Considering Models

I have considered three models to use for my music magazine. All three are teenage girls within a 16-17 age range. I have considered models within this age group and gender as the target audience of a Pop Magazine is mainly teenage girls so therefore I wanted to use a model that would be suitable for the magazine and realateable to the audience.

 

 

 

 

Millie
 

Hair Colour- Light Blonde

Eye Colour- Blue

Skin Tone- Light

Fashion Style- Girly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emily
Hair Colour- Dark Blonde
Eye Colour- Blue
Skin Tone- Light/ Medium
Fashion Style- Fashionable

Hannah

Hair Colour- Brown

Eye Colour- Brown

Skin Tone- Medium/ Olive Skin

Fashion Style- Smart/ Casual

I have chosen to use Emily as the model for my Music Magazine. This is because I personally think that she has more of a Pop Star image than Hannah and Millie.

Due Emily's style I feel I will be able to do more with it by using different styles of clothing and colours.

I also think that Emily will be able to pull of a variety of outfit styles e.g. girly, dressy and casual.

This is why I have chosen to use Emily for my Music Magazine.

Brand and Target Audience

In order for my target audience to be able to tell that my magazine is a pop magazine I am going to have a 'Pop Artist' as the main image on my front cover. As the name of my magazine is Pop I think that this will be a key indication of the theme and genre of my magazine.

I am going to follow the conventions of a pop magazine throughout by using the typical style of writing and colours associated with pop e.g. light and pastel colours such as pink, blue and green.

As the target audience of a pop magazine and my magazine is teenagers of both genders but mainly female I am going to make sure that my magazine is suitable by having a suitable layout, text and image style and suitable content.

I am going to use informal language throughout so that my magazine is conversation like. In the double page spread I am going to write in third person.

Flat Plan

This is the flat plan for my magazine, it shows what is located on each page in my magazine and how the magazine is going to be laid out.
I will use this flat plan to help me when making my magazine as it shows where in the magazine each article is going to be. I think I will find my flat plan most helpful when creating my magazine contents page as it shows me which page each article is going to go on.

Following Conventions

I am going to follow magazine conventions throughout my magazine on the cover and within the magazine but may make a few changes in some places of my magazine to set it apart from other magazines.

I am considering keeping the layout of the magazine so that it is easy to read and uses the space well.

On the cover I am going to use a main image, barcode and masthead but may make a few changes to how the headlines are typically laid out.

For my contents page I am going to follow the conventions of a contents page by having different article sections, article titles, random page numbering and pictures.

For my double page spread I am also going to follow conventions by having the article title, a main picture with the article text carefully placed around it and a few smaller images around the page.

Title, Theme & House Style Final Choice

The theme and house style of my magazine is going to focus on information on the pop artist featured in the magazine and the fashion within the Pop industry. I think that this will set my magazine apart from other magazines as it will bring together Music Magazines and Fashion Magazines.

I have chosen the name Pop as the title of my magazine as it instantly shows that it is a music magazine. As it is short it is catchy and will be recognisable. As the Pop Magazines I looked at contained the word Pop within them I think it is important to use this as my Magazine name.

Title, Theme & House Style Ideas

I think that the theme and house style of my magazine is going to be a pop magazine focusing on the clothes pop stars wear and fashion within the pop industry. I will also focus on the latest news and information on the pop stars featured in the magazine.

When considering the title of my magazine I have considered names that represent pop and fashion. The titles I have considered are:
-Pop
-Price Tag

Pop is the theme of the music style for my magazine, I think this is a good name as it is short and catchy and will also show that the magazine is a music magazine when it is written on the cover. The pop magazines I looked into included 'Top of the Pops' and 'We Heart Pop' both of these magazines have the word pop within the title.

Price Tag is the name of a well known song by Pop artist Jessie J, I have considered this as the name of my magazine due to it being a well known song and also as it represents the fashion side of the magazine.

