Initial plans with more influences

1. FMP Initial Plans
Alicja Morawska

2. Pre-proposal
Tell me in no more than 30 words your initial thoughts about your FMP? E.g. what would you like to do, etc…
• I want to work on a print project, creating a magazine around rock music, similar to that of Kerrang, Mojo and Rolling Stone.
The actual content of the work that I want to produce includes a front cover, at least two double page spreads,
advertisements and a contents page.
Why have you chosen this as your potential project?
• This kind of product and the content that comes in existing product that I’d like to add into my own project is something that
I’m really familiar with and hold an invested interest in. another reason is based on the projects we’ve worked on over the
course and print has been were I’ve felt most comfortable and feel like it’s where I can show my skills the best.
Who is the project for? Think about the intended audience…basically, what’s the point of it/what is it’s
purpose?
• Similar to the audiences of existing products I want this magazine to be aimed towards an audience that ranges from 15 to
30 year olds who hold an interest in rock music, as well as the genres that revolve closely around it. I'm expecting to appeal
to both men and women, however due to the nature of the content it’s fair to assume that male readers may be more
prominent.
What about your project makes it personal and important to you?
• What makes this important and personal to me is that I’ve been a member of the audience for this kind of product for about
4 years and as well as making me well prepared for this project, it’s influenced me in different ways including style,
personality, views and obviously music taste. it’s something that’s come to be a part of who I am and I want to be able to
create a project that does the genres, artists and styles associated with it justice, as it falls out of the mainstream and is
typically misunderstood for being a negative culture.

3. Pre-proposal
Describe the tone/mood/style of your potential product[s] [which techniques/characteristics are you
employing?]
• For this product, I want it to be a visual showcase of the genres of music that are featured in it, involving influences from
different decades, subcultures and places. The tone of each page will be determined by it’s content, as I want to make each
page personalised to the subject it’s about, however all fitting under the umbrella of a more alternative, punk, grunge style
that is represented by it’s audience.
Why have you decided to work in this style/genre?
• I’m comfortable with the style and understand the process of making this product more than any other rotation as well as
what is expected to be produced from having personally been a consumer of similar products. As it is an interest of my own,
it allows me to take the aspects of my life that have already been influenced by this style and genre that are already at my
disposal and can be taken advantage of in creating this product. I know that there will be people and places that I can derive
inspiration from and get help with aspects such as the photography, making it more available to me than any other genre
that I could have chosen to work with.

4. Skills Audit

5. Skills Audit

6. Mood Board
Small Live Music Venues – very
much different to big concert
stages in appearance as it creates
a much more intimidate feeling as
artist and crowd are only meters
apart. The ambience of a smaller
gig like this one allows for a much
closer experience from both sides
of the barricade.
Bars - a much more relaxed and social environment
compared to a club, this falls into what the audience
would do in their spare time, as well as being a
connotation that’s commonly linked with rock music,
as well as a good place for photography to take place
due to the low lighting and decoration.
Posters – it’s really not uncommon to find the
audience of similar products to have posters put up
so that they can express their interests. Typically it’s
found in rock fans more than any other genre,
displaying the bands, movies and games that they
enjoy.
Bigger Music Venues –
Not as intimate of a
show as a smaller venue
but a very adrenaline
filled experience, filled
with people and
excitement. In a place
like this it’s hard to
focus on anything but
the music as it’s
ambience can easily
take over the senses.
Fire – it’s a visual that’s been
commonly associated with
rock and metal music for a
long time due to bad
reputation these genres have
for being linked to sin and the
devil. However it’s become
frequently used primarily in
live show pyrotechnics.
Forests - not an uncommon location
for music videos in this genre, forests
have always rotated around rock due
to their serenity, which isn’t
something it’s usually associated with.
There’s something enjoyable about
being in the middle of nowhere being
surround by nothing and no one.

