Front cover of my magazine so far!

Here is a photograph of the front cover of my magazine so far.
I stuck to the original picture I was planning to use for the front cover of my magazine as I felt this shows the genre of the magazine well and the image of the type of person that Hayley Williams is. I cut the model out of the original background in the forest as I felt this didnt show the genre as well. I had difficulty doing so at first, but after a couple of tries I was able to cut my artist out and place her on to a white/grey background. The reason for me choosing to use this colour background is because most rock magazines use this idea so the target audience would recognise it straight away as a rock type magazine. I also stuck to the colours that were red, yellow, white and black for my magazine to create a good housestyle. I experimented with highlighting certain pieces of text to make them stand out more and make them clear and easier to read. I included a few inducements on the front cover like free posters however for my final front cover I feel it would be a good idea to add another inducement. This will be chances to win tickets to upcoming gigs. I have decided this as I feel this would attract even more reader attention to Pulse. Also the barcode is slightly unclear so I will try to make this clear so it is readable.

More Photos of my female solo artist!

Here are a few more photographs I have taken of my female artist.

The idea for this image came from a photograph I had found of Hayley Williams. I decided to make this image my own as my female artist is based on the image of this celebrity as she is someone that my target market are very likely to be interested in.


If i decide to use this image in my magazine I will be cutting the girl out in order to remove the background and place her onto a plain one.

I decided not to use this image as I did not like the facial expression as I did not feel it represented the genre of rock very well.

This is the photograph i am thinking about using on my double page spread. I got the idea of this image from the photo of Hayley Williams I have previously blogged. However I made the photograph my own by having the model hold her head. I like the facial expression as I feel it represents the genre as you would not see a picture like this in a pop or country magazine. However when I use this photo I may think about cutting the model out to remove the forest background.

This is the image I am planning to use on my double page spread also. If i was to use this one I would be using it as one of the smaller images located around the page. I will be editing each photo that I decide to use for PULSE.

Here I have photographed my artist whilst singing and playing the guitar.

Again a picture of my female solo artist playing her guitar.

For this image I tried to re-create a photo of Hayley Williams. However in the end I did not like the facial expression so decided not to use this image on my magazine.

This is the image I tried to re-create but also make my own.

Below you can see how I edited some of the images I wanted to use in my magazine.

Here is the original image. Iwanted to make the colours more vibrant in order to make the picture more interesting and eye-catching. I also needed to remove the date from the camera in the bottom right hand corner. This is the image I decided to use on my double page spread.



As you can see I have removed the date from the camera and have made the colours more vibrant and eye-catching, I have also tried to remove the sunlight off of the female artists jacket.

Photographs of my female solo artist!

I have now taken pictures of my female artist for my magazine. I will be using some of these pictures for my front cover, contents page and double page spread so it was vital that I took enough pictures of her in order to choose the best ones to place on each page. I dressed my female artist in black so that she could match the colours used in the magazine and create the image of rock. I dressed her in a way that the target audience would be interested in and their attention would be drawn to.


I started off by taking medium shot pictures and close ups of my artist that i would be hoping to use on my front cover. Most of these involved just simple pictures of her smiling just like the pictures iIfound of Hayley Williams. In these pictures there is a forest background as this is where the majority of my photos were taken so for the main image i had to cut the female artists out and place the cropped photograph onto a plain background. I had difficulty doing this at first but after a few tries i managed to do so.

If i was to use this image I would obviously be editing it to make it stand out more to the readers. I would be editing the eyes to make the colour more prominent, I would also do the same with her lips and hair. I would also be cutting her out so that there is no forest background so that it could be placed on a plain white/grey coloured background.


However I decided not to use this one as I didnt like the fact that her head was facing more to the right, I wanted a picture of her facing the camera more.

This next photograph that was taken was exactly how I wanted my female artist to be positioned. In this photo you can see she is facing the camera more and looking directly at it which is what I had planned that artists to do as it makes you feel like she is looking directly at you which will catch reader attention.


This is the photo I have decided to use for my main image as I feel this relates to the rock genre and clearly shows it. This is because she is wearing the types of clothes that the target audience would be interested in and these are also the types of clothing that many other rock artists wear (dark clothing).


Here are a few more images I photographed of my artist.

I really liked this image however I felt this picture was too 'smiley' for a rock magazine and was more likely to be used in a pop type magazine. Rock magazines dont usually have their models smiling too much.

