Mock Ups

Front Cover

This is the plan for my front cover. The layout of my magazine is going to be quite similar to the layout of the Kerrang magazine. This is because the layout works well with the concept of a rock magazine. By looking at this magazine, the reader will be able to see straight away that this magazine is targeted at those who have an interest in rock music. I have chosen specific articles to advertise on my front cover which will appeal to my target audience and grab their attention making them want to read more.

Contents Page

This is a plan of my contents page. This is more spaced out than my front cover and will contain what is featured in the magazine. Each of these will be split into subheadings and this will then help the audience when they are looking through the contents page. As well as this I will include pictures from the gigs that I went to which will grab the readers attention further and these images will represent the articles of this magazine.

Double Page Spread

This is a plan of my double page spread. Here I will have a large photo of Jack that will fill the whole page. This will show to the audience that this article is all about him. I have also decided to make my title look big and bold so that it stands out and is eye catching. The reason I have chosen to do this article is because it appeals to my target audience and by looking at the image and the title of my double page spread, it will make them want to read on. 

Contents Page Research

Before creating my contents page, I decided to do some research on contents pages from different magazines. I decided to look at NME and Kerrang to give me an idea on what to do for my contents page, however I found that Kerrang magazine suited my target audience more. So I mostly used ideas from that magazine in order to help me create my own contents page.

NME Magazine 

The title of the NME magazine is in red and therefore stands out from the rest of the writing. It is also bold and when the reader turns over to look at the page, the first thing their eyes will draw attention to is the title. Also beneath this is the date that the magazine is released. This is important because it gives tells the reader how new the magazine is. There is also a picture of a band called Kasabian. This image is quite large and takes up quite a lot of the page. This suggests that it is a main story with a little bit of information underneath the picture previewing what the article is going to be about. It may even be a short story about the band that is  quite important therefore it is on the contents page. The little red arrow in the right hand corner is used to attract the readers and make them want to read on. Some readers only like reading up on their favorite bands. Having a 'Band Index' in this magazine gives the reader an advantage to look up their preferred bands instead of flicking through the whole magazine. There are also subheadings which help the reader go to a certain page of the magazine that they wish to read up on. And finally in the bottom left hand corner there is an advertisement telling readers to subscribe to the magazine, this will get more costumers to buy the magazine and will also save them over £45. 

Kerrang Magazine

The image above is a contents page for the Kerrang magazine. Within this contents page, there is a good use of colours to emphasize the most important bits which are the titles on this page. As well as this the subheadings are also important and stand out with the same use of colours. The colours yellow and black really stand out in this contents page and the bold writing at the top tells the audience that this is the contents page and with those colours being used below it show what will feature in this magazine. Subheadings are good for the audience to go to whatever page they want without going back and fourth through the magazine. The picture at the top indicates that this magazine is related to the genre of rock. This can be shown in several ways such as oli sykes' (Bring me the Horizon) hairstyle and the full arm tattoos. On the left of this picture there are articles showing what will be featured in this magazine. Show the articles in the contents page may grab the readers attention and get them to flick to that article and make them want to read it. The font used is big and bold and also easy to read helping the reader look for what they want to read about easily. As well as this the layout of this magazine is neat making it easy to read. Each of the front cover stories have a 'Front Cover' logo next to them and a bit about the article as well. This is another way of grabbing the readers attention. Finally in the bottom left hand corner there is a good use of advertising being shown, where the reader can purchase Kerrang and get it delivered to their door for a cheaper price. This is a good promotional  offer that will help Kerrang to get more customers to buy the magazine. I have decided to lay out my contents page similarly to this one as it really grabs the readers eye and because it will relate to my target audience. 

Concert Pictures

On the 10th November 2010, I went to see Linkin Park supported by Does it offend you yeah? live. This gave me an opportunity to take some pictures and put them in my magazine. Initially I was also going to write a live gig review for my double page spread, however I chose to do an interview with Aero Inferno instead because although I took some pictures at the concert, they weren't the greatest quality.

