Double Page Spread Sketch

Below is the sketch of which I did for my double page spread of my indie music magazine.

 

 

This is my sketch of my double page spread, it follows some conventions of a music magazine. On the left hand page there will be a title for the article of my double page spread. Below will be the subtitle for the magazine preferably in bold, followed by the text for the article with a bold quote in the middle column. On the right hand page will simply be a picture of my musician with a large quote from the article through the middle and to the left hand side bottom corner there will be information about the image such as name of artist, place it was taken, and the date it was taken. Lastly on both pages will be the page number in a triangle on the outer edge of the pages and also there will be the meaning of the title of the magazine (BMA) with the date next to it at the bottom of the pages. 

Contents Page Sketch

Below is a sketch of which I came up with for my contents page of my indie music magazine.

 

 

This contents page sketch includes conventions of a music magazine as well. I have placed the title of the contents page (masthead) at the top left hand side corner as this is where it is usually placed. Underneath this will be the meaning of my magazine title (BMA) and also the magazine date. Next on my contents page will be my contents information for my magazine. This will be presented as a list in different colours, sizes and maybe fonts. Beneath this will be some special features in my magazine so that the reader knows what page to turn to for things such as ways to win prizes or secret information. Next to this will be more contents information but more important pages with pictures to give the reader an insight to what is on the page. To the right of this is a list of bands and a page number. This will be so that the reader can search for their favourite band and find what page to find them on in a very quick way. In the top right hand corner, there will be a box with important pages on to read like popular stories. The left hand side bottom corner will be filled with a box which will inform the reader of different social networking sites that the magazine are on and ways to find the and follow their posts. Lastly in the bottom right hand corner there will be a box explaining how to subscribe to the magazine with information such as prices.



Front Cover Sketch

Below is a sketch of which I came up with for my front cover of my indie music magazine.

 

This front page sketch includes lots of different typical conventions of an indie music magazine. I have made sure I put my masthead at the top left hand side of the page accompanied with the date and price. I am using the main image as the background to the page with all the other conventions layered on top. I have put numerous cover lines on this front page as well to give the reader an insight to what the magazine is offering. The barcode is placed in the right hand bottom corner which is where it is generally found and I have also decided for it to be sideways so that more of the picture is seen, I also feel this looks neater. I will have the main text of my musicians name right across the centre of my page so that it is evident who my musician is. Lastly I have put two small pictures in the top right hand side corner to give the reader a little bit more to look at on the front cover.

Considering Models

For my photoshoot I had in mind what kind of model I wanted and what sort of pictures I wanted to recreate and interpret. Before my photoshoot I need to consider and decide on who I will choose to model for my magazine. Because my magazine is for indie music, I need to find a model that matches that style, for example, the way they dress. Also because it is a music magazine I have already decided that I want my model to have a guitar to make them look like a music star.

Model 1

My first model is called Alice. Alice is 18 years old and is 5'5". She has dark brown hair, brown eyes and an olive complexion. Alice plays the guitar as well which is helpful for me. Alice's dress style may be classed as indie but I can change that for the photoshoot specially. Alice's makeup isn't very natural most of the time yet I could possibly do it for the photoshoot. Alice is in education at University at the moment therefore her time is not very flexible.

 

Model 2

My second model is Romy. Romy is 17 years old and is 5'7". She has light brown hair, brown eyes and has a fair skin complexion. Romy also plays the guitar which is again helpful to me. Romy also has a dress sense which could be classed as indie but I can change that also for the photoshoot especially. Her make up is subtle and she can do it very well and professionally which would be good for me during the photoshoot. Romy is also in full time education doing her AS levels. Her time is still not greatly flexible like my other model but she does have more free time.

I have decided to use Romy as my model for my indie music magazine simply because I feel she has more free time to do the photoshoot than Alice will because of University. I would have been happy with either model yet due to time availability Romy would be a better model. I will be able to create a clear indie style on Romy using different hair styles, clothing and make up. I feel she will give off the right vibe for my music magazine.