Again for the same reasons as one of the previous photos I did not use this as the model was facing away from the camera.

I also liked this photo as the model was facing the camera directly and you can clearly see that the clothing the artist is wearing is suitable for the rock genre. I may decide to use this on my double page spread. If I did decide this i would again crop her out leaving out the background.

Before taking more photos of my female solo artist I decided to take a couple of pictures of the group of people that would pose as my rock band called The Mondays. These are a rock band that dress slightly 'Geeky' to be unique with their clothing and style, however they are still a ROCK band.

This is the photo I decided to use for the band The Mondays. However there were a few changes I want to make with this photo. I will remove the drawn on black spots on the member's cheeks and I will cut them out so I am able to place them on a plain background.

Another image I took for the Mondays was a picture of one of the band members that I am considering using for the contents page.

This is the image I decided to take of one of the band members from The Mondays. Above is the original image. Below I have removed the drawn on black spots and changed the artists hair colour to make her fit the genre even more. I may be using this on my contents page to represent the article of the band she belongs to.

Looking at other existing artists for inspiration!

Before taking photos of the models or my magazine I decided to look at existing celebrities to help me create the image of my solo artists and other members featured in my magazine. I wanted to create artists that my target audience are likely to be interested in. I researched artists that have been featured in other rock magazines such as Kerrang and Q to help me decide what body langauge they should use and how to position them in my photos.


The first artist I looked at was Hayley Williams from the band paramore. I looked at this particular artists to help me out with my solo female artist that is going to be featured on my front cover, contents page and double page spread.
The first few images I looked at were,

From the smaller image Hayley is looking directly at the camera which is something I will want my solo female artist to be doing for the main image on my front cover. This is so that the audience is drawn to the celebrities eyes and they can feel like they are looking directly at them. She also has bright red hair and is wearing black, this creates the image of rock as these two colours are featured a lot in rock magazines as I found out from my research on magazines. I will want my solo artist to also be wearing black. Also the person I am planning to photograph for this has red hair. In all of Hayleys photos she seems to either be smiling or pulling another face, this is what I will be making my female artist do. I will have a few pictures of her smiling and the rest will be 'crazy' faces. These types of images are used a lot in other magazines such as Kerrang.

Here is an image of her pulling a crazy face. This image was used in a Kerrang issue. This is the type of thing I will be getting my artists to do as I feel it would interest the reader and show what type of artist she is. This also shows what type of magazine it is as this type of image would not be found in a pop or country magazine as they use much more calm images. I will be getting my model to pose like this however I will make it my own image by maybe getting her to hold her head.


As I wanted to include a band photo on my front cover I needed to look at band pictures to help me understand how to position them. For this again I looked at the band paramore. I noticed that in most band pictures each member is positioned very close to one another. Usually a few members are further more backwards than others as you can see in the photograph below;

Branding!

Before creating my magazine, I needed to think about BRANDING. Branding and the readers relationship with my rock magazine is very important. I need to make my magazine influence the readers and persuade them into buying it. It is important to make a good relationship with the readers so that they can feel they relate to it and the celebrities featured in it in some way.


One way in which I can do this is through typography. This involves using the text, font and colours to attract the readers attention. As I want to attract people that like rock music I will not be using light and calm colours like pink and green I will be using intense colours that are usually associated with rock, these are yellows, reds, black and white. This will help me to attract the right target market. I will also need to make sure that the content of my magazine suits the target audience. I wont be taking about music from a different genre I will need to make sure all information relates to the idea of rock. This will keep the readers interested in the articles featured in my magazine as i am providing them with the type of content they are interested in and want to read. By including interviews with the solo artist this will also help create a relationship between the reader and the magazine as they will feel like they are getting to know the celebrity with the magazine. They will feel like they are involved in the interview.

Sketched draft of my double page spread!

Finally I have created a sketched draft of my double page spread. This is what I hope it will look like.
My double page spread focuses on an article on my female solo artist 'Luna Heart'. It will include a small fact file on the celebrity and an interview with her. This will help the readers get to know her well. As my target market will be fans of this artists I will need to make sure I am providing them with everything they want to know about her, thats one of the reasons why I am including the fact file. The interview will be a Q & A interview.
I am planning to have one large image featured on the left side of the double page spread and then a few small images located all around the page. I will be separating the interview into about three collumns to spread the text out so it is easy for the readers to read and isnt all crammed together so it is unclear.


