Assembling my Magazine

For my front cover I decided to use my self as the main artist. This decision was mainly for convenience because this would enable me to take the photos in my own time and would allow me to take more photos if the ones I had already taken were not of sufficient standard.

I also decided that I would use myself as the image for the double page spread, again for convenience.

I took a few different photos and then edited them on Pixlr. Here are some of my original photos:


The first thing I had to do before editing my photos was deciding which photos I would use for my front cover and which I would use for my double page spread. I finally decided that I would use a picture of me holding a guitar for the double page spread, as this would tie in with the theme of the interview. I also decided  that a photo of me facing the camera would be suitable for the front cover as this would catch the eye of the reader and give off a strong message.

Here is an example of one of my first attempts at editing my photos:

For my final front cover image, I started by placing a black and white filter over the top of the image to make the picture brighter and bolder. I then added some blue stripes on top of my image to make my cover more interesting, I got my inspiration for this from a magazine called Vs.

 

I thought this design was very interesting and a lot different from other magazines you would find on shop shelves. I took inspiration from this to do the stripes and widely spread lettering.

For my contents page I decided to continue with the simple design seen in my front cover. I used minimal amounts of photos and I used one large image at the top of the page. This is something that is not frequently seen in magazines however I thought that this helps to break up the page and keep information minimal.

For my double page spread image I used a picture of me holding a guitar. I decided this would give an easy-going, relaxed feeling to the interview, but not be too distracting.

I chose to do an interview for my double page spread because these are very easy to create and the short amounts of writing will hopefully keep my readers interested and feeling involved with the magazine. An interview can also allow the reader to find common interests with the artist being interviewed and feel like somehow they are getting to know them as a person. Short answer interviews are regularly seen in larger magazines such as Kerrang! and Rock Sound.

Throughout my magazine i used similar colours e.g. white and black, this keeps the colour scheme continuous and ties the pages together. You will see that on most pages of my magazine i use these two colours and normally only one other key brighter colour to make key information stand out. Important information is also usually in a larger font and is commonly in a different font to the rest of the txt on the page.

I have tried to combine conventions seen commonly in magazines with new techniques that will challenge the reader but not enough to discourage them from reading more.

Rough finish

This is a rough finish of my final magazine 'RIOT'. I have yet to apply my actual image however, I plan to use this style (i.e. blue stripes and headlines) for my final piece.

After experimenting with different designs, similar to magazines such as Kerrang! or Rock Sound, I decided I would chose a simpler design without as many distractions e.g. barcode, lots of colours or examples of things inside.




For this design I took inspiration from a Jimi Hendrix edition of classic rock magazine. I preferred this style as it would be individual/ stand out from other magazines and perhaps be more intriguing to customers.

Eventually I may make some changes to my design, for example i'm going to change the colour of the stripes to a pale blue and also change the angle slightly.  I have also decided that I will make my image black and white to make the cover even more eye catching and individual.

Content ideas for my magazine

1. My Chemical Romance reunion tour dates
2. Fall Out Boy leak new CD information
3. exclusive interview with Pierce The Veil
4. Motionless In White talk band's future
5. Papa Roach discuss the break up rumours
6. Weezer are back!
7. the evolution of rock music; The Situationists
8. Five Finger Death Punch poster madness

Typical Content of Kerrang!

• Band Interviews
• Posters
• Album Reviews
• Weekly Chart
• New Band Introduction
• Kerrang! Reader submissions
• Comic Strip
• Few Adverts
• Famous Rock Test
• Concert Reviews
• Giveaways

The Uses and Gratification Model

• Here, power lies with the audience not the producers
• This theory emphasises what audiences do with media texts- how and why they use them
• Far from being duped by the media, the audience is free t reject, use or play with meanings as they see fit

Audiences therefore use media texts to gratify needs for:

• Diversion
• Escapism
• Information
• Pleasure
• Comparing relationships with ones own (and lifestyles)
• Sexual stimulation

• The audience is in control and consumption of the media helps people with issues such as:
• Learning
• Emotional satisfaction
• Relaxation
• Helps with issues of personal identity, social identity and aggression and violence

Target Audience

 

To find my target audience I looked at existing rock magazines and what age group was the largest reader for them. The three magazines I chose to look at were Kerrang!, Mojo, and Q. I gathered all of my information from the Bauer website and found that overall the largest audience was 15-24 year olds. Because of this my magazine will be aimed at this age group which means I will use colloquial language and keep the magazine very informal. Due to the wide large age range in my target audience, a 'typical reader' does not really apply

After studying these graphs I also decided that my target audience should be interested in rock music and the lifestyles of famous rock artists (as this is what my magazine would be based on).