Planning and Making my Magazine Schedule

Date	Task	What does the task involve?
26/01/14	Magazine title, theme and house style	Think about the title, theme and house style of my magazine.
26/01/14	Following Conventions	Consider the conventions I am going to follow when creating my magazine.
27/01/14	Brand and Target Audience	Confirming my final choice of the brand and target audience for my music magazine.
27/01/14	Consider Models	Thinking about which models I want to use for my magazine and why.
10/02/14	Consider Location	Consider locations to take pictures to be used for my magazine.
10/02/14	Model Hair, Makeup and Outfits	Decide the outfits, hair and makeup for the model I have chosen.
10/02/14	Design Plan	Make hand drawn designs of my music magazine cover, contents and double page spread.
11/02/14	Take Pictures	Take all of the pictures to be used for my magazine.
12/02/14	Chose Final Pictures	Pick the best pictures to be used for each section of my magazine.
12/02/14	Write Double Page Spread Article	Write the article for my double page spread.
18/02/14	Finished Magazine	Make the cover, contents page and double page spread.
18/02/14	Get Feedback	Get feedback on my magazine.
19/02/14	Make improvements	Make improvements to my magazine from the feedback.
20/02/14	Get Final Feedback	Get feedback on my final product.
20/02/14	Evaluation	Evaluate my final product and the process of making the magazine.
28/02/14	Upload final product	Upload my final magazine.

What I have learnt from my research

From my research I have learnt that in order for my magazine to attract readers the cover needs to be colourful and eye catching. The people I asked my questionnaire to said that they would like the content of my music magazine to have information on pop artists and the clothes that pop artists wear e.g. where the clothes can be bought from and the fashion in the pop industry. I asked 'where do you by your clothes' as part of my questionnaire, the answers were a variety of well known high street shops because of this the clothes that will be shown and featured in my magazine will be available from high street stores. All three questionnare responses said that the magazine should be released monthly. The cost of my magazine will be £3. As the people I asked where teenagers and all said their favourite music genre is pop my music magazine will be a pop magazine for teenagers.

Questionnaire Response Three

I asked three people to answer my questionnaire, two were females and the other was male. Everyone I asked is a teenager aged between 16-17.

Response 1: Jenna, Female, 16.
Question 1:
What gender are you?
- Female.

Question 2:
How old are you?
-16.

Question 3:
What is your favourite music genre?
- Pop.

Question 4:
Do you read any music magazines? If so which ones?
- No.

Question 5:
What would make you want to buy a music magazine?
- If the cover was eye catching, if it was a well known magazine or if it had well known music artist on the cover and in the magazine.

Question 6:

How often do you think the magazine should be released?

-Monthly.

Question 7:
Where do you buy your clothes?
- New Look, Zara, Topshop, River Island.

Question 8:
What would you like to see in a music magazine?
- Information on pop artists and were the clothes pop artists wear are from and where they can be bought.

Question 9:
How much would you be willing to spend on a music magazine?
- £3.

Question 10:
Would you like my magazine to follow magazine conventions and look like other magazines or be very different?
-I think you should use some magazine conventions but maybe consider making it look different to other magazines.

Questionnaire Response Two

I asked three people to answer my questionnaire, two were females and the other was male. Everyone I asked is a teenager aged between 16-17.

Response 1: Adam , Male, 17.
Question 1:
What gender are you?
- Male.

Question 2:
How old are you?
-17.

Question 3:
What is your favourite music genre?
- Pop.

Question 4:
Do you read any music magazines? If so which ones?
- No.

Question 5:
What would make you want to buy a music magazine?
- If it stood out from other music magazines e.g. by having a front cover that attracts readers to buy it.

Question 6:

How often do you think the magazine should be released?

-Monthly.

Question 7:
Where do you buy your clothes?
- Top Man, Urban Outfitters, Choice.

Question 8:
What would you like to see in a music magazine?
- Information about pop artists.

