Conclusion

After analysing all four pages completed pages of my music magazine, there are many things that could be said. I feel that it was an extremely productive piece of work made much more efficient due to the fact that we had already made a magazine cover before hand. Yet by comparing the two i feel that it is safe to say that the music magazine version was one hundred times better. At times it actually felt like i was producing an actual magazine and that what was written would be published and sold in shops. I could see my magazine being sold in many commercial shops such as WHSmith, but not Woolworths, whilst also being sold in more selective music shops, i also feel that due to the continuity of identification throughout the readers would be able to establish it as an insightful and enjoyable magazine, whcih could even rival NME, but that's an extremely biased opinion. If i were to do this task again, i would look more closely at the type of articles and contents and front covers that are actually produced, in order to get a better variety of ideas. I would also take more time in the production of my photos as i had to make do with what i had, which wasn't a great situation. I would also like to be able to complete the task on a reletively normal speeded computer, or maybe even a fast one, as i don't know how much time i wasted by waiting for software to load up. And on the topic of software i would also install the software programmes at home allowing more flexibility in when i can do what.

Two Page Spreads

Here is my flat plan for my two page spread. Obviously it would be extremely time consuming if I were to right out the whole article onto my flat plan so instead i have only produced a layout of the two pages rather than completing the actual article. Whilst there are many diverse ways of presenting articles in music magazines, this format stood out the most. The idea of one large image on one page with one or two pull quotes with it, and then the article on the other page, implies that there is a lot to be said about this particular band. I understand that smaller images located around the two pages helps break up the text and make it more approachable, yet i feel that the images are easily put on and modified to the publishers liking, whereas hearing the bands view involves greater insight into their lives. This gives a chance for the reader to almost come and live with the band for a moment at least, and it isn't interrupted by the use of images, showing the band in different situations. I had also ran out of ideas for photos so i thought that it would just be easier to use the one.

Yet again i have used the technique of placing the brand logo next to the image, thus implying that it is only NOISE that has covered the story as they are right next to the picture. It also adds to the identification of the magazine as it is becoming a common trend amongst the pages in the magazine. I changed my flat plans image that i wanted to use due to the fact that i used it in the contents, so i just wanted a picture of the band actually playing their music as it shows an action shot of some sort. I feel that this adds much needed energy to a two page spread largely consumed by text. I was also an admirer of the use of a pull quote in the middle of the page (much like what was used in the TV on the Radio article), i thought that it was a good chance to draw some attention to what the band have to say for themselves rather than what the magazine amongst others think.

At this point i am undecided on whether i want to do an interview which is common for two page spreads on bands, or something different, something unique but i cant seem to think what that is yet. Yet i want to use as many techniques to separates NOISE's coverage of bands compared to others. I also need to establish this unique writing style with NOISE magazine and by ensuring that i will probably use the white text on a black background effect that i used in the contents so that it creates continuity of identification in my magazine. I shall also keep to "Headline One" font for writing that i want to stand out such as the pull quote, and "Headline Two" font for the actual article text. This is the same layout as what i used in the contents with the sans serif writing making it more informal and more approachable for the target audience. Yet i feel that a problem could arise due to the fact that with a black background, the colours that are used in the picture may clash with it and create a horrible looking blend of colours. So i may have to play around on photoshop (at college, eating up more of my time) in order to get the blend of colours right.

Here is my completed two page spread for my magazine. As you can see this has had the most modifications than the others, so that it has reached the level in which i believe it to be good enough for a two page spread. I have kept the identity going by using white text on a black background. Yet this meant that the colour scheme of my photo had to change. Firstly the actual photo had to be changed a lot as well. I couldn't find a drum set, therefore i changed the photo so that it portrays their personality. In the previous two photos i have used devices such as showing no emotion and looking away from the camera to provide effects that are commonly used in music magazines. So in this case i thought that i would use a more pure photo in which, they are smiling and showing their love for rock. The brick wall background (much like the front cover) yet again connotes the urban lifestyle that they live. Yet it also shows their inability to escape it. Each photo shows them in the city up against a brick wall, the cannot seem to pull away from where they live as it is a part of them. It also suggests a lack of ways in which they can leave the city due to insignificant funding that they have. That in turn adds to the personalities in which they posses which become clearer later on. As i mentioned, i had to change the colour scheme. I decided to make this photo a black and white photo. It consists of two very different contrasts of colour which makes the picture seem sharper and also changes their personality. The fact that there is no colour suggests that their personal lives are very harsh and cold, yet with the introduction of NOISE magazine and the use of the black text of "urban Mondays" behind a yellow box and the red "exclusive" implies that the magazine and therefore music adds colour and viberance to their lifes. Due to my poor camera and even poorer camera skills, again the image became pixulated when i tried to stretch it so only half of one page could be covered with the image. This lead to the introduction of the "Urban Mondays" and the "Exclusive" text appearing. This helps make the page more energetic and lively, it also makes it look more exciting, thus making the readers want to read the whole article.