Here is a picture of what I want my final double page spread to look like;

A sketched draft of my contents page!

Now I have a clear idea of what I want my front cover to look like I have created a draft for my contents page.
For my contents page I will be including pictures of two different artists, one being the solo artist I used for the main image on my front cover. This artist I will also be using for my double page spread as she is the type of solo artist my target audience are likely to be most interested in.
From the analysis of the previous contents pages I looked at from magazines such as Kerrang and Q I have decided to set my contents page out into different sections so it makes it easier for the readers to read. Also this makes the magazine look well structured and organised which also makes it seem professional. Also by doing this it makes it easier for the readers to find the type of article they are wanting to read.
I stuck to the same consitent housestyle again. However on my draft there are a few things I may change. For example where some text is highlighted black I may like to change this to yellow. I will do this to see which looks better and makes the text easier and clearer to read. The colour red also relates to my solo female artist as she has bright red hair so this creates a good effect. I have also included some of the inducements on my contents page, these being chances for the readers to win tickets and free posters.


Here is my sketched draft of what I hope my contents page will look like once it is finished;

A sketched draft of my front cover!

To plan how I was going to set out the front cover of my production I have sketched a draft of what I want the magazine to look like. I will be doing the same for the contents page and the double page spread.
One my front cover I have decided to have the main image as my female solo artist. She will be the main focus of the rock magazine. I have based the look of my artist on an existing celebrity named Hayley Williams. She is a member of the band paramore. Even though she is not a solo artist I still decided to make my model similar to her as she is the type of artist that my target audience will be interested in. I have named my female artist Luna Heart, this is a unique name which would hopefully draw in a lot of attention. My female artists is not the only celebrity I am including on my front cover, I will also be including a band I have named The Mondays. This adds even more interest to the magazine as the target audience are provided with a number of articles on different artists. I have included inducements such as free posters and I will try to come up with a few more in order to attract a lot of reader attention to Pulse.
I have created a good housestyle by only using  yellows, reds, black and white colours for the front cover, I will do this throughout the magazine. This makes it look structured well and more professional.

Here is the draft of what I hope my final production will look like;

Magazine Pitch!

Once I had finished the research for my magazine it was time to pitch my ideas. By doing this I can clearly set out the plan for my rock magazine. My research has helped me to get a clear idea on how my contents page, front cover and double page spread has been set out.
However there was one more small bit of research I wanted to carry out to help me decide on a name for my magazine. To help me decide this I looked at the existing names that have been used for this type of genre magazine..
The names I found were;

• Q
• Kerrang
• NME
• Rolling Stone
• Mojo
• Clash

What I realised about each of these was that all are very short and simple and relate to the genre of music in the magazine. The first name I considered was 'LOUD' as rock music tends to be very loud when played. However I did not feel this would interest the readers as much. The final name I came up with was Pulse. I felt that this related to the rock genre as all rock songs have a particular pulse and beat. I also stuck with this name as it is catchy, short and simple, just like the existing magazine names.

The genre I have chosen to focus my magazine on is Rock. This decision was made for a number of reasons. This is the type of music I am most interested in and therefore I felt by choosing rock this would work to my advantage as I would have an idea on how to attract the target audience as they will be similar to me and will enjoy the same type of music. I did think about creating a country magazine but once i had carried out my research I realised I didnt like the way in which these magazines were set out and didnt find them as interesting as the rock magazines.

The house style I have decided to use are the colours red, yellow, black and white. I have chosen these colours as most rock magazines use these consistent colours to attract their audiences. These would clearly show the genre of the magazine as this type of audience reading the rock magazines would recognise this particular house style. I will be using the same colours for my front cover, contents page and double page spread.

The target audience for my magazine would obviously be people that are interested in this particular type of music (Rock) as I will be focusing my articles on celebrities that produce this genre of music. I will need to make sure that the celebrities I include in my magazine are ones that the target audience are going to be interested in. I will also be aiming my production at a fairly young audience.

In order to be able to understand what the readers are going to want from my magazine I needed to create a small profile of them to find out the artists they like and dislike. To find this out I used the internet and asked a few people that fit into the target audience I want to attract.
Likes; Paramore, My chemical Romance, Enter Shikari, Bring me the Horizon, Lost Prophets
Dislikes; One direction, Justin Beiber, Beyonce, Bruno Mars
From this I can see the types of artists I should include in my magazine and the ones I shouldnt in order to attract the readers interest. I want to make sure the magazine targets all of the audiences interests and that they enjoy what they are reading.