7. Old School Graffiti – more difficult to find due to vandalism laws but a
strong influence comes from rock and roll ranging from the 60s when
aerosol became a more wide spread medium for graffiti, onwards to the
80’s. The style is recognizable by it’s bright colours and the wide
misshapen letters that it uses, each individual to the artist.
Neon Signs – I like the
appearance of neon as
it’s something that can
be best appreciated at
night, and in that
moment it’s bright and
colourful, very in your
face against the
darkness around it.
Urban City Streets – the
tall red brick buildings
covered in street art and
murals that give the place
more life. One of my
favourite places to explore
is Manchester for this
exact reason.
Street Art – different from old school graffiti, it comes in
different forms of huge murals that take up the sides of entire
buildings, to small stickers that hold a message. Its an amazing
form of expression that brings life to a city and as is individual to
that place.
Skateboarding – breeding it’s
own genre of skate punk in
the 1980 and becoming
mainstream in the 90’s, it’s a
subgenre of punk rock that’s
still present today. The
environment in which this
genre was created is
interesting to me as it was a
very underground
movement.

8. Kerrang! – one the bigger influences for this project,
first published in the 80’s it’s created a strong brand
identity that is very representative of it’s audience
as well as the genres that it features.
Green Day and their album Revolution Radio – I Enjoy Green
Day for their music, style, influence and the personality of
the front man. Their music is something that will have at
some point influenced a massive majority of the audience
for this kind of project. I picked this album in particular
because it speaks volumes about today’s political climate in
their typically, unapologetic way.
Instruments – a clear visual expressing the purpose of the
product. Something that rock and the genres surrounding it
hold closely is that the music is authentic and real, moving
away from electronically produced music and auto tune,
seeing the instruments allows the artist to keep their respect.
Festival Posters – used for advertising they showcase
which artists are the biggest acts that will appear at
the event by the order in which they’re placed onto
the line-up. Past the artists featured, the aesthetic of
a poster can really tell the public a lot about what
kind of festival it’s going to be. It’s also a good piece
of memorabilia for fans to hold on to afterwards.
Merchandise – similar
purpose to posters, being
able to give the audience a
way of expressing their
interests and giving them the
opportunity to show it in
public through clothing.
Dr. Martens – A British
shoe brand that has been a
popular choice with many
groups including 1960s
skinheads to punks, goths
and were a staple piece of
many grunge fans in the
early 90s.

9. Palaye Royale – my favourite band
who’s main genre falls into Art Rock,
meaning it challenges or uses a much
more avant-garde approach to rock,
very experimental with their music
videos that I find the visuals of really
interesting. Although the genre mostly
died out in the mid 70’s, the band has
continued the style and brought their
own take to it with their individual
aesthetic.
Viking Rock – Living in York it’s hard to
avoid the influences of Vikings and
Jorvik, but it’s brought forward a very
interesting genre that takes from Viking
romanticism from the 19th century. It’s
theme generally centre around Norse
mythology and Swedish culture, as that
is its place of origin. The style and visual
that comes with it is very interesting to
me as it brings in elements of history to
rock.
David Mushaney – this is a tattoo
artist from Dallas whose work I
really enjoy. Black work tattoos are
something that I have thought
about getting myself for a while
however his style in particular really
appeals to me due to the incredible
shading as well as the darker take
he takes on a lot the work that he
does. He takes the sketches from
the customers and adds his own
style to them and it’s just something
that I like the appearance of.
Tim Burtons Alice in Wonderland – I
really appreciate this movie for taking
an innocent children's story and giving it
a darker twist filled with the Tim
Burtons classic influence, which is again
something that I really enjoy. It shows
that everything can be what it isn’t and
you never know what to expect from a
person, a message that has resonated
throughout rock music for years due to
the stigmas that have formed around it
Luis Rodriguez Photography - Rodriguez
is a photographer I found when he went
on tour with a band I follow, his live
performance photography is amazing
and captures the atmosphere of the
concert perfectly. Outside of that his
own work is also something I find really
interesting, mostly his different uses of
light and how they affect the photos.
Banksy – Banksy has been named
both a criminal and a political
activist for his anonymous
satirical street art. His work
speaks volumes about political
and social cultures in the
countries where his work has
appeared, and due to his fame
they are spread globally as art
and a message to the public.

