To give me an idea of what genre I am going to use to create my magazine I have looked at different genre magazines that already exists in the market.
KerrangThe genre for this magazine is obviously alternative/rock from first glance, this is because of the way the models dress/look, the denotation of the long hair and the eyeliner that the guys are wearing connotes that they belong to a some sort of rock band. The name of the magazine is hidden behind their heads which to me suggests that the magazine is quite well known and that the audiences would recognise it straight away. The font that is used for the name of the band is quite artistic which gives the reader an idea that these people are talented. The colour that is used for it stands out from the rest of the cover as it is yellow, this is done so that the readers will recognise the band straight away and buy the magazine, while the rest is in black and white, even the clothing of the band members.
Smash HitsThis magazine grabs the attention of their audiences, mainly the girls, because of the colour code that they have used. The genre is Pop which maybe explains the pink which suggests that it is fun and full of gossip. The magazine has featured a lot of well known celebrities and eye catching stories, however I find it hard to identify which is the main story as there is no distinction between the pictures and some of the fonts. The name of the magazine suggests that they are going to "smash" the hits, which is probably true as they feature so many artists.
NMEAt first if the person looking at his magazine does not know the genre they might mistake it as an RnB/Hip Hop magazine because of the image of a well known rapper, however, when looked closely at the other details they may find that it is for alternative music because of the guitars and the the well known festival "Glastonbury". The title of the Magazine stands out from the rest as it uses the colour red which contrasts with the colour code of dark colours. Similar is happening to the "Glastonbury Reborn" headline which tells me that this is their main headline and also explains the image of a rapper on an alternative/rock genre magazine. They have also features a lot of very well known artists in this music genre to give the idea that they are the first for music news.
BillboardThe artist featured on the cover of this magazine may give the reader an idea what the genre of the magazine straight away, which is RnB/Hip Hop as the artist they are using is well known in their target audience. You are able to tell which is the main story in this magazine as the word "Missy" stands out in a different colour and in a bigger font compared to the rest of the articles. The denotation of the "bling" that the artists is wearing connotes that she is very successful in her profession and also suggests to me that many young teenagers may want to be like her. The clothing she is wearing also suggests the genre of the magazine, "hood" which is normally a denotation and gives a connotation of being in the streets.
Magazines in the Chosen Genre
In order to choose the genre of the magazine I am going to be creating I have made a questionnaire so that it would suit the target audience that I have chosen. I have given 50 questionnaires out, some in the college and some in the town centre and below are the results.
1. What kind of music do you normally listen to?
- Rock (6)
- Heavy Metal (4)
- Pop (7)
- Indie (7)
- RnB (9)
- Hip Hop (5)
- Electro (3)
- Reggae (3)
- Mixture (6)
For this question I found out that most of my audience like a different kinds of music but the highest score was RnB so I will try to create an RnB type of magazine, however, I will be adding different mixes from different music genres as the other have scored high too.
2. Which magazine do you take notice of when seen on the shelf?
- Kerrang (10)
- Smash Hits (5)
- NME (17)
- Billboard (18)
Again the highest scorer was an RnB themed magazine but I will try to be using some layouts seen on NME as it scored close to Billboard.
3. How much are you willing to pay for a magazine?
- £1 to £1.99 (4)
- £2 to £2.99 (30)
- £3 to £3.99 (12)
- Subscription (4)
I will be putting a fixed price of £2.99 on my magazine.
4. How often do you buy a magazine?
- Weekly (15)
- Every Fortnight (8)
- Monthly (21)
- Every Two Months (3)
- Never (3)
The magazine will be a monthly issue so that the contents of the magazine will be full giving the audience a lot to read about.
5. What kind of articles do you read?
- About Events (8)
- Charts (12)
- Artists Stories (12)
- Different Interviews (8)
- About Music (10)
The articles I will be using for the front page and the content page will be a mixture of all of the above, however, for my double page spread I will be using an artist story interview.
6. Which artist do you listen to more often?
- My Chemical Romance (5)
- Kanye West (8)
- Beyonce (13)
- Fallout Boy (6)
- Katie Perry (9)
- Jay Z (9)
I have put 3 artists that would fall into the Rock/Alternative category and 3 that would fall into RnB/Pop. And I have found out that the RnB/ Pop artists have got most of the votes, however, I have noticed that one artist "Katie Perry" has also scored high so I will try to slip a bit of Alternative Rock to the magazine.
7. Would it be an additional feature if the magazine contained free bees like posters/Cd's?
- Yes (43)
- No (7)
In the magazine I will have a section for free posters and where readers can win tickets or chances to be put on the magazine.
8. What kinds of photographs would you like to see?
- Close Ups (13)
- Group Photos (8)
- Glossy Magazine Type (14)
- Live Photos (2)
- Mix (13)
From the results I will be using Close Ups and Glossy types of pictures for my magazine.
