Double page spread flatplan

contents page flat plan

Front cover flat plan

Audience research

Question 1.

Question 1 was a very important question as it dictates the band i will use as the main subject matter of my magazine. It is clear from the survey results that Parma violets will be the band i use for the main feature, this is because it received double the votes than any of the other bands. But not one of the other bands received zero votes, therefore making it a broader decision process for the bands that will take the lesser features. Most likely i will use FIDLAR since they had the second most votes.

Question 2.

This question asked which colour scheme would the reader most like to see. Unlike the first question this question was not so one sided as yellow and black only had one less than white and black, but ultimately since white and black was the most popular choice, and personally i would like to use white and black the most because they are contrasting colours and have been effective when used in my other magazine covers and pages, therefore i will use the colour scheme white and black.

Question 3.

50% of the survey would like to see discounts offered as a pug on my magazine. I will use discounts as my special offer/Freebie since i feel that they will be the easiest to display on the page as a pug and it is clear that most readers would like to receive discounts over any other offer.

Question 4.

Not surprisingly the feature that the survey would most like to see is interviews and talks with the affiliated artists and bands, which will be Parma violets. I am happy with this outcome since much detail can be achieved with an interview and i would primarily want to use interviews as the feature for my double page spread.

Question 5.

Question 5 was quite an important question since it concerned the layout of the magazine, i didn't ask for a preferred layout for each page since i wanted my magazine to use the same layout through out to ensure coherence was maintained all the way through. From the potential 4 outcomes, the empty and clean layout option had over double votes and therefore was the most popular answer. I will use the empty and clean layout style for my magazine effectively since the colour scheme of black and white matches this layout style well.

Question 6.

When the audience was asked about festivals it was clear early on which answer was the most popular. When i create a feature in my magazine on festivals, which will be a lesser feature, i will base my feature on Reading and Leeds festival since that won the majority of the votes and also was voted as the festival that most fit my genre which was the indie genre. This works well also since my main band (Parma Violets) featured at Leeds this year.

Question 7.

Question 7 was a very easy question to analyse since everybody answered with yes bar one person, so i will feature clothing rewards most probably on my front cover but maybe even on my contents page if i can fit it in properly, this gives me an opportunity to use another pug and this will make my magazine look more professional and fulfilled .

Question 8.

The final question i asked was if a reader would want to see or receive anymore freebies with the magazine and if so specify what they would want. Non of the answers were actually achievable or realistic to give away for free with a magazine and the rest of the responses were no, this means i will add no extra freebies to what i already have onto my magazine, front cover, contents page or double page spread.

Summer photos unf.

Masthead ideas

For my first masthead idea i decided to try a rather standard and blocked font, with squared edged and in the colour of black. I feel that this font does and would actually relate to the title and the genre of my magazine as one of the main themes within the magazine is the city of Manchester and a tall and squared off font like this would work well in terms of the connotations it has since buildings and skyscrapers are usually this shape. It is also easy to read and because it is standard, it means it works well with nearly any layout or style. 

The next potential font for my masthead is a less generic and grittier font than the first. It is a contender for the masthead since grittiness links to both the genres of my magazine (indie music and skateboarding). Skateboarding since grittiness relates to the streets and the background of the sport and indie music since many a time has an album cover or poster related to that genre have been shot outside in a gritty scene or street. The colouring is the same as the first idea because i feel it works the best as a colour scheme due to the way the colours contrast each other.

The final idea for my masthead is a less hard and squared of font. For this masthead i decided to use a font that was less serious and was something that looked as if it was drawn freehand. Because the font does not look ordinary or generic it somewhat fits into the genre of indie as it is individual and not ordinary. It also looks and has a sense of casualness which relates to the genre of skateboarding and the genre of indie music. Which has heavily influenced my final decision since i have chosen this font for my masthead. I like the casual feel it has and i think it still allows for the magazine to have a seriousness tone while not being too serious. 

Definitions 

Genre

The genre of the magazine is the main topic or focus point of the magazine and all the themes of the genre are condensed down into one summarizing word, e.g. music, film etc. Another way to describe the genre of a magazine is the art style it falls into or the category of which the contents and the themes are located in. 