10. Fall Out Boy – this is the band
that really got me interested in
music, it was similar to what my
friends were listening to at the
time but it was only me that
really took to it. I appreicate the
lyrics for being so honest and it's
one of the few bands where I
actually follow the members on
social media.
Pariah – this is a york based metal
band that I personally know, as it's
members have all attended this
college. Although small and not
well known, the quality of their
music is outstanding and the skills
that each member has with their
instruments is very impressive. I
enjoy their shows due to it being a
very familiar envirroment
everytime as I know the people on
stage and those who come to
support them.Converes – although originally made in the
1920's as a basketball shoe, converses have
become a staple in punk fashion since the 90's
as they entered more mainstream film and
televison.
HMV – starting as a grampaphone company in
1921, HMV has been a central focus point in
british music distripution for a long time, today
working on spreading products such as CD's,
DVD's, Vinyls, Video Games and other pop
culture memorobilia.
Chester Bennington –
the lead singer of Linkin
Park whos music
helped so many people
struggling with poor
mental health, who
ultimately commited
suicide in the summer
of 2017.
Deadpool - A superhero that has come into
more mainstream pop culutre in the past years
but has hada massive impact on the way that
social media looks at the characters that come
from DC and Marvel. Deadpool has shown that
not all characters that have the label super
hero are what you expect them to be and the
comedy and sarcasm that ryan reynolds
brough to cinema as Deadpool is really
refreshing to see in comic book movies.

11. Mood Board Analysis
How does your mood board inspire your project?
The mood board is a collection of images that have cultural and social links to the style, tone and audience of the product I'm
planning on making. It’s come from a lot of personal tastes that I know fit in to the expectations of an existing publication that’s
similar to mine, and that I feel like would work well as inspiration for the visual aspects of my magazine. A lot of the things I have
included are what I think the target audience would be interested in, based on the culture that surround rock and it’s subgenres,
as well as other inspirations that are personal to me that I want to include, such as the Alice in Wonderland idea that could be
used to tackle a very important issue that many, especially younger readers, would have experienced. Something I really want to
include is an article talking openly about mental heath and the stigma that surround rock music, as what attracted me to it in the
first place was the lack of hesitation to discuss tougher topics, and speaking out against what they don’t believe in.
How will your mood board influence your final product?
The images I’ve picked out I feel will be a good place to gather inspiration for my photography as well as the graphic design aspect
of creating a magazine. Some of the images I'm thinking about using as topics for articles in the pages and for advertisements that
will adhere to the taste of the audience. The first slide consists mostly of visuals I’d like to involve, the second being locations for
photoshoots with models for interview articles. I’ve included images that are drawn from many different subgenres of rock, as I
want this product to be able to resonate with more than one type of audience member. I don’t want the pages to consist of the
same style of imagery and have similar articles, I want it to be inclusive for all kinds of people who are, at their cores, brought
together by being fans of the same kind of music, despite their further differences outside of that.

