This is my music magazine plan

1. My Music Magazine

2. Masthead – Extremely large,
takes up a vast amount of
the magazine. The white
and the red make for
extremely bold colours
against the black and white
background. There is a 3D
shade around the letter Q
which gives it a much more
finished and glossy look
Text style – Big and
heavy font makes the
magazine much more
bold. Constantly written
in capitals to make to
create a confident
theme to the magazine
Exclusives – Makes the
magazine seem more
original and elite
Quality – The use of a
black and white main
photo gives the
impression of a sleek
and glossy cover
Layout – Very ordered and
none of the pull quotes and
headlines have been cluttered
together. They have used a
basic colour pallet of red, grey,
black and white within the text
so that the different colours
each represent a different story
and cannot be confused with
one another.
Cover Price – Its
quite costly at £3.90
but I think this gives
it a higher status and
exclusivity against
other magazines
TASK 1: DECONSTRUCTION

3. Text differing from
Lower case to
Upper case letters
– give a unique
and exclusive look
The text is
extremely bold
due to the
thickness and the
use of upper case
letters. The red
also looks daring
against the white
background
The pictures takes
up the whole side
of the page with
layered text
created on top
Basic black heading and
a simple heading makes
for a relaxed sense
which will help calm
the whole page
By using three columns
instead of two makes
the page look more
sophisticated and neat
as it gives more
information with the
small size of the letters
The massive ‘T’
helps to create more
colour and boldness
to the page which
will overall attract
the readers. As it is
transparent we are
still able to read the
writing but it gives
an original sense
By adding the small magazine
masthead and page number at the
bottom of the page, it creates a
more cutting-edge theme

4. Mast Head -sophisticated
font, but is not white like
the Q logo. It is placed at
the top where you
expect it be as the
majority of magazine
contents pages do this.
The layout - the page
allows the reader to
navigate easily.
Although the listings
are the purpose of this
page, they are kept to
the sides so that the
overall look of the
page grabs your
attention. The page
numbers are bold and
the images they
accompany are
generally together to
avoid confusion or
untidiness.
Necessary Information -
the issue number is in
the box at the top of the
right side page and is
issue 284 of Q, so we
know it is a long running
magazine which is
important because it
shows how big the
magazine is.
Text - there is not an overwhelming
amount of text, the only part that contains
a bulk of text is 'The Q Review', which is
clearly a regular piece in each issue. The
purpose of the text is to inform the reader
where they can find what interests them.
Font – the text stands
out, but the same
font is used regularly.
This causes the
contents page to
appear sophisticated.
Images – there are a
total of 9 images. They
vary in size, but only the
image of the anime
character is large. The
other images are of
singers and bands.
Colour- Red, white, black and
purple are the colours that stand
out the most. Red and white are
most frequent due to them being
Q's trademark colours- making the
contents page more warm.

5. TASK 2 – AUDIENCE
Q’s Audience:
• Circulation - 88,420
• Readership - 473,000
• Abc1 profile - 68%
• Median Age - 29
• Male/female - 75%/25%
• Q’s audience is YOUNGER and more AFFLUENT than any other music
monthly. 97% of readers rate Q as a QUALITY magazine. In research it
outperforms competitors on measures such as best interviews,
writing and AWARD WINNING photography.

6. Example of a Q Reader
Mark is 29 and lives in Leeds. He is a passionate music fan, as a lad he got into ‘proper music’ in the mid-
’90s, inspired by the rock ‘n’ roll swagger of Liam and Noel, Blur and the Britpop scene. He’s in full-time
employment but revelling in life without any dependents or family responsibilities. Mark has high
disposable income to spend on himself alone, being a heavy consumer of music, buying up to 6 albums
per month. He loves reading Q to discover new music, as well as filling in the gaps in his back catalogue.
New music forms part of his social currency, so Mark is keen to know the new Mumford & Sons before
they go mainstream and uses this knowledge as influence within his friendship circle.
Mark is highly savvy to digital technology, a keen social networker and uses online services to enhance
his social life. He’ll regularly welcome his mates round to his for some Spotify DJ-ing and a few beers as
a warm-up for a big night out.
An open-minded experience seeker, Mark loves the live music experience, opting to go for a mixture of
gigs, especially huge arena shows for the likes of Kings of Leon and Kasabian. He attends Leeds festival
religiously annually and this year he’s off to Benicassim in Spain for his mate’s stag weekend. Though a
hugely passionate music fan, this is not to the detriment of his other interests – film, gaming, sport, TV
and comedy

