Final Magazine Designs

 

 

 

Colour Scheme

digital files can be saved  as CMYK files for the purpose of printing, CMYK being the colours that printers use, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (they use K for black so it doesn't get mixed up with blue). .My magazine has an emphasis on this old school printing technique by applying it as a colour scheme to represent the DIY aesthetic and culture, once again, building a rapport between my target audience and the product.

Influential Real Media Products

I have collated a range of magazine front covers that will influence the aesthetic design of my media products. I have chosen these four real media products as they are all relateable to my target audience, honing a DIY/underground ethos or even slight influence, the magazines show both a commercial approach and a independent approach.

Bauer Media/Magazine Institution

Bauer Media institution is a division of the Bauer Media Group, which is Europe's largest privately owned publishing group. The group is a worldwide media empire offering over 300 Magazines in 15 country's as well as online  TV and Radio stations. an example of their most popular magazines are Kerrang!, Heat, Grazia, Closer and Q magazine. The most well known TV station ran by Bauer Media insinuation is 4 music. Examples of their most well known radio stations are Kiss, Magic and The Hits Radio. Bauer Media is a multi-platform UK-based media Group consisting of many companies, they are widely recognized and rewarded as being industry innovators. Their magazine heritage stretches back to 1953 with the launch of Angling Times and the acquisition in 1956 of Motor Cycle News, both still iconic brands within their portfolio.

Inspirational Texts: Punk Zines

I have always had great interest in punk zines and there D.I.Y aesthetic that often follow their own rules, not bowing to media conventions. I collated a range of images to source inspiration from, as despite my magazine being commercial it is targeted at underground and up and coming music, a genre in a similar vein to punk music.

                                                                 Search & Destroy

                                                                  Flesh and Bones

                                                                         Now Here

                                                                          Fusion

Maximum Rocknroll

Front Cover Illustrations concept

I decided to illustrate certain features on my front cover. This is something I have seen in other magazines, such as Front magazine. I thought this style would be suitable as with the illustrations being hand drawn it reflects a 'Do it yourself' nature, something which could build a rapport between the media product and my audience. Providing DIY aesthetics on my magazine is relevant to my target audience as my product is regarding indie and underground music, a genre which is often associated with the DIY music scene. I am hoping these illustrated features will help build a rapport and familiarity to my audience and therefore make the magazine more appealing, resulting in more sales.

Here is a video of the initial hand drawn illustration being produced.

Audience Reception Theory

When designing my media product I have to consider how will audience will perceive the magazine and explore the different ways that it can be interpreted.

<iframe src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/30379655" width="427" height="356" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" style="border:1px solid #CCC; border-width:1px 1px 0; margin-bottom:5px; max-width: 100%;" allowfullscreen> </iframe> <div style="margin-bottom:5px"> <strong> <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/lewwil/audience-reception-theory" title="Audience Reception Theory" target="_blank">Audience Reception Theory</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/lewwil" target="_blank">lewwil</a></strong> </div>

Colour Connotations

All colours have existing connotations that society can perceive meaning and understanding from; both negative and positive. This is why colour is so important in the media industry as it allows you to portray and represent a character or individual in the manner that you wish to do so. Colour representation is used in almost every existing media platform, from blogs, websites, and magazines, to photography, film and TV.
I researched into colour psychology so I could take advantage of colour representation  to help develop my magazine in an effective way.

Here is a analysis of the main colours and the connotations they each behold.

Red
Positive: Warm, powerful, passion, energy
Negative: Revenge, Anger, violent

Orange
Positive: Warmth, happiness, independence, optimistic
Negative: Self-indulgent, pessimistic, unsociable

Yellow
Positive: fun, creativity, analytical
Negative: overly analytical, pessimistic, egotistical

Green
Positive: Balanced, harmony, generous
Negative: Materialistic, selfish, greedy

Blue
Positive: Honesty, loyalty, sincere, reserved
Negative: Emotionally unstable, weak, unforgiving, unfaithfulness

Purple
Positive: Imagination, spirituality, individual, creative 
Negative: Immaturity, arrogant, impractical

Pink
Positive: Unconditional love, nurturing, warmth, hope
Negative: Over-emotional, immature, lack of will power

Brown
Positive: Friendly, stable, comforting, protective
Negative: Dull, boring, materialistic

Grey
Positive: Neutral, reliable, mature, intelligent
Negative: Boring, indecisive, depressed, isolated

Black and White
Black is often perceived as a negative colour with connotations of darkness, evil, depression, secretive. Where as, White is perceived as a positive colour with connotations of purity, innocence, honesty and wholeness.