12. Key Influences – Kerrang! Magazine
A massive part of why I want to create a magazine based around rock music is the influence that the publication Kerrang has had
on me. What first attracted me to purchasing the weekly issues over four years ago was that a lot of my friends were moving away
from the mainstream genres and my taste in music was still very much limited to that. Suddenly I was hearing music that I’d never
really thought about exploring myself and I wanted to have a way of learning more about the different genres as well as the artists
that were prominent in them. Kerrang was my way of doing that, having somewhere I could easily access all the latest news and
to find new music that would then go on to becoming some of my favourite bands. Another part of why I wanted to buy the issues
was the posters that came with it, being fourteen and wanting to find a way to express my interests in a cheap and easy way by
covering my bedroom with the artists that I would listen to constantly was the first thing I ever did that gave me a sense of
identity, a way of setting myself apart from the people who followed every new trend without a second thought.
However being an impressionable teen who had found a new interest that suited them more than any other came with a price,
and that was the scrutiny and stereotypes that comes with being a fan of rock and it’s surrounding genres. Rock has generally
always been a music style containing lyrics that are a lot more open about the darker experiences in life and is much more honest
about emotions than what you’re likely to find on the charts today, which tends to consist mostly of boasting about the material
things that the artists wants you to know that they have. Because of this, younger fans get labelled as over-emotional, depressed
and suicidal, being told that the only reason that they listen to their favourite bands is because they’re trying to be something
they’re not. Having an entire genre of music be looked down on because it’s not someone’s personal taste is something that’s
always frustrated me.
What I want from this project is to create a product that does the genre justice, challenging the prejudice that comes with rock of
poor mental health and the impression that Satanism is somehow inherently involved. I want to prove that someone my age can
make a product like this without it coming off as immature, focusing on the music itself as well as the ideas and concepts that the
artists wants to express through their work. Kerrang has had a massive impact on my life and how I view the world, it’s because of
this that I want to create a similar product. Having been a member of their audience for so long it’s going to be really useful for
me as I already know what the demands and expectations of their readership would be, as well as having access to their issues,
and being in contact with a lot of like-minded people that will be able to make certain aspects of production a lot more available
to me, such as models for photography due to the personal appearances that they have developed through their tastes, as well as
possible interviews from any friends I know who are in bands of their own that fall into this genre. Kerrang was what opened up
the world of rock and alternative music to me and it makes sense that I use it for inspiration for the product I'm making that’s
based on the influence that the magazine has had on me.

13. Key Influences – Paul Harries
Paul Harries is a very respected freelance music photographer who has worked with a wide range of artists, some of the most well
known rock bands including Green Day, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne as well as Nirvana. I really admire the attention to detail in his
work and the truly iconic images that he produces. His work generally falls into one of two categories, live performance
photography and photoshoots. His live performance work really capture the moment and what the band are about, he has a
talent for being able to anticipate when something worth a shot is about to happen, whilst his photoshoots show the true nature
of the subject as it gives him more control and the ability to direct, they get very personal and honest.
I hadn’t realised this until a few months ago but actually a lot of the posters that I’ve collected from issues of Kerrang are his work
and out of all of the, his work has always been my favourite as it is genuinely incredible, he manages to get the perfect shot-
something that’s exciting.
He began his career in photography by bringing his camera to the gigs that he was already attending. It was as easy as that for him
to be introduced to the editors at Kerrang and he’s been working with them for now 30 years as leading photographer. He has his
own way of working for them, wanting to be the only person in the room when a band comes in for a shoot, so that he can avoid
the hassle of having an entourage with him and be able to get to know the band.
Something he appreciates that a band can bring to a shoot is a sense of theatricality, that give the photograph something more to
focus on than just a face. It’s something I want to try and incorporate into my own work, bringing additional aspects that make the
images stand out, whether that’s costume or make up, it’s something that makes them stand out against the typically portairt
images.

14. Key Influences – Green Day’s Revolution Radio
Having been a fan of Green Day since I first started developing an induvial music taste, I’ve kept myself up to date with their work
and views. Revolution Radio is their latest album that came out in October 2016 is a very political album, something they’ve never
been afraid to take on in the past.
In American Idiot, their outrage against the worlds violence was targeted mostly overseas where the Iraq war was taking place,
taking politics and mixing it with the anger and powerful sound of rock to create a song that calls out the American public for their
naivety in following propaganda and allowing themselves to fall victim to the government produced paranoia, resulting in mass
violence.
They tackle a similar theme in Revolution radio they speak out strongly against the domestic shootings and violence that’s been
spreading throughout America over the past years. The lead single was described by Armstrong as being about ”the culture of
mass shooting that happens in America mixed with narcissistic social media”. A part of why i enjoy this album so much and why
it’s one of the key influences on this project is the unapologetic way in which they attack the state of our current violent culture,
although the song is about the attacks that happen in America, this kind of behaviour has spread to a global scale. American Idiot
came out in 2004 when I was too young to know a thing that was happening around me, and as much as I enjoy the music from
the album and support the message that comes with it, it’s not something I have experienced and been around to hear about.
Revolution Radio is todays version of that, holding on to the style of angry anti-governmental punk that the band has kept since
their debut, addressing the terrorist violence and domestic attacks that are happening around us, the war and violence my
generation is going to be known for. Billie Joe Armstrong has always been very vocal about his views on culture and politics, even
having been in the spotlight of fame for so long, he’s never been afraid to speak his truth to the masses and argue for the people.
His views that he expresses publicly through his music regarding environmental and social issues are something I strongly agree
with, particularly his thoughts on the current American President.
The album is an influence on this project by being honest about your thoughts and opinions on the world around you, no matter
how people may respond to it. I want this project to not have anything to hide and address issues like mental health and politics,
purely based on that rock music has always been the genre to be courageous enough to do that without fear.

