First Draft Of My Final Products

ALTERNATION Progress for front cover

This is my first draft. I have placed a glow around my main image to make it less plain against the background and to draw more attention to my image.

At this point, i have added a headline which links to the story that is displayed on my double page spread. I have used the red, black and white from my colour scheme for the headline. I have also inserted a bar code and a banner at the bottom of the page. As well as this, i have layered the main image over the masthead in such a way that the masthead is still readable, but the image is more dominant. I have also added a date.

Here, i have re sized the bar code so it is not dominant against the image. I have also added in plugs which are relevant to the genre and will be referenced in my contents page.

At this point, i have added smaller stories, advertising the bands that will be featured in this issue, and this will draw in fans of these bands to this magazine. A main plug has also been added as a main selling point of the magazine to boost sales. This is useful as it advertises a competition to win a rare, and otherwise expensive opportunity.

Here, i have changed the colour of the background to a less plain, lighter grey, which still fits in with my colour scheme, but is still plain enough to not draw attention away from the cover image. Along with this, i have changed the colours of the main plug. I have changed the phrase "Iron Maiden" to match the actual logo of the band, and this instantly makes the cover more recognisable and appealing to fans. I have also done the same with "Download".

This is my current draft. I have added a lighting effect to my background to make it more appealing, but still plain to make the image the more dominant layer of the cover. I have also changed the font of the details under the plugs to separate them from the subheadings.

Front Cover: Initial Image

This is the original image that i am using for my magazines front cover. I specifically chose the mise en scene for this image, such as the drum sticks. I chose to incorporate the drum sticks as i will incorporate them into the cover story. I didn't choose the background specifically, as i am going to edit out the background anyway, so the background didn't really matter. In terms of colour, i intend to edit some lighting effects onto the picture by using Photoshop.

Colour Palettes- My Magazine

This is a colour palette that i have created for my magazine. It mainly consists of shades of very similar colours, mainly red. This is due to the inspiration from the other colour palettes from existing magazines that i looked at, Q and Metal Hammer. Unlike Q however, i have chosen not to choose a standout colour, due to my genre being slightly different to Q magazines genre.

Colour Palettes- Existing

I have analysed colour palettes in magazines in my chosen genre (Alternative Rock/ Metal) and found that mostly, the conventional colours for my chosen genre tend to be dull, dark colours. And these colours are used to make the brighter colours (if existent), stand out more as a key feature of the cover. An example of this, is the bright yellow used to represent the rest of the band on the Q magazine cover. In my own work, i will try to use a similar palette to these magazines, incorporating colours such as darker reds and use of black and brown. These colours seem to be conventional to my chosen genre as the colours both contrast and complement each other very well. The backgrounds on both covers are plain, and this is used to draw most of the attention to the foreground. On the other hand, the foregrounds are consistent of bright(er) colours than the background, but still only utilise a limited amount of colours. Therefore, i will implement this in my own work, by using a plain background, as well as a foreground that uses similar colours, but i will use at least one stand out colour that can be used to draw information to specific, important information.

Product Mock Up- Colour Scheme

For my colour scheme, i have taken inspiration from current Alternative Rock/ Metal bands:

As you can see, the main colour scheme across these images is a very dark and dull theme, mainly uses of grey and very faded blue's and brown's. Because of this, i will use grey's and faded colours for my main colour scheme. 

I have decided to make the masthead dark grey to fit with the overall, bleak colour scheme of the alternative/ industrial rock and metal genre.

For my other pieces of text, i will use black and white for text, with faded colours, such as blue and brown for text boxes, and significant pieces of text. 

Product Mock Up- Masthead

For my masthead, i have decided not to use a logo or anything on my masthead, other than the title with my chosen font with my chosen colour, which will be used as a house style for all of my hypothetical issues.

Product Mock Up- Layout

Front Cover
The layout for my front cover, is generic for any magazine, with the model taking the majority of the page, slightly off center, to make room for cover stories and other additional elements to a front cover. I have decided to use a banner above my masthead to emphasise the fact that this edition of Alternation is a special edition, which helps with appealing to my target audience. I have used modern convention, with the inclusion of a QR code which also links to marketing my magazine to a modern audience, as well as simpler conventions, such as cover stories and lower banners, to help appeal to an older generation, who may be less familiarised with technology, or who simply want a traditional magazine, which helps to market my magazine to a wide target audience.

Contents Page
I took inspiration mainly from Kerrang!s contents page, by using its style of contents. However, due to consistency throughout my magazine and my house style, i modifies the layout by boxing the contents off to make my magazine unique. The area to the left is a blank space which incorporates enough room for pictures, relating to the stories written about in the contents. I have decided to box information off from each other to create clarity in my contents page, for ease of reading.

Double Page Spread

Following on with my house style, i have decided to use a similar layout to my contents page. I have done this by boxing off the main content, introduction, main image, and summary separately. I set the text out in a double page fashion, so the reader will read the introduction first, even though it is at the bottom of the first page. 

Product Mock Up- Language and Register

In my magazine i have used a mix of both formal and informal text. As a whole, informal language is used in my magazine to seem more reader- friendly, due to my magazine being purely produced for entertainment purposes, rather than a formal use, such as education. For example, in my double page spread story, i have used colloquial language, such as 'guys' to keep the interview as true to the actual conversation as possible. Some technical language has also been used, such as specific genre names- 'Psychedelic' & 'Nu Metal' etc. This has been done to make a reader feel confident whilst reading and appealing more to fans of specific 'sub- genres'. However, formal language, such as 'developed' & 'elements of...', has been used to make my magazine informative and, therefore worth the money that it costs.

