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;