Colour Theory

Colour theory is the understanding of contrast, complimentary, harmony, mood and the context of colours. Colour theory is used and seen in nearly every aspect of our modern life; from the design of popular technological products to even flower arrangement by florists and gardeners. In the media and in particular the film industry, colour can be used to portray characters in a desired manner by using colour theory to manipulate the mood of the costume, set, and overall aesthetics of the movie.

Colour theory is often based around the colour wheel; a display of organised colours used to show the relationship between colours. The first colour wheel was developed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666, however it has been debated, changed, and progressed over the years. Below are the basic colour wheels of the primary, secondary and tertiary colours.

Primary colours

The primary colours traditionally are yellow, blue and red. These 3 hues can not be formed by any combination of colours and all other colours are derived from these primary colours.

Secondary Colours

Secondary colours are produced by blending and mixing primary colours together. For example, mixing red and blue produces purple, or if you mix yellow and blue a green hue is created.

Tertiary Colours

Tertiary colours are formed by a blend of primary colour and secondary colour. For example, if you mix blue and green together a new hue is created, this is the reason that Tertiary colours have a two word name (ie. blue-green).

The colour wheel can now be used to identify colour compliments (colours that are in harmony together). Colour compliments are usually opposite each other on the traditional colour wheel, for example, orange and blue are complimentary colours. Refer to colour wheel to see this.

Another popular technique for colour combination is the analogous colour scheme. Analogous colour scheme are hues that are placed next to each other and harmonise together to create a serene and peaceful mood.

Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

To help me design my final magazine I had to research a variety of magazines to influence and inspire me, I decided to look at magazines I personally like, and this included the likes of ‘Q’, ‘NME’ and ‘Front’ magazine. The first process I decided to do was the design of my masthead, an important feature of all popular magazines.  I used the words 'VIA’ which I wrote in bold font to make the masthead standout, which could prove beneficial when it comes to marketing the product and could help generate more sales. To further more make the masthead standout I decided to type the letters in capitals. This technique was borrowed from many popular magazines as it is a very common technique used to make a masthead more noticeable on the shelf and bring attention to it so the audience can identify the magazine quickly and easily. An example of a magazine doing this is the popular music magazine ‘NME’ which also uses a bold capitalised masthead.  I took into consideration of where other successful magazines position their masthead, which after research I discovered was usually in the top left corner. I decided to conform to this convention and positioned my masthead in the same position. I designed the masthead in pink and black to fit in with the house style colour pallet that I use throughout my magazine, this colour theme was inspired by ‘FRONT’ magazines often occurring colour pallet, which appears to have a rather unique design aesthetic. This uniqueness was a characteristic that I wanted to have in my own magazine.

 To benefit my magazine in appealing to the target audience that I have chosen I had to select an appropriate and strong main image that would be suited to the genre of indie/rock music and the age group of teenagers. The image I used was a photo I took at a gig in Newcastle at Space Bar. The photo was of the indie/emo band ‘Wrestling’, which instantly made it appropriate for my audience. I used an image taken at a live gig, which is a rather unconventional feature as very often popular magazines feature images taken in a studio environment; I believe this image was successful in suiting my target audience and challenging the conventions of other real media products. The magazine looks more authentic because the image was not setup in a photo shoot style and may perhaps be more appealing to music fans as it is taken from a genuine musical experience. My main image would be highly suitable to use in a real media product as it is of excellent image quality, which could have a range of possible connotations that could be appealing to many audiences, including my own personal target audience for ‘VIA’ magazine.  Another element I took inspiration from was the reoccurring minimalistic approach that NME took. I followed this approach by using only two images on my front cover (one main image and one secondary image) I also only used a 3 colour pallet which could be seen as simplistic but effective technique as many magazines take this approach. Researching other magazines helped me identify the common features which occur and make my own magazine utilize typical trades and even develop common conventions that are current in the media industry.

How does your media product represent particular social groups? 