Flat Plan

This is my flat plan. A flat plan is a plan of your magazine layed out to show what is on each page. I did this before any actual making of my magazine to plan out what was going to be on each page. This will help me a lot when in the production of my contents page. This flat plan tells me what is on each page and what page number things need to be put with on my contents page.This also shows me how long my magazine would be.

Font Questionnaire Results

I gave out my questionnaire about which font to use for my title of my indie music magazine. I asked ten people to complete it for me. From the responses I got I decided to make a pie chart to show my results.

This pie chart clearly shows that from asking ten people which font they thought would look best as a title for an indie music magazine, one person chose A, two chose B and seven chose C. Because of this I will use font C as the title for my indie music magazine.


Here is option C. As this is the chosen font I will use this font but I may change the colour and size before I put it on my magazine. I like this font and I am glad I was chosen, it is abstract which ties in with the indie theme and I don't think it is too much, it is simple.

Questionnaire About Fonts

Question 1.) Which font do you feel would look best on the cover of an indie music magazine as the masthead?

A)

B)

C)

 

 

 

 

 

Font Ideas For Title

I have been recently considering a font for my masthead for my magazine. I have found a few fonts of which I like. I have decided that i will do a questionnaire on my fonts to see which one people like best and then I will use that one as my final choice. I cut down my choices to these three fonts in particular because i thought all of them were bold and eye catching yet not too masculine as i want it to feel feminine. Below are the three fonts which I narrowed my choices down to.

Font 1:

Font 2:



Font 3:

 

Next I am going to create a questionnaire asking which font the person doing the questionnaire feels would look best on a indie magazine as the masthead. I will be asking 10 people which font they prefer.

 

Title Ideas For Indie Music Magazine

What is your title for your magazine?

For my magazine title I had numerous ideas for the title. I wasn't sure whether I wanted the title to be a word, a few words or letters that stand for something. I made a note of the titles i came up with overall and then narrowed it down to what I thought would look best.

Here is a list of the possibilities I made for my masthead title:

-Indie

-IMC (Indie Music Channel)

-Indie Music

-BMA (British Music Academy)

-IMF (Indie Music Fusion)

-Fusion

-Music Fusion

Once I had listed my ideas, I thought about the main magazine that I am basing my own music magazine on (NME) and I narrowed it down to the masthead being letters which stand for something. NME's magazine title stands New Musical Express. I thought that this was an effective way to make the magazine look professional as well as give it meaning. Once I had narrowed it down to my last three options, IMC (Indie Music Channel), BMA (British Music Academy) and IMF (Indie Music Fusion) I had to see which one sounded best, looked best and one that people thought was catchy. First of all I said them to myself to see which one sounded most natural, I found that BMA sounded the best. I then looked at each one to see which one looked the best. I looked at the letters to see if they complimented each other well, I found the best one here was also BMA. Lastly, I asked a couple of friends which one they thought sounded most natural when saying them. out of asking 6 friends 4 came back saying BMA felt the most natural, followed by 1 vote for IMF and 1 for IMC.

Overall, I took in all the information of which I found from doing my little tests and it seemed as if BMA was top. Therefore BMA, standing for British Music Academy, will be the title for my indie music magazine.

Questionnaire Response Evaluation

When I looked over eight responses to my questionnaire, I found half of them gave answers of which I liked most. The four I picked out all included my genre, indie music, which therefore I found most helpful for me when I am making my magazine. From my questionnaire I can now see what different people like and what they would want to see or read about in my magazine. I will now evaluate each question individually so I can see clearly which responses I should take on board.

Question 1.) Do you read music magazines?

I took all of the responses of which said they did read music magazines. I did this because otherwise the rest of the questions would be irrelevant to me and would not help at all. It is important that the people said yes because therefore they would give me what they, as an indie music magazine reader, would like to find in a new indie music magazine as these people are my target audience.