9. How old are you?
- 16 to 19 (39)
- 20 to 25 (10)
- 26 to 30 (1)
The result of this question shows me that the target audience of the magazine I will be creating are people aged between 16-19.
10. What is your gender?
- Male (23)
- Female (27)
Target audience are both genders.
Existing Magazines in the RnB and Hip-Hop Genre
From the questionnaire I will be creating a Magazine in this genre. In order to do this I will be researching more in the RnB magazine genre to get a feel on how they may look like.
The SourceThe masthead used for this magazine is bold and uses a sans serif font which suggests that it is strong and very out there. The tag line "The Bible of Hip-Hop Music, Culture & Politics" grabs the readers attention it makes it sound important or even sacred because of the word bible. The denotation of the tattoos on the face of the front cover connotes that he is ghetto and the tear shapes connotes that this artist has been through a lot The dress code used is pretty simple a red cap and a white T-shirt, this links to the colour code used throughout the whole of the front cover. The ideology for this front cover is to show that the artist Lil Wayne is a respected person in this music genre as the magazine regards him as "High Minded", this also to me suggests that he has a very creative mind as the magazine wants to get "Inside the Brain". The font used is also a sans serif, the same as the masthead, It also has a red background to outline it from the rest of the magazine. For the articles they have used famous names to draw people in. Overall I think that this magazine is effective as it will attract audiences for this music genre.
RaveFor this magazine they have played with the Masthead font but it is still recognisable what the word says. The sentence "Where to Party This New Year's Eve" looks as if it is the tag line just for this issue, this may have been done in order to fit it for every issue that the magazine will be producing. The denotation of the "Big Cake" may suggest that this is where the party is. And the "Busy Background" connotes that this magazine will keep you busy as it has a lot of things in it, this could be a disadvantage as it steals the attention away from the articles and the artist. It has some sort of colour code though it is not very recognisable. The clothing of the artist matches the colour of the Masthead and the outlines of some of the fonts in the cover lines. The design on the cake matches the colour of the main article. This could suggest that the magazine has a mixture of things that the reader would be interested in. The narrative of this front cover fits the artist on the cover, she is known to be a party girl and also producing a lot of party hits. Like the magazine above the fonr used for the cover lines are sans serif, this makes it clearer and easier for the reader to read them whle it is on the shelves. The whole of the cover achieves its goal but it may not be as effective as the magazine "The Source" as is hasn't got enough contents to grab the readers attention although the image fits the ideology very well, "Party".
BlenderThe Masthead of this magazine again uses sans serif like the last 2 above, some parts of the Masthead is hidden behind the artist's head which to me suggests that the magazine is already popular that the readers would recognise it even if parts are hidden. It does not contain a tagline which may be an advantage as it is going for the minimmalist look. The denotation of the jewerely conotes style and fashion. The colour code is clear which is orage and black, which links to the clothing of the artist. The background is just plain, this is done so that the focus of the target audience is on the artist or the articles. The representation of the artist "Leona Lewis" is that whatever's new Blender Magazine has it, Like the other magazines it also uses a sans serif font for its main article and the cover articles, this makes the articles easy to read. However, I have noticed that it is not recogniable whiich one is the main article until the reader has read them. The image is a mid shot and is obvious that it has been edited. This is not a very successful front cover as it does not contain the typical magazine contents like the barcode, price and tagline.
VibeThe Masthead looks as if it is part or affected by the backgound as it blends in with it. It , again like the others, uses a sans serif font for it, however, it plays around with upper and lower cases. Like the one on Blender Mgazine part of the Masthead is hidden. The tagline is linked to what they have on this issue. The denotation of the "High Heels" connotes that she is successful and sexy, The colour code is blacks, greys and reds, the black may be linked to the black heels that the artist is wearing. The main image is linked to the qoute of the artist on the main aticle "I'm Not Gonna Hold Back", suggesting that she will do what comes her way like doing a photoshoot without clothes for this cover. The fonts for the main arcticle and the coverlines are mostly sans serif and in the upper case. It is also very recogniable which one is the main article as it is on the left side on its own and with bigger fonts while the cover lines are on the right side. The background is plain and does a very good trick with the shadows of the image. The shadow under her suggests that the image has been taken from above when it is clearly from midshot or a below angle as it is almost as if he is looking down at the camera. Overall I think that this cover is very effective as it grabs the attention of the target audeince not only because of the image but because of the layout of the front cover.
Content Pages
I have tried to look for contents pages in this genre however I could not find any. In order to give me an idea what a music magazine content page looks like I will be looking at some in a different genre.
