Final product

These are my final products (Unless I decide to change something). I have already talked about my cover however I have now added the contents page and double page spread. The contents page is again based off of NME magazine, as I used that as a guideline to place the text and boxes. I kept the same font throughout the page. For the double page spread I focused less on NME and gave my magazine a more original look to its design. I tried to portray the personality of the band and their style whilst keeping in touch with the overall look of Siren magazine. However I am likely to add some changes, mostly with the colour scheme, before I set it as my final product. I have skilfully included a pun on the band's name in the text with the line 'five years of silence', playing on name of the band, 'Ironic Shout'. I am happy with the outcome.

Final cover

This is the final cover for my magazine that I will settle with having received feedback on the previous drafts. I am happy with this cover which includes different features from multiple drafts. I have returned the masthead to the top left corner so that readers do not get confused between the band name and the magazine name. I have kept the features such as the white button-like circle and tagline. I have changed the font of the band name and made it spread across the page. I have compared my magazine cover with NME to try and create a good, realistic magazine cover.

What makes a good magazine?

The Good

A good magazine should have one, big image with one focus. This magazine cover has a brilliant way of attracting an audience. As the artist on the front is not shown, but is instead described with words, it means the reader has to guess or pick up the magazine to find out. The minimal text makes it the main focus, with a simple black background. The only information we receive about the artist is the text on the bag and the fact that she is female from her body shape and shoulders. This magazine creates a successful way of attracting readers through its unclear, enigmatic and mystery talent. Music fans will either be able to guess and then want to check if they're right, or they will want to know and open the magazine to find out.

The Bad
This magazine features many failures. The image on the front, while obviously trying to be 'gangster' fails miserably. Not only is the talent shirtless but he is also overweight and while that wouldn't be a problem in the real world it's not something people want to see on the cover of a magazine. Along with that his jeans are hanging very low with a large amount of his underwear visible. Overall it gives the talent a poor image of looking trashy. The talent takes up most of the cover with very little room for coverlines. The expression on his face is also unattractive, and the magazine is less likely to sell because people don't really want to be seen with a picture like this in their possession.

Final Draft

Final draft


After receiving some feedback from peers I created another draft using some images I had taken. I decided to try placing the masthead in the centre of the magazine with the coverlines surrounding it. I also tried to add some more white boxes and circles. I prefer this draft as it looks more professional and the arrangement of text is better than my previous drafts. The colour scheme works well and I have also changed the background colours, making them red and white striped. This is because the lines in the the background match with the lines on the talents shirt, and the thick black lines going in a vertical direction adds quirkiness and flare, and goes with the suspenders on the outfit. I decided to add colour to the background because the original was plain and white and lacked character and would have been very boring to work with. By changing the wooden planks to make them striped with a light red, it has enabled me to introduce a nice colour scheme whereas before it could have come across as tacky and out of place.

Third Draft

Third Draft

This draft is my best and is the one I shall base my final outcome on. However there are a few things I intend to change next time. I will use a range of coloured font, with 'New upcoming stars' in dark blue like the masthead. I will change the font of the tagline as it doesn't fit with the rest of the cover and is too thin and hard to read. I like the colour scheme of this magazine however, with my original colours of dark blue, white and black being used. I am happy with the positioning of the coverlines and the overall arrangement of the cover. I will now take some more photos to use for my cover, contents page and double page spread. I have also changed the tagline to 'Music is our calling'. This is because I feel it has a direct address to the audience with the word 'our' and as my target audience are people who connect with their music, the overall message of 'music is our calling' is something they would most likely agree with. 

Second Draft

Second Draft

My second attempt has better features than my previous one, however the image used is not as good and the colour scheme is not as appealing. The layout of coverlines is better and I added a white background which helps it look neater and more professional. For my next attempt I will find a better picture and use a colour scheme that uses black, white and one other colour rather than the mixed, dark colour scheme of this one. 