Due to the colloquial language of my magazine, perhaps the upper class audience would not be as interested in my magazine as middle/ lower classes would be. However, in my magazine (contents page) there will be information about upcoming festivals/ concerts. due to this, the lower class may be uninterested as festivals can often be quite expensive (out of their price range), which makes the magazine less appealing.

I have chosen these conventions because already existing rock magazines share similar target audiences, which may help my magazine become more successful, as this has proven already popular.



My Magazine Logo

For my Magazine logo I took the idea of Kerrang! Magazine and developed the idea of the broken glass effect. I came up with a few different name ideas such as; amplify, distortion and riot. Out of all of these I asked a few friends and found that riot was the most popular name choice.

I had also found that red was a bold colour and was used frequently in existing magazines to make a bold impression. Keeping all of these ideas in mind I started designing my magazine logo.

The first step I took was choosing an image of broken glass to use in my design, I used the Kerrang! logo for inspiration: this is the one I finally chose;

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next step was picking a red colour that I liked the most that would stand out on my final magazine;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next I had to choose a font which fit with my music type and style of magazine;

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eventually I chose my favourite font and combined all of my previous ideas together to create my final magazine name;

Rock Music Mood Board

The Uses and Gratification Model

The Uses and Gratifications Model

• Here, the power lies audience NOT the producers
• This theory emphasises what audiences do with media texts- how and why they use them
• Far from being duped by the media, the audience is free to reject, use or play with meanings as they see fit.

Audiences therefore use media texts to gratify needs for;

1. Diversion 
2. Escapism
3. Information
4. Pleasure 
5. Comparing relationships and lifestyles with ones own

The audience is in control and consumption of the media helps people with issues such as:

1. Learning 
2. Emotional satisfaction 
3. Relaxation
4. Helps with issues of personal identity, social identity and aggression and violence

The History of Kerrang!

Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper. Named after the sound made when playing a power chord on a distorted electric guitar, Kerrang! was initially devoted to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and the rise of hard rock acts. In the early 2000s it became the best-selling British music newspaper. Kerrang! initially focused on the New Wave of British Heavy Metal phenomenon and on the rise of other hard rock acts. Launched as a monthly magazine, Kerrang! began to appear on a fortnightly basis later, and in 1987 it went weekly. During the 1980s and early 1990s the magazine placed many thrash and glam metal acts on the cover (like Mötley Crüe, Slayer, Bon Jovi, Metallica, Poison, and Venom) but later discarded them when grunge acts such as Nirvana rose to fame. Readers often criticise the magazine for repeating this process every time a new musical trend becomes popular.

Taking My Photos

Arrangements for my Photos:

• My photos will be taken on a Cannon camera
• My Friend will be taking the photos of me
• Using natural lighting
• Plain clothing
• Front facing image
• Photo of guitar
• Photos will be taken at my house

Rough Finish

Here are a few quick drawings of how I would like my magazine to look:

Pros and Cons of Ray Gun

Pros:

• Stands out
• Eye catching
• Unique
• Reflects the type of music
• Push other magazine to up game
• Cool/good

Cons:

• No consistency/ hard to recognise
• Too alternative
• Too busy
• Expensive
• Overcrowded

I think that this style is very eye catching and works well although some designs are slightly overcrowded, this sort of design appeals to my taste in music and magazine.

First attempt at a school magazine

If I was to do this again I would take more time in planning the magazine before I made it. I would also choose a different colour scheme as the colours I chose often blended with the background and made it harder to read.

The four F's of magazine design:

• Format- Magazine's overall look and feel
• Formula- What is in the magazine
• Frame- Margins and gutters
• Function- What the magazine is trying to achieve and the message it is trying to get across

These are commonly found in magazines to create an overall image for the magazine. A company tends to use the same designs for each magazine to give it a 'standard' or 'trend'.

Music Genres

• Rock
• Punk
• Jazz
• Pop
• Dubstep
• Country
• Garage
• Heavy metal
• Rap
• Classical
• Dance
• Alternative rock
• Metalcore
• Death metal
• Pop-punk

Magazine conventions

Masthead: The name of the magazine displayed in a specific typeface. this is the visual branding of the title and is often done in a specially designed typeface to be easily recognised and unique. the masthead- also called a title- is usually used on the contents page inside as well as the front cover, and as a logo for advertising and branding purposes.

Main Image: In the case of this front cover there is a single image of the model Shania. The image is used in a classic way, the face is big enough to stand out on the news-stand, with the model making full eye-contact.

Coverlines: From the 1950s, greater competition on the newsstand resulted in more cover lines. Today, some magazines print special covers for subscribers' copies that use few cover lines. cosmopolitan magazine uses a lot of cover lines, which are distributed around the main image without detracting from it too much. A mistake often made with cover lines is that they run over an image that has a lot of colour changes, rendering that words difficult to read. This is a problem here with the red text on the hair on the left and the smaller yellow text against Shania's skin.