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Thursday 26 January 2012

Tag Line Ideas

Below are my ideas for the tag line of my music magazine.

Please vote on which you think sounds best ( and please remember these relate to the word Genesis (the name of my music magazine) ) :

1. "The birth of a true Rock and Indie mag"
2. "The first true Rock and Indie mag"
3. "The beginning for Rock and Indie Music"
4. "The real deal for Rock and Indie artists"
5. "The first real look at the lives of Rock and Indie artists"

anyway, till next time :D

Wednesday 25 January 2012

Making the Magazine - Progress 1

Just a quick update on my progress so far. Currently working on the front cover, just added the image I will use and used an effect under filter (dark strokes) to alter the image and make it more styalised, I also used the grid to make sure it was alligned perfectly to the center of the front cover. Looks good so far in my opinion, even if there isn't that much there yet :D





















<---Original     Current--->

Anyway that's all for now, till next time :D

Monday 23 January 2012

Deciding the Layout

From examining all of the photos taken (both photoshoot and otherwise) I have now come to a conclusion on which layout design I will use for front cover, contents page and double page spread.

I will use Front Cover 1:


Contents Page 1:



and Double Page Spread 1:


This is just an informative post to let everyone know which designs I will be using :), anyways that's all for now, till next time, and also, HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!! :D

Saturday 21 January 2012

Photoshoot Results

I have conducted my photoshoot and below are some of the photos that were taken:













In total over 90 photos were taken, but this is all I'm going to reveal as I want to keep a lot of photos hidden until I apply them to the music magazine (not to say that I won't use these three images in my music magazine).

Though the photoshoot was only focused on myself due to unforeseen circumstances regarding the other participants, I believe all of the photos turned out very well. The photoshoot ran very smoothly and I am glad with the results.

Tell next time everyone :D


Layout Designs - Double Page Spread

the following images are the layout designs for the double page spread of my music magazine, keep in mind these are very basic and depending on the photos I use I will obviously cater the background and text around it to make it look professional.






This completes my layout designs for my music magazine. I will put up a post after my photoshoot, saying which front cover, contents page and double page spread design I am going to use (my choice will be heavily dependant on the photos taken, as I will be able to see which photos would look good on which layout).

Till next time :)

Layout Designs - Contents Page

The following images are my 3 layout designs for the music magazine contents page, keep in mind these are very basic and depending on the photos I use I will obviously cater the background and text around it to make it look professional.






Till next time :)

Layout Designs - Front Cover

The following are my 3 layout designs for the front cover of my music magazine, keep in mind these are very basic and depending on the photos I use I will obviously cater the background and text around it to make it look professional.






Till next time :)

Thursday 19 January 2012

Photoshoot Plan

My photoshoot will be taking place this Saturday (21/01/2012) at my house in Braughing and in the surrounding area. The participants for my photoshoot will only be me. I will be dressing in my own clothing of course and will be acquiring musical props tomorrow in order to use them in my photography.

(Originally I had planed for the photoshoot to contain myself and a few other participants, but I was only told tonight that 1 participant has suddenly become unavailable for the photoshoot for academic reasons and the other participant is also now unavailable to take part for private reasons, which means that I will be taking photos of myself for the music magazine. I know this will be a struggle, now that this sudden inconvenience has risen but I shall press on and take the pictures that I had planned out in my head anyway and edit my original idea for my front page images and double spread page article)

Hopefully all will go well during the photoshoot, I look forward to seeing how the pictures turn out and will post a few sample pictures on my blog in a post about the photoshoot, after it has taken place.

Tuesday 17 January 2012

"Genesis" - Vital Information

There are two pieces of vital information about the name of my magazine: "Genesis"

Firstly, the magazine is a music magazine that goes under the genre of Rock/Indie, and is NOT! a magazine devoted entirely to the band Genesis. There was some confusion about the name of my music magazine so I decided to clear up any confusion through this post.

