The document provides an analysis of existing magazine covers and posters from the 1990s related to rave culture and music. It examines features such as prominent images, color schemes, fonts, and references to establish recognizability and appeal to target audiences. The analysis considers incorporating similar aspects into a new 1990s rave fashion magazine.

1. Research
Alfie Jones

2. Existing Product
The main image features the lead singer of the Stone Roses Ian Brown, which
makes it instantly recognisable to the target audience, and it makes people
want to buy it if the magazine features their favourite singer/band. The image
itself is iconic because Brown is doing his signiture pose with his lips, which
again makes it instantly recognisable for the intended audince. The main
image is at a normal angle with direct address from the main cover artist,
which is used to catch the eye of the audience when it is on the shelf as it is if
Brown is looking at you.
The two other images in the background feature two of the members of the
Happy Mondays mid performance, who were another band like the Stone
Roses in that decade, and the blue filter fits in well with the colour scheme
and doesn’t clash with the main image as it doesn’t take the focus away from
it as it almost blends in with the rest of the magazine.
The costume of the main image is again very recognisable for the intended
audience as Ian Brown is wearing the same tshirt as he is in the video of 'I
wanna be adored', so the average fan would recognise it instantly. The man on
the far left holding the maracas, Bez, is very recognised in the dance scene as
he is part of the Happy Mondays and is known for his dancing on stage, so
when people pick up the magazine and see him, they would be interested if
they are interested in Ian Brown.
The colour scheme is very vibrant and eye catching, which is a key convention
for 90s magazines as it needs to stand out on the shelves, however for NME it
was quite a change of image as their other magazines have a relatively bright
colour scheme, but nothing compared to this Madchester edition. The font is
almost cartoon like and adds a younger feel to the magazine, especially with
the colours as well; the use of serif font adds an older fashioned sense to the
magazine, so it has multiple vibes which can lead to letting the reader making
their own interpretation.
I have chosen to look at this magazine as
to me it screams 90s rave, even though it
is not a fashion magazine it still holds all
the key conventions of a 90s magazine,
which I can take into account when I do
my magazine. For example, the use of
bright colours, bold fonts, multiple images
and recognisable features.

3. Existing Product
The main image features the band The Stone Roses laying on the floor
covered in paint, which is distinctive as it is a very unusual and would
stand out on the shelf; the image itself is very interesting as it links in
with the masthead because the paint is an appreciation towards the
artist Jackson Pollock, who was an American painter, hence the 'Never
Mind The Pollocks' and the use of paint, as his abstract style of
painting was used as inspiration to The Stone Roses debut album
cover painted by the guitarist John Squire so the band and Pollock link
in well together, so the front cover of this editon of NME is very
smartly done. The colour of paint also links into the bands request of it
being the same colour as the football team Manchester City, so it is
again personal to the band and the readers.
The masthead is a play on words for two reasons as it is a compliment
to the painter Jackson Pollock, but it is also an acknowledgment to the
band from the 70s the Sex Pistols and their debut album 'Never Mind
The Bollocks', but NME are saying that The Stone Roses are better
than the Sex Pistols, which creates a talking point for the readers.
The font colour contrasts well with the background image and doesn’t
obstruct any of the image, and the masthead is big and bold so it is
one of the first things you see, which would link to the image.
I have chosen to look at this magazine because once again it is very
different to the typical NME magazine, so for the regular buyer it
would be a nice change and would instantly be recognised by the
intended audience.

4. Existing Product
The main image of a smiley face links to the reoccurring smiley face
in many posters, especially the acid house posters, which was
internationally known as the 'symbol of positivity'; by having it as
the main image on the front cover of a magazine it is instantly
recognised by the target audience. This edition of the magazine
was released in the late 1980s, which correlates with the drug in
circulation at the time MDMA; this drug usually had a smiley face
on the pill as it is was seen as 'the happy drug', which links to how
the smiley face is portrayed internationally. The simple image of a
yellow smiley face on the black background is very effective as it
stands out instantly when it Is put next to a typical fashion
magazine, and by having such a contrasting front cover with the
image and masthead being opposite to the background it again
makes it unique and makes the typical young adult at the time
want to buy it because it's different from everything else.
The minimalistic design of the front cover is original as well
because most magazines have many cover lines and just a lot going
on in general, but with i-D magazine they are known for their
simple but effective front covers, which is something to consider
for my products.
I have chosen to look at this magazine because of the simplicity of
it and how effective a magazine can be just through one image and
a few words; the smiley face logo is something I am interested in
using for my magazine as it was recognisable at the time and still is
today.

