2. Magazine Proposal
Title of my publication: Understatement. I want to call my music magazine understatement as it is short,
simple and fresh.
My chosen musical genres (s): R&B and hip-hop, I chose this because these genres are well-known and also
very popular .These genre also include intricate music beats.
Content I will include: Interviews, the charts. Artists would be people like Jessie J and so on in terms of their
fashion and their biographies. My magazine will be different as my contents will have a variety and versatile
topics.
Design features: My magazine’s masthead will be in bold and a simple font, this is because in my task 2 case
studies none of the masthead was fancy and the masthead was professional and simple however they did
stand out. I will be using a colour scheme which is the three colour scheme which will be colours such as red,
black and white, I chose these colours as they are quite formal with a mix of informal and also I think that
these colours will look sophisticated. The lettering will be very simple to give my magazine a professional look
and to give it a serious style.
Target audience: My target audience will be teenagers and young adults because I will be using young ‘artists’
however the mode of address will be formal with a mix of informal. Formal being the main mode of address.
Gender will be females as it would be quite a girly magazine. Social class will be lower/working class as I am
going to include artists that worked their way up to make my magazine inspirational. From my research in
Task 2, I discovered that the artists included in the magazines worked their way up.
Who might publish my magazine: IPC media, I chose IPC media because it publishes a lot of music magazine
and this will create a sense of familiarity for the audience. It is UK's most leading consumer magazine
publisher. They engage with majority of females which suits my target audience.
3. My House Style Sheets
Front cover
Contents Page
Double Page
Spread (DPS)
4. Flat Plan of my music magazine
A flat plan is an important part of planning a magazine as it
shows where all articles and adverts are laid out and in what
order. Without a flat plan, the production director and
advertisement director find it hard to know what they are
going to include in their magazine and where everything
will go.
My flat plan links to the contents page as majority of the
things included in my flat plan will be on the contents
page with images relating to the flat plan contents.
There are about six different categories of content in my
flat plan which are: Interviews, Adverts, reviews,
posters, gigs and quizzes. I added six different categories
so that my music magazine's contents is versatile. I
would say that my magazine is both text and image
based equally. This task helped me as it gives me a clear
view of what I would like to add in my magazine and
what types of categories I want to add making the whole
process more organised and less time consuming. It also
allowed me to explore the different categories in
different magazines to suit specific genres. My flat plan
reflects my musical genre which is R&B and hip-hop as I
have included artists that relate to these genres.
5. Drafting the questions (DPS)
Questions:
-Apart from your music life, what is your everyday life like?
-How would you describe yourself?
-What would you say your most embarrassing moment is?
-What inspired you to pursue music as a career?
-What advice would you give to a person that would like to
pursue music as a career?
-Which artists do you like?
-What inspired you to pursue a career in this specific music
genre?
-Are you thinking of going on tour?
-What are your music goals?
-How do you feel when you see your music in the charts?
Answers:
Apart from your music life, what is your everyday life like?
Well apart from my music life, I would say this it is pretty normal just like any other person. I am currently in college right now studying
A-Levels. I get up in the morning then off to college and then I catch up on my soaps just like any other teenager. However, that's when my
music life kicks in, which is an absolute dream as I am leading the normal and glamorous life at the same time.
How would you describe yourself?
I would describe myself as shy- I know shocking considering I am a R&B and hip-hop artist. Underneath the stereotype of an R&B and hip-hop
artist, I'm just a shy person with a caring personality, that's about it.
What would you say your most embarrassing moment is?
That's a good question considering the fact that I have a lot. I would probably say falling of stage in front of a lot of people- typical artist
problems haha.
What inspired you to pursue a music career?
It's the only thing I am good at. Also, I enjoy seeing people enjoying my talent and hope that they are inspired with what I produce.
What advice would you give to a person that would like to pursue music as a career?
Never give up on your talent, no matter what the media has to say about you. Just stay real and do what you love, forget the haters. I would
also say that PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE, after all practice makes perfect.
Which artists do you like?
Well there are so many, but to name a few I would say artists like Jessie J and Drake. I just love their music and think that they are
inspiring not only in terms of music but in terms of personality wise.
What inspired you to pursue a career in this specific music genre?
I think that R&B and hip-hop are quite popular genre so I knew that my fans will love what I produce. Also, growing up I used to listen to
these genres so as you can tell it beings me back to my childhood memories.
Are you thinking of going on tour?
Of course, I would love to! It would be such a great opportunity! It's what I wanted to ever seen I was a child, it would be a dream come
true!
What are your music goals?
Going on tour and making my music international. Also, inspiring people to like this genre and give the genre a good stereotype.
How do you feel when you see your music in the charts?
I cannot even explain. It's just amazing knowing that all your hard work finally paid off. I just feel so grateful that people love what I do
because I certainly love what I do!
My Double Page Spread will include an question and answer style
interview. The angle it will be is personal and influential
questions to not only inspire but find out a bit of background of
the artist so that the readers discover the real side of the artist
almost feeling a connection with the artist, in terms of feeling like
the audience knows the artists in real life.
6. Who is my publisher?
For my music magazine that I will be creating, the publisher I
will be using is IPC media. I chose IPC media because it
publishes a lot of music magazine and this will create a sense of
familiarity for the audience. It is UK's most leading consumer
magazine publisher. They engage with majority of females which
relates to my target audience. IPC has more than 60 iconic
brands which suggests their versatility and this is what I want my
music magazine to be, versatile so that it attracts a lot of the
audience which would not usually choose to opt out on buying a
R&B and hip-hop magazine. IPC media is
across multiple platforms which is another factor in being
versatile as you can tell it is quite an international focused brand.
Overall, I would say that IPC media is the well-suited brand for
my magazine as it relates to a lot of factors I want to include in
my music magazine.
7. Audience profile for my magazine
Understatement is aimed at the bubbly, girly teenagers and
young women. Understatement allows readers to explore and
gain knowledge on things like beauty, celebrities, music, style
etc... It's about being up to date with what's going on in the
'music and fashion world'. It is a multi-national magazine with a
foundation of versatility to suit the acquired females taste. Since
it is aimed at the younger generation, there is a lot of social
media sites involved to keep up to date with what's going on. The
'understatement' is aimed at a target audience of 16-30 year olds
of a working class status. It is aimed at people who enjoy
listening to R&B and hip-hop music. The audience's liking
should be going on concerts, tours, gigs etc... Their dress sense is
up to date- modern, trying to 'fit in with the crowd'. Their
hobbies are fashion related and music related and also beauty
related. They acquire to be like the famous artists out there and
feel inspired by them.
8. How my case studies of professional
magazines helped me with my ideas
and designs?
My case studies helped me as it made me explore what types of design I want
to include in my music magazine and how it relates to the genres furthermore,
exploring how it relates to the codes and conventions of my chosen genres. It
made me think critically about what type of layout I want as when I was doing
my case studies, I realised that layout was an important factor. Most of the
layouts on the case studies I done was simple and readable so I tried to make
my design similar. Another thing that the case studies helped me to think
about was the colours, I discovered that most of the case studies that I
explored had a three colour scheme (house style) which enabled me to think
about what three colours I wanted to run through all my pages of the music
magazine I will be creating. Overall, I would say that the case studies were very
helpful in helping me with ideas and designs for my music magazine as it
made me think about my audience in depth and also codes & conventions in
depth.
