3. AMPLIFY Magazine is an indie rock magazine,
focusing onthe newer, upcoming indie rock bands and
artists.AMPLIFY takes its inspirationsfrom other indie
magazines, such as NME, but alsofrom rock and metal
magazines, such as Kerrang! Magazine.
4. The front cover of my magazineis
made to look as effectiveas
possible. I made the front cover
rather simple, to helpportray what's
inside AMPLIFY to the potential
reader.
5. For mymasthead, I chosesomething that would appeal to the Indie
Rock audience. For myresearch, I decided to look at anarticle
from NMEMagazine, and pick out words that would appeal to an
Indieaudience. I went through the whole article, picking out
individual words, but the best 3 Ichose were "Riff", "Rebel" and
myfinal choice of "Amplify".Thesewords all haveconnotations
of Indie,for example "Riff" being a part of song, usually involving
guitars (another part of Indie). One of the most famous riffs for
example is in"Brianstorm" by one of Indie'sbiggest bands, the
ArcticMonkeys.I chose "Amplify"because it shares the
connotations of both words, as Amplifyhas connotations of gigs
and concerts, things that the original indie fans would "Rebel" to
attend. Thisuses anddevelops the conventions of real media
products as this, by using the word “AMPLIFY”, uses the same
style of connecting with the audienceas magazines such as NME
and Q
6. The slogan, the small line below the masthead, I chose was
“The Finest of Indie Music”. The reason I chose this is
because it conveys the high quality of the magazine.
The research I did for my slogan was taken by looking
at other music magazinesand their slogans. The music
magazines I examined were Q, Billboard and VIBE. All
of these had slogans which were very positive, and
almost cocky. They showed their confidence and how
they show how good their magazine is. Some
magazines don’t include a slogan, but I decided to use
one as its a short and memorable phrase visible to the
reader of the magazine. This uses the same
conventions of Q Magazine, connecting with the
audience in the same way as they both are slightly
over-confident slogans, but both work as they aren’t
completely over the top
7. I added the main coverline across the bottom righthand cornerof the page. The
masthead covers a lot of thebottom part of the page, which draws a lot of
attention to the main front cover, and inparticular the cover model; it intrigues
the reader to want to know what and who "Matt D" is and about. My research
for the placement and choice of words for thecoverline was again done by
looking at other magazines, such as NME. Thefirst coverline Ichose was much
largerthan the final coverline, which draws more attention to the artist than
AMPLIFYMagazine itself, so I madethesize of the coverline smaller. Thepull
quote of “Time for a newleader” was chosen because indie artists and lead
singers are usuallyquite outlandish and over-confident, such as Matty Healy
from The1975and Morrissey fromthe Smiths, so this quote was chosen as it
would connectwith theindie audience. This challengesthe conventions of
magazines as the coverline is nowherenearas big as the coverlinesplaced
onto magazines likeBillboard. This is because Billboard is an established
music magazine, and doesn’t need to show off thename of themagazine to
sell copies. AMPLIFYhowever has to as it is a new magazinetryingto establish
itself inthe magazine world.
8. Thenext thingI added was the secondary coverlines. The
symbol of "+" symbolises extra information in the
magazine, and also that the magazine is not just
only focused on the main cover star, as that would
makefor bad reading for the reader. Thesecondary
coverlines of "Massive New Albums for 2017,Foals,
The1975,TheCourteeners, Jawsand Circa Waves "
shows that thereis a wide rangeof articles and
stories in themagazine, not just giving the large acts,
such as Foals and The1975,the entire focus; the
magazine will focus on the smaller acts of the indie
genre,such as Circa Waves, and the unsigned Jaws.
This is using the same conventions as Billboard
Magazine. Billboard also uses the plus symbol as it
wants to show how muchinformation there is
inside the magazine, thesame as AMPLIFYis doing.
9. The competition coverline, "WIN! V.I.P Courteeners &
Blossoms tickets“ helps to also grab the attention
of the reader as they see an opportunity to win
some free tickets to see one of indie's biggest acts
in The Courteeners, and furthermore one of indie's
biggest newcomers in Blossoms. This will help
grab the potential reader's attention, and make
them possibly wantto purchase "Amplify"
Magazine. This was originally placed in a puff
(Pictured left), but I decided to change it to another
coverline as the puff looked rather unprofessional.
This challenged the conventions of magazines
such as MOJO. Instead of using a puff, I created
another coverline instead, challenging the
conventions of other magazines.
10. This is my contents page. As
shown, there is a lot of
information placed on the
page, which shows how
much is inside the
magazine.The page has
been split into 3 main parts:
The masthead and title at
the top, The subheadings
placed onthe left hand side
of the page, and then the
images of this week’s main
articles.
11. I added the masthead at the top, along with "Contents". Thereason I
decided to use the word "Contents" instead of "ThisWeek"or "InsideThis
Week",is because AMPLIFYis not a well enoughestablished magazine to
beable to use things like that. NME or Billboard, for example, can do this
as they'reverywell established inthe music magazine world, and people
knowwhat to expect from them. Amplify however, has to use theword
"Contents". I also added themasthead above the word contents, and
changedit to white text colour, and the "Contents"to a Cyanblue, sticking
with thesame colour schemethat I used onthe front cover of the
magazine. I finallyadded a website into the space below the masthead. I
added this because it will show the reader that therewill be more
information on the website, and it shows them whereto find it. This uses
the same conventions as QMagazine, stating that its the “Contents”, but
also challenges the conventions of NME,as AMPLIFYhas used the more
simplistic and clear “Contents” instead of “Inside this week”
12. The next thing I added was the subheadings on the left
hand side of the contents page. I split these into
sections; “THIS WEEK IN INDIE”, a small page
about the goings on in the worlds of indie. Also, I
added “NEWCOMERS”, “GIG WATCH”, “ALBUMS”
& “COMPETITIONS”. I placed these into sections
because it will make it easier for the reader to find
what it is that they wantto find in Amplify
magazine. Furthermore, it will show the reader
how much information there is in the magazine,
and it could intrigue the reader more to want to
purchase the magazine. This uses the same
conventions as NME Magazine, as AMPLIFY and
NME both use sections to make it easier for the
reader to find what it is they’re after in the
magazine.
