2. Format: Magazine
I am going to create a new indie music magazine called Bass. I have taken inspiration from Q
magazine who also cover the indie genre, as well as other types of music. Bass will be in competition
with fellow indie magazines; Kerrang and NME, who are both very popular music magazines. I hope
that Bass could become a market leader in the indie genre, and beat both Kerrang and NME in sales
figures and popularity. By creating a front cover and double-page spread will allow me to explore the
layout of my magazine, for the first issue. I will also be able to test out my colour scheme, on both
my front cover and DPS.
Working Title:
The working title I have chosen for my Magazine is Bass, however I did have other possibilities such
as Riff and Stringz. The Font I have chosen for my masthead is Maxxii Serif, which I felt best,
complimented my masthead name. However I had chosen two other fonts which were Lemon/Milk
and Mangosteen, which I felt suited the indie genre, but not my chosen masthead name.
The masthead will be positioned across the top of the magazine, with orange gradient text, and a
black stroke effect, unlike Q I won’t be including a shape behind my masthead. The cover lines will
be a simple font, positioned down the bottom right of the front cover, the text will also be orange
like my masthead. The main image will be a full body shot positioned in the middle of the cover,
slightly overlapping the masthead. The main headline will be split into two and positioned either side
of the main image; this text will be orange with a fire effect, and a faded black drop shadow. Below
the masthead will be an orange circle with a black outline used for my puff promotion. Opposite to
Riff magazine the barcode will be positioned in the bottom left corner of the magazine containing
the web address, social media links and the release date.
Genre:
The sub-genre I have chosen for Bass magazine is indie as magazine competitors such as Kerrang and
NME are also the same genre. Looking at my Survey results Indie also proved to be the most popular
music genre. As the target gender for Bass magazine will be Males the magazine will feature mainly
male stars, however occasionally you will see a female star on the front cover. Bass will have three
main competitors who are NME, Kerrang and Q, which focus on the indie genre; however Q expands
and embraces a wider range of genres.
Content:
Bass will be a 70 page magazine and include features such as,
• Double page spread interviews with popular indie artists mainly male,
• Festival guides,
• Tour posters,
• Album reviews,
• Free content (CD’s) when readers subscribe to the online newsletter.
• 12 full page advertisements, to keep the reader engaged and entertained
throughout.
Including popular male indie artists will help my magazine gain ‘Star Appeal’ and appeal to
my male audience, however I will also include female artists who may also appeal to males.
3. Style or Approach:
The denotation of the colour scheme for the magazine will be orange and black.
The denotation for the colour scheme of my front cover and double-page spread will be orange and
black.
The colour orange was chosen for the masthead because the words bass are hard hitting and as the
masthead is the first feature the reader will notice, therefore using a bright colour like orange will
catch the reader’s eye and keep them drawn in. Orange also represents fire and energy.
The colour black was chosen for my text as this is stereotypically the most common colour for
interview text. This colour also represents mystery which will invite the reader in, and is also
associated with rock which embraces my magazines theme or British indie rock.
I will be using Photoshop to construct both my front cover and double page spread, because this will
enable me to create the exact layout from my hand drawn drafts using the guidelines. Some of the
tools in Photoshop that will be particularly beneficial when constructing the front cover and dps will
be; the circle shape for the puff promotion, the stroke effect for inside the masthead text, the pen
tool to create three columns for my interview, the drop shadow behind the pull quote and quote
from the interview and the stroke effect behind each dps image.
Audience:
• Age: 14-19
• Males,
• Audience category E
• Ethnicity: Typically White British readers, however other ethnicities deepening on music
taste.
The target age group for Bass magazine is 14-19, and the target gender is males. As my magazine is
aimed towards a younger demographic readers would fall into audience category E. As Bass will be a
UK based magazine to start with typically the magazine could appeal to those of white British
Ethnicity, however as indie music is appreciated by many people the magazine could appeal to
people of other ethnicities depending on what their music tastes are.
Length:
• 70
• A4.
There are 135 pages in Q magazine however I intend to create a 70 page magazine, as Bass will be
released weekly. On average there will be 70 pages however the minimum will be 60 and the
maximum 80. The size will be A4 as this is the most common size for a magazine, and also this is
easiest for people to read and also a good size for travel.
Frequency:
Weekly
Why; 70 pages less content as less time to produce the magazine.
Cost; £1.95,
Bass will be a weekly release magazine due to the fact that there will only be 70 pages, however the
shorter time limit means that I will have to make sure that the content is appealing and entertaining
to engage the reader. Also Kerrang and NME are weekly magazines and Q is released monthly, and Q
is my magazine of inspiration. By choosing to price my magazine below £2 should encourage more
people to purchase a copy of Bass.