The Austin IndependentIn Content Page they have chosen to use a whole picture to cover a whole page and the other side is where all the information about the pages and articles are. It is put in two sections. The first has the section for "Publisher's Note" which like an editor's message. It has a yellow box that stands out but I am not sure what it has in as I cannot tell what it is, It also includes an image, however, it is not clear who it is. On the other column is the contents, which uses a sans serif font and is clearly printed. Below that is a section for the magazine staff. The backgound is plain this so the text is easily read. Overall I think that the Content Page is effective but could have more stuff going on.
Big CheeseThis page is only the second half of a content page. It is totally different from the one above. It is mainly images of popular artists in that music genre and there is a page number at the side of the image indicating where that particular artist can be found within the magazine. I think that it is effective as it makes it more interesting and it takes quicker for the readers to recognise the artists. There is a section about the same size as one of the images dedicated text where the content is placed. This page couls be effective if it had more information about the front cover picture or about the editor.
BlenderThis page does not look like a content page as the focus is on an image of a girl. The background used is like a cube and has patterns which would clearly catch the attention of the reader. There is a title "Contents" which identifies what the page is. On the right hand side are the page numbers and some iformation about the articles. At the botton of the page I can make out that they have put the website of the magazine, which is good information for the readers if they want to read more articles that isn't on the magazine.
Articles
I am going to be researching articles that already exist in magazines. I will be looking at its layouts and what kind of images they use. I will also be looking at the little details that articles contain.
BillboardThe look of this article is not very appealing, this may be because the person used in the image is not interesting or popular enough. The page seem plain, using white background. There is nothing that would grab the attention of the reader. However, I noticed that there are small details that I may want to include in my own article page. One that I have noticed is that there is like a boarder where text is placed on at the top of the page. Another is at the bottom of the article there is the page number, the magazine name and the date, Also at the end of the article the name of the writter is placed.
BlenderThis a double page article. In this article there are a lot of images scattered around the double page making it more interesting to the reader. The images have text within them to label them and let the reader what/where/who it is. Another feature that I have noticed are the qoutes that are lifted from the article, it is in bigger font.
VibeThis is part of a double page spread. I like the idea of a whole image put in the middle of a double pahe and it could act as a background. The qoute at the side of the artist is in a handwriting font, suggesting that it is personal to the artist. The image is in black and white which gives the reader an impresion that they may know the artist in a different level as it captures the emotion.
Possible Magazine Names
To come up with a suitable name I have researched the internet about words that link to the word music. I looked at different languages that may sound interesting to the ear and also I tried looking at "ghetto" words. Below are what I came up with.
Beat- I thought this would be effective as it is a known musical term
Amp- Again it is a known musical term
Pro Amp- I have added the "pro" because it is like taking music to the next level
Blend- I thought about the "blend" of different things that would be incleded in my magazine, However I realised that it may be mistaken as the already existing magazine "Blender"
Mix- Like the last one the "Mix" of different things but I thought that it is too vague.
Vibration- I thought about what loud music does "Vibrate" however again i reaised that it would sound like an already existing magazine "Vibe".
Dulcet- One definition of this word is "Pleasing to the ear" which would be the music, however i thought that some of the readers may not know what the word means.
Capella- This was my second choice out of all the names. A capella is an unacompanied choral. I realised that the meaning would not link to anything in the magazine but the sound of the word would catch the attention of the readers.
Montage- This is my first choice as it sounds different. It literally means "putting together". I thought it was perfect as the magazine I will be creating is the putting together of things to make it different from what already exists in the market.
To come up with a suitable name I have researched the internet about words that link to the word music. I looked at different languages that may sound interesting to the ear and also I tried looking at "ghetto" words. Below are what I came up with.
Beat- I thought this would be effective as it is a known musical term
Amp- Again it is a known musical term
Pro Amp- I have added the "pro" because it is like taking music to the next level
Blend- I thought about the "blend" of different things that would be incleded in my magazine, However I realised that it may be mistaken as the already existing magazine "Blender"
Mix- Like the last one the "Mix" of different things but I thought that it is too vague.
Vibration- I thought about what loud music does "Vibrate" however again i reaised that it would sound like an already existing magazine "Vibe".
Dulcet- One definition of this word is "Pleasing to the ear" which would be the music, however i thought that some of the readers may not know what the word means.
Capella- This was my second choice out of all the names. A capella is an unacompanied choral. I realised that the meaning would not link to anything in the magazine but the sound of the word would catch the attention of the readers.
Montage- This is my first choice as it sounds different. It literally means "putting together". I thought it was perfect as the magazine I will be creating is the putting together of things to make it different from what already exists in the market.
Possible Masthead Fonts
These are some of the fonts that I have looked at. I did not choose any of the ones above becasue some are too thin and will disappear in the background or I have decided that it did not fit the look of the magazine.
This was the font that I chose to use. It is called "Capture It" I thought that it was suitable as it has an edgy feel to it.