First Draft

First Draft

I have put together a first draft to try and work out what works and what doesn't so I can use it in the final outcome. In my opinion the colour scheme has been continued nicely throughout the cover with the main colours being white, black and purple. There is a lack of consistency in the text font which might not look good to some people. I like how the smaller images have been added over the top and the image used for the cover. The coverlines need to stand out a bit more and I should probably add more of them. I would also rather have a white border around the page to make it look neater.

Are music magazines dying out?

Are magazines dying out?

Magazines are definitely threatened as there are new, easier, cheaper ways to get the information and content they provide. The sale numbers of weekly and monthly magazines has declined in recent years and there are now alternatives available. 

The internet is where most people get their information these days and it's a much quicker way to get access to content on music. Magazines are a much slower process and cost more to produce. It's a lot harder to keep up with news in magazine form whereas the internet can have the information available to the public within an hour. A lot of people have a fear of missing out on news and gossip and need to keep up with information. The internet makes this easy and can be accessed from anywhere, whereas a magazine involves waiting for the monthly/weekly issue or going out to the nearest shop to pick up a copy. 

However £2 billion worth of music magazines are purchased every year, showing they make a decent profit. 87% of the British population read music magazines. They also feel more special than anything on the internet as they can be help and become a possession that you own. 

My vision

My vision for my magazine

My magazine's function will be to provide entertainment and information to the target audience. It will be mostly entertainment, with the content serving purely to amuse the reader and allow them to become more indulged in their music. From my magazine, they will get pleasing content made to look appealing to the eye and information that is not available to them online such as interviews and pictures.

I plan on designing an appealing cover with all the conventions and results from the questionnaire. I have chosen the name 'Siren' because it links with the dark. 'alternative' theme of my magazine and also music, 'siren' being a mythical being that lead sailors to their deaths through hypnotic song. The double page spread will feature an interview with made-up artist Jonathan Samn and will contain images. The cover needs to follow a black, white and blue colour scheme with a mid-shot, the talent being any gender. I will keep it uncluttered and neat and put the masthead in the top left corner. 

Ideally, an Indie artist should be like their audience: Creative, connected to their music, can play their own instrument, and have an 'edgy' style and personality that may consist of smoking/drinking and wearing similar fashion to the fans of the genre(Skinny jeans, vintage clothing, piercings and tattoos). I am hoping to give my made-up artist a similar style and make him appeal to the audience. To do this I plan to edit tattoos and piercings onto an image to give Jonathan the ideals of an Indie artist.

Music Publishers

Music Publishers

Two main music publishers in the UK are and Bauer and TimeInc.UK. 

Bauer was originally a small German printing company and then came to the UK, becoming Britain's third largest publisher and purchasing other companies. Publishers like Bauer conglomerate with other companies to produce all forms of media. Bauer publishes Kerrang!, Q and Mojo. These are big companies however there are also small independent publishing alternatives. Shindig! is a magazine with a niche audience and therefore it runs by itself without the help of a large company. This would be ideal for my magazine as it is aimed at a more select target audience and would be better without the influence of a big company that might alter its image. 

Shindig! is clearly aimed at older people who listen to smaller, less-known bands and love their music. The magazine itself uses a retro-looking theme, especially in font and images. Kerrang! is obviously aimed at a wider audience as it features a wider range of content and contains modern artists and also a genre of music that is widely popular, especially among young people. The font and images do not influence the magazines overall image as much as Shindig!, where it has the fixed sense of being retro and for music in the past. The cover of Kerrang! would appeal to a larger range of people than the cover of Shindig!. 

Bauer produce many things such as radio and many other magazines in a vast range of genres and because of this their company is huge. However I feel that Indie magazines are definitely more independently produced and not influenced by the reputation of a large, well-known company. This is because they're usually aimed at a niche audience and have a particular style. The whole thing about Indie is that it is meant to be less well-known, different and indie-pendent(lol). 

However the style of Shindig! would not appeal to many people, including myself, but that is because it is aimed at an older generation. In order to attract my target audience but also maybe attract members of other groups I need to make my magazine less unique and stylised to avoid having a very small readership (Like Shindig!'s 26,000 people). 