Question 2.) If so which music magazines do you read?

This question gave me a range of magazines of which the people who answered my questionnaire gave me, but I picked the four whose answers gave magazines with genres closest to mine. This is helpful information because I can now look at the most read magazines by indie music fans and see what makes them so popular and appealing to this type of audience. I can the interpret this information into my own magazine.

Question 3.) What is you favourite genre of music?

The four answers I took from these responses all had indie in them. Therefore the information I was receiving confirmed it was from the target audience I was looking for. I also gave me an insight to other genres that indie music lovers also like. This hinted to me and what genres can fit well and what other audiences I might draw in as well.

Question 4.) What would you like to see on the cover of a music magazine?

Most of the responses that I received for this question was a general what you find on the front cover of any magazine. But this information was still helpful because I then knew I shouldn't change everything on the front cover other than to maybe make it a not busy but simple.

Question 5.) What information would you like to find within the music magazine?

Responses for this question was also very similar to what you would normally find in a music magazine anyway. But I found a couple of extra things of which I could include such as gig dates, tour dates and festival dates for bands.

Question 6.) How much would you be willing to pay for a music magazine?

Nearly all of my responses for this question were £3. Because of this I have decided to price my magazine at this price, therefore I know that people are willing to pay this amount and I can guarantee that it would be bought.

Question 7.) How often would you like the music magazine to release a new issue?

Every answer for this question was monthly. I think this is because sometimes it is a little expensive to buy a magazine every week therefore over a month you have time to save for the next issue. I also think this is because it gives you a whole month to reader and check out articles in the magazine not in a rush, as I imagine it would in the space of a week before the next issue would come out.

Questionnaire Response 4

Brandon, aged 22

Question 1.) Do you read music magazines?

- Yes

Question 2.) If so which music magazines do you read?

- NME and MOJO

Question 3.) What is you favourite genre of music?

- Indie, Rock, Alternative and Drum & Bass

Question 4.) What would you like to see on the cover of a music magazine?

- I would like to see what I would find inside and who the articles are about

Question 5.) What information would you like to find within the music magazine?

- I would like to find out things I didn't know about music I like

Question 6.) How much would you be willing to pay for a music magazine?

- £3

Question 7.) How often would you like the music magazine to release a new issue?

- Monthly

Questionnaire Response 3

Sam, aged 19

Question 1.) Do you read music magazines?

- Yes

Question 2.) If so which music magazines do you read?

- Q magazine

Question 3.) What is you favourite genre of music?

- Indie and Alternative

Question 4.) What would you like to see on the cover of a music magazine?

- I would like to see pictures of the artists I like

Question 5.) What information would you like to find within the music magazine?

- I would like to find out about my favourite artsists

Question 6.) How much would you be willing to pay for a music magazine?

- £3

Question 7.) How often would you like the music magazine to release a new issue?

- Monthly

Questionnaire Response 2

Elea, aged 17

Question 1.) Do you read music magazines?

- Yes

Question 2.) If so which music magazines do you read?

- NME

Question 3.) What is you favourite genre of music?

- Indie

Question 4.) What would you like to see on the cover of a music magazine?

- I would like to see information of what I could find inside the magazine

Question 5.) What information would you like to find within the music magazine?

- I would like to find out about upcoming gigs/festivals and new artists

Question 6.) How much would you be willing to pay for a music magazine?

- £3

Question 7.) How often would you like the music magazine to release a new issue?

- Monthly

Questionnaire Response 1

Alice, aged 18

Question 1.) Do you read music magazines?

- Yes

Question 2.) If so which music magazines do you read?

- Kerrang, NME

Question 3.) What is you favourite genre of music?

- Indie, Pop, R&B

Question 4.) What would you like to see on the cover of a music magazine?

- I would like to see music artists

Question 5.) What information would you like to find within the music magazine?

- I would like to find out about new bands in the magazine

Question 6.) How much would you be willing to pay for a music magazine?