15. Key Influences – Palaye Royale
This is a band that I was introduced to by a friend some time ago that has really resonated with me in terms of style, visual, sound
and lyrics, and have been a massive part of my music taste since. The first concert I ever went to was one of their performances
and I’m really glad that it was because the front mans stage presence is incredible and the performance was outstanding.
Something that I have found really inspirational about the band is the progress they have made through their career, having being
picked out for the music in a popular rock music centred movie which really boosted the amount of listeners and has led them to
going on tour with Marilyn Manson. This band introduced me to the subgenre of Art Rock, which is an avant-garde and
challenging approach to the usual connotations that one would expect from the style. The personal style of each member is also
something that I really appreciate as each of the three members has their own character that they’ve built around their stage
names and it moves away from the idea that band members need to have a similar style to one another in order to create a
synergy between them. They’re music is very personal to their own experiences through life and can easily be related to but in a
much more honest and authentic way compared to something that you might find in popular chart topping music, which rarely
delves deep into personal problems as that can be seen as a way of decreasing the marketability of the song.
Having been brought up in a musical household and being introduced into the world of rock performance at an early age they
struggled with keeping up with appearances and dealing with the pressures that come with it, so a lot of their first major album
covers all the issues that they faced with relationships, drugs and mental health. Despite all of this they have all moved on into
their early twenties as very inspirational musicians for a lot of their fans, having helped many with dealing with their own
problems through their performances, lyrics and supportive messages.
A definite reason for my enjoyment of this band is the singers voice, as it’s raw and emotional, whether it’s streamed or listened
to live because he makes sure that you can feel every single emotion that went into the process of writing the song and is able to
bring the listener to the experience that inspired the lyrics.
I think that having this band as one of the key influences for this project will help in the way of how I approach the content on
each page I create, trying to make sure that I keep everything as authentic as possible and really trying to think about what I’m
writing for the articles in relation to what I would have wanted to read when I first started being a part of the audience for the
type of product I’m making, taking on the ideals of the band of trying to make sure that everything I put out can be used to help
someone and show others that there are people experiencing similar situations.

16. Key Influences – Dr. Martens
Dr. Martens as a company are something that I enjoy very much in terms of product but also how the company handles
themselves in the public eye. The brand has been associated in the past with some groups that aren’t the best for marketing such
as violent punk groups and skinheads but they have managed to turn their reputation around by proving their reliability,
authenticity and style over the years and through the influence the company has in large rock music centred communities. I really
appreciate the fact that the brand is very aware of who their customers are and tries to engage with them as much as possible,
giving artists the opportunity to showcase their work, whether its designing shoes and setting up custom boots tents at festivals
and events, or allowing them to design the art work that goes onto a shop location.
Overall it’s a brand that cares about its customers and the influence that it knows it can make, as any company should be aware of
once they reach a certain size. It revolves primarily around the rock music culture but has spread its support to things such as the
LGBT+ community by creating vibrant rainbow design boots for pride, helping out with charity events and fundraisers for different
organisations. The name of Dr. Martens has changed a lot since its history first started in 1947 and its attitude is something that I
want to portray when I look at how I want the company that I create for this magazine to be like, inclusive, forward thinking and
authentic to their customers. Something that I really enjoy about a lot of music magazines is that they are really well connected
with their readers and although it might not be a publication Dr. Martens really knows how to do that with a similar audience to
the one that my product will have, so I'm going to try to look at some of their marketing techniques and how they interact with
their audience to make sure that they are engaged in every decsion the company makes, so that what I'm creating has a more by
the people for the people feeling.