5. Existing Product
This rave poster is a play on the cereal Rice Krispies and changed it to Rave
Krispies with added details like the cereal are all letters 'E', which was an
abriviation for a very popular drug in the rave scene ecstasy.
Bright colours are usually identified with the rave scene, so the colour
scheme of this poster fits in perfectly with all the other rave posters that
were created at that time; this poster is very recognisable because of the
rice krispies play-on-words so not only would rave attendees recognise it,
but the general public would also recognise it and be interested into why
that’s been put it up around the streets etc.
The font used is again the same as the Rice Krispies box, which makes it
recognisable and it is quite a big and bold font so it Is very eye catching for
the audience; the white font on the blue backround works well and the
layout of having a lot going is something to consider as I could go for the
style of this rave poster or the style of i-D magazine.
The 90s pop culture at the time used the same style of this poster, like the
colours and the bold fonts, so this poster is using a very similar design
excpet they have given it a twist to fit their style of poster and catering to
their audience.
There are some extra details on the poster, for example '100% bust free'
and 'providing hours of transcendent bliss', that are important to the
poster, because the added details fill the poster more and makes it look
more like the Rice Krispies box as they have writing in them places.
I have chosen to look at this poster as it is a knock off design of Rice Krispies
and this theme of poster was common, so by analysing it it gives me a
better idea of how I could design a rave poster to go in my magazine as an
advertisement;.

6. Research Analysis
• What common features do the researched products have?
• Each product is very colourful, with exception to i-D magazine however
the main smiley face has colour, so it links in. Each product has a very clear
masthead and main cover line, which is something I will focus on when it
comes to my product as I want the reader to know what is what, and I
want it to stand out from the other magazines, but still look like a 90s rave
fashion magazine.
• What aspects of the research will you include within your own
production work?
• I will include the bright colour scheme that is in all the existing products I
have analysed as I think it is easily recognised and is a key convention for
rave products in the 90s. Having a big and noticeable masthead is
something I will make sure I include as it is one of the first things the
reader will notice; by making the masthead, cover lines etc look unique
from all the other magazines on the shelf.

7. Audience Research

8. Secondary Audience research
• NME Magazine is a music-based magazine with a sub-genre of youth culture as
they focus their stories on music but link it to current topics like fashion of the
time; with their audience being a young, male dominated audience, music and
fashion is a key attraction to them and makes them want to buy it. With my
magazine being a fashion-based magazine with a sub-genre of music it is similar
overall, but the main genre are not the same, and the target audience are the
same as both magazines are targeting young males who have a high interest in
music and fashion.
• The music tastes for both magazines are different, however the youth culture is
what makes the two magazines similar as they share the interest of being young
and enjoying themselves wether that’s through rave music or indie music.
• The target age for NME magazine is 16-25 as it is aiming at young people to
portray youth culture through music, and my magazines target age is 16-25 as I
want to aim it at people who have never experienced a rave, so I want to try and
give them an insight on what they would've experienced. However, I sent my
survey to people of all ages, so the results are varied but the majority of the

9. Primary Audience research
• Question: Would you be interested in reading a 1990s fashion magazine?
If so, why?
• General answer: the overall response from this question was yes because
they are interested in the fashion from the 90s, they want to learn about
the fashion, or they want to read it to relive their youth.
• What this says about my audience: this says that my intended
audience are interested in a fashion magazine, as 60% of my responses are
from my target audience, so people from the age of 16-25 are
interested in what I want to make.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: my product will appeal to
my target audience as in my survey the answers showed that they are
interested in the fashion side of the 90s compared to the rave scene, so I
will make my product more fashion based than more rave scene based. I
will do this by writing about different fashion designers/fashion trends
compared to the rave scene itself, however I will still write about raves and
what happened as some of my responses show my target audience are
still interested in in, but just not as much as the fashion side of it.