Before my pull quote had origionally said "We're like Oasis only we make good music" yet after observing the effects of the picture and what it has done to the band members i thought i would make it a little more, brash by changing it to "We're like Oasis only our music isn't crap". This helps makes the page full of text more agressive and exciting, and leaves implications that the rest of the article will be like that. I also made the pull quote red implying passion and agression, and it also helps make the pull quote stand out more from the smaller white text around it. And as for the unique writing style that i wanted to use, well i'm pretty sure it has been done before, but it isn't used too often. I wanted to use an interview to voice the opinions of the band members and help ask questions that the readers would want answered. Yet i thought that this was too formal and didn't give off the wild rockstar lifestyle associated with the band, so by reporting back on the interview and describing past, present and future situations with the band, i could report it almost as a story adding little indications about their true lifestyle that wouldn't come across in a simple "Do you feel..." question. One example of this is the description of the "derilict house" and the "sinister bulldog". I feel that this makes the interview more enjoyable as the article is providing a set of eyes to look through and describe the place around the band. This also meant that i din't have to include more images as they are being described in the article.

I wanted to create a hostile atmosphere around the band, to try and suggest that music is a form of relief, a theory in which music lovers and therefore my readers will understand. It is relief from the troubles of the outside world (in which the media continiously grab hold of recently) and shows how music affects every type of person out there. I wanted to create a mental picture of struggle for the band, and that a devotion to music is there only way out of trouble. In a means of doing this i made them seem very arrogant and use vile language. Obvioulsy i have sugarcoated it for publishing reasons but they are techniques in which the struggle and the anger of their lives comes out, and is also shown in their music. By including statements about their new akbum "ASBO's with instuments" it is showing the readers that they know what they act like, and that plain and simply they just don't care, which is a true rock and roll attitude. At the risk of stereotyping them as "rockers" with nothing else to say about them, I introudced the deep beliefs of the band towards record labels and publishers, this shows that they do have meaniful opinions, but at the risk of breaking through that jagged unapproachable attitude it is covered up with swear words and insults. By manipulating the article in the past sense it also means that i can sugarcoat these sections and make them almost humerous or agreeable to the readers, many of which may be experiencing the same experiences or sharing the same opinions, thus relating it back to the target audience. The fact that i have mentioned Manchester as their place of birth (thus expalining the hatred towards Manchesters pride and joy-Oasis) and bringing them to first name terms, of rather, simple unextravigant names of; Tom, Gilly and Connor it makes them seem more approachable and almost as if the readers know about them and have met them. I have also included the brief ending that is common to most interviews with bands which is that their album is available in all good commercial stores with the added quote portraying recnt events (thus making the magazine the current addition, with current news) of "except for Woolworths."

Overall i feel that the two page spread has worked well and provides an insightful adn unique way of interviewings of bands. I feel that the language used throughout is commonly assiociated with the rock genre, thus making it relevant and enjoyable to the readers. With the layout and colour scheme adding it's own portrayal of the band that is easy for the readers to apply, sub-consiously whilst reading the article. Despite having problems with the photos and the software the modified version of the two page spread came to a better conclusion than what my origional plan did.