Product Mock Up- Target Audience

My target audience is any gender, from any ages, generally, aged 16-50. I have such a broad age range because i believe that my magazine would be suitable, and engaging for any fan of Alternative Rock and Metal music, regardless of age, or gender. Also, my magazine engages with newer/ more modern Rock bands, such as Royal Blood, ranging to more Classic Rock bands, such as Guns 'N' Roses. Further extending my target audience, my magazine would also appeal to fans of other music genres, as my magazine incorporates references of stories regarding genre crossovers, such as EDM.

Product Mock Up- Font

For my alternative magazine, i have decided that to fit in with the genre, the font, especially for the mast head needs to look straight and unique, to fit in with the style of alternative, with a slight hint of computer font, rather than a curvy, 'poppy' looking font. I have found some fonts that would be appropriate to use.

1. Dimitri







2. Metal Lord

3. Amaz Obitaem Ostrov

4. DeathRattle BB

After asking people in my class which font would appeal to them the most if they saw it, the majority voted for 'Metal Lord' due to the unique font, and also sharing huge similarity to the Iron Maiden signature font, which comes under the blanket of rock and metal. 'Dimitri' came a close second with only one less vote. The reason for this font was because it is a lot clearer to read and stands out more and associates well with the genre. For this reason i have decided to use 'Dimitri' because of the clearness of the font, and the overall appeal. However, i have also decided to use Deathrattle BB as a heading for my double page spread story, as the font itself fits well with the genre, having an 'edgy' look.

Product Mock Up- Title Questionnaire

As the poll shows, Alternation was clearly the most popular, despite only asking 5 students. Therefore, i will go with this decision to call my magazine Alternation, having the majority over Ensnare.

Product Mock Up- Title

I have a strong idea of what i want to do with my magazine. I have chosen to do an Alternative Rock magazine due to a strong personal interest in the genre and i think that stories will be fun and interesting to make up for my double page spread.

TITLE
I have some ideas for magazine titles, based on my genre:
1. Ctrl Alternative Dlt
2. RockBeat
3. Ensnare
4. Alternation

1. I am definitely not going to use this title, due to the length. With the title being too long, it will lose its catchiness. An alternative (pun intended) for this was 'Ctrl Alt Dlt', however, this would make the magazine look like a computing magazine, rather than an Alternative Rock magazine.

2. This title is good, as it emphasises the fact that this is a rock magazine, due to the word rock, and also the word beat focuses more on the drumming aspect of rock, which will be featured heavily in my magazine.

3. Ensnare, like RockBeat focuses mainly on the drums, due to the play on words. 'Snare' is a drum, and the phrase 'Ensnare' is clever, as it references the drums, and emphasises on how the magazine will 'ensnare' you into reading it.

4. I like the title Alternation as not only does it use the phrase Alternate, referencing the genre, but the suffix, nation, emphasises the fact that people who enjoy alternative rock are a people and are almost like family, to some extent.

I will devise a questionnaire to ask classmates which magazine title would captivate them the most to decide which one would be more suitable to a wider audience, rather than my own, personal tastes.

Product Mock Up- Genre

I have decided to go with the genre of Alternative Rock and Metal. I have chosen this genre because i have a high personal interest in it and this means that i will have a lot to write about the genre with a a lot of context. The fact that i have chosen a genre that i have an interest in will also mean that i will enjoy working on the magazine, meaning that i will put more effort in, as opposed to if i did not have an interest in the genre.

Analysis of existing magazines

My goal in this post is to identify key features of existing British music magazines, such as techniques used to present information, and the ideas presented as a whole. I have done this because it will help me to identify techniques that i will adopt in my own music magazine. I have used Prezi to create this, and i have used Prezi because is is a more entertaining way of viewing information, rather than looking at a table. My first Prezi, based on Kerrang! magazine is much too long, however i have left it to show my progress in the way that i have compacted my other Prezi's, based on Metal Hammer and Q magazines, to make them easier to read.

Current state of the music and magazine industries

The music magazine is currently in a transitional state. This is because certain magazine companies have adapted to the change in digital techniques, whereas some haven't. The introduction of the digital age has been pivotal in affecting the magazine industry as a whole. For example, Rob Hind explores the story of NME and  

Metal Hammer Magazine Final Research

Due to the length of my previous Prezi, i have compacted this one more, but keeping the relavent information included

Kerrang! Magazine Final Research

I found this Prezi to be much too long, so i left it and decided to improve successive Prezis by making them much shorter and more compact.

Q Magazine Research

For my magazine research I have used existing music magazines to influence my work and to look at what works for existing magazines. I have looked at the front cover, contents page and a double page spread from each of my three chosen magazines.

Metal Hammer Magazine Research

For my magazine research I have used existing music magazines to influence my work and to look at what works for existing magazines. I have looked at the front cover, contents page and a double page spread from each of my three chosen magazines.

Kerrang! Magazine Research

For my magazine research I have used existing music magazines to influence my work and to look at what works for existing magazines. I have looked at the front cover, contents page and a double page spread from each of my three chosen magazines.

This is my improved version of my Preliminary contents page, including amendments such as, a page number and issue number 

Preliminary Product Contents Page

This is the contents page for my preliminary magazine

Preliminary Product Front Cover (IMPROVED)

The feedback that I got for my preliminary task was:

- The school colours are used well to make the text stand out
- The cover story links well with the photo
- Some text is slightly difficult to read, so the font colour could be changed

In response to this, i found the text that was hard to read, and i made the text lighter to make it more visible.

Preliminary Product Front Cover

This is my preliminary task, called BHS Monthly I have also completed the success criteria with this piece.

Preliminary analysis

This is my Preliminary research into school magazines.

Photoshop test

This is an image I created on Photoshop to utilise different tools within Photoshop that I will use later on. I will use certain features from this work in my magazine, such as filters and adding layers.