Music Magazine Planning

1. Music Magazine
Planning
Shelly Mcveigh
AS Media Studies

2. FRONT COVER

3. Masthead
I want my mast head to be stylised and sophisticated with hits of fun, my
mast head is going be the most important element of the magazine thus
why I have chosen to use simplistic black and white images so that the
coloured text will stand out on the shelves against the light background.
I want the typeface of my mast head to have a futuristic vibe that makes it
contemporary however edgy compared to other music magazines.
I would also use a gender friendly colour for my font and text as I want
both sexes to be attracted to my magazine, having a balance in colour I’d
extremely important as I want the magazine to be appealing for all to
increase readership.
This idea of a quirky masthead will be situated at the top right corner of
my magazine as I want it to be visible from the shelves when being sold. I
think having a simplistic background and vibrant colour for the text of my
masthead will defiantly help it stand out.

4. I have created a name and slogan for my music magazine, it shall be
called – PULSE and the slogan is – It’s all about the beat… This play
on words will be memorable and eye-cathing for my target audience.
I have created this light blue masthead with funky LCD and VIRTUAL DJ
typeface to create a fresh edgy vibe for the magazine. This can be also used
as a logo meaning I am able to expand the magazine to other ventures all
relating to music e.g. – radio stations, award ceremonies…

5. Typography
For all features within the magazine I am going to use simple typefaces
such as Times New Roman or Minion Pro as these are extremely easy to
read and follow.
However I want to the make the magazine fun and edgy therefore I will
use different typefaces for different elements within the magazine such
as a different font for quotes and editorial to show variation within the
magazine however by still keeping it organised and fun.
Majority of my target audience are young adults therefore I have
decided not to use caps in my sentences as this will create a quirky
relaxed cool vibe which will appeal to my target audience. However I
am going to use drop caps to separate different paragraphs within e.g. –
an interview.

6. Mode of Address
Since majority of my target audience is 16+ I will use
colloquial terms and personal pronouns to create a friendly
relaxed vibe without trying to be patronizing.
This informal approach will be appealing to my target
audience.

7. Price
Since my target audience is the ages of 16+ I need to take
into consideration of what they will be willing to pay as the
success of my magazine is down to them buying it.
Majority of them will be students and therefore will not
have a strong income.
I believe that having the magazine at around £2+ is a
reasonable price. This is affordable for majority of my
target audience and will be worth while as it will include a
range of genres to appeal to a lot of people.

8. Cover-line
I intended to draw my readers in be using pull quotes from
inside the magazine and displaying cover-lines such as
“exclusive” in bright colours and plain easy read text to
entice readers in. I will also slightly alter the size of the
speech marks to make them bigger, I think this gives more
attention to the quote and personally think it looks great
when they stand out as they attract the readers attention
more so than maybe a plain cover title. I will also do this by
adding “Top 100 songs” as a cover-line as this was a popular
choice in my magazine questionnaire.

9. Colour Scheme
I want my dominent colours to be black and white as I
would like to use coloured text to make it stand out more.
Also this will give my images a sense of cool contemporary
elegance that is not seen in many magazines in the market.
I might alter the image by making a certain element of the
features e.g. – eye, lips, guitar etc.. Coloured so that it will
stand out and make the image unique type and style that
people can associate with my music magazine, therefore
creating a distinctive house style.

10. Puff
From my target audience research I found out that majority
of my audience would like to see an interesting image with
a free gift. I will create an exclusive puff to each issue that’s
continually different so that my audience will be more
likely to want to find out what is free inside or of any
exclusives which will increase my readership.
I will be including posters, competitions for concert
tickets, vouchers, discount offers in music stores and other
ideas to make the cover a lot more attractive for readers.

11. Main Image
My research showed that the main image was the most important aspect of the
cover therefore I need to make it stand out and inviting for me readers.
I want one main image on my cover (80% of page) which I can then anchor
with an exclusive and a pull quote.
I either want a close up/mid-shot image of a female who is bubbly and
eccentric, I can display this by shooting her pulling a funny face, blowing kisses
or bubble gum or listening to funky head phones, the image will be black and
white but I have decided to alter the image so that maybe her lips or eyes will
be in colour compared to the rest of the image. Or have her with a serious mid
shot as she looks directly into the camera on a white backdrop again in black
and white but with her red lips being dominant. She shall be dressed in
floral/bohemian style clothes with maybe an instrument in her hand.

12. Extras
I will also be adding in a barcode at the bottom left corner of the
cover as this breaks the normal convention of a barcode, I have
decided to do this as I want some aspects of my magazine to be
distinctive.
My cover lines however will be minimal as I don’t want to take
away from the main feature however I will have one or two small
ones on the front to entice readers in more.
I also might add in some graphics e.g. – small images to anchor
my feature such as an instagram sign/facebook/twitter etc to get
a bigger social media following.

13. Contents Page

14. Colour Scheme
I will have a white background for the contents page as I do not
want to over complicate the page. I will have a large coloured
image of the feature artist. My colours for text will be plain and
simple so the contents doesn’t look hard to follow. It will consist
of the light blue used in the masthead title, greys and then
splashes of red, orange and purple to make it eve catching and
different for the readers to identify all the different features
within the contents page. By using these colours it will
determine my house style, I want it to be gender balanced
therefore I am not using domentily associated male or female
colours as I want the magazine to be attractive for both sexes. I
want to give a vibe of professionalism and fresh.

15. Images
I will have one large image of the feature artist taking up
about 45% of the contents page with a funky text box giving
a summary telling my readers that it is an exclusive
interview, under it I will have the page umber with white
text in a coloured box.
I then have 2-4 more small images to anchor the other
cover lines and to add colour into the contents page. In the
middle I will have a graphic of a large sticker reading #01
HITS OF 2014! As this issue will be published around the
beginning of 2015.

16. Layout
Each title of each feature will have the same type face as the
masthead as I want that to be a running theme of
continuanty throughout the magazine. Everything will be
placed in coloured text boxes to keep it neat and organised
so it will be easy for readers to follow it.
Thumbnail images of the magazines social media sites will
be placed at the bottom right corner of the magazine. It
will separated into sections of reviews, charts and features.
As I want the magazine to be as easily read as any other
magazine.

17. Double Page Spread

18. Layout
I want to have a very simplistic organised layout for my double
page spread. I will have a image situated at the top of the first
page of the feature artist with a pull quote of what she/he says
within the interview. Under it will then be the title of the feature
and a small blurb underneath explaining what she/he speaks of
in this exclusive.
Then on the next page I will use a drop cap to highlight where
each new paragraph starts. Then I use pull quotes and place
them in larger different coloured text to make them and out from
the plainer text of the questions and responses. I will also make
the questions in a bold font to make it easy to differentiate them
fro the responces.

19. Contents of DPS
I will have an interview with the feature artist featuring
questions from fans through the device of Twitter.
I am also going to put a small box handwritten with tour dates
and ticket releases for the bottom corner of the interview.
I will use informal friendly language to appeal to my target
audience of 16+ year olds. I will ask question on her recent rise to
fame, how she got to where she is and what the future holds for
her. I want to get personal elements from the artists so the
readers will gain a personal perspective of their favorite new
musician.

20. Images
I will include one large image of the artist at the top of the
first page in black and white correlating with the cover
page.
It will then have two more small images showing the
interview happening and one of her casually smiling,
maybe a instagram box as the interviewer and artist take a
selfie together.