Contents pages

This is the flat plan for my contents page of my magazine. One of the problems that occured in making my flatplan was that whilst i could think of many bands to write articles about, i couldn't actually think of anything to write about them so as for the moment i have left them blank. I have chosen to use a rather simple and formal format compared to my front page, as contents are meant to be well organized, hence the formal layout. It is clear on the eye and is simple to understand as the articles are in order of appearence in the magazine. I have also decided to include only one image as contents are merely a guide to the magazine, and is the area where there is a brief insight into each article. Therefore images aren't needed as they don't always provide a summery of an article, which is what is needed in this case. The image that i have used is one that relates to the main flash on the front cover portraying the urban mondays, contrast to the front cover i have set it in a rural area with a tree as it shows contrast and shows that the band are very diverse in a musical sense. I have linked the photo with the article by putting the number next to both the image and the article introduction. At the top of the page i have put this week in bold white letters, and i am going to use a red background, as this stands out. It is also commonly used amongst many forms of magazines especially in the rock genre. This makes my magazine look like an official rock magazine. It also links with the front cover as i had a red background at the top of the page then with black writing. But this time i have replaced it with white, the reason for this and not having it black, is because i am thinking of having a black background for the rest of the page. The reason for this is because black is very much a gothic colour, which is a more extreme form of rock, thus catagorising this as a rock magazine. Also throughout many magazines the common background colour is white, so by using black backgrounds it seperates my magazine from the rest giving it its own unique style. So i included white writing to provide a diverse range of colours so that the contents page didn't come across as boring.

I have also decided that i am going to use my brand logo on each article in order to establish each article as a "NOISE music magazine" exclusive, by placing it near or by each article at an angle much like when something is stamped. It shows that this article is definatly good enough for NOISE readers and it has been stamped and approved, not many magazines use this, thus creating my own unique style for my magazine.

Here is the completed version of my music magazine contents page. I have kept to the format and only provided minor changes that i feel have benifitted the layout and format of my magazine. I have had to use tracking in order to get "THIS WEEK" to spread along the top of the page. This was something that could only take place at college due to the fact that i didn't have any of the correct software at home (it is worth pointing out that apart from the photos used in the magazine everything else on the production of the magazine was complete in college as you need Adobe InDesign, this therefore restricted the amount of time that i could spend on the actaul magazine and meant that some alterations couldn't take place.) I have included the sub-heading of features, it is a general format seen throughout "Rocksound" and "NME" so it familarises itself with other contents pages.
When it came to taking the picture some problems did occur. As one of the origional members was unavailable for this set of photos i had to narrow it down to just two people, and the photos taken by the tree didn't come out how i'd wanted them to. The photo that i did uses was actually meant to be used in the two page spread, but i decided to use it here as i felt it was too dark to use as a main image in a two page spread. I also had problems in the form of it was too dark so it had to have the brightness modified in Adobe Photoshop (another software that i didn't have at home) But eventually i managed to get it how i wanted it to look despite switching back to the urban look, and the fact the it was taken at night means that it doesn't leap out from the page at you, so it allows you to concentrate more on what is actually going into the magazine, rather than concentrating solely on one article. The quality of my camera also meant that i could stretch the photos as far as i would like to as they would get pictulated, therefore i had to fit in another article in order to fill blank spaces left by the fact that the photo wouldn't stretch out anymore. I have also changed the poses in this photo compared to the first.I ensured that neither of them were looking at the camera. This implies a cool and suphisticated look about them, and it proves that they don't have to be looking at the readers in order to grab the readers attentions, thus creating a certain imnportance around them, and it locates them as the center of attention, with out the readers being drawn to their intentions. It aslo makes it almost seem like a natural action shot, as if the camera wasn't even there, and this is how they behave when there not in the limelight.

As far as the content of each article went i decided to make it relevant to what was actually happening to that band around december time. Therefore i included the story of Axl Rose going AWOL from band Guns N' Roses, The Killers talking about the former number one album Days & Age, and a competition in which there is a chance to win tickets to see the Pigeon Detectives who were actually playing in London, unfortuantly not in the 02 Arena and it was on the 6th so many competitors would have missed out. So next time i may make it more accurate so that what i right actually is true. Each and every article is also relevant to my target audience's likes. My target audience is classed in the ABC1 catagory, much like NME readers in the Socio-economic classification which means that they are; higher ranking professionals such as doctors, middles ranking professionals such as teachers or white collar (office) workers, with the majority of these being between 16-25 years old. Therefore i can use play on the words to isolate the true fans of rock from the mainstreamers as they will understand some of the synopsis' for each article. These include "The Fratellis: dig the dagger into rival bands". Chelsea Dagger is one of their well known songs therefore my target audience can immediatly relate to the these articles as they know the songs where as other "mainstream" readers may not understand. Another example of this is "Nicklebac: on why we all just want to be big rockstars" the later part of that quote is a line from their number one hit "Rockstar" thus straight away aiming this at fans of Nickleback who are more than likely to fall under the catagory of rock fan.