7. Why Advertise In Q?
• Q’s solus readership is an impressive 69%* – this means you can only reach
these 378,000 people through using Q.
• Q readers are affluent – 68% are ABC1 and have high disposable income.
• Q is a truly multi-media platform with no less than 10 brand extensions for
advertisers to engage with Q’s many audiences.
• 25 years of heritage – this offers advertisers the opportunity to associate
themselves with a credible and trusted brand.
• Q has an extremely high brand influence score of 73%, greater than both GQ
and Esquire**. This means that Q influences the people that have strongest
influence in their social groups – a real multiplier effect for advertisers to cash
in on.
• Only Q can gain you exclusive magazine advertising access to Europe’s biggest
music event – Glastonbury.

8. TASK 3 - LANGUAGE
Feature from the magazine:
Arcade Fire on their next record: ‘It will be stripped back… or feature an orchestra.’
Arcade Fire have told Q they’re not sure where they’re heading next – but it won’t be long
before they start working on a record.
Speaking in the cover story of our new issue, the band tell Tom Doyle they intend to take a
break having brought the Reflektor world tour to a close headlining Glastonbury and playing
their own giant Hyde Park gig, but frontman Win Butler expects the creative itch to kick in
quickly.
“You sleep in and you have crazy dreams and you start to miss your friends,” he says of time
off, “so you go off on another adventure.”
In terms of what that adventure might be his brother, multi-instrumentalist Will, admits the
band have no plan as such yet… save that they tend to do the opposite of what they plan.
“Whatever happens happens,” he muses. “I mean, we’ve often aimed to strip stuff back. So
I bet we’ll try that and then we’ll end-up going off with a 40-piece orchestra!”

9. On a separate slide, or on your paper, describe the style of writing
(vocabulary, linguistic/poetic features, sentence style, formal/informal,
etc.)
“Whatever happens happens,” he muses.

10. • What sort of tone is it using when addressing the reader? How does it
position the reader in relation to the magazine (i.e. like a close friend?
Part of an ‘in’ crowd? As an informed, intelligent fan?)

11. TASK 4 - PLANNING
Answer the following questions in a new post on your blog:
• What will the style and tone of your music mag be?
• How will it fit alongside existing publications?
• Who is in your target audience/market? Make a profile of your
potential reader.
• How will you appeal to your target audience?
• Which magazines have the most relevance to your own? Are there
any aspects of their style that you could borrow or use as inspiration?

12. Target Audience
The readers I have targeted to be my readers are of the following:
• taste in music
• Aged between 18-40

17. Magazine Plan
Lydia Harding

18. Colour Scheme
Red 255 White Text 1
Dark White, Text 1, Darker 35%
Red
Grey 25%, Text 2,
Darker 90%
Grey 25%, Text 2,
Darker 75%

19. Font Scheme
Chosen Magazine – Calibri Body
Chosen Magazine – Accord SF
Chosen Magazine – Belfast
Heavy SF
Chosen Magazine – Bernard MT
Condensed
Chosen Magazine – Casablanca
Heavy SF
Chosen Magazine – Chaparral Pro Light
Chosen Magazine – Cooper BlkItHd BT
Chosen Magazine – Elephant
Chosen Magazine – Engraves MT
Chosen Magazine – Franklin Gothic Demi
Cond

20. Main Story

21. Main Photo
Medium shot of model

22. Masthead

23. Other Features

24. Other Photos

25. Banner

26. Pull Quotes

27. Front Cover Example

28. Basic Sketch – Front Cover
Banner
Masthead
Pull
Quotes
Phot
o
Main
Photo
Photo Photo
Main
Story

29. Contents Page Example

30. Basic Sketch – Complex Contents Page
Mast head
Main
Photo
Photo
Photo Photo
Content
Features

31. Double Page Spread Example