Secondly, the name "Genesis" means "The coming into being of something; the origin", so in calling a magazine "Genesis" it is like the start of something new, that new thing of course being a new Rock/Indie magazine that focuses on the real music and the real people behind the music, as opposed to shallow issues such as relationship problems within certain bands and trashy gossip like that.

I just wanted to explain these two things about the name of my magazine: "Genesis". I hope anyone reading this found this interesting and I hope it gave them a better insight into my music magazine, anyway thanks for reading.

Till next time! :D

Masthead Design - Font Decided and Finished

I have now decided on which font I will use for my masthead, I will be using VKB KonQa (from dafont.com , see below)

I decided to use this font for the masthead for a number of reasons. Firstly I simply liked this design, I believe this font made the word Genesis stand out well. Secondly I believe it works well for a Rock/Indie genre of magazine because not only does it contain some dissolved parts, which make it look like it's loud, but it also has a certain unique quality, mostly thanks to the stars on the "E's" and edge of the dot on the "I" and indie music is all about having certain unique qualities that are its own, hence the name indie, meaning individual. Lastly I chose this font because from looking at other Rock/Indie magazines' mastheads, their fonts were similar to this style, take for example Kerrang (a well known, well established Rock magazine), but as I said, this font also has its own unique qualities, making it stand out amongst other Rock/Indie magazines.

When applying this to the front cover of my magazine I will of course play around with it a lot, I may do things like, change the colour and size, distort the font more, add cracking effects to the lettering, and more, these of course are just examples of the things I may do to it (it really depends on the content on the front page, then I will play around with the masthead and find what works well) but at the moment I can say that this finishes my masthead design.

Anyway that's all for now, till next time :D

(Also, though I had votes from other bloggers on a different font, I chose this due to the reasons above, but also one other reason. When looking back at the fonts I had displayed in my previous post, I realised many of those fonts actually did not suit the Rock/Indie genre in my opinion, thus I chose out of the fonts I had displayed that did suit the Rock/Indie genre, and VKB KonQa had the most reasons why I should choose it, so I did :) )

Masthead Design - Fonts

Using dafont.com and myfonts.com , I have been looking over a vast amount of possible fonts for my masthead.

Below are the fonts I think most suited my Rock/Indie music magazine.


The names of the fonts are as follows (from top left going down,  then across to top right going down):
  • Streetscript™ (from myfonts.com)
  • Eterea™ (from myfonts.com)
  • Karabine (from dafont.com)
  • Home Remedy (from dafont.com)
  • A Charming Font (from dafont.com)
  • FairydustB (from dafont.com)
  • Kingdom Hearts (from dafont.com)
  • Testamentos Jed@ (from dafont.com)
  • Gargoyles (from dafont.com)
  • New Garden (from dafont.com)
  • Hitalica (from dafont.com)
  • Black Rose (from dafont.com)
  • HFF Black Steel (from dafont.com)
  • Art Brush (from dafont.com)
  • Heroin 07 (from dafont.com)
  • VKB KonQa (from dafont.com)
  • Birth of a Hero (from dafont.com)
  • Top Secret (from dafont.com)
  • Ruptured Sans (from dafont.com)

Please vote on which 1 font you like best, in the comments below :)

Anyway that's all for now, till next time :D

Monday 16 January 2012

An Update - Designing My Music Magazine

From this point, in terms of designing the way my music magazine will appear, I need to:
  • Plan my photoshoot
  • Take my photos
  • Design my layout
  • Design my masthead
I want to acquire as much material as possible before designing the layout as the more material I have the better layout I can design (because I will be able to picture where my masthead and photos will fit into my music magazine).

Sunday 15 January 2012

Treatment Sheet

The Magazine: Genesis

Target Readership: Genesis is a music magazine open to all ages and gender though its true target readership is either gender between the ages of 17 and 25. The category of readers mostly fall into D (semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers) and some C2 (skilled manual workers) as around this age 17 and 18 year olds will most likely be working temporary jobs and 19 to 25 year olds will most likey be working jobs while studying at university or they will just be working. The readers of Genesis will be people who will be interested in Rock/Indie music and finding out lots of personal information on Rock/Indie bands as well as a lot of news on music events such as concerts and gigs, also reviews of the latest songs by Rock/Indie bands. Genesis is for those interested in the behind the scenes of Rock/Indie bands and music but is not for people searching for another source of gossip, Genesis address the musicians as normal people and gives readers a look at their life, it is not a star covered excuse to tell the world of peoples latest break ups and public scenes, Genesis is not for the shallow.