As i mentioned in my flat plan i have used by brand logo as a stamp or a ceil of approval for the magazine. Yet i have decided to keep it the exact same shape. What i mean by this is that it has the same height and the same length as the brand logo used on the front page. This helps solidify the establishement that readers have of this logo as it is always the same height, length and colour, with the only acception being the positioning of it and whether it is straight or diagonally placed on the page. I also felt that "THIS WEEK" stood out too much as everything else was white writing on black background. So i decided to make the page numbers white on red much like "THIS WEEK" so that it helps establish the format and therefore the page numbers also stand out more. I have decided to stick with "Dirty Headline" for the brand logo and have contin ued with the trend of "headline one" for things that i want to stand out such as "THIS WEEK" and also band names as it lets the reader know straight away which article is realted to whci band, without having to read the whole introduction to the article. And i ahve decided to use the font "headline two" as the smaller print, it wiil probably use this technique in the two page spread aswell in order to keep a contsant pattern going throughout each page, as this helps familarise the reader with the format of the magazine. I also feel that each article is related to what usually appears in actual rock magazines. There are mentions of gigs, new albums, individual tracks, lifestyles. There is also a summery of the year in the "100 greatest indie rock tracks" as december is a time to look back on the new year, this also provides contrast with the "Urban Mondays" article in which the magazine is looking into 2009, this makes the magazine seem like it is covering all aspects of stories, and it also has a chance to win tickets to a concert which is another reason to draw the readers in. It would have been ideal to put this on the front cover, but adter playing around with the idea of it, i couldn't find a layout that would work so i had to leave it out.

Front covers

This is my origional flat plan for the front cover of my music magazine. I have tried to use as many techniques as possible that are usually assiociated with muisc magazines. Yet in order to enable higher sales, i have used less noticable devices to give my magazine its own identities.




In more popular music magazines such as "Rocksound" and "NME" the masthead in which the brand logo is placed is usually located at the top of the magazine. Yet in my magazine i have placed an actual artical at the very top of the page from left to right. This represents the way that many nationalaties (mainly the UK and U.S0) read and they would represent a large proportion of my traget audience due to the fact that it is the English language. The reason that i have placed an article at the very top of the magazine is to seperate it from other magazines in terms of layout. It also allows my brand logo to be located slightly closer to the middle of the page in which at a glance is what readers are drawn to first (before they start to look at it closely) which helps establish my brand in their mind if they were only looking at magazines on store shelf. Whilst this technique is uncommon amongst popular music magazines, it is used by some in order to change the layout and make the magazine seem busier by placing as many articles as they can in as many spaces that they can in order to attempt to sell the magazine as it looks like they have more stories than other magazines; this also provides another reason as to why i have decided to place an article and use it almost as a masthead.




My brand of magazine is named NOISE music magazine. I have decided to use balck disorted, fading writing in an attempt to classify it as a rock magazine. I have also placed it in a white box with my main picture located underneath. This helps the brand logo stand out from the rest of the magazine, thus drawing you towards it and helping establish it in the readers mind. I have decided to place the name of my band (Urban Mondays) directly in the middle of my magazine in an attempt to make it the center of attention. I am still undecided on the colours of the boxes surrounding them but i would like to make it stand out from the picture to connote that this band stand out and are different from any other band that there is at the moment. Urban Mondays is my Main flash with a sub-heading of "Rock's new hotshots" This implies the type of the magazine thatt this is, as does the brand logo of NOISE implying that it is a rock magazine. It also shows us that this band is an up and coming talent, which indicates that we would be looking ahead into the new year as it is a december addition of the magazine.




Both brand logos and main flashes are commonly used in any form of magazine and they usually indicate the genre of my magazine, i feel that "NOISE" and "Rock's new hotshots" clearly defines my magazine under the genre of rock. Along with brand logos and main flashes another item always found on magazines are dates, issues and bracodes. They aren't what attract readers to a magazine but it formalises one and helps make it sellable and in this case seem exactly how a magazine should look. Yet stupidley i left them out so when it comes to my actual front cover i must remember to include them. Along with main flashes there are also many main sells amongst magazines, these are generally lesser and smaller stories that indicate content and personality of the magazine. Since my magazine is a rock one it is important that the "lesser stories" are related to rock. I have decided on using actual rock bands in an attempt to establish the rock theme in my magazine. "Fallout Boy: The West Coast Smokers Reveal All" is one of my main sells. Fallout Boy are a popular rock band, with "West Coast Smokers" being one of their songs. This is only something that rock fans would understand as they would be the only ones who know the song, thus identifying them as my target audience. With my main flash i had the writing placed diagonally to indicate a younger audience, but for the main sells, i have located one by the image and the others (which are merely names of bands as i feel that my target audience won't need a specific story realted to them yet as they will want to read about those bands anyway, so i don't necessiraly need a story with those bands yet (but i will include them on the contents). This keeps the attention on the Main flash as there isn't too many stories circling it so that it is clear which one is the main flash. I have decided on not using a strapline as i found that when looking at rock magazines there weren't too many of them indicating that it isn't something that affects whether or not the magazines are brought, so i felt that it was insignifficant.