13. Thenext thing I added was anotherimage of Matt D, onthe
right hand side of the page.This will make itclear to the
readerwho this week's main focus is, and will also show
that there will be a largebit of information about Matt
D. I also placed a coverline overthe image, and I placed
it in the Cyan Blue again, continuing on thecolour
scheme.Furthermore, also another small kickerof
"'Cheshire's Finest' NewIndie Chart Topper Speaks
about Inspirations for his Number 1 Album" underneath
to let the readerknow what the interview is about. This
uses the sameconventions as Kerrang! Magazine’s
contents page, with the large image showing whothe
main focus of this week’s magazineis.
14. I then addedanotherimage ontothepage,animage ofanew,
youngand upcomingIndie Rockbandcalled The Continental
Phase.The textplacedontotheimage of"TheContinental
Phase“.This wasthenputintothe cyancolour, andthen I
addedasmall kickerbelow of"Manchester'sfreshestband
talksabouttheir upcoming UK& Europetour"whichwas
placedinto awhite colour,stickingwith thesamegraphology
asthe restof thecontentspage,makingit cometogether.This
wasplacedbelowthe imageof MattD,in aspacethatwasleft
emptyforawhile asI wasunsurewhethertousethe same
conventionsas Qor Kerrang!,as theyplacean Editor’sNote,or
competitionbelow themain image.However I decided to
challenge theconvention, andaddthe imageofThe
ContinentalPhasebelow theimage ofMatt,asthis showsthe
readerthatthereismorethanjust themain articleof MattD in
the magazine,butalso makesthecontentspageuniqueto that
ofQ orKerrang!
15. Forthedoublepagespread,I decided tomakemy
covermodelMattastereotypicalindierockact,
such asMorrisseyfromThe SmithsandMatty
Healy fromThe 1975;brash,outlandishand
rathercockyfromthe outsideview. But,ifMatt
wasn'tthis character,he wouldnothavemadehis
name in theindie world soquickly,which is what
the interview is mainlyabout;MattD's amazing
risethankstohis new album,titled "Nostalgia
Trip".Thisalbum title fitsin withthe frontcoverof
the magazineas thecarusedbehind Mattwas
released aroundaboutthe sametime thatIndie
wasbeginning, andthe title "NostalgiaTrip"is
sayingthatIndie haschanged,andit needstogo
backtotheoriginal roots,which is whatI am
tryingtoachievehere.
16. The firstthing I had to do was choose the correct and
suitable image for my double page spread .This is
the image I chose, taken from my first shoot. I
chose this because Matt is represented as indie by
his hairstyle and his clothing. Also, the fade to
black on the left hand side looked like a good
place to place my main headline and text, as they
would stand out a lot againstthe black
background. I cropped the image slightly to apply
with the Rule of Thirds, so Matt was moved over
to the right hand side of the page. This uses the
same conventions as Q Magazine, as I have
placed the background imageof Matt onto one of
the pages, and then placed the text onto the other
page.
17. The nextthingI didwasaddin theheadlineatthe toplefthand
sideofthe page.The headlinereads "Indiehasbeen Crying
OutForA New Leader",which is apull quotetakenfrom
the interview withMattD,whenhe is statinghowIndie has
"lostit's originaltouch"andthenew leaderroleisarolethat
Mattstateshe "hasto fulfil".The changeof colour,fromthe
white tored,especially onthe words"crying out“,shows
the importanceofthe newcomer MattD,andthewords
"cryingout"is almostlike a call forhelp andsaving, which is
whatMattandhis new albumare"heretodo“.Theuseof a
pull quoteusesthe sameconventions asKerrang!
Magazine,asthe pull quoteshowsasmall amountof what
toexpect in theinterview, thereforethis iswhyKerrang!
AndAMPLIFY havebothusedone;to givethe readersome
insight astowhattoexpect
18. The next thing I added was the kicker. The kicker acts
as the introduction to the article, attracting the
reader. The kicker I chose was "Matt D speaks
about inspirations for his new number one album
'Nostalgia Trip'". The text again has a change of
colour, which shows the importance of those
words, which in particular is the title of the new
album. The red font is a classic colour of the indie
genre, along with the black and white background
behind the text. This againuses the same
conventions as Kerrang! Magazine’s double page
spread about rock band My Chemical Romance.
The kicker is a small introduction, adding not just
another insight to the page, but also to the
aesthetics of the page
19. The next thing I added was the text.I placed
the text into columns to give it amore
professional look, but also it means I can
include more into my text, making the
interview a better read for the reader. I
also added a drop capitalto the start of
the text, to make it generally
more aesthetically better. This again
uses the same conventions as the
Kerrang! MagazineDouble page spread;
They’ve added a drop capitalto make it
more aesthetically pleasing.