Examples of different music magazines 

Sub genre
A sub genre could be considered a genre within a genre. As a sub genre is a less generalized and more specific topic or genre that is related to in someway the main genre. So horror would not be a sub genre of sport, since it is not related or relevant to the original genre.

Examples of sub genres

Indie Music

Metal/Rock

Dance music

Hybrid-genre

A hybrid genre is a genre of magazine that mixes in two genres that would either work well together or that are known to relate to one and other. 

Examples of hybrid genre music magazines

Magazine proposal

Magazine proposal

My ideal magazine and the magazine I plan to create will be a hybrid genre mag that mixes two genres or themes that I would consider to be linked to each other. These two genres are Indie/Punk music, and the genre mixed to make it a hybrid is skateboarding. My reasoning for these choices are that not only they both link to each other well and I think create a relevant and effective hybrid, they are both also linked to Manchester, which will be another main theme that is used throughout the multiple pages that I create. Skateboarding currently is a very sport and activity that is done and partaken across Manchester and Manchester itself is known as the skateboarding capital of the UK, this is why I feel it would be a relevant topic and I am interested myself in the sport so it would be easy to make features about since I would personally enjoy the crafting of related features. I chose the music genre indie and punk because currently there are a few different bands that are on the rise that fall into these genres, for example FIDLAR fall into the genre of punk and they have gained much popularity recently and also have featured at Leeds festival this year. I think I would use FIDLAR as one of my features but possibly not the main feature, which depends on the results of the audience research; the other bands in question for the main feature are The Artic Monkeys and Palma Violets. Artic Monkeys seem to have reached their peak in popularity so would be a major contender for the main feature. This links to my next potential feature, which are rumours and predictions for next year’s main festivals. Specifically I would like to mention and use Leeds and Reading, this is because Leeds is the most practical festival to reach from Manchester and people within my age group which is 16 to mid-20s from Manchester, seem to be most interested in going to Leeds rather than any other festival. Leeds also fits the genre of indie music as many of the acts that they have are indie. My final proposed feature is a skateboard related feature as that is my second genre. I had Urbis in mind, as pictures of Urbis are very accessible and would be easy to take, the feature would mention the constant increase of security and how the skate scene in Manchester is slowly being more and more tested by authority. The colour scheme I would like to use is black and white. I chose these two colours because the contrast each other perfectly and would allow for the magazine to have a calm and coherent look and feel as neither of the colours are too bold and hard on the eyes, but the fact that the colours contrast means text and pictures will always be easy to see and or read.  The layout similar to the colour scheme would be calm and organised, and mainly done with squared shapes. Finally I would advertise freebees, which will be posters and similar decorative items.

Mind map

ideal reader

Contents page evaluation

For my contents page I used exactly the same programs for once again the same reasons. For me I feel that my contents page works better than my front cover and is executed better and has a better feel and style since it looks more professional than the front cover. My reasoning for thinking this is that my contents page uses a better layout and styles and themes that look better than the front cover. The first thing that I am happy with when it comes to my contents page is the use of page numbers by the side of pictures. I used a font website to create the blockish effect behind each number, I think that when the numbers are placed in the position they are in the corners of the pictures, it makes both the picture and the number itself pop and stand out from the page. Related to the page numbers, the pictures are placed in good positions and the sizes of all 4 pictures are similar in the way the main image is the largest and the two lesser and secondary images are smaller but the same size as each other. The main image is placed at the top of the page and is lighted well, so therefore the colours are richer which ultimately makes the picture nicer and easier to look at, ensuring the reader wants to look at the main image and their attention is drawn to it instantly. Another aspect of my contents page that I think is successful is the layout of features and the title of the page. The features are split into sections and the lesser features are smaller than the more important ones, meaning that the focus points of the page are the more important features, e.g. the main image and the anchoring parts of text. Finally for the good parts of my contents page I think that my editor’s letter is placed in a good area and is not obstructing anything else on the page that may be more important.