Results

Results from questionnaire 

The most popular options from the questionnaire via a vote were:

IMAGE
Mid-shot/full body shot- An equal amount of people voted for a mid-shot or full body shot.
an Individual talent- Most people wanted an individual on the front cover
Do not care about the gender- There was only one vote for male and one vote for female; most people did not mind what gender the talent was

DESIGN
Non-cluttered- Slightly more people wanted a non-cluttered cover 
Black, white and blue, dark and dull colours- These were the most popular colour options, closely followed by red and purple. More people wanted the colours to be dark and dull than light and bright
Sans serif font- The majority of people chose sans serif over serif and handwriting

MASTHEAD
At the top and to the left- This I was expecting, as this layout is the normal, conventional way to position the masthead

NAME SUGGESTIONS

• Broken Strings
• Innocent youth
• Sound Prism 
• Colour Riff
• Siren

After looking at the suggestions I received, I have decided that 'Siren' is the most fitting and suitable name for my magazine. However I may make alterations.

I like this name suggestion because it fits the type of magazine I wanted to create and links to music (A siren being a mythical being that would lead sailors to their deaths by song). It has a dark tone to it, and will go nicely with my magazine.

Questionnaire

Questionnaire 

In order to gain more information on how I should layout my magazine I have constructed a questionnaire which I shall take around and interview my target audience with.

Image
1. Camera shot

• Close-shot
• Mid-shot
• Full-body shot

2. 

• Group
• Individual

3. What gender should the talent be?

• Male
• Female
• A mix of both
• Don't mind
• Other

Design

• Cluttered- lots of text and patterns
• Non-cluttered-neat and minimal
• Own ideas:

Colour Scheme
1. Choose three-four from the list.

• Red 
• blue
• green
• yellow
• purple
• orange
• white 
• black

2. Tones

• Dark
• Light

3. Saturation

• Bright
• Dull

Font

• Serif: A
• Sans Serif: A
• Handwriting: 

Masthead location
1.

• Top 
• Middle
• Bottom

2.

• Left
• Right
• Centre

Name Suggestions



Tag-line suggestions 

David Carson

David Carson

David Carson, an American graphic designer, art director and surfer. He is best known for his innovative magazine design. He was the art director for the magazine 'Ray Gun' where he used non-conformative designs that went against what normal magazines looked like. However for my magazine I will stick to the conventions, as a magazine in Carson's style might be confusing and if not done properly will not result in a successful outcome. Although I do like the style, I think it best that I follow conventional magazines.

Fifty Quid Bloke

Fifty-Quid Bloke

A term made known by Nick Hepworth, editor of 'The Word' magazine used to describe a customer type who typically spends his Friday afternoons buying albums in HMV. For the first time, people over 35 are buying more albums than young people. 

This is because of the way the world is changing, as magazines are being replaced by the internet and digital versions. Young people no longer find interest in buying records and albums as they can obtain music easily through technology. Magazines are now more popular among older people who find familiarity in purchasing physical items and those who are deeply interested in their music prefer to have something they can own.  The Fifty-Quid Bloke could be dying out, as 'The Word' magazine was cancelled, and many entertainment shops on the high street have also been shut down. HMV itself almost joined them but was rescued at the last minute and it fortunately still around.

The patterns of music consumption have changed. Spotify, iTunes and other ways of consuming music have had an effect on the industry. 

The internet is mostly used by young people, and they can find any information about music they'd need. And it's usual free, whereas magazines cost money.

Personally, I think that the Fifty-Quid Bloke may one day become extinct, however similar groups of people are being formed in our society, especially amongst the young people. A small percentage of teens still enjoy connecting with their music on a higher level, buying albums, listening to old bands from the last century and owning vintage items including records and old retro posters. So while the one breed may be dying out, I think there will always be a group of people who can still fit the description of the Fifty-Quid Bloke, with a few differences of course.

Practice

Testing my cover

In order to have a better idea for the cover of my magazine I have put together a test cover to help me decide where to position text, images, masthead, etc...