Form and Style: Genesis will be an A4 sized music magazine on Rock/Indie bands and music. The covers will contain images relevant to the main article for each issue, for example, if the main article of one issue is on a very popular rising band, the front cover would contain one or multiple images of the band members or something relevant e.g. their album covers or instruments (or something else distinct that is key to them). The cover lines will always highlight the articles that are going to be seen to be the most interesting to the readers in order to draw them in to reading the magazine. Colours throught the magazine will be based around the subject on each page, for example, on a double spread of a well known band, colours would match the theme of the band or the article, the same goes for text throughout the magazine. The magazines price (£3.00) will be prominent on the front cover as, because this magazine is monthly the readers are getting a very good price, so first time readers will see this price and hopefully try the magazine maorly thanks to the price (and hopefully because of the articles inside because it means it could lead to another regular reader).

Themes and Typical Features: Genesis will have many regular features. Regular features in Genesis will include the latest music releases, exclusive interviews with musicians/bands, the charts for Rock/Indie songs, upcoming music events and more. The theme of the magazine will always stay on the true side of music and those who write Rock/Indie music, the magazine will never be focused on the shallow side of people, Genesis will always look at the musicians as real people and interviews will be about getting to know them as a person to give fans a better look at their life, aspects regarding music will always be about enjoying and appreciating Rock/Indie music for what it is. There will be features in Genesis that will be regular but slightly different every month, for example there is a feature which shows fan photographs but every month is a different theme, this way it uses a regular feature but with new content every month and keeps things fresh for the readers. The language used in Genesis will be down to earth language, e.g. not loud and stereotypical of what people think a Rock/Indie magazine would be like, as I have stated this magazine is really about appreciating the music and the artists behind the music. The language will also never be vulgar, this way anyone who admires Rock/Indie music can read Genesis although some language used may be harder for younger readers to understand so while this magazine is still intended for anyone to be able to read, people may have to be at a certain age, say 17 and above, to fully comprehend the magazine.

Potential Advertisers: As far as potential advertisers go there are many companies in mind, mainly companies that have anything to do with Rock/Indie music so that could mean guitar companies, amplifier companies, drum companies and anything else in the region of music. A few examples are Yamaha, Fender, Ampeg,  Pearl Drums and more.

Editorial Team: The editorial team for Genesis will be comprised of talented writers who have experience in the world of writing and musicians who have experience in the world of music, but most importantly the whole editorial team will share a genuine love and passion for Rock/Indie music, because what's the point in having people edit a Rock/Indie magazine who don't find every issue they produce, thrilling and interesting, the magazine in my opinion without that genuine love and passion would be fake and would mean nothing. As far as genders for the team goes it would be open to either gender, as long as they have experience in writing or music and are passionate about the Rock/Indie genre then they are very welcome aboard the editorial team.

This sums up my Treatment Sheet, till next time :)

Wednesday 11 January 2012

Photos - Interests and Ideas

For my photos I may take a number of photographs in particular ways:

  • I may take a number of photos that I can later edit to be black and white with the exception of one or two strong colours, because I believe the effect creates very powerful (and mysterious) images.
  • I may take a number of photographs containing designs drawn up by a makeup artist (for this I will ask a friend of mine that attends a college and is studying a course in makeup and design).
  • I may use a consistent theme for certain sets of photographs, for example if an article was on a band who played quite dark, bleak music I may keep a strict black, white and grey theme.

I have many more ideas though these are just a sample of the things I may do when taking my photographs.

If I were asked what I believe makes a good photograph I would have to say it depends, so to answer this question I will say what I think makes the photographs below, good photgraphs.



