Contents Page

This was my initial idea for my contents page, based on my notes and sketches. I tried to imitate the stripes idea used on the front cover, to tie the music magazine together, but they ended up looking like boxes. Furthermore, I didn't have a photo for 'Hip-Hop', which I'd planned to get but hadn't. I also had more information than could fit on the page, and had left no space for an editor's note, so I decided to change the format to A3.



This was my first draft for my A3 contents page with photos. The colours representing each genre had also been given a title with a representitive font. I had still tried to go back to the original stripes design idea. However, I felt it looked too crowded. So I decided to make the fonts smaller, to leave more space and make the contents page look less crowded.



On this final draft of my contents page, the fonts have all been made smaller, so it looks much less crowded.

Planning my feature

Now there is a fresh problem - what genre should my feature be about? It may depend on what upcoming gigs there are - I could do a gig review of one of the genres, possibly reggae or dance. However, there are also a few bands around that I could do interviews with or band profiles of. However, the things I am certain will be in my feature are:
-Song/top 3 songs of the month (per genre)
-Gig listings (for each genre)
-A band profile (each genre)
-Article (each genre)

Another thing is that I might use a genre that uses a mix of old and new music, to make the layout of the feature more interesting and show how the writing of old music mixed with new music will work. Reggae is a possible idea, as old reggae is popular at the moment, hence there is much new reggae being made.

I have pictures for 2 potential features: jazz or pop.
Feature
Jazz or pop? I have better pictures for Jazz, but Jazz is not a mainstream genre, and so maybe not a good genre to start with. However I have to justify the journalism of less mainstream genres during the course of the magazine, (justify the use of many genres). So how could I make a jazz section that would appeal to my audience? There is a need to show how it would work. (I know very little about Jazz, possibly not enough to write a successful article) If I was to write a Jazz feature, it would need to be technical to appeal to jazz musicians, but explanatory and accessible to appeal to my audience who don't know anything about Jazz. To further appeal to my younger market, it would have to not be written like a 'jazz snob'. However, again it would not be a good idea to write a feature about a genre I don't know enough about. 'Pop' is a much broader genre, and leading my magazine with a main story about 'Jazz' may not be attractive to my audience. I also have more access to 'pop' musicians. So I will write my feature on 'pop' music.
The magazine should be accesible: introduce people to new genres of music, but also give people information and articles on genres of music they already like - the whole 'club' idea.

Feature

My first idea was to make a 'Jazz' feature, to introduce my audience to the idea of reading about other genres of music in an accessible way. I also had much better pictures for use on jazz feature as opposed to a pop feature. However, I felt I didn't know enough about Jazz to write a feature on it, so I went with Pop instead. I also had a good interview for pop, which was a further reason for my choice.



I based my format on my sketches and notes. However I had to adapt it, because some of my pictures had been cut off at the bottom by the camera, so had to be fitted to the bottom of the page. So in the end, I based my format around the three pictures. The interview fits around them.
This would not be the end of the 'pop' section. This is simply the main feature, the interview. On the next page would be pop gig dates, pop gig reviews, 'pop album/song of the month', and websites and videos related to pop music to view on the internet.

Here is my sketch of my original idea for my feature format:

Improvements of Front cover, Contents Page.

When I created my front cover, I wanted it to be unique from other music magazines. Although I thought the colours worked well together and it was effective, I didn't think the picture worked very well. If I was to create another music magazine, I would focus my front cover around the picture. The picture would be the background, much like the old NME I analysed.

My contents page I felt looked quite crowded, with the colours and fonts eventually clashing. Here is a sketch of how I would lay out my contents page if I created it again.



The improvements, and the reasons for noting them, are written on the sketch above.

Furthermore, I should have mentioned a competition on either my front cover or contents page. The competition would be to win gig tickets/discounts, to encourage my readers to go to gigs.

Further audience feedback

I asked 10 people, ranging from 14 - 26, the outline ages of my target audience, their thoughts on the magazine. I got the same feedback from each person.
Firstly, they thought the idea was fresh and unique, though were not sure whether they would want to read about all the genres included in the magazine. They did note however that they were open to learning about music they did not normally listen to, and after reading about their favourite ones, thought that they would probably read about the others had they bought the magazine.
Secondly, they thought the front cover was eye catching, because it was unlike any other music magazines. However interestingly, they noted that at a glance they would not first notice that it was a music magazine, even if they did see the picture of the man with the guitar. They said this was because the magazine is so different from others, its almost unexpected.
The interview they felt, although humourous, useful and very interesting/informative, it wasn't representitive of most pop music, and not advertised properly on the front cover and contents page.
Finally, onto the contents page, they felt wasn't effective. They were put off by the clash of the many different fonts, but not the colours as they felt the colours worked well together on the front cover, and so could be matched in the contents page. It was the fonts that were 'too much'.

What have you learnt about technologies?

I have learnt a lot about technologies, following a photoshop course. This was very useful, and helped me complete all three pieces of practical work on photoshop. When I completed my school magazine, I didn't properly know how to use photoshop, and it showed, with my final piece looking unsatisfying, and flat. The main skill I learnt was how to properly organise my work, and how to navigate the layers on photoshop. This was tremendously useful in overcoming minor technical difficulties that would otherwise have been vastly time consuming, and allowing me to work at a much faster pace.
I also learnt about many of the tools that allow you to customise shapes to make original designs, rather than work with pre-made fonts and structures. One of these is the 'liquify' tool. I used this tool to make the eye catching, dynamic looking logo/title, that reads 'music genre'.
Another technological skill I learnt was to do with working with photos. I learnt quick and easy methods of cutting out photos, to make them look clean and to have lost the background, which was very important, as the photo's throughout my magazine needed to be of specific images, so they could then be added with a white outline which would help tie them into the magazine.

How does your magazine attract/address your target audience?

I have spoken about how my magazine as a whole attracts the audience, however, not how the front cover does. On a simple level, the front cover uses lots of bright colours, that would attract the eye of potential buyers. Furthermore, there is a catchy tag line: 'All the GENRES - rolled into one'. This sums up the magazine, making its format understandable and therefore accessible. Finally, the picture is of an attractive young man, so would appeal to the female members of my target audience, and the male ones who think he look's good. The title/logo is written in a flashy, modern font, giving connotations of 'modern' and 'clean'. This will help attract a modern audience.

The language in my magazine is not patronising, but easy to understand and accessible. If I was to write an article about 'Jazz' in my magazine that was patronising, it wouldn't work. Firstly, readers who know a lot about jazz don't want to read about things they already know a great deal about. Secondly, readers who want to learn about jazz will not learn that much if it is about 'amateur, beginners' jazz. Therefore, the article would have include complicated information, and in order for outsiders of jazz to access it, would need to be written very carefully. Of course, these points apply to all the genres of music, jazz is just an example.

Another way my music magazine attracts my audience is to have prizes, competitions and in this particular issue, discounts. It is important that my magazine becomes established as a good, well known magazine. So discounts on future buys will be sold on the first 5 issues. The buyers will receive a card to claim these discounts, as though introducing them to a special club. There will be other ways of acquiring one of these 'discount cards', through competitions and such, so readers will want to try and become a 'card holder'.