Question 9:
How much would you be willing to spend on a music magazine?
- Around £2.

Question 10:
Would you like my magazine to follow magazine conventions and look like other magazines or be very different?
- Similar to other magazines.

Questionnaire Response One

I asked three people to answer my questionnaire, two were females and the other was male. Everyone I asked is a teenager aged between 16-17.

Response 1: Millie, Female, 17.
Question 1:
What gender are you?
- Female.

Question 2:
How old are you?
-17.

Question 3:
What is your favourite music genre?
- Pop.

Question 4:
Do you read any music magazines? If so which ones?
- Yes, We Heart Pop.

Question 5:
What would make you want to buy a music magazine?
- If a well known pop artist was on the cover and if it contained information on pop artists and the pop music culture.

Question 6:
How often do you think the magazine should be released?
- Monthly.

Question 7:
Where do you buy your clothes?
- Topshop, Forever 21 and H&M.

Question 8:
What would you like to see in a music magazine?
- Information about the pop genre, pop artists and the clothes pop artists wear e.g. the fashion in the pop music industry.

Question 9:
How much would you be willing to spend on a music magazine?
- Up to £3.50

Question 10:
Would you like my magazine to follow magazine conventions and look like other magazines or be very different?
-Follow conventions and be similar to others so that it is recognisable as a music magazine.

Target Audience Research- Questionnaire

Question 1:
What gender are you?

Question2:
How old are you?

Question 3:
What is your favourite music genre?

Question 4:
Do you read any music magazines? If so which ones?

Question 5:
What would make you want to buy a music magazine?

Question 6:
How often do you think the magazine should be released?

Question 7:

Where do you buy your clothes?

Question 8:
What would you like to see in a music magazine?

Question 9:
How much would you be willing to spend on a music magazine?

Question 10:
Would you like my magazine to follow magazine conventions and look like other magazines or be very different?

My Target Audience

Who is my Target Audience
My target audience is teenage girls. This is because this is the normal target audience of Pop magazines. I think I will also find it useful to use this target audience as I am within the targeted age group and gender.

I can also ask my friends for their opinions and questions regarding the genre to use in my magazine.

Therefore by choosing this target audience I should be able to research, plan and create the magazine to the best of my ability.

Main Publishers of Pop Magazines

One of the main publishers of Pop Magazine is Egmont. They publish Pop magazines including We Love Pop and Go Girl.

Egmont is a publisher of childrens and teens books and magazines. Publishers like Egmont publish Pop magazines due to the teen target audience and the suitable content published in the magazines. This is because they are suitable and will not threatern the identity they have made for themselves where as a music genre such as rock would not be as suitble for Egmont due to the content as a children's book publisher would not want to be known for publishing something unsuitable for children.

Star Image- Taylor Swift

TAYLOR SWIFT

Taylor swift started her career as a country music singer and used her sweet and innocent country girl lifestyle as her star image in order to get her known in the music business.

She filled a gap in the Pop market as a Country girl singing country/pop music.

As she has become well known in the industry she has left her innocent country image behind and has become more glamorous and started releasing more pop than country music.

Star Image- Pink

PINK

Pink is a Pop star known for her 'punk-chick' look, this is her star image as she has created a alternate Pop star look to the Pretty Girly Girl.

Before being known as Pink she was called Alecia Moore. She create the name Pink as a stage name to make her more identifiable and well know as having a one word short name is likely to be remembered.

Pink uses her music to promote how she feels and her opinions on relationships and lifestyles.

Star Image- Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga is known for having extravagant clothing, big and colourful hair and loud and bright make up.

Her star image is acting crazy and wearing clothing that would not be worn day to day by someone not in the public eye.

Before becoming famous and being referred to as Lady Gaga she was know by her birth name Stefani Germanotta.

 

She has changed her whole image and taken on a new identity in order to become successful in the music industry as being recognised by her image is part of the reason she is famous and has had success. 