In this photgraph the use of the blurred background really brings out the girl as the main feature and captures innocence as the theme. The angle of the shot gives a wide open space on the left and shows the girl blowing a dandelion with the buds flying across the photo, this brings life to the picture through capturing movement and compliments her innocent nature through the use of a childish past-time. The use of bright colour brings a warm and feel-good essence to the picture and also makes it seem full of life.



In this photo the use of camera angle is key, as it creates the illusion of an aerosol can spraying out clouds. The theme of this photo is what truly makes it magnificent as through the use of angle and simple black and white colour it creates a very different but very clever photo and utilises perspective in a whole new way (a whole new way, as usually photos that use perspective to their advantage are the classic photo of people pretending to lean against the Leaning Tower of Pizza).


For this photo of some woods the key aspect is the use of the natural lighting. The natural lighting gives off a fantastic shadow effect using the trees, also a good reason why this picture is so amazing is the placement of the sun, as the light beams shine brightly through the top of the woods which gives a marvellous natural feel to the photo and enhances the beauty of everything the light touches, which in this case is everything in the photo. One last thing to mention is the contrast of the bright light and the shadow of the trees, made by the sun, as the contrast is another factor that just makes this photo look great.

These are just a few examples of great photos with a short summary on some of the aspects that make these photos great. I will be thinking about aspects like the ones I have mentioned while taking my photos for my magazine, as I want to get the most out of my photgraphs.

Anyway that's all for now everyone, till next time :)

Music Magazine Questionnaire Results

After analysing the results of my questionnaires (and poll) I have been able to make crucial decisions about my music magazine.

Below is a sheet I used to analyse the results of my questionnaires.

From the results of this questionnnaire I have been able to make some key decisions regarding my music magazine. Ideas that I had decided before the questionnaire were as follows:
  • The music magazine will be a Rock/Indie genre music magazine
  • The music magazine will be available to audiences of all ages (although the main target market will be around the ages of 17-25)
The decisions I have now made thanks to the results of the questionaire are as follows:

  • The music magazine will be called Genesis
  • The music magazine will be published monthly
  • The music magazine will cost between £2.01-£3.00 (I am aware this is not the most popular, and on the results the circled price range does indicate the chosen price range, which £2.01-£3.00 is not but after looking over it I figured since this magazine will only be published monthly it needs to b at least pulling in some decent revenue in order to stay in the market, also I figured choosing this would not be too bad as £2.01-£3.00 was the second most popular price range (by two votes)).
  • The music magazine will contain sections on, "Rising Bands/Musicians", "Latest Music Releases", "Exclusive Interviews", "Music Reviews", "Rock/Indie Song Charts", "Upcoming Music Events" and "Fan Photographs (Themed)"
  • The music magazine will also contain "Photos of Bands" (which I was planning to provide anyway but at least this show it is something people do want to see in the magazine), "Freebies", "Guitar Chords for Begginners" and "Top Rock/Indie Song of the Month + Lyrics and Notes" (this could only be included if the music magazine is published monthly, as the suggestion was "of the Month", but luckily as the music magazine will be monthly I can provide this in the magazine).
Anyway that's all for now, I'm glad to have done this analysis as I now know what people would like to see in a Rock/Indie music magazine and can produce it.

Till next time :)

Sunday 8 January 2012

Internet Research (Magazine Institutions)

For my internet research I have looked up a number of details to do with popular (not necessarily large) institutions, the details I have looked up can be seen below.