The types of images iIam going to be using will be focused on solo rock artists. I will be thinking about using a female and a male artist in order to include both genres. I will also include pictures of the public to show the celebrities fans. I will be using a main image of my female solo artist for the front cover of the magazine.

For the double page spread I will be mainly using images of my female solo artist. The male and other female artist I will be including in my magazine will mainly be featured on the contents page and small images of them may be included on the front cover around my main image. On my double page spread I will be including an interview with the celebrity. This will hopefully create reader interest and will make them feel like they know the solo artist.

The type of inducements I will be using will be ones such as free posters of the celebrities included with my magazine, special offers on new albums coming out and the chance for the readers to win tickets to gigs coming up in the year. To make these inducements stand out I will use buzz words.

Researching Double page spreads!

Now I have researched contents pages and front covers I need to look at double page spreads to get an idea on how they should be set out and what I should include on mine. I will be analysing the contents pages of the same rock magazines Kerrang and Q.


The first double page spread I looked at was from Kerrang Magazine. The large image of this band member is the main part of this double page spread however a lot of room has still been left for the article. I want my target audience to enjoy the article I include in my magazine and I feel a way I could ensure this would be to set my double page out similarly to this one by using large images as the key focus. This would also help to draw in the readers attention. This magazine has also included an interview with this celebrity which is something I want to include on my double page spread to make up the article and to make the readers feel like they were involved and to help them get to know the celebrities featured in my magazine better. However this celebrity is looking down whereas in my photographs i want to focus on the body langauge and facial expressions on the celebrities to express the genre of my magazine effectively.


The next double page spread was taken from Q magazine. Again the magazine has used large images to draw in the readers attention to the article which is something I wish to do with my final production. Similarly to the previous magazine even though large images have been used there is still plenty of room for the article. On my magazine I want to use a variety of images to give the readers a straight away clear idea of the content of the article on these two pages. By using these images Q helps its target audience identify straight away that the article is going to be about the band shown in the photographs.


The next double page spread I analysed was taken from the magazine NME. This magazine focuses  a lot on the image that has been used. The image of the female artists links well to the background of the two pages and the content of the article.
The female artist is sitting on what appears to be the american flag and 'USA' has been written in the background. Also the way that the clelebrity has been positioned gives her power and gives the impression to the readers that she is powerful. The way she has been photographed makes her seem slightly larger than normal which gives the idea of power. Also the colours that have been used here link to this idea as the colour red symbolises the idea of passion and in this issue power also. When photographing my female artist I will think about this idea and how I will link them to the article and its contents.


The research on the double page spreads has shown me that each rock magazine focuses  a lot on the images it uses for these two pages. Therefore I have decided to use a number of images relating and linking effectively to the article in order to make my magazine look well resented and to catch the target audiences attention.

Researching 2nd contents Page!

Now I have researched one contents page I have looked at another to compare the two. The magazine i have chosen to compare with Kerrang is CLASH. This magazine is a bi-monthly magazine that has been aimed at 18-26 year olds. The magazine focuses on a range of genre such as ROCK, dance, hip-hop etc.

As CLASH magazine focuses on a variety of different Genres such as rock, hip-hop etc it is targeting a very large audience. You can clearly see that this magazine is targeted at a slightly older age range than the previous magazine I looked at (Kerrang) by the way it is laid out. The information has been clearly laid out into different collumns which makes the magazine look organised well and gives the readers the impression that the magazine is very structured. The way this magazine is structured reminds me of how a newspaper is set out. This shows that clash is aimed at an older, more mature type of audience whereas magazines like Kerrang and Q are targeted at a less mature and younger type of audience. I will be aiming my magazine at a similar audience to these magazines so I wont be setting my contents page out similarly to CLASH as they are targeting a different type of audience.


Similarly to Kerrang, CLASH uses a lot of images on its contents page to support the articles included in the magazine. The images have also been used to represent the artists of the different types of genre in the magazine, this also gives the readers an idea of the type of magazine clash is. As Kerrang and Clash both use a lot of images on their contents pages I will be doing the same for my magazine as this is a good way to attract reader attention and to create interest.


A way in which this magazine attracts reader attention is through their 'buzz' words and special offers. On CLASH's contents page they give the readers the offer of 'free music downloads'. I will be including things like this on my contents page in order to draw in the attention of my target audience.