- £2.50

Question 7.) How often would you like the music magazine to release a new issue?

- Monthly

Audience Questionnaire

Below is a questionnaire that I created. I will be giving it out to people I know to see what answers I get back. When I have received all my feedback I will choose which ones I feel give the best response.

Question 1.) Do you read music magazines?

Question 2.) If so which music magazines do you read?

Question 3.) What gender are you?

Question 4.) How old are you?

Question 5.) What is you favourite genre of music?

Question 6.) What would you like to see on the cover of a music magazine?

Question 7.) What information would you like to find within the music magazine?

Question 8.) How much would you be willing to pay for a music magazine?

Question 9.) How often would you like the music magazine to release a new issue?

Target Audience

Who is your target audience?

My target audience will be teenagers from age 14 to young adults age 24. I have chosen this target audience because I feel that indie music is aimed more for the younger generation yet has some older assets within it. My target audience gender will be male and female. This is because I want it to be equally divided not providing any gender with more than the other. Even though my research showed more men read an indie magazine than women I want my magazine to bring in more female attention. I will do this by not specifically making the magazine look more masculine or feminine, I will make it look neutral. The audience of which I will be targeting my magazine at do not shop in particular places and buy certain brands but they do have their own style of clothing. Indie clothing is thought of as original, individual and fashionable. Normally indie clothing is slightly obscure but generally looks very eye catching an trendy. Therefore there will be no complete target for shopping in certain places or for certain brands in my magazine although I may include some brands or shops. I have noticed some shops or brands that indie music fans seem to shop mostly in or shops that I class as selling indie style clothing these shops are Topshop/Topman, Urban Outfitters and River Island. Even though I see these shops/brands as indie some others do not so I will not present them as specifically indie. I do not believe that all people who buy indie music magazines have the same interests because they are individual. Therefore if I include some interests in my magazine they wont be specifically for indie music lovers. The only thing that may be aimed at my target audience is gigs from indie music fans.

Artist Analysis - Jake Bugg

Jake Bugg 'Star Image' Analysis

Jake Bugg is a musician, singer and songwriter from Nottingham. Jake's real name is Jake Edwin Charles Kennedy but changed it to Jake Bugg for his stage name. Jake changed his last name to Bugg because it was his fathers surname and he also thought it had more or a catchy ring to it rather than Kennedy. Jake Bugg is made to be seen as a typical teenager so that teenagers can relate to him. He dresses very casual yet has his own style. He is a popular indie music male singer and has won some very impressive awards therefore making him a great role model. Even though his image is very rough and relaxed his music has so much meaning and shows his very intelligent side.

 

Jake Bugg is a good artist who relates to my target audience because of his talents and style is the type of things my target audience will like. He is a male musician therefore he would attract hopefully male and female attention to my magazine.

Artists Analysis - Nina Nesbitt

Nina Nesbitt 'Star Image' Analysis

Nina Nesbitt is 19 and from Scotland. She is a singer-songwriter and guitarist. Nina kept her real name as her stage name because she liked it. Nina Nesbitt isn't a very famous music artist but in the indie music industry she is fairly popular. She is portrayed as very relaxed, such as her clothing and style is all very messy but feminine. She is also young which is good for the indie music industry as the majority of indie music listeners are of the younger generation. Because Nina isn't so famous and in the spotlight it doesn't make her look as wealthy and as having a higher status therefore it appeals to teenagers more making them able to feel like they can relate to her more.

Nina Nesbitt relates to my target audience also because she is young. She also writes music which is a good skill which other young people aspire to be able to do, and these teenagers will be who I am targeting my magazine at. She is a great role model for teens and therefore she fits well into my magazine due to her talents.