Here is my completed version of my magazine front cover. I have kept to my origional flat plan but made a few changes that i feel have benifitted the magazines look. In my analysis here i will mainly look at colour and type and explain where and why I've used certain colours and fonts. But firstly i will explain the use of imagery. I have made sure that there is no real sign of emotions on the faces of my "Rockstars" to indicate that they are serious, rather than happy due to the fact that rock music isn't associated with happiness. There clothes that they are wearing are suggestive due to the fact that they fall under the middle class wardrobe, it shows that they aren't rich (as they've only just come onto the scene, hence "Rock's new hotshots) and that they aren't extremley poor but could do with some money. The use of the brick wall as the background links with the connotations of their name "Urban Mondays" it provides a city establishment, and rock is also assiciated with urban territory as it sounds louder and more sharp, which you wouldn't expect in the countryside. Yet in using this picture I encountered a few problems, firstly it was rather pictualeted which lead me to wonder if i should use another image, this invloved the tedious approach of using photoshop and endless amounts of cropping, but eventually i managed to get it how i wanted to. Yet the colour scheme and clothing meant that i had to play around with the colour and size of the text; especially my main flash which had to be rearranged many times with different forn sizes and colour to make sure it was readable. Luckily i encoured the same problem on my preliminary task so it wasn't as hard as it could have been if i hadn't done it before. The use of the brick wall and rather darke colours such as brown and black made my brand logo stand out even more on it's white background, so the reader is drwan to it more. Yet unfortunatly it meant that one of the band members had part of his head underneath it and I was too tired of playing around with the layout so i left it how it was, maybe if i had more time i would have attempted to change it but i don't believe that it affects the image and the magazine as a whole too much.

On the use of the brickwork i noticed that it was almost different shades of brown with the dark brown as the brick and a very light brown used as cement in between. This provided me with the inspiration of the use of red and yellow to seperate it the Main flash from the rest of the page. Whilst they stand out from the page it also keeps the connotations of the urban area and keeps the link with the name of the band going. As i mentioned earlier I used a disorted faded font for the brand logo, which was called dirty headline. Not only does it include connotations of rock genre, it also seperates it from the rest of the text on the page. The fonts that were used for the main flash and the sub-headings wer mainly headline one and two. These two fonts are pure standard sans serif fonts, with varying size of fonts. I've also had to play around with the use of tracking (spaces between letters) to get them to fill the right spaces such as the "XMAS" article in which the two lines of righting had to be altered in order to fill the space provided. The use of the red background for this article ensures there isn't too many colours on my front cover, this could be used as a pattern or layout that occurs over many issues of my magazine, it would be that i only use those colours for the main flashes main sells and background colours. The reasons that i have chosen to use these colours is for the following: they are all sub-urban colours i.e no green representing the countryside. Also the use of black on white and vise a versa helps the text stand out, which makes it easy to read, this classes as legibility. I have decided against using bold or italics as i didn't want to seperate the stories too much as it would make one stand out more than the other. The use of red also holds connotations of danger, and passion which is usually associated with rock music. Yet the colour of yellow that i have used for "Urban Mondays" isn't usually used in rock music, as it has connotations with children. Yet in order to keep the urban theme going i decided to use it and i believe that it has worked well.

I have now added a date, issue and barcode to formalise my magazine, and it gives relevance to some of my articles in the magazine. As it is the December issue it shows that it is a monthly edition magazine and that it is also celebrating Christmas so it adds relevancy to the articles, it would also apply for the August addition where there may be articles on Summer. Barcodes on magazines are usually located on the bottom of the page, yet due to the lack of space i have had to put it nearer the top, whilst it isn't the most conveniant place it seperates the format and layout of my magazine to that of others such as NME or Rocksound.