Star Image

Star image is when a person in the media is recognised by their image.
Pop stars take on an identity meaning they are not only represented my their music but their image and lifestyle.

In order for pop starts to succeed within the music industry and for them to become recognisable it is common for pop stars to be provided with a star image meaning then are given an indentity allowing them to stand out from other pop stars.

Target Audience of Pop

The target audience of Pop Magazines is teenagers and is normally aimed at the female gender.
This is due to the content put into Pop Magazines and the music artists that aim their music at the younger generation.

Because of this target audience Pop Magazines are bright and colourful and use a large amount of patterned and shape backgrounds, pictures and a variety of informal fonts.

Most pages in Pop Magazines have pictures and patterns and do not have blank and empty spaces so that they are not formal and looks like a page full of text, as this is likely to put off the reader from reading the magazine.

The front cover of Pop Magazines are colourful to attract the teenage target audience with the main image of a well known pop star.

Conventions of Pop

During my research of pop magazines I have found that conventions of Pop Magazines are:
Bold, bright and colourful front covers to suit and attract the target audience. They have bold titles to attract readers and a consistent colour scheme throughout the magazine. 

In pop magazines all pages are full and busy to not leave any blank or empty space throughout the magazines. This is so that the reader is sees everything on the page and is interested and attracted to read the magazine.

Looking at pop magazines I have found that the double page spread articles are laid out in columns throughout, this is a convention of most magazines not just pop.

Text is informal so that it is suitable for the young teenage target audience. Most of the text throughout the magazines in articles is in black so that it is easy to read and can be put over colourful and picture backgrounds. Although the article titles are in bold text and normally in colour.

The font size of articles in pop magazines is normally between 11-12pt.

Mode of Address

Mode of address is how the magazine addresses the audience and how the magazine is presented to them. Before publishing a magazine it is important for me to decide how I'm going to address the reader. The target audience I have chosen and are aiming the magazine at will affect my mode of address as I will have to consider the age and gender of my target audience as this will have an impact on the mode of address used for the magazine. The main modes of address used by magazines are first person, third person, formal and informal.

My Chosen Genre

I have chosen to do Pop as my magazine genre. This is because it is the genre I am most interested in so therefore I feel that it will be most suitable. I have read pop magazines such as Top of the Pops and Teen Now so I feel like I know the type of magazine they are and what is published within them.
The target audience of Pop Magazines are teenage girls. As I am within this age group and gender I feel that this will be suitable and helpful when researching, planning and creating my Music Magazine.

Typography

Typography is the arrangement of text on a page, this refers to the font, spacing and colour.

When making a magazine you have to consider what text you use as it has to be clear and easy to read.

When chosing a font for a music magazine you first have to make sure that it is readable.

Most magazine fonts in all genres are in bold text and often in capital letters so that they are easy to read.

This is why typography is extremly important when making a magazine.

Colours

 

It is important to consider colours when making a magazine as has to be eye catching but also clear and easy to read. I am planning on using a couple of colours throughout the magazine as too many colours don't show consistency or theme and colour scheme and can also make the magazine look badly organised. If colours work well together and pop it will make the reader want to pick the magazine up and read it. Colours have to be considered for fonts and backgrounds so that they can be read by all readers for example dark text on a light background or light text on a dark background. Using the colour wheel helps to identify what colours work well together as opposite colours on the colour wheel go for example, purple and yellow and orange and blue.

What have I learnt from my research?