10. Primary Audience research
• Question: What decade of music do you listen to the most?
• General answer: 90s – 26%
• 00s – 30%
• Modern – 23%
• What this says about my audience: the figures from this question show
that most of my audience listen to either the 00s or the 90s, which shows
that even people who don’t particularly listen to music from the 90s are
still interested in the fashion from the 90s. It also shows that the 90s
culture is still relevant and still in fashion as most of the people who said
they listened to 90s music did not live through the 90s.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: my product will appeal to
my audience as it will include information about music from the 90s as
particularly the rave fashion was heavily influenced by the music being
played at the raves, so by writing about the music at the time not only will
it appeal to the part of the audience that like the music from the 90s, but
also the other part of the audience that like the fashion.

11. Primary Audience research
• Question: How old are you?
• General answer: 16-25 – 60%
• What this says about my audience: this information shows
that my target audience are most of the people answering
my survey, which shows that the answers that I am
receiving are what people who will be reading my magazine
want to see in it; with this information I can then focus on
what they want to see from the other questions from my
survey.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: my product
will appeal to my audience as it will include all the things in
my survey that were the most requested since most of the
answers were by my intended audience age group. By
including all the most voted/requested things from my
survey in my magazine it will cater for all the people
who are interested in reading my magazine.

12. Primary Audience research
• Question: What interests you about a fashion magazine the most?
• General answer: the front cover – 40%
• The articles/interviews - 33%
• What this says about my audience: this shows that my target audience
are most interested in the front cover and the articled inside the
magazine, which allows me to focus on those two sections of my magazine
the most since that is the thing my target audience are most interested
in. It also says that my audience want the front cover to be eye catching as
it is the first thing they see and the cover lines for the various articles in
the magazine need to be clear and consise as it will let the reader know
what the article is about.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: my product will appeal to
this audience as I will make the front cover attractive to the naked eye as
my research shows that is what most people look for in a magazine as well
as the articles, so I will put my focus on those two.

13. Subject Research - Madchester
Madchester was scene in the late 1980s in Manchester for music and culture
aimed at young people where indie music linked in with rave music. The term
‘Madchester’ was first created by the label Factory Records in the early 1990s
when they had bands like The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and 808 State.
The Madchester scene was heavily influenced by drugs, especially psychedelic
drugs like MDMA.
The Hacienda nightclub was almost seen as the base of Madchester since that
is where everyone across the country wanted to go to experience this new
scene in all its glory.
The new wave of music by Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses, 808 State, The
Charlatans etc. was the focus point of the new and upcoming scene as it was
new everybody and became the new wave of music that has lasted decades.
The culture side of Madchester was the fashion of baggy and oversized
clothes that were colourful to stand out in the nightclubs; the drug use of the
Madchester scene was massive as the drug ecstasy had just been discovered
in England, which was a big incentive for most people as it gave people a
sensation they have never felt before.

14. Subject Research - Raves
This survey shows that most ravers like to attend raves with their friends, so for my magazine
I could get some photos of multiple in rave gear, however it depends on the COVID
restrictions. Most ravers prefer to listen to house music, although this survey is for modern
ravers and not people who attended them in the late 80s/90s so by considering this
information when writing my articles it would not be accurate.

15. Practical Research

16. Practical Research
For my magazine I will be using a 35mm film camera for some/all the photos as it gives the photos a 90s vibe, and makes
the magazine look more professional. Also, when I get my photos developed, I will get them developed to the highest
definition possible to make the images look the best the can, and so the magazine looks as professional as possible.

17. Practical Research
I will incorporate the use of a fisheye lens in my products as I like the retro look that it brings
to various products. I will achieve this by either buying a fisheye lens to clip onto the back of
my IPhone or download an app that allows me to use a fisheye lens.

18. Bibliography

19. Bibliography
1. Jones, Alife (2021) Target Audience Research Survey (conducted on 3rd
March 2021)
2. Stewart, J. (2015). NME Media Pack. Available:
https://www.slideshare.net/jooly19/nme-media-pack-47505588. Last
accessed 14th April 2021.
3. Acosta, A. (). Ravers - Subcultures and Sociology. Available:
https://haenfler.sites.grinnell.edu/subcultures-and-scenes/ravers/. Last
accessed 14th April 2021.
4. Various Authors. (2021). Madchester. Available:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madchester. Last accessed 14th April
2021.