1. Proposal
Describe your idea for the brief:
The brief of this task was to create a new music magazine which features a
front cover, contents page and double page spread. Throughout my research
and planning, I have gathered a range of ideas from inspirational sources to
allow me to create a final product that I believe will be unique and successful.
I propose to create a rock magazine called “DEFUSED,” with the slogan
“defusing the most explosive rock music of the month.” It will have its own
house style that runs throughout all pages with a predominant black, white,
yellow and red colour scheme. The front page will be bold and edgy so that it
stands out as a unique product and will immediately draw people’s attention. It
will differ to other rock magazines as it will have a more grunge/indie
approach rather than the heavy metal intensity provided by magazines such
as KERRANG! The text on every page will frame my images so it is easy and
enjoyable to read.
Genre/ sub genre: list similar texts which have inspired your thoughts
The genre of my magazine will be rock which includes the sub-genres of
indie-rock and alternative rock. Whilst deciding on this genre I researched
other rock magazines for instance, RockSound focuses on metal-core and
emo music, Kerrang on mainstream heavy metal and NME on
alternative/indie. I liked the idea that NME had a more relaxed approach to
rock however thought it was too sophisticated and didn’t really stand out.
Therefore within my own magazine, I propose to find a balance between indie
rock and mainstream rock so that it isn’t as subtle as NME but also isn’t as
demanding and extreme as KERRANG. For instance, instead of having
images of a man screaming angrily (KERRANG) or images of a casual well-
dressed man relaxing, I will combine the two to find a midpoint between the
genres and bring them together to create a new and innovative magazine.
Target audience: gender/ age/ characteristics/ behaviour
My magazine will be aimed at a target audience of 16 – 24 year olds. 46.43%
of my audience will be male and 54.57% will be female. This means that my
magazine will slightly be more appealing to females due to the use of males
models however I will try to keep it as gender neutral as possible. I will do this
by including a wide range of bands and artists from many fan bases, using a
colour scheme associated to the genre and not gender and base my double
page spread on a story that will appeal to the interests of all. The majority of
my audience are students and are unemployed or only have part time jobs
therefore the price will be £2.99. This is reasonable as the magazine is only
monthly. I will also include discounted prices on the contents page for people
who wish to subscribe to the magazine. I will include links to social media
sites such as twitter, Instagram and snapchat so that my magazine is more
interactive. The audience enjoys comedy, drama and horror which I will try
and include into my stories and news. The text and language I use will be
relaxed and informative with puns and humour the older audience will
understand. I will also use direct address so that the audience feel more
involved with the magazine. The model I have chosen will reflect the
appearance and likes of the target audience for instance the clothing will be
2. include, skinny jeans, converse, tattoos and dark colours and he will fit into
the same age range with similar hobbies and celebrity appeal.
Major conventions I will use
Front Cover will include:
-Masthead overlapped by Dominant Image
- Main sell line supporting main image
- Sub sell lines and Sub images framing the dominant
- Skyline introduce key story
- Bottom banner list of artists
- Puff including free posters
Contents Page will include:
-Bold, capitalised masthead “DEFUSED CONTENTS”
-Dominant and sub images
- Limited colour scheme – simple
- Tactile language choices in framed text
- Subscription box
- Editors notes with image
Double Page Spread:
One side of my double page spread will be text led and the other side will be
image and headline led. This will include
-Headline unique font to page name of the band/artist
- Subheadline slogan/ brief summary
- Pull quote took from text and enlarged
- Columns with cap drop
- Dominant Image
-Language informal, puns, humour
Conventions I may subvert/ change/ not use
Front Cover
I am not going to use a pug in my magazine as I think it will draw away
attention from the importance of the top banner and only want the masthead
to be overlapped by the dominant image. I am only going to use one or two
sub-images because I don’t want my page to look too crowded as this will
make it more immature and less relaxed. I’m not going to include page
numbers as it will take up too much room and will just be repeated again on
the contents.
Contents Page
I am only going to include a few sub-images so that the page is not too
crowded. Instead of using my dominant image as the background image like
on the front cover and double page spread, I will make the dominant image
slightly smaller and frame it instead. This will allow me to have a plain
background as on this page the information is the most important. I like NME’s
3. idea of including a Band Index however think it takes up a lot of room.
Instead, I will include the band index with an alternate page number under the
contents features list so that the magazine will have a page specifically
dedicated to the list of artists that the reader can then turn to.
Double Page Spread
I have decided not to include the name of who took the picture and who wrote
the article because it will be a primary source created by me. Instead, I will
make the reader aware that the article is an “editor’s choice.” This makes it
seem more professional and shows the information is straight from the core of
creator facts.
Original images: what/ where
My images and sub-images will be original and taken by myself. I have
chosen a male model that fits with my chosen genre and will appeal to the
target audience. The clothing he wears will be different on each page and will
reflect the same style of the reader from similar shops chosen in my survey
research. I will use direct mode of address and use common poses and
camera angles I have researched. My dominant images will be taken outside
to use natural lighting in locations such as a graffiti alley, the beach and
outside a music store. For indoor images I will use a white blank background
and camera flash to make it look professional. I will use editing software to
add effects such as black and white filters, light alterations and additional
features such as tattoos. Props will include a guitar. Sub-images will vary in
angles and include pictures of my local record store, concerts I have been too,
tattoo images I have taken and images of my model.
Potential difficulties/ Plan B:
Potential difficulties could affect the finished product of my magazine and I
would have to alter my proposals. If my model was not able to attend the
photoshoot I would have to find a replacement at short notice that could
quickly fill in. In case this happens, as a plan B I have contacted a different
friend who is willing to step in if there are any problems with my current model
which will save me a lot of time. The weather could have affected the overall
outcome of my images. If they were taken on a gloomy day they could look
less professional therefore I would have to retake. To prevent this I am
checking the weather reports before taking my photos.