I drew an image of an ideal cover model in Photoshop using a graphics tablet and then took it to Pixlr where I added the text and extra images (which were found on Google)

I'll probably use a very similar design for my final outcome, sticking with the dark colour palette and general text arrangement. I'll also need to get a photograph of a real model looking similar to the one in the picture.

Alternative Music

The reason I have been looking at grunge is because it is listed among other alternative music types, including rock, punk and Indie rock.

I intend for my magazine to contain elements of a few different alternative genres, mostly Indie rock however.

LIST OF TYPE OF MUSIC | MUSIC GENRES

• Alternative
  • Art Punk
  • Alternative Rock
  • College Rock
  • Experimental Rock
  • Goth / Gothic Rock
  • Grunge
  • Hardcore Punk
  • Hard Rock
  • Indie Rock
  • Lo-fi
  • New Wave
  • Progressive Rock
  • Punk

A lot of elements of the grunge era have also been carried into todays youth, and are widely popular among my 'struggler' audience. Some music today also contains features of the genre and incorporate them into modern music.

 

History of Grunge

The History of Grunge

Grunge is associated with the alternative music genre, particularly alternative rock with first emerged in the mid 1980's in America, especially in Seattle, where its other name (Seattle Sound) originates from. It revolved around the independent record label and in the 90's it had become widely popular. Bands most famous for contributing to this movement are Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam. Grunge rock became the most popular form of hard rock at the time. 

Grunge is often identified for its guitar sounds that use high levels of distortion, and also 'fuzz'. However, it also involves much slower tempos, dissonant harmonies, and more complex instrumentation—which is reminiscent of heavy metal. Lyrics are typically angst-filled,often addressing themes such as social alienation, apathy, confinement, and a desire for freedom. This fits in with my target audience, the 'Strugglers' and 'Explorers' as they seek escape. 

A man named Paul Rambali first used the term 'grunge' in 1978 in an issue of NME to describe mainstream guitar rock however Mark Arm, the vocalist for the Seattle band Green River—and later Mudhoney—is generally credited as being the first to use the term grunge to describe this genre of music. 

Grunge

Grunge

Looking at the Grunge style, I have done some research and recreated some images in this style as I will be using it for my magazine.

The images I have found usually show dark colours with a faded effect and rarely ever contain bright, vivid tones. Usually quite dark in nature as well, with a slight hint of underlying bliss or peacefulness.

My own 

I have done some images in the style, to try and experiment with what I'll need for my magazine. Grunge is all about looking depressing and 'edgy'. Using Pixlr I gave the images a more gritty look and darkened the colours, adding filters and dusty-looking overlays.

The cigarette is NOT real it is in fact a lolly stick from a Chupa Chup but I used it because it added to the 90's, rebellious grunge vibe.



Experimenting

Experimenting with image editing 

After:

Before:

Using Pixlr I have done some more experimenting with editing my own photographs, just to get some more ideas for the images that will be included in my magazine. 

Before:

After:

Photoshop CS5

Using Photoshop I have made more
drastic changes to images, as it has a wider range of tools.

For this particular edit, I cut out the background and added an image behind. After this I added transparent gradients to make the lighting appear on the upper layer (Containing the floating, cut-out image of the person) . I added a microphone to the hand and also made the lights appear brighter and more blurred by adding a layer of white paint and using a gradient blur to give them more of a glow.

For background image used:

( http://www.lizzydavisphotography.com/sites/default/files/photography/P1290126-Edit.jpg ) 

More content

Making-up an Artist

In order for my magazine to only use primary content that I have acquired myself, I must invent a person to feature on my double page spread. 

And so, Jonathan is born.

 Using the criteria for my target audience, I created a character who would appeal to them. A lot of Indie music is done by male singers and features a grungy, 'edgy' looking crew or solo singer.
By creating this character, I can now produce my own content including my own images, interviews, songs and so forth.
His personality

• Pretentious
• 'Edgy'
• Dark
• Emotional
• Struggler 
• Rebellious 

Jonathan Samn is meant to be a representative for my audience to give my magazine the 'Indie grunge' vibes and also allow me to experiment and create a lot of content.

