Tuesday 25 January 2011

Artist Profile

Test Shots




These are some of the Pictures I took for test shots, this was to help me get more of an idea of what type of shot I wanted on my front cover (Mid-shot, Long shot or close-up) . 
It also gave me an idea of what sort of poses would work effectively with my magazine. I plan to take more pictures for my draft magazine and try out different ideas for my cover, contents and double page spread.

Wednesday 19 January 2011

Inspiration for Magazine

I have found this layout of a magazine front cover and double page spread. I really like the way it has been set out on the cover with a close up shot with half of the models face cut off. I have took some inspiration from the way that the colour of the models eye and lips are in colour and stand out against the black and white of the rest of the picture and i would like to try and apply this to my main image on the front cover of my magazine. I also like the way that the images go from left to right across the two pages with the article underneath, i am also going to think about including something similar to this layout on my double page spread.

Underneath there is another picture of a double page spread from Vibe magazine that i have took inspiration from and i am currently deciding on whether to use a layout that is similar to this; With the images of the featuring artist laid across the page with them creating different poses in each photo.

Thursday 13 January 2011

Evaluation of Feedback From Pitch

The feedback that i received back from the rest of the class was mostly positive, Many people liked the name of my magazine being 'Acoustic' but thought that it didn't match that well with the genre of my magazine being Pop/Indie/Contemporary music. Having thought about this i have decided to keep the name of 'Acoustic' and change the genre of my magazine more to indie but with some chart music mixed in. I have decided to still use some chart music in my magazine as it would allow me to target a bigger audience with my magazine.

The class liked the idea of me using handwritten style fonts for my magazine as they thought it would make my magazine stand out. However, they thought that i could possibly lower the age of my target audience to 14 years. I have thought about this and have decided to use their advice and lower my target age to 14-25.

From Doing this pitch i have also made a decision that i want my magazine to go against the conventions of an indie/Pop chart magazine, i will do this by using handwritten style fonts and some black and white images included in my magazine, this would not be typical of especially a Pop magazine. As i am going against the conventions of a typical Pop/Indie magazine i will have to make sure that it is still identifyable to the audience what genre the magazine is.

Tuesday 4 January 2011

Magazine Name

For my magazine I wanted to choose a name that would represent my magazine and match the genre and audience I am aiming at. I have managed to come up with 3 possible names for my magazine these are;


Acoustic- I came up with this name as it is a music related word and means to play and create music by solely using instruments. Also when I think of the word 'Acoustic' it reminds me off a small intimate live music session such as BBC radio 1's Live lounge. The only drawback to using this name as their may be confusion with readers because the music featured in the magazine will not just be acoustic music and will be any contemporary music.


Lyric-  I thought of this name to use for my magazine as it is a very simple word  and therefore I thought many readers would be able remember it and recall the name. I also like it because it is obvious that the magazine would be a music magazine. This word could also represent any genre, as most music has lyrics to it.


Interlude- this is more of a less well known word but is still music related. I found this term when looking through a music vocabulary website, this word caught my eye as I though it was something different and sounded quite quirky. 


I have finally decided to call my magazine 'Acoustic' as I find I like this name the best and the name implies to the reader that it is a music magazine.

Audience Profile

Experimenting With Colour

These are some colour palettes I have made to help me decide on what house style I would like to give my magazine and what colours to use. With magazines I particularly like the use of grey in a colour scheme, this is why a lot of grey appears in my colour palettes. I currently favour the Navy/Black/White and Purple/Black/Grey/White colour palettes and will consider using one of these for my house style, I also find that using these colour would fit the genre of my music magazine.

Mood board of Ideas


In this video I have used images as a visual representation of ideas and inspiration I could use to help me when creating my magazine. 
The covers and contents pages I have used all appeal to me in some way or another, whether it is because of the colour palette they have used, the Style of fonts or a certain pose that has been shown. I have also included into my video some of my favourite fonts that I may choose to use in my final magazine, along with them is a few pictures showing who my magazine is going to appeal to and what other interests people of this age have.

Inspiration For Covers

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I have created this mood board of magazine covers that I like and have found ideas and inspiration from, this will then help me when I come to design my front cover on my magazine as I can use this as a guide. 
I have found myself more drawn to the black and white monochrome covers or covers that feature grey scale images, this is something I have decided that I would like to experiment with further when I design my magazine cover.
I also like the magazine covers that have very strong eye catching poses on the for their main images, I think is because it would catch the readers eye (like it did to mine) and make them take a further look at the magazine.

Monday 3 January 2011

Collection of Fonts.


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These are some of the fonts that I have found using Dafont.com, For the masthead of my magazine I found myself looking at handwritten fonts as I find these different original, I also find that they look very sophisticated and professional. My other choice of masthead is to use a font that looks worn or destroyed as I think it would give my magazine more of an edge and individual look. 
My font would also have to match well with the genre of my music magazine, my music magazine is going to cover contemporary music that is currently in the charts such as Pop and Indie. I have thought that if I aimed my magazine mainly at the Pop and Indie genres it would cover a wide audience, as most of the music listened to in the charts at the moment is mainly of these genres.

I will now use this mood board of fonts to help me decide on my final fonts that I will choose to use on my final magazine. 

Double Page Spread Analysis - Kerrang! Magazine

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Double Page Spread Analysis - NME Magazine

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Double Page Spread Analysis - Vibe Magazine

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Contents Analysis- Kerrang! Magazine

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Contents Analysis- NME Magazine

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Contents Analysis - Billboard Magazine

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