There are a few things from the contents page that I think could be improved for the next time I create another contents page, the main one for me is the use of font. Next time I will use a better font than the one used in this example. I have decided this since I think my current font does not suit the style and layout of the magazine and therefore the styles of the magazine are not matched completely. I would use a blockier font rather than the current curved font. Another change or improvement that I could make is maybe the use of red again, this is because red is used for the front cover, so the absence of red on the contents page hinders coherence and means that the magazine is not fully the same style since not all the same colours have been used for different pages.

But overall I think my contents page was more successful than my front cover.

Front cover evaluation

                To create my Aquinas front cover page I used multiple programs to alter images and to create an organised and coherent layout, these two programs being Microsoft publisher and adobe Photoshop. When deciding how to layout my front cover, I chose to keep it simple and to use standard and plain colours, like black red and white. I feel as if these colour choices worked well since they are all contrasting of each other, this means that the text on the front cover was clear and easy to read since it doesn’t mash with the background of the cover. I also used red for the dropped cap of the masthead to make it seem and look bolder and also to emphasise the start of the masthead, which is why I chose red. Another aspect of the cover that I felt went well was the use of the white background on both the picture used and the main background. White was used since it was easy to blend into a plain colour and also because it looks very clean and ensures nearly all different styles of text and colours are easy to read and obvious against the background. Finally I think that the use of pugs and referencing to features in the magazine were used well and were placed correctly and in a non-obstructing manner, for example the breaking bad logo was placed in its own space, not overlapping any other feature or text, the same goes for the pug near the top of the page. It ensures that the cover does not look cluttered in its presentation and also looks quite professional because the logos are the originals and are not altered.

Unfortunately I am not fully content with my front cover, there are multiple improvements that I could make and will make when creating my actual front cover. The main improvement I feel would be the use of the same font. I was not happy with some of the fonts used on the page, specifically the font used for the text inside the top pug. I feel it was too small and regular. It also does not match the fonts that have been used for bigger text on the front page, meaning some continuity and coherence is lost slightly. Another improvement that I think I could make is the style of shot used to take the main image, as it is not close enough to the subject. The image would have looked better if rather than a medium shot, it was a medium close.

But overall I am very happy with the standard of my front cover.

Double page spread analysis

A double page spread is a distinctive feature of magazines, where a large landscape picture is spread across a double page with an anchored text, usually an article with specific layouts to create a specific and effective feel. In this example the text is laid out in columns, columns are probably the most common layout when concerning articles and are most definitely the most common form of layout when it comes to double page spreads. This layout is used to section the text effectively as it looks clean and organised, a good technique since it allows for the main image on the page to keep focus because the text is small and cordoned of well. Another example of a technique used when concerning the text and the article is the dropped cap, this being the large and emphasised capital at the start of the article. This is used well on this double page spread because it indicates clearly the start of the article and text, also the fact that it is red sticks to the colour scheme of the magazine and the page. The headline also follows the colour scheme of red and white, these two colours are contrasting of each other, and are also contrasting to the black background; this makes sure all text is clearly visible and is definitely a good look. Because the headline is large and bold it could possibly indicate that the article is easy to read and friendly. The main image of the double page spread is of My Chemical Romance, the band that is featured as the main image of the front cover; this is a clear indication of coherence throughout the magazine. The image is in black and white, which has multiple connotations, maybe it could convey the struggle that the group has been through, as the subject and anchorage to the picture is "THE BEST MCR WE CAN BE". This point is further backed up by the secondary images, all being either a performance or the band in the studio, this links to struggle since is shows the band progressing and in the creation process. In the images we see the members of the group in discussion this could connote once again progression but also a band that is happy with themselves, this is anchored to the headline also. The members of the band in the image are dressed in black, and the hair of the singer or frontman is a very dark black, black connotes multiple things, including danger and death, but most importantly it adds a gothic feel to the band which is linked to the genre that they are most commonly recognised to be a part of, the genre being rock and many a time the music genre of rock is linked to the colour of black. The black colour keeps the feel of the magazine and the colour is further emphasised because the print is in black and white. Finally the double page spread is asymmetrical since the main focus point of the image (which is the frontman) is located on just the left side of the page, the right side of the page with the article and the text, has mainly just black in the background, meaning the text is ultimately more noticeable and easier to read.

Contact sheet