Working together with my friend who plays the role of Jonathan, Sam Pidgeon, I have also created a pretend album to use as reference in my content.
'Cloud 9' is an Indie pop album featuring nine tracks, three of which we have named. This 'album' is again meant to appeal to my target audience, especially the 'Strugglers'. The 'Explorers in my audience will also enjoy the character and his album as it is intended to be new and niche.

Content

Content

Front page

• Mid-shot image of a model who represents the target audience, sporting the Indie/grunge style
• Cover lines 
• Yusuf: The facts
• An interview with Jonathan
• Ironic Shout: On Tour

Contents
Images of models/artists and a list of all the pages along with information about the magazine and a note from the author.

Double-Page spread

Interview with made-up artist, Jonathan Samn, about an upcoming album. For this I shall interview a friend who will play the role of Jonathan to allow me to create a realistic, authentic interview. He will also serve as a model for the images on this page and for the album cover of the made-up album I will create for this project. 

Interview

Me: Okay hello, I'm here with Jonathan Samn, the one and only!
Jonathan: Hey.
Me: So you've got a new album coming out, haven't you?
Jonathan: Yeah, pretty excited. It's quite auto-biographical I must say. It's very emotional.
Me: So what are the songs featured on the album? I know there's 'Tripping Off', which everyone is very excited about.
Jonathan: Yeah, it's about my descent into a pit of unhappiness. It's very emotional. It details a very important moment in my life, I don't want to go into it but basically my mum died. Yeah, died of a pretty gruesome car accident. I said I wasn't going to go into details but I think it's too late now. 
Me: If you don't want to talk about it that's fine.
Jonathan: No I'll talk about it more. She was in hospital, dying a lot. I don't care, you need to hear my story. If you don't want to hear about it it's in my album. Listen to it, it's £12.9, a bit pricey but that's the price you pay for a harder life.
Me: Did it take you a lot of work for this?
Jonathan: Yeah, all my life basically. For this. It's an artists dream to be able to produce something which puts your soul into it. I feel like without this album I am nothing.
Me: Your fans are very excited, can you tell them anything about it?
Jonathan: There's a bonus track, about my rebirth. 
Me: That's very deep.
Jonathan: Yeah, a rebirth into my new life, that I am in now, or will be going to soon. You better be excited for it, it's called 'Death'.
Me: So what was your inspiration for this album?
Jonathan: Basically some hard times in my life, a sequence of events which lead to my downfall, it's b****y hard. 
Me: So it's called 'Cloud 9', what's the meaning behind that?
Jonathan: Well when people are happy they say they're on cloud nine. I've never been that happy. But I feel like I was that happy last year, but now I'm not that happy an it's about my descent into that unhappiness. 
Me: That's very deep. How does this album differ from your previous releases?
Jonathan: It's a bit more auto-biographical, a bit more grungy, got harsher sound to it to reflect the harsher stages of my life but I think this is my best album yet.
Me: I think so too.
Jonathan: Thanks, you should think that.
Me: When do you think you'll be going on tour again?
Jonathan: Oh I don't know if I can manage a tour, but I will manage it for my fans. March 25th to August 28th, that's my tour dates. But I don't think I'll be able to make it, I'm not sure, but make sure you come. I'm in Birmingham, London, Glasgow, all around the UK and Worldwide. But I don't know because I'm so sad at the moment.
Me: Well I hope you're able to make it that tour. 
Jonathan: The tickets are on sale tomorrow.
Me: What can you tell me about the other songs on your album?
Jonathan: 'Rock Bottom', it's got a few euphemisms in there about my life and who I am, and 'Falling Slowly', ah that song. It's a slow song, it's a break in the middle of my album from all the harshness, a kind of euphoria in falling into this sadness when I liked to be sad and I was fine with it. I was kind of falling slowly into a depression and it's very deep.
Me: I feel like this album really reflects what you're going through.
Jonathan: It does.