Institution: IPC Media
Founded: 1963
Publishes: "Uncut", "NME", "Nuts" (and many more)
Sales (Readership) Figures: Over 350 million magazines yearly
About: IPC Media produces over 60 iconic media brands, with print alone reaching almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men (almost 26 million UK adults) also their websites collectively reach over 20 million users every month.
Other Interesting Information:
  • IPC Media was formerly known as "IPC Magazines Ltd" until 1998 where it was subject to a management buyout, it was then renamed to "IPC Media".
  • IPC Media groups its current title under 3 magazine divisions, each focusing on a core audience: "Connect" (focusing on mass market women), "SouthBank" (focusing on upmarket women) and "Inspire" (focusing on men"
  • "IPC" stands for "International Publishing Corporation"


Institution: Development Hell Ltd
Founded: 2001
Publishes: Mixmag, The Word
Sales (Readership) Figures: (Information not provided)
About: Development Hell Ltd is an independent media company based in Islington, London. Development Hell Ltd has provided consultancy for some of Britain's biggest publishers such as "Dennis", "Future" and "IPC Media".
Other Interesting Information:
  • In April 2009 Development Hell Ltd acquired "DontstayIn.com", the world's biggest clubbing social network.
  • Among the Development Hell team are some of the most experienced and respected operators in British magazines including "The Word"'s editor - Mark Ellen, and former editorial director of "Q" and"Smash Hits" - David Hepworth.



Institution: Bauer Media Group
Founded: 1875
Publishes: Kerrang, Q, Grazia (and many more)
Sales (Readership) Figures: 38 million magazines a week
About: Bauer Media Group is Europe's largest privately owned publishing group and a worldwide media empire offering over 300 magazines in 15 countries, as well as online, TV and radio stations.
Other Interesting Information:
  • Bauer Media Group is a large German publishing company based in Hamburg.
  • Bauer Media Group has been managed by four generations of the Bauer family.
  • Bauer Media Group was originally a small printing house.


This sums it up for my internet research into institutions, I have listed some of the most popular institutions along with the institutions' logo,  information into when the institutions were founded, some of the magazines the institutions publish, sales (readership) figures, information about the company and finally some extra, interesting information about the company (this information isn't key but was chosen because I simply found it interesting).

Anyway, till next time :)

Sources of information used:

Music Magazine Questionnaire

I have now made my music magazine questionnaire and it can be seen below

It would have included roughly the same amount of questions as my student magazine questionnaire but has less due to a few areas which I have decided for the magazine myself, such as, the magazine will cater to both genders and the magazine will cater to all age groups, this way the magazine is accessible to a wider audience, so of course as I had decided these areas there was no point in providing a question.

I will get responses from people and tally their responses to help me decide on the areas listed on the questionnaire, I have also posted a poll on my blog regarding the name of my music magazine, the names on the poll are exactly the same as the names on the questionnaire.

I provided a large amount of space as with my music magazine, some people had a vast amount of ideas and had trouble writing them all in the space provided, so with this questionnaire the space for ideas is much larger to give people room for everything they have to offer. The best suggestions/most repeated suggestions will be incorporated into the music magazine.

Anyway that's all for now everyone, be sure to vote on my poll if you haven't already also if you haven't filled out this questionnaire by hand please go ahead and fill it out on here in a comment and that's about it :)

Tuesday 3 January 2012

Pages 116-128 Summary

From reading pages 116 through 128 from the "Exploring the Media" textbook, I have read about many aspects. Below is a short paragraph summarising what I have read.

From pages 116 through 128, I have read into strong details on the effects of many different aspects of magazines. I have been given many ideas that look at the imagery and text, in what it says, how it is presented, the idea behind it's presentation and the effects given off thanks to subtle details. I've been given multiple magazines, and with these magazines, their history, background, audience and deep detail into how they present themselves. Over the course of the pages I have also learnt some new key words that may help me explain my work when I evaluate my work. To finish I'll give my opinion, these pages were very helpful. As I mentioned, they gave me new ideas and a new way of looking at each aspect of a magazine, such as "why is it presented this way?" or "for what reason has this been put here?". The key words I very much appreciate and believe every page of pages 116 through 128 to be very helpful and very well explained, which of course helps to really understand the magazines being presented. I enjoyed reading these pages and am glad I did.

Anyway that's it for now folks, I hope you enjoyed my short summary and I hope that if you haven't, you  definitely read pages 116 through 128, they are really helpful, believe me.

Anyway, till next time :)