I decided to associate my magazine with the genre of Indie/punk music and also focus on new and upcoming music; I decided to do this because I am interested in those particular genres of music. Many people, including a lot of teenagers believe the music industry has become very commercial and money fuelled market. I tried to represent indie/punk music in a different way to what certain people may interpret the music industry as, yet still remained a professional quality to the magazine. I did this by using a main image that was not set-up in a studio environment and simply using a live photo shoot from a gig. This goes against the stereotype that some teenagers have put on the genre of indie/rock music as there was no cost spent on the front cover image and the photo was not taken in a studio. The main image further more give the impression that magazine is simply about the music which is particularly what many music fans want the magazine to be about.

Another way that I represented my target audience and the culture they are associated with was to hand draw certain features on the front cover. This is something I have seen in other magazines, such as Front magazine. I thought this style would be suitable as with the illustrations being hand drawn it reflects a 'Do it yourself' nature, something which could build a rapport between the media product and my audience. Providing DIY aesthetics on my magazine is relevant to my target audience as my product is regarding indie and underground music, a genre which is often associated with the DIY music scene. I am hoping these illustrated features will help build a rapport and familiarity to my audience and therefore make the magazine more appealing, resulting in more sales.




As you can see when comparing my magazine front cover to the cover of punk magazine 'Fusion' there is certain features that are similar, such as the greyscale main image and the coloured background. I decided to use this design aesthetic to suit with the style of my target audience, as my magazine is marketed towards underground music, the punk aesthetic seemed like a suitable influence.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? 

The media institution that I believe might distribute my magazine is IPC Media institution; this is as they publish many music magazines that are in a similar vein of genre. They are known for publishing ‘NME’ magazine which is a similar style to my magazine as I took influence from ‘NME’s traditions to create my magazine. Another reason IPC Media may publish my magazine is because it is targeted at a particular target audience which they have already obtained through the publishing of NME, who’s target audience is aimed at music fans and teenagers just like mine. I believe my magazine would be successful for IPC Media as they already have audiences that would be interested in my magazine, this could lead to fans of there already current rosters of magazines to become interested in my magazine ‘VIA’ and become regular readers, therefore increasing sales of my magazine.

Who would be the audience for your media product? 

The audience for my magazine would be people who are interested in indie/underground music and the artists from that genre. The primary target audience for my magazine would be both male and female teenagers and young adults, this is because the indie/rock genre is often associated with that age group and that genre is stereotypically appealing to this age group.  However the second possible target audience would be general fans of music this is because my magazine also has interests in discovering and promoting new music and bands. This aspect could be very appealing to music lovers as they are been supplied a feed of new music to listen too. I believe my magazine would be successful within the student ranks of society from college to university, I believe this because of the ‘cool’ element the magazine has in terms of appearance and features and also the creative ethos that surround the magazine.

How did you attract/address your audience?
To attract my target audience I featured a young musician on the main image and other young musicians throughout the rest of the magazine. I did this because my audience is for people interested in new music and the concept of new music is stereotypically associated with young people, which makes the magazine appear more genuine to the audience. Another way I attracted my audience was because of the main image being of a young person this could make the audience feel related to the magazine as they may also be  young. This could build an instant rapport between the audience and magazine making the product more appealing to them. I used the theme of young people throughout my front cover, contents page and double page to strengthen this idea of magazine and audience relationship. 

To address the audience I used a plug on the front cover that advertised ‘Free Sunday league EP and free posters’ this could be very appealing to my audience as it is a gift from the magazine. This could positively influence the audience on whether they purchase the magazine or not. I also used intriguiing headlines such as 'Get into the mind of Chris Oldd'. this phrase is a imperrative sentence and is commanding the audience, this is technique that can persuade the audience to purchase the magazine.
I decided to use hand drawn illustrations on the front cover, in order to build a rapport and likeable factor between my magazine and the audience. Providing DIY aesthetics on my magazine is relevant to my target audience as my product is regarding indie and underground music, a genre which is often associated with the DIY music scene. I am hoping these illustrated features will help build a rapport and familiarity to my audience and therefore make the magazine more appealing, resulting in more sales.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

The programme I have used to design my media product was Adobe Photoshop. By using Photoshop I have obtained the skills to use most of the tools and become capable of editing appropriately as I created my magazine. I had to use Photoshop to setup a layout for each page, and position images appropriately. This was after I had used Photoshop to edit the images by using techniques such as customising contrast, balancing colour and adding filters of images. I had to create my own masthead using software as well, I did this by finding a font I liked and adding different effects to it which will be beneficial in making a successful masthead, for example by adding a stroke effect in Photoshop I was able to make the masthead stand out more.by I also used Photoshop to cut and crop images to fit and suit my magazine, helping to improve my magazine and reflecting the desire for authenticity. A lot of these skills I was not aware of and had to learn and develop as I created my magazine, which has overall improved my digital manipulation and design capabilities for media products. 

