an analysis of my front cover. With this, I'll justify the decisions I've made and what I plan on changing when producing my magazine cover.

The name for my magazine is Indie Jam. I had an idea of what I wanted my magazine to be called for a few weeks and I feel this name is catchy and easy to remember. I decided on 'Indie Jam' as I wanted to put across to my consumers that this is in fact an indie magazine. The word 'jam' is usually associated with teenagers and young adults as it's slang. Although when you hear the word 'jam' , you instantly think of the food however, 'jam' also means to hang out with friends. Due to the fact that this is in fact a music magazine, I decided on 'Jam' as it also means: to play an instrument with great intensity.


Colour Schemes:

For my front page, I settled on the colours; red, black, white and blue. These would continue on onto the contents page and double page spread. When designing my flat plan, I decided to have my background as blue and this would appeal to my male audience. When looking at my front cover after I had completed it, I decided that I wanted my background to be white to represent the conventional indie magazine. I feel this represents my target audience (16-20) as the colour scheme is simple and concise. On my front cover, there is only one image and this instantly grabs the consumers attention as there isn't much to look at.

Articles:

On my front cover, I've included well-known bands such as Paramore, Kings of Leon and My Chemical Romance as well as the world phenomenon we know as Lady Gaga. I've chosen these artists as my target audience is more familiar with them. I've picked out key words on the front cover for example: 'Has 'Gaga' gone GAGA?! has this outrageous aritst become FAME hungry?' I used her popular album name 'The Fame.' to get the readers interested and to familiarise themselves with the artist.
For my main article, I chose to write my artists name in a bigger font than the other articles in order to show its importance.

Selling Line:

The selling line for my magazine is 'THE UK'S LEADING INDIE MAGAZINE.' I chose to have this as my selling line as I want the consumers to notice that people are buying my magazines and liking it which increases interest in new readers.

Main Image:

The main image is of Jake Bentley Ross who is an up and coming singer/song-writer from South London. I've decided to have only him on my front cover as I don't want my front page to look too cluttered. He takes up the entire page making him the exclusive purpose of this issue. The outfit I have picked out for my model is a dark blue cardigan, a light blue plaid shirt, skinny jeans and blue converse. - I decided to have this outfit to represent that this magazine is unisex.

Button:

For my button, I chose to include the singer; Ellie Goulding. By including this artist, more people will be interested in buying my magazine as she has often been regarded as a fashion icon as she has an edgier style.

Wednesday, 9 February 2011

Q & NME Contents Page Analysis.

During one period, we were asked to analyse the contents pages of two magazines. I've chosen Q and NME. In this slideshow, I'll be talking about the text, images, layout and colour of both contents pages.

Friday, 4 February 2011

Q & NME Magazine Front Cover Analysis.

We were asked to analyse two front covers based on our chosen genre. I chose NME which is aimed at younger audiences and Q which is aimed at older audiences. I chose these two to see the differences between their target audiences and how their target audience influenced their front covers.

Double Page Spread Analysis.


'Q' Magazine:
Whilst reading and studying this double page spread, I've learnt that editors reflect their layout of the interviews and articles based on the personality of their main artists featured for example, with the use of natural colours, I now understand that Adele is a very down-to-earth soul singer. 

During this task, I've learned that I need to take into consideration who will actually read my magazine - depressed teens, working class adults etc so, I need to think about my word choices carefully. In order to make my magazine stand out, I need to make my interview informative so it will hook the reader and so it won't look like a typical question and answer interview. In this magazine, the layout as tidy and not too busy. As well as this, they have often embedded quotes on each page. I think I'll be sticking to this sophisticated and classy theme as I want to appeal to my older audience as well as my younger audience. 

'NME' Magazine:
With this both of these double page spreads (James Allan and Barry Nicolson), I've learnt that they pretty have the same concept however, the layout has just been changed. Although I do like the layout of these two double page spreads, I have to say, I do prefer Q's double page spread as the colours they've used as natural which will be a great contrast to my magazine front cover. As well as this, the double page spread isn't too busy with colour whereas with the James Allan double page spread, there is so much to look at (the white beam, the red background - you can't really read the standfirst either)