Artist Analysis - Lorde

Lorde 'Star Image' Analysis

Lorde is a 17 year old singer-songwriter from New Zealand. Her real name is Ella Maria Lani Yelich-O'Connor but she chose her stage name Lorde as she was fascinated with royals and aristocracy. She thought that the word Lord at first was too masculine so decided to add an 'e' to the end making it more feminine. Lorde has recently become extremely well known for releasing her newest biggest hit song "Royals". I feel that Lorde is presented to the public eye as a grown woman is made to look a lot older than she really is. Even though she is a typical teenager like me, I feel that because the way the media present her as rich, talented and intelligent I feel as if she is older. Even so I look up to her as many other teenagers do, aspiring to look like her and be as successful at such a young age.

Lorde relates to my target audience because she is a young musician. This relates to my target audience because the people who my magazine will be aimed at will also be young a interested in music like she is. Also as she is a female this will attract more woman to my magazine hopefully too.

Star Image

What is 'Star Image'?

Star Image is the representation of an actor that is fabricated through the media texts of promotion, publicity, television programs, and criticism. This means how an actor, actress, pop star or any famous person is portrayed through the media and how the public are made to see them. Some musicians have a split image where they are different in the oublic eye than when they are in the comfort of their own home, family or friends. Musicains perfer to do this because sometimes it can give them more fame. Sometimes stars have a specific thing which makes them recogniseable wherever they go, for example Miley Cyrus has recently created sticking her tongue out as something that people can relate to her as. Another example is Proffessor Green. Proffessor Green has lots of tattoo therefore people can identify him by his tattoos.

Main Publishers For Indie Magazines

Who are the main publishers for magazines of this genre?

I did some research into publishers for indie magazines. I found out some main publishers for the magazines that I will be basing my own magazine on. NME magazine is published by Ellinor Miles, SPIN magazine is published by Malcolm Campbell. Lastly Q magazine is published by Bauer Media, a company in Hamburg, Germany which publish worldwide.

Target Audience Research

Who is the target audience?

The target audience for my indie music magazine is teenagers to young adults, ages 15- 28. I have picked this target audience because I feel that indie music magazines are aimed more towards the younger generation and generally it is younger people who listen to this genre. I researched into NME magazine which is the magazine which I will closely relate my own music magazine to and I found some statistics which helped me determine my target audience.

These statistics that I found are interesting. The first pie chat displays what social class reads NME magazine more. This shows that The higher classes seem to buy and read it more compared to the lower classes. I decided this was because NME isn't extremely cheap therefore higher classes would be able to afford it. Also I thought this was because higher classes can also afford more luxuries like music on radios, computers, electronic devices, etc. in comparison to the lower classes. The second pie chart demonstrates that more men than women read NME. I am not quite sure why this would be but the difference between the men's percentage and the woman's isn't drastically different therefore I will not be targeting it at a certain gender. The last pie chart presents which age group reads NME the most. This seems to be people aged between 15-34. I also do not know why this age group specifically reads NME more but I took this information and decided on my own age target audience based on this information.

Conventions of the genre Indie

What seen to be the conventions of the genre Indie?

Whilst looking and the genre Indie, I have noticed that some conventions that appear in most of the indie magazines I looked at. I looked at three magazines, NME, SPIN and Q. I noticed when observing them that all that the mastheads and all in red and white, whether it's a red background with white writing on top or red writing with a white outline. One other thing that I realised all the indie music magazines had in common was that on the front cover there is always a music artist. Generally the artist on the front is the main story on the inside and they have a double page spread. Another thing I saw was that two of the magazines (Q and NME) had their barcode on the front cover in the right hand bottom corner. This was different to the other magazine (SPIN) because it didn't have a barcode on the front cover at all. One other thing I noticed when comparing and looking at the indie music magazines was that they always have band names or band pictures on the front to show the reader what type of magazine it is and also what the issue will be talking about. You can see proof of these conventions in the actual magazines that I compared below.







































After reading and analysing these indie music magazines I decided I would try to use the same conventions so that m own magazine would look the same and give a similar feel. I will also follow the conventions closely because I want to interpret the magazine how I feel it would make it more popular so I will follow the conventions yet change something slightly.