From my magazine research of three music magazines and two fashion magazines I have found out about what magazine conventions and techniques they use. All of the magazines I looked at had a masthead positioned at the top of the page, I am going to use this convention for when creating my magazine cover. All of the main images where positioned in the middle of the page in the centre with the article titles positioned around it. The music magazine main images were of band from the music genre, the fashion magazines had one person as the main image, who I am assuming were models due to them being fashion magazines. All had a barcode on the magazine cover that was mainly positioned on the bottom corner apart from the online versions of the magazine. The article titles were positioned on the magazine cover around the main image, they show the articles within the magazine. These were written in different fonts, colours and sizes to make certain articles stand out. The two pop magazines I looked at used bright and pastel type colours on the cover to make it stand out, attract readers and are suitable for the target audience of pop magazines who are mainly teens of both genders. The colours used in the two fashion magazines I looked at were grey, white and variations of purple.
The contents pages use multiple pictures, whilst sticking to the colour scheme used on the front cover. They contain information on where in the magazine the article can be found, this is shown by the name of the article title and the page number it is on. Most magazine contents pages categories the articles commonly separating them into regulars of regular magazine articles and features of articles that are exclusive to this issue of the magazine. Some of the pop magazines I looked at used more categories including beauty and gossip as these magazines are target at teens who are interested in these articles. The numbers of the article pages are mainly odd due to a new article starting on the left side of the page and carrying onto the right to create a double page spread. The numbers are in a random order that are not ascending as the articles will be in different places within the magazine depending on what category they are in.
The double page spreads are articles spread across two pages with page numbers in the bottom corners, the Mojo magazine I looked at had one large picture on the left side of the page and the article on the right, Top of the pops had one large image on the top half of the page and smaller pictures on the right for a different article topic. Shout used one large image on each page and then smaller pictures on each page as well. All double page spreads had a title in large font to show what the magazine was about and wrote the article in columns. The colour schemes were consistent throughout the whole of the magazine.

My magazine research has helped me to decide what magazine conventions I need to use to make my magazine look like a magazine. I will use this research to help me layout my magazine and include magazine conventions. After looking at different music magazine genres I like the style of pop magazines so will consider creating a pop magazine. I like the purple, grey and white colour scheme used in the two fashion magazines I looked at so I am planning on incorporating this into my magazine.

Analysis of Two Front Covers from other Magazines

Analysis of Three Music Magazines

Mojo

Top of The Pops

Shout

Music Magazine Conventions

The conventions of a music magazine are the features that make the magazine look like a magazine. Magazine conventions are used by magazine creators and publishers in order for them to identify what conventions they need to use when creating their magazine.

The First magazine convention is a masthead. A masthead is the name of the magazine, it is normally in the same font, style and colour on every issue of a magazine so that it is easily recognisable.

Cover Image: This is the main image on the magazine cover in a music magazine the main image will be of a singer or band that will be featured in the magazine. They will also be a recognised artist from the magazine genre in order for it to relate to the magazine and attract the audience to read the magazine. 

Coverlines: These are the article titles on the magazine front cover they are put here to show what is featured in the magazine, this will attract the reader to buy the magazine and read the articles after seeing them on the magazine cover.

Strapline: This is a short phrase to catch the customers eye and make the magazine memorable.

Colour Schemes: Music magazines use colour schemes to suit their genre. This is so that the magazine attracts and is suitable for the target audience, for example pop magazines use light pastel colours such as pink, mint green, light blue and purple as it is a magazine made mainly for teenage girls where as rock magazines use black, red and white as this is most suitable for the target audience.    

What is a Music Magazine?

Music magazines contain information regarding the music culture, they have been created to provide readers with information regarding news within the music world. They are likely to include news, pictures and interviews with and articles about singers and musicians. Music magazines are split into different genres for example pop, hip hop and rock. This is done so that the magazine is able to reach out to a specific audience with an interest in the music genre.

By creating music magazines to suit a small audience with a specific music interest this allows publishers to adapt and create their magazines to suit the needs of their audience rather than trying to suit the needs of everyone by trying to make their magazine suitable to all ages, genders and music interests. Using music genres in magazines are more likely to be successful as the audience reading them will be provided with the information they are interested in.

The purpose of music magazines is to provide readers with information regarding news on the music genre they are interested in, for example this information could be on singers, gossip or album releases.