On the 12th December 2010 I went to see Bullet for my Valentine live. They were supported by two bands, Bring me the Horizon and Atreyu. This gave me an opportunity to take even more pictures for my media coursework.

Linkin Park

Bullet for my Valentine 

Bring me the Horizon

Atreyu

Chosen Pictures for my Magazine

These are the pictures that I have chosen for my music magazine as they are less pixelated than my other pictures and and will also grab the readers attention as they are quite eye catching.

Photos for my front cover and double page spread

Photoshoot with Jack, Charlotte and Max  

I arranged to meet up with some friends, Jack, Charlotte and Max and they agreed to be my models for my magazine. I also asked Jack if he could bring his guitar along with him as I wanted them all to be holding it whilst I took photos. By using this prop in the photoshoot, it would make them look more like 'rockstars'. The images above are some of the pictures I took from that night.

Front Cover Image

After looking at all the photos that I took, I decided that I really liked Jack's pictures as they came out nicely and he had a different pose every time I took a picture of him. The picture above shows a long shot of Jack. This is my chosen picture and I have decided to use this as my front cover image. After choosing my final picture, I then went on to photoshop and cut Jack out from the background. I have chosen this picture of jack as I really liked the way he was holding that guitar and by having this prop gave me the opportunity to portray a rock symbol which is what my target audience expect. As well as this the clothes he is wearing and his hair also portray some sort of idea that he fits into the stereotype of people that listen to rock and indie. Usually on the front cover of a magazine, the artist is usually looking at the audience, however Jack is looking to his left thus making this magazine look different to other rock magazines. This picture also has very little editing done to it, making it look more natural.

Double Page Spread Image

As Jack was also the artist for my double page spread, I decided to used this image of him as I thought it looked very eye catching and it would attract my audience. 

Planning my Interview with Jack

After all the photos were taken, I then asked to meet up with Jack again and see if he would take part in an interview with me. He agreed to taking part in answering a few questions that I had come up with. So we met in Starbucks and I asked him a couple of questions which he then answered for me. Although it was not a real interview and the answers were made up, Jack gave some pretty good replies to my questions which I then used to put in my double page spread. 

Planning my Masthead

A few Masthead Ideas 

Here are a few masthead ideas that I created for for my music magazine. I chose the colours red and black because I thought they would attract my target audience. I tried to make these mastheads standout however I didn't really think any of them suited the look of my magazine. 

I then came up with a more simple font which I believed to be the perfect font for my masthead. As well as this, I created a heart rate line on InDesign which I added to my masthead. I gained a lot of positive feedback from friends in my class and college and most of them told me they preferred Design 2. Therefore I made this my overall decision and I decided to use this design as my masthead for my front cover. I knew this design would be perfect as it attracted my target audience and by making it plain and simple, it really bought out the heart rate line. This linked well with the title of my magazine 'PULSE!' as it shows an actual pulse rate. Also unlike the other mastheads, this one does not take up that much space and therefore gives me the perfect chance to fit as much as possible into my front cover and it is all very eye catching as well. 

Front Cover Magazine Research

Q Magazine

NME Magazine 

Kerrang Magazine 

The magazines above are those that I have closely looked at and from looking at these front covers. I have gained a better understanding of how images and fonts are laid out in a rock magazine. I can also see that the colours are well presented and are usually linked to what the artist is wearing. As well at this, each of the mastheads are big and bold. This is to make the magazine stand out. Using big fonts for headlines is usually eye catching as they grab the readers attention. This is something I will take into consideration when creating my magazine.

Preliminary Excercise

Front Cover

Contents Page

For my preliminary excercise, we were asked to design a college magazine. This helped me gain a further understanding of the software Adobe Indesign as I was able to use the tools and and play around with the software. Using this program was quite difficult at first, however I soon got used to it and managed to slowly solve my problems. I think that by doing this preliminary excercise, it has helped me have the ability to gain more skills and get to know the software before attempting my music magazine.