Final Magazine Designs

Front page final design

Contents page final design

Double page spread final design

Slogan Ideas

Many magazines utilise a tagline to make their brand more memorable and evaluate or impress customers in a short sentence. Here are my slogan ideas and my final idea which will be present on my front cover design.

Final Masthead logo

Here is my final masthead logo I developed using Adobe Photoshop. I followed a similar pattern which I have seen often on all of the magazines I have researched. All of them had a bold font with capital lettering to help make the masthead stand out, making it easier to identify the magazine.I decided to use the same concept. I found a font called 'Cooper Black' which appealed to me because of the bold yet curvy lettering. To make the font even more noticeable, in Photoshop I change the font to a 'sharp' lettering. After doing so, I decided to add a black out line to the masthead for added effect, I did this by adding a black 'stroke' which was size 24 px on the outside of the font. NME magazine influenced me to use a stroke effect as they have done so on several of their magazine issues. I decided to use a pink font colour as it is a rather unconventional colour for a music magazine, this uniqueness reflects to the independent content of the magazine and musical theme. It is also a colour that is often used in the indie culture magazine 'Front'.

Masthead Design Ideas/stages

Flat Plan for Magazine

                                                       FRONT COVER FLAT PLAN

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD FLAT PLAN

CONTENTS PAGE FLAT PLAN

Target Audience Research

In order to make my magazine more successful I decided to do some preliminary research into my target audience. I will use the infomation gained from my questionnaire to understand what my audience wants and prefers in a music magazine, this will make my product more relate-able and likeable for the audience, which will help sustain sturdy customers and attract new ones as well.

Images for My Magazine

These Images were shot at a gig at Space Bar, Newcastle featuring "King Sloth" and "Wrestling". However, some images were taken outside the venue as well. All images were taken with a Pentax 100D and were then edited using Adobe Photoshop.

                                                         Chris Oldd, Vocalist of Wrestling

                                                      Chris Oldd, back stage at space bar

                             

                                                "King Sloth" playing Space Bar - Newcastle

                                                         Lead Guitarist of "King Sloth"

                                                          Local 2 - piece "Wrestling"

                                                     Wrestling's front man Chris Oldd

My Magazine Idea

I have decided to create a music magazine that is suited to the indie/rock genre. This decision came after researching other indie/rock magazines like 'Q' and 'NME' which will both influence my magazine in terms of design.This genre seemed most appropriate as personally, I have a back catalog of photographs from previous indie gigs and go to these kind of gigs regularly, creating an advantage and perhaps helping to shape a better magazine overall. Aswell as Q and NME magazine being an influence, I will also take influence from the indie culture magazine 'Front' as the aesthetic of the magazine I believe is of a unique and independent value. I will create a front cover, double page spread and contents page for my magazine.

Magazine Front Cover Summary

A very common and necessary idea that features on a magazine front cover is the masthead of the magazine, this feature is often positioned at the top of the cover, however some magazines may vary. The masthead is usually in a large font as it identifies to the audience which magazine they are looking at. Magazine covers also involve the use of imagery whether it is a photograph or an illustration, known as the main image. The main image should be appealing and attractive to the audience, the image should hint at the context of the magazine. It is also necessary for the magazine cover to be dated and numbered as it provides essential information, for example “Issue 23. March 2012”. This allows the reader to know which issue the magazine is and lets them know whether it’s “up to date “or the latest issue. If the magazine is to be sold in retail then a barcode should be visible on the cover, allowing it to be purchased; free magazines do not require a barcode. Magazines usually have a main cell line as well, more popularly known as a “Headline”. The main cell line is designed to draw attention to the magazine and be as interesting as possible so people read the magazine. The main cell line is also often in a large front and sometimes is even put in capital lettering to draw more attention to it. As well as the main cell line, there are additional cell lines. Additional cell lines are always smaller than the main cell line as they are not as important or attention grabbing, there are several usually positioned all around the magazine cover. Magazines should also have a limit of 3 main colours on the magazine and the colours should be attractive and the colours should contrast effectively with each other.

Double Page Spread Analysis

Here is my analysis of a double page spread taken from the popular culture magazine 'Front' featuring an indie artist named 'Kreayshawn'.